While we here in the US look forward to a ball drop in Times Square this evening, for the other shoe to drop on Wall Street, China Daily and the Asian Times carried articles with self-congratulation about past success, and confidence for future prospects. China Daily: A triumphant decade (China Daily) Updated: 2009-12-31 07:50 Ten… [Read more…]
December 30, 2009
We recognise that it is an adaptive organisation that has shown tremendous flexibility and agility, so we need to maintain that pressure. It has been damaged over the past several years but still retains the capability to carry out attacks. [FT.com] The above assessment of al-Qaeda was voiced by President Obama’s top counter terrorism advisor… [Read more…]
December 29, 2009
The sad fact is that as we are perfecting whole body scanning, al-Qaeda is busily keeping up with our technology and testing their “anatomically congruent” underwear against it. A body scanner at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport would not necessarily have detected the explosives which the would-be syringe bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had sewn into his underwear.… [Read more…]
December 29, 2009
It is reported that full body scanners that DO scan for the material used in the December 25th thwarted bombing attack do now exist. [topix.com] It is to be hoped that these kinds of machines with this level of effectiveness will be chosen and not more of what is out there today. Either way, guess… [Read more…]
December 29, 2009
The reports of what occurred to prevent DHS authorities from catching the Detroit Diaper Bomber before he tried detonate his crotch supports theories of data management that I had discussed December 2009. The primary cause of not bringing up correct data: Errors such as typos in input Search strategies that are deficient The above are… [Read more…]
December 28, 2009
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has formally emerged as a force today. They have claimed responsibility for the thwarted bombing of a Delta airplane December 25th. This emergence has has compounded the difficulties for the west and its allies: This organization’s chosen name mirrors their end game: joining Saudi Arabia and Yemen (al-Qaeda in… [Read more…]
December 28, 2009
Yemen has responded to the most recent incident of terrorism by a round up of 29 suspected al-Qaeda operatives that were planning attacks on oil installations, government buildings and foreign targets. This follows an earlier confrontation with al-Qaeda in which the leader in Yemen and the US Iman operative who had been in contact with… [Read more…]
December 28, 2009
Amen to the tenor and tone of a Washington Post article on Obama’s handling of the latest crisis in his Presidency – the thwarted terrorist attack aboard Delta/Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit from Amsterdam Christmas Day: KAILUA, HAWAII — President Obama has performed a difficult but familiar balancing act over the past few days: ordering… [Read more…]
December 26, 2009
In deference to being fair-minded about the world’s religions, the overall rating of Christmas 2009 will not utilize stars. We will use thumbs up or down. If thumbs are in any way used in a religion, please let us know. If blogs are any indication, the ghost of Christmas Past won out this year. They… [Read more…]
December 26, 2009
From the 1960s through the 1970s, Swedish brands Saab and Volvo; German brand Volkswagen were the automobiles most favored by professors and students – people of intelligence that is – people weary of the junk coming out of Detroit. Best of all, most models were moderately priced. They were “sensible” cars – a lot like… [Read more…]
December 25, 2009
At the end of this first year full of Obama, and Pelosi and Reid and Rahm, who is looking really good and solid among the Democrats? Hillary. She has made all of the right moves since the primaries of 2008. Whether you agree or disagree with her views, she has not generated the divisiveness the… [Read more…]
December 22, 2009
The full text of Sheldon Whitehouse’s speech delivered December 20, 2009 on the Senate floor may be found at alternet.org. Below, Whitehouse’s words are in italics, my comments in bold. Madam President, as we are here in the Senate today, Washington rests under a blanket of snow, reminding us here of the Christmas spirit across… [Read more…]
December 21, 2009
Often broadcast from the UK on PBS, the King’s College Choir at Cambridge has an annual Christmas service of hymns and readings from their fabled chapel. Here, then, is a selection of some of their best “hits.” … [Read more…]
December 20, 2009
Where has all the glitter gone? Why else do we let the house of Windsor survive? They are the ceremony experts of the world and we love watching them. “A cat can look at a king” as the saying goes. During the Great Depression, Hollywood got its big push from people saving to stream into… [Read more…]
December 20, 2009
Seniors in America, Predator Ben Nelson’s defection in the Senate makes cuts in Medicare services the key to funding the inclusion of additional people on Medicare. We on Medicare have now been crowned as “the Throwaway Generation.” Seniors have not been a group to which the Administration or Congress has had to apply their over-used… [Read more…]
December 31, 2009
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