Politics Thursday

Two categories today, folks: regular news, and political news. Enjoy.

Regular News:

'Deviant hazing' alleged at U.S. embassy in Kabul (CNN, Guardian) - Two points. First: if President Clinton hadn't reduced military manpower and other military spending so drastically in the 1990's, we might have enough Marines and additional combat power to allow for Marine security guards to secure the embassy. Marines, you can force to be semi-professional when they're off duty; not fully professional, but moreso than it sounds like these guys were. Second: these are private contractors, and they're entitled to do whatever they want when they're off duty, even if it's unprofessional; if they're competent when they're on duty, then I see this as an obnoxious non-issue.

BBC: 'Sharp drop' in Afghan opium crop - People keep whining about Afghan opium. Here's more proof that ISAF is making significant progress in reducing opium cultivation.

BBC: Libyan leader Gaddafi's 40-year lesson in longevity; In pictures: Celebrating Gaddafi - Crazy Uncle Moammar thinks very highly of himself, doesn't he?

BBC: Keeping Google out of libraries - Why is everyone so dead set against Google digitizing books? There are plenty of open source, open standard online resources (Archive.org, Project Gutenberg) that do exactly the same thing that Google is working on. There are certainly shortcomings to Google's plan that should be addressed - not unlike Amazon's ability to remotely delete books people purchased from their Kindles - but the concept itself is all about preserving, archiving, and compiling literature. Only a jackass would be against that, in and of itself.

Guardian: Wolf hunting resumes after decades - Good. The reintroduction of wolves to Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho is further proof that environmentalists have no clue what they're doing, have no clue what damage they're causing, and have no regard for they people who they impact.

Times: Climate engineering 'could cause disaster' - Gee, ya think?

UPI: U.A.E. F-16 pilots spar with U.S. top guns

SPX: Testing The Latest Armoured Vehicles For Afghanistan - It's about time the Brits started fielding better armor to protect their guys in Afghanistan.

AFP: Polish cavalry versus German tanks: die-hard WWII myth - In case you needed another reason to hate the Nazis, here it is.

Michael Totten: How to Get Your Name in My Book - If you have a grand to give as a gift to a talented writer, you can get your name in his book.

Wired Danger Room: No Early Release for Libyan Aircraft - Apparently, Libya bought eight C-130 aircraft from the United States in the late 1970's, but they were never delivered once Crazy Uncle Moammar started going off the reservation. They still exist, and were never co-opted by the United States because the Libyans paid for them already. According to some accounts, after thirty years of sitting around in Georgia, they're in essentially the same shape that you'd expect a car (or a human being, for that matter) to be after sitting around Georgia for thirty years: completely and totally worthless. If you're curious, here's a satellite view of the aircraft themselves: four to the southwest, and four to the northeast.

Politics Thursday:

Times: Democrats turn on Obama's healthcare plan

Glenn Beck: No One Took Barack Obama at His Word - I take some issue with Glenn Beck in general, and I think he's sort of gone off the deep end over the last year or so, but he's spot on with this one.

UPI: Walker's World: Obama's fans abroad - "It is not just that Obama's honeymoon, abroad as well as at home, is evidently drawing to a close, although that certainly detracts from his moral authority. It is that his asset in being seen as a transformative figure, a post-racial and post-imperial president, is being shredded by the week. The sigh of relief that the White House is no longer occupied by George W. Bush is over; it is being replaced by a sigh of regret that Obama is not what he appeared to be." Ohhhhh, snap.

Guardian: Obama unpacks his holiday reading - Does anyone honestly believe that President Obama is actually going to read all of the books that he allegedly took to Massachusetts with him? Don't count on it. Also, why is it that when President Bush took a working vacation to Texas every year, he was lambasted by the media, but it's perfectly fine for President Obama to do the same thing?

Guardian: Obama on brink of Middle East deal - Okay, getting Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu to sit down in the same room is not a "Middle East deal". Journalists have no integrity, I swear.

Guardian: If Obama can stand up to Scotland, why can't he stand up to the Republicans? - Ohhhhhh, snap.

UPI: Iraqi spat with Syria threatens Obama plan - "Iraq's deepening diplomatic rift with Syria over accusations that Damascus is harboring Baathists blamed for a wave of bombings in Baghdad threatens to torpedo U.S. President Barack Obama's strategic plan to woo Syria away from Iran." President Obama's plan to "woo Syria away from Iran" is doomed to failure, and it would be doomed to failure regardless of whether or not Syria were harboring terrorists who'd attacked Baghdad.

Times: Democrats accused of exploiting Kennedy's death - Um, yeah. Only the Kennedys (and maybe the Clintons) would have an elementary (middle?) school-aged relative stand up at a funeral and campaign for the health care bill. Let us not forget the Paul Wellstone funeral in 2002.

ABC "News": National Security Advisor Says President Obama Is Having Greater Success Taking Terrorists Out of Commission Than Bush Did - You know, I have a lot of respect for General Jones, but this claim is just absolute nonsense - and that's demonstrated by the fact that General Jones neglected to give any tangible evidence or hard numbers to back the claim up.

Guardian: Obama's Ramadan Dinner - President Obama really, really frustrates me. A lot. I strongly disapprove of many of his choices - nearly all of them, in fact - and this continual effort to reach out to people who have never cared and will never care about us or our culture is very, very discouraging.

I'd love to write more, but I have many, many things to do.