I’ve been digging into some of the legal foundations concerning the Iran nuclear facility question over the last couple of days. In this process I should point out that getting the facts has not been at all easy. I can say that what is clear is that recent events have been either overplayed, under-documented, or more probably a combination of both.
There is the Iran Safeguards Agreement (entered into force 15 May 1974) which contains the following article:
DESIGN INFORMATION
General provisions
Article 42
Pursuant to Article 8, design information in respect of existing facilities shall be provided to the Agency during the discussion of the Subsidiary Arrangements. The time limits for the provision of design information in respect of the new facilities shall be specified in the Subsidiary Arrangements and such information shall be provided as early as possible before nuclear material is introduced into a new facility.
Clearly, this article is subject to the implementation details of the Subsidiary Arrangements. However, for the moment I have not been able to track down an on-line copy of that agreement. If you do some digging around the Internet you will come across references to Code 3.1 which exist in two forms, one from 1976, and a revision established in 1990. The following quote seems to be viral when digging into the subject:
The Subsidiary Arrangements specify when a state must report a new facility to the IAEA. “Code 3.1″ of the 1976 version of the Subsidiary Arrangements requires states to report on new facilities “normally no later than 180 days before the facility is scheduled to receive nuclear material for the first time.”
It became clear that this requirement did not provide the IAEA with sufficient time to plan and prepare for safeguards. So, in the early 1990s the IAEA modified Code 3.1. The new version requires states to report on a new facility as soon as the decision to construct it is taken.
From what I understand, Iran is and remains compliant with the 1976 version of the agreement, and that following the 1990 amendment, Iran undertook a number of reporting actions consistent with that amendment, although, IAEA minutes back to around 2003 claim Iran breaching 1990 criteria. Iran on the other-hand made the distinction between state authorisation (which they point out has never occured) as opposed to their voluntary supply of information consistent with both the 1976 and 1990 criteria. Iran claims that prior voluntary actions do not constitute state endorsement (and on this I’m tempted to side with Iran). According to James M. Acton the IAEA claim that amendments are not subject to unilateral modification.
In accordance with Article 39 of Iran’s Safeguards Agreement, agreed Subsidiary Arrangements cannot be modified unilaterally; nor is there a mechanism in the Safeguards Agreement for the suspension of provisions agreed to in Subsidiary Arrangements.
If the IAEA states that Subsidiary Arrangements cannot be modified unilaterally, how was it possible that the 1990 amendments came into force if not by a unilaterally decision of the IAEA? We should keep in mind that there may be a perfectly plausible legal basis supporting the right of the IAEA to undertake unilateral action, but for now, I have not found any supporting evidence, and frankly, I doubt it exists. It may also be the case the bilateral agreement was established but not formally ratified (a more probably scenario).
An interview on MSNBC with Scott Ritter, former Chief UN Weapons Inspector supports a growing scepticism forming in my mind. In fact I think that perhaps there are grounds to argue that IAEA processes dealing with formal adoption, resolution of amendments, and accountability provisions may not be everything we would hope them to be. But if we turn around and look towards IAEA as an improvement opportunity, one cannot ignore the Israeli issue as reported by Reuters just a few days ago (18 September 2009):
The UN nuclear assembly voted on Friday to urge Israel to accede to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and place all atomic sites under UN inspections, in a surprise victory for Arab states.
The resolution, passed narrowly for the first time in nearly two decades, expresses concern about “Israeli nuclear capabilities” and calls on International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei to work on the issue.
One could argue that the IAEA frameworks and the geopolitical integrity of the UN (vis-a-vis Israel) are the things to watch as this process unfolds. Even more interesting in the short-term will be the approach Iran takes in the negotiations ahead.
/Cat.
Supplementary Information
Recommended Reading
Concrete Steps to Improve the Nonproliferation Regime
Pierre Goldschmidt, April 2009
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Nonproliferation Program
Seymour Hersh has given a talk to Duke University saying Obama is in a battle with his own Pentagon.
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/sy-hersh-military-war-against-white-h
McConnell mistakenly claims Republicans and Democrats are ‘close to even’ in the polls.
===============================================
continued and you can watch it here:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/20/mcconnell-gop-gap/
Rachel Maddow on the fact the Republicans are finding it hard to find anyone to run against him in his district in Florida. Includes an interview with Grayson.
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/rachel-maddow-show-graysons-anatomy
Pussies galore!!
http://www.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/SonOfHair.jpg
Chris B,
While claims of Republican parity are untrue, there is polling evidence that the GOP are in a better position at present than they were prior to 2006 and 2008.
As an example, the RCP average immediately prior to the 2006 election was an 11.5 per cent lead to the Democrats; prior to the 2008 election it was an 8.6 per cent lead. At present, the lead is 5.5 per cent – certainly still substantial, and you would much rather be in the Democrat position than the Republican one. But there has been some shift.
And in fact it is actually better for the Republicans than just the comparisons show.
The 11.5 and 8.6 per cent leads were with all polling companies polling likely voters. The current 5.5 per cent lead for the Democrats is out of polling comprised mainly of registered voters.
(Only Rasmussen polls likely voters consistently across the electoral cycle, which explains some if not all of the difference between the results from Rasmussen and the results from other polling companies.)
David Real Clear Politics is a well known Republican leaning website.
Further to that David, Rasmussen got caught skewing its polling. I posted that information on here just for you.
708 Meaning when they got caught skewing the polls (they admitted it) I posted the information on here.
Pelosi To Dems: Time To Take A Stand On Public Option.
========================================
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/20/pelosi-to-dems-time-to-ta_n_327979.html
Heather Graham Becomes Public Option Pitch Woman In New MoveOn.Org Ad
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/20/heather-graham-becomes-pu_n_328037.html
Congress “Getting Completely Crushed” With Over 100,000 Calls For Obama’s Healthcare Reform
==============================================
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dawn-teo/ofa-healthcare-phonebank_b_327418.html
Is anyone noticing a trend here?
Being online is good for your brain
==============================
by Chris in Paris on 10/20/2009 09:49:00 PM
Excellent! Let’s just hope the benefits are not only for older people.
Researchers found that older adults who started browsing the Web experienced improved brain function after only a few days.
“You can teach an old brain new technology tricks,” said Dr. Gary Small, a psychiatry professor at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of iBrain. With people who had little Internet experience, “we found that after just a week of practice, there was a much greater extent of activity particularly in the areas of the brain that make decisions, the thinking brain — which makes sense because, when you’re searching online, you’re making a lot of decisions,” he said. “It’s interactive.”
http://www.americablog.com
Chris B,
I read the article. Rasmussen did not ‘admit’ skewing polls. The accusation was that the question being asked on health care was not a balanced one. It included what could be interpreted as a leading word.
As to RCP being Republican leaning, go to Pollster. Same thing is showing there. (Which is hardly surprising given that they include most of the same polls …).
And if RCP are so Republican leaning, how did they manage to predict the election result so closely? (their final average was even slightly favourable to Obama, showing a Democratic lean if anything – not that it was statistically significant).
And if you can point me to a set of polls that you would prefer to average, I am pretty positive that they will all show the same thing: that the Democrat position now is worse than it was in 2006 and 2008. (Although it is still good.)
Charles Franklin at Pollster.com responds today to reader claims that Rasmussen skews poll averages of President Obama’s approval rating by turning in numbers that are consistently 2-3 points below the average.
==============================================
————————————————————————————
http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/04/rasmussen_and_gallup_skewing_obamas_approval.php
Rasmussen are consistently 2-3 points below the average.
It’s easy to make sure you get the LAST poll correct to say you got it right.
So If you add 2-3 points to Rasmussen. It brings it in line with what I said in the first place. The Democrats are yet to run their anti Republican health care SCARE ads and their “It was all George Bushes fault” advertisements. BINGO landslide! They will pick up around 10 senate seats.
And that article again ignores the fact that Rasmussen poll likely voters as opposed to registered voters, so the polls are not directly comparable.
Re RCP making sure they got the last poll correct, RCP do not do polls. They simply average polls – like Pollster does. As RCP and Pollster show very similar things (in fact, Pollster’s congressional average is much tighter than RCPs, but that is merely a function of the way they average), it would seem that Pollster and RCP must both be Republican conspirators …
OK eight seats including Pennsylvania (hopefully by a REAL liberal). Pennsylvania is now shown as a blue state.
http://www.electoral-vote.com
Chris B,
If you add 2 to 3 points to Rasmussen, the RCP average and the Pollster average change only marginally *because* they are *averages* of numerous pollsters.
And if you add 2 to 3 points to Rasmussen for the current polling, you need to do it for the 2006 and 2008 polling also, so it cancels out.
Thus, the polling evidence is *still* that the Democrats are in a worse position now than they were in both 2006 and 2008. But they are still in a good position.
Oh that’s right Sarah Palin is not as popular as she used to be and Alaska may fall too.
Chris B,
That electoral vote map is most certainly not current. If you click on Penn, for example, it shows the last poll as the election result in 2004. There is no graph of Senate polling for Penn. (Unless I am totally looking at the wrong thing here.).
Re Sarah Palin:
1.) She is not running.
2.) She was not a senator in the first place.
David. You miss the whole point.
=========================
Bingo! Landslide!
Whoops, link to 724
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/republican-party/gop-in-same-position-in-generic-matchup-as-in-2008-and-2006/
You’ve been a very busy B, Chris. Dig your buzz.
Katielou, finally caught up on the Possum link about the push/pull factors at play in refugee movements. Super link, thanks. That man sure has got a formidable mind. Apart from skills at stats, economics, politics and writing, he’s one of the best vivisectors of trolls this side of the black stump. How could one forget the filleting he gave the drongo Amigo over at Billy’s blog? On Possum’s push/pull thread he does an equally fine job on some speed-typing hyped-up fuckwit.
—————————–
http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/20091020_when_youre_smiling/
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/77291
Patrick is gonna be pissed when he finds out about this:
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/77299
One poll, Chris. One poll … You do get excited by them.
And Penn is a blue pick-up on the electoral-vote map because Specter defected – I should have picked that up straightaway.
Thanks EC. Mind you there’s still 12 months to go. The known, unknowns or is it the unknown knowns. Oh damn! The things we don’t know about may affect the result.
David and Chris, perhaps you could wager each other a bottle of plonk on who is closest to calling the seat numbers resulting from the Mid-Terms? Carn, lads, prophet V forecaster!
I wanna see blood!
727 That’s what I said earlier on about the Penn. If they transcribed the figures from 2006 the map would look very different.
As of now. I would bet on 8 senate seats. Assuming their is no major unknown in play by November 2010. I would like to see what happens to the polls after the Health Bill goes through.
I don’t like this poll.
==============
Poll Shows Blowout in Virginia
A new SurveyUSA poll in Virginia finds Bob McDonnell (R) leading Criegh Deeds (D) by 19 points, 59% to 40%, his highest tally in any general election poll.
In the last two weeks, McDonnell is up 5 points while Deeds is down 3.
http://politicalwire.com
Brutal finding: “Less than one in five voters (19%) expressed confidence in Republicans’ ability to make the right decisions for America’s future while a whopping 79% lacked that confidence.”
http://politicalwire.com
David. This alone makes it very, very, easy to run a campaign against the Republicans. “It was all George Bushes fault”
This could turn in to something really interesting indeed.
It may even lead to a few more light plane crashes.
http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=99712
From the Wicki page on the same article;
Times like these makes me wish i was a bit more IT savvy.
gaffy If it’s any consolation, you can be tech savvy and not know much about what they are talking about. There are so many different area’s in the computer world. From what I can make out, the company thought they had sabotaged the program that runs the voting. Eg the software. But all the code that runs the program will have to be examined by lawyers to see if it complies with the law. The code is way out of my league, although my son would have a grasp of it.
Paddy what will Moondoggie make of this?
You just can’t help bad luck when you commission a study tell everyone how wonderful it is, especially when Xhenepong backs it to the hilt with Fielding the fuckwit.
Malbulls latest hit song;
Everyone’s a winner baby that’s for sure.
He must be ready to–
Know when to fold up,
know when to walk away after this.
They haven’t even sat down to start their faux negotiations yet and headlines like this hit the waves. HAHAHAHA
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/study-finds-18b-hole-in-coalition-ets-20091021-h8xz.html
737 gaffhook That comes under, “Why am I not surprised”?
737
Chris
I am now hoping that this stuff will back up that other enquiry that was investigating this stuff when that dude died in his plane crash.
He was supposed to know what all the coding etc was about but could not”give it up” because of IP laws etc.
Hopefully now they have it on a plate if they can get at it properly.
On that wiki site they are opening it up to anyone who may be tech savvy enough to add to the extraction of all the information and what it means now they can read it.
Because there are names mentioned in parts of the code areas they may be able to quiz them as to what it is all about.
I love it.
Just in from a friend in QLD
=======================
unfortunately i didnt get photos of it. but tonight in Lowood QLD i was leaving a friends place and we heard movement in long grass, i turned my headlights on highbeam and we saw a couple of cats looking up a tree, what stunned us both (friend and i) a drop bear dropped straight out the tree onto one of the cats, the other cat bolted and the drop bear went back up the tree with the cat in its mouth… i was pissed off that i didnt have my video camera handy..
Catrina – A picture of a Drop Bear just for you.
http://rookery2.viary.com/storagev12/1192000/1192449_6bf6_625×1000.jpg
Honduras lifts opposition media ban
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/10/2009102135257372665.html
Chris B at 741
Thank you for that!
Chris B at 732,
Why worry about it? They must be part of the Republican conspiracy, and as such their poll cannot be right.
Blaming all the troubles of people in the US on GWB might be a tricky sell after Obama has been president for two years. While you and I know that the economic situation that the US finds itself stems from eight years of Republican rule, the bad luck for the Democrats is that the negative effects of that are being felt while they are in power. And people tend to blame or praise the incumbent (if they’ve been there a while.).
As to predictions, I will have a closer look at what Nate Silver is saying and get back to you.
Goldman Sachs’s Griffiths Says Inequality Helps All
Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) — A Goldman Sachs International adviser defended compensation in the finance industry as his company plans a near-record year for pay, saying the spending will help boost the economy. “We have to tolerate the inequality as a way to achieve greater prosperity and opportunity for all,”
now once again:
“WE HAVE TO TOLERATE THE INEQUALITY AS A WAY TO ACHIEVE GREATER PROSPERITY AND OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL”
———————–
A Goldman Sachs senior executive is planting his P.A. on the bed he normally shares with his loyal wife of longstanding. His wife storms in unannounced………..
” No, no, no darling, things arn’t as they seem. Honest, ya gotta believe me! We were not having sex when you walked in on us. The weather’s been stinko lately, it seemed easier and more comfortable for Bambina and I to remove our clothes as we lay alongside each other.
Seriously, sweetheart, we were just measuring heights, that’s all!”
This is a fascinating extract from an interview of Obama – he’s talking about his temper, or temperament. It’s only short – best bits towards the end.
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2009/10/21/134529/10/65#c65
EC @ 745
That makes my blood boil. What can you say to someone with such a warped sense of morality?
I noticed Frontline’s latest doco “The Warning” is about one woman’s push to regulate the derivatives market before the GFC hit. I haven’t watched it yet, but the shorts looked fascinating. Watch online via this link.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/
Grayson Launches Site To Honor, Name Those Dead From Lack Of Health Care: http://www.NamesOfTheDead.com
Read more at and see the video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/21/grayson-launches-site-to_n_328956.html
I’m somewhat heartened by these comment by Kruddy slamming Wilson Tuckey over asylum seekers.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/rudd-slams-tuckeys-terrorist-asylum-seeker-comments-20091022-hamt.html
I’m hoping Kruddy has learnt a lesson in the past few days and will be more responsible on this issue. I know he’s dropped the “illegal immigrant” line. Still, I don’t really trust Kruddy to do the right thing.
744 David Gould Ronald Regan successfully blamed Jimmy Carter for 8 years. Jeff Kennet blamed successfully Joan Kirner for 8 years. Then Steve Bracks successfully blamed Kennet for his next term, need I go on there has been others do this? NONE of which were anywhere near as bad as Bush. Obama has got it EASY compared to those guys.
So David,where have you been the last 8 years?
Katielou,
I am cynical enough to believe that he’s only doing it because it is an excellent political move. Tuckey is a godsend to the Labor Party. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might suggest that he is in their pay rather than just an idiot …
Chris B,
I think that things are more complicated than you believe. The Republicans did not win three presidential elections in a row due to the electorate’s memory of Carter’s four years, and neither did Jeff Kennett enjoy success purely because of the Kirner line. Nor Bracks re Kennett.
Now, this is not to say that there is no electorate memory. But it is notoriously short. Most voters react on their current economic circumstances and tend to blame or praise those in power for their position. While this is not rational, it is standard.
Government’s always attempt to blame the previous government for everything bad. The electorate is thus also a little bit cynical about this tactic.
I wouldn’t say that Obama has it easy, personally. He has some good things going for him, but there are also risks – the biggest being unemployment. However, given that there is no obvious Republican challenger, I doubt very much that Obama is at risk of losing in 2012, bar something bizarre occurring.
And, yes, predicting something that far away is foolish of me, but I could not help it …
Sometimes……Existential angst is even funnier than politics.
http://media.crikey.com.au/Media/images/091022-Terrible-74944371-6288-48cd-8683-62c241a10805.jpg
749
Katielou
I have just watched QT and most of the opposition Qs were obviously on Assylum seekers until they were getting suck a pasting that Screwball decided on a censure motion on the PM.
He was seconded by Mesmerelda and then they were both answered by the PM.
Maybe we don’t like the way he has been going about it but he let the three frontshadow benchers Turnbull, Bishop and Stone have a gobful in his reply.
The problem is none of it will make it much in to the MSM because they are sympathetic to LNP and their obvious dogwhistle tactics, and Ruddster let them know they were straight out dogwhistling.
“such” not suck
“I doubt very much that Obama is at risk of losing in 2012, bar something bizarre occurring” I totally agree. But there is losing the unloosable election scenario. Ask Jeff and John Hewson.
I think that the Republicans are forcing the Democrats to become street wise. After the teabaggers.
They are getting such a pasting in QT that Poodle Pyne is now having a whinge about how QT is conducted and they want it changed.
What a loser.
Gaffhook @757
Good to hear he’s trying to fight the good fight.
Not to be outdone by paddy at 756, I bring to you The Honduran Coup, a Graphic History by Dan Archer and Nikil Saval in 8 parts (with a backstory that makes it interesting)…
http://www.alternet.org/images/slideshows/houduras_coup/illustration.php
The Guardian also has an article on the piece with a fistful of commentary that largely mirrors some of the opinions posted here.
763
Cat
Won’t open?
gaffhook at 764
It’s working for me – hang on a tick and I’ll check some other platforms. OK – it is working fine on Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Epiphany.
More news from Honduras …
Military band tunes?
On this point I’m inclined to agree with Zelaya as reported by Reuters …
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE59K68720091022
763
That’s a great cartoon Cat.
I can’t wait to see the next chapter.
Crikey had a post yesterday by Warwick Fry behind the paywall on Honduras.
There were also couple of links to some video of Daniel Molina
Unfortunately, I don’t speak Spanish, but this will give you a feeling for what was implied.
Link (1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5RgqVvLEjA
Link (2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DkvsFz7lw
There’s also a link to this pdf
http://www.witnessforpeace.org/downloads/Honduras_Delegation_Report_09.pdf
And this link to Warwick Fry’s blog.
http://vensol.blogspot.com/search/label/Honduras
Just another day in court as stuff slowly starts to unfold.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,25197,26245636-2702,00.html
There’s no simple, glib, or straightforward answers, but looking at the whole picture means also looking at the little bits that are often overlooked by those too quick to make a sweeping generalisation:
Lt. Col. William F. McCollough, commander of the First Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, is walking me around the center of Nawa, a poor, rural district in southern Afghanistan’s strategically vital Helmand River Valley. His Marines, who now number more than 1,000, arrived in June to clear out the Taliban stronghold. Two weeks of hard fighting killed two Marines and wounded 70 more but drove out the insurgents. Since then the colonel’s men, working with 400 Afghan soldiers and 100 policemen, have established a “security bubble” around Nawa.
Colonel McCollough recalls that when they first arrived the bazaar was mostly shuttered and the streets empty. “This town was strangled by the Taliban,” he says. “Anyone who was still here was beaten, taxed or intimidated.”
Today, Nawa is flourishing. Seventy stores are open, according to the colonel, and the streets are full of trucks and pedestrians. Security is so good we were able to walk around without body armor — unthinkable in most of Helmand, the country’s most dangerous province. The Marines are spending much of their time not in firefights but in clearing canals and building bridges and schools. On those rare occasions when the Taliban try to sneak back in to plant roadside bombs, the locals notify the Marines.
The key to success in Nawa — and in other key districts from Garmsir in the south to Baraki Barak in the center — has been the infusion of additional United States troops. The overall American force in Afghanistan has grown to 68,000 from 32,000 in 2008. That has made it possible to garrison parts of the country where few if any soldiers had been stationed before. Before the Marines arrived in Nawa, for instance, there were just 40 embattled British soldiers there.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/opinion/22boot.html
Root my Boot! He’s a neocon!
Kirri , the bloke who wrote that op-ed in your NY Times link is a dyed-in-the-wool Neo-Conservative and kisses Bill Kristol’s arse in public. The schmuck is a “known” MIC shill and warmonger.
As they say in the trade, the guy’s got a credibility problem.
A few snippets from the author’s c.v. :
1/ Boot dislikes the term “neoconservative” since he believes that it “has entirely lost its original meaning”, but he does not mind being called one.[2]
2/ He has also stated that he believes in American exceptionalism.[24]
3/Boot supports what he calls American imperialism based on nation building and the pursuit of spreading (god’s gift of) democracy across the non-Western world. He sees this as the only way to prevent another event like the 9/11 attacks.
4/Boot is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a contributing editor to The Weekly Standard.
But wait, there’s more ………
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Boot
Gratias por el cortoonistas, Senorina Gato.
I send him to my corzin, Eslowpoke Rodruiguez.
770
Root my Boot! He’s a neocon!
But…. but…. but… Ecky….that Wikipedia article says he was born in….gasp..Moscow!!!…To *Jewish* parents!!!!
He’s clearly a Manchurian candidate for that Communist rag the NY times.
However, to get serious for a moment.
Nawa district has a pop of aprox 30,000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nawa_District
The US has chucked in 1,000 troops.
To replicate that sort of show of force country wide would require 1,000,000 troops!
Overly simplistic analysis on my part I know.
But I despair at the sort of fantastical thinking……
That proposes more US troops, who are all infidels, who don’t speak the language, and require billions of $ to maintain and equip them, is going to do anything but prolong an unwinnable war.
The US army is truly shafted in Afghanistan….They just don’t want to admit it yet.
More blood and fuck all treasure awaits them.
The poor bastards.
Ecky, shoot the messenger!
No one side has a franchise on the truth, nor a moral franchise for that matter.
Afghanistan is not black or white, and neither should our thinking be.
John Safran is drinking bubble tea.
========================
John Saffron at his best. Warning! If you are offended by a Jew masturbating over a picture of Barack Obama. Don’t watch this.
My son passed this on via Facebook and there has already been one fuddy duddy whinging.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/racerelations/videos.htm
773 Kirribilli Removals I agree with you entirely. That would be one of the few times they have done it properly. The usual method is shoot anything that moves, then ask questions later.
Yes, Kirri, but if the messenger comes with an occupation-without- end agenda, he needs to be taken to task. I wouldn’t buy a used tank, let alone a used-car from Neocon Boot.
Check out his bestest buddies. Reckon if one pals around long enough with dogs, one will inevitably get fleas
Sure it’s complex in Afghanistan. The tribes will sort each other out when the invaders and occupiers have vamoosed, as the tribes have done for thousands of years. At the end of the crescent moon, all politics is local.
Can’t see the Middle Eastern Super Bases being decommisioned though till all the oil and gas has been sucked from the region. Ensuring spigot access is what it’s all about for the Players who move the chess pieces. Has been since England and France betrayed the M.E. Arabs after WW1 and Big Oil began greasing Saudi kings with mega-buck-sheesh in the 1920s.
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/77331
————————————oOo—————————————–
Suspect there’s more than an idle correlation between the following two links. I think a lot of young people are so into techy stuff that they lose or never learn some basic interpersonal skills….. which drives some even deeper into the machines.
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/77337
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/22/2721659.htm
————————————-oOo——————————————–
Oct 22:
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/doonesbury
“Asked why he quit writing satirical songs, Tom Lehrer replied that after Henry Kissinger won the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, there was nothing left to satirize. Lehrer may have underestimated Dr. K’s spirited sense of irony.”
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Kissinger/Kissinger_Indonesia.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAEmhqdLFs&feature=related
——————–
Yes, paddy, it’s another fiasco for all concerned. Such a bloody disgrace that Australian Forces have been sucked into another unwinnable war, as was Vietnam.
Pete Seegar asked “when will they ever learn?” but the scum who profit bucks-wise from these wars without apparent end don’t want to “learn” anything. War profiteers wield so much money and power they simply don’t give a fuck what We The People want because they call the shots.
Just a few years ago one bave man stood up and shelved another Middle Eastern war rort to a squirming U.S. Senate Committee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrdFFCnYtbk&feature=PlayList&p=41EE859B04AA96ED&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=87
Max Boot is as neocon as neocon gets.
Imho NOTHING he says should be taken seriously or read as fact.
Even if he “may” be correct on a narrow point, everything is used to further an agenda that is WRONG.
There are FEW people i would apply this rule to. Max Boot is one of them.
One from me
==========
Napoleon XIV: ‘They’re coming to take me away’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzHtm1jhL4
776
Oh Ecky….Not in front of the children.
I suspect those poor senators still have nightmares about Uncle George.
Speaking of nightmares…..
Just watched Q&A with the delicious Annabel Crabb in full flight and John Elliot as pissed as the proverbial parrot. Comedy gold!!! Definitely worth watching.
(And that’s from someone who normally loathes the show!)
http://www.commondreams.org/print/48491
Did anyone else watch Q & A?
I haven’t caught it since they stacked the audience with Young Libs for AllBull’s appearance after Grechgate, but tonight just happened on it.
Was very entertaining.
Johnny Elliot was in fine blustering form.
ABelle Crabby was fun.
Emerson was rather disturbingly at ease.
Dutton was…..Dutton. This bloke really is an empty vessel.
The audience was having fun and was entertained.
Quite an entertaining if unenlightening hour.
Grateful Dead~Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds (Live)
Video on You Tube
1968 GD Trip (The Eleven!)
Hey man! This video is real cool man!
Paddy , i see i just missed your bit about Q & A.
seems we are on the same wavelength.
776 Ecky
I remember watching it live when Galloway absolutely destroyed that scumbag Norm Coleman in the u.s Senate. Coleman was being his smarmy self and then Galloway decimated him. It was exhilarating at the time. Thanks for the memory flashback.
How great is it that Al Franken replaced Coleman.
783
HarryH it was certainly a classic Q&A tonight.
I’d forgotten that it was Coleman that George destroyed.
Schadenfreude thy name is Al Franken.
David. There is a third alternative to our discussion. That neither of us has considered.
———————————————————————————–
Republican Fratricide?
================
David Frum: “GOP candidates in New York and New Jersey should be cruising to victory this November. But angry conservatives would rather hand power to Democrats than help moderate Republicans win.”
http://politicalwire.com
Bush’s New Career
==============
Apparently, former President George W. Bush is now a motivational speaker. http://politicalwire.com
Inside Obama’s Strategy to Marginalize Critics
President Obama “is working systematically to marginalize the most powerful forces behind the Republican Party, setting loose top White House officials to undermine conservatives in the media, business and lobbying worlds,” Politico reports.
Among the White House targets: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Rush Limbaugh, the insurance industry, Wall Street executives and Fox News.
“Obama aides are using their powerful White House platform, combined with techniques honed in the 2008 campaign, to cast some of the most powerful adversaries as out of the mainstream and their criticism as unworthy of serious discussion.”
http://politicalwire.com
Advocates for high-speed rail lobby for more after $8 billion in stimulus.
By Walter Alarkon – 10/22/09 06:00 AM ET
===============================================
continued on The Hill
Considering that even Russia is building a High Speed rail line to run from Moscow to St. Petersburg (Leningrad in old speak). It makes the USA look like its using the horse and buggy.
Harry, missed Q&A.
Franken’s win was especially sweet for the reason you mention. Be fascinating to see how Al copes with his five and a quarter year gig.
Tres groovy, CB. Saw ‘em live at the Rosemont Horizon, Chicago in ‘87. Cops were patting punters down just inside the ticketing area. If they found anything, they threw it into a big bin and let the “drug fiends” free to dig the concert. The Dead played for five hours with a half hour break.
When the crowd of 20,000 had re-gathered after interval, all the house lights came on. Jerry Garcia stepped up to the mike and said: “This one’s for John”. He began to sing the opening bars of ‘Hey Jude’. Every last mother-fuckin’ one of ‘em, freaks and straights alike stood and sung along in full voice. ‘Twas moving beyond words. Shed a tear or two the day Jerry claimed his table at the big juke joint in the sky.
Chris B at 788
And Australia? I mean – you can jump on a train in Paris and arrive in Brussels in 45 mins. A trip to London is a bit under a couple of hours. How come we don’t have high speed train across Australia? If the USA is horse and buggy, we are f*ing Neanderthal.
Cat
If Ken Henry’s predictions of a 60% increase in Aus population in the next 20 odd years is true….they better get going (finally) on some decent, fast, reliable public transport.
I am glad it wasn’t only me that thought John Elliot was a few sheets in to the wind.
I had not seen that Galloway clip before EC. Brilliant and i bet Coleman was in full sphinctre control as he squirmed at Galloways interlude. He told it in very simple terms how it was.
790
Catrina
Qld has a train that does in excess of 100kph. That is when it stays on the tracks.
Every time i see it it reminds me of the train going from Shanghai International Airport to the city.
It is mind boggling when you are in a taxi doing 130kph and beside the road a train goes hurtling past in excess of 400kph and dissapears in to the future.
Shanghai was concerned about the accommodation availability for Expo 2010.
Rather than build heaps of new hotels they were tossing up with the idea of replicating the Airport train with a line to a beautiful city, Hangzhou pop 4mil+, about 140km south west of Shanghai, which has an abundance of accommodation.
At 400kph they could be at the Expo site in about half hour or less and after expo they would have rapid rail between the two cities.
Yes after 12 years of Neanderthals we are still somewhat Cobb and Go.
787
Chris
The Rude Pundit has a little to say about that today as well.
And isn’t his descriptives of Ann Coulter absolutely charming?
I thought it would stir the possum to use Boot’s piece…and as usual, it elicited the typical knee-jerk, “it’s all about oil” response. Sigh. So predictable.
Afghanistan, unlike Iraq, is most definitely NOT about oil, nor pipelines for that matter. But there would seem little point trying to discuss that issue with the evidence.
Let’s take that other NY Times writer, Nicholas Kristoff, who’s against sending more troops, but writes:
That’s not to say we should pull out, and it’s a false choice to suggest that we should either abandon Afghanistan or double down. A pullout would be a disastrous signal of American weakness and would destabilize Pakistan.
My suggestion is that we scale back our aims, for Afghanistan is not going to be a shining democracy any time soon. We should keep our existing troops to protect the cities (but not the countryside), while ramping up the training of the Afghan Army — and helping it absorb more Pashtuns to increase its legitimacy in the south. We should negotiate to peel off some Taliban commanders and draw them over to our side, while following the old Afghan tradition of “leasing” those tribal leaders whose loyalties are for rent. More aid projects, with local tribal protection, would help, as would job creation by cutting tariffs on Pakistani and Afghan exports.
…who wants to basically ‘muddle along’ and hope it turns out all right, but sees a huge regional implosion if they abandon the place. (Kristoff is a signed up leftie, for those who don’t know him. I also have a lot of respect for his opinions, although in this case I think he’s being driven by his own ideological baggage, and his compromise position has been tried and is failing).
It’s hard to be left and vote for more troops, but sometimes life does not give you neat, ideologically pure choices.
790 Catrina I agree. But we do have a lack of population and long distances, which don’t help economically. I will point out QLD does have a high speed tilt train. It holds the world record for narrow guage speed. It runs from Brisbane to Cairns. The USA on the other hand have the $$$$$ and population.
Sorry gaffy didn’t see yours.
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/senate-extends-hate-crime-shield-to-gays-20091023-hby1.html
Fantastic.
798
But I thought it was already a crime to beat someone death?
It’s a symbolic change only in this respect, since it includes gay people in those we should not ‘hate’ and do violence to.
Another small step towards a world where differences are tolerated I suppose.
KR,
Hate crimes carry greater penalties. Thus, they *can* be instrumental in causing people to circumscribe their actions. Hate crimes legislation also affects incitement. While the constitution of the US affects free speech, someone who commits a crime against an individual from a minority group can have that crime upgraded to a hate crime if they have been involved in listening to, making or distributing hate speech.
And I also think that symbols are extremely important. We are the symbolic species. Symbols are what drive action.