16 Jan

Iraq escalation architects questioning efficacy

Great article in the NYT on troop escalation: 

But the signs so far have unnerved some Americans working on the plan, who have described a web of problems — ranging from a contested chain of command to how to protect American troops deployed in some of Baghdad’s most dangerous districts — that some fear could hobble the effort before it begins. 

First among the American concerns is a Shiite-led government that has been so dogmatic in its attitude that the Americans worry that they will be frustrated in their aim of cracking down equally on Shiite and Sunni extremists, a strategy President Bush has declared central to the plan. 

“We are implementing a strategy to embolden a government that is actually part of the problem,” said an American military official in Baghdad involved in talks over the plan. “We are being played like a pawn.”

Anybody else starting to feel like a big, dumb turd?

16 Jan

The Only Plan is the Bush Plan??

I normally ignore Bush’s radio addresses since they tend to be nothing but one-sided lies without the benefit of even meager parsing from the press.  But his most recent on-air vomit is just too egregious to ignore: 

My national security team is now making our case on Capitol Hill. We recognize that many members of Congress are skeptical. Some say our approach is really just more troops for the same strategy. In fact, we have a new strategy with a new mission: helping secure the population, especially in Baghdad. Our plan puts Iraqis in the lead. 

Others worry that we are pursuing a purely military solution that makes a political solution less likely. In fact, the sectarian violence is the main obstacle to a political solution, and the best way to help the Iraqis reach this solution is to help them put down this violence. 

Members of Congress have a right to express their views, and express them forcefully. But those who refuse to give this plan a chance to work have an obligation to offer an alternative that has a better chance for success. To oppose everything while proposing nothing is irresponsible.

Pardon me for saying so, but are you freakin’ serious??  Well, Mr. Bush, I throw down the gauntlet and challenge you to produce the name of a single legislator who has opposed escalation and not articulated and alternate plan.  Not to mention the freakin’. Iraq. Study. Group. Whose recommendations, if you recall, you pledged to follow.  Oh, you sad, sad little revisionist.

16 Jan

Cutting Pensions for Congressional Convicts

And the pendulum swings on: 

The Senate on Friday voted 87-0 to strip away the pensions of members of Congress convicted of white-collar crimes such as bribery, perjury and fraud. That could result in benefit losses of more than $100,000 a year. 

"With this vote, we are preventing members of Congress who steal or cheat from receiving a lifelong pension that is paid for by the taxpayers," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., sponsor of the measure with Sen. Ken Salazar (news, bio, voting record), D-Colo. 

The pension measure was attached to a comprehensive ethics and lobbying bill that the Democratic-controlled Senate, trying to improve the image of Congress after the scandals of last year, took up as its first legislative act of the year.

12 Jan

Too. Damn. Funny.

Go on, you’ve had a long week! (don’t forget to turn sound on)

12 Jan

Dark side of the future

Get outta my head! 

Scientists can now look into the brains of people making a purchase decision and predict whether or not they will buy. 

When people see something they want to purchase, a portion of the brain called the nucleus accumbens "lights up" on a brain scan. If the price is too high, another region of the brain called the insula is activated and the mesial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) is deactivated, Dr. Brian Knutson of Stanford University in California and colleagues report. 

Based on the activation and deactivation of these regions, Knutson and his team were able to predict whether or not people would purchase something before they were conscience of making a decision. 

I’m not only a huge sci-fi nerd, I’m also a huge fan of technology itslef.  I am not, however, always such a fan of humanity.  The possibilities these kinds of breakthroughs open are mind-boggling (pun intended), but not all of them are benign.  The trajectory of neo-liberal economics shows little sign of slowing and, at last count, corporations now account for 51 of the top 100 economies.  Barring an unforeseeable event, corporations will continue to dominate states as global power loci.  In fact, the top 200 corporations’ combined sales are bigger than the combined economies of every country in the world minus the top 10 (likely, the only ones who will retain any semblance of sovereignty). 

All this is to say that when I hear about these kind of studies, I’m imagining profound medical applications, mind-linked transportation, and ra-heeely cool video games.  But it’s infinitely more likely that we’ll find such innovations at The Gap.

12 Jan

Repeal AUMF? What the hell for?

I seem to have missed a key D.C. headline, but for some reason the blogosphere seems to be abuzz with talk of repealing AUMF, the congressional order under which Bush has assumed unqualified latitude in the use military force around the globe.  

I understand the urge.  Bush has used the AUMF as blanket coverage for unspeakable hubris and so it makes sense to repeal the act in order to hobble his shoot ‘em up diplomacy.  But we need to remember that this is all hogwash (about time someone brought back that word).  Not only was the AUMF explicitly written in conjunction with 9-11 which, despite shocking public belief to the contrary, had nothing whatsoever to do with it. 

In fact, if anyone recalls, the AUMF was the second draft of a bill which was defeated on the grounds that it included language authorizing expansion throughout the region.  Once more for the cheap seats, Bush went to Congress specifically asking for the authority to invade Iraq and Congress emphatically voted against it.  Bush already knows his citation of AUMF is a farce, and more importantly, the public record proves it.  That’s a big reason why this guy can’t even find a group of soldiers willing to throw applause his way at a staged event.  

So why in the world would we grant legitimacy to his claims by repealing it?  Shouldn’t we instead focus on forcing the Boy King to adhere to Congressional authority and the will of the American people? 

As usual, Olbermann really nailed it last night: 

This is diplomacy by skimming; it is internationalism by drawing pictures of Superman in the margins of the text books; it is a presidency of Cliff Notes. 

And to Iran and Syria - and, yes, also to the insurgents in Iraq - we must look like a country run by the equivalent of the drunken pest who gets battered to the floor of the saloon by one punch, then staggers to his feet, and shouts at the other guy's friends, "Ok, which one of you is next?" 

Mr. Bush, the question is no longer "what are you thinking?," but rather "are you thinking at all?"

12 Jan

My plagiarism knows no bounds

I’m ganking these quotes verbatim from C&L ‘cause I thought it was and interesting point:

I've been trying to get some sort of handle on exactly what went on in Somalia. Something about it did not pass the smell test for me. A military expert with whom I consulted expressed some of the same reservations about the story that I had (albeit with far more specific knowledge).

First, the AC-130 is not a precision weapon in any practical term. It is fairly accurate area weapon and can contain it's fire to areas slightly larger than a football pitch (100mx90m). They may have hit "a senior terrorist figure" (who can tell from that altitude) but they hit a lot of other people in the process. Unless there were special forces on the ground calling in the fire it would be haphazard. Talk about back to the future, when every dead Vietnamese was Viet Cong — the only requirement for identification was an unmoving corpse.

Then, as a follow up, he sent this article from the Guardian UK:

The US air strike on Somalia failed to kill any of the three top al-Qaida members accused of terror attacks in east Africa.

A senior US official said today that Sunday night's attack had killed between eight and 10 "al-Qaida affiliates" near the southern tip of Somalia.

But he said that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Abu Taha al-Sudan and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, all linked to the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2002 Mombasa hotel attack, were still on the run. "Fazul is not dead," said the official, contradicting earlier reports. "The three high-value targets are still of interest to us."

And as an added plagarism bonus, enjoy this friendly reminder (hat tip to ATR):

During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, he made clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he was determined to invade Iraq without the second resolution, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons, said a confidential memo about the meeting written by Mr. Blair's top foreign policy adviser and reviewed by The New York Times....

Mr. Bush talked about several ways to provoke a confrontation, including a proposal to paint a United States surveillance plane in the colors of the United Nations in hopes of drawing fire...

"The U.S. was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in U.N. colours," the memo says, attributing the idea to Mr. Bush. "If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach."

Nothing like invading a sovereign embassy to provoke a confrontation with Iran.

11 Jan

Christian Fundamentalist objects to Yoga in schools

Best. &*#^! Story. Ever!

A school program to fight childhood obesity that includes yoga is drawing complaints from some Christian parents in the Quesnel area in B.C.'s Cariboo region.

They say yoga is a religion, and shouldn't be taught in public schools.

Chelsea Brears, who has two children in the school system, said her son was asked to do different poses and "to put his hands together."

Brears, a Christian, said she doesn't want her children exposed to another religion during class time.

"It's not fair to take prayer out, and yet they're allowing yoga, which is religion, in our schools."

Local rancher Audrey Cummings doesn't believe Christian children should be doing yoga at all.

"There's God and there's the devil, and the devil's not a gentleman. If you give him any kind of an opening, he will take that."

No the devil is no gentleman. In fact, I have personally witnessed the Dark Lord refusing to ceded his bus seat to a little old lady while smoking a joint and sodomizing an underaged prostitute. It was an ugly experience I do not care to repeat.

For the record, Brears also objects to the school cafeteria serving spaghetti. Oh, and thinks these guys are really super smart.

11 Jan

Bush invaded Iran last night

Our long national nightmare has only just begun. 

The Decider accepted responsibility for past mistakes in what I’m sure his handlers saw as a “buck stops here” sort of moment.  But admitting to mistakes is only relevant if you plan to … well, try and correct them!  It does me no good whatsoever to hear Bush admit that he has blundered thus far and then tell me he is going to continue blundering because, by gum - it’s gotta work one of these times. 

Cue the rest of the speech.  Short version: More Troops + Cowboy Hats = Big-Time Victory.  And he really, really means it this time.  Seriously, no takebacks.  Oh yeah, we gotta attack Iran and Syria too. 

True to his word, George W. Bush, devoid of a shred of popular support and clearly lacking the legal authority to declare war, waited only a matter of minutes before invading sovereign Iranian soil last night in the first strike of a war against Iran.  Oh, and in the process even managed to gather up some Iranian hostages for a nice little photo-op. 


Fortunately, the Dems still seem to have some of their post-election spine left and are threatening to block the escalation.  James E. Clyburn, the House Majority Whip, gets today’s award for pithiest sound-byte with “Twenty-one thousand five hundred troops ought to have 21,500 strings attached to them.” 

On a personal note, I have no intention of flooding the internets with yet another prognostication of impending doom in the escalation.  It seems like most of congress, the military, the American people, and plain common sense know where this is heading.  But regarding logistics, I can’t seem to wrap my head around where georgie pulled this number from? 

Let me put this in perspective.  Baghdad is roughly 81 square miles to which Dear Leader plans to deploy an additional 17,500 troops.  Given that these people will have to sleep at some point, I estimate an additional 144 soldiers per square mile who could be active at any given moment.  If distributed evenly across the city, this kind of blitz could certainly create a heightened military presence in the urban confines escalating the severity of martial law while creating the added bonus of increasing the visibility and volume of juicy targets for the insurgency. 

Now take the Anbar Province, a Sunni stronghold of approximately 53,000 square miles to which Junior is assigning an additional 4,000 troops!  This allows for one additional for every 13 square miles!  In official military terminology, the effect this could likely have on a porous region is known as “Bupkis,” not to mention that in either case, we can expect the 46 or so disparate groups comprising the “insurgency” to continue their normal modis operandi of guerilla tactics which include ceding territory when appropriate, forcing the enemy to spread themselves thin, and then attacking the weak points. 

If I’m sounding like “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” it’s because troop escalation is a bad idea!  I know it, you know it, the Generals know it – hell, my Schnauzer knows it!  The time for military solutions has long evaporated.  Bush has not committed nearly enough troops to pursue containment in the Anbar Province, and if any temporary reduction of body counts are achieved in Baghdad, such photo ops will be paid for with the dispersal of a once concentrated threat. 

But hey, at least Bush gets to distract us from the fact that he invaded Iran last night. 

11 Jan

Champagne Thursday Video Giggles

I can get someone not wanting to give up on a space that's way too small, but this just go out of hand.  I especially like the part where she screams out her window for nearly a minute at a car that has long since driven away.