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March 29, 2007
Iran Keeps Punching
I love foreign affairs. There is so much happening, with most way beyond one's comprehension, certainly mine. I watch and read everything I can about Iran and North Korea these days. The latest scrap with Iran and the 15 British hostages is no exception. I listened to a good analysis last night on NPR as I was driving home from work. The analyst, I forget his name, suggested that the Iranians are feeling a great deal of pressure now, with the U.N. sanctions and condemnation for their nuclear adventures. Even their pals the Russians and Chinese are against them. So what do they do? They remind everyone that they still have some punch left in their gloves by snatching those sailors and making up the technical details, like the fact that they were in Iranian waters. You say we aren't sure? The Iranians tried to prove their claim by providing specific coordinates of the capture. Unfortunately for them the coordinates they gave were for a position inside Iraqi territorial waters. The next day they "corrected" their claims. And now they say that the British were actually in Iranian waters 6 times. Their claims are clearly suspect. (CNN)
Wednesday, the British Ministry of Defense gave what it said was proof that the British ship carrying the sailors and marines never strayed into Iranian waters.
British Vice Adm. Charles Style said the global positioning system on the ship proves the vessel was "clearly" 3.1 kilometers (1.7 nautical miles) inside Iraqi waters.
Iran insists the ship was inside its territorial waters and, according to Style, provided a map with coordinates on Saturday in an attempt to prove the point.
Style said those coordinates actually "turned out to confirm they were in Iraqi waters" and Iraq has supported that position.
Upon pointing that out Sunday through diplomatic contacts, Style said Iran then "provided a second set of coordinates" on Monday that were "in Iranian waters over two nautical miles" from the position shown by the HMS Cornwall and confirmed by the merchant vessel the British personnel boarded. (CNN)
The "change of coordinates," Style said "is hard to legitimate."
One thing we can be sure of is that the abduction is part of a larger game. The Iranians are trying to reverse current momentum by going on the offensive here to counteract the recent International
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:31 AM
March 25, 2007
A Great Weekend for PoliticalSports
Wow, what a weekend. The Iranians do there usual condemnation of the UN sanction resolution, then they grab a bunch of British sailors. They ignore an offer from the major powers for new talks....what a surprise. Then our pals the North Koreans are close to walking away from their nuclear talks (that is no surprise either) because the U.S. and South Korea are holding military exercises. And that is only the biggest of the highlights in the foreign policy arena. Domestically things are just as much fun. There are something like 18 days of missing White House correspondence in the Federal Prosecutor firings. More documents are turning up that directly contradict the Attorney General's contention that he knew nothing about the dismissals.
Of course, it would not be a truly great sports weekend for a couple of memorable plays by Vice-O.I.L. (CNA)
US Vice President Dick Cheney has assured political allies that an early withdrawal of US forces from Iraq would not be allowed, despite efforts by Congress to impose a deadline on US combat operations there.
The comments on Saturday followed a historic vote on Friday in the House of Representatives, which called for a pullout of US combat troops from Iraq by August 31, 2008 - regardless of whether Iraqi security forces are ready to take over from them.
President George W. Bush has vowed to veto the measure. But the threat has called into question the future of a US$124 billion emergency funding bill, to which it is attached.
One could write extensively about any one of the above. Unfortunately, it is late, I am tired, so I will have to revisit all of the above tomorrow.
Posted by Chip Spear at 9:14 PM
March 24, 2007
Cheney says House Dems don't support the troops
So, our Illustrious Vice Pres. says because the Dems don't support the disastrous implementation os the Iraq War that they are against the troops. This tactic is not unexpected. Given the state of Congress, being controlled by the Dems, and the actions of the White House, it is not surprising that the Democrats are against administrations policies. I am not sure how that translates into "not supporting the troops", but I am certain that the White House figures that it can still get some traction out of the charge in the "red" states and shore up flagging poll numbers. They probably assume that the tactic they have been using for the past few years still has some life it it. We shall see, now won't we? (AP)
Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday accused the Democrat-led House of not supporting troops in Iraq and of sending a message to terrorists that America will retreat in the face danger.
"They're not supporting the troops. They're undermining them," Cheney told a gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition at the oceanside Ritz-Carlton hotel in Manalapan, Fla., about 60 miles north of Miami.
On Friday, the House voted to clamp a cutoff deadline on the Iraq war, agreeing by a thin margin to pull combat troops out by next year.
Do people actually believe this crap anymore?
Posted by Chip Spear at 9:53 PM
March 21, 2007
Showdown Looms in Attorney Firings
Ha, ha, ha. I have to laugh. This is sooooo ridiculous. What did you expect, really? For the past 6 years the President has treated the entire country, and especially the Democrats with comtempt. The Democrats have taken it on the chin. Now the Dems have some power. They are not about to back down to the Pres on this one. To expect otherwise is silly. (AP)
On the flip side, the President is not going to suddenly roll over to the Democratic leadership in Congress. He is going to continue with the gameplan...Attack! Put the Dems on the defensive anyway he can. He proposes a compromise solution. Of course it is his rules and conditions; no press, no oath, behind closed doors, no record, no nothing. My own guess is no truth either, but who knows.
How do you beat this?
Posted by Chip Spear at 8:32 PM
March 18, 2007
The Mortgage Crisis - This is not a new story
I remember seeing a report on one of the news magazine shows a couple of years ago about the huge number of people around the country, but especially in the west who took out these sub-prime mortgages. The concern at the time was that a day of reckoning was going to come. The housing market would eventually change, and folks would suddenly be hit with huge payments, something their paychecks could not cover. I seem to recall that it made the news for a few days then disappeared, as most important news items do in this MTV world. No one paid much attention, until now. And suddenly it is the banks fault. (Reuters)
It is hard to blame everyone who took out these loans, but buying a home is serious business. One borrows a tremendous amount of money. I would think that you should always have a CPA or lawyer review the terms before signing. I feel extremely bad for anyone who might have to default, but this is partly their own fault.
Many people accepted complex mortgages to buy homes that were probably out of reach, but deals such as 100-percent financing and adjustable-rate mortgages that initially carried low monthly payments encouraged excess, critics contend.
"The quality of the loan has everything to do with this crisis," said Josh Nassar, vice president for federal affairs at the Center for Responsible Lending in Washington.
Among the biggest culprits were the so-called "2-28" loans that offered low interest rates and payments for the first two years, but then spiked up. Many borrowers misunderstood the terms or thought they could refinance, and found themselves stuck with mortgages that they could no longer afford.
Buying a house is serious business. One is borrowing a tremendous amount of money to purchase a home. I would think that in such a situation a potential buyer would have the agreement reviewed by a CPA or lawyer. As bad as the mortgage lenders may be, they are not the only ones to blame here. I feel very bad for anyone who might have to default on their mortgage, but they need to accept some of the responsibility.
Posted by Chip Spear at 12:14 PM
March 17, 2007
Only the Numbers Matter
Truth doesn't matter. Common sense doesn't matter. Doing the right thing doesn't matter. The only thing that matters are the numbers, scoring. In this case John McCain ignored the obvious answers to pander to the religious right. (NYT)
Reporter: "Should U.S. taxpayer money go to places like Africa to fund contraception to prevent AIDS?"
Mr. McCain: "Well I think it's a combination. The guy I really respect on this is Dr. Coburn. He believes - and I was just reading the thing he wrote- that you should do what you can to encourage abstinence where there is going to be sexual activity. Where that doesn't succeed, than he thinks that we should employ contraceptives as well. But I agree with him that the first priority is on abstinence. I look to people like Dr. Coburn. I'm not very wise on it."
(Mr. McCain turns to take a question on Iraq, but a moment later looks back to the reporter who asked him about AIDS.)
Mr. McCain: "I haven't thought about it. Before I give you an answer, let me think about. Let me think about it a little bit because I never got a question about it before. I don’t know if I would use taxpayers’ money for it."
Q: "What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?"
Mr. McCain: (Long pause) "Ahhh. I think I support the president's policy."
Q: "So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?"
Mr. McCain: (Long pause) "You’ve stumped me."
Q: "I mean, I think you'd probably agree it probably does help stop it?"
Mr. McCain: (Laughs) "Are we on the Straight Talk express? I'm not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I'm sure I've taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception - I'm sure I'm opposed to government spending on it, I'm sure I support the president's policies on it."
Q: "But you would agree that condoms do stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Would you say: 'No, we're not going to distribute them,' knowing that?"
Mr. McCain: (Twelve-second pause) "Get me Coburn's thing, ask Weaver to get me Coburn's paper that he just gave me in the last couple of days. I've never gotten into these issues before."
It would be a wonderful world if everyone did as they should, like not have sex before marriage, or not kill anyone, or treat people with respect. But life is not like that, is it? It is dirty, messy, filled with contradictions, and not easy. People do have sex before marriage, and outside of marriage. And people get AIDS because of it. Abstinence is one method of dealing with the problem, but people are people, they are going to have sex whether someone else says it is wrong or not. That is reality. This is another example of someone putting their head in the sand and pandering to idiocy. Being forced to rely on stupidity for votes seems to work just fine, but it sure seems dangerous to me.
Posted by Chip Spear at 1:54 PM
Alberto's On Deck
Everybody and their brother has weighed in on the Alberto Gonzales Federal Prosecutor flap. I would like to remind folks to consider the strategy and tactics of the Administration over the last 6 years. The White House has shown a consistent disregard for many of our laws. They do not respect Congress. They seem to have little respect for the American people. They mislead the country about the Iraq war, the war on terrorism, Katrina relief, the environment, immigration, health care, the budget....you get the idea. They have absolutely no respect for the actual government they run, which is perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind. Would you actually expect Karl and company to suddenly rollover and comply with Congressional requests for information related to the firings of federal prosecutors? Given Gonzales's role in issues involving rendition, torture and the Patriot Act that recently came to light, why should we expect him to tell the truth about the firings? What would compel him to change tactics? Who's ends would he be serving? This is what I am wondering.
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:00 AM
I have been away for too long
It has been more than a few months since I last posted on my blog. Personal commitments resulted in little time to devote to research, reading, analysis and posting. Hopefully that period is behind me. It is time to get back in the saddle and report on my favorite sport....Politics.
Thanks for checking in.
Posted by Chip Spear at 10:38 AM