Charging into 2015

That is an AUSTRIAN tank!  The Habsburgs are back!

The year 2014 is just about in the books.  Now 2015 awaits with whatever is out there.

Have fun, keep it safe, and run into the New Year at full speed!

All over in Afghanistan?

After thirteen years, US forces are leaving Afghanistan.

Well, most are at any rate.

ISAR wrapped up its flag, held a ceremony, declared success and left.  About 13,000 soldiers (mostly American) remain in the country to Operation Resolute Success but this looks a lot like the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

I guess we should be happy that it did not look like Saigon in 1975....

Declare victory and go home is usually an admission of failure.

Afghanistan is a place that simply does not work for anyone--Afghans included.  US and Soviet military forces proved impossible to defeat but if the people are not with you, then the opposition simply has to wait you out.  Afghanistan has nothing but time.

Will the Taliban sweep back into power?  If so, does the US go back in? If so, what is the objective?

The original plan back in 2001was to toss out the Taliban, set up a friendly government, and leave.  The only US forces there would be Special Forces running around at night hitting the Taliban, making sure it does not recollect.  It was kind of like stirring up pond water so mosquitoes don't lay eggs.

Somewhere along the line, "mission creep", as usual, showed up with 140,000 NATO troops (mostly American, as usual) determined to create Jeffersonian democracy in a place that was barely out of the seventh century.

Maybe it works.  It probably won't.  Hopefully, Afghanistan keeps its insanity to itself.

Good buy and good riddance to it.

If someone wants to order US forces back into that nuthouse, make sure they are on the leading edge.

I bet they will think twice.

US and Cuba establish relations

For the first time since JFK, the United States and Cuba will establish direct diplomatic relations.  If this is a good idea, time will tell but this moment was inevitable. The two countries are too close to continue ignoring each other.

Fidel Castro is no longer in office and the economic blockade we have had on the island nation basically had no effect.  Cuba does not export anything to the US and we have more than enough sugar.

This also will help improve relations with the rest of Latin America.  The Obama administration does not have a good track record there (or anywhere else it seems...) and this might help.  It might be too late for this administration but it might help the next.

George HW Bush once boasted that he wanted to be the first US president to set foot in a post-Communist Cuba.  He wasn't and I don't think Obama will have that honor.  \\

But somebody will and that day is getting closer.

Pearl Harbor

Yes,  it is the 73rd anniversary of Pearl Harbor but since in happened in 1941 on a Sunday morning, it is only appropriate to mention it on a Sunday morning in 2014. 

After the bloodiest war in history, America and Japan are now friends, so this means anything can be possible. 

Keep that in mind when someone tells you something cannot be done!

Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Not earthshaking but still pretty cool!

It won't change the world but it was still cool to hear that the University of Pittsburgh was putting cursive "script" back on the football helmet!


The block PITT looked OK and it was better than the "Dinocat" gracing Pitt's headgear from 1997-2004.  But nothing compares to the classic cursive Pitt.

Some clamored for a return to the old uniform but I like darker colors. 

The uniforms still have the block PITT on the neck part, which I like since it is like a link to history. I think they should put the "dinocat" on the sleeve but I am not complaining.

Go Pitt!

I might start watching college football more closely.

Now if only East Carolina stops wearing black and looking like the Baltimore Ravens......

Rebuke

The people are POed......

"Hope and Change" is a sad joke and the voters got mad. Even Democrats tacked their course rightward away from Obama.  It is pretty bad when your own party deserts you

Welcome to lame-duck status

All this talk about impeachment is premature though.It is not going to happen.

The Republicans have the next best thing: they have Obama reduced into irrelevance.

Back in 2010, the Republicans won a massive landslide election and proceeded to squander the advantage.  Will they do the same thing in 2014? Only time will tell.

About 65% of America thinks the country his headed in the wrong direction so patience is running thin.  The Republicans need to quickly determine if their vision has any appeal and if it has any value.

It is going to be an interesting two years

Prayers for Canada

In memorial of the tradgedy in Ottawa.

What a senseless act in a country that rarely sees it.

Iraq 3.0?

There may be simply no option here.  No matter what anyone says, Iraq just seems to get worse.  Maybe the Ottomans were right nearly a century ago by dividing the area into three provinces.

JCS chairman Martin Dempsey is proposing the US troops on the ground in Iraq assume a more direct role in trying to stop ISIS.  They were directing the airstrikes hitting ISIS but it seems that the US is trying to give the Iraqi army some backbone. 

If this is what we have to do, then the cause in Iraq may be lost.

But what are we supposed to do?  Let Iraq collapse? On the other hand, do we continue to fight a cause that is collapsing?

What the Pentagon is probably hoping for is to stop ISIS long enough for the Islamic tendency toward factionalism to kick in and the self-proclaimed caliphate will collapse on its own.

The frightening thing is that this might be the strategy that might work?

This is the Middle East and it has been this way since at least 3500 BC. No amount of airstrikes is going to change that.  It's not anything partisan, its just history.

Michelle and I are celebrating our anniversary today!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

I LOVE YOU, MICHELLE!!!

Giant slayers! Two years in a row!

Note the Demon Division look....

East Carolina 70, yes, 70!, University of North Carolina 41.....

For the second year in a row, East Carolina took out the vaunted UNC Tarheels!

It was a wild score and the defense was a little leaky, but if you win, all is well!

East Carolina came out in all black, looking a lot like the Demon Division from HeavenSteel and Aries Marching and did a number on UNC.  The Tarheels did lead briefly 13-7, but that did not last long. 

Never, never back down!  The problems are never as formidable as they seem at first glance!

Thus endth the sermon.

Now, GO FORTH AND CONQUER!

Back into battle...In Iraq

You cannot really blame Obama. What is he supposed to do? Let Iraq collapse?  Return 100,000 US troops to the Middle East?

It appears that the United States has opted for a middle route, using air strikes while prodding the Iraqi military to fight and stop running.

This has a South Vietnam sort of vibe to it with the Iraqi army playing the role of ARVN.

We can't do it for them. The Iraqis have to stand and fight.  It may be that Iraq was an artificial creation doomed to fail but the US has poured too much blood and treasure to just let it fall at one blow.  Cutting our losses might be a wise option but it just seems wrong to turn and run without trying to do something.

Hence, airstrikes.

I am not sure how stable the Islamic State is.  They seem to be trying to fight everyone--Iraq, Syria, the Kurds--and that is usually a recipe for disaster. Time will tell and soon someone else will be fighting over the same ground.

Again....

Welcome to the Middle East.

Opening Day 2014!

"I need to go to the bathroom---QUICK!"

The Steelers open the 2014 season the same way they ended the 2013 season--at home against the Browns. Hopefully they open this year like they ended last year--with a win!

The Steelers are going to use a lot of no huddle. This is to keep Cleveland off balance but to also figure out exactly how this offense is going to work. On paper,it looks great--good running backs and speed on the flanks with Dri Archer and company. On the other hand, there is not a lot of experience, so that will be a factor. 
\
Cleveland has a good defensive line and excellent coverage guys in the secondary so look for a lot of quick short passes to keep the linebackers back off the line.  If Pittsburgh's running game with Bell and Blount gets rolling, it will be a long day for the Browns.

The Steeler defense has been retooled and has speed on its side.  It is not "old and slow" but it is unblooded.  Look for a lot of blitzes and we might get burned a few times.  Keisel and Polamalu provide veteran leadership/mentors but they cannot be everywhere (though Troy comes closer than most...)

This will be a pretty good game.

Never underestimate anyone!

Even Cleveland.

Look for tight one, something like 24-21, Steelers.

Get the year off to a good start!

HAPPY LABOR DAY!

Happy Labor Day!

Have a safe and happy Labor Day!

Cosplay interrupted

If you want to play "soldier", wait for Halloween

The police are not soldiers.

As much as they want to be, they are not and never will be.  I hate to break it to you, Ferguson PD, but the Taliban or ISIS will eat you for lunch and laugh about it.  Just try to do your job.   And to be brutally honest about it, you are not that good at it.

In THIS country, there is a difference between the military and police.  If they cannot get that through their heads, it is time to start handing out pink slips.  Then maybe VISAS to Russia or China.

I am usually on the side of the cops but what I saw in Ferguson was an absolute disgrace.

As much as they don't want to admit it, the Ferguson PD lost.

Military organizations--of which the Ferguson PD is clearly not--are set up for high tempo operations lasting two to four weeks. The FPD was just worn out, plain and simple.Gov Nixon of Missouri send in the Missouri Highway Patrol to kick the FPD off the beat and guess what?

The situation calmed.

Police officers in police uniforms and with uncovered faces took over and the situation calmed.There is still some looting but the street does not look like Iraq.

I know what cops have to put up with. It is not an easy job.  But that is the job. 

Do the job or move on.

Part of the problem is a Department of Defense program called 1033.  It hands off surplus military equipment to the police to handle serious situations or possible terrorism. If the equipment is not used within a year, the police have to turn it back in, so maybe that is why we have seen some serious misconduct over the last couple of years.

After the Bundy confrontation in Nevada and the Ferguson mess, not to mention an incident in Texas where a SWAT team burst into a home without a warrant and the team leader caught a shotgun blast to the face,  it is obvious the citizenry is pushing back.

You had your fun with the security overkill.  Put your toys back.

Or we will take them from you.

It was not like this before and it does not have to be like this anymore. Everyone act like adults (at least 90% of the time) and you see things work out better.

Officer Friendly was better on his worst day than wanna-be Nazi stormtroopers are on their best.

And remember how it ended for the Nazis

Thus endth the sermon.

RIP Robin Williams

The mews of Robin Williams' suicide was shocking.

I could not believe it when I heard it.  It proves you never can fully understand what someone else is going through.

Robin Williams was funny, kind, and beloved.

Now, he gets to perform--as well as always--for a much better audience.

First World War--100 years ago

A century ago, yesterday, Europe plunge into what was called The Great War.Twenty years later, the world plunged into a bigger one. The possession of nuclear weapon might have prevented a third in the twentieth century and we will have to see about the twenty-first.

We are still dealing with the wreckage of 1914. The Middle East has always been chaos but the current boundaries were drawn after the First World War. Asia still has unresolved issues that date back (the Chinese point at Japanese militarism as Japan points back at China) and Europe is obsessing over Ukraine at the moment.

Even some the the names are the same. Russia and Serbia reemerged after the fall of Communism and even Germany is one nation--the most powerful in Europe.  France and Britain are still allies and the US is more deeply involved in spite of trying to "pivot" to Asia.

The First World War was probably inevitable.The Europeans had carved up Africa and Asia and Latin America was declared off limits by the US though the British got around that with some strategic investments in Argentina and Brazil.  There were too many Great Powers in too small a space. Sooner or later, they would come to blows.

And they did.

What everyone thought would be a short war was not and nearly 11 million people died.  It set up a worse war later and over 40 million would die in that one.  You would think someone, someplace, would learn from this.

They sort of did by establishing the United Nations but that seems to be more like a glorified Third World debating society.

The world will continue spinning on its merry way, dominated by psychotic descendants of apes who hopefully will not destroy the entire planet when the human experiment comes to its depressing conclusion.

Cold War 2.0?

The current discord between the United States and Russia seems to be getting worse.  It clearly is not the 1980s Cold War all over again but it might be a new one.  And it seems ridiculous.

The United States seems to be hysterically shouting about everything the Russians may or may not have done.  It seems to date back to the Syrian crisis back in 2013 when Vladimir Putin acted more like a peacemaker (!) than a Barrack Obama who seemed determined to hit Damascus with a missile strike that would have done more harm than good.

After the Syrian lunacy, there was a definite carping tone in the US media about Russian shortcoming in the Olympics.  Everyone should have been happy that the normally inefficient Russkies managed to pull the whole thing off.

Then, during the Winter Olympics, the Ukrainian crisis erupted and the Russians reacted by seizing Crimea.  At no time, has the Russian concern that the democratically elected government of Ukraine was overthrown by neo-Nazis with what appeared to be at least tacit Western approval.  That feeds into Russian paranoia but no one in NATO seems to want to address that.

Now there are never ending sanctions, which are beginning to look like acts of war and don't appear to be doing any good since Russia's economy has few US links.  The Europeans will be hurt worse and it seems that France and Britain have no problems continuing to see weapons to Russia. 

Russia has been tossed out of the G-8 and seems to be turning the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) into a counter G-5.

Then came the clumsy effort to pin the tragedy of a Malaysian airliner shot down over Ukraine on Russia, accusations of Russian artillery hitting Ukrainian soil (but the "pictures" show no wreckage of actual targets) and now a shrill scream about an alleged violation of the 1987 INF treaty.

Next they will be shouting about taking the 2018 World Cup from Russia.

Like the Boy Who Cried Wolf, no one is going to take the United States seriously.

All Washington is doing, while Israel and Gaza burn, Libya turns into Mad Max Country, and our own southern border descends into chaos, is making matters worse.  Better to have constructive dialogue than to push Russia and China together into a continental alliance that will span most of the world.

Please, somebody in Washington look at a map.

Germany wins the World Cup!

Mario Gotze will never have to buy a drink in Germany again!

It took 123 minutes but Mario Gotze punched in the winning goal and Germany had its fourth World Cup! 

Despite the low score, it was a tight, well played game and Argentina fought Germany all the way to the end.  It was a shame that someone had to lose but it was obvious that these were the two best teams in the tournament.  If anyone lost, it was the Brazilian national team. Losing 7-0 is bad. Losing like that on your homefield is even worse. Compounding the humiliation was the shut out that the Netherlands plopped on Brazil in the third place game.

Germany rules the soccer world for the next four years.

Ann Coulter will be relieved to learn that Americans will be shifting their attention back to a more familiar form of football.

I am too.

GO STEELERS!

Soccer--threat to America?

Sorry, I don't see Ann Coulter's point.

When you have an argument between extremes, you find the truth is in the middle.

I don't think soccer is a threat to America nor do I see the USA ever becoming a soccer nation.  Ann Coulter of the right sees interest in soccer as an erosion of America's cultural identity while some goofball on the left think America will be a socialist paradise.

Both sides are wrong.

Ann said something to the effect that "if your grandfather was born here, you hate soccer."

My parents were born overseas and I don't hate soccer.

It is also not my favorite sport but I don't hate it.  My sport is football (American and Canadian), followed by hockey. Lacrosse, invented by the Iriqoouis indians, is #3 and clearly the most American of sports.  Soccer comes in around fourth place.  Baseball might drop in at fifth.  Maybe if the Pirates were not so bad, I might take a greater interest.

It is a beautiful game but Americans like lots of scoring and you don't see that in soccer.  I don't like the clock counting upward but that sees to be a tradition that is not going anywhere soon.  Still, it is a fun game.

The attraction of the World Cup is that it is something the whole world watches. The US has had teams in competition for it since the very first World Cup back in 1930.  We actually came in third!

The United States has the Atlantic and Pacific on its shores and Canada and Mexico for neighbors.  We have never been seriously invaded.  The US is, by nature, rather isolationist in cultural matters.  That does not mean you ignore the world. I don't think you can.  But you don't have to hate it.

Embrace what you like and stay away from what you don't like.

Go Steelers!

Happy Canada Day!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

As the world turns...100 years later

A century ago this weekend, the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serb nationalist named Gavrilo Princip.  It kicked off the First World War, which would lead to the Second World War, then the Cold War, and here we are today.

Back in 1914, the Great Powers were jockeying for position in the Balkans, the powder keg of Europe, and essentially, the world.  Austria and Serbia got into it, Russia threatened Austria, Germany backed the Austrians, the French backed the Russians, and the British told France they had their back.  You can see how small nations got the ball rolling and how it pulled in larger ones.

Exactly a century later, the Middle East looks like the Balkans and this century's Great Powers are tied up in the Middle East and it looks like history has a good chance of repeating itself.  The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), declared itself The Caliphate (or just The Islamic State, if you prefer) and they see ready to pick up where the the Umayyad and Abbasid  Caliphates left off.

The US send 300 "advisors" to help the flagging Iraqi army and now another 200 are on the way.  Can you say "Vietnam", boys and girls?

Russia just sold Iraq some MiG fighters and they are sending "military experts" to help that same flagging Iraqi army.

I am not sure if China is mixed up in this yet, but they may use US preoccupation there to stir up mischief somewhere else.

I don't know why CNN keeps calling it the Iraqi-Syrian border.  That line in the desert that looked good to some guy in London back in the 1920s, is not there anymore.  Wishful thinking?  Hoping it all goes away? 

No, those ISIS guys are very real indeed.

Just as real as those Serbs shooting the Archduke in Sarajevo  a hundred years ago.

The Islamic State is not concerned about 1914.  They are looking further back, as you can see by their map.  It looks like it came straight out of 750 AD.  If you don't think they can do some serious damage, just consider what ISIS was a couple of months ago.

Austria did not think much of the Serbian Army either and not one, but two invasions failed before the third finally succeeded with a lot of German help.  By that time, it was 1915 and World War I was well under way.

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

And there is a lot of mass illiteracy in the Middle East...

Iraq 3.0?

US soldiers going back in Iraq?

President Obama announced that the United States was considering sending 300 US "advisers" to help the Iraqi government deal with an ISIS surging towards Baghdad.

Isn't this how Vietnam started?

Maybe it is time to consider that maybe Iraq is an artificial construction and is not fated to survive.  There is a massive Shia-Sunni split and let us not forget the Kurds to the north.  The whole thing might have looked good to diplomats after the First World War, it does not work very well in reality.

The simple truth of the matter is that it does not appear anything will work.

Back in 1991, the US had Saddam Hussein on the ropes and let him off the hook. The rationale was that an occupation and construction of a new government would entail a lengthy occupation and guerrilla warfare.

For some reason in 2003, that suddenly seemed OK as the US plunged in looking for weapons of mass destruction that weren't there and engaged in a long occupation, fighting guerrillas and constructing a new government.

That government is as dictatorial as Hussein ever was.

And this came after the US left in 2011 after eight years of fighting and 4,500 American lives.

Now, the whole thing is about to come crashing down, bearing an eerier resemblance to South Vietnam,circa 1975.  I wonder if the helicopters are ready to take off from the rooftops again.

The administration is trying to calm everyone by telling anyone who will listen that they are aware of the danger of mission creep (Somalia, 1993). As you can see from history, these things take a life of their own.  Plus, air strikes will hurt ISIS, but not stop it.

It is unlikely that ISIS will take Baghdad. It is a huge city and there are large Shia populations immediately south.  What seems to be happening is a de facto partition with a Sunni north (minus the Kurds) and a Shia south.  Combined with ISIS allies (other units?) in Syria, there might be a new country in the beginning stages.  Not a very nice one, but at least it is isolated.  Given Middle Eastern history, it will collapse on its own.

Like Iraq.

Rebels in Syria have US weapons.  Those weapons are making their way across the desert to ISIS in Iraq.  If US forces are in Iraq (again!), those weapons, supplied by the US government, will be used against US soldiers.

This situation is ridiculous and tragic.  If it were not caked over in human blood, it would be a comedy.

Forget Iraq.  We have done enough.

June 6, 1944

The liberation of Europe began on this day seventy years ago.

May we have the same strength and fortitude to face future challenges.

Two for one...

Eric Shinseki, former US Army Chief of Staff, and now former VA head, resigned in the wake of a growing scandal that has revealed the many problem of the Veterans Administration.  Aside from the horrible probability that at least 40 people have died waiting for treatment, there are reports that waiting lists have been fabricated to try and cover up more deaths. 

Part of Eric Shinseki's problem is that he spent his life in the military, where he gave orders and they were followed. In the anarchy that is civilian life, you are not even sure if the orders you issue are even heard.  That is why you follow up on things. "Fire and forget" never works.

Shinseki is lucky he is not going to jail.

Jay Carney clearly could not stomach spinning lies for the constant stream of scandals coming out of the Obama Administration.  He certainly gave his best effort, trying to restrict access and answering "I don't know" over and over.  Eventually, reporters started shouting over him and he figured it was time to go.

It is time for this entire administration to go.

Unfortunately, I don't know what will follow.

At least we have a couple of years to figure it out.

Eurasian Century?

Same picture because it is the same subject

Russia and China are becoming close pals and a lot of people are noticing.  The two countries just signed a $400 billion dollar natural gas deal (that looked doomed for a while), and they have military excersices planned.  The Russians do not seem too worried about being thrown out of the G8 for they seem more intersted in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).  They are also sending new aid to Iran for the reactor that is being constructed much to Israel and the US angst.

Russia is performing her own "pivot"--going East



The United States is $17 trillion in the hole, has cut its military back, and is pivoting toward Asia to confront a huge China while a not quite as huge but still pretty big Russia is resurgent in Europe. 

There is an old Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times." 

It is getting a little too intersting

This article sums it up well:

 http://rt.com/op-edge/160160-pipelineistan-brics-economy-deals/

Just follow the pipelines......

May 12!

Always a big day on the Haas calender!

It has been a busy month but a pretty good one!

This whole Ukraine thing is taking a turn for the surreal.  I don't think World War III is going to break out but this could still have some repercussions in the long run.

May 12 is the day I defeated The Citadel, graduating with two degrees despite threats of court-martial and lots of underhanded behavior on their part that violated their Honor Code both in letter and spirit. 

Ask for forgiveness and you will have it.

On the other hand, I don't see them doing that although they keep begging me for money.

I am not holding a grudge.

After all, I won :-)

Happy Easter!

HAPPY EASTER!

Russian-Chinese concert?

Between Russia's annexation of the Crimea and China's increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea and the Pacific in general, you begin to wonder if Moscow and Beijing are coordinating their actions.   Toss in Iran and you have another Axis powers.  If India remains faithful to their BRIC partners, you will have nearly a third of the world's population and a good chunk of its oil reserves in a bloc that encompasses most of Asia.

US SecDef Chuck Hagel was treated to a tour of China's first aircraft carrier and then bluntly told that "China cannot be contained."  The pivot to Asia is being seen by China as a threat but with Russia probing westward, that pivot might be a little slower and the downsizing US armed forces stretched out all over the world.

Sometimes,the world is a little too interesting....

Happy Greek Independence Day!

Gryos for everyone!

Blackout!

The lights went out on Saturday night for some reason.  No storm, no bad weather...just an exploding transformer!

The power was out for about an hour and it really sucked...LOL

Some philosopher, I think it was Aristotle, once said you should go one winter day without a coat so you appreciate it.  I went without an hour with electricity and you suddenly realize, especially at night, how much you need it.  Fortunately it was only for an hour but Michelle and I got to see a lot of stars that you usually don't see because of the city street lights.

The cats did not seem to mind.....

I am glad the Internet is back!

Russian takeover of Crimea

The Russians moved into Crimea and the whole world is looking at a Cold War rerun.

The whole thing started with the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Ukraine.  Granted it was unpopular and corrupt (sound familiar?), but it was democratically elected.  It was overthrown by a mob with a lot of border-line Nazi fanatics in it.  The Russians reacted by rolling into the Crimea where their Black Sea fleet is headquartered.  There is also a lot of bad blood between Ukrainians and Russian-speakers in the eastern Ukraine and Crimea.  The Russians saw a threat and reacted, like any other country would do when its interests are threatened.

Like the United States for instance.

In 1962, the Soviet Union placed nuclear weapons in Cuba, ninety miles from Miami.  The US imposed a blockade, called a quarantine, and threatened an invasion unless the Russians pulled the missiles out.  Now in 2014, the Russians see a threat on their doorstep.  And they reacted.

This is not to excuse anything but as Lord Palmerston once said, "Nations do not have friends, they have interests."

There is also the practical angle.

Do not screw around with a nuclear armed superpower on its front doorstep.  Remember 1962?

The Western press has also pointed out the 1994 agreement where the US, Russia, and Britain pledged to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity.  What they seem to forget is the US promise to the Soviet Union that when Germany war reunited in 1990, NATO would not expand past Germany.  The membership of Poland, Slovakia, and Czechia in 1999 violated that and the inclusion of the Baltic States in 2004 breached the old Soviet frontier, something Russia regards as her sphere of influence.  And we know what happened in 2008 in the CaucasusMountains with Georgia.  Now that I think about it, the situation reminds me of the justified US response to threats against Americans in Panama back in 1989.

Conclusion #1: Spheres of influence lead to stability

Conclusion #2: Look at issues from the other side.

With that in mind, I present the following article:
 http://news.yahoo.com/russia-west-were-good-guys-crimea-195700381.html?vp=1

FCC decides not to become KGB...

Ajit Pai should get a medal.

Federal Communications Commissioner member Ajit Pai came out against the President who appointed him to decry a White House plan to place "researchers" in newsrooms throughout America.  The plan had an Orwellian feel to it and looked a lot like the IRS scandal.  I have a link here to the story for your consideration.  The whole "Hope and Change" stuff is starting to smell worse than a backed up sewer.  Everyone is starting to tune out the idiots in the White House.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/21/sekulow-a-tone-deaf-fcc-hears-a-retort-loud-and-cl/

NC thaws out

The Snow Demons returned for the second time in three weeks and wreaked a lot of havoc!  Civilization as we know it was shut down for four days but it was still a lot of fun.  It was pretty good snow, good enough to make snowballs.  It was not the usual icy stuff but it was a little tricky driving at night.

For the most part, NCDOT did a pretty good job but it is time to get back into the usual swing of things.

Even Michelle was getting tired of it and she said, "The snow was fun while it lasted!"

Time to go back to work :-P

Foot In Mouth Award...

Victoria Nuland, Assistant SecState for European and Eurasian Affairs, was caught in a phone call saying "F*c& the EU".  She is all ready in hot water over Benghazi so our idiot government promoted her, sent her to the Ukraine to stick her nose in that mess and she embarrasses the country.

If there is one thing you learn from the NSA scandal, it is to assume that when your are overseas, and especially when the RUSSIANS are involved, your comms will be bugged.

Our foreign policy is a complete joke.

The world loves Americans but hates the US government.


Now, you know why.

Snow in NC!

Winter hit North Carolina with a vengeance and I had to remember how I handled even worse conditions in Pittsburgh and Canada.  We figured it out and went on our merry way.  Of course, my running schedule was shot to the moon and back!

There were some foul ups, bleeps, and blunders but nothing as bad as Atlanta and New York.

New York?

Yes, New York.

For some reason, the city of New York can never seen to get the streets cleaned after a blizzard.  If it isn't some city worker smashing into cars with a grader or just not getting to the entire Upper East Side,it is something else.  Atlanta can fall back on the tired excuse of "we are not used to this weather" but New York has a lot more experience.  Atlanta had horrible organization but then so did New York.

This is what happens when you put bureaucrats in charge of things....

Maybe some bureaucrats.  North Carolina Deptartment of Transportation had a bunch of trucks and salt ready to roll and most of the roads were clear.  Some of the outlying ones were a little treacherous but NCDOT was working around the clock.

So why did Atlanta and New York drop the ball?

"Remote, out of touch bureaucrats" seems like a pretty good answer.  Instead of calling in sick, could they have not shoveled some snow for a half hour or so.  Many hands make light work.  Every little bit counts and all that.  That would entail actually getting up to do something important and meaningful than shuffling papers and writing regualtions that they themsevlves don't understand.

Hopefully, they don't screw up the Super Bowl.

Definition of Irony

I once saw a movie called "Con Air".  There is a scene where Steve Buschemi says. "Irony-a bunch of idiots on a plane singing a song from a band who died in a plane crash."

That is the first thing I thought about when I read this article about the federal Privacy and Civil Rights Oversight Board determining that the NSA's phone snooping program was illegal.

Here is the story for your consideration

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/23/politics/nsa-telephone-records-privacy/

Ottoman Empire=Byzantium 2.0?

I have finished a class on the Ottoman Empire and it bears a lot of resemblance to the Byzantine Empire it conquered in 1453.  How do I come to this conclusion?  Take a look....

Although the West often had problems seeing the Roman-Byzantine connection, the Turks and Arabs had no problem referring to the Emperors in Constantinople as Romans.  Sometimes, "foolish Romans" but Romans nonetheless.

The Ottoman Sultan referred to himself as the heir of the Caesars and even the Khans (!).  The second is a big of a stretch but the Byzantine/Roman reference in clear.  The Grand Vizier, the Sultan's right hand man, seems awful similar to the Byzantine megas domesticas.  The Byzantine horse archer seems to represent the Ottoman version too thought that might be a chicken and egg argument.

The Ottoman Turks were a cultural mishmash from the beginning.  Their religion, Islam, was borrowed from the Arabs.  A lot of their organization, military, bureaucratic, and administrative, is a copy from the Byzantines.  Even their capital was the old Byzantine one.

The Turks were originally pastoral nomadic barbarians.  Lord Kinross, in The Ottoman Centuries, describes such cultures, such as the Turks.Manchus. or Mongols, as "ephemeral".  Looking at the Mongols, you can see their absorption into China as evidence.  The Mongols conquer China in 1216 and two generations later, the capital is in Bejing and everyone is speaking Chinese.  The same applies to the Manchus (or Ming, if you prefer) who conquered China in 1644 and were technically in power until 1912.  Only by 1912, the country is referred to as "China" because Manchuria is 95% Chinese and Manchu is essentially an extinct language. 

If a couple of things had gone differently, ie no Fourth Crusade, it is possible that the Turks could have been incorporated into the Byzantine Empire and who knows.  The Byzantine Empire, which is really the Roman Empire, might still be around today.

I wonder whose side they would have taken in both World Wars?

The other EU

When you hear about the EU, it is usually the European Union.  Now, there is a new EU on the horizon, the Eurasian Union.  This new EU was first proposed in 1994 and it includes most of the former Soviet Union. Vladimir Putin is driving this forward, all ready obtaining commitments from Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and maybe Ukraine,

The current tug of war between the two EUs over Ukraine has brought this to light.

Many in the US State Department call the Eurasian Union a revived Soviet Union.  They may be right but the European Union has its own Soviet tendencies and Moscow may see the European Union attempt to take over Kiev as an "invasion". 

You have to remember that NATO, after the unification of Germany in 1990, promised not to expand eastward yet now Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia are in the alliance.  In 2004, NATO moved to Russia's border with the admission of the Baltic States.  The tug of war in Central Asia is not allying Russian paranoia and the crude attempt to unilaterally pull Georgia into NATO against direct and announced Russian displeasure resulted in a brief war in 2008.

Before people like Hillary Clinton start shouting about a revived Soviet Union, they need to look at their own conduct and see the reaction it leads to.  I am not saying Putin is a victim or innocent.  The conclusion that I am reaching is that neither EU is really the good guy and they resemble each other more than anyone wants to admit.