Norman Borlaug, the Iowa farm boy who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his efforts to feed the world's hungry, died Saturday night at his home in Dallas, Texas. He was 95.
Borlaug died just before 11 p.m. from complications of cancer, Kathleen Phillips, a Texas A&M University spokeswoman, told the Associated Press. Phillips said Borlaug's granddaughter told her about his death. Borlaug was a distinguished professor at the university in College Station.
A self-described "corn-fed, country-bred Iowa boy," Borlaug was called "the Father of the Green Revolution" for his work developing high-yielding strains of wheat that were credited with staving off the starvation of millions of people in Pakistan and India in the 1960s.
It has been said that Borlaug saved more lives than any other person in history, said Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, which Borlaug founded in 1986.
Borlaug, hailed by U.S. and world leaders over the past four decades, was one of five people to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. The others: the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Elie Wiesel and Nelson Mandela.
"Thanks to Dr. Borlaug's pioneering work to develop varieties of high-yielding wheat, countless millions of men, women and children, who will never know his name, will never go to bed hungry," former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said in 2007 when Borlaug received the Congressional Gold Medal.
"Dr. Borlaug's scientific breakthroughs have eased needless suffering and saved countless lives (and) have been an inspiration to new generations across the globe who have taken up the fight against hunger."
Borlaug had suffered from lymphoma and other ailments that had caused him to be in and out of the hospital in recent years, Quinn said.
Yet Borlaug maintained an ambitious travel schedule into his 90s, continuing to teach at Texas A&M and work for the International Center for the Improvement of Wheat and Maize, where he did his breeding work that led to the Nobel Peace Prize.
When it was announced in 1970 that Borlaug had won the Nobel Peace Prize, he was working in experimental fields 50 miles from Mexico City.
At first, Borlaug thought the report that he had won the Nobel was a joke, and he had to be persuaded to return to the city for a news conference. When he arrived, he was wearing his work clothes, with dust on his shoes and dirt on his hands.
"I wanted to show the TV men what makes an agricultural scientist -- dirty hands," he said. "I washed them later." I guess my other local fishwrapper, the Iowa City Press-Citizen, is so busy high-fiving over UI's win yesterday that they can't give Dr. Borlaug his due. RIP, sir.
#2
He not only fed the world, but to a large part was responsible for making the US a superpower.
American agribusiness is second only to our military industrial complex in size, scope, and complexity.
Much of how Ronald Reagan defeated the Soviet Union was done with grain. By selling them unlimited amounts of grain, it drained their resources like a vampire. Money they could have otherwise spent on weapons and to sustain their empire.
He was, no doubt, waved through the pearly gates and greeted with feasting and song.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/13/2009 12:05 Comments ||
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.5MT: It was amazing. Reagan got a ration of poop from both the left and the right for authorizing grain sales. The right (seriously) was asking if he was "soft on communism", which of course is hilarious in retrospect.
The left just thought he was buying the farm vote.
The key was that the Russians used a LOT of their grain to feed their working farm animals. They were too paranoid to eat US grain themselves, but they would feed their animals with it, and divert the animal grain to human consumption.
But very soon, they became as addicted to US grain as junkies are to smack. They started by selling us most of their oil output. Then they gave us all their gold reserves. Then since gold mining didn't produce enough, they had to dredge their river deltas for gold. But still not enough. So all the foreign currency they got in exchange for Rubles, they had to give to the US as well.
We sucked them freaking dry. And they were hurting, big time. And *then*, Reagan introduce the SDI, "Star Wars", throwing around billions of dollars like they were nothing.
It about broke their back. Utterly demoralized them. And that's when Gorbachev, for the first time since Lenin, started getting accurate reports on the state of the Soviet Union. Which was a freak out in itself.
NEW DELHI: Long before Mr Bush and Dr Rice came by to leapfrog US-India ties to a new level, it was Prof. Wheat who jump-started and nourished the relationship. Norman Borlaug, the genial scientist-pacifist who died of cancer in Dallas on Saturday, was as much India's 'annadaata' as he was the Father of the Green Revolution.
Around the time Dr Borlaug arrived on the scene in the mid-1960s, the specter of famine, shortages, and starvation hung over the sub-continent. India was importing huge quantities of food grains from the US - much of it dole - to feed its growing millions in a manner that was famously described as "ship-to-mouth" sustenance.
Enter Norman Borlaug, a strapping, self-made, sun-burnt American from the farmland of Iowa, who had spent more a decade by then in Mexico after hard-earned doctorate in Depression-era US. What he had pulled off in experiments in Mexico was a miracle, that if successfully applied in India, would fill its granaries to overflow - as it eventually did.
By cranking up a wheat strain containing an unusual gene, Borlaug created the so-called ''semi-dwarf'' plant variety -- a shorter, stubbier, compact stalk that supported an enormous head of grain without falling over from the weight. This curious principle of shrinking the plant to increase the output on the plant from the same acreage resulted in Indian farmers eventually quadrupling their wheat -- and later, rice -- production.
It heralded the Green Revolution.
A Bharat Ratna should have been his for the taking, but he was not one to ask. He disdained all awards and honours, even making light of the Nobel (Peace) Prize when his Swedish forbears, in 1970, recognized his enormous contribution to mankind (Pakistan, China, and eventually the whole world benefited from his work in Mexico). When his wife ran to the fields to tell him about the recognition, the story goes, he shooed her away saying someone was pulling her leg.
''More than any other person of this age,'' the Nobel citation read, ''he helped provide bread for a hungry world. We have made this choice in the hope that providing bread will also give the world peace.''
In several conversations and interviews with this correspondent in the past decade, the last one in 2008 at the height of the food vs fuel debate (he was against using food as vehicular fuel), Dr Borlaug recalled his days and association with India with delight. In one conversation in 2006 during Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs visit, he asked for good wishes to be conveyed to his friend. When the message was relayed through the PMs then media advisor Sanjaya Baru, the Prime Minister gracefully recalled Dr Borlaugs immense contribution to Indias security in his address to the joint session of US Congress the next day.
A year later, the Bush administration awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honour, the highest US civilian award Borlaug has his critics for sure, most notably ''organic'' evangelists such as Dr Vandana Shiva. After initially dismissing them as elitist, he acknowledged they did have a point about the dangers of excessive use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, although he never once gave up his fundamental thesis that the worlds exploding population could not be fed without scientific intervention -- for which reason he also supported GM and trangenic crops.
Last week, as this correspondent drove through the lush grainfields of Punjab on a visit to the Golden Temple, it was another occasion to reflect on this titans contribution to India. Dr Borlaug was fond of saying he could hear the joyful hum of wheat heads swaying in the fields. Today, they would be playing a soulful dirge to the man who helped us, to a great degree, feed ourselves.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/13/2009 13:31 Comments ||
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#7
In my opinion, Dr Borlaug was one of the few people (along with Mother Teresa) who truly deserved the Nobel Peace prize.
Rest in peace, sir.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/13/2009 14:01 Comments ||
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#8
Just wait.
The Greens will decry him as a criminal for allowing the world population to explode. Then they will excoriate him for not decrying GM grains.
Seems like a man who was deserving of what he received.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
09/13/2009 14:44 Comments ||
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CHENNAI: He was a bright, affirming flame in the midst of a sea of despair then prevailing. This was how M.S. Swaminathan described Norman Borlaug, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, who died in Dallas on Saturday night. He was a man of extraordinary humanism, commitment to a hunger-free world and knew no nationality. He is the only person to have so far won a Nobel for agriculture.
Norman Borlaugs association with India began in the late 1960s. India was then importing 10 million tonnes of wheat and we lived a ship-to-mouth existence. The introduction of the dwarf variety of wheat developed by him in Mexico was a turning point in Indias food production pattern.
Professor Swaminathan, himself an institution-builder and a visionary figure who has carved a niche for himself in agriculture-related research in India, spoke to The Hindu from Virginia Tech University in the U.S. on Sunday. He was associated with Borlaug for five decades.
He added: I was working at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. The problem at the time of Indias Independence was that the wheat and rice yield was less than one metric tonne per hectare. From 1947 to the early-1960s we increased the area under the crops.
But there was no significant increase in production. It was at that time he came to India. My association with him started when we started to work on how to achieve a yield breakthrough in wheat. He is the greatest hunger-fighter for all time. His contribution was multi-dimensional scientific, political and humanistic. he said.
At the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Taramani, Chennai, a hall has been named after him.
Professor Borlaugs efforts to introduce improvements in agriculture were peppered also with disappointments. He earned the displeasure of the American government after he said during a visit to India in 1966 that India should be free of PL 480 assistance. At that time India was importing wheat from the U.S.
Professor Borlaug had been disappointed when his efforts to introduce the Green Revolution in Africa failed owing to the unfavourable political conditions there. Unless there is peace and security there could be no increase in production. During his lectures in India in agriculture colleges he told students to go to the field and not sit in the laboratory, Dr. Swaminathan recalled.
Professor Borlaug felt that food scientists should be recognised with the Nobel Prize. When the Nobel Prize committee struck down his suggestion, he instituted the annual World Food Prize. Dr. Swaminathan was the first recipient, and Verghese Kurien, credited with the White Revolution in India, was honoured the next year.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/13/2009 15:51 Comments ||
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Nairobi -- Ugandan police have used excessive force during clashes with rioting supporters of a local monarch in which at least 10 people died, according to a human rights watchdog.
The clashes erupted on 10 September in the capital, Kampala, sparked off by a planned visit by King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi of Buganda kingdom to the central district of Kayunga on 12 September. Kayunga is part of Buganda kingdom, but a minority community in the area is opposed to the trip. Kingdom officials say the central government is trying to thwart the visit.
"The available evidence raises serious concerns that police used excessive force in confronting demonstrators," Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in a statement. "A thorough investigation is needed to find out who is responsible."
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Posted by: Steve White ||
09/13/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku yesterday urged the police personnel to uproot the outlawed parties making the ongoing drive farther strong.
Talking to reporters after a meeting in Pabna with top law enforcement officials from the country's north and southwest region, the state minister also defended the 'crossfire' saying the law enforcers have the right to defend themselves.
"There is no word called crossfire listed in the law enforcer's duties. Law enforcers have the right to save their lives if the criminals attack them," Tuku said.
The three-and-half-hour meeting was held at the conference room of Pabna Deputy Commissioner's office.
"If they (outlaw activists) submit any proposal (to surrender) to the government, authorities concerned will think of it (consideration). But they have to change themselves," the state minister said replying to a query.
Official sources said the police superintendents of Pabna, Rajshahi, Natore, Sirajganj, Kushtia, Jhenaidaha, Meherpur, Chuadanga, Manikganj and Rajbari participated in the meeting.
Additional Director General of Rab Col Mizanur Rahman, DIG of Police Khulna range Hemayet Uddin, Additional DIG of Rajshahi region Obaidur Rahman along with other police and Rab high officials attended the meeting.
Police officials briefed the state minister on outlaw scenario as well as overall law and order situation in their districts and asked for logistic supports to fight the law-breakers.
"Pabna is one of the most outlaw infested districts of this region. We need strong watch on outlaws and also the militants. But I do not have enough manpower," Nibas Chandra Majhi, SP of Pabna, told The Daily Star adding, "I request the minister to provide me with logistic support."
SP of Kushtia Md Shahabuddin said, "Each of the southern region police camps is comprised of only 15 policemen. We request the state minister to increase the manpower in every police camp."
Earlier on August 20, Inspector General of Police Nur Mohammad and Director General of Rab Hassan Mahmood Khandaker visited Kushtia and directed the law enforcers to launch a joint drive.
Since then at least 16 extremists have been killed in 'shootouts' between the law enforcers and outlawed party men.
"A combing operation will be launched to cut down the strength of the outlaws and force their armed members to give in," said a senior official of the home ministry.
The home ministry is working as to whether the outlawed party activists, if surrendered, could be brought under general mercy like that of 1999 when 2,700 members of different outlawed parties surrendered with 2,100 firearms.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
This would explain why there have been so many encounters lately.
WASHINGTON -- The United States said Friday it has made a legal certification of an improvement in Colombia's human rights record that allows $32 million that Washington had withheld to be used to fight gangs and drug smugglers.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Colombia must still make progress on human rights, and he described in a statement "several disquieting challenges," including allegations of soldiers murdering civilians and illegal surveillance. But, he said, the country has "made significant efforts to increase the security of its people" that justify the certification to Congress that Colombia is meeting legal criteria on human rights and paramilitary groups and that the funds can be made available.
Colombian officials insist they are trying to stamp out human rights abuses, but critics say abuses remain widespread in the country, where the government has been battling a leftist insurgency for years.
The International Trade Union Confederation says Colombia is the deadliest country for labor rights activists, with 49 killed in the South American nation last year, up from 39 in 2007 but down from 78 in 2006.
A U.N. human rights investigator reported separately in June that soldiers had killed hundreds of innocent civilians, falsely identifying them as guerrillas slain in combat to boost body counts. Officials have vowed to eliminate that practice and punish those responsible.
Then again it's a UN investigator so how do we know it's true?
"There is no question that improvement must be made in certain areas," Kelly said. "Revelations of extrajudicial killings are evidence that the Armed Forces' far reaching reforms have not fully taken hold."
Under the State Foreign Operations Appropriations Act, the U.S. government will provide about $545 million to Colombia this fiscal year, the State Department said.
Maria McFarland, senior Americas researcher at Human Rights Watch and a long time opponent of freedom, said the decision was disappointing and that Colombia's government has only responded to abuse allegations after intense pressure.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/13/2009 00:00 ||
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A split is emerging between the United States and Japan over the new Tokyo government's anti-globalisation rhetoric and its threats to end a refueling agreement for US ships in support of the war in Afghanistan.
Yukio Hatoyama, the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, has caused alarm in Washington after publishing an article blaming the US for the ills of capitalism, the global economy and "the destruction of human dignity".
He also intends to examine an agreement that permits US warships to dock at Japanese ports, in violation of the nation's non-nuclear principles. Mr Hatoyama says he will also look again at the $6 billion cost faced by Japan to transfer thousands of US troops from their base in Okinawa to the Pacific island of Guam amid a wide-ranging review of the American military presence on Japanese soil.
His election campaign promised a more "independent" foreign policy from Washington and closer relations with Asian neighbours, including China. On Thursday, he repeated his intention to defy the US and end the Maritime Self-Defence Force's resupply mission in the Indian Ocean.
We weren't always allies, Mr. Hatoyama. You might do well to remember that.
Mr Hatoyama will be sworn in on Wednesday after an historic victory that ended decades of near unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party. He will have his first meeting with Barack Obama, the US president, at the United Nations on Sep 22.
Whereupon Bambi will apologize for Hiroshima and Nagasaki ...
The Pentagon reminded Japan of the expectations it faced as a "great power and one of the world's wealthiest countries". Geoff Morrell, a spokesman, said: "There is an international responsibility, we believe, for everyone to do their share, as best they can, to contribute to this effort to bring about a more peaceful and secure Afghanistan."
The Defence Department would not "prejudge" Japan's new political leadership, he added. "We think that when the responsibility of governing comes about that people will appreciate, as we have every reason to believe they do, the importance of this alliance and the importance of working together on these [security] agreements," he said.
Makoto Watanabe, a professor of media and communication at Hokkaido Bunkyo University, said: "The US has been critical of new trends in Japan, but we are not a colony of Washington and we should be able to say what we want.
"The Japan-US relationship will remain our most important bilateral link, but while under previous governments Japan had become a yes-man to the US, this suggests to me that healthy change is taking place."
The previous premier recognized that the U.S. was about the only friend Japan had in the region. But if you think you can docile the Chinese, go right ahead ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Be sure to learn to preface every meeting with your new allies with an apology for the rape of Nanking. And the other millions of casualties you caused there during the war.
#3
Japan is trying to cozy up to the Chinese again? WTF? They already tried this back in the 90s and got met with stony-faced silence from the Chinese. The only thing that everyone in Asia agrees on is that they all hate the Japanese.
#5
The Japanese mil and bureaucracy have had the same bosses for how long? How many decades? It's easy to ignore the orders of morons and lunatics, and defence policy will continue as normal, if not grow stronger in reaction (F-22 acquisition?). If anything, it will increase as their country is put in an increasingly suicidal position by their government. This is a poor move by the Japanese people, but not for reasons stated. Two generations of leaders is not enough to erase a mindset, and two nuclear bombs dropped on the homeland is only forgotten by fools and idiots, not the ones in charge of preventing it from happening again.
#10
This is gonna be tricky, as mant CHIN Netters suppor OKINAWA = ancient pro-China RYUKYUS ISLANDS/KINGDOM to become either INDEPENDENT FROM JAPAN; or else part of a NORTH ASIA OWG FREE TRADE HUB INCLU CHINA.
SAME > besides historical ties bwtn Imperial Beijing + Ryukyus, argue that OKIN is geologically part of CHIN's CONTINENTAL SHELF, hence should be part of Chin's desired future EEZ, VOLUNTARILY OR FORCIBLY.
WHY? HOW? > becuz CHIN HAS NUKULAAR WEAPONS, TOKYO DOES NOT [GODZILLA notwithstanding].
#12
Joe, it would take Japan less than six months to have 50 nuclear weapons. They already have viable delivery systems. China knows this, but is big on bluffing. China keeps reaching. Until someone breaks their fingers, they'll extend their reach as far as they can. South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines know this, as does the Republic of China (Taiwan). Russia is beginning to figure it out. Southeast Asia knows it, but doesn't have the financial structure or productivity to do much about it. If they all learn to work together, China would be in a world of hurt.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/13/2009 20:39 Comments ||
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#1
Soft spoken guy. I don't know much about him. He apologized to Zero, not sure I agree with that. He seems honorable, I hope he stands his ground with that hack Pelosi..
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/13/2009 20:04 Comments ||
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A Senate panel is pushing to repeal a 1998 law that bans the export of the F-22, the stealthy fighter that Secretary Robert Gates put on the chopping block earlier this year. If the proposal, passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee, becomes law, it would offer a lifeline to Lockheed Martins production line, which is otherwise schedule for closure.
Japan, Israel and Australia have shown interest in buying the supersonic, radar-evading F-22 Raptor, designed to destroy enemy air defenses in the first days of any conflict and clear the way for other missions, reports Reuters.
Japan, in particular, is considered the major market for the f-22. The Japanese have expressed interest in fielding some Raptors, and Japanese procurement of forty to sixty aircraft would go far to bolster Japans ability to deter a belligerent North Korea and other prospective security challenges in Northeast Asia, says Barry Watts, of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in a new report looking at the F-22.
Selling the F-22 abroad would still not be easy the aircraft would have to be modified to protect some of the most sensitive technology, and cost would certainly be a factor. Some estimates place the export price tag at $250 million per aircraft.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#4
Well, Lockheed Martin's production line would have to close otherwise. Who's making the decisions, patriotic bureaucrats who want what's best for America, or people who don't even bother disguising the bribes they take?
#7
Hell I been thinking about this for ten minutes or so....
This damn thing is too sekret even for the USAF, best to destroy the tooling now before it falls into the hands of the commies who will turn it against us and plow under every 3rd American boy.
#8
OK, look at who's getting being shopped for with this A/C...the Aussies, the Japanese, or the Israelis. 1), the full potential of the airframe won't be delivered to the final customer, it USG secret and it's also Proprietary. 2) Are the Aussies, Japanese, or the Israelis going to sell it to the Commies? If the US doesn't want this tech, then there are 3x very friendly countries that do, all of which will allow us to work the kinks out. Good deal.
#9
I for one have never trustered the tropical-poms, the japs, or the juice, sure as hell they will steel our sekrets forumla and sell it to the godless commies.
Thank gawd for Canada, all we gotta do for them is up-grade their BOMARCs and they be happy.
#10
For Sale: Baddest ass fighter jet to ever exist.
I'd say sell it to the Japanese and Australians just to give China something else to worry about. On top of that, these things are going to be expensive to upgrade over the next 20+ years and having other countries own them could help spread some of those R&D costs.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/13/2009 12:00 Comments ||
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#11
The real secrets are the electronics; the airframe and powerplant stuff is already dated tech.
So we just ell them a 'daily driver' and it will be up to them to plug in the latest technocrap.
The IAF is still upgrading Skyhawks and Phantoms via the electronic route; the airframe and engines are still capable of getting the job done. I don't see a problem selling this bird. Especially since we sell the F-16 and the F-18 to lots of folks.
#12
I for one have never trustered the tropical-poms, the japs, or the juice, sure as hell they will steel our sekrets forumla and sell it to the godless commies.
#17
If the F-22 was sold to Israel I have to think they would be willing to trade it or data about it to Russia or China if the price was right. Say, in exchange for their causing an end to the Iranian nuclear weapons program. No idea if such really COULD be done, but am sure it would be considered. Not only that, but if it could (verifiably) be done, it would likely be a good bargain for all of us. F-22 is great technology but for the last war (the one that wasn't really fought on the battlefield), not the next one.
#18
Obama will NEVER allow us to sell it to Israel
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/13/2009 15:38 Comments ||
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I find it somewhat amusing that some don't think we need the F-22. Most of the aircraft that we like so well would not survive the start of the air battle with a developed nation. Until the skies and AA systems are cleared most of the rest of the aircraft are worthless. The F-35 is NOT on line yet and who knows what "warts" it will have. I do know that the F-35 is so loud that I suspect there will be problems with basing in built up areas. I would be interested the know what the Navy pilots think of single engine operation at sea (with a newly developed engine).
MSNBC's First Read reported last night that the Obama Administration is now saying that illegal immigrants will be specifically prevented from obtaining coverage under the president's health care proposal.
But the bigger story the MSNBC missed with its focus on the Wilson flap is found in the second bullet point sent out by the White House last night. The Obama Administration inadvertently confirmed that the president's plan will begin a slow take over of the health care system by the federal government. How else could this be interpreted?
"Undocumented immigrants would be able to buy insurance in the non-exchange private market, just as they do today. That market will shrink as the exchange takes hold, but it will still exist and will be subject to reforms such as the bans on pre-existing conditions and caps."
In other words, as the federal exchange takes hold, plans not complying with the federal government's standards will start to disappear. Eventually, it won't make any sense for any company to offer health insurance as the federal requirements will make the business of providing health insurance far too expensive, and the premiums far too expensive for the insured.
The result will be that everyone will wind up with no other "choice" than the so-called public option, just as the Administration has planned all along. It took Wilson calling out the president's own misinformation to finally get the Administration to admit it.
#1
If the government will give "insurance" to anyone who doesn't have it, why should private employers bother to offer insurance to their employees?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/13/2009 0:51 Comments ||
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#2
The eventual goal appears to be a "single payer" system supported by a conscripted, premium paying public much like the current Social Security and Medicare ponzi schemes. The administration urgently needs a new revenue and box on our pay stubs.
#5
Running indeed .5MT. We're off to Duitsland for a month this week. No worries mate, you're in luck. I'm still actively paying taxes and supporting the dole queue.
WaPo refers to 'tens of thousands.' The NYT refers to a 'sea of protesters' but later calls them 'tens of thousands'. The NYT also notes that the magnitude of the rally took authorities 'by surprise'.
What says Old Patriot after he looks at the photos?
Demonstrators waved U.S. flags and held signs reading "Go Green Recycle Congress" and "I'm Not Your ATM".
Many protesters said they paid their own way to the event - an ethic they believe should be applied to the government. They say unchecked spending on things like a government-run health insurance option could increase inflation and lead to economic ruin.
Terri Hall, 45, of Florida, said she felt compelled to become political for the first time this year because she was upset by government spending.
I received an email from a neighbor with the same sentiment -- in which he announced a tea party to be held in our little community. I got the impression he went from a standing start to organizing the thing. I don't think the Democrats are going to much like what real grass-roots community organizing accomplishes.
"Our government has lost sight of the powers they were granted," she said. She added that the deficit spending was out of control, and said she thought it was putting the country at risk.
Anna Hayes, 58, a nurse from Fairfax County, stood on the Mall in 1981 for Reagan's inauguration. "The same people were celebrating freedom," she said. "The president was fighting for the people then. I remember those years very well and fondly."
Invoking Reagan, explicitly denying Obama's on the side of the people .... this is getting interesting.
Saying she was worried about "Obamacare," Hayes explained: "This is the first rally I've been to that demonstrates against something, the first in my life. I just couldn't stay home anymore."
Like countless others at the rally, Joan Wright, 78, of Ocean Pines, Md., sounded angry. "I'm not taking this crap anymore," said Wright, who came by bus to Washington with 150 like-minded residents of Maryland's Eastern Shore. "I don't like the health-care [plan]. I don't like the czars. And I don't like the elitists telling us what we should do or eat."
#3
America to the losers in Washington. "Dont make me come up there!"
Posted by: Carolyn Brown ||
09/13/2009 9:27 Comments ||
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#4
I figure they used the New Orleans Mardi Gras crowd size estimating technique - a pound of garbage left behind equals one attendee. Nah, that can't be right either - crowd had to be bigger than a few hundred.
#6
If that's the measure used, Glenmore, then according to reports of the place being clean when the crowd left, there wasn't anyone there to begin with.
For one example, check "a reader e-mails" at the bottom of this Instapundit post from yesterday. I saw comments about the cleanliness of the crowd (from those there) at other sites, too.
No surprise, but you can bet the MSM won't deign to mention it.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/13/2009 10:32 Comments ||
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#7
I'm sorry to post such a negative thing, but as an Iraq vet, have to wonder where this sort of support was during the war, before we F*ckin' won? During the times when the NY Times was posting Treason, and various blogs and congressmen were proclaiming Sedition? Where were they? Where were the crowds? To hell with America and it's problems. You made your bed, sleep tight in it. I'm heading for Texas. Hope you bought enough bullets to get your point across.
#9
Well Mr. Iraq war veteran thank you for your service. I believe that the Gathering of Eagles supported the troops, I have read many reports of receptions at airports, and when my nephew returned to Fort Sill the streets were lined with flags and people. I could also ask "where were the crowds when 55,000 soldiers were KIA in Vietnam?", they were there alright protesting the war. They didn't show during your service because counter protests by vets that said that: "Never again will our fighting men and women be dishonerd, spit on and rebuked by society". So enjoy Texas, the home of "W" a president that allowed you to win your war.
91B
82nd. Airborne
Vietnam 68-69
If he was not a fraud he would know that you try not to mention being a war vet in America nowadays. It is uncomfortable if you do. People buy you meal, they send drinks to your table, they come over and say thank you, they stand you up at concerts and sporting events, they applaude when they see you in uniform at airports, women come over and hug you. I'm not sure where this so called vet is hiding but the America I'm living in is not what he' talking about!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/13/2009 14:31 Comments ||
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#13
One of the more subtle trolling attacks we've had here in a while, I'm thinking. Take a look at all his comments together and ask yourself what the impact of them is intended to be.
But you're right, he mis-stepped WRT the vet claim.
#14
While I agree with a slice (very small) of what MoreScotch4Me said, where were the large-size counter-protests before the war was won, the rest of it is garbage.
When my unit came home through VT, there was a huge showing at the airport at 0300hrs. Vietnam Vets, WWII vets all lined up to greet us and welcome us home. Families with children as young as 5 y/o showing up at that time of the morning to welcome us back.
Little bit of dust in the air just to recall it.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
09/13/2009 14:38 Comments ||
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#15
But you're right, he mis-stepped WRT the vet claim.
I agree. However, Durbin and Teddy Kennedy did call those putting their lives on the line for us Nazis.
Bman Thank you for your service. My brother served in '68 (Marine).
#16
TW, I'd estimate, from all the photos I've seen, that there were at least as many people there as there were at the free Beach Boys concert I attended July 4th, 1980 (400,000 - lots less pot and cocaine use, however). There were probably between 500,000 and 800,000 people there all told, but that's just an estimate. I couldn't see all the crowd. I hope it was enough to get Congress' attention. If not, we may have to do it again, but this time armed to the teeth. The way I read the Declaration of Independence, terminating a government that wishes to significantly curtail our freedoms is a duty, not an option.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/13/2009 20:59 Comments ||
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#17
I think if they'd count those of us who were there in spirit, the number would be in the tens of millions.
#18
Thank you for bringing your expertise to bear, Old Patriot. All right, people, the number we use from now on is quote estimate of 400,000 to 800,000 by a trained professional unquote.
A Chinese military expert has accused India of "violating" Beijing's diplomatic rights and "spying" on its military ware while inspecting the cargo plane of the UAE Air Force which was detained in Kolkata.
"The actions by Indian authorities violated diplomatic rights as the cargo on board belong to China," Dai Xu, a renowned military expert, said.
"Any inspection onboard, which may have violated China's property rights and constituted spying on its military secrets, should be approved by both the UAE and China," Dai was quoted as saying by the state-run 'Global Times'.
It also quoted an unnamed military source as telling the paper, a sister publication of the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece, the People's Daily, that the UAE airplane, a C-130 Hercules, was on a mission transporting Chinese arms from an arms expo in Abu Dhabi.
India released the China-bound cargo plane on September 10, four days after it was grounded in Kolkata for not declaring the consignment of arms and ammunition it was carrying. The 10 crew members were also interrogated.
India gave the clearance after it was told by UAE authorities that its pilot had committed a "technical error" over declaring the on-board arms and ammunition for which they expressed regret.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/13/2009 15:58 ||
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#1
swwweeeeeeet!
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/13/2009 17:22 Comments ||
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#2
Of course, the Chicoms would never do such a thing. /sarc
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/13/2009 17:47 Comments ||
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#3
ION WAFF > CHINA > QUANGZHOU TROOPS MOVE INTO XINJIANG [para-police = bolster anto-riot control].
The US government has cleared yet another high technology system for India, the "futuristic" shipboard Hawkeye E-2D aircraft for Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and battle management.
The clearance has been described by diplomatic sources as a fallout of the "successful" visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the signing of the End User Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) of military equipment being supplied or sold by the US to India.
Like the Boeing P 8I Maritime Multi-mission Aircraft (MMA), of which the Indian Navy has already ordered eight aircraft, the Hawkeye E-2D is the very latest and is yet to be delivered to the US Navy.
India is the second country after the UAE to be cleared by the US State and Defense Departments for sale of this sophisticated system. The US Navy has sanctioned $432 million for trials of the aircraft, currently underway at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. The Naval Systems Command (NAVAIR) based there provides engineering and testing support for new naval systems and weapons.
The Hawkeye E-2D has been under the US government's consideration for India for some time. In fact, in 2007, Pentagon sources in Washington had told this writer that the aircraft was being cleared, but apparently the previous version, Hawkeve E-2C, was eventually offered to which the Indian Navy said "No" in informal discussions.
The aircraft is being manufactured by Northrop Grumman, a leading US player in Aerospace, Warships, Missiles, Combat Radars and Electronic Warfare systems.
Northrop Grumman's programme Manager for International Business Development Tom C. Trudell told India Strategic magazine that the aircraft has "just been cleared by the US government for India" and that a presentation was made to the Indian Navy in August in New Delhi.
Indian Navy officers had witnessed the capabilities of the Hawkeye E-2C but told the US officials that as the equipment it would buy would be used for years, it must be the best and the latest with future capability insertion potential.
India Strategic quotes unnamed Indian officials as saying that the technology onboard the Hawkeye E-2D is "very tempting" and that although neither the Gorshkov aircraft carrier which India is buying from Russia nor India's first aircraft carrier indigenously being built would be able to accommodate this aircraft, India's future aircraft carriers could be a little bigger.
"By the time this aircraft comes, and by the time the Indian Navy gets used to it from initial shore-based operations, plans for two more aircraft carriers could be amended to house this system."
There have been no tenders of RfPs yet for the Hawkeye E-2D, but then companies from worldwide present their wares to various countries either by themselves and at their own cost, or make offerings in response to Request for Information (RfI) which are floated in routine by all the armed forces to know what is available in terms of newer generation of systems.
Future aircraft carriers of the Indian Navy would also have to be equipped with catapult launching systems, for which it is already looking around. India's second and third aircraft carriers should have this facility along with lifts and adequate open area for what is called free deck takeoff.
The Mig 29Ks that the Indian Navy is buying for Gorshkov, will be launched by a ski ramp.
Tip to tip, the Hawkeye is a bigger aircraft than the Mig 29.
Trudell said that although Northrop Grumman had been allowed to make presentations to the Indian Navy, its sale would have to be direct between the Indian and US government under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. There are many systems on board, developed for US Navy, which only the US government can clear for transfer to other countries.
The US Navy has initially ordered five Hawkeye E-2Ds under a Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) programme, and the first aircraft should be delivered to the US Navy in 2011.
India can get the aircraft within three years of a contract being signed, said Trudell.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/13/2009 15:36 ||
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#1
Paki/Sino knickers twisting in 5...4...3...
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/13/2009 15:39 Comments ||
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#2
The E-2D should be a nice upgrade from the Phalcon.
#3
The E-2 is a 1960's platform, but the electronics have been upgraded many, many times. It's kind of like the P-3 - a proven platform that has the right airspeed/loiter capability, a modern EW/ASW capability, and in the case of the E-2, carrier capable. What would really put Pakistan's knickers in a twist would be the US selling India the rights to build an upgraded version of the A-10, or the US Navy developing a carrier-capable version of the same.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/13/2009 21:08 Comments ||
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Delhi may play down Beijings posturing in Arunachal Pradesh but a concerned Indian Army is raising two more divisions, or about 30,000 men, in the Northeast.
The army has sounded an operational alert on the India-China Line of Actual Control (LAC) after reports of a Chinese military exercise involving 50,000 troops in Tibet, where Beijing has increased its activities. Correspondingly, the Indian Army is said to be conducting an operations exercise in Arunachal.
Sources said one of the two new divisions would be stationed in Arunachal to take care of the China-India-Myanmar axis and the other at Leimakhong, 20km from Imphal, to cover the Bangladesh-India-Myanmar axis. One of the divisions is already being raised, sources said.
Although the two divisions together make up a Corps strength, they would be separated and placed under the respective controls of the 3 Corps and 4 Corps, sources said. The division at Leimakhong will be under the 3 Corps, based at Rangapahar near Dimapur in Nagaland. The one in Arunachal will be under the 4 Corps, based in Upper (eastern) Assam.
Army chief General Deepak Kapoor today met Corps commanders and top officers of the Eastern Command in Calcutta, apparently to discuss China, which has built highways parallel to the LAC with approach roads intruding into Arunachal.
The divisions are being raised fast and army officers have been issued posting orders to various locations. Troops have been pulled out of army units from across the country. The 57 Mountain Division in Manipur is expected to move to southern Assam.
On the flip side, moving in a new division and moving out an existing one would mean additional responsibilities for the Assam Rifles in Manipur. Till now, militancy in Manipur has been handled mainly by the army but with a new division busy raising its troops, the paramilitary force will come under severe test.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Yep, that looks like 10k or so people, give or take 50. And there's a hella lot Obama=Hitler signs complete with swastikas, Lyndon LaRouchies, Nirthers and Ron Paul freaks. You can tell because they are well dressed.
Oh, and every single last one of them is racist, too.
(All right, I'm done channeling LGF's Charles Johnson/DailyKos/DU/Pelosi & Reid for the day....)
#5
Curious at the lack of photos from high elevation or aircraft showing the whole crowd (while 'security' was probably the excuse there have been photos of other events, and at least three helicptors were seen overhead - though that may have included Obama's flight.)
The closest thing I have seen is the shot at this site from the Capitol steps. Area covered is comparable to gatherings of something shy of one million, but big swaths of lawn are empty - presumably roped off by authorities for some reason, with the ropes obeyed(!) Don't know when the pictures were taken, and thus whether more showed up or had already left, but with this evidence I personally would guess a crowd on the order of a half million (with a big error bar), but clearly neither 2 million nor 70,000.
#11
Well, Danielle, it looks like your definition of 'ordinary folk' is going to have to be refined. You are hereby sentenced to 48 months at UC-Berkeley.
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.
Nairobi -- Ugandan police have used excessive force during clashes with rioting supporters of a local monarch in which at least 10 people died, according to a human rights watchdog.
[Bangla Daily Star] State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku yesterday urged the police personnel to uproot the outlawed parties making the ongoing drive farther strong. 
A Senate panel is pushing to repeal a 1998 law that bans the export of the F-22, the stealthy fighter that Secretary Robert Gates put on the chopping block earlier this year. If the proposal, passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee, becomes law, it would offer a lifeline to Lockheed Martins production line, which is otherwise schedule for closure.
F-22? 
MSNBC's First Read reported last night that the Obama Administration is now saying that illegal immigrants will be specifically prevented from obtaining coverage under the president's health care proposal. 
