The War, and Why we must stay

Recently, a friend and fellow Boy Scout posted a four part story about withdrawing from the Iraq War over at http://hopeforhumanity.blogspot.com/. However, as I disagree with him about the withdrawal, I will explain why we CAN NOT leave, and the ramifications of doing so. Sorry man, but these things need to be said.

I will say that I agree with him on one major point. That it is the right of the Iraqi people to govern themselves. However, at the same time, we have to understand that for them to maintain that right, the United States MUST stay in Iraq.

My colleague has argued that the concept of Democracy is an Alien one to the people of the Middle East outside of Israel. To this I must disagree.

Currently, Saudi Arabia is one of the largest sources of Terrorists and fighters in Iraq. Why is this? Why is it that a Dictatorial Regime that we are propping up is responsible for the most rouge fighters in the central battleground of the War on Terror?

Oh wait, I answered my own question. The reason that most of these people come from Saudi Arabia is because it is one of a very small number of Fear Societies that the US is propping up. The more we do so, the more of an enemy we seem to the people of that nation. The best thing we can do in that situation is to begin to press for freedom and democracy within the nation. Though we are dependent on Saudi Oil, Saudi Arabia is dependent on American Gasoline. And all we have to do is begin to put pressure on them economically, and the terrorists begin to lose.

Now, onto his points.
1: Staying in Iraq is, sadly, the only option: This is because as of right this moment, the Iraqi people are not ready to take over all of their defense priorities themselves. While the British have had some successes in and around their areas, the US is a major player, and a higher priority in this war. Also, currently, the fact that American Soldiers are there is one of the few things that have gotten the Sheiks of Al-Anbar province to turn on Al-Qaeda, who have been acting out of Al-Anbar since they first moved in. If we leave, then Iraq will descend into a level of anarchy not seen since Mogadishu. While we might not be a Stabilizing Presence, we have at least consolidated Iraq into two main camps. Those who support freedom, and those who are seeking political power.

Also, contrary to what Sir Knightly would have you believe, there have always been Terrorists in Iraq. Many Terrorists have used the nation as a staging and training ground. Also, while Saddam might not have had a direct role in the attacks six years ago Tuesday, the 9/11 Commission did find evidence of Saddam funneling money into terrorist groups and hiring terrorists to go and try to assassinate three different presidents. In fact, when Clinton bombed Baghdad, he did so with intel that said that bin Laden was in the city. Sadly, he failed in so very many ways over the years when it comes to Terrorism.

And no, the Terrorists are not on the side of the Iraqi's. Many claims have been made otherwise, but it is not true. If the Terrorists win, we will see a massive death toll as the civilization collapses in a way that would make Post-War Vietnam look like the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Once we are gone, the Mahdi Army, Al-Qaeda, the Northern Alliance, every single faction will fight against each other to gain dominance, and we will see either a second Afghanistan or a second Somalia. Neither of which bodes well for the United States, as both have been used by Al-Qaeda forces, and bodes even worse for the people as they are subjected to either the deathly restrictive Shariah Law or Institutionalized Anarchy. This is the lesson of History.

2: Currently, the United States is acting ONLY in conjunction with Iraqi Forces or at the request/permission of its government. Ever since the Iraqi Government has been set up, the United States Army and United States Marine Corps have moved into a support role, and only acting with the express permission of the government. In the rare occasions where independent action is necessary, the Iraqi Government has given them the go ahead and not done anything.

Only Logistics Missions, such as delivering blankets and food, or Engineering Missions, mainly building soccer fields for the kids and adults, are done independently, and that is because they are not Combat Missions. Even Convoy Duty is being done in Conjunction with Iraqi Forces.

3: He mentions the ethnic and cultural divides in the nation, ones created by Great Britain following WWI, when they carved up the Middle East. Thus proving that there is nothing more dangerous than a Bureaucrat or a Politician with a Pencil and a Map.

As for the Police Force, we are, as we speak, building just such a force. However, these are popular targets by the Terrorists as the uniforms allow them to move around without hassle. And the problem is not the ethnic divide, but rather the lack of outreach by the government to the minority Shi'ite and Kurd populations.

4: NO! the people caught in arms in Iraq and sent to Club Gitmo where caught in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions, and have been housed in the Island because if released, they would attack the United States and seek to replace the Government in Iraq with a Fear Society.

5: Portal Iraq is a little known website that serves as the English-Language Newswire for Iraq. It is mainly the economic side of the situation, but sometimes speaks on security.

Reading the website and its stories, I have come to a different conclusion. One of the main reasons that the ambitious, though accessible plans for reconstruction have not been met is because of Terrorists.

One water plant in Baghdad has been the source of seven bombings because the Terrorists realize that the more of the necessities that the people get, the worse that they will do in Iraq.

Therefore, an Iraqi Army is desperately needed to assist in the defense of major Utilities, especially power.

6: All of the bases being worked on in Iraq are going to be handed over to Iraqi Forces once Democracy and Freedom are firmly established. Why should we condemn some other nation to a base that we wouldn't use?

7: Leave the Green Zone? The Green Zone is the equivalent of the Washington Mall. The main difference being that and the Washington Mall is that all of the major utilities, defense, and law enforcement facilities in Baghdad are located there.

8: Why would we build an embassy outside of the Green Zone? That would be the equivalent of building an embassy in Arlington, VA. The Green Zone is the center of Government for the Republic of Iraq.

As for building a "Normal Embassy," only Canada has an American Embassy that looks like an ordinary office building. Even the Embassy in France is heavily defended. Hell, the Embassy to Israel looks like a Medieval Castle.

9: Stop paying Blackwater, and who knows what will happen. Currently, most Private Security Forces are hired by Contractors to defend utility sites and convoys of trucks going from one place to another. remove them, and the Infrastructure of Iraq is gone.

10: No real problem here, Land Mines totally suck in my opinion. Just don't get the UN involved. Then we will never get them out of the ground. Oh, and buy lots of Mine Sniffing Rats, they are more capable then dogs, and won't set off the mines.

11: Set up NGO's to do this. No argument that we have some things we need to pay for that have not been paid for yet, but a Government Organization will not get the funds to the people. Instead it will be Bookmarked to death. If you want to get them funds and such, rely on the Conservatives to pay for it. After all, Conservatives across the board give more money to charities than liberals do. I will explain more about that on Monday.

12: We are investing in Iraqi right now. Millions of dollars are being sent to Iraq, being invested in the Dinar and Infrastructure, not to mention that Iraqi Goods are starting to be sold in American Stores. Go to Portal Iraq for more details on the economic boom going on in Iraq.

Just like with number 11, this should be done in the Private Sector because it will be free of the Red Tape that will bog it down in the Governmental Sector. Plus, it won't be earmarked to death this way.

13: The "Ugly" Blast Walls have defended Markets, Infrastructure, Governmental Buildings, and so on. All of which are targets of the Butchers of Iraq.

14: Of course we tried to defend the Oil Wells, they are the corner stones of the Iraqi Economy. Crude Oil makes up 84% of the exports from Iraq.

Now, with time on our side, we can see that maybe we should have taken better care of these sites, but at the time, we were more interested in setting up a stable Democracy in Iraq.

And again, this shoudl be done through the private sector.

15: Once again, I have no arguments, except that it should be privately run.

16: Hey, makes since here, after all, we need to help keep Democracy in Iraq

17: No, no, a thousand times NO! International Organization is nothing but a euphemism for Embezzlement Ring. If we are going to do this, we need to do it through small charity organizations, and through scholarships from the organizations to train these vital peoples.

18: These efforts are already being made. The reason that they are not succeeding is because the people who left are afraid of returning to a Fear Society, and do not wish to leave a free one.

Also, tonight I will be blogging on the major expose that Sean Hannity is going to make regarding a major Prior in the Church of Global Warming. Tune in then.

The Crime of Nationalised Healthcare

In the Heretic Nation, John Edwards is on the "Most Wanted" List by the HBI.

This is because of his activities in recent years. Since the beginning of his law career, John Edwards has been what is colloquially known as an "Ambulance Chaser," or a man who specialized in Medical Malpractice Lawsuits.

Now, let it be known, that lawsuits against doctors cost massive amounts of money to the Medical Insurance Company. And, no matter who wins, the Insurance Company is responsible for paying for the costs of the Client's Legal Fees. Therefore, every time there is a medical lawsuit, the insurance companies have to shell out large amounts of money, forcing them to increase their premiums, which forces doctors to charge more for coverage, and thus to short change more people out of healthcare.

Also, on another prong of the assault, Illegal Immigrants, for fear of being discovered, and wait until they are in absolute desperation, go to the ER, and cost massive amounts of money from the citizens, raising their taxes.

So, that is the situation we find ourselves in when we come to the crockumentary travesty, SiCKO.

In the movie, Michael Moore paints this picture of a paradise in which the nations of Europe and the Americas have this great, free health care system, which has no flaws whatsoever.

Well, I have to call Shame on this, and while I agree that there needs to be some changes in the way that our Health care system is run, there are better ways to do so.

Now, first of all, lets look at the problems of Nationalized Healthcare.

First: People who are under this system have to wait several months to get into a doctor's office, leading to many people dieing from diseases they could have survived if they could have gotten it diagnosed

Second: You MUST go to a Government Approved doctor and gain a recommendation to a specialist, then wait a few more months to go see said specialist

Third: X-Ray Machines/MRI Machines take about five months to be able to get into the machines, whereas people can get into an MRI by the end of the day, and an X-Ray within an hour

Fourth: Those who set up private clinics in Europe or Canada get tossed into jail

Fifth: Nations with Socialized Healthcare are one of the largest sources of "Medical Tourism" to the United States, due to the ease of access into the use of our medical facilities

I have an alternate plan, or rather Neal Boortz has an alternate plan. This is a system of lawsuits known as Loser Pays, in which the loser in any case will have to pay the costs of any and all persons within the case.

This will do many things.

First: It will reduce the amount of cases that the courts have to here

Second: It will bring down the costs of health care, as even cases that never make it to court still increase the amount that a doctor has to pay for his Malpractice Insurance

This is a much better system, and one we should follow.

Why I have turned in my "I Like Fred" Bumper Sticker

Mr. Thompson

You are, in my opinion, one of the two best qualified candidates in the field. I respect your stances on issues, and would love to vote for you. However, these past few months, you have appeared indecisive as you continually flabble over whether or not you were going to run.

On top of that, a new candidate has appeared. This one has all the same qualities that you do, but seems to have a better sense of humor and a better executive experience. While I do not agree with him on all the issues, I do not agree with you on those exact same issues.

For me, Mike Huckabee has taken over the position. He has been gaining in the polls, and has even doubled his poll numbers in the past few months (from 2-4%). While he may not have much of a chance right now, I am trying to drum up support for the both of you. A primary between the two of you is one that could be considered a Win-Win for the Republican Party and the United States of America as a Whole.

People, vote Huckabee in the primary, get it down to Huckabee and Thompson, then we will all win.

Newsweek's Intellectual Bias (Part II)

You Know, this was a good argument, too bad it gets trounced with a small amount of knowledge

"To reinforce the appearance of uncertainty and disagreement, the denial machine churned out white papers and "studies" (not empirical research, but critiques of others' work). The Marshall Institute, for instance, issued reports by a Harvard University astrophysicist it supported pointing to satellite data showing "no significant warming" of the atmosphere, contrary to the surface warming. The predicted warming, she wrote, "simply isn't happening according to the satellite[s]." At the time, there was a legitimate case that satellites were more accurate than ground stations, which might be skewed by the unusual warmth of cities where many are sited."

The thing is, that the whole concept of the Heat Island Effect can be easily proven

In his book, State of Fear, Michael Crichton used information from the NASA GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies) Database to gain the following information.

First: NASA recently re-distributed data proving that 1934 was the hottest year on record. This places the top five years on record in the 1930's.

Second: Lets compare New York City, West Point, New York, and Albany, New York

NY,NY: Increased by five degrees since 1836
Albany,NY: Decreased by a half degree since 1836
West Point, NY: No change since 1836

Meanwhile, in Pasadena, the temp has increased 4.5 degrees, while the temperature in Death Valley has changed by +.1 degree, both changes are since 1930.

Meanwhile, McGill, NV has cooled a full degree, Guthrie, OK has cooled two-thirds of a degree, Boulder, CO has cooled by a half degree, and Truman, MO has cooled by two degrees, with all the above taking place in non-built up areas where the Heat Island Effect cannot be registered.

More of the above are Greenville, SC, which has cooled a full degree, and Ann Arbor, MI, which has also cooled a full degree.

Internationally, Alice Springs, Aus, has had no change since 1879, Clyde, NWT, Can, has cooled a full degree since 1943, Christchurch, NZ, has barely warmed since 1864, and Kameenskoe, Siberia, has not changed temperature since 1949, Rome, Italy, hasn't warmed even .1 degree since 1811, Paris, France, hasn't changed since 1757, Stuttgart, Germany has cooled half a degree since 1792, Navacerrada, Spain has cooled a full degree since 1941, and Goteborg, Sweden has not changed since 1951.

In Asia meanwhile, the metropolises of Choshi, Japan, Lahore City, Pakistan, Takayama, Japan, and Tokyo Japan have all warmed. Tokyo showed the most pronounced, heating three degrees since 1876, when the Tokugawa Shogunate moved their capital to the city.

Now, I am going to nip this next one in the bud.

Katrina brought an onslaught of how these storms where caused by GW, and that the storms where going to increase in frequency and severity.

Well, the problem is, the opposite is happening.
1900-1909: 16 Hurricanes
1910-1919: 19 Hurricanes (Up 3)
1920-1929: 15 Hurricanes (Down 4)
1930-1939: 17 Hurricanes (Up 2)
1940-1949: 23 Hurricanes (Up 4)
1950-1959: 18 Hurricanes (Down 3)
1960-1969: 15 Hurricanes (Down 3)
1970-1979: 12 Hurricanes (Down 3)
1980-1989: 16 Hurricanes (Up 4)
1990-1999: 14 Hurricanes (Down 2)
2000-2009: 7 Hurricanes (Down 7)

Also, in 1998, we had El Nino, which resulted in a world-wide $15 BILLION dollar economic growth, this AFTER adding in the $1.5 billion that was lost because of ruined crops.

More to come tomorrow.

Newsweek's Intellectual Bias

Intellectual Bigotry is something that sticks in my craw. I have always hated bigotry of any kind, and get upset when my good name is impugned by someone using bigotry to do so.

In the recent Newsweek Article "Global Warming is a Hoax: Or so claim well-funded naysayers who still reject the overwhelming evidence of climate change," the staff author Sharon Begley displayed a horrible intellectual bigotry in the August 13, 2007 issue of Newsweek.

In his blog, Okie, of Okie on the Lam, described the article as "an Orwellian tipping point in the Man-Caused Climate Change debate" in which he described, "lies becoming truth while the search for truth gets abandoned in the ensuing maelstrom."

Well said Okie.

The Newsweek article in my opinion resembled less an Orwellian Nightmare than an exercise in repression similar to that used in the Spanish Inquisition.

The most telling was the comparison to the tobacco industry. It is almost as bad as the comparison that was made about me to the racist jim crows during that one religion class.

“They patterned what they did after the tobacco industry,” says former senator Tim Wirth, who spearheaded environmental issues as an under secretary of State in the Clinton administration. “Both figured, sow enough doubt, call the science uncertain and in dispute. That’s had a huge impact on both the public and Congress.”

The Tobacco Industry, really? Is there any more tired comparisons they would like to trot out?

How about some link to the Nazi's? After all, some of the Warming Forum/Blog Trolls can't go more than a few words about those who disagree with them without making numerous references to Nazi's and the Waffen SS.

Well, the link was made, in a round-about way, but it was still made.

In what may be a key tactic of the denial machine - think tanks linking up the like-minded, contrarion researchers - the report was endorsed in a letter to President George H.W. Bush by MIT meteorologist Richard Lindzen. Lindzen, whose parents had fled Hitler's Germany, is described by old friends as the kind of man who, if you're the minority, opts to be with you. "I thought it was important to make it clear that the science was at an early and primitive stage and that there was little basis for concensus and much reason for scepticism," he told Scientific American magazine. "I did feel a moral obligation."

The emphasis was added by myself in the writing of this blog. Otherwise, it is word for word the story that was published in the magazine.

Then, there is this little gem of an argument that made me throw the magazine across the room in exasperation.

Groups that opposed greenhouse curbs ramped up. They "Settled on the 'Science isn't there' argument because they didn't believe they'd be able to convince th public to do nothing if climate change were real," says David Goldston, who served as Republican chief of staff for the House of Representatives science committee until 2006. Industry found a friend in Patrick Michaels, a climatologist at the University of Virginia who keeps a small farm where he raises prize-winning pumpkins and whose favorite weather, he once told a reporter, is "anything severe." Michaels had written several popular articles on Climate Change, including an op-ed in the Washington Post in 1989 warning of "apocalyptic environmentalism," which he called "the most popular new religion to come along since Marxism." The coal industry's Western Fuels Association paid Michaels to produce a newsletter called World Climate Report, which has regularly trashed mainstream climate science. (At a 1995 hearing in Minnesotta on coal-fired power plants, Michaels admitted that he received more than &165,000 from industry; he now declines to comment on his industry funding, asking, "What is this, a hatchet job?")

Wow, the amount of emphasis in that is eyecatching. The most telling is this Inquisitor's use of the funding argument. I would like to quote from Michael Chrichton's State of Fear here for a moment.

In this exchange, Peter Evans, a lawyer for Hasle & Black, is arguing with a group of Scientists over the data found in the Antarctic Post that I placed on here earlier today.

Evans picked up the sheet of paper again, and folded it carefully. He slipped it into his pocket. "These studies are probably financed by the coal industry."
Probably," Kenner said. "I'm sure that explains it. But them everybody's paid by somebody. Who pays your salary?"
"My Law firm."
"And who pays them?"
"The clients. We have several hundred clients."
"You do work for all of them?"
"Me, personally? No."
"In fact, you do most of your work for environment clients," Kenner said. "Isn't that true?"
"Mostly. Yes."
"Would it be fair to say that the environmental clients pay your salary?" Kenner said.
"You could make that argument."
"I'm just asking, Peter. Would it be fair to say environmentalists pay your salary?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Then would it be fair to say the opinions you hold are because you work for environmentalists?"
"Of course not-"
"You mean you're not a paid flunky for the environmental movement?"
"No. The fact is -"
"Your not an environmental stooge? A mouthpiece for a great fund raising and media machine - a multi-billion-dollar industry in its own right - with its own private agenda that's not necessarily in the Public Interest"
"God damn it -"
"Is this pissing you off?" Kenner said
"Your damn right it is!"
"Good," now you know how legitimate scientists feel when their integrity is impugned by slimy characterizations such as the one you just made. Sanjong and I gave you a careful, peer-reviewed interpretation of the data. Made by several groups of scientists from several different countries, and your first response was to ignore it, and then to make an ad hominem attack. You didn't answer the data. You didn't provide counter evidence. You just smeared with innuendo."

Though it is long, it is a very effective look at the mindset of the Goraclist Inquisitor who wrote the Newsweek article.

It continues:

Just before Kyoto, S. Fred Singer released the "Leipzig Declartion on Global Climate Change." Singer, who fled Nazi-occupied Austria as a boy, had run the U.S. weather-satellite program in the early 1960s. In the Leipzig petition, just over 100 scientists and others, including TV weathermen, said they “cannot subscribe to the politically inspired world view that envisages climate catastrophes.” Unfortunately, few of the Leipzig signers actually did climate research; they just kibitzed about other people’s.

Wow, so because some of the people where "TV Weathermen," a diminutive term for a Meteorologist, they do not count. So Weather Scientists do not count huh? Wow, that is the most elitist comment I have ever heard.

There will be more on this little piece of filth later. For now, I need to take a break. All this bigotry hurts my brain.

Antarctica

The Antarctic Peninsula has been the subject in Al Gore's Travesty of a movie, though the conclusions made by the film are wrong.

First: In the movie, Al Gore talks about how the breakup happened in March. All the while, he was fooling the people by "failing" to mention the fact that March is the end of the Southern Hemisphere Summer, and that the Peninsula breaks up every year.

Second: The Peninsula is only 2 percent of the entire continent.

Third: The continent is getting colder, starting in 86, at .7 degrees Celsius per decade. This leads to a total of 1.4 degrees Celsius. That is twice the warming of the earth that the Goraclists are claiming. (Documented in "Antarctic climate cooling and terrestrial ecosystem response" in Nature Magazine by Doran, P. T., Priscu, J. C., Lyons, W. B., et al. in 2002.)

Fourth: Side-Looking radar has shown that after 6,000 years of melting, the Ice is increasing at 26.8 gigatons/yr. in the West Antarctic. (Documented in "Positive mass balance of the Ross Ice Streams, West Antarctica" in Science Magazine, Joughin, I., and Tulaczyk, S., in 2002)

Fifth: Ninety Percent of the water in the world is locked in Antarctica. Therefore, when a person talks about how the Arctic is melting, point out that with four percent of the Ice locked up in Grennland, only six percent of the ice is divided around the glaciers and the North Pole. That is not a lot of Ice.

So, based on this, there is no threat from the Arctic Circle melting. After all, the Antarctic is growing at four times the rate that the Arctic is melting. Something to remember.

Time to start listening

Since 2005, I have warned my friends, family, and anyone that would listen that China is going to be an enemy. While some listened, most people wrote me off as a McCarthy wannabe.

This would be much easier to overcom, if people would just google the stuff I have been talking about. From China's Industrial Espionage, to the Battle Plans, to their determination to take over Taiwan. Now, they have done what could be considered an Act of War.

The PLA regularly probes US military networks – and the Pentagon is widely assumed to scan Chinese networks – but US officials said the penetration in June raised concerns to a new level because of fears that China had shown it could disrupt systems at critical times.

Hackers from numerous locations in China spent several months probing the Pentagon system before overcoming its defences, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Pentagon took down the network for more than a week while the attacks continued, and is to conduct a comprehensive diagnosis. “These are multiple wake-up calls stirring us to levels of more aggressive vigilance,” said Richard Lawless, the Pentagon’s top Asia official at the time of the attacks.

The Pentagon is still investigating how much data was downloaded, but one person with knowledge of the attack said most of the information was probably “unclassified”. He said the event had forced officials to reconsider the kind of information they send over unsecured e-mail systems.

According to The Financial Times, the Chinese Military has once again found their way into the Pentagon's Military Mainframe. And it is not just the United States either, since Prime Minister Merkel took over Germany, the probes into their databases by Chinese Military have been on the rise.


The ability that the PLA is showing with these attacks is scary, as it gives them an unprecedented level of Intel capabilites that the United States is having trouble counteracting.

when the war comes, Communications are not going to be hit very hard, but at least we are preparing in ways the press has no knowledge of, and no ability to reveal to the public.

The US Air Force will soon create a cyber war-fighting command aimed at improving defensive and offensive capabilities to counter such asymmetric threats. “We want to ensure that we can operate freely in the domain,” says Major General Charles Ickes, another senior Air Force official involved with cyberspace issues. “On the other hand . . . it is seen by everybody in the defence department as a war-fighting domain and you must have offensive capability.”

Gen Ickes says the military must ensure that its actions do not inadvertently impact on US civilian computer systems. Michael Green, former senior Asia adviser to President George W. Bush, points to an example where the Pentagon had to consider the legal ramifications of blasting a virus back at a hacker.

In an increasingly networked world, governments must consider an even wider range of cyber threats, including terrorist attacks on critical infrastructure, commercial espionage, and old-fashioned spying.

But it gets worse. Did you notice that part in there about the Terrorists using this against us?

Sami Saydjari, chief executive of Cyber Defense Agency and a former Pentagon cyber expert, warns of the potential for terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda, to attack the financial, telecoms, and power sectors.

To underscore the threat, he notes that no cyber red team – hackers enlisted to attack systems to help identify weaknesses – has ever failed to meet its objective.

Gregory Garcia, the assistant secretary for cyber security at the department of Homeland Security, says the number of cyber incidents reported to the department’s computer readiness team so far this year is 35,000. That compares to 4,100 for the whole of 2005.

Thank you Financial Times, I think you cured my lack of Insomnia.