Open Thread - 8 March 2015

"Vive L'Empereur!"

PL

Comments

[YT]

?

http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/02/01/vive-lempereur/

[Charles I]

Too nice a day!

[ex-PFC Chuck]

Raul Ilargi Meijer, who I believe is Spanish by nationality but is now living in Canada, has a scathing post on his blog today about the moral bankruptcy of the European Union project.
http://www.theautomaticearth.com/2015/03/europe-the-morally-bankrupt-union/

[ex-PFC Chuck]

Chechen Suspects arrested in the Nemtsov murder case in Moscow. Apparently more to come.
http://rt.com/news/238813-nemtsov-murder-charged-court/
http://thesaker.is/important-developments-in-the-nemtsov-murder-case/

[BabelFish]

Going to be in the 80's this coming week in Jacksonville. 26.7 C for you metric types. I am ready for warm!

[FB Ali]

Andrew Bacevich has a brilliant article on "intellectuals" in the US policy-making structure:

"Policy intellectuals -- eggheads presuming to instruct the mere mortals who actually run for office -- are a blight on the republic. Like some invasive species, they infest present-day Washington, where their presence strangles common sense and has brought to the verge of extinction the simple ability to perceive reality.....They are like Asian carp let loose in the Great Lakes".

http://tinyurl.com/q2b974r

[Grimgrin]

This piece reminds me of this recent article by John Gray "A Point of View: The child-like faith in reason":

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28341562

"This complacency testifies to another enduring human flaw - sticking to a project when it has become self-defeating in its effects. Pushing ahead with ever greater union when large parts of the continent are suffering massive social dislocation fuels the very divisions the European Union was supposed to overcome. If Europe's elites were even half-way reasonable, they would put their grand project on one side and focus on dealing with this danger. But like true believers everywhere, they're convinced the only thing wrong with their dream is that it hasn't yet been fully realised. Everything suggests they'll push on until the entire edifice they've constructed cracks under the strain. "

[oth]

"A group of 47 Republican senators has written an open letter to Iran's leaders warning them that any nuclear deal they sign with President Barack Obama's administration won’t last after Obama leaves office.

Organized by freshman Senator Tom Cotton and signed by the chamber's entire party leadership as well as potential 2016 presidential contenders Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, the letter is meant not just to discourage the Iranian regime from signing a deal but also to pressure the White House into giving Congress some authority over the process."

Wow.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-03-09/republicans-warn-iran-and-obama-that-deal-won-t-last

[MK Logan]

Any Russia/Soviet experts care to offer an opinion on Hendrik Smith's "The Russians"? I have a copy which I inherited and while I found it plausible highly enlightening have a nagging question in my mind if it is (was? 1974 book) accurate. A simple thumbs up or down would do.

Especially the part about Solzhenitsyn's strident Russian patriotism and advocacy of forming a new Russian nation/state around the Orthodox church. Seems to be exactly what the powers that be in Russia are attempting now.

[Patrick Bahzad]

Well, in 2015, there's just one Empire left, but no Emperor governing it ... we're living a period where the minions and courtiers have taken over positions of power and influence that they didn't have back in the old days.
Only difference, today they called "political analysts" "national security advisors" or "strategic experts". I'm sure most of us know that species of "Asian Carp" that is colonizing every pond and stream between Berlin and D.C.

[nick b]

PB,

Reading your post I couldn't get this song out of my head. My apologies in advance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbM-DhoCWvU

[William R. Cumming]

Are they followers of ISLAM?

[William R. Cumming]

The Washington leadership of the US Federal Reserve has removed all bank regulatory power from the NY FED and given it to themselves. BEWARE SOFT SPOKEN WOMEN WITH WHITE HAIR!

[William R. Cumming]

The key to the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal is who will review her e-mails for the Secretary of State. N.B. Kerry still wants to run for President.

[YT]

The Ming dynasty in China fell from grace due to many a tomfoolery [young] emperor having much [misplaced] trust in the eunuch "minions & courtiers"...

Said minions had their... (ahem) "family jewels" (forcibly) removed - the poor sods.

P'raps their reason for ruthlessness & unbridled ambition - a substitute for their... severed "members" & lost esteem.

What are the present minions & courtiers of To-day trying to make up for?

An Unhappy Childhood with much bullying from classmates?

Or did Mommy & Daddy never love 'em?

Aiya! Most Ominous for this Empire of yours...

[Imagine]

If Kerry gains president, I assume that would be a shoe-in for Nuland as SecState. She may yet get it if a Republican wins, in any case.

[Babak Makkinejad]

My guess:

"Boredom" - they do not know what to do with the enormous power of the United States.

[Patrick Bahzad]

And why would you be assuming it is any empire of mine ?

[gallid]

Does anybody think Sen. Tom Cotton's letter to Iran causes any legal issues regarding the responsibility for conducting U.S. foreign policy?

[turcopolier]

gallid

None. This is exactly the situation as I have repeatedly stated it. Cotton's letter is legally and constitutionally correct. That, however, cannot prevent Obama from 0akming an executive agreement with Iran. pl

[Babak Makkinejad]

Almost certainly and flawless speakers of Russian.

[Charles I]

And from there to court, or back and forth between bills and vetoes?

[Charles I]

Further to my material science obsession, this just in:

'UBC team discovers a way to make high-tech metal films with a $10 lamp

". . . Older techniques required expensive chemicals and energy-draining UV light, or even “clean rooms” free from dust and other contaminants. The new process just calls for metal salts to be blasted with the heat lamp for a short period of time.

It would be difficult to estimate exactly how much cheaper the new method is, Berlinguette said, but he suggested it would be “at least an order of magnitude” less expensive. Besides cost, another advantage of the technique is that it can create electro-conductive coatings on plastic without melting it, which means it might be used in things like smart textiles and flexible smartphones.

Berlinguette is hopeful that the discovery could lead to more efficient ways of generating hydrogen fuels through electrolysis, and suggested it might be used for something called an electrochromic window — glass that can darken or become more opaque when electric voltage is applied."

http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/03/09/ubc-team-discovers-a-way-to-make-high-tech-metal-films-with-a-10-lamp/

I guess it is 50/50 whether in a few decades some kid will print something out in the basement that destroys the strong electric force. .

[fjdixon]

Ran into this on Yemen at chathamhouse. Thought it very good.
http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/field/field_document/20150218YemenIranSaudi.pdf

[different clue]

William R. Cumming,

Very recently Naked Capitalism has run a post saying why they think this is a good thing. The basic theory is that the New York Fed was a crony protector/coverupper for the New York (and other) Crime Banks. The Washington takeover is meant to reduce the coverupping and protecting power of the New York Fed and permit some small modicum of actual regulation going forward.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/03/rebuke-cronyistic-new-york-fed-tbtf-bank-supervision-shifted-fed-board-governors.html