Friday, May 18, 2007

Counting Votes in Baghdad



Last night, at a Washington reception, I met Mohammed al-Daini, a member of the Iraqi parliament and the National Dialogue Front, a party with 11 seats in the Iraqi legislature. Daini is one of the 144 parliamentarians who are supporting legislation calling for the United States to withdraw its troops from Iraq. With 275 legislators in the parliament, the please-leave bloc is now a majority. The big question is, will this bill come up for a vote? And if it does and passes, how will George W. Bush and the Republicans respond?

Daini has become a controversial figure. Last year, he helped expose a clandestine torture jail operated by the Ministry of the Interior, a government agency controlled by Shiite politicians he opposes. He also maintains that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his political allies have been taking orders from Iran and cooperating with Shiite death squads. But Daini has been accused of ties to sectarian violence. (See The New York Times story here.) He's a Sunni whose father is a Sunni and whose mother is a Shiite. He's married to a Shiite. He calls himself a nationalist, and his party is led by a former Baath Party official. He wants U.S. troops out of Iraq and says he has no fear there will be an anti-Sunni massacre mounted by the Shiites, should the United States disengage. Talk of a post-withdrawal Sunni genocide--an argument used by war backers in the United States to sustain support for the war--is, he said, nothing more than the exploitation of "a false fear so the troops stay longer."

From a distance, it's tough to sort out the charges against Daini. But what was interesting was that he said he expects the legislation calling for a US troop pullout to come up for a vote within two months or so. Could Maliki block a vote? No, he said, adding, "Our democracy is not like your democracy, there is no veto. The parliament will pass this bill."

I can't assess his political handicapping acumen. But imagine if he's right. Could the United States maintain troops in Iraq if the parliament requests they leave? On Sunday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, "I want to assure you, if they vote to ask us to leave, we'll be glad to comply with their request." Other Republicans have expressed a similar sentiment. Such a vote, in fact, would take congressional GOPers, who are nervous about the war's impact on next year's elections, off the hook. They could call for disengagement, proclaiming that the Iraqi people have spoken.

But what if the parliament approves of such a measure and Maliki declares he wants (make that, needs) US troops to remain in Iraq? (Daini contends that American troops are propping up the corrupt Maliki government.) Would Bush consider Maliki's call to be the real voice of the Iraqi people? And how would other Republicans deal with this? There could well be a split in the GOP between those who will want to take the opportunity to blame the Iraqis and run (as McConnell seemingly desires) and those who will want to slog it out (as Senator John McCain so heartily advocates). A divide in Baghdad could lead to a fracture within the Republican Party--just in time for the presidential primary contest.

There's a lot of see-you-in-September sentiment in Washington at the moment, meaning that many legislators (particularly Republicans) are looking to back-to-school days to bring signs of indisputable progress in Iraq. If no such omens emerge, GOPers will start demanding Plan B, or C, or D, or perhaps a pulling of the plug. Should the Iraqi parliament pass a bill urging a US withdrawal, that would significantly affect the deliberations on Capitol Hill. As I said, I can't assess Daini's prediction that this measure will be okayed. But if he's right about that, the debate in Washington could soon experience a tectonic shift.

Posted by David Corn at May 18, 2007 01:36 PM

43 comments:

David B. Benson said...

Live Science today has a fascinating account of the construction of the tops of the great pyramids: natural concrete!

--- made of readily obtainable materials
--- low energy requirements
--- lasts a long time

Much better than modern concretes, made with Portland cement, the manufacture of which consumes about 10% of the world's energy...

capt said...

The Deadly DC Hypocrite


[…]

Bush and his right wing Dominionist supporters set out to reduce the effectiveness of the federal government while using it to line their pockets. It looks to me like he plans to do as much damage to what remains of that federal government as he can before he leaves office. He has his nice little escape at the end of the world where global warming won’t overheat him where he can run with the nest egg he has been accruing and IOUs from his supporters. He has no interest in the welfare of America, its people, or the world. He has taken the country into a possibly unrecoverable economic deficit and bankrupted the federal government. The next administration will be lucky if it can forestall the economic crash that will finally plunge the majority of the citizens of this country into poverty.

While part of the damage was a result of poor judgment, bad choices, poor planning, and mistaken ideas, a great deal of the damage done to this country was conscious and deliberate. Bush and his cronies plan to be safe and comfy inside their walled estates in the cool climes of southern South America when the world becomes a miserable hellhole for most of its human population, largely because of GW Bush and Co. and their self-interested disrespect for the citizens of this country and this planet. They know this crash is coming. They do not want to be forced to work to prevent it. They do not believe that it will make any important difference to their life style and, like war, it will offer them more opportunities for gouging the people and lining their pockets.

Like war profiteers always do, they do everything they can to sustain the struggle to maximize their power and their profit. As long as they remain in power they will continue as world wreckers and despoilers.

Scrape them off, America. Support every effort made by anyone toward impeachment of Cheney and Bush. Support all of the efforts being made to investigate and prosecute Cheney and remove him from office. Then support the impeachment of GW Bush, without question the worst president we have ever had - our misfortune.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Don't miss reading this little piece, I look forward to more from the author.



capt

Gerald said...

The Deadly DC Hypocrite is a great read. There is a difference between Bill Clinton and Hitler Bush.

The attacks on Hillary will not end. The GOOD OLE BOYS NETWORK are totally afraid that a woman may be president. I say down with the GOOD OLE BOYS NETWORK.

If Hillary is president, that opens the doors for various persons to be elected president, such as Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, etc.

Nazi America is a changing!!!

David B. Benson said...

capt --- She writes very well...

Gerald said...

Support the Troops

Gerald said...

No Bravery

Bush refuses to give the military a 3.5% increase in pay.

Gerald said...

Peace Train

O'Reilly said...

Another good post Mr Corn. Thank you for digging up new angles to keep the insights coming on this disasterous national war policy.

Gerald said...

Broken Promises

Gerald said...

Bush's Eye Chart

Gerald said...

A Great Read

Gerald said...

In short, Cheney twice blew Iraq apart, and twice built it up again, and every stage of the process was marked by deceit and profiteering on one level or another. So far, about 4,000 Americans, counting private contractors, have died, and many thousands more will never be the same. So for now, let's forget about Valerie Plame, secret meetings with Enron, the Texas hunting fiasco, allegations of bribery and corruption on the part of Halliburton in Kuwait and Nigeria. Just focusing on Iraq, one has to wonder how Cheney could've so brazenly played so many sides against so many middles without being called to account. Gee, must be that "liberal media" at work.
Only when it comes to killing strangers and sending America's youth into harm's way do such practices go curiously un-named and mostly un-acknowledged. To be fair, many have benefited similarly from war. Congress should do its best to make sure Cheney's generation is the last to get away with it.

capt said...

It'll be a great day when education gets all the money it wants and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy bombers.: Author unknown, quoted in You Said a Mouthful edited by Ronald D. Fuchs

=

A common and natural result of an undue respect for law is that you may see a file of soldiers, colonel, captain, corporal, privates, powder-monkeys, and all marching in admirable order over hill and dale to the wars, against their wills, ay, against their common sense and consciences, which makes it very steep marching indeed, and produces a palpitation of the heart. They have no doubt that it is a damnable business in which they are concerned; they are all peaceably inclined. Now, what are they? Men at all? or small movable forts and magazines, at the service of some unscrupulous man in power?: Henry David Thoreau, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

=

"How is a military drilled and trained to defend freedom, peace and ahppiness? This is what Major General O'Ryan has to say of an efficiently trained generation: 'The soldier must be so trained that he becomes a mere automoton; he must be so trained that it will destroy his initiative; he must be so trained that he is turned into a machine. The soldier must be forced into the military noose; he must be jacked up; he must be ruled by his superiors with pistol in hand.' This was not said by a Prussian Junker; not by a German barbarian . . . but by an American major general. And he is right. You cannot conduct war with equals; you cannot have militarism with free born men; you must have slaves, automotons, machines, obedient disciplined creatures, who will move, act, shoot and kill at the command of their superiors. That is preparedness, and nothing else." : Emma Goldman, Preparedness: The Road to Universal Slaughter

=

Do not worry over the charge of treason to your masters, but be concerned about the treason that involves yourselves. Be true to yourself and you cannot be a traitor to any good cause on Earth. : Eugene V. Debs, Speech, June 16, 1918

===

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

capt said...

Just heard some guy on AAR say . . .

Oh, to impeach Gonzalez would take too long, tie up the senate.

This is from someone that is suppose to be a "progressive".

UGH.

Expect to hear THAT as a reason to let Bunnypants off the impeachment hook.

Predictable but it still turns my stomach.


capt

Gerald said...

A writer for Harper’s Magazine was on Bill Moyers Journal. He said that he is an economic nationalist. I would believe that I am an economic nationalist. I want the American people to prosper and not be enslaved by cheap labor. I oppose NAFTA. All patriotic Americans should oppose NAFTA. Hillary Clinton was on the board of Wal-Mart for six years and the board opposed a $15 tax on each box entering the US through our ports. These $15 taxes would have been used to add more port inspectors. More port inspectors would help homeland security. Wal-Mart and other retailers killed the additional taxes. Is Hillary Clinton really for the American worker and for America? Do you have the feeling that Americans are being shit on by our people, various interest groups, corporate America, and the American government? People, Nazi America is going down and the fall will be a disaster for our people.
OH, WHAT A TANGLE WE WEAVE WHEN FIRST WE PRACTICE TO DECEIVE. Sir Walter Scott

Gerald said...

This Is War

Gerald said...

"Fight, rape, war, pillage, burn. Filmic images of death and carnage are pornography for the military man.''

—Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles by former sniper Anthony Swofford (Scribner, 2003).

capt said...

Bush Anoints Himself as the Insurer of Constitutional Government in Emergency



In a new National Security Presidential Directive, Bush lays out his plans for dealing with a "catastrophic emergency."


With scarcely a mention in the mainstream media, President Bush has ordered up a plan for responding to a catastrophic attack.

Under that plan, he entrusts himself with leading the entire federal government, not just the Executive Branch. And he gives himself the responsibility "for ensuring constitutional government."

He laid this all out in a document entitled "National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51" and "Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20."

The White House released it on May 9.

Other than a discussion on Daily Kos led off by a posting by Leo Fender, and a pro-forma notice in a couple of mainstream newspapers, this document has gone unremarked upon.

The subject of the document is entitled "National Continuity Policy."

It defines a "catastrophic emergency" as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government function."

This could mean another 9/11, or another Katrina, or a major earthquake in California, I imagine, since it says it would include "localized acts of nature, accidents, and technological or attack-related emergencies."

The document emphasizes the need to ensure "the continued function of our form of government under the Constitution, including the functioning of the three separate branches of government," it states.

But it says flat out: "The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government."

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Anybody want to bet an impeachment of Bunnypants would require his taking over to ensure the constitution, it only makes sense.

I am certain Bush will respect the will of the people (the people that agree with him).



capt

capt said...

Abominable. Blind. Subservient. Ex-President Carter lambasts Blair for support



The former US President Jimmy Carter lambasted Tony Blair for his "blind " support of the Iraq war today, saying it had been a "major tragedy for the world".

The outgoing Prime Minister's relationship with President George Bush appeared to have been "subservient" and "abominable", according to Mr Carter.

In an interview for BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Carter speculated that Mr Blair could have made a crucial difference to American political and public opinion by distancing himself during the build-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Mr Carter has long been an outspoken critic of the war, and has previously expressed his "disappointment" that Mr Blair did not use his influence more wisely.

His latest salvo came as Mr Blair arrived in Iraq for his final visit as prime minister, having held a valedictory press conference with Mr Bush in Washington where they heaped praise on each other.

Asked how he would describe Mr Blair's attitude to President Bush, Mr Carter replied: "Abominable. Loyal, blind, apparently subservient. I think that the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world."

Mr Carter condemned the war as "unjustified", and said it had caused "deep schisms" around the globe.

He insisted that if Mr Blair had advised against going to war in 2003 it could have made a crucial difference.


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Carter's honesty is refreshing.



capt

capt said...

Article 48 (Weimar Constitution)



On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany. Lacking a majority in the Reichstag, Hitler formed a coalition government and, not long afterwards called elections for March 5. Six days before the election, on February 27, the Reichstag Fire damaged the house of Parliament in Berlin. Claiming that the fire was the first step in a Communist revolution, the Nazis used the fire as a pretext to get President von Hindenburg to sign the Reichstag Fire Decree, officially the Verordnung des Reichspräsidenten zum Schutz von Volk und Staat (Presidential Decree for the Protection of People and State).
Under the decree, issued by von Hindenburg on the basis of Article 48, the government was given authority to curtail constitutional rights including free expression of opinion, freedom of the press, rights of assembly, and the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications. Constitutional restrictions on searches and confiscation of property were likewise suspended.

The Reichstag Fire Decree was one of the first steps the Nazis took toward the establishment of a one-party dictatorship in Germany. With several key government posts in the hands of Nazis and with the constitutional protections on civil liberties suspended by the decree, the Nazis were able to use police power to suppress, intimidate, and arrest their opposition, in particular the Communists. Hitler's subversion of the Constitution under Article 48 thus had the mark of legality.

Though the March 5 elections did not bring the Nazis their much-desired majority in the Reichstag, the Nazis were able to maneuver on March 23, 1933 the passage of the Enabling Act by the required two-thirds parliamentary majority, effectively abrogating the authority of the Reichstag and placing its authority in the hands of the Cabinet. The Reichstag Fire Decree was the basis of later decrees that abolished the political parties other than the NSDAP and strengthened Hitler's dictatorial power.


More HERE

capt said...

Ron Paul Rocks!



[…]

Ron Paul is speaking truth to the whole world, with patience and patriotism flowing in equally generous portions. Like the young David, he is received by the dogs of war with sneers, self-important snarling, threatening stares. Like David, he seems almost unarmed and even unprepared for the great battle to come. But like David, he is unafraid. Like David, he understands what he believes in and knows it to be consistent with all that is good and just.

On the other hand, his political opponents, in both parties, do not truly believe in what they are saying. The neoconservative evangelical Republican Party seeks the 2008 presidency and the neoconservative socialist Democratic Party seeks the 2008 presidency. It isn’t because they believe in something – instead, they seek to access domestic power and maintain the status quo – an enriching and profitable status quo for people and organizations in power, I might add.

I’m not just saying this because I am excited about Ron Paul’s candidacy and the possibility of his presidency. Recall if you will, the first Republican debate, when the candidates were asked about National ID cards. Some of the other candidates began to respond, clonelike, each confusing the national ID card with some vague undeveloped ideas they have about security for the country. Their reptilian brains were drumming "Security, Security, Must Look Good on Security."

Then Ron Paul gets to answer the national ID card question. It is unnecessary and would have little to nothing to offer in terms of national security. Oh, and then he firmly rejected it. Like a real man!


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

She seems to REALLY like Ron Paul.



capt

capt said...

Former President Carter Blasts Bush



LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Former President Carter says President Bush's administration is "the worst in history" in international relations, taking aim at the White House's policy of pre-emptive war and its Middle East diplomacy.

The criticism from Carter, which a biographer says is unprecedented for the 39th president, also took aim at Bush's environmental policies and the administration's "quite disturbing" faith-based initiative funding.

"I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," Carter told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a story that appeared in the newspaper's Saturday editions. "The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me."

Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo confirmed his comments to The Associated Press on Saturday and declined to elaborate. He spoke while promoting his new audiobook series, "Sunday Mornings in Plains," a collection of weekly Bible lessons from his hometown of Plains, Ga.


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Again, refreshing honesty.



capt

capt said...

JFK Lone Gunman Theory Flawed



New research finds flaws in the evidence used to implicate lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald in the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The findings are based on updated bullet analysis techniques and throw a wrench in the case-clinching evidence previously cited by experts to rule out a second assassin.

"By properly reanalyzing the bullet fragments, our nation has a chance to shatter a myth about the JFK assassination," said study team member Cliff Spiegelman, a statistician at Texas A&M and an expert in the analysis of lead in bullets.

The research will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Annals of Applied Statistics.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

That is the true beauty and value of science, that science can correct previous assumptions and conclusions.



capt

David B. Benson said...

Good for Jimmy Carter!

Gerald said...

As Bush anoints himself, he is laying the groundwork for declaring martial law and cancelling the 2008 elections. THERE WILL BE NO 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.

Jimmy Carter proves once again his value as an outspoken citizen against Bush's total incompetence.

My wife has said to me that people of Israel are upset at Bush because he lacked diplomacy for all his presidency in dealing with the Palestinian problems. What is Hitler Bush's favorite saying, "Good job, Georgie"?

Is Hitler Bush a total worthless piece of turd?

Gerald said...

This is war and Nazi Americans love seeing these pictures

Gerald said...

Here is security moms and soccer moms favorite quotation as they start their tea times.

"I could watch a burned infant trying to nurse from its dead mother's breast, see young men with their faces blown away, witness a boy deliberately gutted...and never protest."

—reporter Richard Boyle in Vietnam. The Flower of the Dragon: The Breakdown of the US Army in Vietnam by Richard Boyle (San Francisco, 1972), p. 22. Reprinted in An Intimate History of Killing by Joanna Bourke (Basic Books, 1999), p 199.

These security moms and soccer moms will NEVER protest.

Gerald said...

Praying Each Day: May 19

Gerald said...

America's soul is gutted!

Gerald said...

Brief News for the Week

Part One

A writer for Harper’s Magazine was on Bill Moyers Journal. He said that he is an economic nationalist. I would believe that I am an economic nationalist. I want the American people to prosper and not be enslaved by cheap labor. I oppose NAFTA. All patriotic Americans should oppose NAFTA. Hillary Clinton was on the board of Wal-Mart for six years and the board opposed a $15 tax on each box entering the US through our ports. These $15 taxes would have been used to add more port inspectors. More port inspectors would help homeland security. Wal-Mart and other retailers killed the additional taxes. Is Hillary Clinton really for the American worker and for America? Do you have the feeling that Americans are being shit on by our people, various interest groups, corporate America, and the American government? People, Nazi America is going down and the fall will be a disaster for our people.
OH, WHAT A TANGLE WE WEAVE WHEN FIRST WE PRACTICE TO DECEIVE. Sir Walter Scott
If you want the answer for the immigration problem, you should read my book and go to my doctrine on immigration and my comments on Shalom. Immigrants need to understand that Nazi America cannot be a haven for all people. Nazi America has greatly changed by securing her hold on being an evil, a vile, and a wicked empire. Immigrants who enter Nazi America must strongly embrace a love to MURDER and to commit WAR CRIMES. That is the Nazi American way!!!
Wolfie resigns from World Bank. Good riddance!

Brief News for the Week

Part Two

We must go forward. When Jesus died and He has risen, He said that we needed to go forward. We need to proclaim the glory of God to the world. Below is a paragraph from Reverend Emmanuel Charles McCarthy’s article, “Military Abortions.” We can never be silent to injustice. WHERE MORE IS EXPECTED, SILENCE IS SINFUL.
Deafening Silence of the Pro-life Groups
If not, why was the Church's pro-life movement not being a microphone for those screaming in silence in the wombs of Iraqi mothers as thousands of abortions took place due to the US-UN embargo of Iraq? If not, why is the pro-life movement not now the lone voice in the world pleading for the lives of those Iraqi children presently in the womb who are about to be torn limb from limb by the dogs of war? Both Old and New Testament are clear: Where more is expected silence is sinful.

THERE IS MORE TALK OF THE MILITARY DRAFT BEING REINSTATED. WILL THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS SERVE ON THE DOMESTIC FRONT OR THE FOREIGN FRONT? TAKE A GUESS! SINCE THE RICH AND FAMOUS HAVE MORE TO LOSE, THEY SHOULD PAY MUCH HIGHER TAXES AND NOT CONTINUE TO RECEIVE THOSE HUGE TAXCUTS.
Bolton and Cheney say that the US must bomb Iran. May Iran, RIP!!! Nazi Americans’ love affair with death and destruction will continue endlessly because that is the Nazi American way.
The surge in the killing of human lives in Iraq continues.
With all the problems in Nazi America taxes should be looked upon as an investment in human lives and in the quality of human life. But, greed is the American way and so the rich will continue to grab money and dole out baked dong to the poor and the middle class.
McCain’s solution for the Middle East is a nuclear war with Iran.

Brief News for the Week

Part Three

Nazi American government rejected millions of dollars in foreign aid for the Katrina damage.
Nazi American Party is a perpetual hate machine.
Nazi American foreign policy is to create more death and destruction upon the world population.
Injured American soldiers are still denied medical benefits.
Project for a New American Century is elated. Food danger grows in Nazi America to kill off the human population.
There is growing numbers of Nazi Americans who believe that churches should not be tax exempt for their involvement in politics. THE TIME HAS COME TO DO AWAY WITH TAX EXEMPTIONS FOR CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS BECAUSE CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS ARE POLITICAL ANIMALS AND NOT SPIRITUAL ENTITIES.
Nazi America has finalized plans for a nuclear attack on Iran. A third or fourth aircraft carrier will be in the Gulf by the end of May. Nazi America’s military bases in central Asia will lead the nuclear attack. Nazi Americans are excited and joyful about the imminent nuclear attack on Iran. On a whole Nazi Americans lust for and thrive on the killing of human beings. That is the Nazi American way. I have known for a generation that Nazi America is an evil, a vile, and a wicked empire and now the world will know.
Are the Democrats reluctant to lead America? It seems that way because they removed a key sentence in the bill on funding that would require Bush to come before Congress to start a war with Iran.
Nazi America is an empire that continues to wallow in the abyss of hell in search of a soul.
The poodle is leaving office the end of June. Tony Blair’s legacy will be that he was Bush’s poodle. Good riddance! Now if we could get rid of that garbage in the WH through impeachment, we could eventually smell the flowers and not the burning of human flesh.
There is more talk that we only have a one party country because both parties cater and pander to corporations and the Nazis who control all segments of our Nazi government.
THERE IS LITTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DEMOCRATS AND THE NAZIS. THEY ARE OPPOSITE WINGS OF THE SAME BIRD.

May God have mercy on Nazi Americans!!!

Gerald said...

Believers Against the War

capt said...

New Process Generates Hydrogen From Aluminum Alloy To Run Engines, Fuel Cells



A Purdue University engineer has developed a method that uses an aluminum alloy to extract hydrogen from water for running fuel cells or internal combustion engines, and the technique could be used to replace gasoline.

The method makes it unnecessary to store or transport hydrogen - two major challenges in creating a hydrogen economy, said Jerry Woodall, a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue who invented the process.

"The hydrogen is generated on demand, so you only produce as much as you need when you need it," said Woodall, who presented research findings detailing how the system works during a recent energy symposium at Purdue.

The technology could be used to drive small internal combustion engines in various applications, including portable emergency generators, lawn mowers and chain saws. The process could, in theory, also be used to replace gasoline for cars and trucks, he said.

Hydrogen is generated spontaneously when water is added to pellets of the alloy, which is made of aluminum and a metal called gallium. The researchers have shown how hydrogen is produced when water is added to a small tank containing the pellets. Hydrogen produced in such a system could be fed directly to an engine, such as those on lawn mowers.

"When water is added to the pellets, the aluminum in the solid alloy reacts because it has a strong attraction to the oxygen in the water," Woodall said.

This reaction splits the oxygen and hydrogen contained in water, releasing hydrogen in the process.


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

We better hope we solve the water issues. This could be the future. Breaking water has been a dream for some time.



capt

Gerald said...

My Ninth Doctrine

Intolerance

I believe that intolerance in certain cases is good.

Is it good to tolerate a ruler who is a murderer and a war criminal?

Is it good to tolerate the torture of human beings?

Is it good to tolerate the hatred of certain people by a party?

Is it good to tolerate the use of preemptive wars by lying to the Americans about the facts or lack of facts?

Is it good to tolerate injustice toward any of God’s children?

The above questions are only several questions that could be a litany of tolerance toward corruption, decadence, and greed to mention a few areas.

I do believe that intolerance in various areas is necessary.

My Tenth Doctrine

Separation of Church and State

I believe that separation between church and state is paramount in a democracy.

Newt Gingrich made a speech and he said that students and adults should challenge the separation between church and state in the public schools. I disagree with him and all others who believe like he does. You may be asking, “Why.”

Let me tell you why!

I was watching a television program and on the program there was a person who wrote a book. I cannot remember the author’s name. The title of the book was “While Europe Slept.” What happened to Europe in order to appease the Muslims countries tolerated more and more of what the Muslims were selling. Now, the Muslims want Islam and the Muslims’ holy book to be taught in the schools.

Europe appeased and tolerated the demands of the Muslims for years. Now, Europe has serious problems with the Muslims.

I am a Catholic and I love being a Catholic but I do not believe that I should be out converting people and killing people who do not want to convert. I have serious problems with people who want to convert the world to Islam.

The religious right, the moral majority, the Falwells and the Dobsons, and in some cases Catholic clerics are doing a great injustice by fueling the flames of no separation between church and state.

I foresee major problems ahead for Nazi America. There is magnitude of problems that are beyond description and comprehension by eliminating the separation between church and state in our country. We must guard against any effort to do away with the separation between church and state in Nazi America. And, we must not tolerate the removal of separation between church and state from our lives.

Gerald said...

Welcome to The Weekly Sunday Section by Gerald

Personal stress must be reduced to control the heart arrhythmia that increases the heartbeat to a dangerous level and placing my life in grave jeopardy. For this reason I need to reduce my postings and I need to develop a carefree attitude about Nazi America and her imminent demise.

The Weekly Sunday Section by Gerald will begin with certain blogs, blogspots, and websites. Plus, I may try to add some additional information on justice and peace.

John 31:34-35
A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you, so you also love one another. By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another!

Psalm 51:1
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Love and mercy are essential behaviors for a better world and for all of God’s children.

Proverb 3:5-6
Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not upon thy own prudence. In all thy ways think on him, and he will direct thy steps.

Prayer for Peace – John Paul II
O God, Creator of the universe, who extends your paternal concern over every creature and guides the events of history to the goal of salvation, we acknowledge your fatherly love when you break the resistance of mankind and, in a world torn by strife and discord, you make us ready for reconciliation. Renew for us the wonders of your mercy; send forth your Spirit that he may work on the intimacy of hearts, that enemies may begin to dialogue, that adversaries may shake hands and peoples may encounter one another in harmony. May all commit themselves to the sincere search for true peace that will extinguish all arguments, for charity that overcomes hatred, for pardon that disarms revenge!

May God bless and keep you in the palm of His hand!

Illegal immigrants can voice their concerns but nonviolent protesters against the Iraq war are arrested. There is something wrong in Nazi America.

Gerald said...

The Infrastructure of Applied Agony

Gerald said...

Praying Each Day: May 20

Gerald said...

Does Nazi Israel dictate American foreign policy?

Friday, May 18, 2007 11:46 a.m. EDT
Israeli Poll: U.S. Should Strike Iran

Fully 71 percent of Israelis think the U.S. should launch a military strike on Iran if diplomacy fails to stop Tehran’s nuclear program, a new poll reveals.

The survey commissioned by Bar-Ilan University’s BESA Center and the Anti-Defamation League, also found that 59 percent of Israelis still believe the war in Iraq was justified, while 36 percent think it was not. (Is Nazi Israel glorified at the sight of dead American soldiers as well as dead Iraqis?)

Other results of the poll reported by the Web site Haaretz.com include:

65 percent of Israelis polled said the U.S. is a loyal ally of Israel, and only 11 percent said it was not.

48 percent said U.S. support for Israel was due to strategic considerations, 30 percent credited American Jewry and 17 attributed it to shared values and shared democratic traditions.

91 percent said close relations with the U.S. are vital to Israel’s security.

52 percent said American support of Israel is "sufficient,” while 33 percent said it is not.

capt said...

Young bear decides to visit N.M. clinic


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A young patient sauntered into a medical clinic Friday morning and got prompt treatment — a tranquilizer dart and a quick trip back to the wilds. But again, this patient was the four-legged kind: a young black bear who was probably hungry from a winter of hibernation.


"He did not have an appointment," said Todd Sandman, director of public relations for Presbyterian Health Care Services.

The 125-pound male bear, perhaps 2 to 3 years old, wandered into the Presbyterian Medical Group gastroenterology laboratory around 7:15 a.m., Sandman said.

The bear got in through an automatic door at the lab, a stand-alone building off one the main drags in Rio Rancho, north of Albuquerque.

"There were just a handful of people there, before the time when it was really open for appointments — I think a nurse, perhaps a receptionist and a patient and spouse," Sandman said.

"I think the person in the waiting room was pretty surprised."

Everyone was safely evacuated, he said.

"Apparently, the bear was very calm and retreated into a side room and then further into a bathroom," said Dan Williams, a New Mexico Department of Game and Fish spokesman. An officer fired a tranquilizer dart, sedating the bear in a little more than a minute.

The bear was released in the Manzano Mountains, about 20 miles to the southeast, but not before being tagged on an ear "so we'll recognize him if we see him again," Williams said.

Wandering bears are not that unusual in the area, he added. "They get displaced from their dens. Their mothers kick them off, and they're kind of looking for a place of their own, looking for food."


More HERE

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It was interesting here in the ABQ. First we heard of bear sightings here and there then we hear the bear is in the lab in Rio Rancho. Far better outcome than many previous bear visits.



capt

capt said...

US government trying to seize new Michael Moore film, says producer



Harvey Weinstein fires latest shot in battle over healthcare documentary


Cannes is smacking its lips in anticipation of filmmaker and provocateur Michael Moore's latest jeremiad against the US administration, which receives its premiere at the film festival today. Sicko, a documentary tackling the state of American healthcare, focuses on the pharmaceutical giants, and particularly on health insurers.

The film has already caused Moore - who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2004 with Fahrenheit 911 - to clash with the American authorities. Now, according to movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose Weinstein Company is behind the film, the US government is attempting to impound the negative.


More HERE

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Our government will do this when the movie is about healthcare? Imagine what they would do if the movie was about Iraq?



capt

Gerald said...

When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader. Plato

This quotation sounds like an El Sicko that we all know in Nazi America.

Gerald said...

Moms Wear Combat Boots Too
By Eli PaintedCrow
At the age of twenty, being a mother of a three and five year-old was not easy. Being a single mom on welfare living in a cockroach-infested apartment was not living. I thought I needed to learn discipline, so I walked into the army recruitment office. I spent my 21st birthday in boot camp on a five-mile road march. Many a mom has gone through boot camp. I was no exception.

Today I work towards building a network of women, many of them mothers, who have served in the US military. We seek ways to tell the truth and speak for peace. This Mothers’ Day is a time to remember the mothers serving in the military whose stories you’re not likely to hear.

In 1987 I was activated and left for Honduras. Once you put on the uniform, you’re a soldier and you do what is expected of you. You do your job and try not to think. You learn to shut your emotions off. When I returned I didn’t talk with my sons about these life changes. You just come back, go to work, feed your kids.

In 1993 I went to drill sergeant school. Another eight weeks away from home. As a woman in the military, I had to eliminate showing any emotion or insecurity. It affected how I raised my sons. They knew what it was like to be in the military at very young ages. You lose emotions; you lose yourself and connections to others. They drove it out of me in boot camp and finished it off by sending me to Iraq. I don’t feel like a very good mom or partner these days.

My depression can be severe. Some days I can get out of bed, some days I can’t. Other times all I can do is cry. The military teaches you to accept the rules. When you have PTSD, the VA’s evaluation process seems to be the biggest obstacle to get help. Most veterans just give up.

Women are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and don’t know what is happening to them. They can’t be around their kids; they can’t control their anger or sadness and no one can get close to them. They’re suffering from PTSD but they pretend they’re all right because they don’t want to look weak.

When I started to speak about my experience, my son, a former Marine, thought I was crazy. He is still afraid for me. He thinks someone is going to kill me if I keep talking. But as a mother and a grandmother of eight, I feel there is an obligation to clear the path for our children. My tour in Iraq taught me this lesson.

It broke my heart to watch 20-year-olds walk in from patrol with faces dirty from the dust and heat – looking as if they just came in off the playground – with pictures of their loved ones on their armbands and their weapons on their backs, talking about how they just graduated high school.


Mothers cry for their babies, here and in Iraq. Mothers are the casualties that are not counted. We are the wounded that go untreated. We are also the healers that can change anything. We protect life because we give it. Send a Prayer for the mothers and babies who have lost each other. This Mother’s Day remember them, remember us. We need each other to heal. And for all mothers who feel helpless because they think they can’t do anything to stop the war – if you knew the truth you would try.

This month, here in northern California, women veterans are gathering to heal from the trauma of military service and war, to document our stories and to support our transformation from soldiers to peacemakers.

capt said...

Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of government. The history of liberty is the history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it: Woodrow Wilson

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The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same: Marie Beyle

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The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing: John Adams

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To change masters is not to be free: Jose Marti y Perez

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If men use their liberty in such a way as to surrender their liberty, are they thereafter any the less slaves? If people by a plebiscite elect a man despot over them, do they remain free because the despotism was of their own making?: Herbert Spencer.

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Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction: Blaise Pascal


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Thanks ICH Newsletter!

capt said...

A Do-It-Yourself Quantum Eraser


Using readily available equipment, you can carry out a home experiment that illustrates one of the weirdest effects in quantum mechanics


Notoriously, the theory of quantum mechanics reveals a fundamental weirdness in the way the world works. Commonsense notions at the very heart of our everyday perceptions of reality turn out to be violated: contradictory alternatives can coexist, such as an object following two different paths at the same time; objects do not simultaneously have precise positions and velocities; and the properties of objects and events we observe can be subject to an ineradicable randomness that has nothing to do with the imperfection of our tools or our eyesight.


Gone is the reliable world in which atoms and other particles travel around like well-behaved billiard balls on the green baize of reality. Instead they behave (sometimes) like waves, becoming dispersed over a region and capable of crisscrossing to form interference patterns.


Yet all this strangeness still seems remote from ordinary life. Quantum effects are most evident when tiny systems are involved, such as electrons held within the confines of an atom. You might know in the abstract that quantum phenomena underlie most modern technologies and that various quantum oddities can be demonstrated in laboratories, but the only way to see them in the home is on science shows on television. Right? Not quite.


We will show you how to set up an experiment that illustrates what is known as quantum erasure. This effect involves one of the oddest features of quantum mechanics--the ability to take actions that change our basic interpretation of what happened in past events.


More HERE

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Very cool stuff.



capt