Conservative NYT opinion editorial writer William Safire crusades agains fearmongering in: The Year of Fear.

Cont. reading: Fear No Fear

Iraq, Election, Iran, Election, Israel, Election, …

Please contribute your news, reviews and opinion …

Throughout the last years Asia has been financing the Unites States consumers. This is now about to change. The US is not prepared for the resulting foreign policy and economic trouble.

The Problem’s Start

Cont. reading: The Party is Over …

Together with Putin’s endorsement for Bush today, a qualitative equivalent testimony by Abu Musab Goldstein al-Zarqawi emerged today.

Cont. reading: Endorsement

Conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan asks the question every voter should ask:

This insularity, of course, is not a sign of strength, but of weakness. So there are no deficits; or they do not matter. There has been no increase in domestic spending because the president’s plans say so. There was no insurgency in Iraq, just a fgew ‘dead-enders’, And on and on. The reason Bush cannot name a mistake he has made is not because he is smart enough not to admit error in public. It’s because he doesn’t believe he has ever made a mistake. If you are God’s instrument, how could you? And notice the only mistake that came to his mind: he allowed a few non-believers into his inner circle. You can be sure that won’t happen again. I cannot be the only person of a conservative disposition in politics to be alarmed at this kind of blindness in a president. Most people become tempered by experience; they learn from their mistakes; they adapt and reflect and adjust. Not this president. If he is as sealed off from reality now, what will he be like if he’s re-elected handily?

News and Views…

by Harrow

You usually don’t read the business section of the newspaper for laughs, unless you’re reading quotes on the economy from Bushco. But I got a good chuckle when I picked up yesterday’s Globe and Mail. In the previous day’s edition, there was this:

It’s proverbial wisdom in the stock market that when the base metal stocks such as copper and nickel are soaring in price, it is a sure sign that the economic cycle is about to peak and it is time to take profits.
…
But that is not Mr. Gignac’s view. He is confident that the rally is sustainable, helped by growth in China and India, ample liquidity provided by the central banks in the Group of Seven countries and continued moderate growth in the United States.

The very next day, their story changed somewhat.

VANCOUVER — High-flying metals prices and mining stocks thudded back to earth yesterday, dragged down by factors that included a stronger U.S. dollar, worries about slowing demand in China and signs that shortages of some metals, such as copper, could soon ease.

Wow, what a difference one day makes!

I especially like how it was China’s fault either way. If and when a serious economic crisis hits the US, there’s going to be a lot of opportunistic demagogues pointing their fingers overseas and bellowing about the yellow peril. Maybe another way of interpreting this is that China has become so huge and voracious (it surpassed Japan as the world’s third biggest trader sometime earlier this year), it can drastically affect the world economy one way or the other, depending which side of the bed it got up on that morning. At any rate, there’s another peril much closer to home:

Analysts said the rout was aggravated by the increased influence of institutional investors such as hedge funds, who stepped up their activity in metals markets to offset disappointing returns in other sectors. The presence of these large traders has helped push commodity prices higher but has also led to more volatility.

“We have unleashed a horrible monster of liquidity,” said John Ing, president of Toronto-based investment dealer Maison Placements Canada Inc. “With interest rates where they are, and stock markets such miserable performers, there have been a great number of these hedge funds or commodity funds created, because that’s where the action has been.”

I’ve heard that hedge funds are increasingly dominating the stock market. How long until the next business section flip-flop?

There are rumours that a decent answer to this recently discovered letter could have prevented the war in Iraq.

Mr. Saddam Hussein
Presidential Palace

Bagdhad, Iraq

VIA FACSIMILE

Dear President Hussein:

It has been brought to our attention – and was confirmed by the Los Angeles Times yesterday – that your country is sponsoring and promoting a false and misleading campaign designed to scare America into believing that there are no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.

As you must be aware, this urban myth regarding the non-existence of WMD in Iraq has been thoroughly debunked by no less than the President of the United States, who explicitly stated in a radio address, “We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons,” as well as the Vice President, who declared, “Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.” Additionally, the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, said, “We know where they are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat.'”

In the light of the above statements, the only conclusion to be drawn is that your campaign is being conducted with malicious intent and a reckless disregard for the truth. You have an obligation to immediately cease and desist from promoting or conducting your “nonexistent WMD” campaign.

As we know, the addressee of the letter did not cease and desist his campaign.

Senior administration officials, citing the President and the Vice President, now assert, that a fulfillment of the request to cease and desist the campaign would have avoided the issue.

Thereby, if Rock for Vote would only cease and desist their “Draft” campaign there would be no draft.

A PDF version of the letter
Josh has the story

Last Monday LA Times reported: Major Assaults on Hold Until After U.S. Vote

The Bush administration plans to delay major assaults on rebel-held cities in Iraq until after U.S. elections in November, say administration officials, mindful that large-scale military offensives could affect the U.S. presidential race.
..administration and Pentagon officials say they will not try to retake cities such as Falluja and Ramadi .. until after Americans vote in what is likely to be an extremely close election.

A similar article, which I currently can not find, did appear in the New York Times some two weeks ago. Reoccupying rebel cities would require more Iraqi forces and would have to be delayed because these forces were not yet trained.

In opposition to the above articles, a full fledged offense on Falluja did begin last night. WaPo reports

The intensified assault on Falluja, involving Iraqi and U.S. forces, started Thursday afternoon and was of a magnitude well beyond the “precision air strikes” that had become routine in recent weeks.

CIA asset Allawi had yesterday challenged the peace negotiators from Falluja to produce the ominous Jordanian militant Zarquawi. Otherwise Falluja would be “smashed”. The negotiators replied not to know about the whereabouts of Zarqawi and left the negotiations. By one report the negotiators have now been arrested.

From a psychological warfare aspect the start of a larger scale attack on the day that marks the begin of Ramadan is a mistake. It will provoke a harsh answer.

There is split between the planed leaks from individuals in the Department of Defense to the press and reality. This doesn´t sound like the usual propaganda but more like a split personality. Something mysterious is happening at the DoD. Who is in control?

Fay Report on Abu Ghraib (pdf)

b. (U) RESPONSIBILITY ABOVE 205th MI BRIGADE

(c) (U) I find that LTG Sanchez, and his DCG, MG Wojdakowski, failed to ensure proper staff oversight of detention and interrogation operations.

LA Times reports: 4-Star Plans After Abu Ghraib

Senior Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have privately told colleagues they are determined to pin a fourth star on Sanchez, two senior defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said this week.

Schlesinger Report on Abu Ghraib (pdf)

COMMAND RESPONSIBILITIES

Although LTG Sanchez had tasks more urgent than dealing personally with command and resource deficiencies and allegations of abuse at Abu Ghraib, he should have ensured his staff dealt with the command and resource problems. He should have ensured that urgent demands were placed for appropriate support and resources through Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) and CENTCOM to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was responsible for establishing the confused command relationship at the Abu Ghraib prison.

To become 4-star, Sanchez will have to be approved by Congress. That chance is near to zero. So the question is why are anonymous senior defense officials lauching this.

• Red meat for the base?
• An attack on Rumsfeld?
• A smoke screen to something else?
• A trial balloon to really get a fourth star for Sanchez?

Readers Beq and DM pointed to a report on a new legislation effort:

In another test of Europe’s frayed relations with the United States, Israel and other allies, the European Parliament has ordered the European Commisioner for Foreign Relations to start rating governments throughout the world on their treatment of Muslim and Christian citizens.
…
The proposed law was passed on Monday, in response to what its sponsors called an alarming surge in anti-islamism and anti-christianism, especially in Israel.

Recent incidents show how urgently this legislation is needed.

Cont. reading: Matthew 7:3-5

Mark Hertsgaard has written that Bush can not win this election. He compares the situation with Mc Carthy, were people were intimidated into silence, but after four years the nightmare unravelled within just a few months. I now think he is right.

Only a minority is better off after four years of Bush. The majority has lost on its standard of living or has paid for it with higher debt. Conveniently for todays debate (and not by chance) the DOW fell below 10,000 today and oil did reach $53.60 again.
The Iraq explanations are gone one after the other and the public feels that there is a big mess out there, though it does not openly confess this yet. Six dead GIs today and the coming Ramadan weeks will push this – right up to the election.

So the chances are high Kerry will win, as Hertsgaard and Jérôme expect, the popular vote by a wide margin, maybe even by a million and some votes. But will he win the presidency?

Seymour Hersh says, Bush & Co are believers, not rational liars like Kissinger or Nixon. Believers are right by definition. They have the right by definition. They can do no wrong.

There are many fraud possibilities with the US election system. And already there are plenty of cases of unrightful registrations or non-registrations of voters. Given that only a few votes in a few states may decide the ultimate result, someone, somewhere will try for a fix.

Will this be detected? Yes. Will there be litigation? Yes. Will Kerry win those? Unlikely.

Like in Iraq, the real war will only start after the mission is accomplished party and the polling station close. The October surprise may come 3rd of November or even later.

With a clean since unused conscience, never being wrong, there are many ways to achieve a fix – you just have to think big enough.

The junta may survive this indecent onslaught of an election, even if it looses the vote.

Are you in need of a serious depression?
Has your urge to kick some ass slacked?
Is your outrage temperature below boiling?

Just read some news:

Seymour Hersh narrated in Berkley last Friday. Here is the webcast (RealPlayer).

And as he told the story, another platoon from his company came and executed all the guards, as his people were screaming, stop. And he said they just shot them one by one. He went nuts, and his soldiers went nuts. And he’s hysterical. He’s totally hysterical. And he went to the captain. He was a lieutenant, he went to the company captain. And the company captain said, “No, you don’t understand. That’s a kill. We got thirty-six insurgents.”

Consigliere James Baker is travelling the world to reduce Iraqs debt, while his company, the Carlyle Group, works for Kuweit to maximize their share in debt collection from Iraq.

“Baker is on two sides of this transaction: he is supposed to be representing the interests of the US, but he is also a senior counsellor at Carlyle, and Carlyle wants to get paid to help Kuwait recover its debts from Iraq.”

Charles County May Change School Reading Lists. WaPo adds:

Board [of education] members would also invite Gideons International to provide Bibles to students, and cull school reading lists to ban books offering “a neutral or positive view of immorality or foul language.”

As it happens, one of the board members, Collins A. Bailey, is a member of Gideons International. A second, Mark Crawford, is host of a weekly religious radio show whose producer favors the abolition of public schools and opposes women holding elected offices that exert authority over men.

The basis of optimism is sheer terror. – Oscar Wilde

AllHatNoCattle.net
Your caption?

Arbitrage:

In economics, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a state of imbalance between two markets: a combination of matching deals are struck that exploit the imbalance, the profit being the difference between the market prices.

An upbeat article in the NYT is headlined:
Rebels Loyal to Shiite Cleric Begin Handing In Arms in Iraq

Cont. reading: Arbitrage

Some mixed news about Iraq

As expected, massive fraud was (and is) part of the action. It was easy to do:

Cont. reading: Iraq Mix

Blogger Gen. JC Christian, Patriot has achieved an ultimate prize.

Campaign and Elections Magazine, The magazine covering the business and trends of politcs, has listed him as Republican / Anti-Kerry in their Political Blog Directory

Highly conservative and anti-liberal, the blog discusses religious aspects of the campaigns and issues involved.

It is extremly difficult to be named in this category. So far neither the hard trying Free Republic nor the well financed Wall Street Journal’s Opinion Journal have achieved the Republican / Anti-Kerry glory. They were evaluated to fit only the lesser category of Non Partisan.

On Real Clear Politics, Campaign Magazine writes, This blog was credentialed at the Republican Convention. Even that has not done it. The blog is still down as Non Partisan. The General really did beat them all. Such are the business and trends in politics.

Please help the General to continue his fight for a less French republic. Buy one of his Bush campaign t-shirts and give him your vote in the Washington Post Best Blogs – Politics and Elections contest. The sanctified General challenges the National Review in the Best Republican Party Coverage category. Your vote will help to achieve the Lord’s will.

by koreyel

There is absolutely no comparison between these two candidates. None whatsoever. One is clearly superior to the other.

That this election is evenly divided speaks volumes about how shallowly engaged Americans are in politics.

Cont. reading: Killing Them Loudly