Ruminations on 10/10/06 - Granite Grok

Ruminations on 10/10/06

Thinking is not going too well….blogging will probably be "lightweight" for a bit more

Reason?  Been fighting a sore throat and a cough for over a week…the kind that the more you talk, the more it hurts.  the more it hurts, the more you cough, the more you cough….well, you get the idea.  Worst part is at night that even with cough syrup, the coughing wakes you up, and now you get to add "lack of sleep"…..sheesh…..

Not to fear, off to the Doc’s tomorrow…. 

In the meantime…….a few thoughts…..

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Still waiting for my favorite tree  to start turning…and being in central NH, they are starting to turn colors quickly…..should be real good.  Hmmmm, time for some pictures…..

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Nielson (the ratings  folks) are testing a new device setup that will signal back what you are watching based on a clip on device talking to a base station.  Problem is, how will it account for folks like me that multitask – the TV may be on, but little attention is paid to it…..too much Internet….

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YouTube bought by Google.  1.65 Billion in stock.  67 employees and not a dime in profit.  Is this the second coming of the Internet bubble? 

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‘Course, the big news of the day is the North Koreans lighting off the big one.  Lower yield than expected, and no one has picked up radioactives afterwards as a confirmation.

Am I ultra-concerned right now?  No.  Soon – perhaps.  Here’s the dilemma – it is not that NK is going to go after us right away (unless the failure of their newest rockets was staged – if so, they could hit most of the US).  My main concern is that they may sell completed devices to the highest bidders, and then walk away. 

This is the same dilemma with Iran as well.  Sell, sit back, and enjoy the show.

What do we do?  Face it – we have no good options.  Not with the political correctness griping our policies but our allies as well.  Everything is talk, talk, talk, talk, talk – but no action, no retaliation, no accountability.

Is the UN going to do something meaningful?  Nope – look at the EU-3/Iran "diplomacy" model and the absolute lack of results.  Ditto now for the Clinton Framework and the 6 way talks – the absolute lack of results.

So what to do with folks that lie just to waste time, and then laugh at us for allowing them to do such?   What to do when a Korean Tyrant is willing to let millions of his countrymen (and children) starve?  He proves by this that he cares not about his country but only his power. 

At this point, I don’t see us doing much at all.  In fact, I’ll go further and say that if even if a European city got hit first, the West wouldn’t do much then either – immediately go into "law enforcement mode" and not hit back the obvious providers.  And then we wait for the second….

And if it were the US?  THe reaction would be tremendously different, and I think those that would  espouse pacificism and restraint would be outright ignored.

But the problem remains – who to hit?

As silly as this may sound, there’s not much that can be done unless the UN or the signatories of the non-proliferation crank up the courage machine and say – let us in by X amount of time.  And if not?  perhaps it IS time to put diplomacy away (look at its results so far) and start bringing out the big stick.  Look at history – the West is too willing to let things slide in the short term to give the illusion of peace just that little extra time up front, and then pays a much much higher price in life and treasure to make up for that self-justification.

Maybe it is time to swap.

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LGF has a report on how archeologists now want to determine how we wage wage

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Wasn’t to happy to see the welcome that the Minutemen got at Columbia U last week.  For holding themselves up to be such bastions of academic freedom and discussion, this was certainly a long fall down.

The short of it was – Hey, if we don’t like what you say, we’re going to attack and and lay waste to your speech.   And then celebrate it!

So where are the instructors, the TAs, the Profs of all ranks, and the Administration, in all this?  Free speech is free speech even when you don’t like what is being said.

Manners?  Civility?  Respect?  Nope, nothing more than a thuggish mob mentality that thinks that they have triumphed over "the enemy".  Real thoughtful approach to a discussion?  Not a clue.

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Amusing – THE DNC put  up a page  praising our  service members.  Right, that’s not the amusing part.  The funny bit is that the soldiers on the DNC page were…..Canadian. 

Sure, the Democrats support OUR troops…..if they could recognize what they looked like (Dad of a discharged Marine).

 

 

 

 

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