No One In The West Is Listening To Netanyahu's Worries On Iran

Netanyahu and Obama shake hands Photo: REUTERS

Analysis: Netanyahu's Sense Of Urgency On Iran Fails To Impress War-Weary West -- Jerusalem Post

One Western diplomat involved in Iranian nuclear diplomacy described Netanyahu as "out of step" with the mood of detente that has emerged recently.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that Iran's new president was a "wolf in sheep's clothing", but he himself looked increasingly like a lone wolf as his allies seek to bring Tehran into the fold.

After years of worrying about Iran's disputed nuclear ambitions, Netanyahu took to the stage at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday and made his most explicit threat yet to attack the Islamic republic unless it ends its atomic program.

Read more ....

My Comment: They are only not listening to him .... but they are also making fun of him.

Update: Netanyahu struggles to set the terms in Iranian dispute -- Reuters

Read More

The Real Crisis In America Is It's Uncontrollable Debt

The Shutdown Is A Sideshow. Debt Is The Threat -- Niall Ferguson, Wall Street Journal

An entitlement-driven disaster looms for America, yet Washington persists with its game of Russian roulette.

In the words of a veteran investor, watching the U.S. bond market today is like sitting in a packed theater and smelling smoke. You look around for signs of other nervous sniffers. But everyone else seems oblivious.

Yes, the federal government shut down this week. Yes, we are just two weeks away from the point when the Treasury secretary says he will run out of cash if the debt ceiling isn't raised. Yes, bond king Bill Gross has been on TV warning that a default by the government would be "catastrophic." Yet the yield on a 10-year Treasury note has fallen slightly over the past month (though short-term T-bill rates ticked up this week).

Read more ....

My Comment: The key sentence in this commentary is the following ....

.... As anyone can see who reads the most recent long-term budget outlook—published last month by the Congressional Budget Office, and almost entirely ignored by the media—the question is not if the United States will default but when and on which of its rapidly spiraling liabilities.

Niall Ferguson's analysis is correct .... but for the moment .... no one cares.

Update: Correction .... there are some who do care .... and they are now deeply worried.

Read More

The Internet Is The Forum For The World To Laugh At The U.S. Government Shutdown

One of hundreds of memes on Tumblr, which makes fun of the US government shutdown. © Tumblr

US Gov’t Shutdown Becomes an Internet Joke -- RIA Novosti

Washington, October 4 (Suleiman Wali for RIA Novosti) – The US government shutdown, now in its fourth day, has hurt hundreds of thousands of federal workers who are not getting paid as Congress and President Barack Obama try to figure out how to strike a deal on the national budget.

A serious issue, no doubt.

But often in times of crisis, humor becomes a way for people to cope with circumstances that are seemingly out of their control. Enter memes—which have produced some of the funniest online jokes about the shutdown. Here are 15 government shutdown memes.

Read more ....

My Comment: I like the one with the Queen.

Read More

We Should Cut A Taliban Deal Or Get Out Of Afghanistan

U.S. Army Spcs. Christopher McLaughlin, left, and Zachary Dechant, center, and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. William Voorhies place munitions on a pile to prepare for a controlled detonation operation on a range near Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Sept. 30, 2013. Voorhies will attend disposal training at the end of his deployment. McLaughlin and Dechant are explosive ordnance disposal technicians with Combined Joint Task Force Paladin-East's 663rd Ordnance Company. DOD photo by Ed Drohan

Ending The War In Afghanistan -- Stephen Biddle, Foreign Affairs

How to Avoid Failure on the Installment Plan

International forces in Afghanistan are preparing to hand over responsibility for security to Afghan soldiers and police by the end of 2014. U.S. President Barack Obama has argued that battlefield successes since 2009 have enabled this transition and that with it, “this long war will come to a responsible end.” But the war will not end in 2014. The U.S. role may end, in whole or in part, but the war will continue -- and its ultimate outcome is very much in doubt.

Should current trends continue, U.S. combat troops are likely to leave behind a grinding stalemate between the Afghan government and the Taliban. The Afghan National Security Forces can probably sustain this deadlock, but only as long as the U.S. Congress pays the multibillion-dollar annual bills needed to keep them fighting. The war will thus become a contest in stamina between Congress and the Taliban. Unless Congress proves more patient than the Taliban leader Mullah Omar, funding for the ANSF will eventually shrink until Afghan forces can no longer hold their ground, and at that point, the country could easily descend into chaos.

Read more ....

My Comment: A sobering analysis .... and one that is probably correct. Read it all.

Read More

Taliban Chief: Most Of Afghanistan Is Now Under Taliban Control

An Afghan policeman stands at the site of a Taliban suicide attack. The militant hinted that there could be talks with the Afghanistan government about entering a power-sharing agreement

Taliban Chief Vows To 'Unite All Afghans' And Take Over The Whole Country When Nato Troops Pull Out -- Daily Mail

* Taliban chief said most of Afghanistan was now under their control
* Hinted at talks with Afghan government over power-sharing agreement
* Nato mission due to end in 2014 and troops will pull out by end of year

A Taliban chief has told a British newspaper that the fundamentalist group is preparing to run Afghanistan when Nato forces leave.

The militant, using the pseudonym Qari Nasrullah, said most of the country is now under Taliban control.

The Nato mission is due to end in 2014, with U.S. and British troops pulling out by the end of the year.

Read more ....

My Comment: I suspect that these Taliban boasts have a grain of truth to it. Bottom line .... there is nothing positive coming out of Afghanistan right now. The drug trade continues to boom .... corruption is widespread .... and the international community is throwing in the towel and looking for the exits.

Read More

Barricades At The WWII Memorial Have Been Reinforced

Wired Shut: Barricade at WWII Memorial Reinforced -- Weekly Standard

On Tuesday morning, seven National Park Service employees were seen erecting and tending to a barricade around the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. One NPS employee was operating a forklift. There usually aren't any NPS employees working at the World War II memorial.

A couple hours later, when an Honor Flight of World War II veterans arrived, accompanied by Democratic and Republican members of Congress, the fences blocking the memorial were easily moved away, allowing the veterans to enter.

But the barriers are still at the memorial, and they've been reinforced. This morning, I walked by the memorial and noticed that wires had been used to tie the fences together:

Read more ....

My Comment: My suggestion .... bring the wire cutters.

Read More

Pentagon Halts NFL And Baseball Coverage To Troops Overseas

U.S. soldiers, assigned to 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Task Force 3/101, celebrate a play made by their team during the Veterans Day NFL game, Houston Texans at Chicago Bears, on Forward Operating Base Salerno, Khost province, Afghanistan, Nov. 12, 2012. Live video of the soldiers was broadcasted during game breaks. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Kimberly Trumbull/Released)

Military Keeps Camp David Open, Cuts NFL, Baseball Coverage To Troops Overseas -- Washington Examiner

President Obama has visited the Navy-run presidential retreat Camp David in central Maryland only 32 times, but it is being kept open during the government shutdown for his entertainment and security at the same time the Pentagon is cutting sports coverage to hundreds of thousands of troops around the world.

A phone call to the retreat found it open, confirming a TMZ report.

Camp David is one of the most highly secure areas in the nation and provides the president with a safe haven. The president has been known to shoot skeet at Camp David, which he most recently used for his 52nd birthday, according to CBS White House Correspondent Mark Knoller.

Obama has spent just 78 days at the retreat, choosing instead to spend his weekends in Washington and hitting military golf courses, which are also being kept open during the government shutdown.

Read more ....

My Comment: Here is my next scary prediction .... the next thing that they are going to cut for those who are serving overseas is the internet for personal use.

Read More