Defense contractor held in spy case

A defense contractor charged with failing to register as a Chinese agent admitted passing data on U.S. Navy arms technology to China for 22 years, including information on next-generation destroyers, an aircraft carrier catapult and the Aegis weapons system, according to new court papers in the case.

Charged with “failing to register…”???? W.T.F.? Can’t they pronounce T-R-E-A-S-O-N?

Two federal judges in Los Angeles on Monday reversed earlier rulings and ordered the contractor and his brother held without bond. The rulings followed testimony from FBI agents in the case.

At least they had THAT much sense. It wouldn’t have taken those guys long slip away on bail and end up living the good life in Shanghai, or somewhere else over there.

The court documents shed new light on what U.S. intelligence officials say will be one of the most damaging cases of Chinese technology spying on U.S. weapons, even though the information compromised was not secret.

The Chief had occasion, in his Naval career to routinely handle lots of classified material, including cryptographic material. The definition for stuff that was classified “SECRET” is that if it were disclosed, it could cause serious harm to the national security. For “TOP SECRET”, disclosure could cause extremely grave harm.

If the stuff in this case was “one of the most damaging cases of…spying…” then it sure looks as though somebody is being REALLY incompetant with the classification and control on the technology of concern.

U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney, who ordered Chi Mak to be held without bond, dismissed a defense lawyer’s claim that the charges were exaggerated. “You’re talking about billions of dollars of technology that puts our country at serious risk,” he said. Investigators found data on the DDX destroyer program on encrypted files carried by Tai Mak, a Phoenix television engineer, when he was arrested along with his wife Oct. 28 at Los Angeles International Airport as they prepared to travel to China.

Nothing like being caught red-handed (pun intended) funneling stuff to the ChiComs.

Rope. Tree. Spies. Some assembly required!

Several related items here:

Time needed to end alien ‘catch-and-release’ debated

Ending the “catch-and-release” policy for non-Mexican illegal aliens will take at least a year, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has estimated. But Rep. Lamar Smith, Texas Republican, said he has heard estimates from Mr. Chertoff’s department that it will take as long as three years to end the policy, stressing why better enforcement must come before Congress acts on President Bush’s call for a guest-worker program.

Hopefully this isn’t an exercise in bureaucratic double-talk. Surely we should be able to start doing something sooner than three years, ore even one year, if the leadership and will exists to cut through red tape toi maike things happen.

Immigration office ignores fake marriages

Documents show that the Houston office of the federal agency charged with interior immigration enforcement has stopped investigating individual cases of “sham” marriages, which terrorists have used in the past to stay legally in the U.S.

In spite of the good sounding remarks the Pres. delivered earlier on immigration policy, this is a de-facto case of negative progress. It’s even worse when you read the rest of the details in the story. W.T.F.? Let’s get it together guys!

France toughens controls on aliens

Sheesh. After the above entry, the Chief is flabbergasted that he has to say that we need to follow the example of the FRENCH(!?) in something, but it sure looks that way.

Authorities will better enforce requirements that immigrants seeking 10-year residency permits or French citizenship must master the French language and integrate into society, Mr. de Villepin said. France also will implement a stricter screening process for foreign students and plans to crack down on fraudulent marriages that some immigrants use to obtain residency, he said.

Apparently the Frogs “get it”.

Power back for many; S. Dakotans dig out

Still some problems from this week’s blizzard. (Understatement alert!)

Tens of thousands of South Dakotans remain without electricity today in the aftermath of a widespread winter storm that ripped down power lines and snapped at least 8,000 poles.

Gov. Mike Rounds said during a conference call Tuesday evening that 40,000 electric company customers lost power. Because many of those were families, the actual number of affected people was much higher.

Restoring electricity will be a long process. “Repair crews will be working 18-hour shifts,” Rounds said. “One hundred semi-loads of poles, minimum, need to be brought in.” The governor said the storm affected 10,000 miles of power lines and sapped electricity from about 100 communities.

CinC Speaks at Naval Academy

Live-blogged notes on the address. The Chief’s instant impression evaluation: a great start to explain the strategic goals and progress of the Iraq war: victroy trumps withdrawel. Well said, including a much-deserved jab in the eyes of the withdrawel timetable advocates.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Terror war fought on many fronts.

Enemy must be defeated on every battlefield – Iraq has become central front of terror war.

Understand the enemy: in Iraq composed of several groups.

“(1) Rejectionists (Sunnis upset that no longer dominant power group in Iraq, but not all Sunnis.

2) Former Saddam loyalists/Baathists – lack popular support, will become marginalized.

(3) al Qaida affiliates / allies- smallest group – many non-Iraqis – resp. for suicide bombers, beheadings, kidnappings, etc. Seek to gain Iraq as base to push for Islamist empire. Ultimate failure will be based on failure of will to power overcoming desire for freedom.
These have same philosophy & ideology as 9-11 hijackers.

Response to them “Never back down. Never give in. Accept nothing less than complete victory.”
Continue reading →

Our Troops Must Stay

Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) has sounded a strong warning that the US cannot cut and run out of Iraq. This one is worth reading, and is in the fine old Democrat tradition of responsability in foriegn affairs like that of Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson, and others of his ilk, who are now extremely scarce on the ground in todays Party of the Donkey.

I have just returned from my fourth trip to Iraq in the past 17 months and can report real progress there. More work needs to be done, of course, but the Iraqi people are in reach of a watershed transformation from the primitive, killing tyranny of Saddam to modern, self-governing, self-securing nationhood–unless the great American military that has given them and us this unexpected opportunity is prematurely withdrawn.

Sen. L. has been there repeatedly, and thus has a direct experience of comparing the conditions on the ground as they have changed over time. The news is good!

Progress is visible and practical. In the Kurdish North, there is continuing security and growing prosperity. The primarily Shiite South remains largely free of terrorism, receives much more electric power and other public services than it did under Saddam, and is experiencing greater economic activity. The Sunni triangle, geographically defined by Baghdad to the east, Tikrit to the north and Ramadi to the west, is where most of the terrorist enemy attacks occur. And yet here, too, there is progress.

To cut to the chase:

It is a war between 27 million and 10,000; 27 million Iraqis who want to live lives of freedom, opportunity and prosperity and roughly 10,000 terrorists who are either Saddam revanchists, Iraqi Islamic extremists or al Qaeda foreign fighters who know their wretched causes will be set back if Iraq becomes free and modern. The terrorists are intent on stopping this by instigating a civil war to produce the chaos that will allow Iraq to replace Afghanistan as the base for their fanatical war-making. We are fighting on the side of the 27 million because the outcome of this war is critically important to the security and freedom of America. If the terrorists win, they will be emboldened to strike us directly again and to further undermine the growing stability and progress in the Middle East, which has long been a major American national and economic security priority.

Just as imprtantly, he also notes the damage being done by the politicalizaion of the war:

The leaders of Iraq’s duly elected government understand this, and they asked me for reassurance about America’s commitment. The question is whether the American people and enough of their representatives in Congress from both parties understand this. I am disappointed by Democrats who are more focused on how President Bush took America into the war in Iraq almost three years ago, and by Republicans who are more worried about whether the war will bring them down in next November’s elections, than they are concerned about how we continue the progress in Iraq in the months and years ahead.

Hear, Hear! Sen. Lieberman has shown himself to be a Democrat, not just a Donk Dhimmicrat.

There’s more too – check it out. It’s well worth the read.

Huge Snowstorm Rolls Across Great Plains

Crews on Tuesday gradually reopened major highways that had been closed by the Plains’ first blizzard of the season, stranding post-Thanksgiving travelers. Thousands of people remained without electricity.

It’s been a few years since there’s been a blizzard like this one here on our corner of the northerm plains. The Chief shut down last night when the electricity started flicking off and on for a while. We never did completely lose the power, although nearby areas were not so lucky.

Utility officials estimated that 50,000 customers were blacked out across eastern South Dakota on Tuesday, and many communities in North Dakota had no electricity. Nebraska also had scattered outages. The morning’s low at Grand Forks, N.D., was 14 degrees.

It was also 14º here at the Chief’s location this morning, and again tonight. (Just about enough to convince you that it’s winter!) Right now at 11PM CST there are still 40,000 in the state with no power yet. (Been there, done that – it ain’t fun – hence the Chief’s backup pair of Coleman generators ready to keep the spark going as needs be.)

For those of you not out on the edge of the grid, this led to going around unplugging various items of digital electronics like satellite equipment (C-band, DishNetwork, and 2-way direct internet), computers, etc, to avoid damage from voltage spikes occurring as the juice flipped on and off.

Another note: at times blogging may ne a bit lessened on the weekend, since we have entered what some consider to be the High Holy Days of deer season.

Yes PETA, THIS Daddy kills animals up close and personal, and likes to cook ’em up and dine on them. Around here the venison comes as though the deer were on a finishing lot – every one I’ve shot has had a gut full of corn from gleaning the harvested fields.

This makes it good for the OTHER PETA: People Eating tasty Animals. Oh, yeah!

Video of Four Hostages Airs on Al-Jazeera

Images of four peace activists taken hostage in Iraq — one of which is an American — was shown on the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera Tuesday.

The irony level here is rich. Peace activists, dedicated to the proposition that we’re all the same, and that all we really need to do is try to all get along with each other and sing Kumbaya have met up with hard-core Islamofascist terrorism up close and personal.

A previously unknown group, the Swords of Righteousness Brigade, claimed responsibility for the kidnappings. The group said the four victims were spies working undercover as Christian peace activists,

Meanwhile, other unidentified Islamofascists went after a German victim to kidnap to protest Deutschland’s troops in Afghanistan. They’s apparently taking the measure of recently inaugurated Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Separately, photos were released Tuesday of Susanne Osthoff, a German woman, being led away blindfolded by armed captors. The photos were taken from a video in which her captors demanded that Germany stop any dealings with Iraq’s government, according to Germany’s ARD television. Germany has ruled out sending troops to Iraq and opposed the U.S.-led war. Osthoff and her driver have been missing since Friday and “according to current information, we have to assume it is a kidnapping,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin.

F.E.T.E.

Poll finds Chirac sinking

Jacques Chirac’s presidency hit a new low Sunday when a poll revealed that most voters think he now has little or no influence over events at home or abroad.

The Chief wonders what their first clue was to this – the complete lack of any real influence over the course of events in Iraq (in spite of repeated verbal fulminatins about the US policies and actions, or the feckless response to the importaion of the jihadistani “Arab street” to the Ile de France, and elsewhere.

Of those polled, 72 percent regarded the influence of their president — who turns 73 today — over what happens in France as “weak.” Two-thirds said his clout on the world stage was feeble, while only 36 percent thought he held any significant sway over European politics.

Hmmmm. Maybe it was his failure to carry the ball for the Eurocratic constitution in the Froggish referendum on the same.

Whatever.

The sun is setting on the reign of Chirac.

Martin’s authority dissolves after vote

This has been coming up, and is not really a surprise, especially after Martin lost a trial vote last week, and the “adscam” scandel which got a lot of attention last summer after American blogger Captain Ed leaked closed testimony and let the cat out of the bag pm the Canuckian Liberal Party involvement in it.

A corruption scandal forced a parliamentary vote of no-confidence yesterday that toppled Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin’s minority government, triggering an unusual winter election campaign.

Canada’s three opposition parties, which control a majority in Parliament, voted against Mr. Martin’s government, saying his Liberal Party no longer has the moral authority to lead the nation. The loss means an election for all 308 seats in the lower House of Commons, likely Jan. 23. Mr. Martin and his Cabinet would continue to govern until then.

Can you say “schadenfreude”?

Live Blogging today, starting at approx. 1540 CST.

Americ needs to be welcoming society, and lawful society. Enforcing law essential to nation and especially to border communities.

There is a clear responsibility to protect the border.

Comprehensive reform strategy. Catch illegal immigrants, harden border, enforce laws,

THREE PART PLAN
– all illegal entrants captures are to be deported immediately. – Use of “interior repatriation” for Mexicans – deporting back to original home, not just across the border. Interior repatriation to be expanded. Non-Mexican illegals currently given court dates which they ignore. Catch and release policy to be ended. Must increase detention capacity. Processing times to be increased: expedited removal – streamlined procedure cuts processing time by 2/3.
Catch and release to become catch and return.
– Correct weak immigration laws & rules that prevent prompt action. Needs to cut down on appeal rights & repeated litigation.
– Stop illegal crossings: increae manpower, technology (UAV’s, etc.), border infrastructure. (Misc. examples.) Physical barriers to be improved.

Improvement in internal enforcement of laws/regs: employers, illegals, smugglers, etc. Border security, interior enforcement hand-in-hand.

Measures to reduce document fraud. Businesses to be give access to Fed. data base to verify status of prospective enployees.

Temporary worker program
– legal status for fixed period of time, then return.
– no automatic path to citizenship
– no amnesty to illegals
– increase number of annual green cards that can lead to citizenship, but not through amnesty.

Summary of prospective Congressional action for early next year.

All new citizens have obligation to learn values, customs, respect for laws & rights, toleration of others and learn English language.

Conclude with praise for Border Patrol, INS, etc. for current efforts.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
The Chief’s initial reaction – generally not bad, but some areas of concern that will be thrashed out in Congress one way or another – the mechanics of the guest worker scheme for one.

It was very good to note that it is essential for immigrants to join into American culture, values, language, etc.

It’s a start at least. It’ll be interesting to hear the response of Cong. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) who has been very outspoken on these issues.

Viet-nam & Iraq Coalition Casualties

THis graph was compiled from historical stats from ‘Nam as well as Iraq. Graphs can be a GREAT way for making something clear.

The Iraq data came from this site, and the ‘Nam data originated here.

Kudos to the Bastard Sword for this graphically illustrative enlightenment, and an H/T to the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler for bringing it to the Chief’s attention.

Sympathetic Vibrations

Reported in the WaPo no less!

Democrats fumed last week at Vice President Cheney’s suggestion that criticism of the administration’s war policies was itself becoming a hindrance to the war effort. But a new poll indicates most Americans are sympathetic to Cheney’s point.

Ooops! Reality is a bitch!

Seventy percent of people surveyed said that criticism of the war by Democratic senators hurts troop morale — with 44 percent saying morale is hurt “a lot,” according to a poll taken by RT Strategies. Even self-identified Democrats agree: 55 percent believe criticism hurts morale, while 21 percent say it helps morale. The results surely will rankle many Democrats, who argue that it is patriotic and supportive of the troops to call attention to what they believe are deep flaws in President Bush’s Iraq strategy. But the survey itself cannot be dismissed as a partisan attack. The RTs in RT Strategies are Thomas Riehle, a Democrat, and Lance Tarrance, a veteran GOP pollster.

So much for claiming GOP biases. As far as assessing the Donks’ reasons for their caterwauling, there’s more:

Their poll also indicates many Americans are skeptical of Democratic complaints about the war. Just three of 10 adults accept that Democrats are leveling criticism because they believe this will help U.S. efforts in Iraq. A majority believes the motive is really to “gain a partisan political advantage.”

Again, as reported in the Washington Post. Donks have to be thinking along the lines of “Et tu, Brute“.

They even go on to note this:

This poll is one of the few pieces of supportive news the administration has had lately on Iraq. Most surveys have shown significant majorities believe it was a mistake to go to war, as well as rising sentiment that Bush misled Americans in making the case for it. Even so, there is still support for Bush’s policy going forward. A plurality, 49 percent, believe that troops should come home only when the Iraqi government can provide for its own security, while 16 percent support immediate withdrawal, regardless of the circumstances.

Elsewhere on the protest front:

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan waits for people to show up at her book signing near President Bush’s ranch on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2005. Note reporters, but no customers. “Every picture tells a story, don’t it?”

With this non-event, one would think that the Donks would begin to get the hint…but then again, perhaps not – they ARE Donks after all.

A new voice in Indian Country

This caught my attention as a general interest item, since I work with many Native Americans in Flandreau, Moody County, SD. Aside from the success of this relatively new paper, there was more of interest to the Chief in this article:

Currently, the association’s (SD Newspaper Assoc.) only Indian newspaper is the Lakota Journal, although that may soon change, Bordewyk said. He said the Lakota Journal plans to move its operation from Rapid City to Flandreau. He said the newspaper has sold its press but will use the Madison Daily Leader’s press to publish the weekly paper.

Because of the move to Flandreau, the Lakota Journal will temporarily lose its SDNA membership. The Lakota Journal must publish for a year in the new location to become a legal newspaper and therefore eligible as a member of the association.

The Chief follows the news that is decided fit to print in the (weekly) Moody County Enterprise also of Flandreau, but apparently the Lakota Journal move is not newsworthy enough, or the Enterprise doesn’t want another paper in town, or, just possibly, the Chief overlooked some coverage somewhere along the way.

Admittedly this is a local issue, but hey, it’s the Chief’s own ‘hood!

Tehran raps U.S. as ‘war criminals’

Iran’s hard-line president said yesterday the Bush administration should be tried on war-crimes charges, and he denounced the West for pressuring Iran to curb its controversial nuclear program.

Iran’s hard-line president, who was one of the student leaders involved with the Carter-era US embassy hostage taking (and holding), is re-hashing some of the same types of claims that they were expounding during the late 70’s incident. He’s nothing if not consistant with his hatred of the USA as the great satan.

“You, who have used nuclear weapons against innocent people, who have used uranium ordnance in Iraq, should be tried as war criminals in courts,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

This one is new: equating depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds with the use of nuclear weapons. Not any technical validity, but hey, just saying the word “uranium” gets a lot of mileage propaganda-wise, and is even likely to elicit sympathy from western envirowackos who are just as ignorant of the issue as the Iranian peasant population is.

Mr. Ahmadinejad Ah’m-mad-in-jihad did not elaborate, but he apparently was referring to the U.S. military’s use of artillery shells packed with depleted uranium, which is far less radioactive than natural uranium and is left over from the process of enriching uranium for use as nuclear fuel.

Iran has been under intense international pressure to curb its nuclear program, which the United States claims is part of an effort to produce nuclear weapons. Iran denies such claims and says its program is aimed at generating electricity.

Yeah, right, you can believe as much of THAT as you want to. (If you do believe him on that, please e-mail the Chief: I have some GREAT tropical beach property in Moody County, South Dakota I would like to sell you.)

Also, a possible marriage made in hell is in the works:

Meanwhile, a leading German newsweekly reported that Iran has offered North Korea oil and natural gas as payment for help in developing nuclear missiles. A senior Iranian official traveled to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, during the second week of October to make the offer, the Der Spiegel magazine reported yesterday, citing unidentified Western intelligence sources. It was not clear what North Korea’s response was, the magazine said.

If they keep going like this, with any luck they’ll be turning themselves into a bombing practice range for the Israeli Air Force, assuming Sharon doesn’t put their gonads into a lock-box, but that’s another story.

The plight of the cellar girls

Here’s reports of extensive traffic in sex-slaves out of Eastern Europe. It seems they are getting lured into Albanian sex-slavery rings by promises of legitimate employement in Western Europe.

I guess this is just part of the Albanian (Islamic) culture. One would hope that these are not observant religionists, but it is still apparently perfect acceptable to them to do this.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Not only is there a 21st Century revival of chattel slavery that the US and UK fought to eliminate in the 19th Century, but this is paralleled with the revival of widespread piracy both out of Somalia, as well as in the Indonesian islands, both areas coincidently (?) Islamic if not Islamist.

F.E.T.E.

Former Canadian Minister Of Defence Asks Canadian Parliament Asked To Hold Hearings On Relations With Alien “ET” Civilizations

Canada continues to push the envelope to redefine moonbat:

A former Canadian Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister under Pierre Trudeau has joined forces with three Non-governmental organizations to ask the Parliament of Canada to hold public hearings on Exopolitics — relations with “ETs.” By “ETs,” Mr. Hellyer and these organizations mean ethical, advanced extraterrestrial civilizations that may now be visiting Earth.

He goes on to warn about a posssibly impending “galactic war”:

Mr. Hellyer went on to say, “I’m so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say something.”

And of course, being Canuckian, it’s obligatorythat the something he has to say lays it to the fault of the evil, wicked, mean, and nasty USA:

Hellyer revealed, “The secrecy involved in all matters pertaining to the Roswell incident was unparalled. The classification was, from the outset, above top secret, so the vast majority of U.S. officials and politicians, let alone a mere allied minister of defence, were never in-the-loop.” Hellyer warned, “The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning. He stated, “The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them, if they so decide.”

All that’s left missing is to pin the blame on Bush and Rumsfeld, but the Chief has faith…just give him time…it’ll happen!

As far as the seriousness of the identified threat…the Chief leaves that up to your own better (oe worse) judgement.

Private Spacecraft Developer Settles on New Design

Plans for the privatization, or at least, private participation in space are procedign apace, as has been noted by the Chief a number of times in the past. This plan seems to be a bit more conventional than some, but is aiming from the start at full orbital capability.

A private space firm with orbital aspirations has revamped its plans for a crew-carrying spacecraft. Poway, California-based aerospace firm SpaceDev has a new design for its Dream Chaser vehicle and hopes to offer suborbital rides within two years, with orbital flights to follow.

An artist’s interpretation of SpaceDev’s Dream Chaser vehicle after spacecraft separation. Credit: SpaceDev. Click to enlarge.

SpaceDev is also planning on a lunar mission – using the Dreamcatcher as par of the prep.

If you’re interested in space development, as the Chief certainly is, this is an outfit that bears watching at least as much as the nest of projects associated with Rutan’s Scaled Compoosites like the Rocket Racing League, and Virgin Galactic‘s Spaceship 2 suborbital plans, and other efforts like the DOOM/DOOM II/DOOM III computer game designer JOhn Carmack’s Armadillo Aerospace, and Kansas’ Rocketplane, Inc.

All of this together is an exciting mix, and is moving towards getting us SERIOUSLY off the planet, into space to stay.

Now the rest is up to us, and there’s a future to be won:
We must turn our faces outward, we will do what must be done.
For no cradle lasts forever, every bird must learn to fly.
Yes we’re going to the stars, see our fire in the sky!
Fire in the Sky (Kristoph Klover), Prometheus Music – available here as a legal mp3 download. The Chief HIGHLY recommends this!

Public ignores Iraq war naysayers

Polls are almost as pervasive as opinions – the old Naval expression about that is that opinions are as ubiquitous as…rectal orifaces: everybody has one. Nonetheless, when a liberalish polling organization detects signs of support for the Iraq efforts, etc., it’s worth noting, since there is something there that even they can’t massage and spin away into insignificance.

Negative press coverage of the war in Iraq in recent weeks has emphasized rising pessimism among the American public about the conflict. But a new survey found that 56 percent of the public thinks that efforts to establish a stable democracy in the country will succeed.

Another aspect of interest in this set of data is a serious disconnect between the PLM (Politico-Legal-Media) complex, and the people that they are supposedly representing:

The survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press — which also plumbed opinions of journalists, university presidents and others in academe, diplomats, government officials, religious leaders, members of the military, scientists and international security specialists — revealed a marked disconnect between the perceptions of the general public and many of the so-called opinion leaders.

THis is nothing new – all anyone has to do is watch/read the MSM with a rational point of view and there is no excuse to be surprised.

When asked whether they thought democracy would succeed in Iraq, only 33 percent of the journalists agreed that it had a chance. The number was even worse in academe — 27 percent of respondents thought the effort would succeed. Among the military, however, the number stood at 64 percent. “The media and academia have always been more to the left, so how they report these things is not necessarily the way the country sees things,” said Charles Gravely, 56, a real estate executive from the District.

Shocking, simply shocking!

The final point of interest here is the release of this data, which arguably gives support to the admininistration and the current policies. It can even be reported, but with the Thanksgiving holiday, it’ll easily get lost in the static. (Phew! That way the Pew organization can duck any positive impact for the President. How opportune!)

East Asia allies doubt U.S. could win war with China

This is not a cheery prospect, but unfortunately not without validity. This is not out of line with a series of reports from Bill Gertz in the DC Times last summer.

The real tragedy is that the Chinese missile forces moved into the big league thanks to the Clinton-Loral sell-out, and their Naval forces are seriously upgrading with technology produced by the ChiCom spy ring recently busted in L.A., so they would be killing us with our own technology!

The overwhelming assessment by Asian officials, diplomats and analysts is that the U.S. military simply cannot defeat China. It has been an assessment relayed to U.S. government officials over the past few months by countries such as Australia, Japan and South Korea. This comes as President Bush wraps up a visit to Asia, in which he sought to strengthen U.S. ties with key allies in the region.

The obvious answer is probably politically undoable: reinforcing the US military to a more realistic level, but with no signs of the administration being willing to bite the bullet, chances of this are currently between slim and none. As far as the Donks – well, that’s a lost cause.

Is it any wonder that Japan is moving towards remilitarization?

How to Keep the Carriers from Flushing the Net Down the Tubes

A rather long and geekish article, but one that addresses some issues that could have profound effects on the operation of the entire internet – so if this has any relevance to what you do, it’s worth a look-see, if not a more direct response.

We’re hearing tales of two scenarios–one pessimistic, one optimistic–for the future of the Net. If the paranoids are right, the Net’s toast. If they’re not, it will be because we fought to save it, perhaps in a new way we haven’t talked about before. Davids, meet your Goliaths.

This is a long essay. There is, however, no limit to how long I could have made it. The subjects covered here are no less enormous than the Net and its future. Even optimists agree that the Net’s future as a free and open environment for business and culture is facing many threats. We can’t begin to cover them all or cover all the ways we can fight them. I believe, however, that there is one sure way to fight all of these threats at once, and without doing it the bad guys will win. That’s what this essay is about.

Here’s a brief outline of the article. If you want to go straight to the solution, skip to the third section:
* Scenario I: The Carriers Win
* Scenario II: The Public Workaround
* Scenario III: Fight with Words and Not Just Deeds

Check it out!

Happy Thanksgiving to All, from The Chief

This is forwarded from an e-mailing from The Federalist Patriot. This is a bit lengthy for a blog, but well worth the read. Seriously!

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the LORD is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations.”
(Psalm 100:4-5)

Why is America such a blessed land? Some point to its bountiful resources, its vast and glorious expanses. Others point to that which is inspired by these geographical gifts—the freedom, the entrepreneurial spirit, the economic and technological wonderment. Still others, however, would note the rancor and recrimination that currently poison our political discourse—and argue forcefully that this country is blessed no more.

Were we to field the question, we would answer it differently, for we believe our nation to be so heaped over with blessings that only the most jaded would deny our indebtedness to Almighty God for His continuing favor. Pressed further, we would say that America is blessed not so that we should thank God, but blessed because we have, continually, from our earliest days on this continent, given thanks to God and humbly sought ever-better to follow His precepts.

Consider this history: Though the “First Thanksgiving” by name was in the Virginia Colony in 1607, our Thanksgiving heritage has its roots with the Pilgrims’ three-day feast in early November of 1621.
Continue reading →

Misha Bares All: Interview with the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiller

Stop the ACLU has managed to pen up the Rottmeister long enough to verbally expose himself in an interview for the first time. Well worth the excursion and read if you have any interest in the mentation of Emperor Misha of the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler. In spite of his brash blogging style, he’s REALLY a humble, unassuming guy.

Japan seeks to scrap law that bans it from having an army

There has been talk about this for several years.

Japan’s ruling party unveiled plans yesterday to revise its constitutional commitment to pacifism and allow the country to establish armed forces “for self defence”. The proposals would end Japan’s renunciation of the right to maintain an army, as enshrined in the constitution imposed by America after the Second World War.

The new draft keeps the commitment to peace but recognises the military as crucial to maintaining it. It says: “In order to secure peace and the independence of our country as well as the security of the state and the people, military forces for self-defence shall be maintained. In addition, the defence forces can take part in efforts to maintain international peace and security under international co-operation.”

Of course, there is some kvetching from some others in Asia, notably China and S.Korea, who were on the negative end of the “Greater-East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere” of WW-II. If France, et al in Europe can deal with a remilitarized Deutschland, they should be able to deal with a fully functional Nippon.

Besides, in China’s case, maybe it’s a good thing for another independent Asian power to be on the scene. This is not a bad thing from the US point of view!

Rips Pres., Policies at Canuck University

Hoo boy! Another case of what’s wrong in the MSM, illustrated this time by Chris Matthews:

“The period between 9-11 and (invading) Iraq was not a good time for America. There wasn’t a robust discussion of what we were doing,” Matthews said.”If we stop trying to figure out the other side, we’ve given up. The person on the other side is not evil. They just have a different perspective.(Emphasis added)

By the same logic Chris, why not say the same thing about the old Nazis, or for that matter the Azteca worshippers of Huitzilopochtli with the tens of thousands of hearts ripped out on top of their temple pyramids. I mean, they just have a different perspective, right?

Ther’s effectively no difference with the terror war, when the head of the chief Islamofascist state calls for the elimination of Israel and the Israelis, and then condemns the US in equally strong terms. Negotiate with the people who have only the purpose ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN “HOLY” SCRIPTURE of either converting you, killing you, or placing you in “subjection” to the Religion of PeacePiss.

Radio talker Michael Savage is right: “Liberalism IS a mental disorder.”

Private Sector, Low-Cost Lunar Plan Unveiled

NASA is looking in the right direction, but as I noted earlier, a $100+B plan to land again on the moon in 2018 is hardly an example of any semblance of progressive engineering or management. Still, it is some forward momentum, and is positive for that reason if no other.

Now comes a private group, taking their own look at the concept. For the price of the NASA plan, they estimate they can have 40 people to the moon, with a good start at a permanent base. Oh yeah, they’re looking at landing between 20-10-2015, for a price of $10B – 1/10th the NASA price tag.

Picture from SpaceDev.com

A newly released study has focused on how best to return people to the Moon, reporting that future lunar missions can be done for under $10 billion – far less than a NASA price tag. The multi-phased three-year study was done by a private space firm, SpaceDev of Poway, California, and concluded that safe, lower cost missions can be completed by the private sector using existing technology or innovative new technology expected to be available in time to support human exploration of the Moon in the near-future.

Why should there be a surprise that the private sector, when it sets it’s hand to the task, is able to run circles around a 50 year old government bureaucracy?

Way to go guys! Keep up the good work!

US using ‘technical means’ to see if Zarqawi killed

The United States is using “technical means” to verify if Al-Qaeda frontman in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in battle, US coordinator for Iraq James Jeffrey said. “We are using technical means to try to verify that,” Jeffrey told reporters in Jordan during a videoconference from Washington.

In other words, stay tuned pending the lab results. One can only hope that one of the stiffs turns out to be the Zarq.

U.S., Europe Won’t Push for Move on Iran

Washington and its European allies will forgo pushing for Iran’s referral to the U.N. Security Council later this week, giving Russia more time in persuading Tehran to give up technology that could make nuclear arms, diplomats and officials told The Associated Press on Monday.

Once again it seems that the counsel of the Foggy Bottom boys is at work with another waffling towards Iranian nuke development, and their Russki backers.

For the Americans and the European Union, the plan holds the promise of success even if Iran continues to reject the proposal that would move its uranium enrichment program to Russia. The acceptance of that plan, in theory, would deprive the Iranians of the chance to enrich uranium to weapons grade, suitable for use in the core of nuclear warheads.

Yeah, right. Theoretically, pigs could fly if they had wings.

But if the Russians fail to win over the Iranians, Washington and the Europeans hope Moscow and other key board members of the International Atomic Energy Agency now opposed to Security Council referral will moderate their opposition.

“And this time we REALLY, REALLY mean it, no shit!”

The comments by the diplomats and U.S. and European government officials came three days before the IAEA board meets to ponder options on Iran that at least formally still included a decision on Security Council action.

But the diplomats and officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the strategy on Iran is confidential, said referral was now off the table at the meeting. Instead, they said Washington as well as Britain, France and Germany – representing the European Union – would probably settle for a statement critical of recent IAEA findings showing the Iranians in possession of what appeared to be drawings of the core of an atomic warhead and of other worrying nuclear activities.

And if that doesn’t work, I suppose we’ll threathen them with the dreaded Monty POython Spanish Inquisition soft pillow of comfy chair. That’ll fix em!

CNN MARKS CHENEY: NETWORK FLASHES ‘X’ OVER VP’S FACE DURING LIVE SPEECH

The Cheif KNEW there had to be some reason that CNN continually set his teeth on edge!

At 11:04:45 AM ET Monday CNN was airing Vice President Dick Cheney’s speech live from the American Enterprise Institute in Washington — when a large black ‘X’ repeatedly flashed over the vice president’s face! The ‘X’ over Cheney’s face appeared each time less than a second, creating an odd subliminal effect.

As this DRUDGE REPORT screen capture reveals, while one ‘X’ flashed over Cheney’s face CNN ran a headline at the bottom of its screen: “CHENEY: I DO NOT BELIEVE IT IS WRONG TO CRITICIZE.”

How in the world can anyone still take the MSM seriously? One has a greater chance of getting accurate news coverage from Scrappleface.

Officials Probing Whether Raid in Mosul Killed Zarqawi

An Iraqi police commander said Sunday that U.S. and Iraqi officials were certain that seven men who fought to the death in a house in northern Iraq were members of al Qaeda but were still trying to determine whether one of them was Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian insurgent leader.

Too bad, so sad. At WORST, good riddance to bad rubbish!

At best, a seriously evil leader has been sent to meet his maker. What a surprise, when he discovers something considerably different than a friendly reception from 72 virgins.

Their hot time will have a considerably different nature than the one they claimed they have claimed that they go to.

There are several events associated with the sense of the House resolution calling for immediate withdrawel of US forces from Iraq.

To start with, there were the disgraceful remarks of John Murtha (Donk-PA).

Key House Democrat calls for Iraq pullout now

A key House Democrat said yesterday that U.S. troops should immediately begin withdrawing from Iraq because they have achieved their military goals but have now become the single unifying factor for the insurgents.

Muthaf—-r Murtha just flat out doesn’t get it about the war on Islamofascism. It wouldn’t matter whether US troops are in Iraq or not – just the fact that we exist on the planet, and are not Islamist ourselves is a full and sufficient reason for the jihad to continue.

Not for nothing does Islam refer to “Dar al Islam” (the world of Islam) as opposed to everwhere else: “Dar al Harb” (the world of war).

The White House issued a statement from South Korea saying Mr. Murtha “has a record of supporting a strong America. So it is baffling that he is endorsing the policy positions of [filmmaker] Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic Party. The eve of an historic democratic election in Iraq is not the time to surrender to the terrorists.”

It has been widely bruite about by Donks that it is an improper personal attack to criticise Mutha’s views, since he is a decorated Viet-Nam vet. It’s somehow supposed to be inappropriate, pathetic, and lowdown to compare Mutha’s remarks to those of the fat b—–d himself, Michael Moore. This begs the point, that Mutha’s expressed views line up with Moore’s quite nicely – but as usual with the Donks, the form is more important than the substance of the issue at hand.

As far as all the crocodile tears about the “wascally Wepublicans” daring to criticise a decorated veteran, a historical note is in order. No one suggests that the admirably positive record and performance of General Benedict Arnold in the Continental Army during the American Revolution was enough to excuse his colossal act of ultimate treason and betrayal.

The Chief isn’t quite saying that Mutha’s betrayal is on the same scale as Arnold’s, but it arguably is of similar nature in essence.

Republicans said Mr. Murtha played right into the hands of terrorists. “The liberal leadership have put politics ahead of sound fiscal and national security policy, and what they have done is cooperated with our enemies and are emboldening our enemies,” said Rep. Geoff Davis, Kentucky Republican and a former Army officer.

Mutha’s dose of aid and comfort to the enemy resulted in the next number in today’s political dance: the dreaded resolution in the House calling for immediate withdrawel from Iraq. Of course when the Donks were confronted with actually acting on their expressed sentiments, they couldn’t quite find the nerve to carry their kvetching and moaning to its logical conclusion in am on-the-record vote. The result:

Lawmakers Reject Immediate Iraq Withdrawal

The House on Friday overwhelmingly rejected (403-3) calls for an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq, a vote engineered by the Republicans that was intended to fail. Democrats derided the vote as a political stunt.

The House voted 403-3 to reject a nonbinding resolution calling for an immediate troop withdrawal.

“A disgrace,” declared House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “The rankest of politics and the absence of any sense of shame,” added Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat.

In a wierd sort of way the Donks may have a point! It truly IS a discrace that their one time staunch party of Truman has descended to lows of appeasement and pusillanimity unseen since the days of Chamberlain at Munich. The Chief would also concur that their blind opposition to decisively pursuing the war on Islamofascism is indeed truly “The rankest of politics, and the absence of any sense of shame.”

One wonders how far down the gutter they will slither, on their continuing descent into sedition, treason, and betrayal.

“Why then, doth treason never prosper? When it does, none dare call it treason.”