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MARCH 23,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:52 P.M. ET:

JIMMY'S COMPLAINT – From The Hill:  "Former President Jimmy Carter (D) says he thinks the National Security Agency might be monitoring his emails.  In an interview on NBC’s 'Meet the Press,' Carter said he sends messages to foreign leaders via snail mail instead."  Why would anyone be interested?

NOT SURPRISING – From Breitbart:  "President Barack Obama has spent more time traveling abroad than other U.S. president in history at this point in their presidencies, according to a forthcoming study from the National Taxpayer Union Foundation (NTUF) provided exclusively to Breitbart News ahead of its public release.  'The most internationally well-traveled President, through five years, is also flying the most expensive-to-operate Air Force One to date,' NTUF wrote.  After five years in the White House, Obama has taken 31 trips for a total of 119 days abroad. At that point in George W. Bush’s presidency, Bush had taken 28 trips for 116 days, while Bill Clinton had taken 27 trips for 113 days. Ronald Reagan, after five years, had taken 14 trips for 73 days while Richard Nixon had taken 12 trips for 60 days after five years in the White House and Lyndon Johnson took 10 trips for 34 days at the half-decade mark. Dwight Eisenhower took 8 trips for 31 days after five years in the White House."  But look what we've gained from Obama's trips!  Wait, forget that comment.

ANOTHER FOREIGN POLICY TRIUMPH – From Ahram:  "Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said on Sunday that Egypt was facing an arms supply problem and was considering importing weapons from Russia.
'There is a problem because there has been a stifling of arms imports from the United States and the European Union' after the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi last summer, Ibrahim told a group of journalists at a meeting."  Russia is emerging once more as a major enemy of the United States.  We worked for years to make Egypt an ally, and succeeded.  Now, under the Obama doctrine of punishing our friends and rewarding our enemies, we're practically delivering Egypt to the Russians in order to punish the Egyptian regime for not showing proper respect for Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood government.  What a triumph.

March 23,  2014     Permalink

ANYTHING? – AT 11:38 A.M. ET:  We continue to get "reports" on the search for the Malaysian airliner.  CNN and Fox won't give up their intensive coverage, even though there's nothing much to report.   From CNN: 

(CNN) -- A growing number of airplanes scoured the southern Indian Ocean on Sunday as the 16-day search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 continued, but the end result was frustratingly the same -- nothing.

Buoyed by a third set of satellite data that indicated possible debris from the plane in the water, the international team led by Australia fought bad weather early in the day as it looked for signs of the missing Boeing 777 and the 239 people who were aboard.

Eight aircraft and one ship conducted Sunday's search and there were no sightings of significance, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a written statement.

Four more jets -- two from China and two from Japan -- are set to join the reconnaissance team on Monday, the organization said.

Earlier, French authorities passed on satellite data showing "potential objects in the vicinity of the southern corridor" of the search area for the plane, Malaysia's acting transportation minister said.

"Malaysia immediately relayed these images to the Australian rescue coordination center," Hishammuddin Hussein said.

Satellite images previously issued by Australian and Chinese authorities have also pointed to possible large floating objects, stoking hopes searchers may find debris from the missing plane.

COMMENT:  It was pointed out last night that the section of the Indian Ocean being searched is, even in normal times, a vast junkyard.  There's always debris there.  Unless the searchers can put eyeballs on some of the objects "sighted" by satellite we'll never know if these were chunks of the missing airliner, or stuff that has fallen off ships or dumped as refuse.

It won't be many days before the battery power runs out on the pingers that sound when a plane goes down.  The search authorities hope they can home in on these pingers before the power goes out.  So far, no luck.

March 23, 2014       Permalink

EVEN LIBERALS ARE UNEASY – AT 10:58 A.M. ET:  I've noticed in recent weeks that even a number of liberals in Congress are starting to separate themselves from Obama's obviously failing foreign policy.  Maybe they see what's coming.  From Fox:   

Senate Democrats are joining House lawmakers in pressing President Obama again on nuclear negotiations with Iran, insisting the president hold Tehran to iron-clad international agreements and keep them apprised of developments including the need for new sanctions.

The letter was signed Friday by 23 Democratic senators and is nearly identical to the one recently sent by 216 House Republicans and 179 House Democrats.

“As negotiations progress, we expect your administration will continue to keep Congress regularly apprised of the details,” the Senate letter reads. “And because any long-term sanctions relief will require congressional action, we urge you to consult closely with us … so that we can act swiftly to consider additional sanctions.”

While lawmakers from both chambers also said they have no desire for military conflict, they argued the United States “must keep all options on the table to prevent this dangerous regime from acquiring nuclear weapons.”

The United States and other world leaders reached an interim deal in November with Iran that calls for the rouge country to agree to inspections as it halts or scales back parts of its nuclear program to get below bomb-making capacity, in exchange for the easing of some international sanctions.

The White House has since then succeeded in stopping Congress from voting to imposing more sanctions, asking instead for additional time for a diplomatic solution to prevail.

"I am convinced that we should only relieve pressure on Iran in return for verifiable concessions that will fundamentally dismantle Iran's nuclear program," committee Chairman Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said during a Senate hearing last month.

However, the July 20 deadline for the temporary deal is fast approaching. And hopes for a final agreement appear to be dwindling now that Russia -- an ally of Iran and a potential go-between in the nuclear talks -- has angered world powers by annexing the Crimea region of Ukraine.

COMMENT:  If this were a parliamentary system, Obama might well lose a vote of confidence.  It's clear that many members of his own party have lost confidence in him.

March 23, 2014       Permalink

SHOCKING – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:  This story has been touched on over the years, but has started to rumble around the internet in a  major way in the last few days.  From the New York Post:

A multicity support network inside America funded by Saudi Arabian officials to aid the 9/11 hijackers was never “taken down” after the attacks, and until a secret report detailing the network is made public, America will remain “vulnerable” to another attack, the former US senator who headed the joint congressional inquiry into 9/11 warns.

More than a decade ago, President George W. Bush mysteriously classified a 28-page section of the “Joint Inquiry Into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001.” The documents remain secret under President Obama despite his promise to 9/11 families to release them.

Former Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla), who co-chaired the joint inquiry, says releasing the 28-page chapter — which was “censored from word one to the last word” over the objection of he and Republican co-chair Sen. Richard Shelby — would ¬expose shocking details on the terrorism plot that killed nearly 3,000 people. Allegedly, they identify Saudi officials, agents and other contact men for the hijackers.

Saudi support cells were set up in a number of US cities, coast to coast — including Paterson, NJ, Delray Beach, Fla., Sarasota, Fla., Falls Church, Va., Alexandria, Va., Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix — but were never properly investigated, Graham says.

As a result, he fears the terror support network was never abandoned and remains intact today, ready to be used for an encore attack.

“There’s no evidence the network prior to 9/11 has been taken down,” Graham said. “And in terms of our national security, we would be foolish to assume it has been taken down and end up more vulnerable.

“That’s another reason why releasing these 28 pages is so important: If this was in existence in 2000 and 2001, what is it in 2014?”

Al Qaeda last week called on terrorists secreted inside America to carry out car-bomb attacks in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, Alexandria, Va., and other cities.

COMMENT:  The Saudi lobby in America is enormously powerful, and spreads money around Washington and America like a gardener spreads seed.  I recall that, in one week some years back, a Saudi prince gave more money in one week to buy influence in American universities than the entire annual budget of the Israel lobby.  Not much was said...or reported.

The Bush family was, and is, close to Saudi Arabia through the Bush oil interests.  So is former Secretary of State James Baker.   Key people in both parties are responsible for the cover-up of Saudi activity in the U.S.  So is our mainstream press.

Declassify those pages, Mr. President.  The American people have a right to know.  But it will never happen.  Money talks.

March 23,  2014     Permalink

MARCH 22,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:24 P.M. ET: 

HEY, IT'S THE RAGE – Even Venice is getting into the "let's split up countries" act.  From London's Daily Mail:  "Venetians have voted overwhelmingly for their own sovereign state in a ‘referendum’ on independence from Italy.   Inspired by Scotland’s separatist ambitions, 89 per cent of the residents of the lagoon city and its surrounding area, opted to break away from Italy in an unofficial ballot.  The proposed ‘Repubblica Veneta’ would include the five million inhabitants of the Veneto region and could later expand to include parts of Lombardy, Trentino and Friuli-Venezia Giulia."  And I say, if Beverly Hills and Massachusetts want to secede, more power to 'em!

WHILE WE SLEEP – From AFP:  "(AFP) - About 200 pro-Russian protesters on Saturday stormed a Ukrainian air force base in western Crimea, forcing the soldiers to leave as the Ukrainian flag was taken down.  The unarmed crowd yelling "Russia! Russia!" broke through to the base in the town of Novofedorivka and started smashing windows.  Ukrainian servicemen barricaded themselves inside buildings and threw smoke bombs at the intruders from the roof. Some of the people threw the smoke bombs back at the soldiers.  Russian officers stood outside watching as the protesters took down the Ukrainian flag and put up the white and blue flag of the Russian navy.  'It's my unit and I have to protect it!' a Ukrainian soldier yelled to the Russian officers from the roof.  A Russian military officer then went inside the building to negotiate with the Ukrainians as the crowd of protesters were told to leave. Several dozen soldiers were later seen walking out of the base, leaving it empty, with Russian soldiers standing outside."  Within a few weeks we seem to have gone back decades in Europe.

A REAL CLUE? – Amidst all the non-stop breathless coverage of the Malaysian airline mystery, there was one intriguing development today that may actually have some meaning.  Several informed commentators noted that the pilot's (or co-pilot's) last words from the plane – "All right, good night" – were very odd, and did not conform to airline protocol.  Normally, we're told, the cockpit officer would have acknowledged the air controller's last instruction, then issued a self-identifier ("United 682," as an example) and only then would he say "good night."  I'd like to know more about that.  The implication is that something was going on aboard the plane, distracting the pilot or co-pilot from normal protocol.

March 22, 2014       Permalink 

QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 11:21 A.M. ET:  From former Republican Congressman Ernest Istook of Oklahoma.  From the Washington Times: 

It’s morning in Moscow, a vibrant new dawn of growth, pride and prestige—that was the Russian President’s message Tuesday as he announced the annexation of Crimea.

But is it midnight in America?

President Barack Obama wanders in the dark over what to do, trapped by his own philosophy and the results of his own policies. His most emphatic act has been to restrict visas on 11 people out of 145-million Russians. That wasn’t a sanction; it was full employment for comedy writers.

The contrast is vivid.

“Joy in the streets of Moscow,” declared ABC News‘ Martha Radditz. “Thousands strong bellowing the Russian anthem, welcoming Crimea back to fatherland Russia. … their leader, Vladimir Putin, basking in his moment … blasting the United States.” He accuses us of hypocrisy for intervening in other nations such as Iraq and for supporting a secession vote in Bosnia while opposing it in Crimea.

Putin’s soaring popularity in Russia is far more pronounced than his disrepute in Washington. He’s not loved everywhere, but universally he commands respect. In global politics, that’s enough.

By contrast, under Obama, America is slipping in respect, in military power and in economic power.

COMMENT:  Very well said.  And it raises, once again, the questions:  Who is Barack Obama?  What does he really stand for?  What are his motives?

But we must also ask questions of some Republicans, especially Rand Paul, whose brand of 1930s isolationism is just what the Russians dream of.  That is going to be a very bitter discussion within the Republican Party.

March 22, 2014       Permalink

GLAD THEY'VE NOTICED – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  It is reported that the White House is starting to understand that Russia is a hostile power, and isn't just the Bolshoi.  And more Russian action is expected.  From Jake Tapper at CNN: 

(CNN) - Based on intelligence, Obama administration officials are very concerned the Russians are not being truthful when they say their forces near Ukraine's eastern and southern borders are merely there for training exercises, sources tell CNN.

Officials assess that Russia – as early as coming days – could use any number of pretexts to justify further military incursions into Ukraine.

Moscow could express a need to protect Russian-speaking Ukrainians, or to protect transportation lines from Russia to Crimea, or the energy supply to Crimea from the rest of Ukraine.

Russian troops could accomplish this quickly, officials say, and theoretically before any other nation could even raise objections.

Officials publicly attribute their skepticism to previous Russian assurances that proved false, and privately say intelligence from the field has bolstered this view of Russia’s plans.

Asked for a candid assessment of White House worries about a possible incursion, a senior administration official told CNN, “We’re very concerned, but it’s by no means certain.”

Separately, National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Friday the Russians have said they intend to conduct military exercises.

“Obviously given their past practice, and the gap between what they have said and what they have done, we are watching it with skepticism," she said.

COMMENT:  The words from the White House are right, but the deeds are weak.  Obama, who's apparently planning another vacation, has no stomach for this.  He's sending the very signals to Putin that will encourage further aggression by Moscow.

And the Russians want to "protect" Russian-speaking Ukrainians?  Wasn't there some German guy in the 1930s who talked that way?  

Nothing to see, folks.  Nothing to see.

March 22, 2014       Permalink

THE OLD CHINESE SATELLITE GAME – AT 10:03 A.M. ET:  The press continues to milk the missing airliner story.  Each night we are treated to still more panels who have no more information than viewers do.  I guess the ratings are holding.

The latest story is that a Chinese satellite has picked up a chunk of...something.  From Fox: 

A Chinese satellite has spotted a large object along a broad stretch of ocean where officials hope to find a Malaysia Airlines plane that has been missing for more than two weeks, Malaysia's defense minister said Saturday.

Please note that earlier in this tragic story the Chinese also reported satellite images of wreckage that turned out to be false.  I'd be careful.

Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters that he had been informed that a Chinese satellite had spotted an object 74 feet by 43 feet.

Awfully big for a piece of aircraft wreckage, unless the plane hit the water while gliding in from a low altitude. 

He said, "The news that I just received is that the Chinese ambassador received a satellite image of a floating object in the southern corridor and they will be sending ships to verify."

He said he had no other information and that China would release further details. It was not immediately clear whether the object was seen near where another satellite found two objects earlier this week.

Meanwhile, NASA said Friday it is stepping up its support for a multinational search in the remote southern Indian Ocean for possible debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

The agency joined the search last week, sending data to the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observations and Science Hazard Data Distribution System, which facilitates the sharing of information when the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters is activated.

COMMENT:  We wait and see.  There is an enormous search going on right now, but I wonder if we'll ever actually find the plane. 

March 22,  2014     Permalink