Bad Example: "ON THE USS CARTER (AGAIN)
Good points from BadExample!
"So, the USS Carter (a fast attack submarine) is being commissioned, and folks are having a field day with it, since Carter was a crappy president.
All well and good.
But after you get done making your killer rabbit jokes, please keep in mind that American Sailors will be serving on board that boat. Show them some respect.
I blogged about this last June when they first announced that the sub would be called the Carter, and I think the bulk of that bears re-posting. I'd also suggest reading the comments to the original post, as one of my readers was kind enough to provide more details on Carter's career.
Anyway, here's what I had to say then:
As I pointed out in my tribute to Reagan, Carter was an incompetent bungler of a President who did little-to-nothing right, and mostly-to-everything wrong, both in domestic and foreign policy. His record stands on its own and I won't re-hash it here.
However, before he was President, he was an officer in the US Navy, and a damn fine one. He graduated from the Naval Academy, and he was one of the few officers chosen by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover to help develop the Navy's Nuclear Propulsion Program. You've probably never heard of Rickover, but suffice it to say that he was to the Nuke Program what Patton was to the European Theater during WWII. He was a fanatic about the virtues of nuclear power as a means of powering Naval vessels, and with his eccentric personality and his insatiable drive for perfection, he made the dream a reality. He was EXTRAORDINARILY particular about whom he chose to work on this project. In his eyes, Carter measured up. Mere words cannot express the honor so bestowed.
During his time as a Nuke, Carter was attached to one of the first nuclear submarines, the USS Seawolf - the first of a class of ships, the last of which is now being christened with his name some 50 years later. Considering that he was there at the beginning, it's fitting that his name should be attached to the ending.
And considering that Carter is the ONLY President who ever qualified to command a submarine, it is doubly fitting.
So even though I have no love for Carter the politician, and even less for Carter the post-Presidential diplomat, I have nothing but the highest respect for Carter the Naval Officer. He served his country to a degree that few men can claim the equal of, and I believe with all my heart that any Sailor attached to the USS Jimmy Carter can serve aboard her with the greatest of pride and honor."
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Rethinking the 'Clinton' Surplus
The Skeptical Optimist says in "Rethinking the surplus:", "The chart below shows what caused my detour; for me, it was deja-vu, because it reminded me of one undeniable point: Our 1990's decision to reduce national security spending, i.e., our decision not to invest 'The Peace Dividend' in enhancing future peace prospects, was a huge factor in the creation of the falsely-revered surplus. (Falsely-revered because it made only a small dent in our ho-hum debt burden.)
Would the Pentagon, Foggy Bottom, and Langley have used a reinvested Peace Dividend to successfully counter the asymmetric threats which subsequently destroyed embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killed seventeen servicemen on the USS Cole, or murdered thousands on 9-11-01? Maybe, maybe not; "
Interesting Curves. What surplus?
Would the Pentagon, Foggy Bottom, and Langley have used a reinvested Peace Dividend to successfully counter the asymmetric threats which subsequently destroyed embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killed seventeen servicemen on the USS Cole, or murdered thousands on 9-11-01? Maybe, maybe not; "
Interesting Curves. What surplus?
EconoPundit
EconoPundit: "At last, undeniable proof sea levels are rising!
What's that? You say this all happened some time ago? Okay, sorry...
Link posted by Steve Antler : 10:56 AM"
What's that? You say this all happened some time ago? Okay, sorry...
Link posted by Steve Antler : 10:56 AM"
The Star Online: Survey: 77% of Chinese women can afford what they want
The Star Online: Survey: 77% of Chinese women can afford what they want
"Survey: 77% of Chinese women can afford what they want
CHINESE women have a strong say in household purchases, though it’s usually the men who foot the bill, a recent survey indicates.
Synovate, affiliated with the British group Aegis, polled almost 4,000 women in nine countries such as China, the United States and Japan last month about their attitudes towards financial matters.
In China, 314 women aged 15-64 were interviewed.
Almost nine out of 10 Chinese married women or those living with a partner claimed to have at least an equal say in big-ticket purchases such as property and cars, third behind Britain and France.
Although 74% of respondents said their partners earned more, 75% disagreed that whoever holds the money holds the power in the relationship.
Apart from having unrestricted access to their men's wallet, 77% of Chinese women said they can pretty much afford what they want without asking for money from their partners, second behind British women.
Hong Yuanyuan, a China Network Communications Group Corp staffer, said she can decide on all small purchases, and, as for big items, she “decides all the details after settling on basic principles with her husband.”
Hong’s husband Zhang Ying, who earns double what Hong does and can afford most purchases, attributes the situation to a “mutual respect” in the family relationship.
“I don’t care about details. It seems better not to be fussy about whatever she has bought,” he said.
The findings also show that half of Chinese respondents subscribe to the philosophy that “my partner’s money is my money, my money is mine.”
Larry Wu, director of Synovate China, explained: “The money earned by women is a bonus to them. It is still part of the family wealth, but Chinese women tend to keep part of that money as their own savings.”
He said the survey reflects a deeper involvement of Chinese women in family financial issues compared to just a decade ago.
And Wang Zhenyu, an expert in family issues at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the survey results are similar to those she found eight years ago, which indicated that Chinese women enjoy a high employment rate and a considerably high-degree of financial independence. – China Daily "
© 1995-2004 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)
"Survey: 77% of Chinese women can afford what they want
CHINESE women have a strong say in household purchases, though it’s usually the men who foot the bill, a recent survey indicates.
Synovate, affiliated with the British group Aegis, polled almost 4,000 women in nine countries such as China, the United States and Japan last month about their attitudes towards financial matters.
In China, 314 women aged 15-64 were interviewed.
Almost nine out of 10 Chinese married women or those living with a partner claimed to have at least an equal say in big-ticket purchases such as property and cars, third behind Britain and France.
Although 74% of respondents said their partners earned more, 75% disagreed that whoever holds the money holds the power in the relationship.
Apart from having unrestricted access to their men's wallet, 77% of Chinese women said they can pretty much afford what they want without asking for money from their partners, second behind British women.
Hong Yuanyuan, a China Network Communications Group Corp staffer, said she can decide on all small purchases, and, as for big items, she “decides all the details after settling on basic principles with her husband.”
Hong’s husband Zhang Ying, who earns double what Hong does and can afford most purchases, attributes the situation to a “mutual respect” in the family relationship.
“I don’t care about details. It seems better not to be fussy about whatever she has bought,” he said.
The findings also show that half of Chinese respondents subscribe to the philosophy that “my partner’s money is my money, my money is mine.”
Larry Wu, director of Synovate China, explained: “The money earned by women is a bonus to them. It is still part of the family wealth, but Chinese women tend to keep part of that money as their own savings.”
He said the survey reflects a deeper involvement of Chinese women in family financial issues compared to just a decade ago.
And Wang Zhenyu, an expert in family issues at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the survey results are similar to those she found eight years ago, which indicated that Chinese women enjoy a high employment rate and a considerably high-degree of financial independence. – China Daily "
© 1995-2004 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)
A Western Heart
A Western Heart
Great Quote, "the United Nations itself had been founded, according to its own charter:
* to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
* to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
* to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
* to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Yet, this organization that supposedly sees individualism and human rights and dignity as its aims, has done nothing to spread democracy. Even the first purpose, which is to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, has been largely ignored, efforts only being extended when the United States is party to military confrontation."
Western Heart thinks UN should be replaced and gives an alternative.
Great Quote, "the United Nations itself had been founded, according to its own charter:
* to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
* to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
* to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
* to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Yet, this organization that supposedly sees individualism and human rights and dignity as its aims, has done nothing to spread democracy. Even the first purpose, which is to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, has been largely ignored, efforts only being extended when the United States is party to military confrontation."
Western Heart thinks UN should be replaced and gives an alternative.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
EconoPundit Problems in Europe
EconoPundit
"Europe is facing real problems. But they are not the ones that American free-market critics recount with such grim glee. Yes, the European Commission periodically makes an ass of itself, aspiring to regulate the size of condoms and the curvature of cucumbers. The much-vaunted Stability Pact to constrain national expenditure and debt has broken down in acrimony, though with no discernible damage to the euro it was designed to protect. And pensions and other social provisions will be seriously underfunded in decades to come unless Europeans have more children, welcome more immigrants, work a few more years before retiring, take somewhat less generous unemployment compensation, and make it easier for businesses to employ young people. But these are not deep structural failings of the European way of life: they are difficult policy choices with political consequences. None of them implies the dismantling of the welfare state...
Europe's true dilemmas lie elsewhere. In the Netherlands, in Paris and Antwerp and other cities, antagonism and incomprehension between the indigenous local population and a fast-growing minority of Muslims (one million in the Netherlands, over five million in France, perhaps 13 million in the EU to date) has already moved on from graffiti and no-go zones to arson, assaults, and assassinations. Turks, Moroccans, Tunisians, Algerians, and others have been arriving in Western Europe since the 1960s. We are now seeing the emergence of a third generation: in large part unemployed, angry, alienated, and increasingly open to the communitarian appeal of radical Islam...." discussed.
"Europe is facing real problems. But they are not the ones that American free-market critics recount with such grim glee. Yes, the European Commission periodically makes an ass of itself, aspiring to regulate the size of condoms and the curvature of cucumbers. The much-vaunted Stability Pact to constrain national expenditure and debt has broken down in acrimony, though with no discernible damage to the euro it was designed to protect. And pensions and other social provisions will be seriously underfunded in decades to come unless Europeans have more children, welcome more immigrants, work a few more years before retiring, take somewhat less generous unemployment compensation, and make it easier for businesses to employ young people. But these are not deep structural failings of the European way of life: they are difficult policy choices with political consequences. None of them implies the dismantling of the welfare state...
Europe's true dilemmas lie elsewhere. In the Netherlands, in Paris and Antwerp and other cities, antagonism and incomprehension between the indigenous local population and a fast-growing minority of Muslims (one million in the Netherlands, over five million in France, perhaps 13 million in the EU to date) has already moved on from graffiti and no-go zones to arson, assaults, and assassinations. Turks, Moroccans, Tunisians, Algerians, and others have been arriving in Western Europe since the 1960s. We are now seeing the emergence of a third generation: in large part unemployed, angry, alienated, and increasingly open to the communitarian appeal of radical Islam...." discussed.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Telegraph | Money | India and China battle over Russian oil
Telegraph | Money | India and China battle over Russian oil"
India and China battle over Russian oil
By Malcolm Moore (Filed: 14/02/2005)
India is fighting China in the battle for Russian oil by angling for a supply deal and a stake in Yuganskneftegaz, the oil unit that was seized from Yukos and is now owned by Rosneft, the state oil company.
Mani Shankar Aiyar, India's petroleum minister, will visit Russia on February 21 to discuss the possibility of the country taking a 15pc to 20pc stake in the oil unit, which is still the focus of legal action in the US. "There are no full stops and the dialogue is continuing," he said.
The fact that Yukos has threatened to sue anyone who interferes with its former unit has not put India or China off. China has offered $6billion (£3.34billion) to fund the purchase of Yugansk, in return for a guaranteed 360m barrels of oil over the next five years. India has been offered a similar quota but wants a slice of equity for its national oil company ONGC.
Rosneft paid $9billion for Yugansk, which pumps about a million barrels a day, through a holding company called Baikal Finance. Yukos has filed for damages concerning the sale of Yugansk, and is petitioning for $20billion from Rosneft, Gazprom and their subsidiaries. Yukos also said it would pursue Deutsche Bank, a situation that could see the German bank threatened in the US.
One source claimed Yukos had discovered proof that Deutsche had played a role in the sale of Yugansk, a situation that would put it in clear contravention of the US bankruptcy court that ruled that the auction should be delayed.
Yukos returns to court on Wednesday to persuade the judge that it should be allowed to continue its bankruptcy proceedings, and to plead that any claims against the company from the Russian government be heard in an international arbitration forum. Under its new plan for repaying creditors, the Russian government has slipped substantially down the list of importance.
Meanwhile, a former Russian prime minister has hit out at the destruction of Yukos and the climate of uncertainty that it has brought to the economic outlook in Russia. Yegor Gaidar, who was briefly prime minister under Boris Yeltsin and is a noted free-market economist, told a group of institutional investors in London last week: "What they are doing could be explained rationally only if the goal was to stop economic growth.
"Growth is very difficult to stop. It is very robust. Even the 1998 crisis only stopped growth for one year. So it is a very ambitious target but then, as Stalin said 'There are no fortresses that the Bolsheviks cannot storm'."
He added: "Ten days ago we held a seminar with Russian government officials to try to set the agenda for this year. They asked how could we compensate for the negative effects. The answer is that it is impossible. You cannot compensate for this sense of unpredictability by any improvement in regulations when Russians really do not believe that tax and property rules will be upheld. No laws will resolve this problem."
Mr Gaidar also called on the government not to bow to political pressure to use the country's savings to cut taxes. Russia has been building a budgetary stabilisation fund off the back of recent high oil prices, which amounts to 647.2billion roubles (£12.3billion)."
India and China battle over Russian oil
By Malcolm Moore (Filed: 14/02/2005)
India is fighting China in the battle for Russian oil by angling for a supply deal and a stake in Yuganskneftegaz, the oil unit that was seized from Yukos and is now owned by Rosneft, the state oil company.
Mani Shankar Aiyar, India's petroleum minister, will visit Russia on February 21 to discuss the possibility of the country taking a 15pc to 20pc stake in the oil unit, which is still the focus of legal action in the US. "There are no full stops and the dialogue is continuing," he said.
The fact that Yukos has threatened to sue anyone who interferes with its former unit has not put India or China off. China has offered $6billion (£3.34billion) to fund the purchase of Yugansk, in return for a guaranteed 360m barrels of oil over the next five years. India has been offered a similar quota but wants a slice of equity for its national oil company ONGC.
Rosneft paid $9billion for Yugansk, which pumps about a million barrels a day, through a holding company called Baikal Finance. Yukos has filed for damages concerning the sale of Yugansk, and is petitioning for $20billion from Rosneft, Gazprom and their subsidiaries. Yukos also said it would pursue Deutsche Bank, a situation that could see the German bank threatened in the US.
One source claimed Yukos had discovered proof that Deutsche had played a role in the sale of Yugansk, a situation that would put it in clear contravention of the US bankruptcy court that ruled that the auction should be delayed.
Yukos returns to court on Wednesday to persuade the judge that it should be allowed to continue its bankruptcy proceedings, and to plead that any claims against the company from the Russian government be heard in an international arbitration forum. Under its new plan for repaying creditors, the Russian government has slipped substantially down the list of importance.
Meanwhile, a former Russian prime minister has hit out at the destruction of Yukos and the climate of uncertainty that it has brought to the economic outlook in Russia. Yegor Gaidar, who was briefly prime minister under Boris Yeltsin and is a noted free-market economist, told a group of institutional investors in London last week: "What they are doing could be explained rationally only if the goal was to stop economic growth.
"Growth is very difficult to stop. It is very robust. Even the 1998 crisis only stopped growth for one year. So it is a very ambitious target but then, as Stalin said 'There are no fortresses that the Bolsheviks cannot storm'."
He added: "Ten days ago we held a seminar with Russian government officials to try to set the agenda for this year. They asked how could we compensate for the negative effects. The answer is that it is impossible. You cannot compensate for this sense of unpredictability by any improvement in regulations when Russians really do not believe that tax and property rules will be upheld. No laws will resolve this problem."
Mr Gaidar also called on the government not to bow to political pressure to use the country's savings to cut taxes. Russia has been building a budgetary stabilisation fund off the back of recent high oil prices, which amounts to 647.2billion roubles (£12.3billion)."
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Chrenkoff
Chrenkoff
Thats the attitude of our MSM: "the sleazy UN goings-on in Congo (or the Balkans for that matter) will not elicit the same sort of salivating fascination from our Western media as reports of military misdeeds in Iraq. The reason is simple: the perpetrators are not American, and the victims are African. The former is arguably more important a factor than the latter; if the Marines were raping Rwandan women we wouldn't be able to turn on the news without another live report from the dark heart of Africa.
As it is in Congo, the locals are being abused multilaterally with no oil wells in sight; so, no story. Pity the Congalese, because if anything, the plight of their country deserves far more attention than it's currently getting. Since 1998, some 3.3 million people have died (that's 33 times the unreal leftoid figure of 100,000 dead Iraqi civilians) and 2.25 million have been displaced as a result of the conflict, a savage struggle over political influence and the prodigious bounty of mineral resources and precious stones. Foreign corporations are profiting out of the scramble, but there's no Halliburton in sight and far too many of the companies are European (only 8 out of 85 implicated in illegal exploitation of Congalese resources are American firms).
The media yawns and the world nods off. A combination of four widely-held beliefs will conspire to keep the fate of Congo and many other places from generating sufficient levels of international outrage: American misdeeds are the worst in the world; there are worse misdeeds in the world, but that's to be expected of others, so who cares? now back to American misdeeds; American misdeeds are the most offensive because America holds itself to the higher moral standard than others; American misdeeds deserves the most attention because by publicizing them within the Western world you actually have the greatest chance of affecting change (this is a sort of backhand, and often unintended, compliment to the strength of the American political system).
Whichever way you look at it, it would have been better for the Congalese had their country been invaded by the US: for a right-winger this would hold a promise of bringing peace and stability there; for a left-winger it would provide a spur into action to expose and publicize the Congolese disaster. From either point of view, the people of Congo would be now better off." Read the whole story!
Thats the attitude of our MSM: "the sleazy UN goings-on in Congo (or the Balkans for that matter) will not elicit the same sort of salivating fascination from our Western media as reports of military misdeeds in Iraq. The reason is simple: the perpetrators are not American, and the victims are African. The former is arguably more important a factor than the latter; if the Marines were raping Rwandan women we wouldn't be able to turn on the news without another live report from the dark heart of Africa.
As it is in Congo, the locals are being abused multilaterally with no oil wells in sight; so, no story. Pity the Congalese, because if anything, the plight of their country deserves far more attention than it's currently getting. Since 1998, some 3.3 million people have died (that's 33 times the unreal leftoid figure of 100,000 dead Iraqi civilians) and 2.25 million have been displaced as a result of the conflict, a savage struggle over political influence and the prodigious bounty of mineral resources and precious stones. Foreign corporations are profiting out of the scramble, but there's no Halliburton in sight and far too many of the companies are European (only 8 out of 85 implicated in illegal exploitation of Congalese resources are American firms).
The media yawns and the world nods off. A combination of four widely-held beliefs will conspire to keep the fate of Congo and many other places from generating sufficient levels of international outrage: American misdeeds are the worst in the world; there are worse misdeeds in the world, but that's to be expected of others, so who cares? now back to American misdeeds; American misdeeds are the most offensive because America holds itself to the higher moral standard than others; American misdeeds deserves the most attention because by publicizing them within the Western world you actually have the greatest chance of affecting change (this is a sort of backhand, and often unintended, compliment to the strength of the American political system).
Whichever way you look at it, it would have been better for the Congalese had their country been invaded by the US: for a right-winger this would hold a promise of bringing peace and stability there; for a left-winger it would provide a spur into action to expose and publicize the Congolese disaster. From either point of view, the people of Congo would be now better off." Read the whole story!
2Slick's Forum: Thinking Outside the Box
2Slick's Forum: Thinking Outside the Box''
A suggestion for the first major decision of the new government: a new name for the country.
'Iraq' has a history basically from WWI, and the British mandate following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire - the last vestige of the Muslim Caliphate. The problem is (besides a name imposed by the British Empire) that the name does nothing to unify or appeal to the people who live their now. There is no overwhelming sense of Iraqi nationalism- no ethnic, religious, political or cultural unifying theme in Iraq.
I would suggest that the new government look to the rich history of the region - the birthplace of civilization, and appeal to the historical significance of the area within Iraq's borders. By going back before the birth of Islam, you bypass the Shia-Sunni strife, and going back far enough you can claim the first modern culture in the world. Call the new Nation Sumer or Babylon appeals to the pride, nationalism, and helps redefine an identity. That identity will be key in defeating the Sunni-Shia-Kurd-insurgent factions as they struggle to find a place in the new country. Calling it Babylon appeals to the people and helps them define themselves in a new way, outside of the horrible history of the last century - much in the same way Egypt or Syria claim a historic heritage to the ancient civilizations, the newly elected government should choose a new name that unifies the country, appeals to their rich history, and by passes the existing divisions with a goal of building a newer, stronger nation.
Anyway, just a thought. If I lived there, I'd want people to identify themselves as a Babylonian (or Sumerian, whatever - Babylon may have poor connotations to the Christian world) than a Sunni, or Shia, or Kurd - it's a way to build some unity, and capitalize on the promise of the elections. "
A suggestion for the first major decision of the new government: a new name for the country.
'Iraq' has a history basically from WWI, and the British mandate following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire - the last vestige of the Muslim Caliphate. The problem is (besides a name imposed by the British Empire) that the name does nothing to unify or appeal to the people who live their now. There is no overwhelming sense of Iraqi nationalism- no ethnic, religious, political or cultural unifying theme in Iraq.
I would suggest that the new government look to the rich history of the region - the birthplace of civilization, and appeal to the historical significance of the area within Iraq's borders. By going back before the birth of Islam, you bypass the Shia-Sunni strife, and going back far enough you can claim the first modern culture in the world. Call the new Nation Sumer or Babylon appeals to the pride, nationalism, and helps redefine an identity. That identity will be key in defeating the Sunni-Shia-Kurd-insurgent factions as they struggle to find a place in the new country. Calling it Babylon appeals to the people and helps them define themselves in a new way, outside of the horrible history of the last century - much in the same way Egypt or Syria claim a historic heritage to the ancient civilizations, the newly elected government should choose a new name that unifies the country, appeals to their rich history, and by passes the existing divisions with a goal of building a newer, stronger nation.
Anyway, just a thought. If I lived there, I'd want people to identify themselves as a Babylonian (or Sumerian, whatever - Babylon may have poor connotations to the Christian world) than a Sunni, or Shia, or Kurd - it's a way to build some unity, and capitalize on the promise of the elections. "
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
