#1
Remember a 100 years on the frontier from the Ohio river to still chasing renegades jumping the reservation even after 1900.
The Problem of Doctrine. “Three special conditions set this mission apart from more orthodox military assignments. First, it pitted the army against an enemy who usually could not be clearly identified and differentiated from kinsmen not disposed at the moment to be enemies. Indians could change with bewildering rapidity from friend to foe to neutral, and rarely could one be confidently distinguished from another...Second, Indian service placed the army in opposition to a people that aroused conflicting emotions... And third, the Indians mission gave the army a foe unconventional both in the techniques and aims of warfare... He fought on his own terms and, except when cornered or when his family was endangered, declined to fight at all unless he enjoyed overwhelming odds...These special conditions of the Indian mission made the U.S. Army not so much a little army as a big police force...for a century the army tried to perform its unconventional mission with conventional organization and methods. The result was an Indian record that contained more failures than successes and a lack of preparedness for conventional war that became painfully evident in 1812, 1846, 1861, and 1898." excerpted from Chapter 3, Frontier Regulars: The United States Army and the Indian 1866-1891 by Robert M. Utley.
[Asharq al-Aswat] Former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq could not have known that his first television appearance on Arabic satellite channel OTV would be his last as Egypt's interim prime minister, after the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces announced its acceptance of his resignation on Thursday. The details regarding when Shafiq decided to hand in his resignation remain vague, and until now nobody is sure whether he offered this immediately following his controversial appearance on OTV, or the next day. However what is more surprising is that Shafiq's resignation was not announced during a presser or on state television, rather this was announced via an online post on the official Facebook page of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, making Shafiq the first international leader whose resignation was announced via a social-networking website.
Former prime minister Shafiq was already subject to mounting pressure from an Egyptian public who viewed him as a relic of the old regime, particularly as he had been appointed by Mubarak, however his combative and controversial appearance on a live televised talk show on OTV with Egyptian writer Alaa al-Aswany and prominent Egyptian businessman and OTV owner, Naguib Sawiris, only quickened his departure.
Sources at OTV told Asharq Al-Awsat that Shafiq was not originally scheduled to appear alongside champions of the protest movement Egyptian novelist Alaa al-Aswani and Egyptian television journalist Hamdi Qandil, and that rather he was only supposed to appear alongside Egyptian professor of constitutional law Ahmed Kamal Abu al-Majd and research director and senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, Professor Amr Hamzawy. However much to everybody's surprise, the former Egyptian prime minister invited al-Aswani and Qandil to appear alongside him during a commercial break.
The source added that "at this point, murmurs broke out across the studio as everybody expected the episode to be an on-air massacre as al-Aswani and Qandil were known for their hostility to the former regime and all of its members. In addition to this, the television program's host Reem Majid was known for holding similar positions and she herself took part in the revolution and came under severe criticism for her lack of neutrality and criticism of the former regime."
For his part, Egyptian radio and television personality Hamdi Qandil, who witnessed the events in question first-hand, told Asharq Al-Awsat that "I regard Shafiq's resignation as a natural outcome" in a reference to the mounting public pressure and criticism that Shafiq was facing. Qandil added that there were clear signs that the Egyptian Supreme Military Council was more and more prepared, over the few days leading up to his resignation, to discuss the issue of Shafiq's removal from power in the face of mounting public pressure. Qandil stressed that "there were signs and indications during the Egyptian Supreme Military Council's meeting with Amr Musa and Mohammed ElBaradei, but in the end, it was the public pressure that was the true catalyst [that led to his resignation.]"
Qandil stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat that "his television appearance was the tipping point, and this is something that profoundly affected Ahmed Shafiq personally, and I believe it was this which prompted his decision [to resign]." Qandil added "Shafiq was ruthlessly attacked [during the television show]; people were rather harsh on him."
Shafiq was heavily criticized by Egyptian novelist Alaa al-Aswani, and the two clashed throughout the episode about issues such as comments made by the former prime minister during the Mubarak era about the protests in Tahrir Square, and the violence suffered by the demonstrators. Al-Aswani also criticized the former prime minister for his association to the Mubarak regime and the National Democratic Party, The festivities between the Egyptian novelist and the soon-to-be former prime minister continued to escalate, with al-Aswani criticizing the Shafiq and interim government for not sufficiently investigating the deaths of the Egyptian demonstrators who died protesting against the former regime. At this point, Shafiq visibly lost his temper telling al-Aswani "You don't understand anything! Don't try to play the patriotic act! I'm more of a patriot than you are! I went to war, and fought battles [for Egypt]!" To which al-Aswani replied "I am an Egyptian citizen and I have the right to ask you [such questions]!"
At this point, this verbal clash almost turned physical, with one of the guests having to physically stand up and pacify the former Egyptian prime minister. Shafiq was visibly disturbed throughout the remaining portion of the live television debate, and sources indicate that he quickly left the studio following the broadcast.
For his part, OTV president Albert Shafiq told Asharq Al-Awsat that "I did not expect this outcome" denying that there was any attempt to entrap or embarrass the former Egyptian prime minister on the part of OTV. He said "this is what live television is like...you cannot control the reaction of the guests." He added "it is not the television station's role to lay traps, my role, like any free media outlet, is to convey the pulse of the street."
For her part, OTV host Reem Majid said that she was surprised by how quickly Shafiq handed in his resignation, although she did say that she had the feeling that he was on the verge of announcing this on air several times. Majid denied accusations that she was responsible for the attacks and accusations levelled at Shafiq, saying "Sometimes I am forced to play the role of the devil's advocate. In other words, I have to convey the viewpoint of the absent party to the present one...and this is exactly what happened. All the questions I asked Shafiq were already on everybody's mind."
She added "On a personal level, I sympathize with Shafiq for not being the right man for the job and for his inability to take decisions. He tried to defend his position without reason or logic being on his side."
Majid had famously actively taken part in the Egyptian protests, and was seen by some as one of Egyptian media's staunchest supporters of the revolution. She said that "we cannot say that the revolution has succeeded until we have achieved all of our demands" adding that "linking the success of the revolution to the toppling of certain [governmental] figures is not right." As for Shafiq's resignation, she acknowledged that "the media has become hugely influential on the course of events."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/07/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
From the article: "pension costs will crush government." This certainly should get the attention of progressive Democrats who claim to care about public services, although the reality is that these Democrats believe that Californians are woefully under-taxed and that massive tax increases on business and "the wealthy" will fix things.
The US & its states have many problems pending which can crush those governments & worsen life for their citizens. The author proposes CA simply forces a change in (IIRC) contractually-obligated pension payout plans. IANAL, but I guess the only way to do that is for the state to go through bankruptcy.
#2
If anyone wonders, the US has the highest corporate tax rate of any of the major industrialized nations and California has the highest corporate tax rates of any of the 50 states. So they wonder where the jobs went and where the businesses went? If they were less communist and more pro business, there would more jobs and more people paying taxes.
Its the elastic side of the productivity curve. To a point you can lower cost (taxes) which increases sales (jobs and tax payers) and remain revenue positive compared to the other side of the curve where decreases in taxes decreases revenue.
Too bad none of the clowns in congress know how to spell economics much less understand them.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
03/07/2011 17:41 Comments ||
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#3
IANAL, but I guess the only way to do that is for the state to go through bankruptcy.
This isn't my area of expertise but there's no legal provision allowing states to declare bankruptcy. Even if there were the massive Democrat / union axis would force states to lobby hard to screw bondholders while preserving everything promised to public employees which, in turn, would guarantee we'd be right back at the present tipping point in a very few years.
One solution I've seen proposed, which seems rather brilliant to me, is to simply tax public employee salaries, pension payments & benefits at the state level at rates high enough to completely cover the present cost of all public employee pensions & benefits to both present & past employees. That's perfectly allowable, would easily pass Constitutional muster, & would accomplish what is necessary to solve the problem. Namely: pitting unionized workers against unionized retirees & letting them engage in a contest to see how fast one group can screw the other in their own self-interest. Would solve the state & local budget problems overnight and snap public employees and their unions back into line rather quickly.
Frontpage Interview's guest today is Nicolai Sennels, a Danish psychologist who worked for several years with young criminal Muslims in a Copenhagen prison. He is the author of Among Criminal Muslims: A Psychologist's Experience from the Copenhagen Municipality. The book will be out in English later this year.
FP: Nicolai Sennels, welcome back to Frontpage Interview.
I would like to talk to you today about how a Muslim upbringing creates terrorists.
Let's begin with this question: as a child psychologist, how would you explain that so many Muslims become terrorists or sympathize with terrorists?
Sennels: Thanks Jamie.
I have been working with children and adolescents for 15 years and as an experienced psychologist I have both theoretical and practical experience with the development of children's personality. Having counseled more than 150 Muslim children and their parents, my clear conclusion is that Muslims in general raise their children very differently than non-Muslims. Even though all children are innocent babies when they are born, they can develop into violent and hateful fanatics when they grow up, if confronted with certain psychological circumstances.
Many have asked themselves: Why do so many Muslims become terrorists or sympathize with the terrorists? The answer does not only involve theology, but also psychology.
The question is if there are aspects of the way children are raised in Muslim culture that promotes a mindset that makes people more prone to become terrorists or to use terrorist like tactics such as using fear and violence in order to further a case that is directly against basic human rights, basic human values in general and the law.
My professional experience from working with criminal and non-criminal Muslims is that the general Muslim way of educating children contributes to the psychological development of such a mindset.
It's always useful to explore scientifically what common sense tells us. Lots of details at the link, including links to other articles and a German study of 45,000 Muslim children aged 14-16, which draws similar conclusions.
A Republican Congressman has learned that members of Oregon State's faculty are attempting to sabotage the academic careers of three of his children who are there on nuclear engineering programs.
#4
Ok, I stand corrected, this guy didn't win the election, he ran against the local Democrat. I was running with what someone else posted without checking. Still, helluva payback for running against the Democrat.
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.
[Asharq al-Aswat] Former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq could not have known that his first television appearance on Arabic satellite channel OTV would be his last as Egypt's interim prime minister, after the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces announced its acceptance of his resignation on Thursday. The details regarding when Shafiq decided to hand in his resignation remain vague, and until now nobody is sure whether he offered this immediately following his controversial appearance on OTV, or the next day. However what is more surprising is that Shafiq's resignation was not announced during a 
A Republican Congressman has learned that members of Oregon State's faculty are attempting to sabotage the academic careers of three of his children who are there on nuclear engineering programs.
