POP #1

It's been a while, first a roundup of Policy or Political [POP] from around the world. The details on some of these issues will show up later this week. For now, enjoy POP #1:

A) 2006 Middle East Conflict (Israel v. Hamas and Hezbollah) - policy - This started when three Israeli soldiers were taken and then short and medium range missiles were fired into Northern Israel. If Lebanon does not want to be fired upon, how about not shooting missiles? And if the Palestinians want a state, why not build where they are? Unless they do not want Israel to exist.

B) The rise of Anti-Semitism by the Democrats and the American Left - Political - Read these posts: By the Daily Kos (here, here, and here), the commentators of the Huffington post , the writings of James Wolcott of Vanity Fair (here, here, here and here). The complicity of CNN with Hezbollah and the United Nation's peacekeepers help with the kidnappings. Finally count how many Republicans voted in the House against House Resolution 391. The answer is one against eight Democrats.

C) I'm writing a book - Political and Policy - More news as I write further.

Under the hood

The site will be upgraded by Norman Hayes. He does good work.

Watch this space.......

The roll-out is postponed....

The roll-out is being postponed because I am having some people work on the site. There is so much news, that I will comment once the site is up again.

For those working on the site, here is what is needed:

1) Move this picture behind the title screen.

2) Help create expandable Blog posts, since I will write a lot.

3) Clean up the right side of this Blog and show me how to add stuff cleanly.

If anyone working on this site has questions, email me. Sorry for the delay, but once The Valley is ready, new posts galore.......

picture

The meaning of the Missiles

Read this.

The question we Americans (that includes you, Messrs. Keller and Baquat) should be asking is: What does Kim Jong-Il get for firing his missiles?

The last time North Korea threatened us, we gave money and financial support. Among North Korea's neighbors, who can trust them? China, more interested in being an Economic power, does not want it's borders threatened. Japan, just out of a recession , and pacifisic since WWII, does not want an encrouching power either.

The only known trading power with North Korea is, at this moment, Iran. What North Korea is missing is money. During the early 20th Century, Germany launched a Dreadnaught battleship off the coast of North Africa. Why? To show the European world, the expanding Prussian Empire.

What must we do? This is Poker and Kim Jong-Il laid all his cards on the table. And the dealer hasn't shown the flop yet. Multi-lateral negotations (US, China, South Korea, and Japan) and using the carrot of trade might cause North Korea to back down.

Again, we can only hope.

Happy July 4th!

This is one of my favorite holidays. Every year, to celebrate it, I read the book Patriots by AJ Langguth. Let us remember why we celebrate the holiday:

"When members of the [Continental] Congress came to Jefferson's stirring conclusion, a majority thought it should include one last appeal to the power even greater then George III....They did not meddlewith Jefferson's last oath, more solumn than anything they might devise:

"'And for support of this declaration, with a firm relience on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortune and our sacred honor'

"On July 4, 1776, independence was delcared in language worthy of it."

-- Patriots, AJ Langguth, pg.362

Here is a copy of that famous document. Enjoy the fireworks tonight.:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

"--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

"He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

"He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

"He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

"He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

"He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

"He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offencesFor abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Causation

Right after SWIFT is publicized, there is a car bomb that destroys 66. The Washington Post describes the attack here.

A simple idea, if SWIFT was not publicized would this attack have occured? Is there a way to reverse engineer the funding and supplier of these car bombs?

Again, I ask, how many troops do the New York Times and Los Angeles Times have to protect us?

Some July 4th humor

Zarqawi Arrives at Heaven

When Zarqawi died, George Washington met him at the Pearly Gates.Washington slapped him across the face and yelled, "How dare youtry to destroy the nation I helped conceive!?"

Patrick Henry approached, punched him in the nose and shouted,"You wanted to end our liberties - but you failed!"

James Madison followed, kicked him hard in the groin and said,"This is why I allowed our government to provide for the common defense!"

Thomas Jefferson was next. He waited until Zarqawi had stoppedretching after Madison's blow to his nuts. Then he started wailing on Zarqawi with a long cane, snarling, "It was evil men like you who inspired me to write the Declaration of Independence."

The beatings and thrashings continued as George Mason, James Monroe and 66 other early Americans unleashed their anger on the terrorist leader.

Finally, as Zarqawi lay bleeding and in pain, the Angel Gabriel appeared.Zarqawi wept and said, "This is not what you promised me."Gabriel replied, "I told you there would be 72 Virginians waiting for you in Heaven. What did you think I said?

One Laptop found, but theories remain

To follow up on an earlier post.....

The Washington Post writes how the Veterans Affairs laptop was found.

All the information was there, untouched. However, in this modern computer era, things can be copied.

This information coupled with the ING missing Laptop equals a simple cross referencing. Who would they find?

My theory is this, to find one piece of information, hide it among the many, cross reference with financial information(interesting how the US government was trying to do the same thing with the terrorists....) and the person they are looking for is on Rumsfeld's staff.

I hope I'm wrong.

I am Palpatine!

Yes, it's true, I like Star Wars. Of course, I would turn out to like The Emperor. I liked Darth Vader growing up. He had the coolest theme music. Find out your character, take this test.

Living in Cloud cuckoo Land, Pt 2

Did you read all that? Good.

We have a war going on between two parts of the Constitution. The President and Treasury Department represent Article Two, and The New York Times represents the First Amendment. By all rights, there shouldn't be a fight, but when has the NYT ever supported anything the Bush Administration does?

I want to pose a theory for all the defenders of the NYT like the Kossites and James Wolcott. These haters all believe something must be done for the Global War on Terror [GWOT]. OK, let's go over what they have stopped:

1. No listening devices for international calls.
2. No protecting the Border
3. No "watchlist" of the people who plan to attack us (Have you ever seen a Jewish terrorist attack American cities? No. Then why can't we check for Arab terrorists. Leon Klinghoffer must be turning in his grave.).
4. And now, we cannot track the monetary transactions.

What Keller, Wolcott, and the Kossites believe is: If Bush does it, it must be evil. The President have the right and the power to protect us from another attack, how many troops do the Kossites have?

What bothers me that this war between the Amendment and the Article is that both sides are Americans and the Amendment people are willing to sacrifice Americans on that alter. Will James Wolcott defend an American from Alabama to defend his Amendment Two rights? The answer is no, he doesn't care about the person if they support Bush.

We are now blind and defenseless against the next terrorist attack in the United States or in Iraq. I lay the blood of the next attack at the feet of Bill Keller, the Kossites and James Wolcott. I hope they can sleep at night knowing they turned America into 1990 Tel Aviv.

Living in Cloud Cuckoo Land, pt. 1

First read Instapundit, then Hugh Hewitt, Patterico and Michelle Malkin.

Here is Bill Keller's explanation.

This is the John Snow's reply:

Full letter:
Mr. Bill Keller, Managing EditorThe New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036

Dear Mr. Keller:
The New York Times' decision to disclose the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, a robust and classified effort to map terrorist networks through the use of financial data, was irresponsible and harmful to the security of Americans and freedom-loving people worldwide. In choosing to expose this program, despite repeated pleas from high-level officials on both sides of the aisle, including myself, the Times undermined a highly successful counter-terrorism program and alerted terrorists to the methods and sources used to track their money trails.
Your charge that our efforts to convince The New York Times not to publish were "half-hearted" is incorrect and offensive. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Over the past two months, Treasury has engaged in a vigorous dialogue with the Times - from the reporters writing the story to the D.C. Bureau Chief and all the way up to you. It should also be noted that the co-chairmen of the bipartisan 9-11 Commission, Governor Tom Kean and Congressman Lee Hamilton, met in person or placed calls to the very highest levels of the Times urging the paper not to publish the story. Members of Congress, senior U.S. Government officials and well-respected legal authorities from both sides of the aisle also asked the paper not to publish or supported the legality and validity of the program.
Indeed, I invited you to my office for the explicit purpose of talking you out of publishing this story. And there was nothing "half-hearted" about that effort. I told you about the true value of the program in defeating terrorism and sought to impress upon you the harm that would occur from its disclosure. I stressed that the program is grounded on solid legal footing, had many built-in safeguards, and has been extremely valuable in the war against terror.
Additionally, Treasury Under Secretary Stuart Levey met with the reporters and your senior editors to answer countless questions, laying out the legal framework and diligently outlining the multiple safeguards and protections that are in place.
You have defended your decision to compromise this program by asserting that "terror financiers know" our methods for tracking their funds and have already moved to other methods to send money. The fact that your editors believe themselves to be qualified to assess how terrorists are moving money betrays a breathtaking arrogance and a deep misunderstanding of this program and how it works. While terrorists are relying more heavily than before on cumbersome methods to move money, such as cash couriers, we have continued to see them using the formal financial system, which has made this particular program incredibly valuable.
Lastly, justifying this disclosure by citing the "public interest" in knowing information about this program means the paper has given itself free license to expose any covert activity that it happens to learn of - even those that are legally grounded, responsibly administered, independently overseen, and highly effective. Indeed, you have done so here.
What you've seemed to overlook is that it is also a matter of public interest that we use all means available - lawfully and responsibly - to help protect the American people from the deadly threats of terrorists. I am deeply disappointed in the New York Times.
Sincerely,
[signed]
John W. Snow, Secretary
U.S. Department of the Treasury

Irony, thy name is ACLU

Read this.

Too close for coincidence

First, Veteran's Affairs and now, ING.

Both Laptops stolen in DC metro reigon. Who is next and what is being looked for?

Anyone have any ideas?

Stay tuned

The lack of posting is due to a few a few reasons:

A) Writing the Seven Chapter Essay (The prologue will be posted on the second Tuesday in July) on the trends for the 2006 and 2008 elections. Remember, when you win your bets on both elections, just send me 10% of your winnings.

B) Also in July, there will be a new roll-out for the blog. The Valley of the Shadow will be back stronger then before (with more Delacroix posts!).

C) It's spring!

The bellweather

The last special election before a general (in November) election is always known as a Bellweather. This would always be used by the prognosticator and pundits like Michael Barone to determine how the tide will go later that year. Back in 1994, it was Kentucky Congressional District 2 [CD]. William Natcher had just died and his election brought forth the first Republican of the 104th Congress.

So, what does that have to do with today? Everywhere you looked in California, the talk was about California CD-50. A little history, Randy "Duke" Cunningham had stepped down because of personal corruption this year. Yesterdays primary election decided whether the seat will fall to the Dems or remain Republican. If this is the Bellweather, then the Republican Congress has no worry.

I am building the case as to why. Watch this space.

Shhh.....

I am at the UCLA Library right now. It is very peaceful on campus and the information is here to be tapped. However, try going through files over 12 years old (I am studying elections from 1988 - 1998 to prove my theory). There are many haystacks and fewer needles. Wish me luck.....

Random musings

Good news, the site meter is working! However, I am still working on how to make expandable Blog posts. These are all pieces to a puzzle that is coming together.

Every good theory needs proof, so this weekend (and a few other weekends) I will be hanging out at UCLA Library. I'll be back in College again!

I am reading a very good book right now called The Nightingale's Song about Five Graduates from Annapolis who have affected our current Foreign Affairs. This book is a good companion piece to Rise of the Vulcans. Both of these books talk in great detail about how the Executive Branch deals with Military and intelligence issues. And going into 2008, every candidate should read these books to understand our current Foreign Policy.

Notes from a weekend

The reason I haven't been posting is because:

A) I am having trouble with my Site Meter.

B) Also, I am writing lengthy essays that will be translated to the Blog, but I need to learn how to hide the whole essay (they're long, they're lengthy and they'll take up most of the Blog when published). By the way, these essays are on predictions for the 2006 and 2008 elections. Stick around for the Blog this summer and you will know more then the New York Times or LA Times.

C) I am learning how to add a picture to the header. Then, I will try to offer items from The Valley of the Shadow for sale for the fall.

D) It's Memorial Day. Please remember our Soldiers with these charities.

A Musical Interlude....

Last night, I hung out with my friend Toni who took me to see the LA Philharmonic at
the Walt Disney Concert Hall. I heard two Beethoven pieces and a new piece by Anders Hillborg.

I heard Beethoven's Symphonies 8 and 5. The last time I saw classical music live was when I was in Junior High during a class trip to Lincoln Center. Now, I love rock music, blues, Jazz and techno, but I forgot how, in the hands of a Master Composer, music can flow and live.

Some Saturday nights, I visit a Goth club where some bands play. In the midst of that music, you can hear the hints of the Old Masters (occasionally, it can show in a Moby or Blue Man Group piece). Growing up in NYC, you learn how to appreciate Art.

If you haven't noticed the paintings on this Blog, take a look. What makes Delacroix my favorite painter is his passion. If you learn nothing else from this piece, understand:

Passion + Creativity + Audience = Art

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