Afghanistan

The speech that everyone, from MSM to blogs, is talking about tonight:



Overall, I liked the speech. I think President Obama did a very good job of explaining why we're there to begin with and why it's worth staying a bit longer. I still remember where I was and what I was doing when I heard that the Twin Towers had been hit; I remember the fear (as well as the unity) that followed the attacks, and the overwhelming sense that my generation had just walked into its defining conflict. Let there be absolutely no doubt that the threat of terrorism is very real. I don't pretend to have all the answers for what needs to happen, but from what I've seen and read recently, it seems to me that we just flat out haven't taken Afghanistan as seriously as we should have. I think invading Iraq will be remembered as the biggest foreign policy blunder of the early 21st Century, because that's where most of our resources and energy have been directed over the last eight years. We never should have allowed ourselves to be distracted by a threat that could have been contained.

So basically I see this surge as the US finally doing what we should have in 2001. For the sake of our own security as well as that of Afghans, I think President Obama is making the best call, and for that matter the only call he can make. Leaving now would be repeating the mistake we made after the Soviets left: allowing a state to fail after flooding that state with guns and trained insurgents. After eight years, hopefully we're getting back on track.

I will, however, admit that I'm nervous--I'm skeptical that we can secure the Graveyard of Empires by 2011. I worry that Americans and our allies may not have the stomach for the kind of stay that might actually be required. Building states is not a quick or easy task, and Americans have understandably lost a lot of interest in fighting this war. I also wonder if this is the right number of troops; the last thing we need is more of the "Rumsfeld Doctrine" nonsense that sent US troops into Iraq with inadequate strength; I hope that line of thinking is long gone and the commanders truly believe this is the necessary number of troops.

Ultimately, though, we have to remember that both Iraq and Afghanistan are wars the president inherited. He had a series of less than desirable options to choose from and he would have been heavily criticized regardless of the strategy he picked. President Obama had no choice but to respond in the way he thinks is best for our troops and best for America. Give our soldiers a mission and let them have what they need to accomplish it, then get out. While he was "dithering," it seems that Mr. Obama was considering his options, talking to his generals and agonizing over what decision to make. That's the leadership we should have had in the runup to the war in Iraq. I trust and hope that he made the right call; only time will tell.

Music Monday: "Crooked Legs" by The Acorn

No, The Acorn is not in any way related to nefarious videos which may have surfaced. They're a band from Canada, and this is the video for "Crooked Legs," from their 2007 album Glory Hope Mountain:



Glory Hope Mountain is a concept album about the lead singer's mother and her journey from Honduras to Canada. The album name is a rough translation of her Spanish name, Gloria Esperanza Montoya. In this song, she's apparently escaping from an abusive father and violent family background under cover of darkness. It's a very compelling and complex album, and one I highly recommend. It's easy to make a concept album sound cheesy, but to be such a young band (this is their first full-length LP), The Acorn pulls this one off quite expertly. "Hold Your Breath" and "Antenna" are also standouts on this record.

FAIL: U.Va. Fires Groh

Come on. Did anyone even doubt this at all? The answer is no. And yes, this does merit its own post, apart from the "quick hitters" listed below.

As an alum, there is an element of sadness about it. I don't think there's any doubt that Groh bleeds blue and orange, and I hate to see a fellow Hoo get so drastically owned. But everyone had high expectations and he consistently failed to meet them. It sucks, but it was time. Plus, the 42-13 score against Tech yesterday and 1-8 record against them overall makes this a no-brainer, and a call that should have been made sooner. The $4.3 million contract buyout removes any sympathy I might have for him.

Thanks for trying, Al. Now go coach defense in the NFL.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving; Happy Advent

Busy busy week, with family and turkey and what not. I hope you've all had an excellent Thanksgiving holiday. Between the copious quantities of turkey and stuffing I ate and my disgraceful performance in at least two pickup football games (from which I'm still recovering), I lost every shred of dignity over the last several days. Nice.

But seriously, I had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you did too. Today is also the first Sunday of Advent, the preparation for Christmas. Huzzah!

Here are a few quick hits that I found interesting over the last few days, but didn't have time to write about:

• Sen. Mary Landrieu (D - Chevron) basically dismissing the dangers associated with offshore drilling in front of a picture of the catastrophic oil spill off Australia. Money quote: "The fact is, these things happen." Okay, Mary. Let's see what "just happens" to Louisiana tourism after an Australia-magnitude oil spill.
• From NYT: Use of food stamps is on the rise, and the stigma associated with them is disappearing. One in eight Americans and one in four children are now fed by the once-scorned "handout." A troubling sign of the times.
• There was supposedly a minor earthquake in the Amherst/Nelson County area of Central Virginia last week. I say supposedly because we know earthquakes are a hoax. The liberal elite "seismographs," which are paid for by Al Gore and George Soros, showed a 2.5 magnitude earthquake last Wednesday. Lies. The rumbling was actually caused by Hokies on tractors rumbling up 29 towards Charlottesville. When will the media learn?

Perriello Props: Tom Co-Sponsors Anti-Hunger Legislation

This past Sunday, local churches and poverty activists held the STOP Hunger march in Uptown Martinsville. As part of the weekend's events, president of the Bread for the World Institute Rev. David Beckmann spoke to the Morning Star Holy Church on Sunday morning. Here's a bit of what he had to say. From the Martinsville Bulletin:

“For Christians who care, because God does, it is not enough to support a local food bank, as important as that is. We have to let Congress know we care about” hunger on a larger scale, Beckmann said.

Fifth District U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Albemarle County, is a co-sponsor of foreign aid reform legislation to relieve hunger and poverty, but neither of Virginia’s senators, Jim Webb and Mark Warner, are co-sponsors, Beckmann said.

...

According to the Bread For the World Web site, the “Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009” would strengthen the capacity, transparency and accountability of United States’ foreign assistance programs to adapt and respond to challenges of the 21st century. It includes a statement on the reduction of poverty and hunger as U.S. policy.

The article continues to point out that Rev. Beckmann and Rep. Perriello were to appear together at Bethel United Way of the Cross in Danville.

Many Americans, including myself, are taking a big hit as a result of the Great Recession. But as tough as things are, we cannot allow ourselves to forget how the economy is impacting the "least of these" all over the world. Not only is hunger spreading throughout our communities here at home, but nearly half the world's population lives on less than $2 per day. That was true long before anyone had even heard of derivatives.

The issue of global poverty may well be the defining moral problem of our time. It's good to see that Congressman Perriello grasps the gravity of the issue, especially as we head into the holiday season. Let's hope this legislation makes a difference in the lives of people who need it.

Stunner: Imported Chinese Drywall is Toxic

You may be familiar with the old axiom that the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things and expect different outcomes. Take a look at this clip from CNN and ask yourself why we as a nation have not applied that knowledge to our trade policies:

It's been barely a year since the media firestorm over lead showing up in Chinese-made toys, and now this has come to light. At what point are our leaders going to step up and realize that our trade agreements are not only destroying our economy, but actually threatening our health?

This is not about "free trade" versus "protectionism," and the problem is much larger than NAFTA or CAFTA. First, the current rules for international trade are anything but free--because of the WTO's anti-democratic negotiating structure, poorer and less developed countries are drastically under-represented while larger, more developed powers run the meetings. But even with a numbers advantage, the developed countries still do not even represent the interests of their own people; they represent the interests of their top companies. Moreover, the WTO prefers to hold its meetings behind closed doors, away from the cameras and any shred of accountability. We end up with a system that favors the profits of large multinational corporations over basic fairness and human rights. Suddenly it's okay to make your goods in China, where environmental and labor laws are barely a shadow of what they would be in the US or Europe. Hire kids and pay them $1 per hour if you like, and dump your waste wherever. Thousands of middle-class American workers find themselves without a job, and many are forced into poverty. And if they find another job (probably for much less than they made before), then when they go to the store to buy drywall for their house or a toy for their children, they're putting their health on the line. It's a global race to the bottom, with everyone ultimately losing.

Conservatives threw a hissy fit when President Obama put a tariff on Chinese tires, saying it was just a handout to the unions. (They apparently don't have a problem with $400 billion handouts to insurance companies as part of Medicare supplemental insurance, which health reform will abolish.) I think what we need is more tariffs at higher percentages--say 99%--on things like furniture and textiles. Not only that, but we should renegotiate all of our agreements to favor fair trade practices. After all, the problem isn't trade itself, but trade rules that favor 19th-century working conditions. The only way you revive the economy is to stop the hemmorhaging of American jobs into other countries. If the manufacturers won't do it themselves, then we'll have to give them a little push.

Music Monday: Andy McKee Plays "Drifting"

Andy McKee is a better guitar player than you.



Ridiculous.

In Case You Missed It: Flooding and Uranium

There was an interesting article in the Danville Register & Bee several days ago regarding how last week's flooding might have impacted a proposed uranium mine in Pittsylvania County. It didn't really attempt to offer an answer to that question, basically just quoting people for and against mining. But it does raise a lot of serious questions that mining advocates should have to answer.

Dueling quotes; cue the banjos!

Jack Dunavant, head of Halifax-based Southside Concerned Citizens, which opposes uranium mining, said alpha radiation from tailings, which contain 86 percent of the radiation found in natural uranium, would be washed downstream in a flood and be deposited in fertile low lands where animals graze and crops grow.

“All the animals would be subject to it,” Dunavant said.

Alpha radiation is “the most insidious and dangerous of all” types of radiation that causes birth defects and affects the genetic code, Dunavant said. It can be ingested when consumed in food, drank from water or breathed from mist while a person takes a shower, he said.

To be fair, gamma particles are actually the most dangerous, and those wouldn't be an issue while the uranium is being mined. But Dunavant is exactly right that alpha particles are still pretty nasty things once they get into your system, and they have a variety of ways to do so. Alpha particles are a big reason why Homeland Security is worried about dirty bombs. The Coles Hill site where uranium may be mined is part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which extends into North Carolina and ends up on the coast. If alpha-laden uranium tailings made their way into the floodwaters, they could eventually contaminate an enormous area, including farmland, fisheries and recreational areas.

Now a quote from Patrick Wales of Virginia Uranium:

VUI would build a tailings-management system meeting stringent guidelines under the Environmental Protection Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and other agencies, Wales said.

Tailings-management facilities have separated the tailings from interaction with the environment at locations all over the world, Wales said. Tailings are typically covered and lined underground with multiple layers of synthetic and clay liners to prevent interaction with surrounding groundwater, Wales said.

“These facilities are designed for severe weather,” Wales said.

A few feet of water can also be kept on top of the tailings to prevent dust.

All that sounds fine and dandy. But my biggest concern is the very real fact that things break. What if those tailings aren't contained properly? What if the containment systems themselves turn out not to be as good as originally thought? What if those regulatory agencies fall victim to budget cuts or overzealous deregulators? Even the most well-designed facility is going to have some flaws. If something were to go wrong and nuclear material were released into the watershed, there would be no undoing that damage.

Area farmers have built primitive ponds to successfully contain water with no government oversight, Wales said. In addition, rains have occurred for hundreds of millions of years and VUI’s operation would not increase the amount of radiation already in the rock, Wales said.

Huh? Farmers build ponds? I really wish the author had included the exact quote here instead of a paraphrase. I seriously hope Wales is not suggesting that open ponds would be a good place to put mine waste. We saw how well that worked out for the coal ash pond near Harriman, Tennessee, where a dam broke and flooded the town with toxic sludge. And as for the second part of his quote, I think what he's trying to get at is that the uranium in question is already part of the water table, but again I wish the actual quote were there. Even if that's his point, I still don't see why it's a good idea to bring that uranium to the surface.

One closing statement from a concerned area resident, who summed it up nicely:

Karen Maute, a county resident and uranium mining opponent, said last week’s flooding should “give pause” to people downstream and give notice to everyone of the consequences of the long-term storage of waste.

Mining and milling will be a finite operation, but the resulting waste will be around for thousands of years, she said.

Well said.

Levi Johnston is a Jackass

Say what you will about Sarah Palin, her supporters, and their delusional view of American politics. You're certainly entitled to your opinion, as are her supporters. Were she ever to become president, I personally would lose all faith in American democracy and gnaw off my own leg. But I've always said the one caveat to that is to leave her kids out of it; President Obama was absolutely right to reject those who wanted to make Bristol Palin's pregnancy into a campaign issue, and as far as I'm concerned it's still off-limits.

The one guy who most aggressively refuses to respect that line, though, is Levi Johnston. Every time he opens his mouth he embarrasses himself, Bristol, her family and their child. What a narcissistic, self-serving tool. I mean, take one look at this guy:


My snap judgment, knowing nothing else about him, would be something like, "Hey, that guy looks like a giant douche." All he's really missing is a popped collar and a sideways Boost Mobile hat. Now take this caricature of a teenage male egomaniac and add the fact that not only did he knock up the governor's daughter, then abandon her and their kid before going on to badmouth her family to the national media, he's now actively trying to make money off of it. Not only is he having his little media tour and stripping for Playgirl, he has also appeared in a Wonderful Pistachios commercial. The ad makes a not-so-subtle quip about how now he uses "protection," i.e., the protective health benefits of eating pistachios. Tee-hee, that has two meanings! Ugh. Really? Did they have a fifth grader write that? What an unmitigated jackass. And way to make light of a serious social issue. Stay classy, Wonderful Pistachios.

I actually have a lot of respect for how Sarah Palin has handled this situation; she's certainly shown a lot more patience and restraint than the little twerp deserves.

Rep. DeFazio: Fire Geithner

Interesting story over at HuffPo, and consistent with similar rumblings I've heard out in the interwebs. Here's a video from MSNBC of Rep. Peter DeFazio (D - OR) suggesting that President Obama's two top economic advisers be fired:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Money quotes:

"We think it is time, maybe, that we turn our focus to Main Street -- we reclaim some of the unspent funds, we reclaim some of the funds that are being paid back, which will not be paid back in full, and we use it to put people back to work. Rebuilding America's infrastructure is a tried and true way to put people back to work," said DeFazio.

"Unfortunately, the President has an adviser from Wall Street, Larry Summers, and a Treasury Secretary from Wall Street, Timmy Geithner, who don't like that idea," he added. "They want to keep the TARP money either to continue to bail out Wall Street...or to pay down the deficit. That's absurd." (My emphasis)

Huh. Imagine that. Paying people to work on roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects allows them to support themselves and put money back into the economy. And not only do those projects put people back to work, they create the engines for future prosperity and economic growth. I've been wondering for a while now if it would be smarter to simply re-start Depression-era programs such as the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps. Conservatives will undoubtedly cry foul, but there's no question that those programs benefited our country during the Depression and helped millions of families stay afloat when workers could find no other jobs. And with the real unemployment rate (see bottom line on chart) now at 17.5%, soon there may be no other choice. When the economy runs out of buyers for a good or service (in this case, employees), sometimes the government is the only buyer left. We may have reached that point.