Tunku Varadarajan has an article in Forbes this morning where he dismisses those of us who are distrustful of President Obama's speech to our children as "Demented."
Ht Instapundit.
Ht Instapundit.
Monday, September 07, 2009
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Consequences of (Not So) Smart Diplomacy
Convicted terrorist goes free. Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was convicted on January 31, 2001 of 270 counts of murder for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 (21 December 1988). The remains of the plane rained down on Lockerbie, Scotland.
On Aug 20, 2009 Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was released from Scottish custody and was repatriated to Libya. The wikipedia article is here.
Since his repatriation, a number of facts have come to light. Here is a Time Magazine article to shed some light on the different discussions.
A Timeline:
That is, I thought that the Brits were being petty - and that my own government, while being inept, did not have knowledge of the transfer until it was too late. I was wrong in that assumption.
It turns out that President Obama's administration did know about the transfer, having been, "kept informed at all stages of discussions concerning Megrahi’s return."
The Daily Mail continues,
Here is another take, from Powerline Blog.
UPDATED:
Hotair picks up the thread from Astute Bloggers, but you read it here 1st :-) I disagree with Astute Bloggers' conclusion - this action (on the part of BOTH 2008 Democratic Presidential candidates) is reprehensible and simply adds to the body of evidence that that this administration suffers from glaring incompetence (or hubris) I am unable to tell which.
On Aug 20, 2009 Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was released from Scottish custody and was repatriated to Libya. The wikipedia article is here.
Since his repatriation, a number of facts have come to light. Here is a Time Magazine article to shed some light on the different discussions.
A Timeline:
- British oil companies were negotiating for deals in Libya in 2007.
- British Justice Minister Jack Straw, wrote a letter to Scotland's 1st minister in Feb 2008 regarding "developing a strong relationship with Libya."
- A prisoner transfer agreement was finalized between Great Britain and Libya in November 2008
- There was a meeting in March 2009 where the position was advanced that al-Megrahi should not die in jail.
- PM Gordon Brown discussed the case with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi during the G8 Summit in July 2009.
That is, I thought that the Brits were being petty - and that my own government, while being inept, did not have knowledge of the transfer until it was too late. I was wrong in that assumption.
It turns out that President Obama's administration did know about the transfer, having been, "kept informed at all stages of discussions concerning Megrahi’s return."
The Daily Mail continues,
The officials say the Americans spoke out because they were taken aback by the row over Megrahi’s release, not because they did not know it was about to happen.In other words, our new administration is so completely out of touch with America that they could not gauge what the reaction would be to releasing a terrorist who murdered 270 people, 180 of them American.
Here is another take, from Powerline Blog.
UPDATED:
Hotair picks up the thread from Astute Bloggers, but you read it here 1st :-) I disagree with Astute Bloggers' conclusion - this action (on the part of BOTH 2008 Democratic Presidential candidates) is reprehensible and simply adds to the body of evidence that that this administration suffers from glaring incompetence (or hubris) I am unable to tell which.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Japan Elects New Government
Indications are that the people of Japan have elected the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to replace the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan. Story here. The score seems to be (300-326) DPJ to (97-106) LDP.
This is a huge shift because the LDP has been in charge for more than 50 years. The Wall Street Journal reports that among the DPJ's goals are: "reevaluation (of) (sic) Japan's historically strong ties with the U.S. and explore greater regional alliances."
Stew's View:
This is a significant development - Japan has had a "self-defense force" as permitted by their constitution since the end of WW2. The US has treaties that obligate us to provide defense for Japan - yet we seem powerless to defend them against the occasional missile shot from North Korea. This coupled with strong domestic difficulties (economic issues, aging population, and miniscule birthrate) means that the DPJ has a strong mandate for change.
BTW, the first offensive deployment of Japanese forces since the end of WW2 was to support the US in Iraq.
This is a huge shift because the LDP has been in charge for more than 50 years. The Wall Street Journal reports that among the DPJ's goals are: "reevaluation (of) (sic) Japan's historically strong ties with the U.S. and explore greater regional alliances."
Stew's View:
This is a significant development - Japan has had a "self-defense force" as permitted by their constitution since the end of WW2. The US has treaties that obligate us to provide defense for Japan - yet we seem powerless to defend them against the occasional missile shot from North Korea. This coupled with strong domestic difficulties (economic issues, aging population, and miniscule birthrate) means that the DPJ has a strong mandate for change.
BTW, the first offensive deployment of Japanese forces since the end of WW2 was to support the US in Iraq.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
From Fox News Sunday 7/19/2009
Updated due to Math Error(s).
Chris Wallace and Peter Orszag (Director of the Office of Management and Budget) are discussing health Care reform. Here is the full transcript.
Chris mentions taxes:
The money line: "that affects a very small percentage of the population, 1 or 2 percent."
Stew's View:
A. As of 22 July, 2009, according to the Census bureau, the population of the United States is 306,975,184.
B. 10% of that is roughly 30.7 million.
C. 47 Million uninsured account for 16% of the population.
Although 9.7 million of the uninsured are non-citizen immigrants (IBD Editorial quoting "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States," a census report), subtracting this number from the uninsured is poor categorization. (Remember the three rules for categorizing things. 1. Independent, 2. Mutually Exclusive, 3. Collectively Exhaustive.)
D. 17 Million live in households making more than $50K per year (same IBD editorial) - implication - they could probably afford some type of health insurance.
E. Leaving 30 million uninsured and probably unable to afford it.
F. That is roughly 10% of the population.
Back to the money line: "that affects a very small percentage of the population, 1 or 2 percent."
Orszag's implication seems clear to me, restated here "why should we care about being just to 1 or 2 percent of the population?" Indeed.
Stew's questions:
1. Why are we redesigning 17% of our 2007 gdp to close a 10% gap in coverage?
2. How many of the uninsured poor qualify for Medicaid and have not signed up for it? SCHIP?
3. How is the health insurance market like the auto insurance market (e.g. State mandates, federal regulation) - resulting in increased costs?
4. Why isn't private health insurance tax deductible, the way it is to employers?
5. Why can't private citizens have Health Savings Accounts?
6. What hidden costs of healthcare are driven by ineffective Government practices / regulations?
7. Tort reform?
Update: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal had an editorial in the Wall Street Journal today.
Chris Wallace and Peter Orszag (Director of the Office of Management and Budget) are discussing health Care reform. Here is the full transcript.
Chris mentions taxes:
WALLACE: Let's talk about taxes. The House would raise a half a trillion dollars to help pay for its health care program by imposing a surtax on top earners. As a result, combined with other Obama tax policy and local taxes, 39 of the 50 states would have tax rates over 50 percent.
I want you to take a look at this. The top rate in Denmark is 60 percent. It would be over 57 percent in Oregon, almost 57 percent in New York and California. That's higher than Sweden and Belgium.
Is the president prepared to say that it is unacceptable to raise taxes that high?
ORSZAG: Well, first, look. You were — you were adding in state and local taxes in those calculations.
WALLACE: Well, that's what people are going to have to pay.
ORSZAG: Secondly, that affects a very small percentage of the population, 1 or 2 percent.
The money line: "that affects a very small percentage of the population, 1 or 2 percent."
Stew's View:
A. As of 22 July, 2009, according to the Census bureau, the population of the United States is 306,975,184.
B. 10% of that is roughly 30.7 million.
C. 47 Million uninsured account for 16% of the population.
Although 9.7 million of the uninsured are non-citizen immigrants (IBD Editorial quoting "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States," a census report), subtracting this number from the uninsured is poor categorization. (Remember the three rules for categorizing things. 1. Independent, 2. Mutually Exclusive, 3. Collectively Exhaustive.)
D. 17 Million live in households making more than $50K per year (same IBD editorial) - implication - they could probably afford some type of health insurance.
E. Leaving 30 million uninsured and probably unable to afford it.
F. That is roughly 10% of the population.
Back to the money line: "that affects a very small percentage of the population, 1 or 2 percent."
Orszag's implication seems clear to me, restated here "why should we care about being just to 1 or 2 percent of the population?" Indeed.
Stew's questions:
1. Why are we redesigning 17% of our 2007 gdp to close a 10% gap in coverage?
2. How many of the uninsured poor qualify for Medicaid and have not signed up for it? SCHIP?
3. How is the health insurance market like the auto insurance market (e.g. State mandates, federal regulation) - resulting in increased costs?
4. Why isn't private health insurance tax deductible, the way it is to employers?
5. Why can't private citizens have Health Savings Accounts?
6. What hidden costs of healthcare are driven by ineffective Government practices / regulations?
7. Tort reform?
Update: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal had an editorial in the Wall Street Journal today.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
How many key Geek thing can you do?
How many of the 100 essential skills for geeks do you know how to do?
At a quick glance I have about 45 out of 100. You?
At a quick glance I have about 45 out of 100. You?
Thursday, July 09, 2009
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