March « 2010 « POWIP

31Mar/106

US test fires Trident Missile in Saudi Arabia

One great big can of whoop-ass.

Or more appropriately, from a location off of Saudi Arabia. As McKittrick at Closing Velocity says, "this is rattling the biggest sabre of all in Iran's face", and perhaps may be a way to underscore that the administration is running out of patience with Ahmadi-Nejad's stalling tacticts and is prepared to move on to more severe kind of sanctions; like those he spoke of during his presser with Sarkozy yesterday. All I can say is, it's about time.

This test launch may have also served more than the singular purpose of sabre rattling though. As pointed out in the WaPo article McKittrick links to, the US has been quietly strengthening the missile defense systems of our friends in the region. This test launch then would have been a very good opportunity to test those missile defense suites that we've sold them; to use the nuclear capable Trident missile as a "target of opportunity" much like when Minutemen II's are fired from Vandenberg Air Force base, a nuance that was pointed out in the linked post.

I for one welcome this exercise, and think it sends all the right signals to Tehran. That first and foremost, we are tired of your stalling. Second, that we have assets in the area that we will use if necessary to retaliate in the stead of our allies in the region if they are subject to your aggression. Third, the publicized presence of the head of the US Missile Defense Agency, Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, telegraphs our willingness to sell BMD technology to those same allies so that they may protect their nations. In short, not only will we sell our friends the means to defeat your missile technology, but we will slap you down hard if you attack any of them.

And, while it's not following through on his ersatz campaign promise to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, it may be the next best thing; but more on that in another post...

Besides, it gives me a reason to support and applaud the President, instead of always complaining about how much he lists to port! So, yes, this is change I can believe in!

Oh, and, GO NAVY !

Rocketman

Tagged as: BMD, Foreign policy, Iran, Obama, Saudi Arabia 6 Comments

31Mar/105

Help me, Death Bear, help, help me, Death Bear

Help me, Death Bear, yeah . . . get her outta my heart.

A man in the second-floor unit of a nearby apartment building in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn was desperate to get rid of something that was too torturous to keep but impossible to discard.

The anguished individual had turned to Death Bear, a macabre performance artist who silently walks the city streets in a one-man quest to relieve people of painful remnants of the past: love letters, photos, gifts, dog tags, underwear -- a lot of underwear, it seems -- anything that might reduce an otherwise well-functioning person to a sniffling wreck.

His service has spread through word of mouth and the Internet.

"Help me, Death Bear!" read a typical plea that flickered via text message onto his cellphone.

No indication that Death Bear has had to deal with this, yet.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Filed under: Too Lazy to Categorize 5 Comments

31Mar/100

Speaking of No Decency . . .

I give you Maureen Dowd.

It has become an increasingly prevailing belief that as a cardinal, before he ascended to the papacy, Pope Benedict enabled a pedophile priest to do enormous harm. This is false.

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd took the accusations against the Pope, whose given name is Joseph Ratzinger, to their most extreme. She wrote:

"Now we learn the sickening news that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, nicknamed 'God's Rottweiler' when he was the church's enforcer on matters of faith and sin, ignored repeated warnings and looked away in the case of the Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, a Wisconsin priest who molested as many as 200 deaf boys."

Again, and with certainty: This is false.

There is much to criticize in the Catholic Church's abysmal failure for decades to take action against priests who engaged in sexual abuse. That history tends to lend credence to reports that the hierarchy has either turned a blind eye or engaged in coverups.

Maybe even the Pope.

While the Murphy case does exemplify the church at its worst, the grievous sins in this matter cannot be laid to Pope Benedict.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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31Mar/100

Scene from a Congressional Hearing in the Near Future

Major Corporate CFO to Waxman: At long last, sir, have you no decency?

Congress:

Congress: *snort*

Congress: *snicker* *giggle*

Congress: Bwahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, hahahahahaaaaaa!

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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31Mar/1011

Spending the Day at the Library

Due to the condition (dead) of my computer, I'm spending the day here in beautiful Shelburne, VT, at the Pierson Library, where I hope to get some things done. Meanwhile, maybe Enoch can look into purchasing a computer for me on the installment plan out of his business, and I can pay him back on a monthly basis. I don't have a lot of options here. Any ideas gratefully accepted.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Filed under: Too Lazy to Categorize 11 Comments

31Mar/102

China – A darker Shade of Green!

Now where did I put those jobs?

Enoch_Root

AKA. Bobby Donn Brubaker (the most popular man in Mesa, AZ), the Umbrella of Terror, Jack Ketch.

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31Mar/102

Overweight Man Loses 12lbs during Lent

For those interested in how I did during my Lenten "I need to lose some weight" campaign - I was able to lose 12lbs.

A couple people committed to use this as an excuse to raise funds for Dan.

So, if you were one of them, the tip jar is over there --->

It is much appreciated, as Dan needs one of these here.

Likelihood of keeping the weight off is slim - nevertheless...

Enoch_Root

AKA. Bobby Donn Brubaker (the most popular man in Mesa, AZ), the Umbrella of Terror, Jack Ketch.

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31Mar/102

Timely Arrest of Christian Would-Be Terrorists

This just in from the Wall Street Journal - the Grey Whore of Babylon! I would mention the timeliness of these arrests - but without more details and given the type of "reporting" we have become sadly accustomed to, I will withhold any sort of knee-jerk mistrust I have of the "Press" reporting on citizens with guns or the "Feds" and their hostility to non-union members that train, military-style with guns - Renokilledlotsofpeopleextraconstitutionallyinwacoifyoullrecall... so, I will do the best I can to trust that these arrests are not without merit.

The leader of a Michigan militia group charged this week with conspiring to kill law-enforcement officers was described Tuesday as a private, family-oriented man who nurtured a festering mistrust of governmental authority, according to people close to the family.

"private" - quiet, guarded, secretive. As compared to a "public" man - open, transparent!

"family-oriented man" - quaint, selfish, conservative, traditional. As compared to a "publicly-oriented man" - giving, socially-active, cause-motivated, lover of the State.

"mistrust of government authority" - oh, no! so novel! so... so very... well, so very prudent silly!

"On the inside of this man's brain, something evil lurks, and until you get to know him, you don't know it," said Andrea Harsh, who was engaged to David Brian Stone Sr. until the couple broke up last year."

ex-fiancee - objective, not at all salty, expert on what is "evil"

The article goes on to promulgate the popular theme "hillbilly" and mentions (pictures, actually) a mobile home, "woods," and - hold your breath .... mistrust of government - the arrests were made on "weapons-related" concerns... the charges? Sedition.

Which, pending the actual facts surrounding these arrests and what the group was factually up to, may or may not be ironic.

I can picture it in my head: well-educated, well-meaning, and very thoughtful people arriving to Starbucks in their VWs and Subarus, purses and man bags tightly clutched to their respective persons... "The tea partier people must be stopped! They are everything I dreamed they were." Timely indeed.

Enoch_Root

AKA. Bobby Donn Brubaker (the most popular man in Mesa, AZ), the Umbrella of Terror, Jack Ketch.

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30Mar/103

Computer Down, Looks Like I’m SOL

Wife has school computer here, but . . . drag.

UPDATE: So, how did this happen? Daughter and wife like to watch an episode or two of Desperate Housewives online in the evening. Daughter pulled up extra chair to do so. Because original screen of laptop is out, using screen sent by JD, but because need access to info on original screen sometimes, high intensity lamp cantilevered in front of screen.

Wife, tired of cleaning up after us, went energetically to return second chair to where it should be, stepped on cord which toppled cantilvered lamp, which knocked over glass of water onto laptop, shorting it out. So, that's the story of why I am without a computer. It is a story of personalities, jury rigging, passion, and pure bad luck. On the plus side, the computer did not electrocute anyone or burst into flames, igniting the curtains. So, there's that.