Hagel and defense cuts
I appreciate former-Sen. Chuck Hagel’s service to our country but his views, if implemented, would endanger our national security and inflict further damage on our already-hurting economy.
Sen. Hagel supports defense cuts like those that, according to outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, would guarantee “that we are going to hollow the force and devastate our national security.” Secretary Panetta emphasized that such cuts are “not something, frankly, that anybody who is responsible ought to put into effect.”
These cuts would also hurt our state’s economy. According to a study by George Mason University, sequestration-caused defense cuts would cost North Carolina almost 12,000 jobs. Another report noted that sequestration would inflict wage costs of $650 million on our state, and reduce our domestic product by almost a billion dollars.
Sen. Kay Hagan must do the right thing by our nation and our state and vote against Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense.
REP. DEBRA CONRAD
REPRESENTATIVE, FORSYTH COUNTY DISTRICT 74
Winston-Salem
Icy roads
Why is it when there’s ice in the sky, and the cold is tumbling down and the mess on the road has turned to ice a-la-mode there is not a sand truck around? In fact, as I look all around, no place can a sand truck be found.
Could it be that our road crews have not heard of sand? More likely they use what’s at hand. If we think that it’s cheaper to have wrecks than to sand, then the cost of catastrophes we don’t understand. Perhaps we should take a new look at the real cost of iced roads.
Must people have preventable crashes when just adding sand could prevent lots of smashes? If sand makes it safer for you and for me, then I vote we start using it A.S.A.P.
GEORGE BEDELL
Elkin
On firearms
First of all, there is no way to conduct background checks on an individual sale of a firearm. I do favor background checks on sales at gun shops or gun shows, which should already be taking place.
The emphasis should be put on mental health and training schools and police in how to handle armed intruders.
Finally, harsh sentences should be given to those convicted of using a firearm in commission of a crime. Not just shooting the firearm but just possessing one in commission of a crime.
This will work far better than banning a firearm based on cosmetics. Let’s face it; that is the only difference between an assault weapon and a pretty looking semi-automatic firearm.
MELVIN D. PEMPSELL
Winston-Salem
Renewables pay off
Your recent article on North Carolina’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard and efficiency programs (“GOP targets N.C. green energy policy,” Jan. 28) demonstrates the misconceptions that some people hold regarding renewable energy mandates. I believe it’s time to set the record straight.
State RPS laws have been instrumental for renewable energy development around the country. These policies – often implemented with bipartisan support – were responsible for driving the creation of 33 percent of non-hydro renewable electricity in the U.S. in 2011. This boom has lowered costs and boosted private investment to the tune of over $100 billion.
RPS success stories are not limited to national statistics. Right here in North Carolina, a study conducted for the N.C. Utilities Commission found that passing an RPS law would be $500 million cheaper than using new coal and natural gas or new nuclear power. As a result of our RPS, over 1,100 renewable energy and energy efficiency companies do business in our state. These businesses generated more than $3.7 billion in revenue and employed more than 15,200 full-time equivalent positions in 2012.
With his support for offshore wind energy, Gov. Pat McCrory is demonstrating that private investment, lower costs and renewable energy are not concepts monopolized by Democrats or Republicans. Instead, North Carolina should remain committed to smart public policy that drives innovation and builds an economy for the future. The RPS laws are a prime example of this and should remain in place for years to come.
IVAN URLAUB
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
NC SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATION
Raleigh
LTE #1 Hagel and Defense Cuts....
ReplyDeleteAs ALWAYS, Conrad is either misinformed or just another one of her disinformation campaigns. Outgoing Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta was referring to the Sequestration Cuts set to go into effect in March if CONGRESS does not act when he said that. Had she watched the confirmation hearings, or listened to what was said, or even read the transcripts, she would know:
“[Sequestration] would harm military readiness and disrupt each and every investment program,” Hagel said. “Based on my assessment to date, I share [Panetta’s] concerns. I urge the Congress to eliminate the sequester threat permanently and pass a balanced deficit-reduction plan.”.
Panetta has repeatedly said sequestration – about $500 billion in defense spending cuts over the next decade -- would cause significant damage to the military. The cuts are even more problematic, defense officials say, because Congress has not passed a 2013 defense appropriations bill, meaning the Pentagon is operating under a continuing resolution where spending is frozen at 2012 levels.
The impact of a year-long continuing resolution and sequestration scheduled to begin on March 1 has prompted the Pentagon to freeze hiring and slow contract awards. DoD is also preparing to cancel aircraft and ship maintenance scheduled later this year.
While the preparations are reversible, they could severely harm the readiness of forces over the long term, defense officials say.
Hagel said a year-long continuing resolution would put DoD in a “straightjacket.”.
LIKE PANETTA. Hagel said sequestration-level spending cuts means DoD would need to “significantly revise the defense strategy.”.
I think a "staightjacket" is called for here, just not for the DoD.
174 Republicans voted FOR sequestration, House Roll Call vote #690 for S. 365 on Aug. 1, 2011, including Virginia Foxx, Howard Coble, Sue Myrick, Renee Elmers, Patrick McHenry, all of NC, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Paul Ryan.
DeleteSenate Republicans on Dec. 30 rejected Democrats’ proposal to delay massive cuts to planned defense and domestic spending, using new tax revenues to pay for the change, lawmakers said.ut Republicans quickly rejected the plan because raising taxes even to fund the Defense Department budget they strongly support is a “non-starter,” Snowe said. What GOP lawmakers want, several said Dec. 30, are non-defense spending cuts to turn off the pending cuts to all non-exempt Pentagon accounts.
Perhaps Rep Conrad does not know the difference between a "legitimate" argument and an argument that will "shut that whole thing down," but the American people do.
Rep Conrad, if you think the automatic cuts to defense found in S 365 (Sequestration) is a bad idea, here is how the NC Delegation voted: North Carolina.
DeleteNO D Butterfield, G.K. NC 1st
AYE R Ellmers, Renee NC 2nd.
NO R Jones, Walter NC 3rd.
NO D Price, David NC 4th.
AYE R Foxx, Virginia NC 5th.
AYE R Coble, Howard NC 6th.
NO D McIntyre, Mike NC 7th.
NO D Kissell, Larry NC 8th.
AYE R Myrick, Sue NC 9th.
AYE R McHenry, Patrick NC 10th.
AYE D Shuler, Heath NC 11th.
NO D Watt, Mel NC 12th.
NO D Miller, Brad NC 13th.
Wow, Rep. Debra Conrad is just not satisfied with her vote in the general assembly. Now she's after Hagan's too.
ReplyDeleteSequestration will hurt military jobs. In coming up with the grand idea for sequestration, Republicans didn't want to add any revenue and Democrats didn't want to cut social programs, so basically they ended up cutting defense, a cut that Democrats could support.
As originally envisioned most congressional leaders never imagined that this gimmickry might actually come to fruition. Social programs will be cut too, but Medicare, Medicaid and Pell grants basically are untouched. Education will take a hit as well as the budget for embassy security. The military will be subjected to a large portion of the cuts and NC will lose jobs, but military spending is a very ineffective form of corporate welfare which doesn't produce strong overall job growth. If were're going to borrow the money and spend it anyway, it would be much better spend in improving our infrastructure by building roads, bridges, and improving the power grid which might avoid future Super Bowl blackouts.
We need to get Bev. back, she'd fix us up. Worse.
DeleteLTE #3 On Firearms.....
ReplyDeleteUnder North Carolina law, robbery is defined using the common law definition which originated centuries ago. This definition states that robbery is:
The taking of the property of another with the intent to permanently deprive that person of it with the use of force or the fear of force.
If you are accused of this offense and you do not use a firearm in the commission of it, you will be charged with a Class G Felony.
A Class G Felony is punishable by a presumptive sentence of 10 to 13 months if you have no criminal history. However, if you have a criminal record, your penalty can be far more severe.
Armed Robbery
The offense of armed robbery occurs when you are in the possession of a firearm or weapon and you use or threaten to use it in the commission of a robbery. This can occur in a home, in a bank, or any other setting, whether in the day or night.
Whether you were the primary actor or an accomplice, you can be charged with a Class D Felony for this offense.
A Class D Felony carries a potential presumptive 64-80 month prison sentence if you have no criminal history. If you have a criminal record, of course, that penalty could be even more serious.'
That's 6x harsher.
LTE #1 – I know Debra Conrad and she, like far too many Republicans, would lie to God himself.
ReplyDeleteBack when the county commissioners were doing their ridiculous prayer thing, at one point it looked as if the other commissioners would not appeal the ruling against them, so Conrad and her evangelical pal, Gloria Whisenhunt cried in the middle of a meeting…Jesus! Join the crybabies Bohner and Beck.
LTE #2 – Move to Winston-Salem.
LTE #3 – What we need is a Manhattan Project level effort to study and reduce firearm violence.
As Phargo points out, penalties for adding a firearm to the mix in any crime are already significantly higher…that applies to federal crimes as well.
LTE #4 – Directing reason at our GOP legislators is like directing reason at a rock…neither is capable of processing reason.
LTE#1 I'll take your word on that Rush. Because you truly are an expert on lying.
DeleteLTE#3 Liberal judges let 'em out as fast as they put in. So, our gun laws are worthless. That's what the NRA has been trying to say.
LTE#4 You wouldn't know logical reasoning if it smacked you in the face Rush.
Good AM, folks!
ReplyDeleteI see that the LTE's are already nicely covered. Besides,we have more pressing issues in the news: a boom mike caught Joe Flacco exulting and using the F-word while celebrating the Ravens' victory. I do not, however, see whether Beyonce' lip-synched. I did not watch the performance, as I was loading the dishwasher, and changing Roscoe's litter box.
I'm sure that Roscoe appreciated that.
DeleteI am shocked...I say, shocked...that an NFL player would use the F-word...what is the world coming to? Next thing you know, politicians will be doing it too.
And I'm quite sure that 49er's coach Harbaugh was saying "Gosh, darnit Ref, that was a dadgummed hold" on their last incomplete pass in the end zone.
DeleteI didn't watch Beyonce either, although I have been told by those who did watch that there was far more dancing going on than singing.
It does remind of a story concerning former NBA / Georgia Tech star Mark Price who sang gospel songs in his church when he was home. After getting called for a questionable foul, he replied, "Doggone it ref! How could you call that?" which resulted in Price being T'ed up. When Price asked why the technical, the ref replied, "I figure 'doggone' is a swear word for you'".
Ha ha, funny story about Mark Price!
DeleteRe the f-word: yes, I'm very apprehensive that Joltin' Joe in his enthusiasm might slip up and use the word . . . oops, too late. That's OK, former political participant Stab has had a few slips himself, like when the moron Raven ran into Akers and gave him another chance to kick a field goal.
Might be what Jim harbaugh was saying to the ref about that last pass play:
DeleteStatesmanship
Yes, I believe he was expressing similar sentiments. It has been suggested that the ref may have decided that the pass was uncatchable, but that doesn't count for defensive holding, only for interference.
DeleteSpeaking of holding, I enjoyed how thoroughly the Ravens held the rushers while the Ravens punter danced seconds away before stepping out for a safety.
That last was simply great. CBS did a terrific job of capturing that whole scene...you could literally see the "punter's" eyes and tell that he was really enjoying his little dance. We sometimes forget that that is what a game is supposed to be about...having fun.
DeleteJoey Flacco had a post season matched only once before, by the legendary Joe Montana, but if I had a vote, my MVP would be Jacoby Jones, who created one touchdown out of a badly underthrown pass and then threaded his way at full speed through the 49ers special team for a record tying 108 yard kickoff return TD.
I agree. Jones took the game away from the Niners.
DeleteGood afternoon folks! Looked over the weekend LTE's and was saddened to learn of the loss of little Andy.
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: It was another R, Pres. DDE, who warned of the rise of the military industrial complex in his farewell address to the nation. As Phargo noted, Secty. Panetta's remarks referred to the sequestration reductions that would result from Congress failing to act. Last time I checked, it was Congress rather than the Secretary of Defense that was responsible for the nation's finances. Interesting to note how the R's are turning on a fellow R just because he was nominated by Pres. Obama.
LTE 2: I'm not terribly familiar with Elkin, but if they have insufficient funds to adequately salt and brine their streets, they may want to look at voting in representatives who would address this particular issue. Of course, it may require additional taxes, since the raw materials, trucks, and workers don't come for free.
LTE 3: I would say there is no way to enforce rather than "conduct" a background check on a private gun sale. Not sure what is meant by the second paragraph. Is Mr. Pempsell advocating for mental health employees and policemen only to handle armed intruders? As others have noted, the use of a firearm (fired or not) in the commission of a crime already results in additional charges and sentencing time.
LTE 4: It's still too early to judge whether Gov McCrory will be his own man or a tea party pawn, so I wouldn't put too much into anything McCrory has said in the past that might contradict the idelology. Wind turbines are a viable energy alternative, but the millionaires who have summer homes on the coast may object to having their view obscured by a bunch of turbines...at least until their homes fall into the ocean.
Thank you dotnet for the comment about Andy's passing.
ReplyDeleteWe've known for a good while how utterly nuts Democrats/Liberals are when it comes to guns/gun laws. Now, it seems that the nuts are trying to pass legislation in Washington State that you have to undergo a background check to buy ammunition. Furthermore, they want every bullet to be registered. If you were to lose a single bullet, for example, you would have to file a police report.
ReplyDeleteJust when you think, 'okay, maybe we can negotiate with these nuts,' they demonstrate that you can't.
Obama: Don't let pro-gun lobby block "common sense" gun laws
Delete________
We've already had an assault weapons ban, and it didn't work. So common sense tells us just the opposite of what you're telling us Mr. President.
Duh!
Hee Hee..you gotta laugh, or you would cry.
Tiny loves "common sense", because it's his sort of "sense".
DeleteIt is called "common" for a reason. It is also called "horse sense". Anyone who has ever been around horses much knows that horses have about as much sense as a gabbling gander.
This will work far better than banning a firearm based on cosmetics. Let’s face it; that is the only difference between an assault weapon and a pretty looking semi-automatic firearm.
ReplyDeleteMELVIN D. PEMPSELL
Winston-Salem
___________
A lot of liberals wouldn't know the good end from the bad end of gun. That's why they want to ban 'assault weapons'.
Never though that GE and BE could come in so handy when explaining something.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGuns kill people, people have nothing to do with it?
ReplyDeleteWhat? These liberals keep saying the dumbest things. But they're not dumb though. Hee..Hee....Hee You gotta love it.
Guns don't kill people, people kill people. People with guns kill people en masse and very efficiently.
ReplyDeleteMath problem: So if an entire Secret Service Team, some of the best trained protectors in the world and at least one, Robert Wanko, brandishing an Uzi, cannot keep a crazy gunman with a Röhm RG-14 .22 cal. handgun from shooting 4 people including the President, how many school guards would it take to protect 600 school children from a crazy gunman with a Bushmaster AR-15 with high capacity magazines? Chris Wallace on Fox News to Wayne LaPierre: "That's ridiculous and you know it sir."
Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corp. and owner of Fox News, said that the tragic events in Newtown, Connecticut this week made it clear that it is time to ban automatic weapons in the United States.
Appropos of nothing much, but to some of us familiar with firearms, an RG revolver is a cheap piece of junk.
DeleteI'll bet if the principal of Sandy Hook could talk now, she'd say she wished she had a gun when she charged the gunman.
DeleteDopey logic, leads to dopey results, and dead people.
As always, the master of made up crap is making up more crap.
DeleteIf he got his information from sources other than headlines and TV, i.e. perhaps the actual testimony of the only surviving eyewitness to the shooting of principal Dawn Hochsprung at Newtown, he would know that she did not charge anybody. She stepped out of a meeting room to see what was going on and was immediately shot, along with a school counselor, by the gunman. The witness, a parent, quickly stepped back inside and slammed the door, thus saving her own life.
Even if Ms. Hochsprung had had a gun in her hand, it would have done her no good. Only a fool who has never been shot at would believe otherwise. Real life is not the movie or TV version.
The charge BS was made up by hysterical relatives and friends and jumped on by headline writers all over the country. It didn't happen.
This is similar to all the gun nut bullshxt about Hitler. After the Treaty of Versaille was signed, the Weimar government enacted a ban on possession of all firearms. In 1928, they relaxed the law a bit, but had strict registration laws, including both the owner and the weapon. In fact, the laws were aimed at people like Hitler, who might try to overthrow the legitimate government by force.
By the time Hitler actually came to power, the gun laws were already in place. Anything else is just a fantasy made up by those living a fantasy life.
I agree bucky, the dopey logic of the mother having such weapons in her house and taking her challenged son to a shooting range to teach him how to use them led to tragic results. I'll bet if the mother could talk today, she would wish she had never seen a gun.
DeleteAgree wholeheartedly with Stab...RG is nothing more than the classic "Saturday Night Special".
DeleteYet it brought down a US President surrounded by highly trained bodyguards. And don't forget that Lincoln was killed by a single shot Derringer.
It's not "assault weapons" that are the problem...it's all guns and the culture that glorifies them.
"the culture that glorifies them" . . .
DeleteYep. And we can thank in part TV, which I damned a while ago, and then both OT and praised for CBS' coverage. But, a lot of the gun culture has been imbued on us by TV and movie screens. The Wild West was a lot tamer than presented by Hollywood.
Oh how true! The wild west is one of the biggest fictions ever imposed upon anyone.
DeleteThe people who "went west" did so seeking opportunity, and many of them found it. 99.9% of them were decent people who found Billy the Kid and his ilk to be nothing more than sons of the devil. One of the first signs that a community had "become civilized" was the banning of guns in public places.
When Dodge City was incorporated in the 1870s, the very first municipal law passed banned possession of guns within the city limits. Wichita, Tombstone and dozens, then hundreds of other towns followed suit.
Killers like Bill Hickok, the Earps and Pat Garrett were hired as law enforcement officers to deal with the other killers who ignored their laws.
Today, Tombstone cashes in on tourist traffic by promoting the OK Corral gunfight and Boot Hill, but you can be sure that the decent folks who lived there in the late 19th century were less than thrilled by such matters.
A walk through Boot Hill, accompanied by a reading of its history, is simply appalling.
I guess the Boy Scouts decided to hold off on admitting gays into the organization for the time being.
ReplyDeleteGood idea. Can you imagine the amount of civil liability that the organization would incur if a young boy was raped by a gay scout master?
I think the 'Scouts' would be a thing of the past.
DeleteGod made a farmer.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sillEgUHGC4
__________
When I see him. I going to ask him why in the hell did he also make a sleazy, slimmy, lying, no good, scummy, liberal Democrat.
If there is anything that I hate, it is a "slimmy" person, Democrat or otherwise.
Delete"a sleazy, slimmy [sic], lying, no good, scummy, liberal Democrat." Apparently he only made one, not so bad big fella. When God created Republicans, he truly overestimated his abilities. (paraphrase of Oscar Wilde).
DeleteGod can still claim Galileo, Newton, AE, Feynmann et al. Not a bad job.
DeleteYes, like many of us, he sometimes gets it right and sometimes doesn't.
DeleteSince we invented him in the first place, how could it be otherwise?
I have lost weight lately. Thanks for noticing!
DeleteEarly reports are that the AL hostage standoff is over, with the kid rescued and the kidnapper dead. From the piecemeal reports, it sounds as if the FBI blasted the bunker door open and then stormed in. Reports are that the kid is OK.
ReplyDeleteReuters is reporting that a law enforcement person on the scene told them that a stun, or "flash" grenade was used.
DeleteHe also said that the child was in "reasonably good" condition.
Hope we don't find out the old geezer was a gay pedophile. Don't you Rush?
DeleteHope not, we already know he was a old white man survivalist
DeleteTiny is a master of "projection". Since he "thinks" with his weenie, he assumes that everyone else does as well.
DeleteNeighbors described Dykes as a man who once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property, and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and a firearm.
DeleteMichael Creel said Dykes kept to himself and listened to a lot of conservative talk radio. No surprise there.
Delete"God gave man a penis and a brain but not enough blood to use them both at the same time." Bucky, when you see HIM, you should ask why he didn't give you enough blood to use either one at anytime.
DeleteThat talk radio thing really worries me. If radios are making people kill people, maybe we should ban them. I know, I know…radios don't kill…people who listen to radios kill.
DeleteAnd just to be on the safe side, TVs as well. We know for a fact that they make you dumber, and there are a lot of people out there who cannot afford to get any dumber.
The science writer Arthur C. Clarke once said, "Whom the gods wish to destroy, they would give TV." I obviously watch some TV, but it certainly has exerted a malign influence. It does make one dumber, especially children, as it is entirely passive entertainment.
DeleteRepublican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan called John McCain a Racist. Looks like a uncivil war in the Republican Party.
ReplyDeleteThings are beginning to fray around the edges.
DeleteLet's just hope that when the dust has settled, the people with real sense, as opposed to common sense, are in command of the party. Otherwise we will be down to the Democrats, the independents and a hapless GOP made up entirely of fringe loonies.
That was because McCain likened the Iranian PM to the monkey that the Iranians claim they sent into space. Calling the ayatollahs mouthpiece a name is racist? Not sure about that one. Another tempest in a very small teapot. I probably would not call the PM a monkey, though. Son of a bitch works better for me. Oops, I hope no boom mikes are around.
DeleteShame on you, Stab. You know that boom mikes are always lurking around here.
DeleteHaving signed the "Tiny No Obscenities Contract", I would have written sxn of a bxtch.
It does take a little extra effort, because auotcorrect tried to turn that into "Chick-faux-A".
Ah, well.
The Persians had civilization when Western Europe was still in caves. McCain's a sad little man.
DeleteThe current regime in Iran is uncivilized, millennia or no. McCain may be sad, but what do you say about a regime that uses rape as a form of intimidation and punishment?
DeleteArthur is right.
DeleteYes, the Persians did have civilization long before the west.
And contrary to popular belief, they still do. Anyone who defines the citizens of a nation by its leaders is simply revealing a vast ignorance of human nature. People in most of the rest of the world define us by such fools as Dick Cheney, G. Bush and Mitch McConnell. Sorry, leave me out of that.
I know enough people who either live in Iran or are exiled from Iran to know that they feel exactly the same way about their current leaders. They want only what we want, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The unfortunate fact is that they are currently under the control of religious despots. It is bitterly amusing to them that fools in the US call our current President a despot, because they are painfully aware of what that really means. And they see accurately that what the Republican Party in the US is doing is trying to implement its own reign of religious despotry.
They would give almost anything to live under the tyrant Obama. But for the moment, they can only soldier on, doing the best they can. Someday, sooner rather than later, the time will be right and they will rise up and send the ayatollahs packing.
Will we, by then, be under the heel of the Southern Baptist jackasses? If so, maybe the Persians will come to our aid.
"Calling the ayatollahs mouthpiece a name is racist?"
DeleteNot necessarily, but calling him a monkey kind of is, given the history of that word.
Don't try to change the subject...you won't hear me defending the Islamic Republic. It just angers me when I hear terms like that thrown around from people who should really know better. And O.T. is correct; equating a people and their government can be a huge mistake. Most Iranians (at least the ones I know from Shiraz and north Tehran) are some of the most pro-American people you'd ever want to meet, if only because of their government's anti-Americanism.
But make any racist comments or denigrate Iranian culture, and they'll rip you a new one. As they should.
Note that I said "regime," not the Iranian people. I know a number of Iranian expats here, all cultured and professional. I do not consider the Iranian PM or his ayatollah masters to be either. I do consider them scared shiftless that the Arab Spring will head east and learn Farsi. We can only hope.
DeleteI'm sure the intent was to be insulting, but Ahmin-whatever (can't remember the spelling) warrants no defense. Whipping out the bloody shirt of "Racism!" on his behalf is quite a stretch. He presides over a cutthroat regime at the behest of cutthroat ayatollahs.
DeleteThere's plenty to criticize about the Iranian regime without using terms that denigrate Iranian people.
DeleteBut yes, racism doesn't exist any more. I was impudent for even broaching the subject.
Well, that "cuts" both ways. The rest of the world views, rightfully, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and W in the same light.
DeleteAlmost all of the rest of the world knows, for instance, that the US had virtually no role in the defeat of the Taliban...that was accomplished by the Northern Alliance, a temporary group of warlords, with US air support. But it was the warlords' troops who died.
And they also know that we knew precisely where Osama bin Laden was at Tora Bora, but that the Bushites' cowardice in refusing to seal off his escape route to Pakistan let him get away, despite the pleas of the American Spec Ops commander on the ground. Osama was not seen favorably by anyone in that neck of the woods...so our failure is seen for just what it was, a US failure.
And they know that Cheney's BS about exporting democracy was a late entry, well after the Northern Alliance had already installed Hamid Karzai as the new leader in Afghanistan.
The only people in the dark on this are the citizens of the USA.
So who is the cutthroat?
One insult denigrated one person who can stand denigrating.
DeleteNo one said racism doesn't exist, but the cry "Racism!" is applied frequently when the issue isn't racism but unwanted opposition.
Or when it's simply knee-jerk. Years ago, Howard Cosell, no better friend of black athletes than he, described kick returner Alvin Garrett as "that little monkey." The outcry was ludicrous, even to Garrett. But Cosell felt obliged to grovel, even though Garrett understood Cosell was referring to his gyrating and scampering as he returned a kick.
Here is a tiny example of what is going on in Iran:
DeletePosted at 02:07 PM ET, 09/20/2012
Iranian woman beats up cleric for criticizing her wardrobe
By Olga Khazan
A cleric in Iran’s northern Semnan province claims he was beaten up by a woman after telling her to cover up. Hojatoleslam Ali Beheshti, a top religious figure in Shahrmirzad, told a passerby that she was “bad hijab” — a woman who is not fully in compliance with the country’s Islamic dress code.
She at first told Beheshti to look the other way, but he repeated his demand. Beheshti told the Iranian Mehr news agency that the woman then pushed him to the ground and began kicking him.
“From that point on, I don’t know what happened. I was just feeling the kicks of the woman who was beating me up and insulting me.”
He said he was hospitalized for three days after the incident, and the region’s prosecutor said he is “reviewing the case.”
Such incidents are not rare, Radio Free Liberty reports. Several other women have clashed with the country’s religious police, and Mehr names three other clerics who were “beaten up” by women they berated for their dress. However, it’s rare for women to stand up to morality police in small towns, reports CNN.
Earlier this year, the Iranian government cracked down on the dress code, which has been in place since 1979. In July, 53 coffee shops and 87 restaurants have been closed in Tehran for serving customers with improper hijab or for other gender-related offenses, such as permitting women to smoke hookah pipes.
___Washington Post
Those who limit their sources know little about what is really going on. Let's hope that she got at least one good shot into his bxlls.
(autocorrect tried to change that last to "bells")
Cutthroat? We were talking about the ayatollah's puppet. Any others, foreign or domestic, weren't germane.
DeleteAs for the Iranian lady and the ayatollah, I hope she put him in the soprano section of the mosque glee club.
DeleteThe women political prisoners in the ayatollahs' jails aren't faring quite so well.
And we are talking about Cheney's puppet, the pathetic George W. Bush, who is personally responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere.
DeleteTo the citizens of the world, one is very much like the other. The ayatollah's puppet cannot touch Bush for sheer numbers.
Most of the women political prisoners in the ayatollah's jails could be released tomorrow by saying the right words. But they won't because they have far more guts than any privileged American male.
Here's another little piece:
DeleteIran Bans Women From 77 College Majors, but Can Leaders Really Stop Progress?
By Virginia Choi | Posted Monday, Sept. 24, 2012, at 4:47 PM ET
News came late last week that Iran, apparently frightened over its female citizens’ growing independence, will begin restricting women’s access to a wide range of educational opportunities.
Although Iran was one of the first nations in the Middle East to permit women to study at universities, the BBC reports that over 30 universities have agreed to ban women from about 80 different degrees such as engineering, business, nuclear physics, and computer science (you know, the ones that can potentially steer women toward power and financial freedom).
While the government has not released any official reason for this change, Iranian Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi told the BBC that the restrictions have to do with the government’s aim to “restrict women’s access to education, to stop them being active in society, and to return them to the home.”
So why now? The dean of Iran’s Petroleum University of Technology, Gholamreza Rashed, says that the school stopped accepting female students since “the hardship of the work situation”—ie. Western sanctions—and “because the oil industry does not need female students right now.” But many believe the cutback is more due to a conservative backlash against female progress, and growing alarm about the country’s declining marriage and birth rates. There’s also the hangover from 2009’s Green Revolution, to which female protestors were central, as they were in Egypt and other Arab Spring uprisings.
This past August, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made a speech imploring Iranians to have more children and return to traditional values. Since then, there have been new accounts of cutbacks in sex education and family planning programs that provide access to contraception. But can Iran really turn back time?
As Hanna Rosin’s new book, The End of Men, argues, women have “pulled decisively ahead [of men] by almost every measure,” especially in receiving a higher education. Like in the United States, Iran’s universities have more female students than male students. Female Iranians are surpassing their male peers in traditionally male-dominated studies, like science and engineering. The trend is clear. Iran’s leaders must think that the only way to prevent the “end of men” in their country is to make it illegal for women to succeed.
___XXfactor: WHAT WOMEN REALLY THINK
The ayatollah urges Iranians to have more children and return to traditional values. Sound familiar? A page right out of the Republican playbook. After all, our greatest ally in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia, the nation that oppresses women more than any other…or at least tries to.
A lot of it's generational I think.
DeleteI'd feel better if you had called out some of the folks who were the worst race baiters on JournalNow, instead of treating them with indulgence, but I still have some battlescars.
I think I have found the solution for Tiny.
ReplyDeleteFor only about $3,000, he can buy his very own RealDoll. Since she is almost, but not quite real, she won't care a bit about what a loser he is. Her principle advantage is that she has no brain.
Of course, he would probably prefer the male models. They come in two body styles, A and B, and in a choice of three faces, Michael, Nick and Nate. Also five skin tones, ten eye colors, several shades of facial stubble and five "sizes" of you-know-what, from flaccid to XL.
If money is tight right now, which it almost certainly is with all the bucks Tiny "blows" at Chick-faux-A and Duckwaddle Mountain, he might look into the much cheaper "Bottoms Up" partial.
RealDoll
CAUTION! Pix of life-sized naked dolls. Adults only. Tiny can probably get away with lying about the adult part on entry. They don't require a picture ID.
The local police and FBI have been understandably close-mouthed about what was going on in Bama. The kidnapper, Jimmy Lee Dykes, had access to TV news from his bunker, so local TV stations and newspapers had been asked to restrict what they said, lest they trigger some sort of reaction from him.
ReplyDeleteSo you have to wander farther afield to find any specifics at all. The Stamford (CT) Advocate is generally considered to be a respectable newspaper. Here is a snippet of what they published:
"Government records and interviews with neighbors indicate that (Jimmy Lee) Dykes joined the Navy in Midland City and served on active duty from 1964 to 1969. His record shows several awards, including the Vietnam Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. During his service, Dykes was trained in aviation maintenance."
That may or may not be accurate…note that government sources and interviews with neighbors are not separated in this statement. If Dykes was in the Navy and received the training and the awards listed, it actually means little.
He could have been stationed on an aircraft carrier offshore, or at a repair facility on shore…the difference is night and day…fairly safe on the carrier, not at all safe on shore. And the awards mean nothing. Just about anybody who doesn't kill any of their colleagues gets the Good Conduct Medal. I knew many chief petty officers who had a whole stream of gold good conduct hashes on their sleeves who were drunken bullies and fools.
And then the Advocate signals how desperate they are for readers by adding this unbelievably stupid statement:
'Melissa Knighton, city clerk in Midland City, said a woman had been praying in the town center Monday afternoon. Not long after, the mayor called with news that Dykes was dead and that the boy was safe.
"She must have had a direct line to God because shortly after she left, they heard the news," Knighton said.'
Are you kidding me? No wonder Americans rank so low in worldwide intelligence competitions.
I wonder why the kid's mom didn't have that direct line 5 days ago. Maybe TV station news directors had the lines tied up.
DeleteWho knows? This had to be a very difficult situation for all concerned. If, as reported, the kidnapper's only request was that he be given a reporter to write his story, why was that not granted? Couldn't find a reporter with the guts to go in there?
DeleteI know from long experience that that is not true. There are dozens, if not hundreds, if not thousands of ambitious reporters who would have gone for that deal.
Unfortunately, especially when the FBI is involved, there is often this macho BS thing that the perp should not be given what he wants. Hell, if it got the kid out, who cares?
As soon as I saw your post that mentioned an explosion I figured that a "concussion" grenade was involved. We used them every day in Viet Nam to combat VC sapper teams, underwater swimmers who liked to attach mines or other explosive devices to our PBRs.
The rule was that pier watches dropped concussion grenades whenever they suspected an underwater attack, alternating with blasts of 10 gauge buckshot at suspicious areas of the river.
Worked pretty well, except for the time when a new guy, frightened by the grenade, dropped it straight down into the water, resulting in the caving in of a pier support, and a collapse of the pier, pitching him into the river, which due to the swiftness of the current, caused him to drown.
After that, we had supplemental grenade training or all pier watch personnel.
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