Speaking of malign influences: since when does an American military officer make foreign policy pronouncements, as if he were the president? It’s an indication of the advances militarism has made in what used to be a republic that no one has so much as blinked at the brazenness of such blatant Caesarism.

     - Is War With Iran Imminent?- by Justin Raimondo

This is what prompted Justin’s quote:

“The nation’s top military officer said yesterday that the Pentagon is planning for ‘potential military courses of action’ as one of several options against Iran, criticizing what he called the Tehran government’s ‘increasingly lethal and malign influence’ in Iraq. Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a conflict with Iran would be ‘extremely stressing’ but not impossible for U.S. forces, pointing to reserve capabilities in the Navy and Air Force.”

Now Bush is using the military brass as cheerleaders for a public relations campaign to further destructive foreign aggression.

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The Law of the Sea Treaty, if passed, would spread redistribution of wealth schemes to a worldwide platform.  Private companies would have no incentive to efficiently utilize the mineral resources of the ocean. 

The United Nations has gone through some tough times recently, from allegations that peacekeeping operations are chock full of waste and abuse to news headlines about U.N. mismanagement of the Iraqi Oil-for-Food program. Its image battered, the U.N. is now turning to the United States Senate to deliver some good news (to it, at least) by ratifying the Law of the Sea Treaty (which goes by the wonderful acronym LOST). LOST operates under the assumption that any minerals in the ocean floor constitute the “common heritage” of all mankind — and therefore cannot be the property of any one individual, company, or nation.
This treaty is an affront to American national sovereignty. It would give the United Nations authority over much of the world’s oceans, including the power to regulate and tax deep-sea mining, and redistribute the proceeds to Third World governments. Moreover, its “hortatory language” provisions are a loaded weapon that activist trial lawyers could easily wield to force the U.S. to adopt laws that the American people’s elected representatives otherwise would not.

This morning, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 17-4 to send the Law of the Sea Treaty to the Senate floor for ratification. The result was expected — though still disappointing — so now the real fight begins. The vote count was as follows:

Yes votes
Joseph Biden (D-Del.)
Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.)
John Kerry (D-Mass.)
Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.)
Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)
Barack Obama (D-Ill.)
Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)
Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.)
Robert Casey (D-Pa.)
Jim Webb (D-Va.)
Richard Lugar (R-Ind.)
Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.)
Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)
John Sununu (R-N.H.)
George Voinovich (R-OH)
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

No votes
Norm Coleman (R-Minn.)
Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.)
David Vitter (R-La.)
Jim DeMint (R-S.C.)

Law of the Sea Treaty > Environmental Policy

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Alternately, this post could have been titled - How to Defeat Terrorism!

To minimize conflicts in the future we should aim to create a world in which people are free to buy what they want, live and work where they choose, and invest and produce where conditions seem most propitious. There should be unlimited freedom for individuals to trade within and across national borders, widespread international division of labor, and worldwide economic interdependence. Would-be traders should encounter no restrictions or barriers to trade, enacted out of a misguided belief in economic nationalism and the supposed advantages of economic self-sufficiency. Friendships among individuals living in different parts of the world would then be reinforced daily through the benefits they reap from buying and selling with one another. Thus a sound basis for peaceful international relations would be encouraged.

Bettina Bien Greaves, The Freeman [September 1979]

The scenario described above is within our grasp.  All that is needed is enough votes to put Ron Paul in the White House.

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday attempted a goodwill tour of the nation’s media capitals, speaking by videoconference at the National Press Club in Washington and in person at Columbia University in New York City.

But his comments ended in ill will at Columbia, where the Iranian leader found himself booed and harangued by the audience and insulted by the university’s president, Lee C. Bollinger.

“Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” Bollinger said to loud applause.

President Ahmadinejad was subjected to a hailstorm of criticism following his appearance at Columbia University.  His vociferous critics will only ensure that tensions in the Middle East remain high and that needless deaths result from warfare.

The Iranian President was reaching out and providing a chance for some meaningful dialogue to occur.  That is what is needed, not more interventionism.

Of course, some statements that have been made by Ahmadinejad are repulsive to many Americans, an example would be his position on gays.  What needs to be remembered is that Iran’s culture is quite different than ours.  It is unrealistic to try to impose our cultural values on another country.

If the invitation for a meaningful dialogue is pursued, we will benefit and so will Iran.  One of the first steps that must be taken is the elimination of economic sanctions that we, and the U.N., have imposed on Iran.  The resultant free-trade would be uniformly beneficial and sow the seeds for cultural change from within.

Our current big stick policy toward Iran isn’t working and only prolongs the wait for a real solution.

The Buffalo News: National: Iran leader contentious in U.S. visit

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Obama is making sure that voters know that Hillary is not the only war-mongering, foreign interventionist candidate running for President. 

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama issued a pointed warning yesterday to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, saying that as president he would be prepared to order U.S. troops into that country unilaterally if it failed to act on its own against Islamic extremists.

Hillary has a solid record of supporting the type of foreign policy that breeds terrorists who want to attack our country.  In fact, it was her husband’s foreign policy, initiated in 1998, that has led us to the current quagmire in Iraq.

In his most comprehensive statement on terrorism, the senator from Illinois said that the Iraq war has left the United States less safe than it was before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and that if elected he would seek to withdraw U.S. troops and shift the country’s military focus to threats in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Obama is half right in saying the Iraq war has increased the risk of terrorist attacks on our soil, however, he is failing to connect all the dots.  Taking the war to Pakistan just adds to the fuel we have provided that breeds terrorists. 

What is needed is a withdrawal of our military from the region, coupled with the termination of all foreign aid going to the Middle East.

Obama Says He Would Take Fight To Pakistan - washingtonpost.com

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Check out the link for more interesting thoughts. 

Before we panic about “global warming,” we should take a look at six-day weather forecasts and see how much they change during those six days — quite aside from how much they differ from what the weather actually turns out to be.

Source: Townhall.com::Random Thoughts::By Thomas Sowell

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Today, Tony Blair hands over Number 10 Downing Street to Gordon Brown. Blair has served 10 years. Blair has been at the helm during 2 major tragedies. The first was the untimely death of Princess Diana. Tony Blair gained immense popularity following Diana’s death by healing the public’s perception of the Queen following that tragedy. In terms of public relations, his handling of the Queen and Diana’s death was probably his greatest victory.

The next tragedy, 9-11 and the subsequent war in Iraq, did irrepairable harm to Tony Blair’s stature. Tony Blair not only concurred with George Bush’s overt deceptions that led to the war, he even joined Bush in pushing the disatrous agenda to topple Saddam Hussein.

In light of Blair’s role in Iraq, I believe it is a huge mistake picking Blair to lead the peace effort in the Middle East as the envoy for the US, Russia, the UN and the EU. Not only has Blair contributed to the bedlam in the Middle East, Britain, historically, has intervened greatly in the policies of the Middle East countries. Tony Blair represents the oil interests who have affected the unrest in that area for the past nearly 90 years.

I will miss watching the Prime Minister’s questions with Tony Blair. If nothing else, Tony Blair has always been an eloquent spokesman for his country.

[tags]Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Prime Minister, Britain, envoy, Middle East, George Bush, Iraq, war, Princess Diana, Queen[/tags]

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. . . Fool me twice, shame on me.  Bush fooled many people once and the result is the ongoing war in Iraq.  He is poised to do it again with Iran.

Last week we saw the “canning” of General Peter Pace because of the impending scrutiny from Senate confirmation hearings.  The real reason is mainly due to the fact that General Pace was not a supporter of a military strike against Iran.

The time is at hand for every American to let Bush know that military action against Iran is not an option.  Silence on this issue will result in many more needless deaths and economic devastation.

[tags]Bush, war, Iran, military, intervention, nuclear[/tags]

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NEW YORK (CNN) — Three suspects have been arrested in what authorities say was a terror plot aimed at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. A fourth suspect is being sought, law enforcement officials said on Saturday.

The planning, which began last summer, involved four men, and targeted fuel tanks and pipelines at the airport, law enforcement sources said.

An official described the suspects as “al Qaeda wannabes.”

Another law enforcement official said the plot was never “fully operational.”

A terrorism plot being uncovered has been long overdue.  The NeoCons must keep up the propaganda in order to exert control and assault our liberties.

Source: 3 arrested in terror plot at JFK airport, official says - CNN.com

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Why would anyone hate us? The problem is that the military wing of the US government is very different from your neighborhood. After the Soviet Union crashed, US elites declared themselves masters of the universe, the only “indispensable nation” and the like. All countries must ask the US for permission to have a nuclear program. If we don’t like your government, we can overthrow it. Meanwhile, we sought a global empire unlike any in history: not just a sphere of interest but the entire world.

— Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr., “Ron Paul Said It”

[tags]Ron Paul, LewRockwell.com, foreign policy, war, President, 2008, republican, candidate[/tags]

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Worldwide censorship of the Internet is growing as the Net becomes more popular. 

At least 25 countries around the world block access to Web sites for political, social, or other reasons as governments seek to assert authority over a network meant to be borderless, according to a study released Friday.

The actual number may be higher, but the OpenNet Initiative had the time and capabilities to study only 40 countries and the Palestinian territories. Even so, researchers said they found more censorship than they had initially expected, a sign that the Internet has matured to the point that governments are taking notice.

”This is very much the revenge of geography,” said Rafal Rohozinski, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge in England.

China, Iran, Myanmar, Syria, Tunisia, and Vietnam had the most extensive filters for political sites. Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen had the strictest social-filtering practices, blocking pornography, gambling, and gay and lesbian sites.

In some countries censorship was narrow. South Korea, for instance, tends to block only information about its neighboring rival, North Korea.

Yet researchers found no filtering at all in Russia, Israel, or the Palestinian territories despite political conflicts there.

Governments generally had no mechanism for citizens to complain about any erroneous blocking, with Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates being among the exceptions.

Read it all: Study: 25 countries block Web sites, including those with gay content | News | Advocate.com

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That the aggressor, who puts himself into the state of war with another, and unjustly invades another man’s right, can, by such an unjust war, never come to have a right over the conquered, will be easily agreed by all men, who will not think that robbers and pirates have a right of empire over whomsoever they have force enough to master, or that men are bound by promises which unlawful force extorts from them.

— John Locke, The Second Treatise of Civil Government [1690]

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 Excerpts from Baghdad Burning, Thursday, April 26.

The Great Wall of Segregation…

…Which is the wall the current Iraqi government is building (with the support and guidance of the Americans). It’s a wall that is intended to separate and isolate what is now considered the largest ‘Sunni’ area in Baghdad- let no one say the Americans are not building anything. According to plans the Iraqi puppets and Americans cooked up, it will ‘protect’ A’adhamiya, a residential/mercantile area that the current Iraqi government and their death squads couldn’t empty of Sunnis.

The wall, of course, will protect no one. I sometimes wonder if this is how the concentration camps began in Europe. The Nazi government probably said, “Oh look- we’re just going to protect the Jews with this little wall here- it will be difficult for people to get into their special area to hurt them!” And yet, it will also be difficult to get out.

I always hear the Iraqi pro-war crowd interviewed on television from foreign capitals (they can only appear on television from the safety of foreign capitals because I defy anyone to be publicly pro-war in Iraq). They refuse to believe that their religiously inclined, sectarian political parties fueled this whole Sunni/Shia conflict. They refuse to acknowledge that this situation is a direct result of the war and occupation. They go on and on about Iraq’s history and how Sunnis and Shia were always in conflict and I hate that. I hate that a handful of expats who haven’t been to the country in decades pretend to know more about it than people actually living there.

I remember Baghdad before the war- one could live anywhere. We didn’t know what our neighbors were- we didn’t care. No one asked about religion or sect. No one bothered with what was considered a trivial topic: are you Sunni or Shia? You only asked something like that if you were uncouth and backward. Our lives revolve around it now. Our existence depends on hiding it or highlighting it- depending on the group of masked men who stop you or raid your home in the middle of the night.

Sadly, Riverbend and her family have decided that their only option is to leave Iraq.  They will leave behind their entire lives because of the sectarian violence caused by the U.S. occupation.  Follow the link above to read the rest of the story of a country torn apart by outside forces.  I don’t know how George Bush can sleep at night.

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Earlier this evening the National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch at about 5:53 pm.  That was about 10 minutes after a semi-decent sized thunderstorm had already passed through North Buffalo.  It seems to me that they had not actually issued a “warning” but merely reported the same observations I made looking out my kitchen door.

Given this astute ability to announce the obvious and the inability to forecast 10 minutes into the future, why would anyone believe the current global warming studies?  As I’ve said before, global warming may be occurring based on contemporaneous observations, however, future trend predictions are dubious at best.

Are we to follow the advice of Al Gore, bloviator extradordinaire?  What about the suggestions of IPCC, a group of scientists affiliated with the organization that has the world’s largest political agenda?

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BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. military has begun sealing off Baghdad neighborhoods with concrete walls . . .

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