Open Thread - 16 July 2015

pl

Comments

[SteveG]

Will Obama/Kerry offer Russia a diplomatic
negotiation to the Ukraine "crisis" as they
have done with Iran's nuclear weapons program??
The other option was war according to him if
diplomacy had not worked. Another arrow in
the legacy quiver before November 2016.

[mike]

Aerial ramming of enemy aircraft was pioneered by a Russian, Pyotr Nesterov, in 1914.

Nesterov is not thought to have been suicidal. He claimed to have only meant to hit the Austrian aircraft with a glancing blow. But both aircraft crashed and he died from injuries a month later.

The Soviets in WW2 used the technique called "taran" or battering ram. It is said that on some of their aircraft the wingtips were reinforced to use as a weapon and propellers were sometimes used to chew up tailfin control surfaces on enemy aircraft.

There is at least one case of an American pilot doing the same. During the Battle of Okinawa Lieutenant Robert R. Klingman was awarded the Navy Cross for bringing down a Kawasaki KI-45 by chopping its tailfin with his prop after his guns jammed.

[LeaNder]

I have discovered, not to my surprise really, that I may share certain traits with Yanis Varoufakis. I guess, I am on another learning path, to the extend I have time for it, where I need to differentiate between Yanis and his fans. Fans no doubt could occasionally simplify someone's message, here or elsewhere for that matter.

Don't we all dislike "greed"?

This is a link to a 2010 talk of his about greed.

yanisvaroufakis.eu/global-crisis/

Now this is not when he awoke, and strictly it feels to me I have seen rumors around in this context, and I am not sure if this may be a variation, or what angles of it I may have stumbled across at the time, see under his personal section: "Crisis and its personal impact:

http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/about/crisis-and-its-personal-impact/

"From the early 2000s, my dear friend and colleague Joseph Halevi and I were alerted to the unsustainability of the ‘global arrangements’ underpinning the global economy’s so called ‘Great Moderation’. Similarly, we were in deep doubt about the sustainability of the Eurozone. "

I doubt anyone here disagrees that greed is bad, if not so, I would welcome inspired comments on it, but any other feedbacks would be welcome too.

[Tyler]

Selling beef and making money. Life is good.

Can't say I'm a fan of Pope Francis I. I know that puts me at loggerheads with many here I otherwise get along with but his rhetoric about "dialogue" puts me in the mind of Obama with it being code for "Now I will lecture you about how you are wrong".

[turcopolier]

tyler

"I will lecture you about how you are wrong." It is his assigned duty to lecture us on matters of faith and morals. pl

[William R. Cumming]

At least three (3) Republican announced Presidential candidates have described the USA as in CRISIS. I assume they mean a CRISIS IN GOVERNANCE although none are explicit.

I respectfully disagree that the USA is in a CRISIS OF ANY KIND AND IN PARTICULAR THAT OF GOVERNANCE! But I do believe the trend-line is downwards for both USA soft and hard power and in particular governance!

P.L. and All! Do you agree that the USA is in some kind of CRISIS?

In my expert areas of HOMELAND SECURITY AND DOMESTIC PREPAREDNESS I have long concluded there is almost none of either. I blog on these areas on HLSWatch.com!

[Tyler]

Sir,

I concur. I don't agree with him telling me that no Christian has a gun in his house or as to the reality of global warming.

I could do without the social justice warrior nonsense that has become part and parcel of the larger popular culture being interwoven with the fabric of the Church ever since Novus Ordo.

[Tyler]

Some stories that, for some reason, have not made a dent in the news! I see Bruce Jenner is being lauded for his courage in wearing a dress though.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/06/black-mob-savagely-attacks-white-family-alabama-first-friday-event-get-white/

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/boston-cops-son-alexander-ciccolo-busted-alleged-terror-plot-n391246

[am]

Sorry, wrong link above

If greed did not cause it, what did?

http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2010/12/07/varoufakis-brisbane-talk-crisis-us-europe/

[turcopolier]

tyler

"no Christian has a gun in his house" I had not heard that. That is not a matter of faith or morals and he can stick it in his ear. pl

[jr786]

I like and I admire this Pope very much. I'm not a Catholic but most of the people I know, Catholic or not, pay a lot more attention to what he says than they do to Obama, Hillary, or any other of the 'churchy' secular icons.

Pope Francis' observation that unfettered pursuit of money is the 'dung of the devil' is a one metaphor addition from channeling Martin Luther, as well as being a bit more polite. I get the feeling that the Pope is more attuned to the immediate Counter Reformation spirit than anything else and wish him well in getting his message out.

[Nancy K]

That was not his quote, he didn't quite say that. He said gun manufactures could not call themselves Christians. You may not agree with that either but it is not the same as "no Christian has a gun in his house." I'm not Catholic so don't really have an opinion on what the Pope should or should not say.

[am]

thanks, am, I realized this too. But apart from the fact that I have a lot more serious things to do then reading Varoufakis two more links:

the fist I dislike most, I wish we had a law against labeling dead people:

Adam Smith
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2013/10/adam-smith-never-believed-that-greed-is-good.html

Gordon Gekko:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Gekko

In case someone else doesn't know.

[turcopolier]

am

You are "LeAnder" masquerading as someone else. Use your own moniker or go away. pl

[VietnamVet]

WRC and LeaNder

I believe the USA and its European Alliances are in crisis. Both Ukraine and Greece are shocks to me. Ukraine was a flat out seizure of land to reduce Russia’s sphere of influence and get rid of Vladimir Putin that risks a nuclear war. Greece is subjection of a people to poverty forever to pay off debts that never can be paid off. This is financial warfare that will inevitably force the peripheral European states to revolt. It assures the breakup of European Union. Only two reasons I can think of for this pillaging and plunder is greed (get it now while you can) and the fragility of the financial system. The accumulation of unpayable debt will force another economic crash it at some point unless written down. In the USA this includes 72 billion of dollars of Puerto Rico debt and 1.2 trillion dollars of Student Loans. Debts that will never be paid off without the good paying jobs for the young that this economy does not have. The financial oligarchs refuse to write down any debt for anyone anywhere. Instead they flooded with digital money to prop up their balance sheets that never gets loaned out for any productive use.

[different clue]

SteveG,

Kerry may very well hope so. He may even try to convince Obama. But as of now, Obama is motivated by that pathotoxic narcissism which Walrus has written about. He feels he has been humiliated and bested and shown-for-a-fool in public by Putin. Obama wants personal revenge on Putin and he wants it in open view. So for now, Obama would rather push the Ukraine events to nuclear war with Russia if that is what it takes to salve his wounded pride.

And Biden is willing to gamble on the risk of nuclear war so his son can make money off his involvements in Ukraine, IMTO. ( In My Tinfoil Opinion).

[Tyler]

Nancy K,

I like to build AR model rifles from stripped lowers, as do many others.

I guess this makes me a "gun manufacturer".

[Tyler]

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/07/16/warship-burns-as-islamic-state-launches-missile-attack-on-egyptian-navy/

Woah! Interesting capacity by IS. There's always been a naval capacity to Islam. Wonder if IS will reclaim it.

[different clue]

William R. Cumming,

A crisis can be somewhat slow moving and still be a crisis. Unless it has crossed the line of no return into being a Greek Tragedy. In which case there is no exit and no changing course.

But for now I think the human communities-in-general of the world are in a crisis crisis. Too many crises to keep up. A crisis for almost any taste in crises. Each crisis making one or more other crises worse. And every crisis-fighter demanding total focus on his/her own pet crisis to the exclusion of all others. The Crisis Crisis.

How to address it? Everyone who feels they should and CAN do something about crisis should focus on the crisis they know and understand best and work on that crisis. And everyone should try respecting everyone else's choice of crisis. And perhaps people could meet in inter-crisis councils to figure out how solutions could be crafted against one crisis in such a way as to make at least one other crisis less bad or at least slower moving.

[Matthew]

jr786: Me too. It's refreshing to have a Pope who would feel out of place at Davos.

[FB Ali]

Considering that the lady(?) uses SST to express her 'stream of consciousness' thoughts, which don't really add anything to the site's discourse, I would second the suggestion to "go away".

[scott s.]

ISIS affiliate Wilayat al-Sina claimed responsibility for a naval attack against Egypt. Apparently an Egyptian Switfships 26m Fast Patrol Boat was attacked from shore. Possible weapon was an AT-14 Kornet anti-tank weapon.

[optimax]

Two military recruiting centers were shoot up killing four marines in Chattanooga. The shooter has a Muslim name.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-police-officer-shot-near-tennessee-army-recruiting-center/

[Thomas]

dc,

Our community member Valissa posted this earlier today on FB Ali's Iran thread:

Barack Obama praises Putin for help clinching Iran deal http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/11740700/Barack-Obama-praises-Putin-for-help-clinching-Iran-deal.html

"The unexpected consequence of the talks - an “opening” for further detente in the worst crisis in American-Russian relations since the Cold War…

Mr Obama said Mr Putin had telephoned him recently to discuss Syria, where the regime of Bashar Assad, a Russian ally, has suffered severe battlefield setbacks in recent months. “I think they get a sense that the Assad regime is losing a grip over greater and greater swaths of territory inside of Syria [to Sunni jihadist militias] and that the prospects for a Isil or al-Nusra takeover or rout of the Syrian regime is not imminent but becomes a greater and greater threat by the day,” he said."

[Fred]

Looks like the Al Shaprton shake down is getting into full swing mode in the D. Here's a run down.
http://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/07/16/kid-rock-flown-confederate-flag-five-years/30226159/

Too bad the community leader can't do anything about that black on black murder rate or get other residents of the city to aid the chief of police in solving multiple murders. But a five year old flag waving incident is just the thing to get a corporate payout.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/06/20/10-people-shot-1-killed-at-block-party-on-detroits-west-side/