Blog Ranger

Exhaustive review finds no link between Saddam and al Qaida

Link: McClatchy Washington Bureau | 03/10/2008 | Exhaustive review finds no link between Saddam and al Qaida.

Just to make sure that everyone is aware that everything shows there was no Iraq/Al Qaida link until we went into Iraq.

The Nukes of October: Richard Nixon's Secret Plan to Bring Peace to Vietnam

Link: The Nukes of October: Richard Nixon's Secret Plan to Bring Peace to Vietnam.

See, just like W. all great President's have had clearly thought out plans.

Wired Excerpt:
During his campaign for the presidency the year before, Richard Nixon had vowed to end that conflict. But more than 4,500 Americans had died there in the first six months of 1969, including 84 soldiers at the debacle of Hamburger Hill. Meanwhile, the peace negotiations in Paris, which many people hoped would end the conflict, had broken down. The Vietnamese had declared that they would just sit there, conceding nothing, "until the chairs rot." Frustrated, Nixon decided to try something new: threaten the Soviet Union with a massive nuclear strike and make its leaders think he was crazy enough to go through with it. His hope was that the Soviets would be so frightened of events spinning out of control that they would strong-arm Hanoi, telling the North Vietnamese to start making concessions at the negotiating table or risk losing Soviet military support.

The Gaza Bombshell: Politics & Power: vanityfair.com

Link: The Gaza Bombshell: Politics & Power: vanityfair.com.

After failing to anticipate Hamas’s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever.

No Rule of Law: Retroactive Telecom Immunity Passes

Link: U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote.

Here is the roll call vote which defeats the amendment which would have prohibited the telecom retroactive immunity.  It failed by almost a two to one margin.

Clearly I missed the "blank check" provision in my reading on checks and balances.

Did He Really Say This? Yes

Link: Romney suspends presidential campaign - CNN.com.

"In this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror. This is not an easy decision. I hate to lose," the former Massachusetts governor said.

The "logic" here is beyond pathetic but goes to show how the Republicans will shift and frame this campaign. As the last eight years have clearly shown the world is a much safer place (unless your in Iraq, Afghanistan, Britain, Spain, Darfur), and we are a more moral global hegemony, when Republicans are in charge.

Yup, if your thinking about voting for a democrat you might just as well join up for the global fatwa.  Hey...Mit...how about we start water-boarding independents until they see the light.

The New York Times > U.S. > Image > A String of Debates

Link: The New York Times > U.S. > Image > A String of Debates.
Great information visualization done on the basis of an analysis of the text of the various debates among most of the leading presidential candidates.

Take a gander and compare the focus words used by Democrats vs Republicans.

Rove: "Congress Pushed Bush to War in Iraq Prematurely" - Politics on The Huffington Post

Link: Paul Abrams: Rove: "Congress Pushed Bush to War in Iraq Prematurely" - Politics on The Huffington Post.

The immediate quote that comes to mind is:  "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

And the author of this great insight on propaganda..none other then Joseph Goebbels.

Musharraf tries to stifle outcry over emergency rule - Yahoo! News

Link: Musharraf tries to stifle outcry over emergency rule - Yahoo! News.

Could anything else go wrong with our strategy in dealing with Islamic fundamentalism?

Inciweb: Santiago Wildland Fire - 22,000 acres - 30%

Inciweb: Santiago Wildland Fire - 22,000 acres - 30%: "

Santiago Wildland Fire

• Incident Information
• Announcements
• News
• Photographs
• Maps

INCIDENT UPDATED 28 MIN. AGO

Summary

Location: Originated at Santiago Canyon and Silverado Canyon (Thomas Brothers page 832 A2). Fire will continue to move to the east/southeast into the foothill and canyon areas of Santiago Canyon Road, and the Cleveland National Forest, including the communities of Silverado, Modjeska, and Trabuco Canyons.

Mandatory evacuations: are in place for the canyon areas off Santiago Canyon Road between Silverado Canyon Road and Live Oak Canyon Road, including the Santiago Estates area and Jackson Ranch Road. Areas along Live Oak Canyon Road through the Trabuco Canyon area, including O'Neill Regional Park, to Trabuco Creek Road are also included in this mandatory evacuation.

Approximately 2,000 homes have been threatened and approximately 43,000 residents have been evacuated.

Evacuation centers: are El Modena High School, and El Toro High School.

Road Closures: Road closures are as follows:

• Santiago Canyon road south of the 241 Toll Road to Live Oak Canyon Road.
• All of Live Oak Canyon Road.
• All of Trabuco Canyon Road.
• Plano Trabuco road north of Robinson Ranch Road (northbound only)
• Check with Cal Trans for freeway and toll road closures. Check with your local police department for city street closures.

Mandatory evacuations have been issued for Silverado, Trabuco, and Modjeska.Evacuation centers are El Modena High School, and El Toro High School.

Basic Information

Incident Type	Wildland Fire
Cause	Under Investigation
Date of Origin	10/21/2007 at 1755 hrs.
Location	Santiago Canyon, Silverado Canyon, Irvine, CA.
Incident Commander	Whitney, Witsman, Otero,

Current Situation

Total Personnel	1,060
Size	22,000 acres
Percent Contained	30%
Fuels Involved	Annual Grasses and Brush. Fire moving in to heavier fuels of Cleveland NF.
Fire Behavior	Very active fuel and steep terrain driven fire runs influenced by drainage alignment.
Significant Events	Significant effort has been made today to effectively and safely protect assets in the vicinity of Williams Canyon Modjeska Canyon and Harding Track road. Fire is moving to the NE and is well established.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Maintain public and Fire Fighter safety. Point protection, and perimeter control. Burn out where appropriate. Evaluate strategic locations for long range indirect control opportunities as the fire progresses into the Cleveland National Forest. At this point, control opportunities in the immediate fire location (eastern flank) are extremely limited given terrain and fire activity.
Projected Movement	12 Hours: Eastward fire movement is currently between Williams Canyon and Hamilton Truck road. Fire movement could occur to the north and south respectively. The fire is expected to move into Riverside County in the next 12-24 hours. 24 Hours: Eastward fire movement is currently between Williams Canyon and Hamilton Truck road. Fire movement could occur to the north and south respectively. 24 Hours: Eastward fire movement is currently between Williams Canyon and Hamilton Truck road. Fire movement could occur to the north and south respectively.
Growth Potential	Extreme
Terrain Difficulty	High
Containment Target	With constrained critical resources and as the fire advances into National Forest lands, feasible control features become more long range as does the containment time frame.
Remarks	Not available

Weather

Current Wind Conditions	8-16 mph SW
Current Temperature	91 degrees
Current Humidity	13 %

"

(Via California Fire News - Structure, Wildland, EMS.)

Technorati Tags: fire 07, firestorm 07, san diego fire, san diego fire 07

Sometimes it just Catches Your Eye

Sometimes you just glance at an image and you there is a random synapse that fires reminding you of something else. 

I saw this photo of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, a few days ago in a CNN story.  He was in the process of warning the Israeli's of their imminent demise.

There was something that struck me about the particular head shot...at first I couldn't really place what that was.  Then I remembered a Budweiser commercial .

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Budweiser Select ads, they basically morph their select logo into a number of new situations?  See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QivBS3EnYuI

Wonder..how much they paid Ahmadinejad to be in the ad :)