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POPSSpooks are Spooked McCain and the continuation of Bad Bush "Intelligence" will haunt America. McCain would be an absolute disaster for the people and civil intelligence agencies. The military and Pentagon would be the "winners"
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POPSI support Obama on Issues, not because of the Cult of Personality I don't worship Barak Obama. I don't think he's a savior, or even an angel. Although the novelty of him being a "black" president is entertaining, I don't really care about that either. (Honestly, it seems a little strange that we are so self-congratulatory over 'voting for a black man,' as if that should be really impressive somehow.) Why do I support Barak Obama? Because of all the people running for President, I believe he has the best ideas on what direction our country needs to take. I would like to see much of his platform made into reality, and because of that, I will vote for him. I don't want to waste all our time arguing of personal slights and vauge rumors. Let's get to the issues. Here is why I support Barak Obama:
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POPSNot All "Foreign Policy Experience" Is Created Equal Back in 2000, during a GOP debate, McCain was asked by Larry King, "What area of American international policy would you change immediately as president?" McCain's reply? "I'd institute a policy that I call 'rogue state rollback.' I would arm, train, equip, both from without and from within, forces that would eventually overthrow the governments and install free and democratically-elected governments.... As long as Saddam Hussein is in power, I am convinced that he will pose a threat to our security." In other words, he was a believer in democracy at the end of a loaded gun even before Bush was.
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POPSOnly Rhetorical Extravagance by George Will Obama thinks government is not getting a "reasonable share" of oil companies' profits, which in 2007 were, as a percentage of revenues (8.3 percent), below those of U.S. manufacturing generally (8.9 percent). Exxon Mobil pays almost as much in corporate taxes to various governments as the bottom 50 percent of American earners pay in income taxes. Exxon Mobil does make $1,400 a second in profits -- hear the sharp intakes of breath from liberals with pursed lips -- but pays $4,000 a second in taxes and $15,000 a second in operating costs. Obama's rhetorical extravagances are inversely proportional to his details, as when he promises "nothing less than a complete transformation of our economy" in order to "end the age of oil." The diminished enthusiasm of some voters hitherto receptive to his appeals might have something to do with the seepage of reality from his rhetoric.
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POPS Peace activist Abie Nathan dies, aged 81 - respect "Nathan burst onto the world of Middle East diplomacy in 1966 with a dramatic solo flight to Egypt in a rattletrap single-engine plane, more than a decade before Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty. Although he failed in his initial bid to talk peace with the Egyptians, his daredevil escapade won the affection of many Israelis and launched a long and often eccentric one-man crusade to end the Arab-Israeli conflict."
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POPSAmerica: Don't Wait For Pelosi, Seize Our Energy Future Now!
Only today, they have energy as a weapon. One premise of the new Putin Doctrine is that oil prices will stay high and that Russia, with its plentiful reserves, can use oil profits to fund its global ambitions. This is where Congress comes in. Since President Clinton refused to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 1995, Democrats have stood in the way of any rational energy plan. Today, we pump just 25% of our oil; 40 years ago, it was 60%. We send about $900 billion a year overseas to buy oil, money that helps fund Russian and radical Islamic mischief. This is a problem. Now for the good news: The U.S. is the world's largest potential oil supplier — with as much oil, the Institute for Energy Research says, as has been used by the entire world over the last 150 years. Just offshore, we have 86 billion barrels of crude. The U.S. Arctic region, including Alaska, holds 30 billion barrels. In the Far West, we have more than 800 billion barrels of shale oil.
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POPSWhat are they afraid of If you had any doubts as to Russian designs on Eastern Europe and the Caucasus erase them from your mind. Russia knows that this missile shield is designed to shield Europe from Middle Eastern attacks.
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POPSHow to Start War with Russia--101 (Lesson from the Neoconservatives)
Bush Implements Neocon Lesson: Have Condi go to all the satellite states and sign missile placement deals about 100 miles from Russia, then sit back and watch Russia "invade or attack its neighbor" to disarm the threat. Meanwhile, this is precisely what the US was provoked by from Russia in the Cuban Missile Crisis! Purpose? This is part of the neoconservative plan for "global hegemony" which Bush is now implementing just prior to leaving office, ensuring sparked conflict into the next presidency (which would also help McCain, although Obama is a CFR shill too), setting a continuation of the neocon agenda for another four to eight years. Early in his pResidency Bush met with Putin in blue jeans at his Texas ranch. Now he will stab him in the back as he leaves office. This is normal if one reviews US foreign policy since the 20th century and sets the stage for WWIII based upon dangerous absolute Alliances, as Condi refers to with Poland "as much as if it was a US territory"
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POPSRussia Nullifies French-Brokered Armistice With Georgia -- are implemented by Russia only in the sense that it no longer shoots or bombards Georgian troops and civilians. Russian troops, however, are blowing up bridges and other infrastructure on Georgian highways and railways, destroying Georgian military bases deep inside the country, and looting local Georgian civilian administrations at gunpoint -- all of this under the Sarkozy-brokered armistice. Point 3 in the agreement, “free access for humanitarian assistance and permission for refugees to return,” has also been torn apart. Access is impeded by Russia’s de facto naval blockade of Georgia’s coast and interdiction of cross-country transport in Georgia, continuing under this “armistice.” The few U.S. Air Force humanitarian assistance flights can not possibly cope with the magnitude of the task. The agreement’s 4th point, “Georgian troops are to return to the places of their regular stationing,” seems largely compromised by the devastation of those bases deep inside Georgia.......
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POPSRon Suskind vs. Bush Admin on Iraq-9/11 Fakery Suskind's book has provided documentation of evidence and inside witnesses within the CIA and British Intelligence sources that a fake letter was ordered "from the White House" pretending to be from Saddam's Intelligence Chief to Saddam (whom the U.S. relocated and paid $5 million to) which was laden with lies and a claim of ties between Mohammad Atta (supposed 9/11 ringleader), Al Qaeda, and Iraq--back-dated prior to 9/11--which provided deliberately false claims to connect Iraq to 9/11. The White House has denied (see previous clipmark) but award-winning journalist Suskind summarizes his sources and defends his allegations on Democracy Now (see first podcast "listen" link). The second podcast, Aug. 14, includes House Judiciary Chair John Conyers who has already started an investigation under way which will lead to some kind of action. Conyer's stated the the Senate Intelligence Committee, headed by Jay Rockefeller, has the power to review classified documents to verify this.
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POPSRice Arrives in Georgia With Cease-Fire Concessions Meanwhile, a flurry of international diplomacy was set in motion, even as regional tensions escalated dramatically over a missile defense deal between the U.S. and Poland — with a top Russian general saying the pact exposes Poland to attack. Gori, about 45 miles west of the capital Tbilisi, is key to when — or if — Russia will honor the terms of a cease-fire that calls for both sides to pull their forces back to the positions they held before fighting broke out last week in the separatist region of South Ossetia. By holding Gori, Russian forces effectively cut the country in half because the city sits along Georgia's only significant east-west highway. Russian military vehicles were blocking the eastern road into the city on Friday, although they allowed in one Georgia bus filled with loaves of bread. President Bush video statement
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POPSThe crew in Venice around the piano ...eventually things settled down and we all joined Musetta around the piano to sing our favorite bits and pieces...it took a lot of diplomacy to sooth these enormous egos!.....more will follow as we travel around getting people to buy the book.
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POPSMore Diplomats- Less Soldiers More musicians in Military Bands, than Diplomats Let's go into more war with music, because the Diplomatic route failed? And too few speak other languages. Kind of shows the ignorance we display worldwide.
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POPSRice Says She Won't Block Strikes Against Nuclear Sites "We don't say yes or no to Israeli military operations; Israel is a sovereign country," Ms. Rice said. "Every day that the centrifuges continue to spin brings Iran closer to a nuclear weapons capability and threatens the stability and security of the region and the world," Israel's ambassador in Washington, Sallai Meridor, said. "The international community should immediately apply additional robust sanctions." The Security Council, which has imposed three rounds of mild sanctions on Iran since 2006, has traditionally taken its time before agreeing on compromise action that manages to satisfy Russia, China, and several European countries that prefer conducting business with Iran to halting its nuclear run . The process is also very slow, the American U.N. ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, acknowledged yesterday.
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POPSNew Sanctions Levelled at Iran Back to playing Bad Cop again, after the fake Good Cop "diplomacy". This is exactly the pattern of ramping up war with Iraq. Same game. Americans should know better by now, and see right through it. Note the role of the UN in this leverage, the gang of nations that rule the world (all which possess WMD) dictate to the world and forbid others to have even nuclear power as well as arms. Global tyranny at work.
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POPSObstruction and Racist Politics in Haiti If just the rest of the world could be like the US. So the thinking at the department of treasury and apparently in all our institutions ...Perhaps it is about time to change the US and adhere to international agreements. Blackmail instead of diplomacy...
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POPSMultilateralism Comes With A Price We must work with our allies, but we also must recognize that multilateralism comes with a price. Coalitions can dilute effectiveness. The European concept of multilateralism is Washington's obeisance to European positions. Western Europe exists in a bubble of stability and affluence, unable to fathom how dangerous extremist ideology in Tehran and Pyongyang can be. Multilateral organizations are not the answer; at best, they are ineffective soap boxes, at worst cesspools of venality. Rose petals and well-digging have never stopped bombs, racism or genocide. A strong military has. Obama says, "Let us remember this history." Let us hope he first learns it. Leadership is about more than rhetoric.
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POPSUS to Iran in "Diplomacy": Two Weeks to Comply Just as we posted earlier, playing diplomatic "good cop" is just a nicer face with a club in his belt. The exact same tactic was used with Saddam leading up to the Iraq war, even though he could not prove to them he had no WMD, because you cannot disprove a mere suspicion or a lying accusation.
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POPSObama's Youth: Hope, Change And Snappy Uniforms 50 hours a year. 100 hours for college students, provided their type of service is deemed acceptable by a sprawling new Federal bureaucracy. Oh, and Obama's going to double the size of the Peace Corps while quadrupling AmeriCorps. I'm curious if anyone will be left to fill all the newly vacated private sector jobs. St. Barack concluded his speech with this gem: "Loving your country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it." But what if I love my country the way it is? Throwing more kerosene on the mob's torches, Obama is moving his nomination acceptance speech to Denver's 75,000-seat outdoor stadium. And is thinking about a speech at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. Odd that he didn't choose Nuremberg. We've talked a lot about Liberal Fascism. Apparently, it wasn't a moment too soon. UPDATE: A Lizard invasion? Thanks for the LGF link, Charles!
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POPSUS and Iran "Diplomacy" Starts--"Good Cop" Tactic But coercing Iran to stop its nuclear enrichment program is the goal. So earlier we saw "bad cop" war games and rhetoric by US and Israel, and now this multinational "diplomacy" will play "good cop", to force the will of the US and Israel on Iran. That is not diplomacy, and the shift is temporary, for the election season. The result (which might be a goal too) will be that the oil traders will sell and lower oil prices will come (as they already did on first news of this), and this game will probably be played between now and Nov. 5th (to help McCain), and then the war-mongering will start again, and possibly an attack by Israel ( per neocon John Bolton's clipmark earlier ) to force the next President's hand into the conflict. Bush does not change from his neocon advisers blueprint. This pragmatism is for political expediency and economic benefit for election season purposes.
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