Thinking Outside the Pizza Box

Belmont Club » Thinking the no longer unthinkable

Fox News reports that Barack Obama is offering Israel an nuclear guaranty against Iranian attack, signaling that a nuclear Iran is inevitable.

Wretchard thinks Obama's offer through for him.

I've a notion the Obama folks are up to this: Make the Israelis an offer they have to refuse and then when they refuse it, walk away from our other guarantees.

Which implies that Obama's folks have thought that far ahead. They likely came up with this over late night pizza while trying to figure out a foreign policy without a poll to guide them. "We three National Security Advisors disoriented are, ah, lah-tee-dah: Moor. Mountain. Field. Fountain. More Moors. Where are we? Who got the latest poll from Bethlehem?"

Or perhaps they are so far ahead in their circular reasoning that they are now behind themselves. They are so good at Mirroring each other that Mirrors have become redundant. Wait. Mirrors could never be redundant in Washington.

What's this? Youth respecting tradition?

Clashes outside parliament as strike grips Greece | U.S. | Reuters

Many shops in central Athens stayed shut, boarding up their windows to prevent further damage. Bus stops and litter bins were blackened by fire, public telephone booths smashed and some buildings gutted by blazes.

Greece has a tradition of violence at student rallies and fire bomb attacks by anarchist groups, which have heightened tensions with police. Amnesty International, in a report on Tuesday, accused police of brutality in handling the riots.

Well, the police have their own traditions. The world wide Leftist hissy fit proceeds.

And then the Youths became middle aged.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Fresh riots erupt in Greek cities

However, our correspondent says that nothing the politicians or authorities can say or do is likely to reduce the anger that is building.

A similar shooting incident in 1985 led to a lengthy vendetta between the youths and police, with violence continuing for years.

It is so hard to figure out what the news is telling us. If the riots were in France we would be safe in assuming the "youths" in question were Muslims. Even in the Mumbai attack the terrorists were described as "youthful" -- as if blowing off heads was their way of blowing off steam. But in Greece, who are these youths? Apparently, the rioters are leftists and the government there is Conservative, which should be enough of an explanation, I suppose (though the left and Muslim extremists will often make common cause).

What do the police say in their defense? According to the BBC, "In a statement, the police said their patrol car had been attacked by about 30 youths and responded, with one officer firing a stun grenade and another shooting and fatally wounding the boy."

And this tidbit in the list of riots and riots to commemorate earlier riots (how else would you do it?): 1999 - Police clash with protesters opposing a visit by US President Bill Clinton to Athens.

What did he do to them?

A Belly Full of Bailout

It's forced feeding time for the Auto Industry. And Otto Von Carmaker is not just going to get it in the tank, but up the tail pipe and in the trunk.

Detroit revs up its bailout begging | Salon News

On bended knee, and with promises to retool their operations, the Big Three ask Congress for billions to save the auto industry. They might get it this time.

Oh, there going to get it. It's what they are going to do with it and what the rest of us are going to do about it that is the mystery. Can we buy Cars in Canada? You know, like prescription drugs?

Do Terrorists ever experience unintended consequences?

BBC NEWS | South Asia | US 'warned India' about Mumbai

Mumbai police chief Hassan Gafoor told a news conference on Tuesday that security authorities had "had an alert that hotels like Taj could be exposed to such danger".

ABC News quoted Indian officials as saying that after receiving the US warning, they also intercepted a satellite phone message on 18 November warning of a seaborne attack on Mumbai.

The city had been on high alert but security measures at the attacked hotels had recently been relaxed, the network reported.

ABC also reported that the Indian authorities had seized a mobile phone SIM card belonging to the attackers, which they said had led to a "treasure trove" of contacts and information.

We were told this was a well organized and planned operation. Why would the well trained terrorist bring along a "treasure trove" of contacts and information?

I'm reminded that the 9/11 attackers did not bother to conceal their identity. In fact, AQ hoped to get the US bogged down in that sand trap known as Afghanistan. Instead, we fought AQ in Iraq -- which at least has an outlet to the sea and the prize of vast amounts of oil. The idea that we should isolate a large US army in Afghanistan (in the midst of hostile neighbors) never appealed to me. If Barack Obama puts a large army in there, he better hope there are no Barack Obamas around to undermine him when the going gets tough -- as it likely will.

Clearly the idea behind this attack is to provoke conflict between India and the new Civilian government in Pakistan. If the terrorists deposited evidence of the involvement in this atrocity of Pakistan's security forces, then the Civilian government will find itself in a hard place indeed. But it might be possible to rally the rest of the nation against the "Pashtun-Arab alliance" that is trying to drag Pakistan into a disastrous war with India -- and perhaps the US as well.

The High Cost Alternative

Pajamas Media » Green Policies Mean Less Green in Our Wallets

At first glance, one wouldn’t see a connection between a rash of stolen copper pipes from vacant buildings and sky-high prices for food items — say the $70 that a local St. Louis grocer was charging for a single holiday goose — but those connections are there, and they ultimately stem from environmentalist-driven land use policy imposed by the government. It’s difficult to imagine that restrictions in ANWR may be responsible for copper theft, but responsible it is! Ditto food; why would we pay more for our holiday feast because the price of natural gas has risen?

The extreme Global Warmist are about concentrating power in Washington and turning the USA into the Soviet Union that works -- only it won't.

They blow bubbles, don't they.

Here is Spengler's take on President Elect Obama's financial wizards, from an article with some good background:

For a quarter of a century, the inbred products of the Ivy League puppy mills have known nothing but a rising trend in asset prices. About the origin of this trend, they were incurious. The Reagan administration had encountered a stock market in 1981 trading 50% below its the long-term trend. Reagan restored the equity market to trend by cutting taxes, suppressing inflation and easing some regulations. The private equity sharps were fleas traveling on Reagan's dog. They simply rode the trend with the maximum of leverage...

Without leverage, the clever folk around Barack Obama are fleas without a dog. None of them invented anything, introduced an important new product, opened a new market, or did anything that reached into the lives of ordinary people. They wore expensive cufflinks, read balance sheets, exercised regularly, sat on philanthropic boards, and assumed that their flea's ride on the Reagan dog would last forever.

Apparently their new idea is "shock and awe" stimulation for the economy.  Like the old joke says, when you have a hammer all your problems look like nails. The Real Estate bubble worked out well for Rahm  Emanuel, Barney Frank and the Congressional Democrats. Their Wall Street Pals will "bail out" alright, too.  Obviously, if you know how to create bubbles then when you see a problem break out the bubbly.  So soon we'll have a bubbly auto industry, a bubbly "alternative fuel"  sector and a bubbly bath for the taxpayer. I hope it is "for the children" since they are the ones who will pay for it.

Will his sensible appointees come up with sensible policies?  Or will they break out the bubbly?