Month: August 2013

Thoughts Without Posts–2013–#3

Just a few days away from the mind numbing international situations and the babble of idiots on the campaign trial……

Once again I have made enough notes to choke a small horse….sadly some could not become posts and that is why I have these posts so the rest of the blogsphere can see just how a mind works……

1–I love it when FOX trots out their experts……..this one was a medical expert……

A Fox News medical expert on Tuesday argued that President Barack Obama’s administration was wrong to force gender equality for health insurance rates because men “only have the prostate,” while women “have the breasts, they have the ovaries.”

“Look, it’s not bias, I’m not saying this as a man,” Fox News Medical A-Team contributor Dr. David Samadi told the hosts of Fox & Friends. “They go through a lot of preventive screenings, they give birth, they have the whole mammogram, the Pap smear. Guys, we don’t like to go to doctors, right? Seventy percent of health care decisions are made by women. In my own practice, I see it’s the women who bring the guys, who say, go get screened.”

You gotta feel sorry for a moron.

2–I remember when there was one flavor of vodka—VODKA.

3–There was a time in the world when beer tasted like …..of all things BEER!

4–North Carolina has been in the news many times this year…..first it is their war on women and then their war on the voter….but this one is just plain silly……

 A bill that could send women to prison for going topless in public appears headed for approval by the North Carolina legislature.

The Republican-backed bill headed to a floor vote in the House would amend the state’s indecent exposure law to expand the legal definition of “private parts” to explicitly include “the nipple, or any portion of the areola, or the female breast.”

Depending on whether such exposure is judged to be “for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire,” the woman could be charged with a felony, punishable by up to six months in prison for first-time offenders. More mundane exposure would be a misdemeanor meriting up to 30 days in jail.

Co-sponsor Rep. Rayne Brown, R-Davidson, told members of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that her bill was triggered by topless rallies promoting women’s equity that were held during the last two years in Asheville. Though her district is more than a two-hour drive from Asheville, Brown said her constituents are concerned whether the topless protests are legal.

5–Remember Newtown?  Remember all those gun nuts screaming that the government was trying to form a registry of gun owners, remember that?  Will guess what?  There is a list!

The National Rifle Association has frightened Americans about the prospect of a federal registry of firearm owners, but the NRA itself has secretly created a database with information from tens of millions of Americans who do not hold a membership.

The NRA has spent years secretly collecting information about gun owners from state and local offices and has built the country’s largest privately held database of current, former and prospective gun owners, according to a BuzzFeed report.

News of the NRA’s database is particularly surprising, since the pro-gun agency heavily protested the idea of a federal gun registry after the Newtown massacre led to debates on increased background checks. Even though 91 percent of Americans supported universal background checks, lawmakers were unable to push such an initiative through Congress. At the time, the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre instilled a widespread fear that universal background checks would lead to a national registry of gun owners, which critics said could lead to taxes on guns or confiscation.

Is that acceptable?  This is just as bad as anything the government would do……..but it will go unchallenged……why?  It is the NRA and they do NOTHING wrong!

6–There was a time when a 5 o’clock shadow was a bad thing.

7–I ask this one almost every time and have yet to get a reasonable answer……so I try again.  Why do so many women want to be blonde?

What Did They Say?

The missiles are being polished and labeled with cute little sayings and will await the final countdown……..we know that McCain blames Obama for the use of chem weapons…..but what do other notables have to say about the situation involving Syria?

Ted Cruz:

The Lone Star State conservative said Monday that America shouldn’t intervene in Syria in the wake of a deadly chemical weapons attack in the country last week.

“The United States Armed Forces doesn’t exist to be a policeman for the world and I certainly hope the reaction isn’t lobbing some cruise missiles in to disagree with Assad’s murderous actions,” Cruz said on Fox News.

“The focus should be the only justifiable reason for U.S. military forces to be engaged is to protect our national security and sadly, that has been the missing variable from this administration’s approach from the beginning as they allowed Assad to slaughter over 100,000 of his people,” he added.

Joe Biden:

“The president believes and I believe that those who use chemical weapons against defenseless men, women and children should and must be held accountable,” Biden said.

He gave no hints about what “accountable” means in terms of U.S. actions, but his comments came amidst increasing rhetoric aimed at Syrian leaders from White House officials.

Biden cast the use of chemical weapons in Syria as a national security problem for the United States.

“National security is strengthened when we hold accountable those who violate international norms that are the foundation of global security, and ultimately, American security,” he said. “And there is no doubt that an essential international norm has been violated. Chemical weapons have been used.”

Rand Paul:

“Even if you believe we should arm Islamic fighters in Syria, shouldn’t, at the very least, Congress vote on the matter?” Sen. Paul asked of the crowd. “The Constitution is very clear. Congress is to declare war, not the president.”

“Nevertheless, President Obama is moving ahead with plans to get involved in the Syrian civil war, without the authorization of Congress,” he said.

…

“Last week I was told by the administration, you know what their goal is in Syria? To fight to a stalemate,” Mr. Paul said. “I’ve told them I’m not sending my kids or your kids or any American soldiers to fight for stalemate. When we fight, we fight to win, we fight for American principles, we fight for the American flag and we come home after we win.”

“For our country’s sake, certainly for our soldiers’ sake—for the sake of every veteran who ever donned a uniform and fought for this country—America’s mission should always be to keep the peace, not police the world,” Sen. Paul said.

Just a few of the media whores looking for a mike to rant into…….granted a couplke of them will most likely be in the running for a nomination so they need to beef up their rhetoric…..

Keep in mind that this could be the opening salvo of yet another war for the US in the Middle East……..

What Are Assad’s Options?

Bad news!  UK has voted not to be included in the action against Syria!

Waiting…..waiting….we are waiting for the phone to ring and the “GO” signal given for the assault on Syria’s capabilities to launch chem weapons……once that happens Assad will have to decided what response he is willing to offer up for the destruction of his resources…………

  • Step up the anti-rebel offensive

One option would be to intensify attacks against rebel forces to seek some localised and spectacular victory to bolster the morale of the regime’s forces and to signal to the US and its allies that the Assad regime remains undeterred.

  • Widen the conflict

An alternative approach would be to seek to broaden the conflict by striking at Turkey, US forces in Jordan or perhaps even to fire ballistic missiles against Israel. The risks here for the Syrian regime are huge. Turkey is well capable of defending itself, as are US forces in Jordan. In both countries there are Patriot anti-missile defences.

An attack on Israel is also unlikely. The Syrian military is heavily committed in the civil war.

Lashing out against Israel might provoke a massive retaliation – opening up the possibility of a wider regional war involving Syria’s ally, Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel too deploys capable anti-missile systems. Provoking a wider conflict may not be in the interests of either Damascus, or importantly Tehran.

  • Proxy war

Syria could seek to use a group like Hezbollah to carry out attacks against US or Western interests abroad. Here too though, the Iranian authorities may well have a view and with Iran seemingly intent on exploring a new opening with the West on its nuclear dossier, Tehran may be cautious about encouraging Hezbollah in this direction.

Hezbollah is also itself in a difficult position, having allied itself with President Assad. It may determine it has enough problems at the moment and that it is better to keep its powder dry.

Assad’s options are few……and his choice will determine just what the next move will be for the US.

Will he be stupid?

What Could Possibly Happen?

The world is waiting for the US to act…….I say the US because the rest of the world has strong opinions but NO one has stepped up to do the “right” thing……All the yelling is moot…..soon, very soon we will see just what the US has in mind for Syria and Assad……we know that we will act and after that what could be the consequences?

Let me inject what I see as possible scenarios after the attack by the US…….

1–Assad will be embolden and will continue his carnage of the Syrian people….and if that occurs we will have to intercede yet again….and it could get only worse from there……

2–AQ, who is fighting in Syria, will also be embolden and will pick up their attempts to take over once the Assad regime falls…….

3–This one is the most pronounced……oil prices on the spot market could shoot up to $150 a barrel which in turn will drive up gas prices here at home.  This time it will be Obama’s fault because of the raising prices and we will once again hear the all too familiar chant…..Drill Baby Drill (a subject I have covered so many times)…….

These are three most outstanding consequences…….I am sure there will be others…..and none of them will be good for the US….I mean the Right has been jerking off because of the inaction of the Obama admin…….people like Graham and McCain……who looks for any toe hold on foreign policy that he can sling his damn silly insults and accusations……

So much for the supposedly blossoming Barack Obama/John McCain bromance. McCain, who’s currently visiting South Korea, today laid partial blame for Syria’s apparent chemical weapons massacre at Obama’s feet, saying the White House hadn’t reacted forcefully enough to past reports of chemical attacks. “Assad was able to use chemical weapons before and there was no response, and so why not do it again?” McCain told the Daily Beast. “They viewed that not as a red line, but as a green light, and they acted accordingly.” McCain also blamed Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey, criticizing the general’s Aug. 19 statement warning of the dangers of military engagement in Syria. “Dempsey made an incredible illogical statement and then a few days later we saw a massive use of chemical weapons,” McCain said, adding that he “has to be embarrassed.” “I’m sure that Bashar al-Assad paid attention to the top military man in America’s words that we were not going to get involved.” It’s not the first time McCain has criticized Obama’s Syria response, and he’s not alone. Bill Clinton has echoed his sentiments. Over at CNN, Newt Gingrich makes the case for staying out of Syria.

But what could you expect from an old jet jockey?  He also stated that there will be no “Boots on the ground”……we will see how he will handle that…first he needs to stop using the damn insulting term…..they are American lives he is talking about…..

We have to wait and see just what the consequences will be….and take my word for it…..there will be consequences!