Posted by admin on October 31st, 2009 in Politics
From a Washington Times story on October 15th:
President Obama recently shifted authority for approving sales to China of missile and space technology from the White House to the Commerce Department — a move critics say will loosen export controls and potentially benefit Chinese missile development.
Then yesterday, we see this story from AP:
A U.S. Navy admiral expressed new concern Friday over China’s military buildup and urged Beijing to be clearer about its intentions.
With China’s military growing at an “unprecedented rate,” the U.S. wants to ensure that expansion doesn’t destabilize the region, Rear Adm. Kevin Donegan told reporters on a visit to the Chinese territory of Hong Kong.
Donegan referred to China’s expanded weaponry. His remarks echoed the concerns of other U.S. military leaders who have said the growth in China’s military spending — up almost 15 percent in the 2009 budget — raises questions about how Beijing plans on deploying its new power.
Donegan said he was concerned with anti-access weapons. This class of weapons includes missiles and submarines that can threaten U.S. forces in the region and prevent them responding in the event of a crisis.
“I am absolutely concerned,” Donegan said.
In all honesty, Chinese spies have had so much success stealing all kinds of technology from us over the past 15-years that it kind of makes sense to just sell it to them. Perhaps they’ll just write off some of the $800 Billion in US treasury notes?
Posted by admin on October 29th, 2009 in Sports
Yeah, you just have to be a complete idiot to think that it isn’t important to get calls right – plain and simple. Don’t give me Bud Selig’s BS that it affects the “pace of the game”. After all, doesn’t a player or manager arguing a call for several minutes affect the pace of the game? In any case, the overwhelming majority of calls could be gotten right in less than 30-seconds – certainly less time than it takes a manager to even get to the offending ump.
Personally, I think even balls & strikes should be determined automatically; however, who can argue that there aren’t several instances that umpires simply have no ability to make the right calls on a consistent basis.
- Check Swings: It is literally impossible for the ump behind the plate to see both the location of the pitch and whether the batter swung the bat. Likewise, it is unlikely that the umpires down the line have as good a view as the overhead camera. Why not just appeal to an ump sitting in front of an overhead monitor?
- Tagging Up: As demonstrated this post season with the atrocious Nick Swisher ALCS call, it is simply impossible for the ump to see the runner’s foot on the bag and the ball in the fielder’s glove simultaneously.
- Trapped Catches: Come on, how long does it take for replay to get something like this right? Tonight’s call in the 7th is a perfect example of an umpire’s refusal to use common sense in determining the correct call. If Ryan Howard actually thought he caught the ball on a fly, would he have thrown to second or just stepped on the bag for the inning ending double play? What a huge blown call by the ump – instead of bases loaded with 1-out and Teixeira & A-Rod coming up, the inning was over.
- Safe/Out on the Bases: How often are the umpires blocked or just plain wrong? Whether a tag-out on a pickoff or a close play at first (like in tonight’s top of the 8th inning-ending double play).
In a recent interview MLB commissioner Bud Selig stated:
“Affecting the game on the field is not something I really want to do.”
Grow a pair, you’re the freaking commissioner! I guess he just prefers to have the umpires affect the game with horrendous calls.
“I do like the human element and I think the human element for the last 130 years has worked pretty well.”
Are you kidding me! The human element? What the hell are the players for? By that rational, we can replace the players with robots and keep the umps therefore maintaining the human element. Also, it really drives me nuts when people use the rational of ‘well, it worked for ___ years, so…’ I mean, blood letting worked for several hundred years and, come to think of it, human sacrifice did as well!
I would love for someone to comment on this post and offer up a rational reason for not implementing technology that will allow MLB to get as many calls as possible correct. After all, isn’t the integrity of the game paramount?
Posted by admin on October 11th, 2009 in Politics
While President Obama touts his commitment “to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government” his State Department refuses to offer Congress their legal reasoning behind this Administration’s absurd policy against the constitutional ousting of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.
There have been numerous requests that the Administration release the legal opinion rendered by their handpicked State Department attorney Harold Koh; however, all such requests have been denied. So much for that promised openness.
Actually, to be fair to the administration, they have been extremely open about telling Al Qaeda and America’s other enemies our interrogation tactics.
Here’s a great piece from the Wall Street Journal by Senator Jim Demint who recently returned from a trip to Honduras where he met only one person who described the situation as a coup (Obama’s Ambassador).
Posted by admin on October 6th, 2009 in Politics
In my June 29th post titled “Obama and Clinton Clueless On Honduras” I exposed just how false President Obama’s repeated statements were on the illegality of the constitutional removal of wannabe tyrant Manuel Zelaya by the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress.
While it came as no surprise to many that President Obama would pander to Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega and Cuba’s Castro brothers, Obama just couldn’t pass up an opportunity to side with socialists tyrants against Central America’s burgeoning democracies.
Well, in a detailed report for the US Congress by the Directorate of Legal Research for Foreign, Comparative, and International Law my assertions on Obama’s cluelessness were proven absolutely correct. A key excerpt from the report:
Available sources indicate that the judicial and legislative branches applied constitutional and statutory law in the case against President Zelaya in a manner that was judged by the Honduran authorities from both branches of the government to be in accordance with the Honduran legal system.
And here I thought America’s days of telling other countries how to act was over. I guess President Obama only applies that to countries with gross civil rights violations and those threatening the world with atomic destruction. He’ll be more than happy to capitulate to those countries’ demands and engage their leaders in fruitless dialog.
Posted by admin on October 5th, 2009 in Politics
Fresh off his hilarious bitch slapping at the hands of the IOC, President Barack Obama continues his “I’m sorry, America has always been wrong, I apologize and will do the exact opposite of what we’ve done until now.”
It was announced earlier today that the President would not be welcoming the esteemed Dalai Lama later this week, breaking a tradition dating back to 1991. Of course, this is nothing more than a blatant display of appeasement to China as BHO prepares for his trip to China next month.
Back to the Olympics, I personally don’t think any amount of lobbying would have gotten the Anti-American clowns in Copenhagen to vote for Chicago; however, it is just so amusing that Chicago went from being a very strong contender to dead last in the voting. Instead of wasting his time and further tarnishing his golden boy image, he could have spent more than 25 minutes with General McChrystal going over the tenuous situation in Afghanistan.
