#4
Former Republican? Ron Paul ran as a Pub but he is more of a libertarian--although a bit of an odd one. I like his small government advocacy. He was never much of one on security and foreign relations. I have heard this sort of thing from Ron Paul in the past--i.e. "blame America.
#5
I heard him say once that we should let Iran have the bomb. As far as I was concerned, that disqualified him for higher office. I do believe we should cut way back on our Middle East meddling but letting Mad Mullahs who have pledged to use it have the bomb is cutting back a little too far.
That and the fact that he is such a little pipsqueak.
#6
OK folks, you may want to disagree strongly with me for this view, however, there is a part of my brain that allows for the conspiracy theory that says that the Obama administration orchestrated this. It would allow Obama and the media minions to take the moral high road against Putin which I think they would very much like to have.
#8
Well, by electing people like Obama and Paul we prove we're not serious about the whole Civilization bullshit... which in a way does make us responsible, but not in the way Obama and Paul would say.
#1
We've grown unaccustomed to a leader that openly serves his country's interests above Corporate/IMF/Wall St./Mil Contractor/Etc interests.
Probably a little of that too in Putin's approach. The French used to be very one-way M-Fers when I was a kid, that's kinda the way I view Puttie.
#2
When the levee breaks, all hell will come with it. And there will be massive consequences imposed on the progressives. Violent, permanent consequences.
#3
The veneer of civilization is thin. The Progressive claptrap is dangerous and makes it thinner and thinner and more and more lawless. At some point, things begin to look like Cormack McCarthy's "The Road." Not a pretty site.
#4
A very analytical, very dark vision. Sort of a continuation on Heinlein's "Bad Luck" riff:
Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as “bad luck.”
#3 The Road creeped me out for all time.
Posted by: Boss Shans4455 ||
07/23/2014 14:56 Comments ||
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#5
Interesting article. I have a few aging relatives that have verbally confided that they just want to 'get on with it' before they are too old to participate.
[DAWN] THE discourtesy of the Rangers who informed the Human Rights Commission of Pakistain that a scheduled meeting with their chief had been cancelled when the team arrived at their headquarters in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , underscores the paramilitary force's reluctance to discuss the operation under way in the city. A fact-finding HRCP team asserted that the 310-day-old operation against lawlessness had failed to achieve its objectives. The operation was launched, they said, without "appropriate planning"; it was begun on "an ad hoc basis" but had become "open-ended"; there were differences between the federal and provincial governments over the campaign's ownership; and a political vacuum existed. The Rangers were asked to lead the campaign on the assumption that the police lacked the capacity to take on Karachi's powerful underworld. But the results, the HRCP said, were far from satisfactory and nothing had been done to enhance the police's capacity to handle crime. The team admitted that the daily number of murders had gone down — however, the overall crime situation remained the same.
The mission's findings must be taken seriously based as they are on extensive interviews with those representing a wide cross-section of civil society, including families of the 'missing'. Since there is no oversight of the operation by an independent commission, which the government failed to set up, the Rangers hardly consider themselves answerable to anyone when told to do a job that should essentially be handled by the police. The flaws inherent in the police force are not to be denied, but the cops know a given area better than the Rangers. Sidelining the police was perhaps not the government's intention when it tasked the Rangers with carrying out the operation. But the kind of "chemistry" the HRCP mentioned has failed to develop between the two forces. This lack of genuine cooperation between them brings us to two other vital issues: the absence of local government representatives and the political parties' indifference to the Karachi situation. Despite orders from the judiciary, the provinces have not held local government polls, nor have the cantonment boards bothered to have elected administrations. As for the political parties, the PPP and MQM, the two parties that represent Sindh's rural and urban constituencies, both have failed to play their expected role. The MQM has been lying low for obvious reasons, while the PPP chief minister doesn't show the same zeal to serve Karachi as does Punjab's chief minister where Lahore is concerned.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] "The most important quality in a leader is that of being acknowledged as such." — Andre Maurois
UNFORTUNATELY, our third-time prime minister does not fit this criterion. While our troops are engaged in the most critical battle against murderous Moslems and hundreds and thousands of people have been displaced from their homes in North Wazoo and are facing severe hardship, our leader is off to Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... for his annual spiritual retreat for 10 days.
There cannot be any objection to his religious zeal. But as a leader he is also expected to focus on the job for which he has been elected. It is certainly no ordinary situation for a country in the midst of a conflict and looming humanitarian crisis.
Being away from the country for so long at this critical time and on a private trip illustrates how low governance is on his priority list. Should our leader not be dealing with the vital issues of national security at home rather than seeking his own salvation?
In any other country, a leader would have preferred to stay with one's own people in times of tribulation. But this is not the case with Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... who is best described as a part-time leader with minimal interest in running the affairs of the state. Not surprisingly, the approval rating for his party has plummeted in a short period.
Surely, it is hard for any incumbent to maintain the same level of popular appeal that brings one to power. Yet the plunge in Nawaz Sharif's approval ratings within the first year of his third term in office is astonishing even by Pak standards, if opinion polls are to be trusted.
Trailing far behind the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... , the party has now fallen behind even the PPP in public approval ratings. According to the latest Herald/SDPI opinion poll, only 17pc of respondents said they would vote for the PML-N if elections were held today compared to 33pc for the PTI and 19pc for the PPP which was routed in the last election.
Such a low popular standing does not come as a surprise given Sharif's dismal performance and style of governance. His is more of a family limited company than a functional institutional democracy. All power is concentrated in the hands of a few members of the family. And now the 'gifted' daughter is being groomed as heir apparent. There is no party organization and all decisions are made by Sharif alone. The exclusion of others has created serious misgivings among senior party members.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
From the title I though it was about Obama and yet another vacation, wedged in amongst 183 rounds of golf, and 350+ fund raisers in just a bit over 5 years.
...As former ambassador to the US Michael Oren told the media, it is clear that neither Israel nor Egypt invited Kerry to come over. Their avoidance of Kerry signals clearly that the US's two most important allies in the Middle East do not trust US President Barack Obama's intentions.
In a heartless slap in the face to wife Michelle, President Obama has been photographed looking down the top of a young woman’s dress – and shocked onlookers are calling him “a perv.”
The good professor points out the obvious: Israel simply cannot and will not allow Hamas to threaten its major international airport. Far from pushing the Israelis to concede and back down, the rocket attacks on the airport will cause Israel to double-down to wipe out the rocket launchers and tunnels.
You wanted medieval, Hamas, you're going to get it...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Any time Hamas and the Paleos wanted to start acting like a state, they could. Instead, they prefer to engage in terrorism and squandering the money on weapons the UN, UR, and others give to them. The Hamas motto is: "We love death as much as the Jews love life."
* TOPIX, BIGNEWSNETWORK > PALESTINIAN [Armed] RESISTANCE UNLIKELY TO BE DEFEATED WIDOUT GAZA REOCCUPATION.
IIUC, IOW Israelis = Paleos = desire a real or final solution to the Palestinian Crisis, NOT JUST ANOTHER PLACEBO.
* WORLD NEWS > [Haaretz] RIGHT-WING RABBI RULING: ISRAEL MAY DESTROY GAZA IFF NECESSARY.
Jewish fatwa???
Meanwhile, not to be outdone by the Israelis or the Paleos ... ...
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PRESSTV - IRAN: LEADER CALLS FOR [continued = anti-Israel] ARMED RESISTANCE IN PALESTINE, to result in the final annihilation [but NOT mass murder] of Israel + Jewish State in order to confront + end its murderous Zionist Govt-Regime.
Iran Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, whom also argues that the PALEO WEST BANK SHOULD BE SIMIL WELL-ARMED AS IN GAZA.
[DAWN] TO veil or not to veil, that is the question. And that continues to be asked in Europe where La Belle France, Belgium, Spain and Italia have imposed a ban on the niqab in public places. The niqab shrouds the entire face and leaves small slits for the eyes. The ban does not apply to the more ubiquitous hijab, a head scarf that leaves the face fully exposed. No country has so far restricted the hijab.
The latest to pronounce a verdict on this controversial item of the female apparel is the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg where a French woman SAS (identity not disclosed) of Pak origin filed a case against the French law forbidding the use of the full-face veil in public places. SAS claimed that the law violated her "freedom of religion and expression".
The law had stirred some controversy in La Belle France when it was being debated in 2010. A section of the Mohammedan community was vocal in its opposition. But that did not make much of an impact as there are five million Mohammedans in La Belle France — the largest number in any West European country — and of these only 1,900 were estimated to wear the full veil when the law came into force in 2011. Now their number is said to have dropped by half.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
IRRC CNN = the ISIS has repor ordered shopkeepers in Mosul to make sure any + all Femme Mannequins are properly veiled or burqua'd???
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Wazoo
[DAWN] TO veil or not to veil, that is the question. And that continues to be asked in Europe where 
