tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post5275338027350431731..comments2024-03-28T06:32:24.557-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: Afghan Elders are not Happy. Are You?Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-79615724091267060322010-04-13T06:12:49.606-04:002010-04-13T06:12:49.606-04:00Where'd the comments go?Where'd the comments go?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-18508526416769142892010-04-13T06:12:47.075-04:002010-04-13T06:12:47.075-04:00Where'd the comments go?Where'd the comments go?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-58905052980150441482010-04-13T02:01:44.587-04:002010-04-13T02:01:44.587-04:00China will chart its own course in reforming the y...<i>China will chart its own course in reforming the yuan, President Hu Jintao said as U.S. President Barack Obama renewed his call for a more flexible Chinese currency.<br /><br />...<br /><br />The U.S. Treasury this month delayed publication of a report that politicians had urged Obama to use to name China a currency manipulator, potentially paving the way for punitive trade measures. China had warned repeatedly that foreign criticism of its currency policy would be counter-productive.<br /><br />...<br /><br />With China's exchange rate policy under intense scrutiny, Hu also used the meeting with Obama to argue that a stronger yuan would not be a panacea for woes afflicting the world's largest economy.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE63C03920100413?type=usDollarRpt" rel="nofollow">China's Call on Yuan</a>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-15852582822421488862010-04-12T23:56:34.742-04:002010-04-12T23:56:34.742-04:00The body of Polish President Lech Kaczynski is to ...<i>The body of Polish President Lech Kaczynski is to lie in state in the capital Warsaw as the nation mourns the victims of the Smolensk air crash.<br /><br />...<br /><br />An outpouring of grief has been seen in Polish communities across the world and the country is observing a week of public mourning.<br /><br />...<br /><br />Relatives of some of the air crash victims have been arriving in Moscow in an effort to identify their loved ones.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8614685.stm" rel="nofollow">Lech Kaczynski</a>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-30019234927675009762010-04-12T23:54:54.201-04:002010-04-12T23:54:54.201-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-80762406423505794862010-04-12T22:32:46.746-04:002010-04-12T22:32:46.746-04:00The last time there was fertile ground for substan...The last time there was fertile ground for substantive debate regarding our military activities and commitments was prior to the surge in Iraq.<br /><br />Not surprisingly, the extent of our own success is the extent to which that window has since closed.<br /><br />There will come a day when we have killed just enough of the bad guys for that debate to resurface in slightly altered form among Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike.<br /><br />Until then, not so much.trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14139410627244875589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-19102747718956820642010-04-12T22:25:28.416-04:002010-04-12T22:25:28.416-04:00Oh, I agree trish, there is NO chance that any of ...Oh, I agree trish, there is NO chance that any of the things I suggest will become reality. <br /><br />No more than the people of the United States, through their Congressional representatives, will ever get to audit the Federal Reserve.<br /><br />Which is why this news watching is all just so much entertainment.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-66893825633733700182010-04-12T22:12:08.413-04:002010-04-12T22:12:08.413-04:00As that great American President, Ike, whom everyo...As that great American President, Ike, whom everyone liked, warned US would happen.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-3872946470469177162010-04-12T22:08:49.013-04:002010-04-12T22:08:49.013-04:00Those tax eaters, ash, they do not make "prof...Those tax eaters, ash, they do not make "profits". they are just the beneficiaries of Federal wealth redistribution programs.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-52921311529273590162010-04-12T22:07:02.624-04:002010-04-12T22:07:02.624-04:00And why retire them at twenty years for half pay, ...And why retire them at twenty years for half pay, at 38 years of age, for the rest of their lives?desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-72409525852798561902010-04-12T22:03:43.709-04:002010-04-12T22:03:43.709-04:00How many cooks are there in the Army anyway?How many cooks are there in the Army anyway?Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-4209737428476567302010-04-12T21:58:53.759-04:002010-04-12T21:58:53.759-04:00but the deficit picture could improve...
... a...but the deficit picture could improve...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />... a bit.Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-29485802910319911102010-04-12T21:58:01.523-04:002010-04-12T21:58:01.523-04:00for US it would be more a case of lack of profits ...for US it would be more a case of lack of profits (to put it mildly) for KBR, General Dynamics, Blackwater ect.Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-43923932466236382472010-04-12T21:56:31.248-04:002010-04-12T21:56:31.248-04:00lest i'm being too cryptic - those unemployed ...lest i'm being too cryptic - those unemployed soldiers were a horrible burden for the Russians in general.Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-46023755607591407442010-04-12T21:54:52.323-04:002010-04-12T21:54:52.323-04:00unless the choice is made to not deploy. The rusk...unless the choice is made to not deploy. The ruskies are an object lesson though...Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-88015241045631307972010-04-12T21:47:57.855-04:002010-04-12T21:47:57.855-04:00"Eliminate them, trish, not reassign them.&qu..."Eliminate them, trish, not reassign them."<br /><br />Not a snowball's chance in hell while we're still looking under the couch cushions and emptying pockets everywhere - and I do mean everywhere - for more deployables.<br /><br />And that's with half our float coming from contractors due to the cap on active duty numbers set by Congress.<br /><br />Not a snowball's chance in hell of eliminating deployable units and deployable billets.trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14139410627244875589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-66266468818907650932010-04-12T21:44:44.752-04:002010-04-12T21:44:44.752-04:00Military retirement checks, start a 65 years of ag...Military retirement checks, start a 65 years of age.<br /><br />No double dipping at a Federal level. Only one check, retirement or pay, to any Federal worker at a time.<br /><br />Or raise taxes to pay for these generous, California style benefits for Federal 'retirees'.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-596533729673162232010-04-12T21:42:04.613-04:002010-04-12T21:42:04.613-04:00"it" being the continued foreign deploym..."it" being the continued foreign deployments, as well as other 'needed' Federal projects, at home and abroad.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-80621599826581693242010-04-12T21:40:56.488-04:002010-04-12T21:40:56.488-04:00Eliminate them, trish, not reassign them.
Cut the...Eliminate them, trish, not reassign them.<br /><br />Cut the man power 'requirements' by a third, maybe half.<br /><br />Close at least 450 of our 700 plus foreign bases.<br /><br />Or raise taxes to pay for it.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-91282741640724483382010-04-12T21:39:12.982-04:002010-04-12T21:39:12.982-04:00It is a Government that can, and will, redistribut...It is a Government that can, and will, redistribute the assets of the country, and its' residents, as it sees fit.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-14162059640399589172010-04-12T21:37:51.026-04:002010-04-12T21:37:51.026-04:00"With no need for US to maintain them, there,..."With no need for US to maintain them, there, either."<br /><br />In some cases, it's cheaper - and it's almost always less of a headache - to keep them there than to permanently re-station them back here.trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14139410627244875589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-47191736815876743692010-04-12T21:35:58.825-04:002010-04-12T21:35:58.825-04:00But is a Government that can easily mandate the pu...But is a Government that can easily mandate the purchase of Health Insurance, by residents that feel that they have no current need for it.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-24716432886740430322010-04-12T21:33:54.579-04:002010-04-12T21:33:54.579-04:00With no need for US to maintain them, there, eithe...With no need for US to maintain them, there, either.<br /><br />As the Founders warned, the greatest threat to liberty is the Standing Army.<br /><br />As Ike warned, the greatest threat to liberty was the Military Industrial Complex, the one that it takes to support the Standing Army.<br /><br />General Dynamics, it has the President in its' pocket.<br /><br />As allen and most other posters acknowledge, the Federals are the greatest threat to our liberties.<br /><br />As doug-o so frequently tells US<br /><br />Slavery = Freedom.<br />Security = Freedom.<br /><br />Any Government that easily maintains a Standing Army, spending more on military capacity than the rest of the whirled, combined, is not a defender of personal or domestic liberty.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-10118451786688346412010-04-12T21:26:21.056-04:002010-04-12T21:26:21.056-04:00"...so that US forces can defend England, Ger..."...so that US forces can defend England, Germany and Italy, with troops stationed there?"<br /><br />Except that they don't do that. They're expeditionary forces (or direct air support) just like the guys at Hood and Bragg. Just like most of those in the ROK. <br /><br />Unless you occupy a Joint billet, you deploy.trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14139410627244875589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-81803982958879782242010-04-12T21:25:32.894-04:002010-04-12T21:25:32.894-04:00The Vietnam analogy is keen, here.
President Diem...The Vietnam analogy is keen, here.<br /><br />President Diem, he was a victim of regime change, engineered in DC.<br /><br />We did not leave, when he did.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.com