November 2010 archive

U.S. would end Afghan combat by 2014 in plan  

A phased wind-down framework will be presented at a NATO summit  

By Peter Baker and Rod Nordland  

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration has developed a plan to begin transferring security duties in select areas of Afghanistan to that country’s forces over the next 18 to 24 months, with an eye toward ending the American combat mission there by 2014, officials said Sunday.

The phased four-year plan to wind down American and allied fighting in Afghanistan will be presented at a NATO summit meeting in Lisbon later this week, the officials said. It will reflect the most concrete vision for transition in Afghanistan assembled by civilian and military officials since President Obama took office last year.

First, please do not get me wrong.  I am a strong supporter of solar power, either to charge your car battery or to run cities.  Before we start, get the idea that I am opposed to solar power out our your mind.  But solar power has it limitations.

Lately, the SOBber on the Fox “News” network (soon to have to be distinguished from The SOBber of the House of Representatives) has been adding solar generators to gold and food stashes as a way to survive the coming apocalypse in his repertoire of advertisers.  I shall not use the name nor the website for the particular backyard solar firm to which his adverts refer, but will start by stating that the claims are, to say the least, overblown.

Before we start, very happy birthday wishes to the former Mrs. Translator!

Amazing Race premier.  New Simpsons, Cleveland Show, Family Guy, American Dad.  Throwball- Patriots @ Steelers.  Tina Fey accepts the Mark Twain Prize.  Everything else is just premiers.

This record here’s about twelve years old. Parliament buried it and it stayed buried until River here dug it up. This is what they were afraid she knew. And they were right to fear. There’s a universe of folk who’re gonna know it, too. Someone has to speak for these people.

Y’all got on this boat for different reasons, but y’all come to the same place. So now I’m asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything, I know this – they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They’ll swing back to the belief that they can make people… better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin’. I aim to misbehave.

• ABC Family– Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• AMC– The Walking Dead marathon (with premier)
• Bravo– Real Housewives marathon (with premier)
• Comedy– Wedding Crashers
• Disney– Good Luck Charlie, Shake It Up!, Sonny With a Chance (premiers)
• E!– Knocked Up
• Food– Challenge, Next (premiers)
• FX– There’s Something About Mary, What Happens in Vegas
• History– Ice Road Truckers (premier)
• Lifetime– No Reservations x 2 (without Anthony Bourdain), Waitress
• National Geographic– Great Migrations marathon (3 premiers)
• Sci Fi– Hollywood Treasure marathon
• TBS– Meet the Fockers x 2
• Turner Classic– Night Tide, The Big Country
• TLC– Sarah Palin’s Alaska (Series Premier?  You betcha!)
• TNT– Diary of a Mad Black Woman x 2
• Toon– Shrek
• Travel– Man v. Food marathon (thank goodness)

Later-

• ESPN2– World Series of Poker (2010 Final Table repeat)
• FX– Money Talks
• TBS– Road Trip
• Turner Classic– The Hoodlum (shhhhh)
• TNT– The General’s Daughter
• TV Guide– Weeds marathon (useless)
• USA– The Golden Compass, Serenity

Not just the Spanish Main, luv. The entire ocean. The entire world. Wherever we want to go, we’ll go. That’s what a ship is, you know. It’s not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that’s what a ship needs but what a ship is… what the Black Pearl really is… is freedom.

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

1 Pilgrims pour into Mina camp from Mecca as the hajj begins

by Ali Khalil, AFP

57 mins ago

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

November 14 is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 47 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this day in 1851, the novel Mobey Dick is published. Moby Dick, a novel by Herman Melville about the voyage of the whaling ship Pequod, is published by Harper & Brothers in New York. Moby Dick is now considered a great classic of American literature and contains one of the most famous opening lines in fiction: “Call me Ishmael.” Initially, though, the book about Captain Ahab and his quest for a giant white whale was a flop.

Moby-Dick is widely considered to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon learns that Ahab seeks one specific whale, Moby Dick, a ferocious, enigmatic white sperm whale. In a previous encounter, the whale destroyed Ahab’s boat and bit off his leg. Ahab intends to take revenge.

In Moby-Dick, Melville employs stylized language, symbolism, and metaphor to explore numerous complex themes. Through the main character’s journey, the concepts of class and social status, good and evil, and the existence of gods are all examined as Ishmael speculates upon his personal beliefs and his place in the universe. The narrator’s reflections, along with his descriptions of a sailor’s life aboard a whaling ship, are woven into the narrative along with Shakespearean literary devices such as stage directions, extended soliloquies and asides. The book portrays insecurity that is still seen today when it comes to non-human beings along with the belief that these beings understand and act like humans. The story is based on the actual events around the whaleship Essex, which was attacked by a sperm whale while at sea and sank.

Moby Dick has been classified as American Romanticism. It was first published by Richard Bentley in London on October 18, 1851, in an expurgated three-volume edition titled The Whale, and weeks later as a single volume, by New York City publisher Harper and Brothers as Moby Dick; or, The Whale on November 14, 1851. Although the book initially received mixed reviews, Moby Dick is now considered part of the Western canon.

So much for promises to restore the rule of law. Obama Justice Department was supposed to be non-political and independent of the White House. Yeah, right and that bridge in Brooklyn is still on the market.

Opposition to U.S. trial likely to keep mastermind of 9/11 attacks in detention

Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, will probably remain in military detention without trial for the foreseeable future, according to Obama administration officials.

The administration has concluded that it cannot put Mohammed on trial in federal court because of the opposition of lawmakers in Congress and in New York. There is also little internal support for resurrecting a military prosecution at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The latter option would alienate liberal supporters.

The administration asserts that it can hold Mohammed and other al-Qaeda operatives under the laws of war, a principle that has been upheld by the courts when Guantanamo Bay detainees have challenged their detention.

More Bush. More War forever

And that’s why this decision almost guarantees that the AUMF just became a forever war-at least one lasting the next twenty to forty years of KSM’s life. Because the government has apparently decided to hold KSM with no more solid legal justification than the war, which judges have interpreted to be the AUMF. Which means the government is going to have to sustain some claim that that AUMF remains in effect, even if we go broke and withdraw from Afghanistan as a result (that seems to be the only thing that will make us withdraw, in spite of the fact that we’re not going to do any good there).

Nine years ago, a British Embassy employee  wrote,

As long as the war against terrorism in the widest sense continued, the US/UK would have rights to continue to detain those they had been fighting against (even if the fighting in Afghanistan itself were over). [Redacted] conceded that the strength of such a case would depend on the plausibility of the argument that the war was continuing.

The decision to hold KSM indefinitely has now flipped that equation: so long as the only justification for holding KSM is the claim we’re at war, we’ll have to remain at war.

And all those bonus powers a President gets with the claim that we’re at war? They’re all wrapped up now, in the necessity to hold KSM forever.

h/t emptywheel @ FDL

“Punting the Pundits“ is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

The Sunday Talking Heads:

This Week with Christiane Amanpour: Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., join Ms. Amanpour to debate the administration’s foreign policy, the role of the U.S. in the world, the formation of a new Iraqi coalition in Iraq, from which Graham has just returned from a congressional delegation visit, and the chances for a bipartisan foreign policy in the new Congress.

She also brings together top voices on the economy with two members of the deficit commission, Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and chairman and CEO of Honeywell International, David Cote.  

At the Round Table with George Will, Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus and Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institution the mixed messages from the White House on  the Bush Tax cuts and President Bush’s new book, “Decision Points.”

Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer: Mr. Scheiffer will be joined this Sunday by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. and Sen.-elect Rand Paul, R-Ky.

The Chris Matthews Show: This Week’s Guests Gloria Borger, CNN Senior Political Analyst, Howard Fineman, The Huffington Post, Senior Political Editor, Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune Columnist and Kelly O’Donnell, NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent will be Mr. Matthew’s guests to discuss these topics.

Which Republican Sees the Best Shot to Run as the Un-Obama in 2012?

The House Republican Plan for 280 Hearings in 2011 to Investigate the Obama Administration

Meet the Press with David Gregory: In his first television interview since Democrats suffered big losses in the midterm elections, Mr. Gregory will sit down with President Obama’s top advisor, David Axelrod and have an exclusive interview with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

Joining Mr. Gregory for a Round Table discussion of the Deficit Commission Chair Report and the Bush Tax Cuts will be former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA), former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) and  Co-Author of “All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis”, Bethany McLean of Vanity Fair.  

As my good friend BillinPortland puts it:

On Meet the Press Sunday: Newt Gingrich, John McCain, Alan Greenspan and Harold Ford. A perfect 10 on the Wanker Scale!!!

State of the Union with Candy Crowley: This Sunday, the focus is on the president’s Asia trip, the Deficit Commission report and the agenda for the lame duck congress. Joining us, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)and  Senator Mark Warner (D-VA).

Then, after an historic election, the balance of power in the House tips to Republican control. What will it mean for the Democrats? We’ll talk to Congressmen James Clyburn of South Carolina and Heath Shuler of North Carolina.

And insight and analysis on the new balance of power with former White House Communications Director Anita Dunn and former Republican Congressman Tom Davis.

Fareed Zakaris: GPS: Mr. Zakaria will be on Hong Kong to talk about President Obama’s Asia trip and America’s diminished influence. He will have a one on one discussion with elder statesmen, George Shultz about the current state of the economy, his advice for fixing it, and his thoughts on world affairs.

Fareeed will then look at the inventions that are coming out of the tiny city-state of Singapore. Next up, what was accomplished on Obama’s trip overseas? GPS has gathered a panel of experts, one from each of the President’s four stops, to break down what Obama’s visit means for the future of U.S-Asian relations.

And finally, a last look at the President shouldn’t be sentimental about at least one aspect of his childhood home of Indonesia.

One and done.

An interesting feature of the Yas Marina race is that it takes place at dusk and will finish under the lights like Singapore.

All the Top Qualifiers used Softs and they start on the same rubber.  The Bridgestone guys still swear they’re only good for about 10 laps, so perhaps we’ll see some early pits that mix up the field.  Were I a back marker I’d at least consider giving the Prime tire tactic a shot.  They take 2 laps to warm up and then they’re just as good as the Softs.

Something that doesn’t often get mentioned is that now days Drivers, while they are paid by the Teams, are also expected to bring their own sponsorship money to the table, effectively buying their seat.  While I don’t think any Team would start a Driver they thought was slow just for the money, I can’t see how this situation is good for the sport.

For all it’s recent expansion Formula One is on the financial edge and a lot of the rule changes are compromises to make it cheaper to field a Team (not that this helped the US effort much because it’s still very expensive).  I think this is an unfortunate development.

One change in particular I disagree with is the restriction on track testing time.  While it makes it cheaper for new Teams, it also prevents them from learning the things they need to know to be competitive.  For instance the Virgin Cars still don’t have enough fuel on board to go the whole race at top speed.

If “cost cutting” rule changes continue Formula One will degenerate into the Open Wheel NASCAR Bumper Car sport that IndyCar and all the ‘strict’ formulas have become and while you may think it’s thrilling to have the cars all bunched up so there are lots of chunks of twisted flaming metal, I don’t really watch for the wrecks.

That’s what Monster Jam is for.

I promised I’d talk about Auto World and Ferrari World, but I think most of it is in the links.  I will say that I had a chance to go to Auto World twice and I found it kind of sad in the same way Lake Compounce is sad.  The second time was the revival and they were only running the ‘Historic Flint’ front end, not that the back was much of a much.  An up escalator past painted walls with a sound track about making cars.  A moving Airport slide walk past cam driven HMS Pinafore wave cut outs of engines and stuff with a sound track about making cars.  A down escalator past painted walls with a sound track about making cars.  No wonder my Grandma thought Michael Moore was a smart ass.  Ferrari World is said to have the world’s fastest roller coaster.  We’ll see how long it lasts.

I really, really, really encourage you to click through on Yas Marina Qualifying, it’s a much better piece.

Pretty tables below.

• Yas Marina Qualifying
• F1 Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Repeat at 4:30 pm.

Burma’s Suu Kyi tells followers not to give up hope

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged thousands of her supporters not to give up hope, a day after her release from house arrest.

The BBC  14 November 2010

“There is no reason to lose heart,” she told a crowd outside the headquarters of her NLD party in Rangoon.

Ms Suu Kyi was released by the military when her sentence ended on Saturday.

World leaders and human rights groups have welcomed her release. She has spent 15 of the last 21 years either under house arrest or in prison.

On Sunday, Ms Suu Kyi’s car was surrounded by a large crowd of supporters as it approached the NLD’s headquarters.

People chanted “We love Suu”, amid thunderous applause..