Day: May 28, 2008

Is The “Surge” Really Working?

Not according to these indicators:

**        The Iraqi government’s military offensive in Basra was designed to undermine Prime Minister al-Maliki’s major Shi’a political rival, Moktada al Sadr, but the offensive appears to have failed, and instead is strengthening Sadr’s forces and significantly weakening Bush administration strategy in Iraq.

**        The inability of Iraqi government forces to defeat or even halt Sadr’s militia in Basra, Baghdad or elsewhere even with massive U.S. military support, and the resulting escalation of overall violence in Iraq, also proves the failure of the so-called “surge.”

**        This power struggle between Maliki and Sadr is important because it represents Iraq’s linchpin fight between supporters and opponents of the U.S. occupation and the government kept in place by the occupation; it is particularly important in Basra because almost all of Iraq’s oil these days is exported through Basra.

**        The current fighting escalates the danger of a U.S. attack on Iran, because the undeniable failure of the “surge” strategy makes it much harder for the Bush administration to continue claiming “victory” in Iraq.

McCain keeps saying that he will not “surrender” Iraq.  What does that really mean?  Not a damn thing…it is just a pander to Americans who hate to lose…..he is a politician!

American Axel Workers Return To Work

Production resumed Tuesday at American Axle & Manufacturing Inc., as workers at five of the company’s U.S. plants returned to work after ratifying a concessionary contract that ended a three-month strike against the Detroit supplier

Work began with the plant’s first shift at 7 a.m. Tuesday. While it’s unclear how many workers returned to work, what is certain is not all workers were called back Tuesday.

At the company’s Detroit axle plant, it was mainly workers who set up machinery who returned to work, said Adrian King, president of UAW Local 235, which represents about 2,000 workers there.

More workers are expected to be called back throughout the week and early next week, as the company ramps up production.

Henry Nelson, 56, of Southfield is to return to work in Detroit tonight. Nelson said that his attitude will be negative.

“I used to have a positive attitude” and “tried to keep things going,” said Nelson, a millwright who, before the strike, was used to doing odd jobs that weren’t required of him.

With the prospect of a pay cut, Nelson said he won’t have the incentive to go the extra mile.

“It’s a different attitude,” said Nelson, who plans to take a buyout or retirement package.

Sorry to see the workers having to go back to work and lose all the progress that had been made in the past.  AAM stock rose and that is the answer to everything…..profits, not the workers, who by the way create ALL the corporations wealth.

Last Rites For Gravel

“I just ended my political career,” Mr. Gravel said at the party’s convention. “From 15 years old to now, my political career is over, and it’s no big deal.”

Mr. Gravel, 78, spent 12 years in the United States Senate from Alaska, pursuing even then an anti-war agenda and railing against the military industrial complex. His tenure was marked by dramatic procedural actions criticizing the Vietnam War, but his claim to fame came when he tried to release the Pentagon Papers by reading them on the Senate floor. He also waged a one-man filibuster that ultimately led to a compromise to let the draft expire in 1973. He lost his seat in 1980, after a contentious Democratic primary.

He lost the Dem nomination and now the Libertarian–this could well be Gravel’s last hurrah.

Environmentally Friendly Bombs?

Sorry when I read the story my first reaction was WTF?

TNT, RDX and other explosives commonly used in military and industrial applications often generate toxic gases upon detonation that pollute the environment. Moreover, the explosives themselves are toxic and can find their way into the environment due to incomplete detonation and as unexploded ordnance. They are also extremely dangerous to handle, as they are highly sensitive to physical shock, such as hard impacts and electric sparks.

To make safer, more environmentally friendly explosives, scientists in Germany turned to a recently explored class of materials called tetrazoles. These derive most of their explosive energy from nitrogen instead of carbon as TNT and others do.

In initial experiments, G2ZT and HBT produced fewer toxic byproducts than common explosives. Still, they did generate some dangerous hydrogen cyanide gas. But mixing these compounds with oxidizers not only avoids making hydrogen cyanideThe research was financially supported by the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, the European Research Office of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, the U.S. Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, and the Bundeswehr Research Institute for Materials, Explosives, Fuels and Lubricants., but also improved performance, Klapötke said.

After reading I had a good laugh, but really is not that an oxymoron or something like that?  An environmentally friendly bomb?