COLLECTIVE MADNESS
“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."
Bombing ISIS without motivated and indigenous ground fighters is pointless. ISIS will simply disperse into the locality. Hezbollah, Quds force, The Mahdi Army, The Kurds, and Syrian forces all have the motivation and know how to search them out, hunt them down and kill them. US Air support to those groups is the winning solution.
ReplyDeleteNot "pointless." A daid headcutter is a daid headcutter.
ReplyDeleteBut, it Is a lot more effective when done in concert with local ground troops.
The terrorists lost Three or Four Million / day in oil revenue last night.
I think some (most) of the pundits are overestimating ISIL's ability to "blend in" with the local populations. If you'll remember, Al Queda in Iraq couldn't do it, and these guys are way more extreme than AQ in Iraq.
ReplyDeleteThe "Surrender Monkeys" are on the field. The Barack Obama, building a "Coalition of the Previously Ambivalent and Unwilling".
ReplyDeletePARIS/BEIRUT (Reuters) - French fighter jets struck targets in Iraq on Thursday and the United States and its allies stepped up air raids in Syria against Islamic State militants who have taken over large areas of both countries.
That Barack Obama
Delete.
DeleteWrong, since at least the Libyan tussle, the French have been the most gung ho sob's around (except for maybe Australia). Libya, Mali, along with the UK pushing for intervention against Assad, they were the first to join the US in Iraq III.
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Tell us what part of the statement above is 'wrong', Quirk.
DeleteThe French have, since Barack Obama has assumed command of the US military, decided to join US in our adventures across the Islamic Arc. While GW Bush was the CiC, the French would not join US, and were called "Surrender Monkeys", I could find a reference, but why bother.
So, it WAS the leadership of Barack Obama that brought the French to the Allied coalition. I would surmise that their own "National Interests" led them to that decision, but under the "US is responsible for the World" hubris, we can credit Mr Obama for the French actions.
So Mr Obama has built a coalition of the "Previously Ambivalent and Unwilling".
Again, what was 'wrong' with the statement.
I do not think, but could be wrong, that th Arab countries that struck at the Daesh in Syria flew combat operations in Iraq with GW Bush as CiC.
DeleteAmbivalence or Unwillingness, or the US just did not want the Locals involved.
Whatever the reason, the US has opened up the tent, allowing those US weapons systems that we sold to those fellas to be put to their intended purposes, the destruction of lives and property.
The U.S., France, Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, and soon, the U.K.
ReplyDeleteSaudi Arabia, Bahrain, U.A.E. Qatar, and Jordan.
It's turning into a pretty nice little coalition.
Bashar Assad might be the luckiest sonofabitch alive. :)
DeletePARIS: France is considering whether to extend its air strikes to Syria and increase security in public places after militants linked to the Islamic State group beheaded a French hostage, officials said on Thursday.
DeletePresident Francois Hollande's office announced that France will "intensify" its support for Syrian opposition forces fighting the Islamic State extremists. A presidential aide would not elaborate on what kind of support or whether it could involve military action.
Hollande held an emergency defense meeting on Thursday, a day after the killing of 55-year-old mountaineering guide Herve Gourdel was . . . . . .
France going "all in?"
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DeleteBashar Assad might be the luckiest sonofabitch alive. :)
And, in time, it could turn out that he is the unluckiest.
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Delete“Luck is the residue of design.”
― John Milton
Nothing better illustrates the bankruptcy of the Obama administration’s foreign policy than funding groups that turn on the US again and again, a neo-con fueled cycle of profits for war makers and destruction of ever-shifting “enemies.”
ReplyDeleteThe fact can’t be refuted: ISIS was born of Western intervention in Iraq and covert action in Syria.
This Frankenstein-like experiment of arming the alleged freedom-seeking Syrian opposition created the monster that roams the region. ISIS and the US have a curious relationship — mortal enemies that, at the same time, benefit from some of the same events:
a) Ousting former Iraqi President Nouri al Maliki for his refusal to consent to the continued presence of U.S. troops in his country.
b) Regime change in Syria.
c) Arming the Kurds so they can separate from Iraq, a preliminary move to partitioning Iraq.
What a coincidence for war-profiteering neo-cons and the war industry, which has seen its stock rise since last week’s congressional vote to fund the rapid expansion of war. We have met the enemy and he isn’t only ISIS, he is us.
Phase two of the war against Syria is the introduction of 5,000 “moderate” mercenaries (as opposed to immoderate ones), who were trained in Saudi Arabia, the hotbed of Wahhabism, at an initial installment cost of $15 billion. These new “moderates” will replace the old “moderates,” who became ISIS, just in time for Halloween.
The administration, in the belief that you can buy, rent, or lease friends where they otherwise do not exist, labors under the vain assumption that our newfound comrades-in-arms will remain in place during their three-year employment period, ignoring the inevitability that those “friends” you hire today could be firing at you tomorrow.
One wonders if Saudi training of these moderate mercenaries will include methods of beheading which were popularized by the Saudi government long before their ISIS progeny took up the grisly practice.
The U.S. is being played.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia can now overtly join with the US in striking Syria, after they have been covertly attempting for years to take down the last secular state in the region. We are now advancing the agenda of the actual Islamic States — Saudi Arabia and Qatar — to fight the ersatz Islamic State of ISIS.
Now US bombs and missiles might inadvertently “make the world safe” for theocracy rather than democracy. Today we read reports that Israel has shot down a Syrian warplane, indicating the terrible possibility of a wider regional conflict.
What does this have to do with the security of the 50 States United? Nothing!
Last week Congress acted prematurely in funding a war without following the proscriptions of Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution. (The day of the vote, I urged Congress to resist this dangerous and misguided legislation.) But even while the funding was given, the explicit authorization to go to war was not. To authorize a war, Congress must vote for war. It has not done that yet.
To sell its case, the administration is borrowing from the fear mongering tactics of the Bush administration. ISIS poses no direct, immediate threat to the United States – The White House even said so yesterday, just hours before bombing commenced — yet we are being sold make-believe about ISIS sleeper cells.
This attack on Syria, under the guise of striking ISIS, is by definition, a war of aggression. It is a violation of international law. It could lead to crimes against humanity and the deaths of untold numbers of innocent civilians. No amount of public relations or smooth talking can change that.
And yes, members of this Democratic administration, including the president who executed this policy, must be held accountable by the International Criminal Court and by the American people, who he serves.
But as we know, war is a powerful and cynical PR tactic. I expect the bombing of Syria will momentarily boost the White House’s popularity with self-serving heroic accounts of damage inflicted upon ISIS (and the U.S. equipment they use). Stuffing the November ballot box with bombs and missiles may even help the Democratic Party retain the Senate.
DeleteBut after the election the voters will discover that the president played into the hands of extremists, hurt civilians, and embroiled our country deep into another conflict in the Middle East.
There were alternatives. The US and the international community could have contained and shrunk ISIS by cutting off its funds and its revenue from sale of oil on the black market. We could have looked to strike a deal with Syria and Iran.
In foreign policy, the administration has failed. Congress has failed. Both the Democratic and Republican Parties have passed the national checkbook to their patrons in the war contracting business. And passed the bill to future generations.
The American people, who in 2008 searched for something redemptive after years of George W. Bush’s war, realize in 2014 that hope and change was but a clever slogan. It was used to gain power and to keep it through promoting fear, war, the growth of the National Security state, and an autumnal bonfire of countless billions of tax dollars which fall like leaves from money trees on the banks of the Potomac.
Actually, we couldn't "cut off ISIS's sale of oil." They weren't selling "oil." They were refining it in their small, portable refineries, and selling the products on the local markets.
DeleteThe only way to stop that was the way we just did it - by blowing up their portable refineries.
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DeleteIsis is selling oil. The sell it internally to the Assad regime and the smuggle it to Turkey where it is either sold on the black market at discount prices or refined and returned to Syria/Iraq. ISIS also controls smuggling routes to Jordan, Iran, and Kurdistan. While they only control marginal fields, they can get enough out for create funds.
The biggest problem ISIS has with refineries (other than losing them to bombs) is a lack of technical people to run them. They have been actively recruiting for technicians for some time now. They are intent on forming an actual state and yu can't do that without funds to support it and technicians to run an infrastructure.
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Female UAE pilot 'leads strikes' on jihadists.
ReplyDeleteA female pilot has led United Arab Emirates air strikes that targeted Islamic State jihadists in Syria as part of the US-led campaign against extremists.
Major Mariam al-Mansouri, 35, "led the squadron" of UAE fighter jets that participated in raids Tuesday against the extremists, an Emirati source familiar with the matter said.
Wait just one minute, Udaho Bob told us that all that Islamic women were allowed to do, in Muslim countries, was get their clits snipped!
DeleteOh well. Watching Alzheimers turn a mind to mush ... it's so sad.
If only we could utilize some combat power to neutralize it.
But I'm afraid that a 5.56 round to the head, while alleviating Alzheimers, would not do the patient much good, long term.
It'd be analogous to "Burning the village, to Save it".
That is not what Bob said.
DeleteBob said he was for a free Kurdistan.
What does Anonymous know of Udaho Bob?
DeleteWe all know what we read, and Anonymous is wrong about Udaho Bob and his opinion of Muslims and clit snipping.
He has made a major issue of that, and misogyny in general as it concerns Islam. Tying the two together, as it were.
Denying that the ancient practices could be abolished in Islamic countries and cultures.
But what we see, today, is a refutation of that opinion.
I did notice one thing though, in the flurry of posts, just yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThe Kurds of Iraq, in what some here wih would become the keystone to a new "Kurdistan" ...
They are being supported by the Iranians. No doubt of that.
And ... the same folk that pine for an 'Independent" Kurdistan are the same folks that tell US that Iran is the "Root of All Evil".
While some may fantasize about the israeli setting up a "Forward Air Base" in Kurdistan, i is more likely that the Kurds would be appreciative of those that helped them and their brethren across the Middle Eat, not those that supported the Daesh.
Israel prefers al-Qeada in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies
The Israeli Ambassador to the US, Mr Oren told that to the world, just one year ago. Judging by the Israeli actions in the current fight, their shooting down a Syrian jet that would have been utilized in the fight against the Daesh ...
Israel's position has not changed.
DeleteThe Kurds of Iraq, in what some here wish would become the keystone to a new "Kurdistan" ...
Delete... it is more likely that the Kurds would be appreciative of those that helped them and their brethren across the Middle East, not those that supported the Daesh.
Mr Oren is not the Ambassador of Israel for over a year.
DeleteHe left when the group ISIS /ISIL had not been even known about.
Posting comments out of context and out of time only proves your lack of honesty in dialogue.
Eric Holder To Resign As Attorney General
ReplyDeleteThe Huffington Post
British police arrested nine men, including radical cleric Anjem Choudary, in London anti-terror raids early Thursday.
ReplyDeleteThe Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism command arrested the men, ranging in age between 22 and 51, on suspicion of being members of banned organizations as well as supporting and encouraging terrorism.
Scotland Yard has also raided homes, businesses and community centers as part of the probe. Searches were underway Thursday at 18 sites in London and one residence in Stoke-on-Trent. Police said in a statement that the arrests and searches were part of an ongoing investigation into Islamist-related terrorism rather than any immediate risk to public safety.
Hamas and Fatah said on Thursday that they have reached agreement to allow the Palestinian Authority government to operate in the Gaza Strip.
ReplyDeleteRepresentatives of the two rival parties have been holding “reconciliation” talks in Cairo over the past two days in a bid to end their differences.
Hamas and Fatah leaders said that the agreement reached on Thursday calls for the PA government, headed by Rami Hamdallah, to “immediately” assume its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip.
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DeleteThat is enough to make Bibi lose his cookies.
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No, but it's enough to prove that the palestinians have rejected Oslo, giving Israel the right to annex any land they wish..
DeleteThanks Hamas and Fatah...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete.
DeleteI gave you my response to your puerile queries on the last stream.
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What the hell was it?
DeleteI may have fallen asleep.
You love that word:
Deletepuerile
It makes you think you actually know something when pissing in the last 'stream'.
:)
Good morning bar mates !!
ReplyDeleteI see I have been threatened with death again in a veiled way, this time by a "5.56".
ISIS is just Sunni Iraq.
We should support a free Kurdistan and that is about it as far as I can see. I have been denied even thinking about a full blown humanitarian intervention by General Q.
Generals A, D and R and R have yet to weigh in with their exact prescriptions to counter this disease.
My Niece continues to work and to plan for her PhD.
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DeleteYou can run but you can't hide.
I gave you my response to your puerile queries on the last stream.
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Bob Oreille is not Udaho Bob, the account are not the same.
DeleteRegardless, the reference was not a threat, but an analogy to Vietnam.
On, wait ...
You would not know of that, either ...
Being a Draft Dodger.
It is Bob Oreille nad Robert Peterson who share the same Google account, they are one and the same.
DeleteBut Udaho Bob, that is a different account, a different character, entirely.
Often just a Name/URL sign-in, which is another name for Anonymous, but then again, so are all the other characters.
Always violating the blog rules and using people's real names.
DeleteYour posts should be reported to blogger as a violation of terms of service.
This could get the blog shut down..
Bob OreilleThu Sep 25, 11:51:00 AM EDT
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell was it?
I may have fallen asleep.
Delete
Bob OreilleThu Sep 25, 11:54:00 AM EDT
You love that word:
puerile
It makes you think you actually know something when pissing in the last 'stream'.
:)
I have yet to hear an actual order from General Q.
I would put the First Airborne Division up there on the southern borders of the New Kurdistan and let support the losing side of the rest of it so they may kill one another for as long as possible.
Robert Peterson, Draft Dodger, would play games with the lives of US troops.
DeleteGames which he did all he could to avoid, himself.
And would do so ...
Deletefor as long as possible.
By the by, Robert Peterson, there is no "First Airborne Division".
DeleteAgain your ignorance of the real world shines through.
Illuminating the mush that Alzheimers has made of your mind.
Your argument General Q?
ReplyDeleteRat - O - Rooter is going with the "Hegelian Thesis".
What I wish to know, or have, is a transcript of your ORDERS, Genera Q.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise I will think of you as just full of shit, and in desperate need of a self driving car.
Delete.
DeleteThis is not the first time you have displayed this bizarre behavior. Ash has noted it too. You continually repeat the same question over and over even when it has been responded to and, in some cases, responded to multiple times. You seem to have the attention span of a gnat.
I gave you my response to your puerile queries on the last stream.
What don't you understand about that statement? Is English a second language for you? Are we required to provide you with a translator? As for the word puerile, I use it often in exchanges with you because it is so very appropriate.
My answer to your question was the last one on the last stream. Not hard to find. In fact, easy peasy. The last time you pulled this I reposted 3 times trying to accomodate your infirmity. I won't do it again. Either your impairment results from your advancing years, the booze, or possibly something more serious. I can only suggest that you have it checked out.
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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/york-times-shredded-obamas-plan-114741354.html
ReplyDeleteThe New York Times Shredded Obama's Plan For Syria
That is reasonable and expected thing for a Zionist owned newspaper to do.
DeleteAlways seeing boogymen...
Delete"zionist" sorry rat, that's a compliment to all honest, thinking people.
Zionism.
A wonderful expression of Jewish liberation and self determination in it's historic homeland.
:)
Shana Tova to the righteous, to the jew hating, Israel bashing, Judaism trolls?
Go screw yourselves.
Today?
Was the day that Hamas, the varsity of terrorists (unlike the JV of ISIS) had planned a massive attack on the women and babies of Israel, utilizing several years of construction, a billion dollars and let's not forget the 168 Palestinian kids executed by hamas to keep the quiet after digging the tunnels, to attack murder and kidnap as many as possible.
All thanks to Allah, for having Hamas murder 3 teenagers, 1 American and 2 Israelis, Israel would not have been attacked by Hamas's rockets and Israel would not have discovered the "terror tunnels"...
Yep the no famous "terror tunnels", laid waste.
one thousand MILLION dollars spent, 900,000 TONS of concrete, years in the making all destroyed and scattered to the wind.
Happy New Year!
GranBio Begins Production of Cellulosic Ethanol at Brazil Plant
ReplyDeleteBy Vanessa Dezem Sep 25, 2014 10:31 AM CT 0 Comments Email Print
GranBio Investimentos SA, a Brazilian biotechnology company, began production at a cellulosic ethanol plant in Brazil’s northeastern state of Alagoas.
The Bioflex 1 plant has capacity to produce 82 million liters (22 million gallons) of ethanol a year from sugarcane waste, the closely held Sao Paulo-based company said in a conference call yesterday.
GranBio invested $190 million in the facility, which it said is the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in the southern hemisphere.
Bloomberg
The Fuel Time in St. Ansgar, Iowa continues to sell E85 for $1.98 / Gallon.
ReplyDeleteE85 Prices
That would put me on the road for $0.095 / mile.
DeleteLess than ten cents a mile is back to the "land of the living" for the U.S.
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DeleteIf you lived in St. Ansgar, Iowa.
:o)
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That is what I would ORDER.........but like the old General in "War and Peace"................I have no idea what would actually come of it....
ReplyDeleteThinking about my Niece is so much more pleasant....
ReplyDeleteIn a nutshell:
ReplyDeleteHow much slack is there in the U.S. labor market? Good question. The measured unemployment rate is fairly low, but labor force participation also seems low, and I have doubts about studies purporting to say that it’s overwhelmingly long-term demographics. Wage gains are still slow. My guess is that there’s considerably more slack than the unemployment number might lead you to suspect, but the truth is that I don’t know.
But here’s the thing: you don’t know either. Neither does Janet Yellen, or Charles Plosser, or anyone else; anyone who thinks he or she knows for sure is suffering from the Dunning-Kruger effect.
So let’s hear it for Charles Evans, who gets it exactly right: we need to focus on the asymmetry of risks.
If it turns out that there’s less slack than our best guess, inflation may overshoot before the Fed can react. That would be unpleasant. But it’s manageable: if there’s one thing the Fed knows, it’s how to tighten.
But if it turns out that there’s more slack than we guess, and the Fed tightens too soon, the result can be tragedy: we can end up back in the liquidity trap, facing years of below-target inflation (maybe even deflation) and economic stagnation. As Evans says, we’ve seen this movie — in fact, several remakes: Japan in the early 2000s, the ECB in 2010, the Riksbank in Sweden.
The prudent course is to wait for clear evidence of overheating. Damn the inflationistas and financial-stability-istas who want to torpedo recovery; full speed ahead.
Paul Krugman
Krugman advocating ...
DeleteStay the Course !
DeleteDamn the Torpedoes
More Steam !
This depressing chart shows that the rich aren’t just grabbing a bigger slice of the income pie — they’re taking all of it
ReplyDeleteTake a look at this chart, from Bard College economist Pavlina Tcherneva. In an August 2013 paper, she wrote
An examination of average income growth [in the U.S.] during every postwar expansion (from trough to peak) and its distribution between the wealthiest 10% and bottom 90% of households reveals that income growth becomes more inequitably distributed with every subsequent expansion during the entire postwar period.
In other words, the wealthy are capturing more and more of the overall income growth during each expansion period. Notice the sharp drop in the bottom 90 percent's share of growth starting with the 1982-1990 period — thanks, Reaganomics! Not only that, but the bottom 90 percent actually saw their real income drop between 2009 and 2012.
This chart doesn't necessarily tell us anything new — we've known for some time that income inequality has risen steadily during the postwar period. But this chart is a novel way of illustrating that fact.
Wash. Post
This is the road to "Mexico."
DeleteThe "Express" Lane.
And, btw, those republicans that would say that this is just "class warfare," or somesuch, are just wrong. This is simply a warning that we are in an unsustainable situation. You can't have a "world class" economy built upon these sorts of numbers. It won't last.
Delete
Delete"What your government did abroad yesterday, it does at home today."
According to Gallup, the next round of unemployment numbers are going to be a shock.
DeleteLooking Pretty Crappy
DeleteMexico has still not fully recovered from its worst financial crisis
Dec 29th 2004
When Mexico suffered its “tequila crisis”. Its current-account deficit was a dangerous 7% of GDP and its foreign-exchange reserves dwindled: as a result, the peso's fixed exchange rate against the dollar snapped. The currency plunged by around 50% within six months. This in turn caused the local-currency value of the government's large dollar-linked debts to swell enormously and sent Mexico into a deep recession. Today the economy is firmly back on its feet, but its pace of growth remains disappointing.
The crisis was worst in the financial sector. Stacks of bad, even fraudulent, loans by the recently privatised banks were exposed. Many banks went bust. Thousands of Mexicans, particularly in the new middle class, defaulted on loans as interest rates rocketed, and had their homes repossessed. In 1995 GDP shrank by 6.2%
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ReplyDeleteThe confirmation hearings for Holder's replacement should be interesting.
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I'd rather listen to my Niece.
DeleteSHE is interesting.
I'd rather listen to Lee Brice....
DeleteHe's actually got something to say of human meaning put to music......
Delete.
DeleteThen you should. If you want comment upon those issues. They are easy enough to scroll by.
Then leave the big boy stuff to the rest of us here.
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Deletes/b If you want, comment on those issues
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ReplyDeleteSyrian wars of proxy
By As'ad AbuKhalil
The Syrian war is not only a proxy war. There is a strong internal dimension to the war in Syria but it has been obscured by various layers and dimensions of outside intervention and agendas. The Syrian regime wants to stay in power at any cost while there was certainly a civil popular opposition in Syria when the uprising first began. There are thousands of reasons for the Syrian people to protest against a family dictatorship that has controlled much of their lives since 1970 but the civil protest movement did not erupt by itself, the Western media narrative notwithstanding. Concurrent with the protest movement that erupted in 2011, Turkey and Gulf regimes had already set up armed rebel groups to help bring down a regime. The internal dimension of the war in Syria, however, is now probably marginal to the global and regional war raging in the country today. There are several proxy wars in Syria today and they can be summarized as follows:
1. The internal Wahhabi war: there is no war within Islam in Syria as Thomas Friedman and his ilk keep asserting. There has been a moderate and progressive strand of Islam in Syria and many of its elements have aligned themselves with the regime. And contrary to early claims made by the hired external opposition and its advocates in the West, there was never a moderate and progressive version of Islam among the rebel groups. How could that be the case when the sponsors of Syrian rebel Islam are Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia? Mufti Hassun (although he is an ally and perhaps a tool of the regime, and even the slain Sheikh al-Buti) is far more progressive than any of his adversaries on the other side, including Mu`adh al-Khatib who has railed in the past about the ills of social media, masturbation and Jews, and who praised al-Nusrah Front early on his tenure as leader of the Syrian National Council. The internal Wahhabi war is pitting the various Wahhabi parties in the region against each other. The Saudi regime, Qatari regime, al-Qa`idah (Nusrah Front) and ISIS: all four are Wahhabi and each is trying to dominate the field of the Wahhabi movement.
Delete2. The Iranian-Saudi war: the two sides are engaged in struggles in different parts of the region, from Yemen to Lebanon and Syria. The conflict over political dominance and hegemony.
3. The Sunni-Shia war: this is a rather contrived war that was instigated by the Saudi regime – at the behest of US and Israel – to undermine the basis of Arab support for Hizbullah and Iran in the region.
4. The Russian-American war: this war is reminiscent of the Cold War. The conflict between the Russian government and the American government has never reached this level since the demise of the Soviet Union. The conflict over Ukraine and Syria, among other places, has pushed both sides to resort to the tricks and methods of the Cold War, including proxy wars.
5. Qatari and Saudi conflict: the two Wahhabi regimes are fighting over many issues but they both wish to speak on behalf of political Islam. Qatar banks on the Muslim Brotherhood and some elements of Jihadi Islam, while the Saudi regime banks on the Salafis and some elements of Jihadi Islam. This conflict may explain the conflict between the Nusrah Front and ISIS.
6. The Hezbollah versus the Future Movement: both of those Lebanese movements have been fighting in Syria. The Future Movement is a broad and loose movement which comprises various stands, including Salafis.
7. Clash of Islamic identities: Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran are all hoping to leave their national imprint on the political Islamist movement in the region.
8. The regional conflict between the global organization of the Muslim Brotherhood on one hand and the regional Salafis on the other.
These proxy conflicts now determine the course of events in Syria and the Syrian people themselves, on either sides of the conflict, have very little control over them. The slogans that are being raised by both sides of the conflict merely serve to rationalize the policies and decisions of external patrons.
Dr. As’ad AbuKhalil is a Professor of Political Science at the University of California, a lecturer and the author of The Angry Arab News Service. He tweets @asadabukhalil.
IT may have been the most influential magazine article of the past decade. In June of 2009, the doctor and writer Atul Gawande published a piece in The New Yorker called “The Cost Conundrum,” which examined why the small border city of McAllen, Tex., was the most expensive place for health care in the United States.
ReplyDeleteThe article became mandatory reading in the White House. President Obama convened an Oval Office meeting to discuss its key finding that the high cost of health care in the country was directly tied to a system that rewarded the overuse of care. The president also brought up the article at a meeting with Democratic senators, emphasizing that McAllen represented the problem that needed to be fixed.
Five years later, the situation has changed. Where McAllen once illustrated the problem of American health care, the city is now showing us how the problem can be solved, largely because of the Affordable Care Act that Mr. Obama signed into law in 2010.
In his article, Dr. Gawande cited studies showing that patients in high-cost areas like the Rio Grande Valley, which includes McAllen, were much less likely to receive preventive services like cancer screenings or vaccines, but far more likely to be prescribed costly drugs, invasive procedures and expensive diagnostic tests. And they were not any healthier for it: Compared with places like El Paso, McAllen had worse health outcomes, despite spending twice as much per capita on Medicare.
The problem was that doctors in McAllen were responding to reimbursement incentives in the American health care system that rewarded activity rather than value. The more procedures and visits a doctor billed, the more . . . . .
McCallen vs. El Paso
Both are "border towns," btw.
Clariant, Haltermann and Mercedes-Benz have tested a fuel of the future in a fleet test since January. Initial results prove the high quality and excellent properties of sunliquid 20 fuel (contains 20 percent ethanol coming from straw). With its first-class combustion properties, sunliquid 20 improves engine efficiency so that its 4 percent lesser energy content, as compared to E10, is more than compensated. For drivers, this means: with sunliquid 20, the sustainability of the fuel (reduced CO2 emissions) is increased significantly whilst consumption remains the same.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to first-class performance, the 50 precent improvement in particle count emissions of sunliquid 20 in contrast to . . . . .
Same Mileage as E10
And, of course, at $1.50 / gal, wholesale, you're talking a significantly lower price than E10.
One of the interesting things about our ethanol program (long known to the oil companies, and others that have studied it) is the fact that E10 is just about the most inefficient of All the possible ethanol blends.
DeleteAlso, if that E20 was run in an engine with a higher than average compression ratio, it would actually get Better mileage than the E10 in the standard engine such as the one this test was most likely carried out on.
Quad County Corn Processors' state-of-the-art facility is now producing cellulosic ethanol from corn-kernel fiber. What was once a long shot has now become a reality, writes Bob Dinneen.
ReplyDeleteBy Bob Dinneen | September 24, 2014
Walt Disney once said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Disney’s ethos is true today as cellulosic ethanol emerges from a long-shot idea into a full-fledged reality.
Cellulosic ethanol production came to Iowa this summer as Quad County Corn Processors produced ethanol from corn-kernel fiber at its bolt-on facility in Galva. I had the honor of being present as it debuted the completed Adding Cellulosic Ethanol (ACE) project, which enables Quad County Corn Processors to produce 6 percent more ethanol from the same kernel used to make conventional ethanol.
The state-of-the-art facility is a prime example of next-generation biofuels being built on the solid foundation of conventional ethanol. In 2002, Quad County Corn Processors began conventional ethanol production. It cultivated its production process for more than 12 years and established the baseline technology needed to develop and refine its patented cellulosic technology. Its hard work paid off and it now has the technology to produce 2 MMgy of cellulosic ethanol.
Quad County Corn Processors isn’t the first—or the only—company to break onto the cellulosic scene this year as technological advancements are being made with other feedstocks as well. Poet-DSM is producing cellulosic ethanol using corn-crop residue at its facility in Emmetsburg, Iowa. DuPont Cellulosic Ethanol is working to create cellulosic ethanol from corn stover and Abengoa Bioenergy developed the technology to produce cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residue, dedicated energy crops and prairie grasses. Additional projects are under way in more than 20 states.
We are witnessing a turning point in next-generation biofuels as cellulosic ethanol begins entering the market. But we can’t stop here. The future of domestically produced cellulosic ethanol requires continued investment and investors require certainty.
The continued development and expansion of American-made advanced biofuels depends on the Renewable Fuel Standard. A stable RFS will give investors the certainty they need to develop additional cellulosic plants in the United States. Conversely, an unstable or weakened program will lead investors to move their projects abroad, sacrificing American jobs. The United States prides itself on innovation and advancement. Today, 67 percent of advanced biofuel ventures are based in the United States, ahead of China, Germany, France and Brazil. Americans must fight for a strong RFS so the United States can continue to lead the world in the advancement of next-generation biofuels.
It’s important to note that this milestone in cellulosic production didn’t come without setbacks. Thomas Watson, founder of IBM, once said that “the way to succeed is to double your failure rate.” We hit some stumbling blocks along the way but the reward is seeing these plants come online and realizing that the future of ethanol is here today.
It’s no longer just . . . . . .
Future is Here
QuirkThu Sep 25, 01:28:00 PM EDT
ReplyDelete.
Then you should. If you want comment upon those issues. They are easy enough to scroll by.
Then leave the big boy stuff to the rest of us here.
.
QuirkThu Sep 25, 01:30:00 PM EDT
.
s/b If you want, comment on those issues
.................................
OK, General Quirk.
It is the first ORDER OF THE DAY we have received, folks.
But what of our dispositions in Iraq................Big Boy..............
Heh, General Kutuzov...................?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Borodino
The USDA has awarded a $105 million loan guarantee to Fulcrum Sierra Biofuels LLC to support the development of an 11 MMgy facility to convert municipal solid waste (MSW) into jet fuel. The $266 million project is planned for development near Reno, Nevada.
ReplyDeleteThe loan guarantee is being made under the USDA’s Biorefinery Assistance Program through the Bank of America N.A. According to the USDA, the award represents the first loan guarantee it has made to a biobased jet fuel project.
With the loan guarantee now in place, Rick Barraza, vice president of Fulcrum Bioenergy, said the project is essentially fully funded and ready to begin construction. Construction activities are currently expected to begin later this year. According to Barraza, the facility is expected to in commercial production by the end of 2016.
Feedstock agreements are already in place for the Sierra Biofuels facility and future Fulcrum plants, Barraza continued, noting the company has contracts in place with both Waste Management and Waste Connections to provide a 20-year supply of MSW. That feedstock will come to Fulcrum at zero cost.
"This represents a huge step forward in the development of clean, renewable, job-creating American fuels," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "The nation is entering a new . . . . .
garbage to jet fuel
You are really a laugh in the ass. Quart.
ReplyDeleteYou have even less idea what to actually do than I.........
I would order the First Airborne Division to the southern borders of the New Kurdistan I intend to create.
ReplyDeleteWe are waiting for General Quart's input into our discussions Ladies and Gentlemen of the Central Command.....then we vote....or pull rank or whatever.....
I'd rather sit and read "War and Peace" myself.
DeleteI never wanted to be a General in the first place...............
Hell, I'd rather read about gas prices from Rufus.....
DeleteFLASH ALERT
ReplyDeleteInternational Peace Command
All Points Bulletin (APB)
MIA - Missing in Action
Subject:
Q, aka Quirk aka Quart aka General Quart aka street name: dumb fucker
Action: Apprehend on Sight
As de Rat told you, earlier, there is No Such Thing as "The First Airborne Division."
DeleteIt do not exist.
Never Did.
.
ReplyDeleteI see, Obumble, that you have once again decided to attack the bottle early today; therefore, to save time and effort, I will merely re-post the one I already posted above:
QuirkThu Sep 25, 12:57:00 PM EDT
This is not the first time you have displayed this bizarre behavior. Ash has noted it too. You continually repeat the same question over and over even after it has been responded to and in some cases even after it has been responded to multiple times. You seem to have the attention span of a gnat.
"I gave you my response to your puerile queries on the last stream."
What don't you understand about that statement? Is English a second language for you? Are we required to provide you with a translator? As for the word puerile, I use it often in exchanges with you because it is so very appropriate.
My answer to your question was the last one on the last stream. Not hard to find. In fact, easy peasy. The last time you pulled this I re-posted 3 times trying to accommodate your infirmity. I won't do it again. Either your impairment results from your advancing years, the booze, or possibly something more serious. I can only suggest that you have it checked out.
.
Fine, Q, but still for us retards, what would you actually DO ??????????????????
ReplyDeleteFirst, Hundred and First, Eighty Second.......you get the drift Ruf.
https://www.google.com/search?q=First+Airborne+Division&client=firefox-a&hs=tkx&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=JokkVK6UE8izogSBjYDYDw&ved=0CGYQ7Ak&biw=897&bih=382
Corn $3.26 / bu.
ReplyDeleteDamn You, Ethanol
For that matter, what are YOUR ORDERS, General Rufus?
ReplyDeleteThe orders of General Deuce seem to be to 'stand down'.
This may be the best choice, I am not saying for sure it is not.
It does seem to me the times is a wonderful opportunity for the creation of a Kurdish Sate, though, a kind of a once in a life time opportunity for us clit lovers.
Graffiti:
DeleteClit Lovers of the World, Unite !
(seen on boxcar in train depot)
Kurdish State
DeleteYou have given no actual orders, Quirk.
ReplyDeleteBob, have you no shame? You should be embarrassed! Please step away from the computer. You make it unpleasant to come here with your spam strewn all about the place.
DeleteWhat are your ORDERS General Ash?
DeletePlease state them, so we can discuss.
Ash, you yourself haven't actually said a goddamned thing.
DeleteWhat are :
YOUR ORDERS
?????
I have been in touch with a feller via my Old Girl Friend in Las Vegas , her husband, her fourth, a retired Marine officer, whose opinion is:
ReplyDelete'bomb them to smithereens' and create a Kurdish State.
i agree with the part about creating Kurdish State.
I am still awaiting your ORDERS Generals.
ReplyDeleteStand down draft dodger !
DeleteI want some actual goddamned ORDERS.
ReplyDeleteStand Down Draft Dodger !
Deleteo come on rat o rooter, you killer
Deleteand Deuce should take your death threats down
What was that last time.....a '5.58' or something.....
Deletewow
DeleteAsh ?
ReplyDeleteDeuce ?
Quirk ?
Bob:
Put a strongly armed divisions of American troops on the southern Kurdish border and take the opportunity of creating something resembling a sane State.
Ash ?
Quirk ?
Deuce ?
You are being insubordinate Draft Dodger
Deletehi rat o rooter
DeleteStand down Draft Dodger
DeleteOr be banned
DeleteSelf confessed killer and professional asshole--
Deleteand racist --
Jack HawkinsFri Jul 18, 12:36:00 AM EDT
I mean, you are an Israeli, and here is nothing worse than that.
In all the world, the Arabs of Israel are the scum.
Now if you were a European, well thatd be different, but Israelis are all Arabs, Semites.
Scum of the Earth
;-)
Have a nightmare tonight and a shitty tomorrow,
QuirkFri Jul 18, 01:13:00 AM EDT
.
And the voice of the rat is heard in the land.
And the world once again cringes.
.
Yep, the Israeli who claim to be Semites re the scum of the Earth, it has nothing to do with RACE, Robert Peterson, it has to do with their lack of integrity. Their denial of who they really are.
DeleteThat's all.
Europeans in denial, who are ashamed of the ancestry, Scum of the Earth
You are a true asshole, self confessed.
Delete"A professional asshole"
Self confessed, and proud of it.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteBetter to be a professional asshole than to have the troops you trained die, Draft Dodger.
DeleteBut since you never participated in defending our society, our culture or our nation, what would you know about it.
Banned ?
ReplyDeletePerish that wonderful thought.
I shall go fishing, and write my Niece, whose nation has suffered something like 100 million dead at the hands of the muzz.
You should do that Draft Dodger,
DeleteFuck you, rat.
Delete.
DeleteShe knows.
ReplyDeleteIt's a hate site.
ReplyDeleteOnly because you are so hateful, Anonymous
DeleteOnly because the hate permeates your being, to the core of your soul, Anonymous
DeleteOnly because UDaHo Bob
DeleteAnd, you call "me" a drunk.
ReplyDeleteWhat an utterly stupid place.
ReplyDeleteYou could always leave, it would be a brighter place.
DeleteI saw some snows up in the mountains the other day but then the snows vanished. My Niece has seen and been to.the Himalayas. Her farther meditates there.
ReplyDeleteHe told me one day, through her
"Thank you for taking care of my heart".
He wishes to meet me, I wish to meet him.
her father meditates there
ReplyDeleteyes, I would love to meet him.......
He'll be at wedding, get those water wings and start swimming
DeleteHe will be at her wedding, if she chooses to get married. My Old Girl Friend and I will walk her down the aisle.
DeleteHer father has no money for a swimming pool.
Dante was right - life is a showing of personality.
According to Drudge......
ReplyDeleteHolder is bonkers
And what qualifies Drudge to be a judge of that?
DeleteHolder is a racist, like Roofy.
ReplyDeleteMy Niece is not black enough...........
Attorney General Eric Holder Taken to Hospital
ReplyDeleteHe's now in "good condition," says the Department of Justice.
I get the feeling that the Arab Coalition bombing Syria has kinda got the Republicans wrong-footed.
ReplyDeleteThey really want to bitch, but they can't seem to find any semi-reasonable cause.
Their big problem is that the American public overwhelmingly approve of bombing ISIS, and by about the same majority disapprove of the idea of "boots on the ground."
DeleteAnd, that footage of the Saudi Royal Prince leading one flight, and the female UAE pilot leading the other is just downright disconcerting.
Your 'feelings' are always bullshit.
DeleteYour 'thoughts' are always bullshit too.
DeleteI am still ashing to know:
ReplyDeleteWhat EXACTLY is the" Rufus Doctrine"?
As far as I can see there has been no
ReplyDeleteRufus Doctrine
Ash Doctrine
Quart Doctrine
Deuce Doctrine
presented yet.
This is puzzling for a General Staff of such high caliber................
DeleteI answered that, yesterday.
ReplyDeleteYou're drunk; go to bed.
Can you remember it?
DeleteIf so, I'd to to hear it.
Something about bombing, which you said to me was impossible?
You said, when I suggested it, you dumb fuck we can't bomb them we don't have the facilities.......or some shit......
Generals Quirk, Ash, Deuce have still not really checked in.
Go to bed.
DeleteGeneral Quirk has checked out and gone to Central America.
DeleteRufus IIThu Sep 25, 08:59:00 PM EDT
ReplyDeleteGo to bed.
....................................
If everything were so easy.....
:)
I am for a synthesis of the thesis and the antithesis of the Q, R and R and D Doctrines.
ReplyDeleteCan I make myself any clearer?
We got a problem.
New Thesis:
A Free Kurdistan
An idea supported by the Iranians, they are the ones who put "Boots on the Ground".
DeleteBob supports that.
Because a "Free Kurdistan" would not be, if it was beholding to US.
This is called in the philosophy world the 'mega-thesis'.
ReplyDeleteIt came out of 'The Detroit School of Thought'.
Audio: Iraq War critic says Iraq withdrawal may have been the worst strategic mistake of all
ReplyDeleteposted at 3:21 pm on September 25, 2014 by Ed Morrissey
Dexter Filkins has long been a skeptic and critic of the Iraq war, from his tenure at the New York Times to his current assignment at the New Yorker. Still, that hasn’t kept Filkins from reporting honestly on developments in the theater; in 2008, while at the NYT, he wrote extensively about the success of the surge just a few months before the presidential election. A month later, Filkins wrote again about the “literally unrecognizable” and peaceful Iraq produced by the surge. Six years later, Filkins was among the skeptics reminding people that the Iraqis’ insistence on negotiating the immunity clause for American troops was more of a welcome excuse for Obama to choose total withdrawal — and claim credit for it until this year — rather than the deal-breaker Obama now declares that it was.
Yesterday, Filkins told Hugh Hewitt that while one can argue whether the 2003 invasion was ill-advised, the total withdrawal in 2011 was the worst strategic mistake made by the US.................
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/09/25/audio-iraq-war-critic-says-iraq-withdrawal-may-have-been-the-worst-strategic-mistake-of-all/
Yes.
Generals A, D,Q, R, R weigh in please.....
DeleteIn other words:
ReplyDeleteObama got it all fucked up and is totally responsible for this debacle.
And I'm called a war monger for at least wanting to see a free Kurdistan out of this mess.
Supporting the Iranians, you are now.
DeleteThe Kurds and the Iranians are allies in the fight against the Daesh.
That is the reality on the ground.
And no it is not Obama who is responsible, it is the Iraqi who are responsible for what happens in Iraq, not the US, not Obama.
It is the Iraqi who are responsible for the Iraqi Army Generals ordering their troops in Mosul to run without a fight.
DeleteNot the US, not Obama.
The US is not responsible for the Iraqi government, nor its Army.
At the time of the surge I recall some here saying we've got to get the hell out of there.
ReplyDeleteYou re called a "War Monger" because you want to insert US combat troops into the fight.
DeleteYou want US troops to die, fighting for some foreigners 'Cause'.
We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves. - Lyndon B. Johnson
LBJ should have listened, to LBJ.
Read the following CAREFULLY, Boobie.
They always make such ventures sound quick, low-risk and ordained to succeed. You can believe that, if you erase from your mind everything that's happened in the American wars of the 21st century.
We've fought three: Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. What they have in common is that each time, we scored a stunning victory -- only to find out that victory was a brief mirage on the road to defeat.
We got a reminder of this when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki came to Washington recently asking for military aid to reverse the country's slide into civil war. Al-Qaida, supposedly vanquished by the U.S. surge of 2007, has rebounded in a big way. In fact, the country has reverted to the bloody chaos that prompted the surge.
"Iraq today looks tragically similar to the Iraq of 2006, complete with increasing numbers of horrific, indiscriminate attacks by Iraq's al-Qaida affiliate and its network of extremists," wrote Gen. David Petraeus, who commanded coalition forces in Iraq, in Foreign Policy. "Add to that the ongoing sectarian civil war in Syria ... and the situation in Iraq looks even more complicated than it was in 2006 and thus even more worrisome."
The campaign he led under George W. Bush was supposed to not only crush the insurgency but give the government the chance to become more inclusive and democratic as it forged reconciliation between warring sectarian factions. Maliki's Shiite-dominated regime, however, passed up the opportunity.
The "Surge" was a tactical success and a strategic failure.
DeleteIt certainly did not "Win" the war but it did allow US to withdraw.
The US is not going back, the Iraqi do not want US there.
Get used to it.
We can support those that we want to succeed, from the air.
.
DeleteWhat's your point, Obumble?
I would like you to spell it out before I knock it down.
.
You can watch the US sit by while the Daesh overrun the Kurds in Syria and Iraq.
DeleteOr you an support the President and his plan.
There is no other practical course, Udaho Bob.