Newbold: USMC Issue

"Two senior military officers are known to have challenged Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the planning of the Iraq war. Army General Eric Shinseki publicly dissented and found himself marginalized. Marine Lieut. General Greg Newbold, the Pentagon's top operations officer, voiced his objections internally and then retired, in part out of opposition to the war. Here, for the first time, Newbold goes public with a full-throated critique:

In 1971, the rock group The Who released the antiwar anthem Won't Get Fooled Again. To most in my generation, the song conveyed a sense of betrayal by the nation's leaders, who had led our country into a costly and unnecessary war in Vietnam. To those of us who were truly counterculture--who became career members of the military during those rough times--the song conveyed a very different message. To us, its lyrics evoked a feeling that we must never again stand by quietly while those ignorant of and casual about war lead us into another one and then mismanage the conduct of it. Never again, we thought, would our military's senior leaders remain silent as American troops were marched off to an ill-considered engagement. It's 35 years later, and the judgment is in: the Who had it wrong. We have been fooled again."

There's been a lot of "I told you so's" to hand out since the invasion ended and the occupation began. This one comes from a powerful source and he's right...we should not have invaded and we can't leave yet. He doesn't offer a lot of suggestions on what to do now though...we're stuck in a moment and we can't get out of it.

At least it's kept gas prices low....oh wait, the gas is paying for the war, or wait....

Here's a way to kill two birds with one stone....we can send the "undocumented workers" to fight in Iraq....Americans don't want those jobs, right? Just thinking outside the box...

True Conservatives on Bush

Buckley Says Bush Will Be Judged on Iraq War, Now a 'Failure': "William F. Buckley Jr., the longtime conservative writer and leader, said George W. Bush's presidency will be judged entirely by the outcome of a war in Iraq that is now a failure.

``Mr. Bush is in the hands of a fortune that will be unremitting on the point of Iraq,'' Buckley said in an interview that will air on Bloomberg Television this weekend. ``If he'd invented the Bill of Rights it wouldn't get him out of his jam.''"

and this from John Dean (of Watergate fame):

"I think it is important that the committee sometimes hear from the 'dark side'," the former special counsel to Nixon told a hearing on a Senate censure motion made against Bush.

"No president that I can find in the history of our country has really ever adopted a policy of expanding presidential powers for the sake of expanding presidential powers.

"I think that is what we have going on in this presidency."

Achtung, Baby!

Better Than Lottery Odds

NC Cash Search:
"The Next Step is Up to You
If money is owed to you, it’s yours whenever you want it. Reclaiming your money is very simple. First, enter your name in the boxes below to see if money is owed to you. If there is a match, fill out a claim form and send it in with the required documentation. If you need assistance, please call 919-508-1000 and select option 1. After you have completed the claim form and provided the necessary documentation, you should receive your money in 4-6 weeks. "

Do you have unclaimed money in NC? Click on this link to check yourself. Saw Tracey on there and we'll be tryin' this out.

March...right this way

"While organizers say a big turnout and a broad diversity at Monday's events will send a signal to politicians in Washington wrangling over immigration reform, others see possible down sides.

"Each time immigrants have these giant rallies, the more they infuriate the rest of the American population with the idea that those who break the law get to march and somehow be rewarded," says Ira Mehlman, L.A. spokesman for Federation for American Immigration Reform. "We have seen in France what happens when you try to bring in millions of people ... in many cases who are hostile. We saw there that it didn't work, and it won't work here.""

I'm all for some immigration reform, we need to let more in legally, but these marches are rediculous. We may not be able to gather up all 11 million "undocumented workers", but it seems to me that these marches would be the perfect place to round up the ones who flaunt their status. They're here illegally, yet are brazen enough to march the streets in public? Being illegal here should not be so easy...

Viral Power

"...once we've altered the genes of the virus to grow the electrode material, we can easily clone millions of identical copies of the virus to use in assembling our batteries.

"For the metal oxide we chose cobalt oxide because it has very good specific capacity, which will produce batteries with high energy density," meaning it can store two or three times more energy for its size and weight compared to previously used battery electrode materials. And adding the gold further increased the wires' energy density, she added.

Equally important, the reactions needed to create nanowires occur at normal room temperatures and pressures, so there is no need for expensive pressure-cooking technology to get the job done.

The work is important, too, because energy density is a vital quality in batteries. A lack of energy density - meaning the amount of charge a battery of a given size can usefully carry - is what has hampered development of electric cars, since existing batteries are generally too heavy and too weak to compete with gasoline as an energy source. Still, battery technology is gradually being improved and may someday even become competitive as the price of oil escalates.

"The nanoscale materials we've made supply two to three times the electrical energy for their mass or volume, compared to previous materials," the team reported.

A Modest Earmark

"A lot of people in Washington are getting rich off earmarks, and it's about time I got my piece of the pie. So members of Congress, if you're reading this, how about sending an earmark my way - perhaps in the form of a shiny new boat?

Not a yacht or anything fancy, just a modest speedboat that would only set Uncle Sam back $30,000.

To some critics, this earmark might represent an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars. Curmudgeonly tight-wads would grumble about excessive federal spending and mounting deficits. Elitist "good government" types would complain about the abuse of political clout and the propensity of such behavior to breed corruption. Esoteric political scientists might decry the unfortunate ease with which money is misspent when government bestows a generous benefit to a small group of people (in this case, me and my drinking buddies) at the expense of a larger group (taxpayers).

But I don't buy that mumbo-jumbo anymore. I think my boat would be a jobs machine. I'll purchase an American-built boat from a local dealer, thus creating a number of manufacturing and service-sector jobs.

Just think: Who's going to scrape the barnacles off the bottom of my boat? Who will supply the gasoline? Who will provide winter storage?

Jobs, jobs, jobs.

As hardworking Americans service, clean and store my boat, they will pay sales, income and other taxes. Much of this money will be sent back to Washington, where it can be used to further expand the economy through earmarking."

This article appeared in the Myrtle Beach Sun News, April 2, 2006.

The original "Modest Proposal": http://www.online-literature.com/swift/947/

Zephyr in the sky at night

Solar Powered Plane Might Fly Continuously For Weeks
"Called the Zephyr, it's an aircraft that can fly continuously using nothing but solar power and "low drag aerodynamics". The combination of solar panels on the upper wing surface and rechargeable batteries allows Zephyr to be flown for many weeks and even months. The first flight trial of the Zephyr were conducted recently by QinetiQ in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico."

It's Borg-tastic!

LiveScience.com - Brain Cells Fused with Computer Chip:

"The line between living organisms and machines has just become a whole lot blurrier. European researchers have developed 'neuro-chips' in which living brain cells and silicon circuits are coupled together....

The proteins allowed the neuro-chip's electronic components and its living cells to communicate with each other. Electrical signals from neurons were recorded using the chip's transistors, while the chip's capacitors were used to stimulate the neurons.

It could still be decades before the technology is advanced enough to treat neurological disorders or create living computers, the researchers say, but in the nearer term, the chips could provide an advanced method of screening drugs for the pharmaceutical industry."

Resistance is fu-tile.

Powell Misunderstood/Misled?

From Jack at Slate:

"But there was one very persuasive section—playbacks of intercepted phone conversations between Iraqi military officers that suggested they were hiding WMD from the U.N. inspectors...

Powell played these tapes as Exhibit A in his presentation, and for good reason. They appeared to reveal that the Iraqis still possessed illegal chemical or biological agents and that they were deliberately hiding the materials from inspectors.

In a Slate column at the time, I called the tapes a "smoking gun." Six months later—after "major combat operations" had ceased, the U.S. military inspectors had failed to turn up any WMD, and the once-dubious parts of Powell's briefing had been proved conclusively false—I wrote that those tape intercepts were still "puzzling." Were the tapes fabrications, like the forged "yellowcake" documents? Were the translations accurate? Were these officers really talking about what Powell said they were talking about? Were they staging the conversation to make U.S. officials listening in believe Saddam had WMD (on the premise that the possession of such weapons might deter the United States from invading)?

Now, three years after the fact, a plausible answer has emerged. In the middle of a big article in Sunday's New York Times, Michael Gordon and Gen. Bernard Trainor report that the officers were talking about removing not weapons, agents, or munitions, but rather "residue from old unconventional weapons programs" dating back to before the 1991 Gulf War."

Well, thank goodness we got that straightened out before we, like, invaded their country or something.

The Costs of War (continued)

The Costs of War:

"Check out these vivid examples: for the same $315 billion, over 71 million people could have received comprehensive health care (36 million are currently uninsured); 61 million students could receive university scholarships; nearly 5 million workers could be employed as port container inspectors (only 6 percent of the 9 million containers arriving annually are currently inspected); or every child in the world could be given basic immunizations for the next 80 years..."

Take him up on it

Maybe it's Time to Negotiate With the Enemy:
"(Dear Mr. President,)
Why not come to the table with al-Qaida? Could anything be more empowering to our cause than to engage them with their own weapons - words?.... Who are we to say that people like Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida can't change?

Finally, as a man of faith, I'm sure you know that Jesus modeled humility and forgiveness. Jesus refused to embrace the logic of, “If someone hits you, hit back! If anyone takes your coat, burn down his house!” No, Jesus said turn the other cheek, never stop forgiving and love your enemies."

I don't know that we can expect these evil people to change, but shouldn't we be able to meet with them, debate, and let the whole world see who is right? The only downside to negotiating with Bin Laden is that he cannot control his gang of ne'er do-wells any better than Arafat could...he can negotiate the deal, but he can't enforce it. But we could win a debate of ideas with Al Quaida, right? That's all I'm sayin'.

Saddam-lite

WorldNetDaily: Time to face facts in Iraq:

"...perhaps we should consider empowering a military junta (which can operate behind the facade of a nominal democracy). We can arm it, finance it, and do business with such an entity. In exchange, this junta – or strong man as the case may eventually turn out – will grant us the petroleum we seek, the bases we need, and will agree, if we (and the Iraqi people) are especially lucky, to govern with a kinder, gentler face than was the case with Saddam."

Hey, why not just put a neutered Saddam back in power? Rumsfeld & Co. dealt with him well enough in the 80's...when he was committing the crimes he's on trial for now.

Is this the best we can expect from our war now?
I hate to say it, but it looks like we were all better off before we dethroned Saddam, even if he was a madman. For a while there though, back in the 80's, he was our madman....killing those pesky Iranians and befuddling the Soviets, establishing a non-Islamic government in the heart of the Middle East. Oh Saddam, we had it so good till you invaded Kuwait. Oh, and the Kurd killing, we didn't like that either. And the detentions. Well, Saddam was pretty much your typical a-hole dictator type....you know, about the best thing we could hope for in Iraq now, so we can eventually, someday begin leaving.

update 11/13/06: more Alternet:

"Rumseld met with Hussein in December 1983 and returned again on March 24, 1984--the very same day the United Nations released a report that Iraq had committed war crimes by using mustard gas and tabun nerve agent against Iranian troops. "American diplomats pronounce themselves satisfied with Iraq and the U.S., and suggest that normal diplomatic ties have been established in all but name," The New York Times reported five days later.The official transcripts of Rumsfeld's report on his meetings with then Iraq Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz and Hussein himself make clear that our defense secretary never even mentioned the brutal suppression of the Dujail Shiites, which has now earned the dictator a death sentence. The diplomatic message was clear: Hussein's brutality, and even his use of chemical weapons, was not an obstacle to warm relations between the United States and Iraq."

Hey, I know Saddam was a brutal dictator, but the reality is that he was better for US than what we have now. Even Rummy knew this 20+ years ago....I guess he forgot?

Battery Wattage

Wired 14.03: START: "The M1, based on the same lithium-ion technology used in your cell phone and laptop, is the first product from MIT spinoff A123 Systems. Cofounder Yet-Ming Chiang, a materials science professor, succeeded in shrinking to nanoscale the particles that coat the battery's electrodes and store and discharge energy. The results are electrifying: Power density doubles, peak energy jumps fivefold (the cells pack more punch than a standard 110-volt wall outlet), and recharging time plummets. Going nano also solves a safety problem. Regular high-capacity Li-ion batteries tend to explode under severe stress, like if they're dropped from a ladder."

This was a big advance...if we can keep coming up with more solutions like this, we may never need hydrogen-driven cars....straight from gas to 'lectric.
5 minute plug-in for a 90% charge? Takes about that long to pump gas....

How Sweet It Is

It was supposed to be the year to beat up on Carolina. Even hardcore fans had no expectations from this team, a 20-win season seemed overly-optimistic. But guess what? The defending National Champions are the best team in the country today. It's a Cinderella story, folks. Who'd have thunk it?
Hansbrough has had a better season than Sean May did (to this point anyway) last year.
Carolina starts 3 white guys, 2 of them freshmen and the other a walk-on.
We're 9 deep.
Bizarre.
Beat #1 Duke @ Cameron? Check