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You Can't Win if You Don't Even Try
The New York Times reports on the company that the US military has used to supply the Afghan army. It is run by a 22-year-old licensed masseur and has provided 40-year-old munitions:
With the award last January of a federal contract worth as much as nearly $300 million, the company, AEY Inc., which operates out of an unmarked office in Miami Beach, became the main supplier of munitions to Afghanistan’s army and police forces.
Since then, the company has provided ammunition that is more than 40 years old and in decomposing packaging, according to an examination of the munitions by The New York Times and interviews with American and Afghan officials. Much of the ammunition comes from the aging stockpiles of the old Communist bloc, including stockpiles that the State Department and NATO have determined to be unreliable and obsolete, and have spent millions of dollars to have destroyed.
Danny
Communications Director
Show: Expand All Reply
I wrote up a new post, but now I can't find it. lol
John wrote "I haven't seen him go after Bearse or Dorgan for their long and tedious pro-Obama screeds"
Or the tendentious articles that Jennie and seashell linked to showing the resentment of American Jews towards the Obama campaign's obvious bias against Israel.
Only in Bush America can a masseuse get a lucrative contract to sell out of date munitions to someone and the government not know about it.
Danny, I want to chime in on congratulating you for your write up and the great job you're doing with the blog. I appreciate your thoughtful thread topics and it was very noticable when you were 'gone' for a bit. I realize you have a lot on your plate and am impressed with the time you spend here. welcome back and thank you!
Monica Smith
Thu, 03/27/08
my email says its
http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/24518
So, just prior to this one.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Monica Smith,
Your post is now up in the Browse All section of the blog. The blog clock is off, so, I just moved up the time. Thanks.
Danny
Communications Director
dog, re: Only in Bush America can a masseuse get a lucrative contract to sell out of date munitions to someone and the government not know about it.
or know about it and not care...
Freezing rain in the islands - and it's nearly April. Snow in parts of Seattle too! Waiting for Spring...
oh, i slipped from one to thirteen. it would be nice to at least have an explanation for why the sequencing doesn't hold
Tom wrote:
Or the tendentious articles that Jennie and seashell linked to showing the resentment of American Jews towards the Obama campaign's obvious bias against Israel.
Wow! Talk about paranoia. Obama is practically grovelling (along with most US politicians) to Israel and AIPAC.
None of my Jewish friends supports the current Israeli Government or it's blatant settlement policies for Palestinian land--a throwback to the Nazi policy of "lebensraum". A lot of Israeli's oppose their govt's policies too.
Jimmy Carter got it right--an apartheid regime
10:10am
Jimmy Carter has had it right all along.
Obama/Carter '08!!
Another long and tedious pro-Obama screed, perhaps two or three paragraphs in length, of the type John selectively criticizes: it's part of Jason Horowitz's New York Observer article of 3/25/08:
"It is taken for granted by most Democratic insiders, with good reason, that if Mr. Gore did weigh in, it would be on the Obama side.
"For one thing, he has a pained history with Mrs. Clinton, who he resented for superseding his authority in the White House. But Mr. Gore can also do math. He sees that Mrs. Clinton is trailing in pledged delegates, popular vote and states won. With her avenue to the nomination significantly narrowed, her best chance is to convince superdelegates that Mr. Obama cannot win a general election. Her final failure in this endeavor, from the perspective of an interested party luminary, might settle things. Her success assuredly wouldn’t."
Monica, ssssiiiiggggghhhhhhhhh
Is it getting closer to 'accomplished' Danny?
I have the same experience as John with my Jewish friends.
All are outraged over the attempt to exterminate the Palistinians.
Some have left Israel and moved here in disgust.
Every candidate is too politically afraid to demand Israel stop the violence. Israel counters that they are only acting in self-defense and no one is doing any research to disprove it. There are very few if any reporters in Palistine because it is too dangerous.
Until there is a concrete accounting of the violence it will continue until all of Palistine is destroyed.
Morning,
Snowing here. Spring is as usual, a test, hard coming, but the brilliant light of warm days like yesterday make it tolerable.
It occurred to me that some people simply don't see that Obama's frame and perspective are very different from the politics that we have known for the past 16 years. He really sees more than one perspective, really wants a national dialogue, recognizes that if someone is an enemy, the conclusion is foregone and will fail. He represents a whole new paradigm as does Howard Dean. It's really a battle between the DLC and old style politics and a new more democratic, more responsive and responsible politics and an interactive partnership with people on this planet.
Jonathan Alter in this week's Newsweek has a favorable editorial about Obama, lauding his ability to be an educator, someone who represents the highest moral example for people in this country, which all great presidents have been able to do. He recognizes it's possible he may not succeed, but also recognizes the potential that he will.
If for nothing else, the length of this campaign has revealed the old style politics played by the Clintons. This didn't have to be nasty, didn't have to use deception, didn't have to pit the insiders of the DLC and the corporate money people against the grass roots, against truth, as part of the Clintons' playbook, but they chose to do it.
Bill is a particularly nasty fellow, according to the TV blurb Keith Olbermann played last night, and from other glimpses as to how he frames things. It doesn't have to be that way, a fight to the shredding of the Democratic Party, but the Clintons see it that way. It's too bad, but we've had enough of that kind of politics. There is no way it will ever bring peace, and for all of us who want peace, it won't come with these kinds of tactics.
Hillary Clinton is part of this. She chose this years ago, and the more we see of her tactics, the more it tells us that this is what we've had, with Bush 2 being the nadir. She will be no different no matter how refined her policies are bruited. She is an authoritarian who will use any method she can to achieve her ends, which are power. At least, that's how I see it.
As always, the dialogue is vital and even sometimes insightful.
John wrote "Obama is practically grovelling (along with most US politicians) to Israel and AIPAC."
This seems to be a sort of selective criticism based on tedious screeds found at Counterpunch. Maybe you should follow links to other articles besides your own.
dog wrote "I have the same experience as John with my Jewish friends."
Who are they supporting for president?
As part of my browsing around the nets this morning, I reviewed the definition of bombs and learned that, with the exception of car bombs and IEDs and suicide bombers, the bomb is a munition that's typically "delivered" by air. Now, what strikes me as interesting about that is the suggestion that before there were airplanes, there were no bombs. And that leads to the hypothesis that the more recent developments (car bombs are an American invention, btw) are very likely a reaction to the first version.
In any event, while the big powers have been delivering bombs for some time, what's happening in Iraq is that what the Air Force delivers from its helicopter, planes and drones, is being avenged via IEDs on our troops on the ground. While the flyboys soar through the air in their flying machines or dispatch a bomb with a joy stick from an air conditioned console in Nevada, the troops on the ground are getting slaughtered and shredded in the meat grinder.
ANTIWAR DEMOCRATS??
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=55505
Look past the rhetoric and it becomes clear that neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton has a real plan to end the occupation. They could, however, be forced to change their positions, thanks to the unique dynamics of the prolonged primary battle.
For the first time in 14 years, weapons manufacturers are donating more to Democrats than to Republicans. The Democrats have received 52% of the defence industry’s political donations in this election cycle - up from a low of 32% in 1996. That money is about shaping foreign policy and, so far, it appears to be well spent.
While Clinton and Obama denounce the war with great passion, they both have detailed plans to continue it. Both say they intend to maintain the massive green zone, including the monstrous US embassy, and to retain US control of Baghdad airport.
They will have a “strike force” to engage in counter-terrorism, as well as trainers for the Iraqi military. Beyond these US forces, the army of green zone diplomats will require heavily armed security details, which are currently provided by Blackwater and other private security companies. At present there are as many private contractors supporting the occupation as there are soldiers, so these plans could mean tens of thousands of US personnel entrenched for the future.
In sharp contrast to this downsized occupation is the unequivocal message coming from hundreds of soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq Veterans Against the War which, earlier this month, held the Winter Soldier hearings in Silver Spring, Maryland - modelled on the 1971 Winter Soldier investigation, in which veterans testified about US atrocities in Vietnam - are not supporting any candidate or party. Instead they are calling for immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all US soldiers and contractors. Coming from peace activists, the “out now” position has been dismissed as naive. It is harder to ignore coming from the hundreds who have served - and continue to serve - on the frontlines.
Tom,
My jewish friends are going for Obama, then McCain then Hillary.
They view McCain as more trustworthy then Hillary.
They understand that the Iraq/Iran conflict hurts Israel but do not trust Hillary enough and support the warmonger over her.
We have had several late night discussions on this. Obama is preferred because of his plan and past history of working with others. McCain is stating he will work with the foreign community on issues such as global warming but is commited to getting a so called ME victory regardless of how few people are left to support it.
No one trusts Hillary. Part of it is contempt for Bubba but Hillary is going a long way toward earning her own contempt seperate from Bill.
Bubba sez insults in politics are great but they are attempting to destroy the Dem party to support their own greed.
If Hillary gets the nomination, McCain wins. If Obama wins, the support of new people plus those tired of war will support Obama.
dog wrote "We have had several late night discussions on this. Obama is preferred because of his plan and past history of working with others."
Thanks for the useful information.
Why i am running... Chris Lugo
http://www.chris4senate.org/readmore.htm...
gotta run. Love ya'll, mean it!!
I just saw this on Google News - apparently a free version of Photoshop we can use.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200...
I also discovered a Google blog search which is a heck of a lot better than technorati.
http://blogsearch.google.com/
10:59 AM EDT
for all those that want screed and a little spin at the same time --
-- then step right up and behold !:
...
11:09 AM EDT
OMG, I found more screed :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minor_Star_Wars_Imperial_characters
...
Star Wars characterAdmiral Terrinald Screed
PositionEmperor's right-hand manHomeworldUnknownSpeciesHumanGenderMaleAffiliationGalactic EmpirePortrayed byGraeme Campbell (voice
they are bombing the green zone now. where is john mccain? he needs another photo op.
Ol grandpa is a putz.
While you were all hear arguing about petty grievances, Obama was giving a major speech this morning, most of which was shown Live on CNN and MS.
Both CNN and MS in their usual way cut off the end of this interesting speech where Obama talks about his ten-point plan.
Obama mentioned a bill he and Chris Dodd have been working on about the economy and are going to introduce in the Senate.
I presume that C-Span will be showing the speech replay later today and over the weekend.
hear = here
tonite we have our city committee meeting. trying to get a slate of delegates for our caucus. Interesting we have so many people for clinton but we have just a few clinton spots.
got to get them to the obama side.
last nite saw the movie "atonement" excellent movie. excellent.
Interesting we have so many people for clinton but we have just a few clinton spots.
got to get them to the obama side.
linda,
Can you trust those clinton people to actually represent Obama? I don't think I would.
from the end of the previous thread
53.
Susan Rowe
Thu, 03/27/08
The lifting of the ban on AK-47 assualt rifles may have the appearance of just being direct pandering to the NRA. But IMHO folks should probally be digging a bit deeper on the issue.
Follow the money....
Barack Obama spoke about the economy on Thursday at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York. (Photo: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) In a speech at Cooper Union in New York, Senator Barack Obama proposed relief for homeowners and an additional $30 billion stimulus package to address the nation’s economic woes.
Mr. Obama outlined six principles that he said “should guide the legal reforms needed to establish a 21st century regulatory system.”
But he cautioned that the “change we need goes beyond laws and regulation – we need a shift in the cultures of our financial institutions and our regulatory agencies.”
He also criticized John McCain’s economic plan as something that “amounts to little more than watching this crisis happen.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/obamas-speech-on-the-economy/
Obama also called McCain's campaign as a Third Bush Term, which, of course, got plenty of applause!
The question is ...
Which industries would gain income the most from the lifting of the ban on AK-47 assault rifles?
How about Blackwater for one.
11:26 AM EDT
Admiral Terrinald Screed here, reporting for duty (good enough for you Huron John ?):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-littman/now-team-hillary-goes-af_b_93645.html
Matt Littman
Now, Team Hillary Goes After Speaker PelosiPosted March 27, 2008 | 10:51 AM (EST)
...
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsN...
Clinton backers warn Pelosi on superdelegate rift
Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:03am EDT
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of prominent Hillary Clinton donors sent a letter to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday asking her to retract her comments on superdelegates and stay out of the Democratic fight over their role in the presidential race.
The 20 prominent Clinton supporters told Pelosi she should "clarify" recent statements to make it clear superdelegates -- nearly 800 party insiders and elected officials who are free to back any candidate -- could support the candidate they think would be the best nominee.
Pelosi has not publicly endorsed either Clinton or Barack Obama in their hotly contested White House battle, but she recently said superdelegates should support whoever emerges from the nomination contests with the most pledged delegates -- which appears almost certain to be Obama.
"This is an untenable position that runs counter to the party's intent in establishing superdelegates in 1984," the letter from the wealthy Clinton backers said.
"Superdelegates, like all delegates, have an obligation to make an informed, individual decision about whom to support and who would be the party's strongest nominee," said the letter signed by some of Clinton's biggest fund raisers.
.........
Both candidates have wooed them heavily, with Obama contending they should follow the will of Democratic voters and Clinton arguing they should vote for the candidate with the best chance of winning the presidential election in November -- which she says is her.
Among the signees of the letter were prominent Democrats and Clinton supporters like Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television; Bernard Schwartz, former chairman of Loral Space and Communications; and venture capitalist Steven Rattner.
...........
"This letter is inappropriate and we hope the Clinton campaign will reject the insinuation contained in it," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.
Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said Clinton had made the case superdelegates should exercise independent judgment about who would be the best for the party and the country.
"Few have done more to build the Democratic Party than Bill and Hillary Clinton. The last thing they need is a lecture from the Obama campaign," he said.
---------------------------
Here is the “democracy” in which not regular folks but about 800 “superdelegates should exercise independent (from those folks!) judgment about who would be the best for the party and the country”.
What else needs to be discussed..., lol?
The decomposition of the current political system has come to its logical conclusion: the living corpse.
Sitka is pretty selective in criticizing "Long Posts" (actually mine are usually 2 or 3 paragraphs with a link to a much longer article).
I haven't seen him go after Bearse or Dorgan for their long and tedious pro-Obama screeds
Actually, I have pointed out to dorgan, among others, that his C&Ps needed to be shorter. And Bearse usually writes his own stuff.
I have been ignoring Sitka for several months. He adds nothing to any discussion.
Spoken like a true Reagan/Bush/Dole voter.
I'm sure Nader loves the attention.
Over at MyDD they're trying to obsess about Gravel becoming a Libertarian.
11:51 AM EDT
self-portrait (my good side):
http://www.domuspublica.net/terrinald_screed.html
...
Terrinald Screed, as seen circa 20 rS
(“Tail of the Roon Comets”)
...
Annilow
I also discovered a Google blog search which is a heck of a lot better than technorati.
http://blogsearch.google.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
google my name and it takes you to puddle's blog
gotta love it when google gets it right
after my screeds I sign the concrete (after finishing and before it sets)
I have one shed bay signed on the floor with the words "Man on moon" and I had a friend help me screed the concrete just before he left for Vietnam. his name is there too and in marble elsewhere
think how far into space we could have been had we not ventured into South East Asia instead
Barack Obama will be on the "View" tomorrow for the entire show. 11 a.m. local.
I keep telling my family at Christmas that I want an AK 47. Now I get my wish.
In fairness to Huron who thinks he was singled out, it needs to be pointed out to you too that HQ prefers cut and pastes be no more than a paragragh or two.
One of our local hospitals, Riverside, is asking about 350 people to come in for tests for Hepetitis B cause one of the male nurses had a case of Hepetitis B and also he was stealing patients drugs.
Wow way to go Riverside. I never would go to the hospital because the service was so bad.
Now I still won't go.
John wrote "Obama is practically grovelling (along with most US politicians) to Israel and AIPAC."
Meanwhile, Camp Clinton is calling him a Zionophobe.
I used M16s in VN and found it to be a cantankerous beast. It would jam unless it was cleaned regularly. We would clean them before a mission but after wading thru mud and water, we had to try to do a quick cleaning before we used them. The earlier models that did not have internal chrome plating were horrible and got a lot of guys killed. The ones I used were chrome plated, but used high-residue ammo. When lower residue ammo was available, the problems went away.
I liked the AK-47. It fired a three-shot burst and never would jam. It used 7.62 ammo where the M16 used 5.62.
Some guys used it but it was hard to get ammo for it and they sounded like the bad guys who used AK47s.
Things really got strange when the VC started using both M16s and AK47s. They would get the M16s from our own dead.
I know guys who brought them back from VN and fire them at shooting ranges.
The Nation's new article in support of Obama. (Updated) by CaliforniaDreaming2008 [Subscribe] Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 12:41:38 AM PDT Entitled "Progressives for Obama," the latest article from The Nation in support of Obama's candidacy was written by Tom Hayden, Bill Fletcher Jr., Danny Glover, and Barbara Ehrenreich. CaliforniaDreaming2008's diary :: :: This excellent article needs to be emailed to everyone. It outlines precisely why a Clinton Presidency would be a severe mistake at this point in our nation's history. Link. One of the most salient points of the article is one I've been trying to make to some of my friends for months now: Clinton's most bizarre claim is that Obama is unqualified to be commander-in-chief. Clinton herself never served in the military, and has no experience in the armed services apart from the Senate armed services committee. Her husband had no military experience before becoming President. In fact, he was a draft opponent during Vietnam, a stance we respected. She was the first lady, and he the governor, of one of our smallest states. They brought no more experience, and arguably less, to the White House than Obama would in 2009.
You think things are bad in iraq??
Last nite they closed down 20 miles of I-64 from Charlottesville and Waynesboro, Va because of a sniper shooting at cars. People were driving themselves to the hospital.
Yikes!!
12:21 PM EDT
55.dog soldier
Thu, 03/27/08
Reply to this
I used M16s in VN and found it to be a cantankerous beast. It would jam unless it was cleaned regularly.
...
+++
dog soldier -
I didn't serve during active wartime, so my only exposure to the M16 was during Army basic training, shooting it and disassembling it. We had 15 seconds to disassemble it, clean it with a pipe cleaner and put it back together again.
Phil wrote,
think how far into space we could have been had we not ventured into South East Asia instead
I aways wonder how many contibutors to the betterment of all of us are buried in the mud or have their names on a headstone somewhere from our debacles in VN and Iraq.
-
By Monica Smith on Mar 27, 2008 10:02 AM EDTDean is indubitably first.