Category Archives: View

View 741 Wednesday, September 12, 2012

On September 11, 2012, there were terrorist attacks on US diplomatic facilities in Cairo and in Benghazi, and the US ambassador to Libya was killed. At some point prior to the attack in Cairo the US Embassy issued an official apology of some sorts for an American made movie released months ago without fanfare and apparently without much in the way of viewership. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-libya-usa-hezbollahbre88b0sp-20120912,0,63276.story The quality of the film is said to be low and the acting something less than professional.

There are multiple and conflicting reports concerning the origin and financing of the movie, and some question whether the attacks were preplanned and coordinated, or merely spontaneous outbreaks happening coincidentally.

A few random thoughts inspired by today’s radio and TV headlines.

The Charlton Heston movie, 55 Days at Peking. It was hokey, and it reflects the prejudices of the time (1963). Of course anything we see today reflects the prejudices of the times (2012).

This government wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead. Of course the real story of the Raisuli affair isn’t as impressive as it became in literature http://www.americanheritage.com/content/%E2%80%9Cperdicaris-alive-or-raisuli-dead%E2%80%9D?page=2 or the movie it – inspired is too strong a word, suggested is probably more appropriate – The Wind and the Lion.

Do you print the truth or the legend? The legend is often a great deal more memorable – and sometimes conveys a stronger lesson.

And for some reason I was reminded of

The Dane-Geld

Rudyard Kipling

A.D. 980-1016

IT is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation
To call upon a neighbour and to say:–
"We invaded you last night–we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away."

And that is called asking for Dane-geld,
And the people who ask it explain
That you’ve only to pay ’em the Dane-geld
And then you’ll get rid of the Dane!

It is always a temptation to a rich and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say:–
"Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away."

And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we’ve proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.

It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray;
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say:–

"We never pay any-one Dane-geld,
Nor matter how trifling the cost;
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!"

Of course we would have to borrow the money to pay Dane-Geld to anyone.

Are we safer on September 12, 2012 than we were on September 12, 2008?

That is a far more complicated question, and involves both truth and legends, since the legends often have more influence over mass behavior than the truth.

"This was a well- planned, well-targeted event. No doubt about it."

<http://www.nypost.com/f/print/news/international/american_ambassador_others_killed_uvtJF2mvUd6CzlMsrh169K>

Roland Dobbins

View 741 Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Happy Birthday Sable

This is Sable’s tenth birthday. Sable is our red Siberian Husky. She’s had a knee rebuilt, but you would never know that, and she acts like a dog half her age, even in hot weather. Husky dogs are great companions, but they do insist on going for a walk, and when they decide they are entitled to something they make that known. Unmistakably.

I’m still working on a pile of necessary administrivia. I’m still recovering from something debilitating, but I am getting some work done.

The Prime Minister of Israel has requested a meeting with the President of the United States, but the President’s office has announced that the President’s busy schedule will not permit the meeting. http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Obama-Schedule-Won-t-Allow-Meeting-With-3857175.php They just won’t be in the same city at the same time, according to the White House. There are reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu has offered to come to Washington, and Reuters reports that the refusal to meet is a snub. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/11/us-israel-iran-netanyahu-idUSBRE88A10B20120911

The US embassy in Cairo is said to be under siege. Three US citizens were killed in an attack on a US diplomatic convoy in the Gaza area. The US is said to be apologizing for a film said to be insulting to the Prophet Muhammad. http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/09/after-attack-us-embassy-in-cairo-apologizes-for-unspecified-135222.html The President of the US does not have time to meet the Prime Minister of Israel.

There is considerable pressure on the White House to reverse this decision.

It is now eleven years since the 9/11 attack and the US declaration of war on terror. We have established the TSA and the Department of Homeland Security. We sent armies to Iraq and Afghanistan.

We did not start a massive campaign to achieve energy independence for the United States. That, we were told, would have cost too much. We were told that the invasion of the Middle East would cost $300 billion, although it might run higher than that. At the time I pointed out that $500 Billion would have been enough to build one hundred 1,000 megawatt nuclear power plants and begin a massive space program for construction of space solar power plants; and there would still be enough left over to cover the administrative costs for a great expansion of US oil wells and refineries (which would mostly be paid for by private capital). I was told that these programs would cost more than $500 Billion; I agreed, but it was pretty clear that the wars would cost a great deal more.

Money invested in energy production facilities has the prospect for some return on investment. Money invested in military operations in Iraq had the possibility of a return on investment in oil production but apparently that was not a goal of the invasion; I can think of no possible return on investment from a long term engagement in Afghanistan, which manufactures nothing we want and grows what we don’t want. Once we demonstrated to the Taliban that it was not a good idea to harbor the enemies of the United States, there was little to be gained in staying in Afghanistan.

Both major political parties assert than we are safer now than we were in September, 2001.

I was no great fan of the policies of Mr. Bush, but I will state that we were safer on 9-11-2008 than we are on 9-11-2012.

New York on 9/11/01 from the ISS

Jerry,

Given that you are both a science fiction writer and an engineer, I thought that for today it is good to remember that horrible day from the view of the ISS and its commander.

Regards, Charles Adams, Bellevue, NE

New York, 9/11/2001 from the ISS

<http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/583025main_iss003e5387_full.jpg>

and

Expedition Three Commander Frank Culbertson (CAPT, USN retired) Letter from September 11, 9/11/01 <http://www.nasa.gov/topics/nasalife/features/sept11_culbertson.html>

For those interested in popular technology, I can recommend http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2012/Aug-29.html on what happened to desktop Linux.

View 741 Monday, September 10, 2012

I have been under the weather for a week, but I am recovering. Thanks to all who were concerned.

The election drags on. The Democrats managed to restore God but not Divine Providence to their platform, but just barely, and if you watched the event they probably didn’t – they certainly didn’t get any 2/3 majority, and it sounded to me as if there were as many ‘no’ votes as well as boos as there were ayes. Of course the amendment covered both restoring “God given” talents and Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and which one was so unpopular as to inspire no votes and boos is not entirely clear.

Chicago teachers strike for higher pay. According to Drudge and other sources, they are the highest paid teachers in the country – I’d have thought that California had that distinction but perhaps not. The schools were sort of open in that free breakfast was served to a bunch of kids already on food stamps, but perhaps that has been misreported. Meanwhile the LA teachers are upset about a free breakfast program: apparently requiring the children to get to school early enough to have a free breakfast in the cafeteria didn’t get enough turnout, so the LA school district is now serving breakfast in the classrooms. This gets more kids taking their free breakfast — a lot more showed up for that – but upsets the teachers who are faced with the residue and the lost teaching time.

I must have misunderstood all this. Perhaps my summer cold has driven me out of my mind.

I am inundated with minor chores, some pleasurable – I have to take some signed contracts to the Post Office – and I haven’t a lot of energy, but I am recovering. Thanks to all who have been patient. And I’ll try to do a big mail bag tonight.

In reading this over I seem to have left out the most important message: Don’t Panic. It’s still the silly season. There is a strong move on the part of one party to make the whole thought of the election disgusting so that people will simply stop paying attention. This gives the biggest advantage to those who have professionalized election politics.

Machiavelli described much of this five hundred years ago.

Self government requires that the governed take some part in government. Freedom is not free.

View 740 Thursday, September 06, 2012

The Democratic Party National Convention yesterday had a number of interesting developments. One was disturbing. Whether through inadvertance or design, the Platform left out any references to God or Divine Providence – in particular a previous reference to God-given talents was ommitted – and had to be reinserted. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/09/05/Democrats-change-platform-God-Israel This required a suspension of the rules and a special order of business, which requires a 2/3 majority vote. This was sprung on the delegates at an early hour when the floor was partially empty, and Convention Chairman Anthony Villaraigoso, Mayor of Los Angeles, thought it would go as a simple routine since it was at the personal request of President Obama. Instead, it took three voice votes, and in none of them was it obvious that the resolution had passed, much less had been approved by a 2/3 majority. After the third voice vote in which it seemed to me that there were fewer ‘ayes’ than ‘nays’, the Chairman ruled that the motion was carried by a 2/3 majority and it was so ordered. Now in a normal parliamentary event it is my understanding that it is always in order to move for a standing vote or division of the house, and has been so since the days of the Senate of Rome. I haven’t read the DNC Rules, but I’d wager there is such a provision there; but if so no such motion was acknowledged by the Chairman, and the amendments to the rules were deemed to have been adopted by 2/3 vote.

I find this more disturbing than most seem to have found it. This is a fairly blatant disregard of rules of the Convention at the diktat of the President of the United States. I would hate to see it become a precedent. I would hate even more for it to be ignored by all commentators and press. Rules are important, and this country seems to be making up new ones while ignoring the rules that govern how rules are made. That cannot be a good sign.

Other developments were just odd, as with Sandra Fluke making the case that the Republicans’ failure to make me pay for her birth control pills is oppression of women and control over her access to birth control. It’s only accessible if it’s free. If failing to force tax payers to pay for birth control pills is a war on women, the nation is very much in trouble. There is one sure fire method for Sandra Fluke to avoid pregnancy, and it has been known since pre-Biblical days. Arthur C. Clarke predicted in Childhood’s End that discovery of reliable means of preventing pregnancy and of determining paternity would bring about a cultural revolution, and he was entirely right, but even he didn’t predict that contraception means provided by taxpayers would become an absolute right, and anything less than that was a war on women.

There were other speeches about the goodies one must have from government, but precious little about how the taxpayers acquired the obligations to pay for them. Since 90% of Federal taxes are paid by about 30% of the people, and the demand is for more of “the rich” to “pay their fair share”, one would think there might be some discussion of obligations as well as rights, but I haven’t heard any.

Bill Clinton made a great speech about how he ought to be President, and how much better he was at the job than Obama. Apparently the speech went over well with Mrs. Clinton, who is said to have watched it from Brunei where she is attending some diplomatic event. The fashion reporters say she looked sharp. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/06/hillary-clinton-photo-style-brunei-china_n_1861487.html I have been unable to determine the exact nature of the diplomatic event that requires the presence of the Secretary of State.

Former President Clinton made a few references to foreign policy, but that wasn’t the thrust of his speech. He did a great job of demonstrating that we’d probably be better off now than we were four years ago if he had been President, but not so well at showing how things are better now than they were in January 2008. He tried, though, and kept at it for half an hour longer than scheduled. One can imagine the mood of the President as he waited behind the curtain to come out when Mr. Clinton finished his speech. And waited.

We don’t yet have data on the ‘bump” in popularity that the DNC will earn for President Obama in the polls. The RNC didn’t give Romney much. That convention ended with Romney Advantage; the speculation is that the DNC bump will score a point for Obama making the election score deuce all. The unemployment number have been released to show advantages for Obama’s policies, but not by a lot, and we can expect that over the next few days to weeks those number will be adjusted. All adjustments so far have been to make them less favorable to the Administration; and of course Elisabeth Warren’s speech made it very easy to conclude that the economy is horrible, and probably getting worse. That probably wasn’t the impression she intended.

All told, it’s still the silly season. The election won’t really turn on God-given talents, or on whether Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. And in most parliamentary procedures, a vote requiring a 2/3 majority is automatically a standing vote, as it has been since the days of Old Rome.