kpete
kpete's JournalVincent Price On Racism And Religious Prejudice
Juan Cole has an amusing translation of Obama Speak from the Huffington interview
Juan Cole has an amusing translation of Obama (or Spock) speak from the Huffington interview
http://www.juancole.com/2015/0.....nyahu.html
OBAMA: I dont think it will have a significant impact. . .
What is going to have an effect on whether we get a deal done is, number one, is Iran prepared to show, to prove to the world that it is not developing a nuclear weapon, and can we verify that in an intrusive, consistent way.
And frankly, they have not yet made the kind of concessions that are I think going to be needed for a final deal to get done. But they have moved, and so theres the possibility.
The other thing is going to be me being able to show not just the American people or the Israeli people but the world that, in fact, we have mechanisms in place that will prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon. And that the deal that is made not only is verifiable, but it also makes it much less likely that Iran is able to break out than if we have no deal at all. And thats an argument that we are going to have to make, if we have a deal.
English Translation: That little piss-ant isnt whats standing in the way of a deal. Its the Iran sides unwillingness to accept terms we can sell to the Europeans. If Iran comes through, Western European corporations are going to descend on Tehran like revelers descending on New Orleans at Mardi Gras, and there wont be a thing Nutty-yahoo can do about the collapse of international sanctions on Iran. Were doing the Israelis a favor here by getting Iran under regular inspections and back under an NPT regime, and if they cant see that they can go suck on a lemon.
http://www.juancole.com/2015/03/translating-comments-netanyahu.html
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2015/03/22/shocking-lack-of-respect/#respond
such waste.....
Instances of Use of United States Armed
Forces Abroad, 1798-2015
one of the saddest docs I have ever read:
http://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42738.pdf
Pipelineistan
Iran is ready to crash PipelineistanWay beyond an Iran nuclear deal, and way beyond the end of a nasty economic siege thats been in place for 35 years since the Islamic Revolution, the coming Western embrace means above all that Iran is now ready to crash the chessboard I call Pipelineistan.
By the mid-2000s, one of the top mantras of energy analysts in Iran and across Asia was what was known as the Asian Energy Security Grid. Translation: a pan-Asian integration via energy flows of the regions oil and gas. Pipelineistan connected these relevant dots in the Eurasian chessboard.
Washington was always set on stopping Pipelineistan in its tracks. Case in point: the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, a Dr. Zbig Grand Chessboard Brzezinski brainchild that was built for almost $6 billion as an explicit geopolitical weapon to bypass Irans energy exports.
Another example is frantic efforts by both the Bush junior and Obama administrations to derail the former Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline, also known as peace pipeline, which may eventually be built and named IP for Iran-Pakistan.
READ MORE HERE:
http://atimes.com/2015/03/iran-is-ready-to-crash-pipelineistan/
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175050/pepe_escobar_welcome_to_pipelineistan
Paris Will Dramatically Reduce Car Traffic To Fight Air Pollution Emergency
The mayor of Paris, City of Lights, announced Saturday that starting Monday morning, the number of cars permitted to drive in the city would be reduced by half in an effort to fight a pollution emergency.
Cars with plates ending in odd numbers, hybrid or electric vehicles, cars with more than three passengers, and public transportation now free in the city and surrounding towns would be the only ways to move around in Paris. Electric vehicle and bicycle sharing programs would also cost nothing while the ban stayed in place.
The pollution began to spike on Wednesday, and Paris saw its air quality become the worst in the world for a time according to Plume Labs, surpassing even China and Indias heavily-polluted cities. Plume Labs categorized Paris air pollution levels as near critical on Wednesday and again on Saturday, which means that the impacts will be rapidly felt and concerning to all.
A similar pollution emergency last March caused the French capital to make all public transportation free.
MORE:
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/22/3637317/paris-smog-car-ban/
‘It’s just not true’: Fox guest calls out Liz Cheney’s claim that Obama is ‘aligning’ with Iran
According to Cheney, Israelis were right not to trust the president because he doesnt have their interests in mind, has done everything he can to distance himself from them, and seems to be totally unaware at best of the complete and total mess his policies have created in their neighborhood.
However, Washington Post columnist Bob Woodward argued that the ties between Israel and the United States would not be significantly impacted because of a frosty relationship between Obama and Netanyahu.
Everyone has said, including President Obama in the phone conversation with Netanyahu that the military and intelligence and diplomatic alignment remains, Woodward explained. Thats whats important. This is not going to change the overall.
Sorry, Bob, I think it clearly does change the overall relationship, Cheney shot back. They cannot comprehend why the president of the United States is doing more to align America policy with Iran than with Israel.
It just is not true that the president has aligned himself with the Iranians on this, Woodward replied. Come on, he said were going to have intrusive inspections. Is that alignment?
MORE:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/its-just-not-true-fox-guest-calls-out-liz-cheneys-claim-that-obama-is-aligning-with-iran/
Cruz Birth Certificate
:largehttps://twitter.com/Bipartisanism
:large
Canada Apologizes For Weak Border Security, Allowing Ted Cruz To Cross
In a press release from Canadian Parliament:
We cannot express our condolences enough for the oversight at our border security checkpoint. As part of our due diligence to make up for it, we will be taking the steps required to acquire back Justin Bieber. Its really the least we can do.
It is our hope that this will mend fences between the two nations.
http://www.freewoodpost.com/2014/09/09/canada-apologizes-for-weak-border-security-allowing-ted-cruz-to-cross/
Boston Globe Urges Elizabeth Warren To Run For President: Democrats Need Warren's Voice in 2016
Globe Editorial
Her voice is needed
DEMOCRATS WOULD be making a big mistake if they let Hillary Clinton coast to the presidential nomination without real opposition, and, as a national leader, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren can make sure that doesnt happen. While Warren has repeatedly vowed that she wont run for president herself, she ought to reconsider. And if Warren sticks to her refusal, she should make it her responsibility to help recruit candidates to provide voters with a vigorous debate on her signature cause, reducing income inequality, over the next year.
The clock is ticking: Presidential candidates need to hire staff, raise money, and build a campaign operation. Although Clinton hasnt officially declared her candidacy, shes scooping up support from key party bigwigs and donors, who are working to impose a sense of inevitability about her nomination.
.............
"The Democratic Party finds itself with some serious divides that ought to be settled by the electorate. Some are clear-cut policy differences, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an enormous free-trade agreement with Pacific Rim nations that Warren opposes and Clinton backs," the editorial board wrote. "Even in areas where the candidates agree, there are bound to be different priorities: Its hard to imagine a President Clinton defending and enforcing the Dodd-Frank legislation with as much vigor as a President Warren, for instance."
Indeed, the big-picture debate on financial regulation and income inequality is whats most at peril if the Democratic primaries come and go without top-notch opponents for Clinton. While she has a great many strengths, Clinton seems far more likely to hew to a cautious approach on economics. Her financial backing from Wall Street, her vote in the Senate to reduce bankruptcy protections, and her past reluctance to raise capital-gains taxes are no secret. Nothing about her record suggests much gumption for financial reform or tackling the deeply entrenched economic problems that increasingly threaten the American dream.
more:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2015/03/21/democrats-need-elizabeth-warren-voice-presidential-race/TJkJtbu3UYaJYBmVHcrAcI/story.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/22/1372521/-BREAKING-Boston-Globe-Urges-Elizabeth-Warren-To-Run-For-President
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