Path of Progress

D-Day June 5

Dear UK

Dear United Kingdom,

While I'm happy that your tax dollars were spent on a lavish wedding for two children, I'm fairly certain that Patriots died so that Americans wouldn't have to care about such pomp and circumstance.

I need some more coffee. Not tea. Coffee.

Signed,

Uncle Cap'n.

Honor

The Gathering Storm

The Tipping Point In The Indo-Pacific

Twenty years from now, we'll look back to see how we got here.... an interesting article, and fun read about China's continued growth and influence in Asia and what it would mean to U.S. influence.

"Sino-American relations have been spiraling down into a hostile dialectic for more than­ a decade. The two sides have grown increasingly uncomfortable with their complex, ever-evolving but seemingly inescapable economic interdependence. China will not relent in its aggressive, mercantilist currency policies, but the Fed and the Treasury, ever in need of Chinese capital to finance America’s debt, have never pushed the issue to the wall. The two sides have displayed their ideological differences as Chinese restrictions on civil rights continue. They have sparred, too, over points of honor and prestige in international forums and, episodically, over the future of Taiwan.

But the underlying source of the current deterioration in the bilateral relationship is the competition for influence in the Indo-Pacific commons, that broad swath reaching from the western Pacific Ocean to the eastern coast of Africa, which both sides consider central to their standing in the region and to global perceptions of their power. After nearly a decade’s worth of threat-making, strained diplomatic ties and below-the-radar games of chicken, U.S. and Chinese naval ships now stand prow-to-prow in the East China Sea, minutes from battle over a seemingly meaningless incident."

Read more

Oh yeah...

A Weapon Of Mass Destruction Found In The U.S.?

A port official has admitted that a 'weapon of mass effect' has been found by 'partner agencies' in the U.S., raising major questions over a possible government cover-up.

The disturbing revelation came in an interview with San Diego's assistant port director screened by a television channel in the city.

The Customs and Border Protection Department tried to dampen speculation over his remarks, but doubts remained over whether he had inadvertently revealed a dirty bomb plot to attack the U.S. mainland.

Read more ....

A Dark Anniversary

U.S. Now In Afghanistan Longer than the Soviets

The last Red Army troops left in 1989, driven out after nine years and 50 days by U.S.-backed fighters known as mujahedin. Despite contrasts, the U.S. and Soviet wars have common narrative elements.

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Moscow — As wartime days go, Friday was a fairly quiet one in Afghanistan. Helicopters skittered across the sky; convoys rumbled along desert roads; soldiers in mountain outposts scanned the jagged peaks around them.

But one thing set the day apart: With its passing, the U.S. military's campaign in Afghanistan matched the Soviet Union's long and demoralizing sojourn in the nation.

Read more ....

In a completely unrelated note...

Afghanistan discovered an oilfield containing an estimated 1.8 billion barrels of crude in the north of the country, a Mines Ministry official said.

If proven, the resource would be more than 10 times the size of the country’s oil reserves, assessed at more than 150 million barrels by the U.S. Geological Survey. By comparison, Saudi Arabia had proven reserves of 264.6 billion barrels at the end of 2009, according to BP Plc data

“A huge oil resource, which looks like a triangle, with an estimated 1.8 billion barrels of oil, has been discovered by Afghan geologists in cooperation with international geologists between Balkh and Sheberghan provinces,” Jawad Omar, a spokesman for the ministry, said.

The field is a new discovery and was not among those found by Russian exploration companies, Omar said. Further research will be carried out in the next six months and the field will be tendered once all investigations are completed.

The U.S., which has spent $27 billion since 2002 training Afghan forces, is promoting development of Afghan resources in an attempt to stabilize President Hamid Karzai’s government, U.S. Deputy Under-Secretary of State Paul Brinkley said earlier this year. Back in August U.S. President Barack Obama and Karzai discussed the need to jointly keep the pressure on the Taliban and to build Afghan capacity.

The country itself lacks local knowledge to get the oil itself, according to Sayed Masood, an economics professor at the University of Kabul .

“Lack of capacity, lack of capital, lack of skilled people means that Afghanistan cannot extract the reserves itself."

If only there was a country that had the military and the capacity to extract that oil and buy it to fuel their infrastructure?

Little Electric Lie

It seems that GM wasn't exactly truthy about the 'all electric' Jesus Car that was being called, well, the Jesus Car.

According to JALOPNIK.com...

The Chevy Volt has been hailed as General Motors’ electric savior. Now, as GM officially rolls out the Volt this week for public consumption, we’re told the much-touted fuel economy was misstated and GM “lied” about the car being all-electric.

In the past, and based on GM’s claims, we’ve gone so far as to call the Volt GM’s “Jesus Car.” And why wouldn’t we call it that? We were told the Volt would achieve 230 MPG fuel economy and would always use the electric drivetrain to motivate the wheels — only using the onboard gasoline engine as a “range extender” for charging the batteries. It now turns out that not only were those fuel economy claims misleading, but the gasoline engine is actually used to motivate the wheels — making the Volt potentially nothing more than a very advanced hybrid car and pushing some automotive journalists like Scott Oldham at Edmunds.com to claim “GM lied to the world” about it.

Of course General Motors has made a response to these revelations... which can be found here.

But it begs the question - can it be called the Jesus Car anymore? How about we call it John the Baptist car?

The only real solution to get off the electric car is obvious - nuclear. Okay, it's a joke, but I'm not kidding... what, like bicycles and trolleys or a robust rail option aren't just as preposterous a suggestion?

Uncle Sam Wants You...

That's pleasant. Something I'm going to send to the Coffee Party Movement.

Coffee Party Civility Pledge: "As a member or supporter of the Coffee Party, I pledge to conduct myself in a way that is civil, honest, and respectful toward people with whom I disagree. I value people from different cultures, I value people with different ideas, and I value and cherish the democratic process."

The Constitution is NOT an Ala Carte Menu

This isn't a pick and choose, people. It's not the Bible.

Why does it seem that Democrats love the first amendment, but hate the second?

The Republicans are trying to get rid of the 14th, love the second and the tenth, but are treating the first and fifth as optional.

It's a package deal. All or nothing, gang. It's only a buck oh' five.

A Young Man Reflects on His Trip to the US

Here's a story I found on Reddit.com... it's the story of a 22 year old Scottish guy who asked Reddit where he should go on his first visit to the US. He's back home now. And he's doing an AMA [Ask Me Anything] about a foreigner's impression of America.

A while back he asked for suggestions about where to go on my first visit to the US. Here are his opening remarks....

"In the end I went for 5 weeks and visited Vermont, Hanover NH, Boston, Groton CT (where I met a penpal of many years for the first time), New York City, Chapel Hill NC and Asheville NC (in time for the Bele Chere festival). I've been asked to do an AMA on my experiences there.

Things that struck me about the US:

• The generosity and frendliness of Americans in general. I think this is borne of being less culturally reserved to contributing to other people's conversations or spending time to help total strangers. So I felt very welcome and that the US was more culturally inclined to be outwardly nice to people they didn't know. People in customer service jobs were generally far cheerier than they are back home.

• The sheer scale of everything - wow. Everything is... bigger.

• The insular mentality. I was met with shock when I told someone I had never seen a baseball game. I also noticed a predisposition to assuming American supremacy in all fields. "Do you have Subway [the sandwich shop] in Scotland?!", I was breathlessly asked. Yes, we do, but the anxiety with which people wanted to know if America was available should they visit somewhere foreign was quite pronounced. One 400lb woman who unfortunately sat next to me on a Greyhound bus from Durham, NC to Asheville, NC struck up a conversation and asked me... if cell phones were widespread in Scotland. I decided against informing her that we really do have modern technology, and that Scotland in fact invented the telephone, the television, flush toilets and capitalism. Seriously. I am well aware that such people are not representative of all America - it's just that all your worldly-aware people are indoors on Reddit.

• You REALLY need a car. I didn't hire one (most places require you to be 25). I didn't have much of a problem with buses and trains on the east coast, (and I was staying with friends who had cars) but I can see you really do need one if you live there. Every town except Boston is arranged in a fucking rigid grid layout, which came as a surprise too. American cities are designed for cars. I managed to get by for a while without one, with the worst outcome being having to walk 2.5 miles along the interstate between my hotel and Asheville town. Also, you guys have world-class roads and air transportation yet 3rd world railways. WTF guys.

• Immigration control was very paranoid. Purpose of your visit? how long for? where are you resident normally? where are you staying? who with? how do you know him? (college roommates) how long were you roommates for? where did you study? what did you study? what did he study? have you graduated? has he graduated? how much money do you have with you? in cash or in cards? are the cards in pounds or dollars? does your friend have a job? do you have a job? where? doing what? do you have an itinerary? where else do you plan on going in the US? do you have bookings made for that? ok now give me 10 fingerprints and a picture.

• "Your name is like Dunkin Donuts LOL!" - every single one of you. (Except the immigration officer)

• The US is not monolinguistically English. I was taken aback by how often it would be useful to know Spanish.

• Prosperity. If you have a great business idea in America there is a cultural encouragement to go for it and make a success of it. It's a great feeling to be living amongst that kind of forward-looking positivity.

• Political stereotypes aren't as widespread as feared. But there's this difference between the US and home: to be elected to political office in the UK, you have to be a socialist (or at least not vocally oppose socialism) and completely STFU about your religion. In the US, the opposite is true.

• I visited Boston and did some historical trail stuff. To be fair y'all were right in regards to King George being a douche. I definitely could see how the Revolution felt like a glorious assumption of human freedom. In fact, I came to the conclusion that much of American talk about 'freedom' - "support our troops, freedom isn't free, defend your rights" - dates back to this. Before I visited the US I couldn't quite understand why America was so impassioned about deploying hundreds of thousands of troops globally to defend this ephermal concept of "freedom". Now I see that the idea of having to fight for your liberty is thoroughly ingrained into the American psyche, because of its history. Congress apparently feels that they are doing the world a favour by deploying troops everywhere.

• At times I did feel treated like a bit of a novelty. You're foreign yet you're white and a native English speaker? lol wut

America is an awesome place and really too big and too diverse to simmer down to a succinct summation of its culture and achievements (maybe everywhere in the world is). But maybe the above impression will be an interesting take on how the US looks to an outsider."

I thought you all would like to read this, and also to follow along in the AMA on Reddit. You will have to register to leave a question, comment or upvote comments -- or you can be a lurker and read the better comments.

Here's the link: IAmA 22yo Scottish male who asked Reddit where I should go on my first visit to the US. I'm back home now. AMA.

Peace Brings Turmoil. What?

Afghanistan In Turmoil After Peace Talk Rumors

Pakistan proposes peace talks between Hamid Karzai and a notorious insurgent commander triggering political tensions.

Pakistani proposals for peace talks between President Hamid Karzai and a notorious insurgent commander have triggered political tensions inside Afghanistan that analysts warn could dangerously destabilize the country.

Western officials say Pakistan's ISI spy agency has offered to negotiate with Sirajuddin Haqqani – an al-Qaida linked commander accused of numerous suicide attacks – as part of a broader initiative to find a find a settlement to the conflict.

Read more ....

Update: Afghan talks raise speculation -- Al Jazeera

Afghanistan's minority groups are clearly upset with these developments, but CIA Director Panetta's skepticism on the success of these talks is probably right.

Pakistan is trying to broker a deal in order to have a say in future peace and reconciliation talks in Afghanistan. To get to the table they are threatening the Haqqani network that if they do not try to resolve their differences with the Kabul Government, Pakistani forces will be launched against their safe havens on the Pakistan-Afghan border, which is why they're sitting down to start talking.

To reconcile with an enemy that you regard is a puppet of the infidels is something that the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies do not do - it will be an affront to their religious convictions. But they've show they can turn those on and off when it is convenient for them.

This is all theater and show, and buys time before Pakistani forces attack Haqqani camps on their side of the Pakistan border.

Thanks to our good friends @ War News Update for the Post

Oh, and speaking of Afghanistan --

U.S. Officials Say Karzai Aides Are Derailing Corruption Cases Involving Elite

Not even Mayor Daley of Chicago has this kind of clout. Top officials in President Hamid Karzai's government have repeatedly derailed corruption investigations of politically connected Afghans, according to U.S. officials who have provided Afghanistan's authorities with wiretapping technology and other assistance in efforts to crack down on endemic graft.

In recent months, the U.S. officials said, Afghan prosecutors and investigators have been ordered to cross names off case files, prevent senior officials from being placed under arrest and disregard evidence against executives of a major financial firm suspected of helping the nation's elite move millions of dollars overseas.
Read more ....

I suppose if you're skimming billions off of the Americans, and you bribe the Americans back with those same dollars - you can do anything? No?

The Week In Review - Sunday Comics

Yesterday there was a protest against oil in Washington DC and also "hands across the sands" which was a bunch of white people holding hands on their beach front property. Many of them had green hard hats on, which meant they wanted 'clean' energy. Of note, were the green hard hats which were made of plastic. Which is made of petroleum. Goddamn it people.

And why does America need 20 million barrels of oil A DAY?
Yeah, it's a joke about the sweatshop that made the iPhone 4, but the reality is that it's our waiting-in-line attitude and cult-ish worship of the newest and shiniest new gadget rolled out on top of the pile of pointless consumerism and one-up-manship of the Joneses. But on the bright side, this lifestyle is completely unsustainable. Just ask everyone looking for employment.

That recovery is going great! Right?! I mean, every country in the world is following Mr. Obama's advice and driving their countries into crippling debt and dependence? What? they're not? They're standing up to him? Oh, Greece scared the living crap out of everyone? Really?

And as the G8 gets around to condemning North Korea for continuing to fight the Korean War, with a mildly worded letter, the good old fashioned protesting in Toronto is being led by Tyler Durden... no, really.

No. I mean, really. That's not shopped.

What a week. See you next time.

Next Time

Hey USA, you want to win the next World Cup? Let's send half of the Red Sox Nation and all of the Oakland Raiders Season Ticket holders to the the match and let's let them mix in the stands with this guy -- who is obviously what happens when you watch the Yoda scenes with too much acid.

Our people will turn those horns into beer bongs... and it'll get nuts from there. And I'm talking about those fun games between USA and the Dutch. We'll be unstoppable.

If we care.

Which we won't.

Let's let the English have their little game. We'll keep concentrating on real sports. Like badminton.

Major Blood in Custody

Pakistan 'Arrests Key Taliban Leader' -- BBC

Another leader of Afghanistan's Taliban has been arrested in Pakistan, reports quoting Pakistani and US officials say.

Agha Jan Mohtasim, Code Name: Major Blood, was arrested in the southern city of Karachi, intelligence officials said.

A number of other Afghan Taliban leaders are said to have been detained recently, including the group's deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

The arrests have been hailed as a major blow to the group amid a NATO offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Read more ....

Still unaccounted for, Stormshado, the Baroness, and the Head Snake - Cobra Commander.

GI Joe Captures Destro

Secret Joint Raid Captures Taliban's Top Commander

The Taliban's top military commander was captured several days ago in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American intelligence forces, according to American government officials.

The commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, (Click on that for a three page deep dive on what an evil prick he is) is an Afghan described by American officials as the most significant Taliban figure to be detained since the American-led war in Afghanistan started more than eight years ago. He ranks second in influence only to Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban's founder, and was a close associate of Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mullah Baradar has been in Pakistani custody for several days, with American and Pakistani intelligence officials both taking part in interrogations, according to the officials.

Read More:

Now I'm going to have to pull a Kanye West here and say, "I'm really happy for you and i'mma let you finish, but...." what are we going to do with this guy now? Have his trial in New York? In that little prison in Illinois? Seriously? It's like an episode of the GI Joe cartoon where they 'arrest' Cobra Commander, and about three minutes later Zartan and the Dredknocks are busting him out. They might have even done that in the movie too...

Seriously though, the desire of the political leadership of America doesn't want this guy alive. They don't want him to be questioned or interrogated. If he's alive, they can't store him any where. They can't take him to Gitmo. Did the US military commanders keep Mullah Baradar just to piss off the Secretary? Way to go Team America!

A Tale of Two Countries

UK is the violent crime capital of Europe

Analysis of figures from the European Commission showed a 77 per cent increase in murders, robberies, assaults and sexual offenses in the UK since the Labour Party came to power.

The total number of violent offenses recorded compared to population is higher than any other country in Europe, as well as America, Canada, Australia and South Africa.

The UK had a greater number of murders in 2007 than any other EU country – 927 – and at a relative rate higher than most western European neighbors, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

US Violent Crime Rates Lowest Recorded

The violent crime rate peaked in 1991 at 758.2 crimes per 100,000 population. Violent crimes include homicide, aggravated assaults, and forcible rapes. In 2008, the violent crime rate dropped to its lowest recorded level of 454.5 per 100,000 people. In addition, the property crime rate has also fallen from its 1991 peak of 5,140.2 per 100,000 to its lowest recorded rate of 3,212.5 per 100,000 in 2008.

For complete FBI crime rate tabulations go here.

Prediction Comes True

ALMOST Faster than I could type it, Dana Loesch has forwarded me this gem from Sen. Roland Burris (D-Blagojevich):

Senator Rowland Burris of Illinois, the Senator who was 'appointed' to fill President Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat, blames George Bush for Chicago not getting the Olympics in 2016. Burris stated in an interview, shortly after the announcement, that the image of the U. S. has been so tarnished in the last 8 years that, even Barack Obama making an unprecedented pitch for the games could not overcome the hatred the world has for us as a result of George Bush.
TA-DA!

Of course, that completely discounts why Chicago was even selected as a finalist in June, 2008, 'Senator'. Maybe the Olympic committee just wanted to see this picture?

Our Disposable Society

The history of America's disposable consumerist society has been on my mind a lot lately.

On one hand, everything we make, consume, toss out and replace just about everything at the local Wal Mart or Target. Our habit to repeat this cycle of consuming 'stuff' is the antithesis of the idea to reduce, recycle, and reuse. The consumer based and capitalist based society that has existed pre-WWI is completely opposite of the eco-friendly idea that we can live within our needs. Choosing to not 'keep up with the Jones ' is downright Un-American. And even if you are trying to match Chip Jones's new Hybrid SUV and the giant new plastic self turning composter from Costco - although he's still buying stuff - it's still more stuff!

Believe it or not, there was a time that things were built to last. You would buy one car - and when it broke, you could fix it. The disposable world that we take for granted just didn't exist. No, not even razor blades. It was a straight edge and you would sharpen it. Hey, maybe that's why facial hair was so prevalent back in the day?

When did the idea of buying something once - then keeping it forever - change?

Let's look again to razor blades....

The razor industry, specifically King Camp Gillette, is known for a pioneering the marketing strategy in which the seller takes a loss on the device, in this case the razor handle, and makes money on refills, the blades. That model is used by inkjet printers and cartridges, video-game consoles and games and mobile phones and wireless service, I'm sure you can think of a couple others... Great idea, and as a bonus the safety razor (the product) also limited the exposure of a head-severing straight edge next to your grandpa's jugular down to a few millimeters.

Another example of a 'revolution' in the throw-away consumer society happened over a century ago. Lawrence Luellen had already become interested in the concept of a manufactured paper drinking cup that could be delivered by a vending machine and connected to a water cooler. At the time, public places often featured common water vessels with a single tin dipper shared by all. That means one shared cup next to the water. Was it just a coincidence that the two leading causes of death in the United States at that time were pneumonia and Tuberculosis?

By 1908, Luellen had patented a porcelain machine that dispensed a paper cup and a drink of water for a penny. The company soon expanded its market to drug stores and soda fountains. The post-World War I flu epidemic cemented the value of disposable drinking cups in the public consciousness.

(I cannot find the proper citation but..) Once the paper cup thing really took off they had to create an informational marketing campaign explaining to the end user that it was okay to toss the cup in the garbage - since the culture demanded that they keep that paper cup that came out of the vending machine - forever. It was, after all, a perfectly good cup.

And now, paper cup expenditure growth is roughly proportional to the spending habits of the middle class worldwide with the regional differences in the growth rate. Think about it, when Starbucks is opening a store on every street corner - paper cup sales are through the roof. Lately, not as much.

Okay, we started filling our rubbish tins around 1918 with paper cups and safety razors. But when did this form of economy really take off for just about everything else?

In the waning days of WWII, President Truman's council of economic gurus was challenged to find a way to convert a war economy to peace.

Shortly after the end of the war, retailing analyst Victor Lebow expressed the solution: “Our enormously productive economy … demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption…. we need things consumed, burned up, replaced, and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.” So if you want to blame or thank just one person, there's your guy.

President Eisenhower’s council of economic advisors chairman stated: “The American economy’s ultimate purpose is to produce more consumer goods.” Not better health care, education, housing, transportation, or recreation or less poverty and hunger, but providing more stuff to consumers.

Hey! Isn't that Target's Mission Statement?

When goods are well-made and durable, eventually markets are saturated. An endless market is created by introducing rapid obsolescence (clothes, cars, computers, gadgets, paper cups, condoms...). And with disposability, where an article is used once and thrown away, the market will never be saturated. Ta-dah!

Consumer goods aren’t created by the economy out of thin air though. They come from resources, and when they are used up, they will be returned to the Earth as garbage. It takes energy to extract, process, manufacture, and transport products, while air, water, and soil can be wasted or polluted at many points in the life cycle of the product. In other words, what we consume has direct effects on nature and our surroundings - a.k.a. the environment.

And then there are social and "spiritual" costs. Allen Kanner and Mary Gomes write in The All-Consuming Self: “The purchase of a new product, especially a ‘big ticket’ item such as a car or computer, typically produces an immediate surge of pleasure and achievement and often confers status and recognition upon the owner. Yet as the novelty wears off, the emptiness threatens to return. The standard consumer solution is to focus on the next promising purchase.” Kind of like sex? My last beer?

Ultimately, it goes beyond pleasure or status; acquiring stuff becomes an unquenchable demand. Paul Wachtel writes in The Poverty of Affluence: “Having more and newer things each year has become not just something we want but something we need. The idea of more, ever-increasing wealth, has become the center of our identity and our security, and we are caught up by it as the addict is by his drugs.”

Much of what we purchase is not essential for our survival or even basic human comfort but is based on impulse, novelty, a momentary desire. And there is a hidden price that we, nature, and future generations will pay for it too.

When consumption becomes the very reason economies exist, we never ask “how much is enough?”, “why do we need all this stuff?”, and “are we any happier?” Our personal consumer choices have ecological, social, and psychological consequences.

Bummer.

So what we've got here is way - way beyond just buying stuff. It's become part of the American psychological imbalance. Even the best hippie granola muncher is pining to buy an iPod to play some obscure Grateful Dead show in 1982 and an ironic new Che Guevara/Cookie Monster shirt on threadless.com. Apparently to up the immediate 'happy' time, if even for a half an hour, we need more stuff. While it seems this would be a great time to re-examine some of our deeply held notions of consumerism and what got us into the Great Recession... perhaps we should also consider the other psychological factors that influence our unsustainable lifestyles. I don't think we can handle just going cold turkey on this one, but maybe it's time to have some group therapy on this one?

Just a thought. Feel free to weigh in on the issue.