Sic Semper Tyrannis

"Citizen Cane. Senescent Kane (Urf! Urf!)" by Alan Farrell

(Urf! Urf!) In proto-societies, I understand, it is tradition to leave the old to wander off into the forest to expire when they can no longer hold up their end of the log. Perhaps even give them a little shove when they get to drooling and gumming and carrying on about the prom and their first puppy. I can't imagine pushing Sylvester Stallone or Arnold or Bruce Willis out among the ferns and berries... not while they can still deliver a left that would drop a buffalo or snatch up any old automatic weapon to hand (apparently enjoy infinite magazine capacity if not any particular degree of accuracy) and waste a dozen or so T(wo)third(s) World ginks then inspire that look--we know which look though few enough of us may glimpse it in face-to-face communion nowadays, it being reserved almost exclusively for sinuous-lipped, three-day bearded, vaguely Baltic (Two)third(s) World ginks in rumpled blouses and lugging man purses--in the dilated pupils of nubile fee-males of the tight jeans, high-cheekbones, pouty lips persuasion. Stallone comes off the best of the bunch, the rest of whom if they still do their own stunts and still burst through the picture windows in slo-mo, remain a little leery these days about that shirtless moment. Likewise, if they do allow themselves to have seconded to them one of the above tight-jeans, high-cheekbones, pouty-lips sirens, they have the good taste to let someone younger (more sinuous and three-day-beardeder, rumple-blouseder and man-purseder) do the rubbing and settle for the above dilated, belated regard, unspoken wish they'd known one another twenty years ago (when Tiffany was an embryo and Arnold Number One Box Office in the Nation).

Well, okay. We've got a spate of flicks starring venerable icons of malehood, routinely panned by "critics," whoever they are, bouded by the Academy, and lately even dodged by audiences, testimony, I suppose, that an age of guyness passes tragically if irresistibly into mush: "Wherefore men fight not as they fought in the brave days of old..." as Macauley or one of them had it. The premise remains eternal: a wordless marginal, who harbors dark thoughts and the black-and-white moral conviction of primal oral cultures, gets provoked by some outrage to his person or his entourage/family, stews, steams, percolates, then explodes to exact protracted and disproportionate revenge from the malefactors in a ritual sequence working its way up through the ranks of miscreants to the Head Honcho, to whom a savage comeuppance gets administered gruesomely with a stake or a band saw or a tub of lye or a meal sodden with transfatty acids washed down with 16-ounce sugary beverage (yeeee-uw). Hubris, atê, nemesis, or as the Krau Germans put it: Fahrvergnugen, Schadenfreude, Umlaut. Monomyth. Economyth. Ironomyth. Iconomyth.

Everglades Challenge 2013 - TTG

 

"Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

Ratty is definitely on to something. To be on the water in any kind of craft can be therapeutic. IMHO the sound of the surf can only be equalled by the sound of the wind in the pines. Both together… heaven. One of the saddest things I often saw on the streets of D.C. was the herds of young, ambitious suits with ear buds in their ears, eyes and thumbs glued to their smartphones, and totally oblivious to their surroundings. It is no wonder so much self serving and destructive idiocy is produced in Washington. As I said last year, I think we deserve a break... or at least a little vicarious diversion from the madness of politics.

I once again invite the SST Committee of Correspondence to follow this year's running of the Everglades Challenge which begins this Saturday morning. I discovered this event several years ago and have put participating in it on my bucket list. The event is organized by a colorful group of adventurers who call themselves the Water Tribe. The Everglades Challenge is an unsupported, expedition style adventure race for kayaks, canoes, and small sailboats. It starts at Fort DeSoto in Saint Petersburg, Florida and ends at Key Largo. The distance is roughly 300 nautical miles depending on one's course selection. There is a time limit of eight days. Updates on the progress and tribulations of the participants will be posted on the Water Tribe forums. The boats are tracked by SPOT satellite. Their progress can be seen on this tracking map.   

This year I will follow the progress of ChuckTheDuck and Lugnut in their John Welsford designed Walkabout. Both Lugnut, named after his love of the lug sail rig, and ChuckTheDuck, proprietor of Duckworks Magazine, have completed this challenge several times. Baring any catastrophe, these salty veterans should complete this year's race handily. I am especially interested in their boat. The Walkabout is a 16 foot rowing-sailing dingy with a balanced lug mainsail and a spritsail mizzen. Welsford designed the Walkabout with cruising the Maine Island Trail in mind. That would be sweet. I bought a set of plans several years ago. I take them out now and then, unroll them, study them and dream. One of these days, I have to decide on a design and start building.

If I was rolling in dough, I'd commission the Rappahannock Boat Works, less than twenty miles away from me by backcountry road, to build a steam launch for cruising the Cheasapeake Bay. I could imagine myself steaming up the Potomac, sipping on a good rum and harassing the political beasts lurking the riverbanks… just like Charlie Allnut.

TTG 

Top Ten Myths About Iran by Dr. Christopher Bolan

 

International negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have resumed this week in Kazakhstan.  Initial reporting suggests that Iran will be offered some limited sanctions relief in return for restrictions on Iran’s nuclear enrichment activities.  However, these talks have a troubled history and experienced observers are quick to tamp down any expectations of a major breakthrough.  As any number of foreign policy pundits will be debating the significance of these outcomes over the next several days, it would be prudent to dispel some of the most popular (and misguided) myths surrounding the Iran policy debate.

Myth 1:  Iran is an irrational actor.  This myth is especially popular among those pushing the case for immediate military action to attack Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.  Their argument is that Iranian leaders are crazed, hot-headed, and messianic actors who do not respond to logic or reason and therefore cannot be trusted with such destructive weapons.  These claims are based on cultural ignorance and prejudices that would be routinely dismissed as out of bounds in just about any context outside of US policy debates on Iran.  Fortunately, senior US and Israeli officials have publicly dismissed this myth as false.  America’s senior military officer, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dempsey asserted in a television interview that “we are of the opinion that the [Iranian] regime is a rational actor.”  Israel’s retired Mossad director Meir Dagan similarly opined that “the regime in Iran is a very rational one.”  Moreover, Ehud Barak, Israel’s Defense Minister, elaborated on this basic point saying that “I don’t think the Iranians, even if they got the bomb, [would] drop it in the neighborhood…They are radical but not totally crazy…They have a quite sophisticated decision-making process, and they understand reality.” 

"Poor John Kerry" and the Syrian rebels

"Poor John Kerry. On his first foreign trip in his new job, the US secretary of state – and his boss – have been given a sharp slap in the face. A mission to Europe and the Middle East, which his officials declared would be for "listening" to ideas on what to do about Syria, has turned into a humiliating effort at damage limitation. The western-sponsored opposition grouping, the Syrian National Coalition, has rejected a meeting with Kerry that was due in Rome on Thursday. It accuses the US and its allies of being complicit in the destruction of Syria by not intervening militarily, either by arming the rebels or by direct intervention as in Libya. Not since Binyamin Netanyahu's brutal refusal to stop Israel's illegal settlement expansion around East Jerusalem has the Obama administration met such defiance from alleged friends. Israel depends heavily on US weaponry, cash and diplomatic support, but as clients go it is a giant compared to the deeply fragmented group of exiles who form the SNC. "  The Guardian

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IMO Kerry is one of the Washington's great phonies.  A mediocre thinker who made his way in Washington by riding first on his phony reputation as a hero of the war in Vietnam who then courageously defied the establishment and attacked US forces as war criminals.  How brave that was!   How persecuted he was for his principled stand against "US imperialism."  After marrynig his friend's widow he has had a great "run" in Washington pontificating from the comfort of a senate seat where he did not have to do anything or take responsibility for anything.  Oh, yes, I know all about his three Silver Stars and how he got them.  Now, his situation is different.  The "buck" stops with him and Obama.

The Syrian rebels are dominated by AQ people.  Many of the others in the SNA are Islamist jihadis of their own "branding."  The Saudis have announced that they are increasing the level of their support to the "freedom fighters" in Syria.  What sort of "freedom" do you think the rebels desire in Syria?  IMO it is the freedom to do what Saudi Arabia tells them to do.

Now the rebels have thumbed their noses at Kerry and Obama.  They are not interested in a compromise with the Assad secular state.  I ask you, as they would, how could they compromise when they are on "a mission from God?"  Oh, right, that was the "Blues Brothers."

I predict that Kerry will find that he can nothing with "diplomacy" in this crisis and then, despairing and fearful for his reputation he will take up the neocon banner along with McCain and Graham.

He will end by recommending direct military support for the rebels.  pl  

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/25/syria-john-kerry-problem

What is this? 25 February, 2013

What is this?  pl

Why is Spielberg so disliked in the Oscar "circus?"

"I especially felt sad for "Lincoln," with only two victories for its 12 nominations. This was a different kind of film for Steven Spielberg, a film whose pleasures were restrained, interior and subtle, a film in which the director placed himself at the service of the script and the acting, not his own reputation. This is what Affleck recognized when he gave a special shout-out to Spielberg in his acceptance speech, calling him "a genius." It would have been nice if the rest of the academy had shared his sentiments. "  Washpost

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I doubt that "Lincoln" is a film that  I would like, but the academy's treatment of Spielberg over the years is incomprehensible to this outsider.  The general quality of his work has been exceptional.  In this instance they "stiffed"  both him and his movie.  The general subject of Lincoln himself did not seem to elicit the kind of idolatry common these days.  Seth McFarlane made a joke about John Wilkes Booth having been the actor who had most gotten into Lincoln's head.  I would have expected a hostile reaction but there wasn't much of that.  Daniel Day Lewis, (a method actor) who won a third Oscar for living as Lincoln for months, said that he was glad that at least the film was not a musical.  Puzzling.

I thought the "Red Carpet" dresses were sillier than in many other years.  SWMBO forced me to watch this vulgarian nonsense.  She always does so.  As a result I have a long, long memory of these spectacles.  IMO women who are so skinny that they have a hard time holding up a strapless dress with a train should not wear one.  The sight of these walking skeletons tugging relentlessly at the sides of their bodices to maintain the required modesty was sad.

The production of the Oscar show itself was pathetically amateur.  The whole thing was a lot like a high school musical.  And what was that business with Shatner?  He was always a pathetically bad actor.  To have him appear in order to kibitz on McFarlane's performance as host was an ironic comment on the whole proceeding.

People like Seth McFarlane and Jon Stewart are bad choices for this "gig" as host. The Oscar show is all about people loving themselves and feeling sure that everyone else loves and admires them as much as they do.  SM and JS specialize in telling the audience that they are ridiculous.  The massive egos gethered in that giant hall do not want to hear themselves mocked, ergo....

Lastly, Michelle Obama is not our queen.  Why would she think it appropriate to appear on this "dog's breakfast" of a show as one of the egotists?  She not only appeared but she used a group of military officers as "props' for her performance.  At least the president did not appear costumed as his hero Abraham.  pl  

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-oscars-directors-ang-lee-affleck-spielberg-turan-20130225,0,2535446.story

Karzai redux as pickpocket.

"Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has ordered that all U.S. special forces must leave Wardak province, just west of Kabul, within two weeks — citing allegations of disappearances and torture. In a statement Sunday, a spokesman for Karzai said, "after a thorough discussion, it became clear that armed individuals named as U.S. special force stationed in Wardak province engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people." "  NBC News

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Irony alert.

Everything will be all right.  This is just a misunderstanding.  They must have our people confused with some other group of foreign soldiers. 

Irony End.

As we said here a while back, the Afghans are busy picking our pockets.

http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2013/01/httpblogswsjcomwashwire20130111transcript-obama-karzai-press-conference.html

Some naif here in the US probably still believes that Karzai's government will give the US legal immunity.  Wanna bet?

Irony re-alert

I don't suppose this has anything to do with that province (Wardak) being largely Hazara.  The Green Berets  have been training the Hazara villagers there to defend themselves against the Pushtun Taliban. Karzai is a Puushun.

Irony-de-alert

The US government could well be described as a "ship of fools." pl 

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/24/17076037-afghan-president-orders-us-forces-out-of-key-province?lite

No gun safe at Lanza home?

"Republican support is anticipated in part because the four senators involved in the talks have agreed that any new background check program would exempt private transactions between family members or people who completed a background check in order to obtain a concealed-carry permit, according to aides. But the four senators are grappling with how to make the process of obtaining a background check as seamless as possible for private dealers while also ensuring that someone keeps a record of the transaction. "  Washpost

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IMO a federal background check law has a good chance of passage if it follows the guide lines outlined above.

The one "sticking point would be the "keeps a record of the transaction" mentioned in the WaPo articel.  If such a record is kept then this is nothing more than the creation of a national firearms register and the bill will fail in the House if not in the Senate.

The police in Connecticutt appear to be intent on hiding the facts with regard to how Adam Lanza secured the use of his mother's guns on that fatal morning.  Were the guns and ammunition merely placed in a closet as some sources seem to report?  If that is true, then Lanza's mother caused her own death and contributed to the deaths and wounding of so many more.  A gun safe like the one pictured above with a combination lock would likely have prevented this terrible loss.

These guns belonged to Lanza's mother, not to him.  She passed a state and federal gun check.  Stricter gun sale checks would not have prevented his access to these firearms.  He was not the owner.

His mother knew or should have known that her son was dangerous and she did nothing to deny him access to these guns.  pl  

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/01/23/Friend-Nancy-Lanza-did-not-secure-guns/UPI-96501358921210/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senators-near-a-deal-on-background-checks-for-most-private-gun-sales/2013/02/23/d55e5f4a-7d0c-11e2-82e8-61a46c2cde3d_story.html?tid=pm_pop

http://www.gunsafes.com/Winchester-S49-Silverado-2-Hour-Fire-Safe-54-Gun-Safe.html

 

 

My "money" is on Scola

"There are currently 118 cardinals currently eligible to take part in the Conclave - the election of the next Pope. But Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, Archbishop Emeritus of Kiev, will turn 80 before the Pope's resignation so will be excluded from voting. And, on 21 February Cardinal Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja, the 78 year-old Archbishop Emeritus of Jakarta, ruled himself out of travelling to Rome due to the "progressive deterioration" of his vision. Sixty seven of the cardinal-electors were appointed by Benedict XVI and 61 are European - with 21 of those being Italian. "  BBC

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"Lubomyr Husar" is ineligible?  Now THAT is a shame.  I was hoping that this representative of the fabled Ukrainian Catholic Church would have a "shot" as a dark horse, or Bactrian Camel, or something, but, alas it was not to be.

Seriously, sort of, the Catholic Church needs an evangelical pastor who would address issues of church governance that stand between those who wish to be "faithful" and regular appearance in the pews.

Theology is not a serious issue.  Theology is simply a matter of preferred belief whether it is Catholic, Mormon. Islamic, etc., etc.  "Lapsed" Catholics by and large do not question Catholic theology.  The inherent truth or untruth of transubstantiation as dogma is not what drove them from church attendance.

What they don't like is the egomaniacal, corrupt, self-serving way in which the Catholic Church has been run by many in the clergy and hierarchy.  "Smells and Bells," the Epicopalians used to say of the Catholic Church.  They have little reason to criticize any other church these days but "in the day" they had a point.

Is there a chance that a reincarnated Francis of Assisi or a Father Duffy type could be elected?  There is no chance at all.

The College of Cardinals will elect one their own, a vatican bureacratic politician, someone who will not rock the boat.  Angelo Scola should be just the man for the Holy Spirit's nod.

The Cardinal Archbishop of Scotland has said that diocesan proests should be allowed to marry.  Let's see how many votes he gets.  pl  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21443313

Rage Against the Machine - TTG

In light of recent discussions in SST concerning drones, kill lists and the 2nd Ammendment, I think many of you will find this video to be of interest. It is Jacob Applebaum's keynote speech at the 29th Chaos Communication Congress (29C3) given in Hamburg, Germany on 27 December 2012. Applebaum is both a hacker and a hactivist. He is a developer and tireless advocate for the Tor Project, an excellent network anonymity tool. He is also a staunch defender of Wikileaks, whistleblowers and all those who "rage against the machine." 

Some will find this speech off putting or the rantings of an anarchist. I do not. Nor does Bruce Schneier, a more mainstream security technologist and articulate critic of much of our security policy and industry. In describing Applebaum's speech, Schneier says it "is worth listening to. He talks about what we can do in the face of oppressive power on the Internet. I'm not sure his answers are right, but am glad to hear someone talking about the real problems." Bruce Schneier voiced some of the same concerns that Applebaum talks about in his essay "Power and the Internet" which ends: 

"… Because if we're not trying to understand how to shape the Internet so that its good effects outweigh the bad, powerful interests will do all the shaping. The Internet's design isn't fixed by natural laws. Its history is a fortuitous accident: an initial lack of commercial interests, governmental benign neglect, military requirements for survivability and resilience, and the natural inclination of computer engineers to build open systems that work simply and easily. This mix of forces that created yesterday's Internet will not be trusted to create tomorrow's. Battles over the future of the Internet are going on right now: in legislatures around the world, in international organizations like the International Telecommunications Union and the World Trade Organization, and in Internet standards bodies. The Internet is what we make it, and is constantly being recreated by organizations, companies, and countries with specific interests and agendas. Either we fight for a seat at the table, or the future of the Internet becomes something that is done to us." 

BTW, I can identify with the photo above of Wau Holland, the founder of the Chaos Computer Club. I, too, have sat in German phone booths with laptop, acoustic coupler and a pocket full of kleingeld. I, however, knew enough to wrap the handset and coupler in a jacket and hold it under my arm to cut down on noise interference. I also had a better looking beard at the time. 

TTG

I'm Back

I couldn't take it any longer.  pl

"... Why A Quick Visit To The ER Costs As Much As A Semester At Harvard." Time

 

"The total cost, in advance, for Sean to get his treatment plan and initial doses of chemotherapy was $83,900…The first of the 344 lines printed out across eight pages of his hospital bill — filled with indecipherable numerical codes and acronyms — seemed innocuous. But it set the tone for all that followed. It read, “1 ACETAMINOPHE TABS 325 MG.” The charge was only $1.50, but it was for a generic version of a Tylenol pill. You can buy 100 of them on Amazon for $1.49 even without a hospital’s purchasing power. Dozens of midpriced items were embedded with similarly aggressive markups, like $283.00 for a “CHEST, PA AND LAT 71020.” That’s a simple chest X-ray, for which MD Anderson is routinely paid $20.44 when it treats a patient on Medicare, the government health care program for the elderly.

Read more at http://wonkette.com/502126/time-magazine-helpfully-explains-why-a-quick-visit-to-the-er-costs-as-much-as-a-semester-at-harvard#mc0725bJGs5HO03I.99

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Every person in the US should read this article.  Time Magazine has performed a notable public service in researching and publishing this piece.

What is revealed here is that much of the cost inflation in American health care is simply created sui generis by health care institutions that reason backwards from desired income to the creative imagining of what they would like prices to the consumer to be.

Non profit business are often the most profitable from the point of the view of those who run them.  This is a prime example.  pl  

Neil Richardson on the US Army's future.

Dear Col. Lang: If we're indeed looking at 25 brigades by 2014 with perhaps further cuts in the remaining decade (I suspect 20 brigades would be the floor that the Army would be willing to accept), perhaps the Army could institute a few changes in deployment policy. First, shorten rotation cycles to 6 months with 24 mos dwell time (24mos is now the policy as of 2012). The Army announced last year that it would "regionally align" forces. One of the biggest obstacles to retention of qualified personnel has been long deployment cycles with little dwell time. I Corps (or even 2ID if DoD sees it fit to withdraw the division HQ entirely after 2015) could focus on ROK. As future BCT structure allows, the Army could allocate 4 BCTs plus a fires bde to 2ID at Lewis. Yakima isn't an ideal training ground for operations in ROK, but a BCT could work up battalion and brigade-level integration prior to deployment in ROK. Terrain familiarization probably would take a month after deployment, and the outgoing brigade should provide overlap coverage during this period. I'd also cancel proposed changes in USFK dependents policy. If a war breaks out in ROK, we would have to execute a massive NEO. If shooting starts, the last thing anybody in 2ID needs is wondering whether his family would be able to successfully run a gauntlet to evacuation sites. Second, cross-train and cross-fertilize personnel within combat arms. Longer dwell time means there's no longer an excuse to take shortcuts in training prior to deployment. Branch-specific core competencies must be maintained, but too often a tank coy CO has little understanding of what light infantry can and cannot accomplish even though the Army has been practicing cross-attachment since WWII. (It was a little better with mechanized infantry, but heavy-light and light-heavy integration has been a problem that's been around after every major war IMO as the Army has a tendency to forget very expensive lessons.) With the adoption of Combined Arms Battalion and the recent decision to restore a third maneuver BN to BCT (no more RSTA squadrons pretending to be a substitute), Gen. Dempsey had set in motion these overdue changes that would address imbalances at tactical level when he was at TRADOC. I would also like to see light infantry spend more time training with heavy BCTs instead of spending one or two weeks a year. Tank-infantry coordination certainly isn't rocket science, but it takes repetition to build competence. The Ranger BNs paid a terrible price at Cisterna while the First Special Service Force avoided it during its advance to Rome. Gen. Frederick had made certain that his men trained with TF Howze. I believe the Army will become a cadre force and cross-training will be criticial as was the case with the Reichheer during the interwar period. Third, retain and preserve the "seed corn" for future force transformation. Although its impact on reconnaissance has been institutionalized down to the small unit level, there are a lot of unanswered questions regarding the potential impact of robotics on logistics, economy of force and security operations at tactical level, etc. While investing in new systems might be fine in an ideal world of unlimited budget but in an era of austerity, I believe the retention of right personnel is more important than keeping up with generational upgrades. Men like Guderian adn Patton ironed out tactical doctrines while training with cardboard tanks mounted on bicycles or cars. Continued investment on R&D is obviously critical, but IMHO personnel matter just as much if not more. I strongly suspect that the Army senior leadership will opt for new weapon systems and cut training, but I think this would be a serious mistake. If 20 brigades is the likely floor for the active force, I think one heavy/Stryker hybrid division (2ID if the United States keeps a BCT in ROK or the 1st Cav if we don't), 82AB, 101AB, 1ID, independent light infantry brigades (IIRC AFRICOM is supposed to get a regionally aligned bde and I also expect one bde to remain in Europe) plus fires brigades could be one possible option for the near future. Essentially, 82AB and 101AB would remain as light infantry divisions with unique set of capabilities (However, I'd also attach a tank BN to each division's TO&E). I'd suggest that 1ID should become a test-bed division which would combine heavy, Stryker, light and air assault bdes and work on operational art with future force transformation in mind. A large portion of the existing heavy force will be transferred to reserve component (NG). IMHO that's not a problem as current trends in offense-defense balance for armor probably will not be favorable for some time. And there will be a lot of experienced tankers, infantrymen and gunners who will become available as RIF takes place. (There are enough young tankers who'd even pay their own money to train once a month. And crew stability is an asset among NG armor units as we've seen over the years at NTC) The key again would be whether the senior leadership can make sure there are enough resources allocated to training not only active units but NG units who will assume a critical role (at least until we know that armor has indeed gone the way of horse cavalry).

Mid-Winter break from SST

Even as the days lengthen and  the thought of Spring flowers in the mind I have decided to take a break and refresh my mind while continuing to work on my book/stories.

Authorized authors and editors, feel free to carry on.  I will take a look at this in March.  pl

US Army to lose 200,000 soldiers

"Odierno told Congress earlier this week that sequestration might force the Army to cull another 100,000 troops from its ranks. Speaking at Brookings he went further, estimating that beginning with the 80,000 already scheduled, “in the end, it’ll be over 200,000 soldiers that we will have to take out of the active duty component National Guard and Army Reserve” if sequestration is implemented for the long term. “We’ll take almost a 40 percent reduction in our brigade combat teams once we’re finished,” he cautioned"  Defense News

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The USMC will of necessity take a similar cut.  It will take a while for reality to set in among the service staffs and the JCS but in the end procurement of equipment and sponsored R&D will slow to almost nothing and a lot of force structure will be shifted into the reserve components.  They are inherently less expensive.

The BHO Administration can talk all it wants to about a "pivot to the Pacific" but there will be neither forces for aland war there, nor the money with which to fight such a war on the Pacific rim.

Basically, this will mean the end of an era of  hegemonism in US political thinking.

IMO the US Navy and USAF will be the "favored children" in this new world.  pl  

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130215/DEFREG02/302150020/Chief-Sequestration-Could-Cost-U-S-Army-200-000-Soldiers?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Droning on...

 
 

IMO the next big step in UCAV development has to be in-flight refueling.  This should be a fairly easy "fix."  With that done, these droning beasties could wander the world for a long, long time just hanging around waiting for the flight suited techno wimps depicted in "The Bourne Legacy" to send the machines to their appointment with destiny.  You can imagine one of these heros saying to another that with just a few more "missions" in the bag he will qualify for the drone pilot medal.

An occasional maintenance stop for engine checks, computer upgrades and ordnance replenishment would be the rest of the picture.

Few really are unhappy with surveillance drones.  It is the killer drones that are worrisome.  If John Torquemada Brennan, known to his friends as "torky," has his way, a systematised targeting package loaded with logic and rules will serve up lists of candidates for designation to civil servants and rear echelon military types who will narrow the lists for approval by their political bosses.

A nod will then suffice for upload of that list to the flying circus.  Was Dorner really under surveillance by drones?  That would be a first step in CONUS.

Think judicial review folks.  Think judicial review. 

Hmm!  What's that buzzing noise?  pl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorization_for_Use_of_Military_Force_Against_Terrorists

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_combat_aerial_vehicle

http://www.droneamerica.com/index.html

 

 

 

Out of pocket

I'm doing some witness work for the federal courts. so write anything you want here for a couple of days.  pl

Banana Joe won and BHO demagogued.

 
 

"Like many of you, I can no longer watch important live televised addresses now without the wit and wisdom of the many virtual friends who live in my iPhone. How funny we can be, stopping the wisecracks and the spot fact-checking long enough to appropriately acknowledge the president’s “They deserve a vote” refrain for grieving survivors of victims of gun violence. We go from snark to somber so fast. It’s exhausting and also distracting. "  Washpost

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Demagogery?  I wouldn't know really.  Unable to force ourselves to watch the political nonsense, we watched the second night of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show from Madison Square Garden. I am pleased (sort of) to report that Best in Show was won by "Banana Joe," the Affenpinscher from the Netherlands.

Well, it is "sort of" because I  really thought the German Wire Haired Pointer should have won.  "Oakley" is a fine dog.  He wuz robbed.

Obama?  Apparently he called for decisive votes in Congress on all his proposals.  Fine, give them to him.  pl 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/tv-review-another-sotu-delivered-to-the-peanut-gallery/2013/02/13/d3f0428e-7561-11e2-8f84-3e4b513b1a13_story.html

BHO's agenda vs the US Constitution

 

There can be little doubt that the corporate MSM represent the collective opinion of the "fantasy island" cities of the east and west coasts of the US.

At the same time, the corporate right wing media represent the collective opinion of much of the rest of the country.

God help us!

The president of the US has a well developed left wing agenda.  Let us not be fooled by all the talk of concern for the welfare of the "middle class," whatever that might be in the US.

He and his allies in "the archipelago" seem to believe that an inevitable acceptance of the virtue and wisdom of their belief in the specifics of their dream of "the future" will take place.  In pursuit of that goal all sorts of foolishness is taking place.  Some is serious.  Some is just silly.

- The phrase "a more perfect union" is often quoted from the preamble to the constitution in the hope that the sheeple will believe that it was meant to signify a belief in the possibility of perfection of The Republic as a sort of earthy garden of delights.  In fact, what was meant was the improvement of the mechanism of federal government.

- Country-wide statistics of polls regarding issues of importance to Archipelegian politics are cited as evidence that the preponderance of opinion in the "islands" will surely sweep all before it.  Surely!  This morning Chris Cillizza (?) badgered a member of the House from outside the archipelago to accept the idea that SURELY! there would have to be gun control sufficient to satisfy the islanders.  It should be remembered that Cillizza, by his own admission, is badly infected with Connecticutt Fever.

- What is missed by the islanders is that the US is still a federal republic.  It was built that way deliberately for the purpose of holding the political ambitions of the archipelago at bay.  That was the motivation behind the Great Compromise that gave Wyoming and California each two senators.  In addition, many senators represent constituencies where "guns" is not a four letter word.  That would include many non-islander Democrats.   These people will not vote for very much of BHO's agenda.  That would include the gunster dreaming.  No amount of demagogic speechifying will change that.

- The Republicans hold the House and they hold it with members by and large elected in districts outside the archipelago.  That would include in states where island city states are located.  These folks know what their chances are if they back the islanders against their own people.  That would also include some Democrats.

- Finally, BHO has to get any new laws or executive orders past SCOTUS.

There is a lot talk about the changing demographics of the US.  Yes, but the demographics of the US have changed many times before.  They always continue changing.  The islanders should beware of the future.  It is an "undiscovered country."  pl

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers_under_the_United_States_Constitution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalism_in_the_United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

 

 

New Athenaeum Post

Cajun Mardi Gras

http://turcopolier.typepad.com/the_athenaeum/2013/02/cajun-mardi-gras.html

HARPER: IS JOHN BRENNAN A SAUDI ASSET?

 

Michael Scheuer, who headed the CIA's Osama Bin-Laden task force for many years, has had more direct experience butting heads with John Brennan than most people in the intelligence community.  His commentary in Foreign Policy, posted below, is clearly worth reading carefully by every member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, before they vote on whether to confirm John Brennan as Director of the CIA.  If even half of what Dr. Scheuer recounts from his own personal dealings with Brennan is true, not only should there be very serious reservations about President Obama's nomination of Brennan to head the CIA.  There should be a serious inquiry into whether Brennan, in effect, has been an asset of Saudi intelligence. 

 

Let's hope for a modernizing pope.

The Catholic Church remains a medieval institution.  The trappings of absolute monarchy, nobility, elaborate ritual and liturgy and a separation of clergy from the daily lives of the "fathful"  (the people in the pews) are obstacles to the work of evangelization that lies at the heart of the Catholic Church.

The church remains dominated by a caste of celibate (if not always chaste) elderly men who think themselves above the opinions or will of lay Catholics.

Ordination of married prests, ordination of women priests, a reasonable position rearding non-abortive birth control; these are all matters of grave interest to lay Catholics but only matters of somewhat abstracted debate for the hierarchy.

The Catholic Church needs a pope who will stop "going through the motions" in the general aea of priestly misbehavior and hierarchical toleration of that behavior.  You think this work of cleansing has ben accomplished?  You are wrong!  pl

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/11/16924342-pope-benedict-xvi-to-step-aside-on-feb-28-vatican-says?lite

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papacy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernism_(Roman_Catholicism)#Major_figures

 

 

Open Thread - 9 February, 2013

pl

Let's debate Judicial Review of drone killings.

Senator Feinstein yesterday repeated the suggestion made here that judicial review of GWOT targeting of individuals for execution by drone or other means is a serious possibility.

Most of these killings are done in circumstances that the military would describe as "deliberate," that is, without a serious time constraint.  That being the case, "deliberate" execution decisions could be reviewed by a FISA like federal court BEFORE THEY ARE CARRIED OUT.  pl

Bits and Pieces

-  Feinstein has decided not to allow witnesses at Brennan's hearing today.  I suppose that her sympathy for the goals of the drone and other assasination programs is so great that she could not do anything else.  Bruce Fein wanted to testify.  He has opinions somewhat different than hers seem to be.  IMO the main problem with the program described in the White Paper is the lack of judiciary review for decisions to kill that are NOT made in a situation of "imminent" attack on the US or Americans.  I don't think many would fault the government for strike missions conducted when attacks are actually "imminent" but the White Paper does not require true imminence for a strike to be made solely as an Executive Branch decision.  A solution is available.  A federal court can be created, analogous to the FISA courts to review the evidence and decide on the sufficiency of need.  This should apply to all such "kill orders," not just to those applied to Americans.

- "Universal backgrund checks," "Gun trafficking," and "Mental health inputs to gun sale data bases" are emerging as legislative items that might be passable  in Congress.  If the advocates for these measures want something other than an opportunity to vent their scorn for those who disagree with them they need to make public as soon as possible the exact text of what will be proposed in Congress.  the details will matter greatly.  Does "universal" include family transfers of firearms or sale to a neighbor?  Does "universal" require background checks for the loan of a weapon at a range or on a hunting trip?  Will "gun trafficking" include the sale of a firearm to someone who lives across any state border?  i.e., if I wish to sell a rifle to someone in West Virginia would a background check be required?  Will the federal or state government be allowed to retain a record of the sale of a firearm?  Will proposed law allow and require the transfer of mental health data to firearms background checks data bases?  If so, what kind of data can be transferred?  pl

"On Being a Spy" By Richard Sale, author of Clinton's Secret Wars

 

I have never worked in intelligence. The closest thing I got to it was having the CIA ask me to go to Iraq and report on what I saw there.  I didn't go, because I was uneasy about it because I am a journalist.  I am a very patriotic American, and I had good contacts with the Iraqis in Washington, just as I had once had good contacts with the Libyan before President Reagan booted them out. But yesterday, a columnist, Rachel Marsden, did a good review of the movie, "Zero Dark Thirty," and I wanted to post her analysis because it is very close to one I did for a character in a novel I am working on.   Richard Sale

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"Chastain's CIA officer says to the agency director that she's "done nothing else" over her 12 years with the agency besides work on the bin Laden case. Unlike with James Bond films, information doesn't just fall into someone's lap, or come as the result of a one-night stand with a source after a few well-shaken martinis. Chastain's character spends years vetting little bits and pieces of information as they trickle in. At one point she's devastated to learn that a lead in which she had invested enormous time and resources pursuing might ultimately be a dead end. "Confirmation bias" -- assessing a theory or a piece of information as valid because you desperately want or think it to be, and excluding other information for the same reason -- is mentioned several times throughout the film as an impediment to good intelligence work."    Marsden

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It is true that the movies distort intelligence work but it is not quite so pedestrian as Marsden portrays it to be.  pl

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/sns-201301221200--tms--amvoicesctnav-a20130122-20130122,0,6789624.column 

Why not in the US?

"GWEN IFILL: Well, let me ask you this, Professor Waxman. If this only applies to Americans on foreign soil, why wouldn't this reasoning apply to Americans on U.S. soil at home?

MATTHEW WAXMAN: Well, what one of the things that the lawyers -- the drafters of this memo do is try to explain that this is an analysis of a limited set of facts, a set of facts that were probably provided by senior officials to deal with situations that confront them in the real world."  Newshour

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Yes, Gwen, why would this not apply to strikes on US Soil?  pl 

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/jan-june13/memo_02-05.html

"Kill List" justification from "Justice"

 

"The 16-page document says it is lawful to target al-Qaida linked U.S. citizens if they pose an “imminent” threat of violent attack against Americans, and that delaying action against such people would create an unacceptably high risk. Such circumstances may necessitate expanding the concept of imminent threat, the memo says. “The threat posed by al-Qaida and its associated forces demands a broader concept of imminence in judging when a person continually planning terror attacks presents an imminent threat,” the document added. "  Washpost

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According to this memo the government can decide that you are dangerous and then make an administrative decision to kill you based on a judgment of what you might do.  This applies to American citizens resident outside the US.

Does that bother you? It does bother me.

An imperfectly analogous situation would have been that of an American citizen serving in WW2 in the German or Japanese armed forces.  Such a person would have been a legal target for the US armed forces, but if captured would have been tried for treason to the United States by either a military or civilian court.  In this case AQ & Company are not a regular armed force but are nevertheless actively engaged in lethal operations against the US.  Are those American citizens suspected of active involvement in terrorism against the US legitimate subjects for executive branch "kill orders" without due process?  I think not.  IMO, a judicial process within the federal courts should be created to deal with this on a case by case basis.

John Brennan's "fingerprints" don't seem to be on this document from the Department of "Justice," but given his placement in the process of deciding who goes on "kill lists" and in public defense of the rectitude of such decisions he certainly must be connected to the thinking in this paper.

Directly and undeniably connected to this document is the Attorney General, Eric Holder.  He is on record here as approving the assasination of American citizens without due process.

I have criticised Brennan before.  I have also half jokingly written that he should have been nominated to be DNI rather DCIA.  I stated the latter on the basis that Clapper has effectively been working for Brennan for years.  To reverse the statutory roles now is a mockery of the law.

I withdraw that suggestion.  IMO neither Brennan nor Holder are accepting of anything but their own tortured version of law.  They should go.  Their presence encourages BHO in his evident desire to exercise the prerogatives of a monarch.  pl  

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/justice-dept-memo-details-when-its-ok-to-kill-us-citizens-abroad/2013/02/05/200aa3f6-6fa1-11e2-b35a-0ee56f0518d2_story.html

What will the anti-gun lobby get?

President Obama has released photographs of his awkward effort to deal with a fifty year old government owned shotgun from the Eisenhower era at Camp David.    They evidently found this antique in a locker up there.  Wilmington Joe Biden, the VP, went down to Richmond, Virginia last week to lobby for stricter federal gun control law.  The flunky corporate media have not broadcast the result of that expedition, so, it is likely that it was a flop.

People like Axelrod are now admitting that the reason for a high homicide rate in Chicago is that there are 150,000 "youth" gang members in the city.  New York City has 15,000 gang members and a much lower homicide rate. 

The Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colorado and Newtown killers were madmen who were not identified or reported by the mental health community to the background check network.  In the case of the Newtown killer, he, evidently, had not been treated at all.

These facts and the lack of leverage in Congress for strict federal gun control are slowly soaking into the minds of those who want more gun law.

What is actually going to happen is that there may be legislation to:

- Require background checks for all private gun sales in the US.  This is the so called "gun show loophole."  This change in law would require all those selling firearms at a show be registered with the show, i.e., have a booth.  This will keep people from selling guns in the parking lot without a federal firearms sales license.  On-line background checks are now possible from the show by licensed dealers registered for the show and are made at shows in Virginia.  The new law will contain an exception for "family" transfers as does the NY State law.  If there is not such an exception the bill will not pass.  The bill will contain a requirement for the destruction of the record of the check for those who "pass" the check.  Will the ATF actually destroy such records?  That is an open question.

- There may be a ban on magazines with a large capacity.  This will be meaningless.  There are millions of such magazines now in private hands.

What is not going to happen?

- There will not be federal law requiring mental health agencies, mental health providers, counselors, schools and the like to provide inputs to the background check network.  That will not happen because many of the same people who want stronger gun law do not want their children, friends or relatives to have a searchable federal record that suggests mental illness, even if government itself advises such treatment.  pl

The Skeet Shooter

Is this gun a Savage Model 24?  pl

Savage Model 24  pl  

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/02/obama-skeet-shooting-photo-conspiracy-theories.html

"Garrow's Law" a must see drama

 

"Set around trials at the Old Bailey in Georgian London against a backdrop of corruption and social injustice, Garrow's Law is a legal drama inspired by the life of pioneering barrister William Garrow. The series, co-created by Tony Marchant, is based on real legal cases from the late 18th century, as recorded in the Old Bailey Proceedings. Andrew Buchan as Garrow leads a cast including Alun Armstrong and Lyndsey Marshal. From rape and murder to high treason and corruption, each episode begins with the investigation of a real crime sourced from the published accounts of Old Bailey trials, available in a fully searchable edition online. In an age when few of the accused could afford defence counsel, the youthful Garrow and his associate John Southouse (pronounced soot-house), a solicitor, work to uncover the truth or fight for justice, championing the underdog and pioneering the rigorous cross-examination of prosecution witnesses that paved the way for the modern legal system. " Wiki

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The state of British criminal justice in the 18th Century is fully developed in this BBC production.  The reasoning and experience that led to the adoption of the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution are made evident.  pl  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrow%27s_Law

"If Israel strikes Syria again, all bets are off" The Telegraph

"Israel’s policy towards Syria has, for two years, consisted of keeping its distance and sending warnings to Assad. As the Syrian state weakens and, at the same time, it has less and less to lose, Israel will find it increasingly difficult to insulate itself from events next door. If air strikes recur, this policy is going to fall apart. "  The Telegrapf

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The Syrian and Iranians lack any real retaliatory means against Israel as yet.  The real danger for Israel is that Hizbullah might decide to unleash its rocket and missile fire into northern Israel.  pl  

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/shashankjoshi/100201153/if-israel-strikes-syria-again-all-bets-are-off/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah#Armed_strength

"The Military Draft' by Haviland Smith

 
 

"Representative Charles Rangel of New York has long been an opponent of the all-volunteer army. Over three decades, he has repeatedly (and unsuccessfully) introduced legislation to reinstitute the draft. His motivation is simply that "the poor, black and brown shouldn’t be the only Americans fighting and dying” in wars, and that "fairness dictates that the sons and daughters of the white middle and upper classes share the burden of war". And he certainly does have a point, but not the only point arguing for the reinstitution of the draft."  Haviland Smith 

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