USAF Helps Japan

The recent tragedy in Japan is horrendous. I was still awake last week when the first bulletins of a massive earthquake hit the air and suddenly I was watching live and unedited video feeds of the subsequent tsunami devouring everything in its path as it rolled across cities, villages, and farm land.  I had the same reaction as when I saw the second jet ram into the WTC on 9/11 - this can't be happening!

Happen it did and as terrible as it was, the Japanese people are industrious and will rebuild the broken parts of their country. Hopefully, the United States and other nations will be right there with them in this endeavor. Already, American Air Force U-2 strategic reconnaissance aircraft from Korea and Global Hawk drones from Guam are flying photo missions to assess the damage that will help Japanese officials decided what to do next. Nice job Air Force! I am sure that the Navy carriers and other ships and services are also assisting in this effort. I like it when swords can be turned into plowshares, at least for awhile.  

www.osan.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123246533

(Tip 'o the hat to Al Lyons for this story)

Hablo Democracy?

Looking at the Obama Administration stumbling around trying to find its voice on the rapidly unfolding events in the Middle East, I think that they have forgotten how to speak democracy. The founders of this country did not suffer from this disability. Consider the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

This is language that gets people excited. Applying it to the situation in Libya, which side should the U.S. support? Not a tough call, is it?

We need to support pro-democratic elements and encourage them to support each other against Kaddafi and the jihadist tyrants. Iraq, as an example, is not perfect, but they are starting to figure it out. The message of the Declaration of Independence is a clarion call to the oppressed people of the world. Maybe it's time our government learns how to speak democracy again.

Blistering Sales Pace Continues

The transition to electric cars continues at a blistering pace. GM's January 2011 sales figures totaled 178,897 units, including - drum roll please - 321 Chevy Volts! This was down from December 2010 when it sold 326 of these babies.  The press release says that (I kid you not!) demand has been "red hot." GM plans to "build on the Volt's momentum", although how this may happen is a little difficult to see right now. All is well, though, because the Volt outpaced the Nissan Leaf's sizzling January sales of 87. I have to stop and sit down while a patriotic surge ripples through my body!

Well, there you have it, the car that is leading the transformation of Detroit and the driving habits of a nation.  Good show, jolly good show!

gm-volt.com/2011/02/02/as-volt-sales-outpace-the-leaf-gm-works-on-lowering-price/

Should Congress Investigate Lutheran Terrorism?

The House Homeland Security Committee is planning to hold hearings in New York City about homegrown Muslim jihadists. In response, an "interfaith" group is organizing a rally to protest the hearings saying that it should not target just one faith. news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110306/ap_on_re_us/us_muslim_hearings_rally  Maybe they have a point.

The media is chock full of stories about Lutheran terrorists coming here from the Scandinavian countries to commit unspeakable atrocities. The myriad stories of Buddhist monks blowing themselves up in crowded public places in major American cities will never be forgotten.The worst are Episcopalians who have brought the scourge of IEDs to America. Absolutely these groups need to be examined by Congress!

But turning to our homegrown Islamic jihadists there is, to name just one, Major Nidal Hasan. In 2009 he shot and killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded 32 more at Ft. Hood, TX all the while shouting the now all too familiar refrain"Allahu akbar!" Hasan was born and raised in Arlington, VA near Washington, DC and his family is of Jordanian and Islamic origin. What caused him to go off the rails is worth knowing. Why? Consider the following:

"... a 2007 survey of American Muslim opinion conducted by the Pew Research Center. Eight percent of American Muslims who took part in this survey said they believed that suicide bombing can sometimes be justified in defense of Islam. Even accepting a low estimate of three million Muslims in the U.S., this would mean that 240,000 among us hold that suicide bombing in the name of Islam can be justified. Among American Muslims 18-29 years old, 15 percent agreed with that and 60 percent said they thought of themselves as Muslim first and Americans second. Among all participants in the survey, five percent—and five percent of the low estimate of three million Muslims in America is 150,000—said they had a favorable view of al Qaeda. Given these numbers, it is not unreasonable to suggest that the political aims and ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood represent a domestic threat to national security."  www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2011&month=01

I agree. While there may be a few Lutheran or Episcopal wing nuts, and although the vast majority of American Muslims may be law-abiding and peaceful, there is nevertheless a clear and present danger among homegrown Muslims that has already manifested itself several times with fatal results. Hopefully, the Congressional hearings will give us an even clearer view of this threat.

Natural Gas to the Rescue

Gasoline is approaching $4/gallon and the U.S. is finally moving to on-shore its energy production! Well, no, as in N-O-P-E. The Obama Administration has shut down wells in the Gulf of Mexico, Congress has refused to allow drilling in Alaska, coal is bad, nukes are beyond the pale. Let's just keep buying Middle East and Hugo Chavez oil, shall we? It's enough to make you think that our current energy "policy" was scripted by the sheiks! Fortunately, someone is moving to free up available energy with new technology.

The German magazine Der Spiegel reports on new natural gas drilling technology that allow gas to be recovered from deeper levels and smaller pockets than ever before. The new process is called "fracking" and it involves injecting a water/sand mixture into deep pockets to force the gas out and into collection pipes. While it is rapidly evolving all around the globe, the U.S. is leading the pack, with Pennsylvania and North Dakota in the vanguard. In fact, did you know that the U.S. is now the leading producer of natural gas in the world on the strength of this new technology? Probably not because the media finds it much interesting to extol the "virtues" of ethanol, which is nothing more than a thinly-disguised subsidy to corn-producing states that wrecks engines and lowers mileage. Fortunately, someone is doing the heavy lifting out of the media's eye and is really helping lift the U.S. out of its dependence on foreign energy. Now if we could just accelerate the process to an electric economy with the power produced from a variety of sources like small nuclear plants, hydro, clean coal, etc., we could let the folks in the Middle East literally go pound sand.

www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,748573,00.html

What Aisle is the Lysol On?

Under the heading of "News You Can Use" here's a story to remember next time you go grocery shopping. A University of Arizona study found fecal contamination on 72% of all grocery cart handles. Pass the Lysol please.

www.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/2011-03-02-grocerycarts_N.htm

Hold On - We're Comin'

Americans were being evacuated from Libya last week by ferry because the Libyan government wouldn't give our planes permission to land. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41762184/ns/world_news-mideast/n_africa/  So? This didn't bother the Brits who flew C-130s secretly into the Libya desert to a rendezvous and airlifted 150 of their people out. articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/26/world/la-fg-libya-rescue-20110227  I will take a wild guess that they had fighter cover close by. Apparently this is the new "soft power" that liberals are so fond of. Anybody got a Dramamine? I'm feeling sick to my stomach.