It's so much safer now in Iraq. Right Georgie?

Turkish Helicopters Strike Inside Iraq (click here)
By YAHYA BARZANJI – Nov 13, 2007
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AP) — Turkish helicopters swooped into Iraqi territory Tuesday, Iraqi officials said, firing on villages in renewed pressure to dislodge Turkish Kurd guerrillas from bases in northern Iraq used to stage cross-border raids.
The helicopter attack was the first major Turkish action against the rebels since Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with President Bush in Washington on Nov. 5. Turkey has demanded that the U.S. and Iraq crack down on guerrillas operating from Iraqi territory and has massed tens of thousands of soldiers along the border with Iraq.
The United States and Iraq have urged Turkey, a NATO member, to avoid a large-scale attack on rebel bases in northern Iraq, fearing such an operation would destabilize what has been the calmest region in the country.
A spokesman for the Iraqi Kurd regional administration, Jamal Abdullah, denied the helicopter attack report but said two Turkish warplanes dropped flares Monday in the mountains near the Iraqi town of Zakhu.
But Col. Hussein Tamir, an Iraqi army officer who supervises border guards, said the Turkish helicopters opened fire before dawn on abandoned villages northeast of Zakhu, an Iraqi Kurd town near the border with Turkey. There were no casualties, he said....

How's everyone doing? I listened to some Conservative Radio today. Ready?

It's okay to laugh out loud. I thought I heard everything when it came to Human Induced Global Warming. The latest in Anti-Establishment Rhetoric states, there is a 'vent' in the ocean that sends carbon dioxide into outer space.

Yep. They said it. It was a FOX News station. I heard it and I'm still wondering how any Earth process can 'select' carbon dioxide over any other and then vent it into outer space. I mean to tell you that is pure fantasy.

If they believe there is an Earth vent that is sending carbon dioxide into outer space, then they need a chimney sweep because it ain't working good.

The closer the USA gets to the elections of 2008, the more propaganda that will come out about Global Warming and Climate Change. The reason is obvious. When a President is elected to stop this deadly trend that the USA to date has refused to recognize yet alone legislate policy, the opposition will seek to 'Swiftboat' any mention of the legitimacy of the issue.

The link to this entry is an article about Solar Radiation. It has it's merits, but, nowhere in the article is there a mention of the increase in Earth's temperature because of the Sun's activities.

Solar radiation is electronic in nature. It will disrupt electronic transmissions. That is the primary irritation with Solar flares and Sunspots. Earth is in 'The Habitable Zone" in rotation around the Sun and due to that reality there is life on this planet. Stating the Sun is responsible for Global Warming and Climate Change is bogus. The Sun has cycles and there has never been proven a link between it's cycles and that of Earth, however, there is the reality that as carbon dioxide levels increased since the late 1800s with the Industrial Revolution, Earth's climate has been different and warming.

There is a direct and tracable link between rising carbon dioxide levels and climate change. That link goes back decades. It was estimated a long time ago that Earth would change with higher carbon dioxide levels. Not due to politics, but, because scientists wanted to understand and estimate the level of carbon dioxide that would bring about damage to biota and people. The estimates back then reflected far higher levels than we are currently experiencing that would bring about the severe changes we are seeing now. As a matter of fact some of the estimates were twice the level they are now.

I promised to return to the issue below regarding the circulation of the Arctic Ocean. It mentions cycles. That is a reference point for the scientists reporting their data. They are simply reporting information they have found in their research and making reference to past 'decade-long' events as a point of reference to go forward from. In other words, they understand their data in relation to prior events and therefore none of this seems alien to them to discuss.

The thing is this, as is with every other mention of cycles in relation to this topic. For one, there is no more debate. There is a huge concenus among scientists that Human Induced Global Warming is a foregone conclusion that requires action by all 'carbon dioxide polluting' nations. That is to begin. So when the Conservative Media continues to rant about fantasy and myth surrounding this issue, it's to maintain a political base and not to deal with the facts. The facts are plain and no different than the Larsen Ice Shelf was monitored and known to be on the verge of collapse by sincere study over decades of time, current time. Not historic, science simply does not have those records no matter how they study fossil remains and find evidence in Earth geological records, it will never reflect absolute conditions. Ice cores come the closest to realizing what Earth's troposphere was like in the historical record.

Earth has finite properties. There are not infinite possibilities to the reasons for the current trends of Climate Change. There just isn't. When Earth reacts to increasing heat there will be 'old patterns' of weather such as El Nino, the Arctic Oscillation, etc., etc.. That is the 'nature' of Earth. No one can change that. When old patterns manifest, it is easy to point to such events from recorded and ancient history, allowing false confidence in the 'idea' Earth was always alright and will continue to be. That 'attitude' is very dangerous and not prudent. In order for the reporting of the current Arctic Ocean circulation to be attributed to 'decadonal cycles,' there has to be COMPLETE correlation with historic record and not just a casual one. The relationship the scientists reporting their findings have assembled in this article is a casual one and I'll explain why.

While the findings regarding Arctic Ocean circulation reveals there is a 'cycle' of change 'historically' to attribute it to such events, there is no complete correlation between the current climate conditions and past climate conditions. There can't be. The past climate conditions. Correctly put, the past 'recorded' climate conditions never were reflective of the high levels of carbon dioxide in the troposphere that exists now.

No matter what cycle one refers to, no matter how reliable Earth seems to manifest, it is not.

Never in recorded time has there been this level of carbon dioxide, nor the large and increasing human population that lives on Earth now. In order for scientists to make broad brush strokes to reassure anyone of conclusions that this is a cycle that will resolve they have to make complete correlations to ALL tropospheric conditions and NOT just CONVENIENT and EASY ones.

The article regarding the Arctic Ocean circulation does not factor in any current densities of carbon dioxide, or any loss of species such as 'carbon sink' trees to come to conclusions. The BEST these scientists can say is that there has been a recorded history of these cycles while noting the current tropospheric conditions have never been the same in past cycles.

THAT is the inconvenient truth the Conservative Media REFUSES to deal with and misleads the public and electorate into fantasy and myth. It's a darn shame these people are allowed the influence they have because it's grossly dangerous and irresponsible.

Now.

We go forward with the concensus of scientists that see the problem clearly and ridicule those like the Bush/Cheney administration that ignore the evidence and continue to place human lives and species in danger. The article is interesting to note and track while Earth exhibits enough normalcy to realize we haven't gone completely over the edge, YET, but the potential is still there.

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is back to melting

This shows contours of the trend in ocean bottom pressure from 2002 to 2006 as measured by GRACE along with hypothetical trends that would apply at the circles if ocean salinity reverted from 1990s values to climatological conditions over the same period. (Credit: Image courtesy of NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m

Temperature :: 41 °F / 5 °C

Conditions :: Overcast

Humidity :: 65%

Dew Point :: 30 °F / -1 °C

Wind :: 9 mph / 15 km/h / 4.1 m/s from the SSE

Pressure :: 30.33 in / 1027 hPa (Rising)

Windchill :: 35 °F / 2 °C

Visibility :: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds:
Mostly Cloudy 5000 ft / 1524 m
Overcast 6500 ft / 1981 m
(Above Ground Level)

This article is interesting in the data it puts forth, but, not necessarily the conclusions it comes to. In this is the 'lethargy' of believing the patterns of Human Induced Global Warming is a reality rather than a pattern. The Climate Change Earth is experiencing now is unique. There has never been the same pressure on Earth's troposphere ever in it's existance. The warming pattern THIS TIME in Earth's long history is caused by the activities of human beings and while ancient and recorded history would portray, AT TIMES, trends of weather and climate, it doesn't reflect the 'element' of human activity that provide the reality of current climate change patterns.


Scientific conclusions tend to be conservative in nature. Science accumulates data and takes a 'wait and see' momentum. It's prudent and in the past has proven to be wise and safe. However, in a world vastly warming and for decades in denial about it's own reality and that of the trend of Carbon Dioxide Accumulation, that 'conservative' nature innate to science hasn't served the reality of human existence or it's political machines well. That is why 'the politically wise' seem more radical, more robust in their assertions.
This is indeed disturbing news about The Arctic Ocean. I'll write more about it later as time permits.


Arctic Ocean Circulation Does An About-Face (click title to entry, thank you)
ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2007) — A team of NASA and university scientists has detected an ongoing reversal in Arctic Ocean circulation triggered by atmospheric circulation changes that vary on decade-long time scales. The results suggest not all the large changes seen in Arctic climate in recent years are a result of long-term trends associated with global warming.
The team, led by James Morison of the University of Washington's Polar Science Center Applied Physics Laboratory, Seattle, used data from an Earth-observing satellite and from deep-sea pressure gauges to monitor Arctic Ocean circulation from 2002 to 2006. They measured changes in the weight of columns of Arctic Ocean water, from the surface to the ocean bottom. ...That weight is influenced by factors such as the height of the ocean's surface, and its salinity. A saltier ocean is heavier and circulates differently than one with less salt.
Morison cautioned that while the recent decadal-scale changes in the circulation of the Arctic Ocean may not appear to be directly tied to global warming, most climate models predict the Arctic Oscillation will become even more strongly counterclockwise in the future. "The events of the 1990s may well be a preview of how the Arctic will respond over longer periods of time in a warming world," he said....

This is a small miracle, The Houston Chronicle is actually admitting there needs to be action on Human Induced Global Warming and Climate Change. I'll be darn !

Call to action (click here)

Final report of a scientific panel on climate change should be a wake-up call for world leaders.

A crucial conference of world energy ministers next month in Bali, Indonesia, will plot the next steps by the world's governments in combating global warming. The final summary of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, issued over the weekend, lays out in stark terms the consequences the world faces if leaders fail to bring greenhouse gas emissions under control.
Even if rapidly increasing industrial discharges of carbon dioxide are slowed or stopped, temperatures and sea levels will continue to rise, low-lying lands will be inundated and many life forms will be driven into extinction. For the first time, the panel of hundreds of scientists, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, warns that the melting of the Greenland ice sheet could cause catastrophic rises in sea level in much shorter time frames than previously thought.
As the oceans absorb more CO2 and increase in acidity, vital aquatic food chains will be destroyed and fisheries threatened. Drought in Africa and Asia could reduce agricultural production by half by the year 2030, destabilizing governments and leaving millions of people in dire circumstances.
In unveiling the report, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared that the time for doubt has passed and "global warming is the defining challenge for our age." He called for a diplomatic breakthrough at the upcoming conference to replace a stalemate that has kept the two largest pollution producers, the United States and China, on the sidelines while the participants in the existing Kyoto treaty have sought to limit emissions....

Have a better day.

A quick word about 'the nature' of the snow currently falling in the USA. Holiday Travel Issues.

November 19, 2007
Temperature map of Northeast USA and Southeast Canada.

The temperatures are well above freezing in majority and any snow resulted from high altitude freezing.

At any rate, the trees, the valuable 'carbon sink' trees, suffer in Climate Change again. They received 'heavy' snow and their 'canopies' are destroyed. This is the sequelae of Human Induced Global Warming that puts Earth on an exponential curve to higher and faster and deadlier warming patterns. The weather is deadly, NOT TO HUMANS in this case, but, to the most valuable of terrestrial carbon sinks, THE TREES.

People are smart.

They know the real tragedy in allowable climate change under USA administrations is the severe damage to species and the ever increasing vortex of destroyed biota of Earth. That is what this photographer focused on.

Not the traffic.

Not the slush.

Not the holiday delays and discomfort.

This photographer focused on the trees and their inability to defend against Human Induced Global Warming resulting in Vortices of Damage.


November 19, 2007
Tamaqua, Pennsylvania
Photographer states :: Heavy wet snow weighed down tree branches and even snapped many trees in half.

The quality of this snow is one of a 'hotter' environment. It is not light, fluffy and 'more icey.' It is basically slush. That is evident from the roadway. So long as AUTOMOBILES take their time, are courteous and use common sense the fatalities and accidents hopefully will be reduced. Noted in this picture, the roadway is wet but not icey or 'as slippery' as it could be. That is directly resulted from warmer temperatures rather than colder.

Since the invasion, the truth tellers have done nothing but baby sit the press. First there were WMD, then Iraq was going to be a Democratic ..

People gather next to the site of a car bomb attack Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, in this October file photo. Despite a decline in violence in Iraq, northern Iraq has become more violent than other regions as al-Qaida and other militants move there to avoid coalition operations elsewhere, the region's top U.S. commander said Monday. (AP Photo, FILE)

...stronghold that will be the first Domino in the "Domino Effect" of the Middle East.

None of it is true and the facts remain clear.

Iraq is a Shi'ite nation and for decades was oppressed by Western domination of oil demands resulting in a religious war that radicalized the Shia and caused them to become the pariahs, extremists and rebels. The most dramatic example of the Western influence over radicalization of the Shia was the rise of the Mahdi Army (click here).

The post invasion result was complete anarchy and the Holy Men of Iraq were forced to form militias to protect their flocks. There wasn't anything else they could do. As a result there became armed camps within Iraq and the most powerful was the Mahdi Army, primarily because Southern Iraq has always been dominated by Shia, the majority of the country's population.

The Shia were invisible to The West, quite frankly, but they were literally forced into hamlets in the South to form resistance to Saddam's regime living among the wetlands and eeking out survival. To realize they became among the most radical of the opposition to the USA occupation is not a surprise, they were already loosely ogranized under Saddam.

I have always advocated for the majority Shia to come to prominance in Iraq, the USA has always opposed them, seeking only the figure heads of exiles and Western friendly voices as a Central Government, ie: The protests of Shia elected officials boycotting the legislature and Presidential Cabinet. We should be so lucky in the USA that opposition legislators simply boycott sessions of idiocy in voting of the Radicalized Republicans, but, that will never happen. If the Democrats of majority, across the board, boycotted sessions of votes whereby there were no overrides to Bush's vetos, we would see a far different legislature in the House and Senate. Currently, I applaud the "Holiday Happenings" at the Senate this recess and find it refreshing that Senator Reid has a backbone smarter than Bush's exective pen.

That is getting off track.

The Iraqi central government could not find enough police (And I that is police, because until Turkey, Iraq had no invading forces from the outside except the USA Coalition. click here) to bring about stability, the militias did the work no one else could. The radicalization of the Mahdi Army began when King Bremer closed down the newspaper of Cleric Al-Sadr. He was not called Martyr Al-Sadr then, but, reflected his status through his familial devotion to Allah and Islam. I am not so sure, the designation of Martyr is more a Western Media issue so much as a crown to his name and religious affiliation after a pilgramage to Iran.

But, to make a long dissertation short, the Shia have been able to settle Southern Iraq years ago, under a then No Fly Zone. The least violent of all the provinces of Iraq has always been that of the Shia. In recent months a shift by the Central Government to find their own backbone to take control of the circumstances of their people and allign with Iran has resulted in the Shia militias of Iraq to CEASEFIRE and allow the majority of the country to work with the Central Authority to bring about a resolve to tensions. Hopefully, it will last.

Hopefully, the Sunni region of An Albar will find more stability and assistance in that stability by receiving support for their efforts from other Sunni nations such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan. An Albar has been the least abundant in resources, both oil and water, but that is finding resolution as well.

So to adequately address the precieved quite in Iraq.

It is somewhat stability of the Shia province and An Albar, but, that is only after vast amounts of deaths in both those provinces and to date Bush and Cheney have yet to pay for their sins. But, the focus now is Northern Iraq, which under the No Fly Zone became autonomous more than a decade ago. Northern Iraq is where the Kurds have sketched out their province. Oil wealthy and the hub of Kurdish alliance and discontent.

As this article from The Associated Press reveals there is an escalation in violence. Is that a surprise? No. The resistance movement in Iraq, which has many affiliations has simply moved north because of the promise by Turkey to invade and start yet another war with the Kurds this time. While the USA would like to say they are finally dominating the nation of Iraq and a peace has settled in, that isn't the case. The USA has been defeated in Iraq and the 'strong men' of militias and resistance over years of organization have taken control resulting in 'understandings' about what is best for the country and it's people.

We have witnessed An Albar being catered to by Petraeus and Sheiks being assassinated in that realization by the same militias that now visit the northern Kurdish province. This shift in violence is just the next chapter in what was a predominantly peaceful and stable province of Iraq. This has resulted because Bush's leadership has no crediblity in the world or among his own coalition and Turkey has seen an opportunity to war with PKK.

In recent statements from the Iraqi Central Government and in realization Iraq is not a soveriegn country able to fend off a Turkish invasion, the Prime Minister of Iraq asked for tolerance while they grappled with the PKK. As a result, the militias of Iraq so inclined have simply moved their focus from An Albar to the Kurdish provinces. There is no 'better life' for all in Iraq, so much as a shift in violence because Bush can't even provide stability from one of the majority members of his coalition and now Northern Iraq, the Kurdish province is going to suffer because Turkey didn't know how to behave. Just more of the same. Nothing new here. The longer the USA occupies Iraq and it's coalition reeks havoc within it's borders the longer the violence will continue and the more people of Iraq will die.

General Says N. Iraq Most Violent Region (click here)
By PAULINE JELINEK – 3 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite a decline in violence in Iraq, northern Iraq has become more violent than other regions as al-Qaida and other militants move there to avoid coalition operations elsewhere, the region's top U.S. commander said.
Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling on Monday said al-Qaida cells still operate in all the key cities in the north.
"What you're seeing is the enemy shifting," Hertling told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from outside Tikrit in northern Iraq.
Hertling said militants have been pushed east to his area from Anbar by the so-called Awakening movement, in which local tribes have allied with the coalition against al-Qaida. Others have been pushed north to his area from the Baghdad region, where this year's U.S. troops escalation has made more operations possible.
"The attacks are still much higher than I would like here in the north, but they are continuing to decrease in numbers and scale of attacks," he said.
Hertling said 1,830 roadside bombs were placed in his region in June, compared with 900 last month....

So, if this issue has to take 'daily tending' at this blog to bring about reality rather than mass media propaganda then that is what will ensue. But, for now some alarming news about The Arctic Ocean. Impeach Bush and Cheney, they have been and ARE 'the problem.'

Hate Crimes Up Nearly 8 Percent in 2006

Jose Luis Magana
Thousands of people march around the Justice Department in Washington, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, during the "March Against Hate Crimes" to protest hate crime issues. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The escalation started years ago, when three caucasian men dragged a black man to his death in Texas. Now, we have nooses hanging all over America, and primarily the South, all over again. At least this time the nooses aren't around necks, but, if these seemingly nuisance 'misdemeanors' aren't stopped by punishment of law including mandatory sentences behind bars stipulating exhibition of 'nooses in protest' is nothing short of a hate crime, felony and terroristic threat by anyone exhibiting it we may be looking at lynching all over again. Laws of "Terroristic Threats" were around long before September 11, 2001

MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Hate crime incidents in the United States rose last year by nearly 8 percent, the FBI reported Monday, as racial prejudice continued to account for more than half the reported instances.
Police across the nation reported 7,722 criminal incidents in 2006 targeting victims or property as a result of bias against a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic or national origin or physical or mental disability. That was up 7.8 percent from the 7,163 incidents reported in 2005.
Although the noose incidents and beatings among students at Jena, La., high school occurred in the last half of 2006, they were not included in the report. Only 12,600 of the nation's more than 17,000 local, county, state and federal police agencies participated in the hate crime reporting program in 2006 and neither Jena nor LaSalle Parish, in which the town is located, were among the agencies reporting.
Nevertheless, the Jena incidents, and a rash of subsequent noose incidents around the country, have spawned civil rights protests in Louisiana and last week at Justice Department headquarters here. The department said it investigated the incident but decided not to prosecute because the federal government does not typically bring hate crime charges against juveniles....

If Cuban Doctors are exiles and moving to the USA for better wealth management than it's time the USA start being globally competitive for MDs.

These are the patients. Not bad. Dressed and awaiting attention. How many Americans have the RIGHT to wait comfortably for their doctors in settings where OBVIOUS emergencies aren't happening? Everyone ready to invade Cuba to free the poeple of human rights abuses at the hands of tired doctors? I don't think so.


..."Cuban doctors abroad receive much better pay than in Cuba, along with other benefits from the state, like the right to buy a car and get a relatively luxurious house when they return. As a result, many of the finest physicians have taken posts abroad.

The doctors and nurses left in Cuba are stretched thin and overworked, resulting in a decline in the quality of care for Cubans, some doctors and patients said."...


The health care crisis in other countries is real. The USA allows physicians and surgeons to practice in the USA and become wealthy. These medical professionals cannot achieve the income in their own countries they can in the USA. We know that across the board, countries around the world, including Africa are losing MDs and nurses to wealthier systems of reimbursement.

In realizing that, isn't the responsibility of the USA to scale back the wealth accumulation of it's MDs. I don't want to hear about the enormous debt they have to pay after school. There are lots of ways of handling that debt including serving in areas of the USA that are impoverished and struggling to find and keep MDs.....OR...OR...the USA could provide incentives for MDs to practice abroad in countries like Cuba to remove their financial aid loans and/or allow for less or no taxes while practicing abroad.

There are answers to all these issues, if the USA had universal health, single payer systems for the populous of the USA without health insurance and/or inadequate health insurance. The world suffers not only due to American excesses on venues of the environment, but, also when it comes to countries maintaining their 'mind trust' and health care excellence. Time for the United Nations to act to bring equity to the circumstances so well mapped out in The New York Times providing of course it is honest and factual reporting.

Impact of Biotechnology on Cuban Healthcare to Be Analyzed
Havana, Nov 9 (acn) The impact of biotechnology on the Cuban healthcare programs will be one of the main topics for debate on Friday at the 6th Congress on Healthcare and Epidemiology underway in this capital since Monday, with the participation of over 600 experts in the field.

http://www.cubanews.ain.cu/2007/1109biotecnologia.htm


Cuba's National Immunization Program protects the island's population from 13 diseases and has eradicated ailments such as poliomyelitis, tetanus, diphtheria, measles, and congenital rubella syndrome.
Four diseases are currently under control thanks to Cuban vaccines, while a new recombinant vaccine is been developed by the island's scientists to fight Hepatitis B.
Since 1992, Cuba has carried out periodical vaccination campaigns that have contributed remarkably to reducing the infant mortality rate and in raising life expectancy up to 78 years.
Other topics of debate at the event will include the Cuban healthcare system's strategies, the success of the Barrio Adentro medical project in Venezuela, and the current situation of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS.

Well all is right with the world.The New York Times has announced that Baghdad is now prime real estate and flowers are growing everywhere(click here)

Local screening of film showcasing struggles in Baghdad (click here)
..."This is a hard one to leave behind," says Susan Consentino, who notes that she and her husband have developed personal relationships with several of the Iraqis involved in its production, all of whom are in danger from the random violence characteristic of post-invasion Iraq.
"The situation is every bit as terrible as has been reported," says Joseph Consentino, "but the film isn't about pointing fingers -- who's to blame and what went wrong.
"It's about people, and what a terrible thing war is, how much it costs in human terms -- not only for those who lose their lives but those who survive and must deal with that reality day after day."


This is nothing new. While an estimated 600,000 minimally are dead in Iraq due to an illegal invasion and the realities of life in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq are tenuous; the Bush White House has demanded the USA media does not show enough of the 'Good Iraq.' This type of celebration has gone on ANYWAY in Iraq from the beginnings of the invasion. This has been documented for years, including hour to two hour editions of "Report Card On Iraq" produced by CNN years ago.


By enhancing the propaganda from Iraq as upbeat and progressing to civility, it diminishes the suffering that still exists there as if we are to believe all is right with the world and everyone has every reason to be ashamed of opposing the war and demanding the troops come home.
If Iraq is so flowery and stable than there is 'the real war' in Afghanistan that demands attention and there are still enormous amounts of people; women, children, men and the elderly dead, displaced and maimed due to one of the worst human rights violations the USA has ever pulled off in the name of National Security.

Honestly ! Where does this stop?

Hello? Anyone home at The New York Times or is it simply dominated today by Michael Powell and the Giuliani railroad? Wait, the one about Cuban health care is even better !

Suicide attack kills 3 US soldiers, 3 Iraqi children (click here)
By Kim Gamel, Associated Press November 19, 2007
BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber detonated his explosives as American soldiers were handing out toys to children northeast of Baghdad yesterday, killing at least three children and three of the troops, US and Iraqi authorities said.
Seven children were wounded in the attack near Baqubah, where US soldiers wrested control from Al Qaeda in Iraq last summer. The attack, along with a series of other blasts in the capital and to the north, underlined the uncertainty of security in Iraq even as the US military said violence is down sharply across Iraq.
Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, a US military spokesman, said yesterday that terrorist attacks in Iraq are at their lowest levels since January 2006. He said overall violence has dropped 55 percent since a US troop buildup began this year.
Police said the bomb attack occurred as US soldiers were handing out toys, sports equipment, and treats in a playground near Baqubah, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. Few details were available, but the US military said it was a "suicide vest attack" and that three American soldiers were killed.
Rasoul Issam, 16, said he and his friends were playing soccer when the US soldiers called to them from their vehicles to come get gifts. "We ran toward them and I caught a ball when suddenly an explosion took place about 20 [yards] from us," Issam said from his hospital bed in Baqubah.
Mohammed Sabah, 11, was hit by shrapnel in his hand and chest. "The soldiers gave me pens and I thanked them. After this, the explosion took place and I was hit by shrapnel," he said.
As of yesterday, at least 3,871 members of the US military have been killed since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The US military attributed the suicide attack to Al Qaeda in Iraq. "This is another example of how Al Qaeda in Iraq cares nothing about the Iraqi people," said Major Peggy Kageleiry, a spokeswoman for US forces in northern Iraq.
Iraqi children frequently converge on American troops who usually carry soccer balls and stuffed animals crammed in their armored vehicles as they seek to garner good will.
In July 2005, a suicide car bomber sped up to American soldiers distributing candy to children and detonated his explosives, killing as many as 27 people, including a dozen children and a US soldier.
That occurred about nine months after 35 Iraqi children were killed in a string of bombs that exploded as American troops were handing out candy at a government-sponsored celebration to inaugurate a sewage plant in Baghdad.
Rocket and mortar barrages also hit several US bases in Baghdad overnight Saturday.
Smith said the attacks caused some casualties but no deaths. "The fight we're up against has not gone away. Today's mortar and rocket attacks demonstrate that the enemy has the capacity to wage violence," he said.
At least 29 people were killed yesterday, including the three soldiers. The deadliest attack was a parked car bomb targeting a convoy carrying Salman al-Mukhtar, an adviser to the Iraqi finance minister. Mukhtar escaped injury, but the blast in the predominantly Shi'ite district of Karradah in central Baghdad killed at least 10 people and wounded 21, including two of the official's bodyguards, according to police and hospital officials.
Sattar Jabbar, the chief editor of an independent daily newspaper, al-Bayan al-Jadid, was in the car with the minister's adviser when the explosion occurred but also was not hurt, said Jabbar's brother, Abdul-Wahhab.
Smith said overall attacks in Iraq have fallen 55 percent since nearly 30,000 additional American troops arrived in Iraq by June, and some areas are experiencing their lowest levels of violence since the summer of 2005.
Iraqi civilian casualties were down 60 percent across the country since June, and the figure for Baghdad was even better - 75 percent, he said. But he acknowledged the "violence is still too high" and warned that Iraq still faces serious threats from Shi'ite militants and Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Smith told reporters that Iran continues to be the principal supplier of weapons, arms, training, and funding of many militia groups.
"A large number of Iranian weapons still exist here in Iraq. We do believe there are still individuals who are coordinating activities. . . . The degree to which Iran has ceased completely its training, equipping, financing, and resourcing has yet to be witnessed or determined on the battlefield, but the trends are going in the right direction," he said

I am however most grateful for one man that believed in the truth before it was even realized.

An inconvenient task: Bush to honour Gore (click here)
THE former vice-president Al Gore plans to return to the White House next week, apparently for the first time since leaving office, to be honoured by the man who beat him seven years ago.
The US President, George Bush, will host five American winners of this year's Nobel Prizes in the Oval Office on November 26, including the winner of the Peace Prize, who fell 538 votes short of hosting the event himself.
Mr Bush regularly invites Nobel laureates for a handshake and photograph and decided this year would be no different, even if they include his vanquished rival from 2000.
The Gore camp said the White House went out of its way to accommodate the former vice-president's schedule, even moving the event when there was a conflict with the first proposed date.
Mr Bush personally telephoned Mr Gore on Friday to finalise the arrangements. A Gore adviser acknowledged the awkward nature of the event.
"It's unusual, that's for sure," he said. "But the conversations were good, and the White House has been very gracious about it."
Mr Bush and Mr Gore have never reconciled the bitterness from their showdown, and the adviser believes that Mr Gore has not been back to the White House since leaving as vice-president.
Mr Gore has been a vocal critic of Mr Bush's policies, while the president has been dismissive of his former opponent's work against global warming.
Asked once whether he would see Mr Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth, Mr Bush had a curt response: "Doubt it".
This could be the chance to change that. "I'm sure he would love to give the slide show to the president," the Gore adviser said.

I am grateful for a strong dollar and even stronger economy.

Recognize this one? No? It's been taken out of circulation. It's the USA Silver Certificate.


Australia Dollar Rises; OPEC May Consider Non-U.S. Dollar Sales (click title to entry)
By David McIntyre
Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Australian dollar rose a second day as the U.S. dollar weakened on speculation oil producing nations are considering selling the fuel in other currencies.
The local dollar gained after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries summit in Riyadh on Nov. 18, where Iran and Venezuela attempted to get the group to discuss pricing oil in other currencies. Separately, an official said the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council, whose currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar, will jointly consider a revaluation in December.
``There were a number of events over the weekend, including the talk about a move away from a U.S. dollar peg and OPEC discussing pricing in other currencies, that caused the U.S. dollar to be weaker,'' said Sue Trinh, a senior currency strategist in Sydney with RBC Capital Markets. ``That helped the Australian dollar higher.'' ...

I am grateful for world peace.

OPEC stresses link between peace and oil prices (click title to entry)

OPEC summit pledges adequate, timely oil supplies @K= Iran submits proposals to OPEC
RIYADH (Agencies) - Leaders of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries stressed the importance of world peace for the stability of oil prices, according to a final summit statement obtained by AFP on Sunday.
""We insist on the importance of world peace to guarantee investments in the energy sector and the stability of the market,"" said an Arabic copy of the statement translated by AFP.

OPEC heads of state also pledged to provide ""adequate, timely and sufficient"" oil supplies to the market at the end of a summit, Reuters reported. "

"We affirm our commitment ... to continue providing adequate, timely and sufficient oil to the world market,"" said the final declaration issued at the end of the summit.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi later told a news conference: ""Fluctuations in the market have nothing to do with OPEC,"" adding there were many other factors affecting prices.

The group also called for more action to fight poverty and expressed concern over global climate change.

Kuwait, UAE pledge $300 million to climate fund

OPEC's backing for the fight against global warming came as Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar each pledged $150 million towards research into climate change and the environment, and Saudi Arabia said it would give $300 million....

I am grateful for American Conservation.

You know the fact remains that Newt Gingrich was never an enemy to any Conservation Protection Act in his contract with America. It took a Bush to seek to destroy the Endangered Species Act and attempt to log every national park designated as pristine and precious and a heritage. Just you don't recognize it, this is mountain top mining. There should be precious forest standing there and not a whole in the Earth.

Conservative Group Slams Speaker Newt Gingrich's Environmental Record (click title to entry)
A press release issued June 24, 1996 by The National Center for Public Policy Research202/543-4110, (202) 543-5975, http://www.nationalcenter.org.
Contact: David Ridenour (202) 543-4110, dridenour@nationalcenter.org
House Speaker Newt Gingrich is the single greatest threat to needed reform of environmental laws, announced the conservative National Center for Public Policy Research on June 24. The Speaker's efforts to stymie meaningful reform of the Endangered Species Act, his support for legislation that would threaten private property and subvert efforts to base legislation on sound science, and his efforts to give the environmental establishment veto power over all environmental legislation mean the Speaker should be the poster boy of the environmental movement -- not its villain -- says the group.
In recent months, environmental groups have been attempting to use the Speaker's waning popularity to sink regulatory relief efforts. But Newt Gingrich and the environmental movement are like two peas in a pod. In fact, says the group, Newt Gingrich has staked out environmental positions that are so radical that some of the staunchest environmentalists appear moderate by comparison. For example, Gingrich recently blocked changes to a dolphin protection measure that had been given the green light not only by environmental establishment Republicans like Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), but by environmental groups like Greenpeace. In May he also urged Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (R-KS) to abandon eforts to pass property rights legislation -- a measure supported by over two-thirds of the electorate.
"Given the Speaker's apparent contempt for private property rights, his penchant for 'junk science' and his indifference to the plight of Americans suffering under unreasonable regulations, he ought to be the environmental movement's poster boy -- not its villain," said David Ridenour, Vice President of The National Center for Public Policy Research. Ironically, at the very time Speaker Gingrich has been villified by the environmental movement, he's been working to ensure that they have greater say in the nation's policies. Recently, Gingrich established a House Task Force on the Environment designed to give environmentalists veto power over all environmental legislation. Gingrich appointed Representative Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) to co-chair the Task Force, one of the House of Representatives' most rabid environmentalists -- Democrat or Republican. Boehlert received a 92% score in the League of Conservation Voters' environmental scorecard -- higher than 53% of House Democrats.
For informational materials/interviews contact David Ridenour at The National Center for Public Policy Research at (202) 543-4110.
-30-

Matt Jones
Legislative Republicans Flunk Environment 101, League of Conservation Voters Says in 2007 Environmental Scorecard (click here)

November 13, 2007
California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) Releases Annual California Environmental Scorecard (click here)
Ratings for Schwarzenegger & Legislature for 2007 Find Heroes, Villains, and Freshman Hopefuls
Schwarzenegger Scores Highest Rating of his Governorship — 63%
Oakland - The California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) — the political arm of the environmental movement in America’s leading environmental state — announced the release of its annual California Environmental Scorecard today, revealing highlights of the 2007 legislative session. Governor Schwarzenegger’s 63% represents the highest score of his tenure, and Assembly Democrats led the pack with 29 members earning perfect 100% scores. In a year when global warming was on everyone’s mind, the legislature approved several alternative energy measures but left the two most important greenhouse gas emission bills — SB 375 and SB 974 — to be decided in 2008....

I am grateful for the most popular president in history.

October 22, 2007
George W. Bush's Job Approval Rating Drops to 25% (click at title to entry)
George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has dropped to 25% as nearly seven in ten Americans say the national economy is getting worse according to the latest survey from the American Research Group. This matches the lowest approval rating for Bush recorded by the American Research Group.
Among all Americans, 25% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 67% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 23% approve and 67% disapprove.
Among Americans registered to vote, 26% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 67% disapprove. When it comes to the way Bush is handling the economy, 25% of registered voters approve of the way Bush is handling the economy and 67% disapprove.
Approval among Republicans has dropped back to 67%. In September, 80% of Republicans approved of the way Bush was handling his job. In August, 66% of Republicans approved of the way Bush was handling his job.

I am grateful to have the best prepared miltiary in the world. In the wrong place with the wrong war, but, prepared.

US Army desertion rates rise 80 percent since 2003 Iraq invasion; highest rate since 1980 (click title of entry)

WASHINGTON: After six years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, American soldiers are deserting their posts at the highest rate since 1980. The number of US Army deserters this year shows an 80 percent increase since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.
The totals remain far lower than they were during the Vietnam War, when conscription was in effect, but they show a steady increase over the past four years and a 42 percent jump since last year.
"We're asking a lot of soldiers these days," said Roy Wallace, director of plans and resources for Army personnel. "They're humans. They have all sorts of issues back home and other places like that. So, I'm sure it has to do with the stress of being a soldier."
The Army defines a deserter as someone who has been absent without leave for longer than 30 days. The soldier is then discharged as a deserter.
According to the Army, about nine in every 1,000 soldiers deserted in fiscal year 2007, which ended Sept. 30, compared with nearly seven per 1,000 a year earlier. Overall, 4,698 soldiers deserted this year, compared with 3,301 last year....

I am grateful for American justice.

Charges Uncertain in Blackwater Inquiry (click here)
By LARA JAKES JORDAN – 4 days ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government has not decided whether to prosecute Blackwater Worldwide bodyguards for the September shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
The FBI is continuing its investigation of the Sept. 16 shootings, and prosecutors are far from reaching conclusions necessary to decide whether criminal charges might be filed in the case.
"This is an ongoing investigation and, therefore, it is inappropriate to discuss or speculate on any decisions with respect to possible prosecutions," Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said. "We have not yet reached that juncture."
It's not clear whether the Justice Department will ever be able to bring criminal charges. Blackwater guards involved in the shooting at Nisoor Square in west Baghdad initially were given limited immunity from prosecution by State Department investigators in exchange for their statements about what happened.
Several officials spoke in response to reports in The New York Times and The Washington Post that the FBI has concluded that the shootings of 14 of the 17 victims were an unjustified use of deadly force. Additionally, ABC News obtained a statement by one of the shooters, identified only as "Paul," who described several instances where he "engaged the individuals and stopped the threat."
"There has been a lot of chatter that one guy really lost it. I have seen these reports consistently," said one U.S. official, adding that at least one Blackwater guard — and maybe more — likely will be found to have violated rules of engagement on the scene.
One senior FBI official close to the investigation said he was aware of evidence that could indicate 14 of the shootings were unjustified. However, the official said that number was highly speculative and ultimately unreliable because it remains too early in the inquiry to draw any conclusions.
It's also still possible that criminal charges will be brought on behalf of all 17 of the victims, Justice Department officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the investigation....




...In a pre-emptive strike against government prosecutors, home run king Barry Bonds* today announced that he had hired Scooter Libby to head the team defending him against charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. This will be Libby's second case of perjury and obstruction of justice, and his first case as an attorney since leaving the White House.
"Like 'Bo knows baseball', I think Libby knows more than just a little bit about perjury and obstruction of justice, and how to avoid punishment for those charges" said Bonds*. "I am honored to have someone with Scooter's background in this field heading my defense team. That he alone shares a moniker with another of baseball's legends, Phil Rizzuto, is just icing on the cake."
"This will be an easy case", said Libby. "The charges against Bonds* are the second most ridiculous perjury charges in history. Bonds* was too busy and his mind distracted by other more important matters. When a Cuban like El Duque tries the brushback by hurling a projectile at you at 90-100mph from a small hill just 60'6" away, what else would you call that but an act of terrorism?"...

I am grateful to have the best health care in the world yet unavailable to many Americans.

Canadian system might be prescription for U.S. (click at title)
BY JIM LANDERS Dallas Morning News
Article Last Updated: 11/17/2007 03:13:51 AM CST
EDMONTON, Alberta - Linda Littlechild, 56, had quadruple bypass heart surgery in October. Had she been living in the U.S. instead of Canada, she might still be struggling for breath, hoping to make it to 65 and Medicare.
Or worse.
"In the States, I'd a probably been dead. I couldn't afford an operation like this," she said recently from her hospital bed at the University of Alberta Hospital.
On the other hand, if Littlechild had health insurance, she would have gone into a U.S. operating room soon after tests showed the blockages in her heart's arteries. In Edmonton, she waited three months.
Dr. Brian Day, president of the Canadian Medical Association, argues that access to a waiting list is not access to health care. "Canadian patients are suffering and dying on waiting lists, yet we are one of the richest countries in the world," said the Vancouver orthopedic surgeon.
These are the two faces of the Canadian health system: All 33 million Canadians, regardless of income, get hospital and doctor care as a civic right. But the health program leaves patients waiting - sometimes more than a year - for surgeries, diagnostic tests and appointments with specialists.
One in seven Americans lacks health insurance and faces falling into a medical and financial abyss if they become seriously ill. That is not a worry in Canada.
Though rare, some Canadians have faced deadly consequences while waiting for medical care. That is usually not a worry for insured...

I am grateful to have a nation dedicated to excellence in science.

Bush, Jesus and Darwin: In Defense of Good Science (click at title)

During the last few decades, the U.S. has seen increasing conflicts between good science and two special interest groups. The first group is composed of the American industries that are opposed to all environmental regulations and restrictions that reduce corporate profits. The second group is composed of right-wing religious fundamentalist sects that oppose science in general.
Charles Darwin was an environmentalist, a naturalist, a biologist, a geologist, an ecologist and a botanist. He grew Orchids in his flower garden. He spent most of his life at his country home, Down House (Downe village, England) studying the mysteries of nature. His books include: The Voyage of the Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Fertilization of Orchids, The Domestication of Plants and Animals, The Descent of Man, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals, The Movement and Habits of Climbing Plants, The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilization in Plants, Different Forms of Flowers, The Power of Movement in Plants, The Formation of Vegetable Mould and the Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs.
Darwin took the time to behold the Lilies of the field. He was a meticulous scientist that loved nature. He studied and understood the ecological interaction between plants, animals and their environment. When the balance of nature is upset, many species of plants and animals may become extinct. Natural Selection is an inescapable law of nature. Those species that carelessly destroy their own environment, destroy their own future.
There is now a general consensus among scientists and environmentalists that human activities are upsetting the balance of nature. Darwin acknowledged this. George W. Bush has denied this. ...

I am grateful for compassionate immigration reform, which makes legal citizens instruments of civil disobedience.

More vow to resist immigration reform (click here)

See NewsOK's immigration issues continuing coverage page, housing all related stories, video and documents.
About HB 1804
House Bill 1804, most of which went into effect Nov. 1, ends most state benefits for illegal immigrants, makes it a felony to harbor or transport someone not here legally and will punish employers who hire undocumented workers.
On NewsOK.com: More on the state's immigration reform
Staff Reports
Some members of Oklahoma's faith community continue to voice their opposition to the state's new immigration reform law.
The Rev. Lance Schmitz, a social justice minister with Oklahoma City First Church of the Nazarene, said more signed copies of a Pledge of Resistance are to be delivered to Gov. Brad Henry's office at noon Monday.
Schmitz co-wrote the pledge with Rex Friend, a Quaker and immigration attorney, as a way for faith community clergy and lay leaders to express their opposition to the law, which went into effect Nov. 1.
The pledge was adopted by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, whose leaders presented signed copies to Henry's office in the days before House Bill 1804 became law.
No other option
More than 1,000 members of the heavily Hispanic Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oklahoma City signed copies of the pledge.
Schmitz said Monday's presentation is an effort "by people of faith and conscience to continue to shed light on this law.”
He said the signed pledges come from various faith communities in Oklahoma and include a wide variety of Christian traditions as well as other religious faiths, including Judaism and Buddhism.
"We regret and grieve the direction that Oklahoma has taken with the advent of this immigration law,” Schmitz said in a prepared statement. "This law leaves us no other acceptable option in light of our faith, conscience and deepest values but to practice divine obedience to the higher law of love.”
Schmitz said clergy and laity are invited to meet on the state Capitol's south pavilion at 11:45 a.m. Monday before the signed pledges are presented.

I am grateful for the best educational system in the world.

National SAT scores dip again; state's decrease not as steep (click at title)

State's decrease not as steep
P-I STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

Average math and reading SAT scores nationwide fell four points for the high school class of 2007 to their lowest mark since 1999. In Washington state, the same scores fell two points.
Last spring's graduating seniors scored, on average, 502 out of a possible 800 points on the critical reading section of the country's most popular college entrance exam, down from 503 for the class of 2006 nationally. Math scores fell three points, from 518 to 515.

This year's declines follow a seven-point drop last year for the first class to take a lengthened and redesigned SAT, which included higher-level math questions and eliminated analogies. The College Board, which owns the exam, insisted the new exam wasn't harder and attributed last year's drop to fewer students taking the exam a second time. Students typically fare about 30 points better when they take the exam again.

The College Board's score report, released Tuesday, did not offer an explanation why this year's scores were even lower, but it did note that a record number of students -- just short of 1.5 million -- took the test. The cohort of test takers also was the most diverse ever, with minority students accounting for 39 percent: There has been a persistent gap between the scores of whites and the two largest U.S. minority groups, Hispanics and blacks.

In New York, 89 percent of students took the exam, up from 88 percent last year. Maine recently became the first state to use the SAT to meet its Grade 11 assessment requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, and 100 percent of students took the exam there, compared with about three-quarters in the class of 2006.

In Washington, 53 percent of students took the SAT, one percentage point lower than a year earlier, and the average scores were 526 in reading and 531 in math, each down one point from 2006. The state's average scores were the highest among states in which more than 30 percent of eligible students took the test.

At the University of Washington, students admitted to this year's freshman class had a higher average SAT score, 1251 compared with 1231 from the previous year. Though officials won't know the average SAT score for the new class until school actually begins this fall, admissions director Philip Ballinger said he would be surprised if the number fell below last year's.

"I'm not sure we're going to track the national trend," he said.

The national and statewide decrease could be explained by looking at demographics, he added. Those populations that typically do well on the test -- such as white students -- are diminishing while groups that tend to have lower scores are growing.

Although the growing number of test takers is considered a sign more people are interested in college, it can also weigh down average scores, because the pool of test takers expands by including, on average, more lower-scoring students.

The number of black students taking the SAT rose 6 percent, and the number of test takers listed as "Other Hispanic, Latino or Latin American" (a group that does not include Puerto Ricans or Mexican-Americans) rose more than 25 percent.

Average scores also slipped from 497 to 494 on the writing portion of the SAT, which debuted with the class of 2006. Many colleges are waiting to see results from the first few years of data on the writing exam before determining how to use it. In Washington, the writing score was 510, a one-point decline.

Figures released earlier this month on the rival ACT exam showed a slight increase -- from 21.1 last year to 21.2, on a scale of 1 to 36 -- for the class of 2007.
The SAT has historically been more popular on the East and West coasts, while the ACT has been more popular in the Midwest and inland Western states. But more and more students are taking both exams to try to improve their college resumes.
P-I reporter Christine Frey contributed to this report.

I am grateful for a world free of nuclear threats.

Review: 'Arsenals of Folly' recalls nuclear threat (click title to entry)
BY SCOTT McLEMEE Special to Newsday
November 18, 2007
ARSENALS OF FOLLY: The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race, by Richard Rhodes. Knopf, 400 pp.

While Richard Rhodes was working on "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" - a book that would win three major awards following its publication in 1986 and establish him as the definitive popular historian of the nuclear age - the world very nearly came to an end.

Rhodes did not know it at the time. Very few people did, until recently. And it can still be rather difficult to wrap one's mind around the literal truth of that statement. The incident is worth recalling as part of the context for the story Rhodes tells in "Arsenals of Folly," the third volume in what has become an epic work of nonfiction narrative. ("Dark Sun," from 1995, recounted the story of the H-bomb.)

It all happened in the fall of 1983. NATO was conducting a war game called Able Archer, in which military officers played out their response to a Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe. This was a routine exercise. But the timing was almost literally disastrous. Spooked by Ronald Reagan's saber-rattling, the Kremlin suspected that the Americans might be trying to trick them. They feared that a first strike might be launched under the cover of a simulation.

This was mistaken but not entirely paranoid. Such a fake-out scenario had been worked up by Western strategists, as the KGB probably knew. As Able Archer unfolded, the Soviets' tensions escalated to a point just shy of blind panic.

Buttons were almost pushed. Only well afterward did the CIA get some clue that the situation had nearly gone to the point of no return.

"The United States and the Soviet Union, apes on a treadmill, inadvertently blundered close to nuclear war in November 1983," Rhodes says. "That, and not the decline and fall of the Soviet Union, was the return on the neoconservatives' long, cynical and radically partisan investment in threat inflation and arms-race escalation."

The neocon wiz kids play an important part in "Arsenals of Folly." Figures such as Richard Perle and Dick Cheney appear on the scene, bearing bogus estimates concerning the enemy's weaponry, as if to perfect their craft. But they are not quite at the center of the book, even as villains. That role is played, rather, by the weapons themselves....