Category Archives: View

Chaos Manor View, Friday, June 24, 2016

I have a new script that successfully turns off alt-spacebar, a combination that I unfortunately hit quite often. I installed it yesterday and it seemed to work well, but while trying to do this column today I hit something – I don’t know what – that simply locked the system. Keyboard, mouse, didn’t respond to any of them. Control alt delete didn’t work. Tried alt-spacebar and got a blue screen telling me that I had crashed. The system reset itself. Needless to say, all I had been doing was lost.

I have started to run the script again – it turned itself off in the crash – and so far no problems, so perhaps that wasn’t it. Alt-spacebar can produce some disastrous results if you are staring at the keyboard two finger typing and don’t see to popup on screen, so you just keep typing; and since you intended to hit space, it can come at any time. Best disabled if you have to look at the keys.

I am in the habit of accumulating a lot of links I intend to investigate and pass them along to you, but when Firefox restored my “session” there weren’t many of them, and some I had deleted several days ago, and a lot of recent one I had recently deleted were back. It was all messed up. Don’t use Firefox tabs as a memory augmentation device. It’s, alas, not reliable. I have not much experience with Microsoft’s new browser. Firefox has always been unreliable on restoring sessions after an unexpected shutdown, and probably isn’t worse now; but once you have three rows of tabs, you cannot rely on Firefox to keep track of them and restore after a crash, and crashes get more common; coincidence? I don’t know. I just use this stuff now.

And a big new keyboard, very klacky, big keys, no alt next to the spacebar, just came, and I am trying it out. It’s bigger, and the keys are brightly labeled, feels a bit awkward but I am not used to it. So far I have not hit too many multiple keys when trying for one, but it’s early times. It’s noisy, but I can get used to that. We’ll see. The keys are not as large as the ASUS Zen, and I am pretty sure I like the ASUS better. It just told me I was in an alt e sequence whatever that is, but escape will cancel it. Of course it’s tempting to attempt touch typing, but no, I seem to have lost the ability. Ah, I have now twice hit uparrow-space which has me merrily typing in the line above the one I think I’m typing on. Ungood. Ugly. I am definitely slower with this. I’ll try again tomorrow, but it doesn’t seem to be working better than the Logitech K360, and sometimes worse. Sigh.

Back to the K360 for a while. As I think it over.

England may withdraw from the European Union, but Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay in the EU – could it be there will always be an England, but not a United Kingdom? The Act of Union was, I think, 1704 and some Scots still don’t accept it. And of course some Brussels Sprouts are saying that this means curtains for England. I seem to recall some States in North America wanted to withdraw from the Union, but now aren’t allowed to fly the old battle flag, just like in the days before Hayes-Tilden ended Reconstruction. Will they send French or German soldiers to try to force England to Remain! It was of course inevitable that the EU Bureaucrats would start to put the EU itself ahead of the member states. Iron Law and all that, you know. Perhaps they can talk the Danes into sending an invasion force? To preserve the Union. And Norway/Sweden can claim Shetland and the Isle of Mann.

California going no-nuke

You’ve probably already seen this.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-diablo-canyon-nuclear-20160621-snap-story.html

PG&E is closing the Diablo Canyon plant, allegedly because it (1) is close to a fault line and (2) gets in the way of running renewable energy systems.

They’re replacing it with a portfolio of green stuff.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  I suspect it won’t be fun for California, but, as someone once said, people get the government they deserve, and they generally get it good and hard.

–John

Well, Barrack Hussein Obama is consistent. There is a massacre in Florida, so the solution is to disarm the people of the United States. There is a water shortage – read power shortage, as the Pacific Ocean had a lot of water, but desalination takes power – so the solution is to close down the nuclear and coal plants. That will fix everything.

But when we disarmed, they sold us, and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the gods of the copybook headings, said stick to the devils you know.

Consistent.

I store up interesting places as Firefox tabs, but after a while there get to be to many of them, and Firefow becomes soggy and hard to light . 

http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2016/06/20/islamic-state-crucifies-lashes-ramadan-fast-breakers/

Islamic State ‘Crucifies,’ Lashes Ramadan Fast Breakers

 

The Times of Israel reports: Reports have emerged that Islamic State enforcers lashed and crucified three people in Syria for breaking the Ramadan fast.

The people were said to have been held in cages for hours prior to receiving their punishments at the hands of IS’s Daesh al-Hisbah religious police last week.

 

 

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/06/20/global-migrant-tide-swells-record-65-million/

 

Global Migrant Tide Swells to Record 65 Million

 

 

AFP – The number of refugees and others fleeing their homes worldwide has hit a new record, spiking to 65.3 million people by the end of 2015, the United Nations said Monday.

Europe’s high-profile migrant crisis, its worst since World War II, is just one part of a growing tide of human misery led by Palestinians, Syrians and Afghans.

Globally, approaching one percent of humanity has been forced to flee.

“This is the first time that the threshold of 60 million has been crossed,” the UN refugee agency said.

The figures, released on World Refugee Day, underscore twin pressures fuelling an unprecedented global displacement crisis.

 

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/06/20/exclusive-video-veteran-forcibly-dragged-air-force-ceremony-saying-god/

 

Exclusive Video: Veteran Forcibly Dragged from Air Force Ceremony for Mentioning God

 

When a veteran started offering traditional remarks at a military flag-folding ceremony, several uniformed airmen assaulted him, dragging him out of the room because his remarks mentioned God. Now First Liberty Institute lawyers representing retired Senior Master Sergeant Oscar Rodriguez are demanding that the U.S. Air Force apologize and punish those responsible or face a federal civil-rights lawsuit.

 

Makes you proud to be an American.  Or makes someone proud.  Doesn’t it? Can’t have the final flag folding eremonies we used to have, even if we have to use force to stop it. This is America, after all.

 

 

http://fredoneverything.org/hussein-obama-50-america-0more-adventures-in-multiculturalism/

Orlando? So what else is new? Why the excitement? I am puzzled that everyone is  distraught over a perfectly ordinary act of terrorism by a perfectly ordinary Muslim terrorist. We have seen these attacks before and will see them again. They grow monotonous, like car crashes. They are as interesting as a commercial break.

 

Fred is not politically correct, and hecsays things no one else will say. 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/04/vaginal-knitting_n_4386419.html

ARTS

‘Vaginal Knitting’ Is Here To Make Everyone Afraid Of Performance Art Once Again (NSFW)

Two words: Vaginal. Knitting.

This curious form of performance art comes to us courtesy of feminist artist Casey Jenkins, a self-professed “craftivist” who is knitting using wool placed — you guessed it — inside her vagina. [ship]

 

There was a time when we would have thought siuch daring to be decadence, but now we know it’s progressive.  As is sowing the wind.

Nothing escapes the attention of the progressives. We can rest easy knowing that.

 

E9kNmZDNmhhejlGNU9WXC9CVzdzVWtzMlhXUitHZUxvZmNsVktQb0x2WUJYZzRnRlVZSmM9In0%3D

 

 

 

Kaeley Triller Haver is no stranger to the transgender bathroom debate. After being sexually assaulted as a child and going public with her story, the single mom from Washington state now opposes shower, locker room, and bathroom policies that she believes leave her and her daughter vulnerable and unsafe.

So earlier this month, when she found out that Washington public schools quietly adopted a new set of health education standards that include teaching kindergartners about gender expression and identity, Triller Haver was shocked she wasn’t involved.

“The only way I found out was through a Facebook post,” Triller Haver told The Daily Signal. “Not really the way any parent should discover information this critically important to their child’s life.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

911 Transcript Redactions

I was going to write a piece on this but then I decided against it.

Then I saw this and something has to be said even though I’ve completely given up on the left and expect nothing less:

<.>

Fine: President Obama wants to make this about gun control, not terrorism — but ham-handed editing only calls attention to what you’re deleting, and to Obama’s peevish rules against uttering terms like “radical Islam.”

Just look at the redactions:

Mateen: “I pledge of allegiance to [omitted]. “I pledge allegiance to [omitted] may God protect him [in Arabic], on behalf of [omitted].”

All the omissions did was make Team Obama look determined to keep its head in the sand about the nature of the enemy.

</>

https://nypost.com/2016/06/20/obamas-war-on-omitted/

This makes me wonder what they’re doing that we do not know about.

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

Most Respectfully,

Joshua Jordan, KSC

Percussa Resurgo

Consistent.

‘In short, the Marines bet their whole tactical aviation future on the JSF.’

<https://warisboring.com/the-u-s-marines-are-pulling-old-f-a-18s-out-of-desert-storage-a9b2febe3d64>

Boyd wept.

—————————————

Roland Dobbins

what to call them?

Dr. Pournelle,
You wrote: “The goal is to have a well regulated militia available at a minute’s notice. I wonder what we can call them.”
Recommendation: Citizens.
For some, this will probably begin to too much resemble the fictional society described by Heinlein’s much maligned “Starship Troopers,” but I reckon it’s about time.
(Msgt USAF, ret)
-d

Jerry Pournelle wrote:

Obviously I had Minutemen in mind, but yes…

Re: what to call them?

Dr. Pournelle,
I agree with the sentiment.  Having once worked on Minuteman Missile, and at times visited bars, dry cleaners, neighborhood groceries, and barbershops around Boston with the name, my personal feeling is that “Minuteman” may be overused.  Perhaps I’m jaded.
The various authorized “real” state militias, having been Federalized under the National Guard system, have also appropriated the minuteman silhouette symbol.  I feel it might be better to avoid outright identification with Federal authority — after all, there may easily be conflicts with the official policies of the government (e.g. the President’s prohibition against the Governor’s use of National Guard to quell rioting in Ferguson).
Such an organization should have a charter and code of conduct, but obedience to the orders of the President of the United States, or authorities appointed by her/him, should not be in that code.  Given this, perhaps the first requirement challenge will be to avoid membership bias by association with any political party while still developing strong bipartisan political support at local levels.
-d

Soros Threatens UK

This guy is like the prince of darkness:

<.>

The world’s most famous currency speculator has warned that a vote on Thursday for Britain to leave the EU would trigger a bigger and more damaging fall for sterling than the day he forced Britain out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism almost a quarter of a century ago.

George Soros, writing in the Guardian, said a Brexit vote would spark a ‘black Friday’ for the UK, but the devaluation of sterling would bring none of the benefits to the economy that it enjoyed after it dropped out of the ERM on 16 September 1992 – Black Wednesday.

He said that, as in 1992, there would be big financial gains for speculators who had bet on the UK leaving the EU but that such an outcome would leave “most voters considerably poorer”.

</>

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/20/brexit-would-trigger-sterling-fall-worse-than-black-wednesday

Be sure you didn’t miss “the day he forced Britain out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism”. This isn’t the first time England has their hindquarters soundly handed to them by a financier. The last major fire sale was after the Battle of Waterloo. I wonder if Soros is working with the red shield?

I note the red shield has many recent op eds on Brexit; this is the

latest: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/comment/all-the-evidence-shows-that-brexit-would-be-a-disaster-7vg3zks35

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

Most Respectfully,

Joshua Jordan, KSC

Percussa Resurgo

Well, Britain – or at least England – has exited. Now we see. Crony capitalists will have a round, but at least the survivor in England won’t have to bow to France/Belgium.

China builds world’s fastest supercomputer without U.S. chips

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3085483/high-performance-computing/china-builds-world-s-fastest-supercomputer-without-u-s-chips.html

But surely God looks after fools, drunks, and the United States of America…

Two aircraft carriers just went to PI. The ChiComs are not happy:

<.>

Conveying a so-called message about security through the exhibition of military might,and furthermore describing the events as an act of deterrence is something that the U.S.has done far too many times.

Regardless of how many times it may have gone smoothly in other parts of the world the U.S. has chosen the wrong opponent by selecting China for this type of game. Behind all of this is lack of patience and brassy moves and it also reveals nature of hegemony beneath the surface.

Statements from high ranking officials in the U.S. military as well as the aircraft carrier drills themselves once again demonstrate that the U.S. is definitely not a regional security safeguard, and instead precisely a trouble maker. In the regard of the South China Sea issue, the U.S. is playing an extremely destructive role.

</>

http://en.people.cn/n3/2016/0622/c90000-9075995.html

Keep in mind, this is the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party. I’m pretty sure this reflects the positions of the ChiComs on the CMC.

And this is happening just as the US and China are doing joint (cooperative not competitive) military exercises and both forces are heading to Hawaii.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/chinese-warships-join-forces-massive-8255107

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

Most Respectfully,

Joshua Jordan, KSC

Percussa Resurgo

Surely

US Government Pays CNN for Propaganda!

The details of this article are, most likely, worth your time if only so you can refresh your data pool. I suspect you’re not shocked by any of this but it’s always nice to have someone on the inside confirm suspicions.

I conjectured — through investigation — this was happening and I knew this would become open after becoming legal with the repeal of the propaganda law. Of course, I was called crazy. Journalists are all wonderful people who just tell us the news. They’re not biased, in fact, they’re not even human since all humans have biases according to their illogic.

So, when I read stuff like this, I’m not only thinking of the trendy, urbanite who thinks that meat magically appears in the supermarket.

I’m also talking about the small town dweller who thinks that everyone

in the world has their best interests in mind…. Both are naive, in

their own fashion and both are being taken advantage of:

<.>

According to Amber Lyon, a three-time Emmy award winning journalist, CNN is routinely paid by the US government and foreign governments to selectively report on certain events. Furthermore, the Obama administration pay CNN for editorial control over some of their content.

</>

http://yournewswire.com/cnn-journalist-governments-pay-us-to-fake-stories-shocking-expose/

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

Most Respectfully,

Joshua Jordan, KSC

Percussa Resurgo

I’m shocked. Shocked…

Piper on YouTube

Dear Jerry,

Knowing, thanks to a panel talk you gave some years ago on H. Beam Piper, something of his life and career, I am not sure if I am happy that his books are this easy to find, or sad that they are being given away like this.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=H.+Beam+Piper

Have his works gone into the public domain? One of the very best Golden Age writers, and sadly underappreciated by many. I still recall fondly your closing toast to his memory at the panel talk, when you poured his tumbler of whiskey into the water pitcher as you raised yours in salute.

Damn few like him!

Petronius

Beam’s widow sold all of Pipers works to Ace Books for a flat fee. Beam’s works were under the old copyright act, 28 years renewable in (and only in) the 28^th year. When the 28^th year rolled around, all of Beam’s works fell into the public domain. Think of it as Piper’s legacy to his fans? Of course that also freed Piper scholars such as the team John Carr heads to write their own extensions of Beam’s works.

Dear Jerry,
Your correspondent Chuck Anderson wished for a Kindle edition of The Prince “because my hard copy is falling apart.” The individual novels in the omnibus volume are available on Amazon.com, or in a bundle along with other J.E. Pournelle, et al, works from Baen Books.
CODOMINIUM FUTURE HISTORY BUNDLE: http://www.baen.com/codominium-future-history-bundle.html
High Justice
West of Honor
The Mercenary
Prince of Mercenaries
Go Tell the Spartans
Prince of Sparta
King David’s Spaceship
The Mote in God’s Eye
The Gripping Hand
I’ve enjoyed it having it.
Greg Hemsath

Alas the link leads to a notice that the bundle is no longer available. I did some new scene in The Prince that are not in the original novels which The Prince collects together to make up the Falkenberg/Lysander saga. I am negotiating for a kindle edition to be published.

The Cost of Leftist Government

Was this all so the DNC could get new voters? If so, would this make those decision makers worse than the several diseases they bring, if only through their clumsy touch?

<.>

Six diseases that were recently near eradication are making a comeback in the United States, as the taxpayer funded refugee resettlement industry launches a propaganda blitz about the so-called World Refugee Day this Monday.

The returning diseases are;

1. Tuberculosis

2. Measles

3. Whooping Cough

4. Mumps

5. Scarlet Fever

6. Bubonic Plague

The near eradication of these diseases in the United States during the twentieth century was a remarkable accomplishment of American civilization. Until recently, most Americans believed these diseases were gone from our shores for good.

But a politicized public health system, and a rise in the subsidized migration into the United States, however, have combined to reverse a century of progress.

</>

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/06/19/diseases-thought-eradicated-world-refugee-day/

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Most Respectfully,

Joshua Jordan, KSC

Percussa Resurgo

You can’t make omelets without breaking eggs.

Freedom is not free. Free men are not equal. Equal men are not free.

Chaos Manor View, Wednesday, June 15, 2016

[For homosexuals] Death is the sentence. We know there’s nothing to be embarrassed about this. Death is the sentence.

Imam Farrokh Sekaleshfar in an address at Hussein Islamic Center, Orlando. Florida, 2013

We have to start with the premise that the goal is to defeat the enemy.

Jim Woolsey

Donald Trump: Obama ‘More Angry at Me than He Was at the Shooter’

http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/06/14/donald-trump-obama-angry-shooter/

AP

by Alex Swoyer14 Jun 2016Washington, DC

Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump responded to President Obama’s criticism over the refusal to say the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ during his campaign rally Tuesday night in Greensboro, North Carolina.

“I watched President Obama today and he was more angry at me than he was at the shooter and many people said that,” Trump told at least 5,000 supporters at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. “That’s the kind of anger he should have for the shooter and these killers that shouldn’t be here.” [snip]

 

Obama lashes out at Trump, says using the phrase ‘radical Islam’ is ‘not a strategy’

By David Nakamura June 14

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/06/14/obama-lashes-out-on-loose-talk-on-terrorism-islam/

Obama: What would saying ‘radical Islam’ accomplish?

 

After a meeting with his national security team in the wake of the Orlando shooting, President Obama addressed criticism that he has not used the term “radical Islam” when referring to the shooting. He called the criticism a “political distraction” and said, “calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away.” (Reuters)

An angry President Obama on Tuesday lashed out at Republicans, and particularly Donald Trump, who have called him soft on terrorism, warning that “loose talk” about Muslims has harmed the United States’ campaign against militant groups in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Obama challenged the demand by his critics that he characterize acts of terrorism, including the mass shooting in Orlando, as the work of  “radical Islam” — a phrase the president has refused to use because he believes it unfairly implicates an entire religious group for the acts of militant extremists.

[Read the complete transcript of Obama’s remarks]

A day earlier, Trump used the phrase to question Obama’s commitment to stopping terrorist acts, including the Orlando shooting, by saying the president refuses to define the enemy.

“That’s the key, they tell us. We can’t get ISIL unless we call them ‘radical Islamists,’ ” Obama said, referring to the Islamic State militant group after meeting with his National Security Council at the Treasury Department to discuss the administration’s counterterrorism strategy. “What exactly would using this label accomplish? What exactly would it change? Would it make ISIL less committed to trying to kill Americans? Would it bring in more allies? Is there a military strategy that is served by this? The answer is, none of the above. Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away. This is a political distraction.”

The president added: “There’s no magic to the phrase, ‘radical Islam.’ It’s a political talking point; it’s not a strategy.”

 

Wall Street Journal

http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-and-radical-islam-1465947150

[snip] Since the President asked, allow us to answer. We’re unaware of any previous American war fought against an enemy it was considered indecorous or counterproductive to name. Dwight Eisenhower routinely spoke of “international Communism” as an enemy. FDR said “Japan” or “Japanese” 15 times in his 506-word declaration of war after Pearl Harbor. If the U.S. is under attack, Americans deserve to hear their President say exactly who is attacking us and why. You cannot effectively wage war, much less gauge an enemy’s strengths, without a clear idea of who you are fighting.

Mr. Obama’s refusal to speak of “radical Islam” also betrays his failure to understand the sources of Islamic State’s legitimacy and thus its allure to young Muslim men. The threat is religious and ideological.

Islamic State sees itself as the vanguard of a religious movement rooted in a literalist interpretation of Islamic scriptures that it considers binding on all Muslims everywhere. A small but significant fraction of Muslims agree with that interpretation, which is why Western law enforcement agencies must pay more attention to what goes on inside mosques than in Christian Science reading rooms.

Mr. Obama’s refusal to speak of “radical Islam” leads to other analytical failures, such as his description of the Orlando terrorist as “homegrown.” The Islamic State threat is less a matter of geography than of belief, which is why it doesn’t matter whether Islamic State directly ordered or coordinated Sunday’s attack so long as it inspired it. This, too, is a reminder of the centrality of religion to Islamic State’s effectiveness.

No wonder the Administration seemed surprised by the Islamic State’s initial success in taking Mosul in 2014—soldiers of faith tend to fight harder than soldiers of fortune—and by its durability despite the U.S.-led air campaign. Last November Mr. Obama boasted that Islamic State was “contained” a day before its agents slaughtered 130 people in Paris. Days later, White House factotum Ben Rhodes insisted “there’s no credible threat to the homeland at this time.” Then came San Bernardino. [snip]

The Wall street Journal editorial says it much more politely than I would in the mood I am in, but it says it well. Barrack Hussein Obama’s speech makes it plain that neither he, nor anyone who agrees with him, has a chance of defeating the Caliphate. Even though Daesh has formally declared war on us, Mr. Obama does not accept that radical Islam is the enemy.

There is a sense in which he is right, of course: the Koran makes it clear that all Muslims must be in perpetual war on all non-believers, and there can be no peace until they have prevailed. There can be truces when the tactical situation requires, but the Jihad is perpetual. Now a number of Muslims, estimated to be as many as 80%, do not take that part of the Koran seriously. Some have tried to reinterpret those verses to be symbolic, just as a vast majority of Christians and Jews no longer take seriously the Biblical command that “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” in this modern world; but even if 90% of Muslims ignore the plain meaning of Jihad, that leaves millions of Muslims, including several sovereign nations, plus the Caliphate, who explicitly do obey; and one of them, the Caliphate, has explicitly said so, and claims by that act to be the only legitimate Muslim state.

So long as the Caliphate exists it is the spiritual home and rallying commander of tens of millions: a rather large number.

It is the good fortune of the West that the House of Islam is divided into factions that hate each other as much as they hate the West; but that division is not eternal. The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem took advantage of that Muslim schism (and many other factors of course) to establish control of the lands now known as Israel and Lebanon, and much of Syria; but the Muslims united – or were united by – the Kurd Saladin, the Light of the World, who retook Jerusalem and much of the Middle East. His Caliphate was brought down by the Mongol invasion. Which treated the Muslims so harshly that they proposed a hitherto unthinkable alliance with Elizabeth’s England. She wisely rejected it. The Moslem world was once again unified by the Turks, who turned Constantinople into Istanbul in 1453, and under Suleiman the Magnificent besieged Vienna in 1529. That siege failed, but it was a near thing.

Suleiman was induced by his later wife, the Russian (Ukrainian) girl Roxelana, to have his favorite son strangled by the five mutes with their bowstrings, and was succeeded by her son, Selim the Sot; but even with the weakening of the leadership the Turks managed another siege of Vienna in 1683, well after the establishment of English colonies in the New World.

The Muslim world remained a great power right up into World War I when The Young Turks led by Mustapha Kemal Ataturk established the present secular Republic, separating Mosque and State and entrusting the enforcement of that separation to the Army. That held until a few years ago, but the Army’s power has been broken by the popularly elected government, which appears to be converting the secular republic into an Islamic Republic.

If you do not know who your enemy is, you cannot have a strategy leading to victory; you can only seek to defend against attacks made at a time and place of the enemy’s choosing. And that, Mr. President, is why you must identify the enemy. ISIL, the Caliphate, is more than it appears to be. It has potential adherents everywhere in the Muslim community. Failure to recognize this dooms your soldiers to a defensive strategy with no hope of victory. It is amazing that you do not already know this.

Why President Obama is wrong

‘Radical Islamism,’ ‘political distraction’ and ‘political talking point’

Newt Gingrich

Originally published at the Washington Times

Top of Form

By Newt Gingrich – – Tuesday, June 14, 2016

In the past few days, we have seen two horrific attacks on Western civilization. The first, in an Orlando nightclub, left 49 innocent people dead and dozens more injured. The second, in Paris, live-streamed the slaughter of a French policeman and his wife in their home, as their three-year-old son watched.

These terrible events raise many questions about how we should confront the threats we face. Among those questions, one is fundamental: how do we explain the atrocities?

An obvious response is that both were perpetrated by Islamist supremacists who were sincerely motivated by their ideology. For some reason, however, President Obama believes this basic fact isn’t important to say. On Tuesday, the President called the use of phrases like “radical Islamism” a “political distraction” and “a political talking point.”

“There’s no magic to the phrase ‘radical Islam’,” he said, addressing the Orlando massacre. “…What exactly would using this language accomplish? What exactly would it change?”

It was surreal to watch a commander-in-chief stand in front of the American people, just days after the most deadly terror attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, and explain why he did not think it was important to tell the truth about the individuals and the ideology responsible. It is difficult to imagine how the President could more clearly have demonstrated his willful dishonesty about the threats we face.

And he was not just dishonest—but flippantly so. None of the President’s advisers, he remarked, have ever told him, “‘Man, if you use that phrase we can really turn this thing around.’ Not once.”

  Even in the wake of monstrous terror, the President refuses to take the threat seriously—and he’s facetious about it in the process. But to answer his question—what exactly would it accomplish to accurately describe our enemies? There is a simple response: It would give us a chance to win the war we are engaged in.

If we do not acknowledge that our enemies are Islamist supremacists, we cannot hope to address the fact that they are united by an ideology that is virulent, violent, and apparently seductive to millions of people.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/14/why-president-obama-wrong/?utm_source=Gingrich+Productions+List&utm_campaign=3ec4000ade-whyobamawrong061416&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bd29bdc370-3ec4000ade-51726965

http://takimag.com/article/anarchy_in_the_usa_steve_sailer/print#axzz4BdsWtWAe

 

The importance of the Caliphate

You seem to be placing a lot of faith in the idea that collapsing the Caliphate will keep angry disaffected Muslim men from executing these kind of terrorist attacks on Western targets. Unfortunately, it isn’t as if the world was free of Islamic terrorism before ISIS declared itself a Caliphate in 2014. Al Qaeda never declared itself a Caliphate or sought to claim and control territory, yet they were able to spread their ideology with some effectiveness, and had an ability to attract recruits and inspire actions from afar.
In comparing the two, is the greater effectiveness of ISIS in spreading radical Islam mainly the result of their Caliphate declaration, or is it as much the result of their greater mastery of social media? Perhaps Al Qaeda has been eclipsed by ISIS mainly because of their stubborn pursuit of ever more spectacular, centrally directed terrorist plots (which are easier to defend against), whereas ISIS never had that focus, and was able to seamlessly shift to a strategy of outsourced jihadism once the expansion of the Caliphate stalled?
I suppose, from an Islamic theological perspective, the association of ISIS with a Caliphate increases their legitimacy with some Muslims. But is that really a decisive factor when it comes to converting someone like Mateen into a jihadist? Was he a diligent scholar of Islam, persuaded by a theological argument, or just an angry Muslim who happened to associate himself with ISIS because it is the highest profile proponent of jihadism at the moment? Isn’t it quite possible that, absent the continued existence of the Caliphate, people like Mateen will have no trouble finding other sources of inspiration and justification for their actions?

Craig

I would say that the war is much larger than the war with the Caliphate, but Daesh is visible and its territory desired by people who do not want to attack us; some, the Kurds, seem – at least at the moment – to be actual friends of the United States and grateful for liberation from Saddam.

Al Qaeda obviously remains an enemy. There are others. That war requires considerably more intelligence effort; but so long as the Caliphate exists it will not cease attacks on us. Destruction of the Caliphate should be a salutary lesson for those seeking our destruction.

Netanyahu speaks on Orlando

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/06/340487/

—

Phil Tharp

 

“racist ” judge

Jerry, perhaps 25 years ago the lawyer in my small town who was generally regarded as the best trial lawyer around was up for federal judge. As part of his background check an FBI agent visited the local Elks lodge. After verifying the nominee’s membership ( probably 75% of the local lawyers were Elks) his next question was “Does the organization have female members? As later related to me by the club secretary who was answering the questions, he deliberately misunderstood the inquiry and said “oh, yes. Women participate in all of our activities.” The gentleman was confirmed and remains a federal judge to this day. (about 10 years later the national Elks organization changed its policy and began admitting women) I have often wondered what would have happened if our club secretary would have answered the question honestly, and now I wonder if membership in an organization limiting membership by gender was relevant why membership in an organization limiting membership by ethnicity is not.

tom hazlett

Thuktun Flishithy spotted?

<https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/system/resources/detail_files/7379_PIA20485_full.jpg>

—————————————

Roland Dobbins

 

Here they come (again)!

I am sure you saw this and many of your regular mail people saw this, but just in case:
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/mystery-object-breaks-saturns-weirdest-ring/68968
Might have to re-read Footfall now!

John Frizzell

 

Two More Planets?

Jerry,

A neat article. However, I am unrepentant, it should read as “Planet Ten.”

Pluto, spherical, atmosphere, geology, five moons. What more does Pluto need to be reinstated as a planet?

Regards, Charles Adams, Bellevue, NE

<http://www.sciencealert.com/astronomers-say-there-could-be-at-least-2-more-mystery-planets-in-our-solar-system>

Astronomers say there could be at least 2 more mystery planets in our Solar System

The gang’s all here! PETER DOCKRILL 14 JUN 2016

“If you were still getting your head around the concept of the mysterious Planet Nine potentially tracing its elusive orbit somewhere around the fringe of the Solar System, try this on for size.

A team of astronomers has performed new calculations on the data that originally gave rise to the Planet Nine hypothesis, and these new numbers suggest that the hypothetical extra planet might not be alone – there could be multiple planets hiding at the edge of our Solar System that we’ve yet to discover. If the researchers are correct – which nobody knows for sure right now – it could really mean a do-over for the high school textbooks….”

 

Sam Browne belts and pistols.

Whilst British Army Commissioned and Warrant officers did indeed wear Sam Browne belts to support side arms, the shoulder strap that goes over the right shoulder and down to the left hip is to support the weight of their swords, not their pistols. The pistols were worn on the right hip, and attached to a lanyard that went around the right shoulder so that they wouldn’t get lost if dropped.

Larry Larkin

The shoulder strap was certainly intended to support a sword in its origin. C Northcote Parkinson, remarking on his experiences as an officer in World War II, mentions its utility in making it possible to carry the remarkably heavy Webley.

Subj: Whence intellectually respectable Trumpism, now the Journal of American Greatness has shut down?

The Journal had billed itself as a forum in which to try to formulate an intellectually respectable Trumpism.

http://journalofamericangreatness.blogspot.com/

[quote]

The Journal of American Greatness began some months ago, to a large extent anyway, as an inside joke. At a certain point its audience expanded beyond any of our expectations. It also ceased to be a joke.

Thus it no longer makes sense to continue it in its current form. No journal is meant to last forever, and this one won’t try to. We’ve decided to call it a day.

The inspiration for this journal was a profound discomfort with the mode of thought that has come to dominate political discourse—an ideological mode that makes nonsense of the reality of American life. The unanticipated recognition that we have received, however, also makes clear that many others similarly felt the desirability of breaking out of conservatism’s self-imposed intellectual stagnation. Should any such market for our ideas exist in the future, we may participate in it. But we will do so in a different way.

In closing, we simply want to thank our readers—we never expected so many of you—who made this extraordinary adventure possible over the last four months.

[end quote]

The Wayback Machine apparently did not capture it before it evaporated.

However, Google is my friend, and (a variant of?) the article I was in the middle of reading, “Towards a sensible, coherent Trumpism”, seems to exist now at

http://www.unz.com/article/toward-a-sensible-coherent-trumpism/

Hmm… I would have bet money that I first saw a link to that article from Chaos Manor, but the “Search View or Mail” knows not of it. They say your memory is the second thing that goes, when you get old; alas, I cannot remember what they say goes first. 8-(

Hoping for more Fiction from Pournelle! Demonstrators all over the world pick up the chant: “Fiction from Pournelle! Fiction from Pournelle!…”

Rod Montgomery==monty@starfief.com

It’s coming.

More Political Correctness Gone Wild

Yale may cave on English poets course after students called it ‘too white’

The English faculty at Yale looks prepared to surrender to social justice warriors demanding a rewrite of the storied “Major English Poets” course.

The faculty’s chair appeared to make concessions after calls for the compulsory course be “decolonized” because it features too many white male authors.

Students claimed that they were “so alienated that they have to walk out of the room” because of a preponderance of authors like Shakespeare and Chaucer, who “actively harm” them.

In a petition demanding that minority writers be injected into the curriculum, students left their teachers little room for dissent.

They concluded: “It is your responsibility as educators to listen to student voices. We have spoken. We are speaking. Pay attention.”

In the wake of widespread news coverage of the course, Professor Langdon Hammer responded in a blog post on the faculty website.

While noting the course – which dates from the 1920s – has “never been in the news before”, Hammer said it “seems fitting for students and faculty to raise questions” about the content.

*  * *

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/15/yale-may-cave-on-english-poets-course-after-students-called-it-too-white.html?intcmp=hplnws

Lee King

Fred on Everything

http://fredoneverything.org/

America has become a three-ring circus run equally by Goebbels, Barnum and Bailey, and Caligula. Something is seriously out of whack when the President of the United States insists that boys pee in the girls’ room, when the National Basketball Association threatens to pull the All Star game from North Carolina unless it allows integrated urination. Does basketball now dictate to the states?  Arrayed against these are people who believe in what was once called common decency. They  do not want their daughters of twelve years going to a ladies’ room in which predictably will be hanging out men of doubtful intentions and intense interest.

Underlying all is the clash over dictatorship of the proletariat, the rule of the underclass. The culture that approved taste, learning, careful English and manners confronts the the  slums which increasingly prevail. Filth and illiteracy are not just tolerated but exalted.

Freedom is not free. Free men are not equal. Equal men are not free.

Chaos Manor View, Tuesday, June 14, 2016

FLAG DAY

Happy Birthday, Roberta!

 

 

[For homosexuals] Death is the sentence. We know there’s nothing to be embarrassed about this. Death is the sentence.

Imam Farrokh Sekaleshfar in an address at Hussein Islamic Center, Orlando. Florida, 2013

 

We have to start with the premise that the goal is to defeat the enemy.

Jim Woolsey

We are at war. This is not controversial. The Caliphate has formally declared it, and has claimed responsibility for the Orlando massacre, which was an act of war against the people of the United States.

President Barrack Hussein Obama does not accept that, nor does his former Secretary of State whom he has endorsed to assume the Presidency and carry on his regime. Their refusal to accept the state of war does not mean we are at peace. It does mean we have no war strategy.

That’s one war.

There is a second war, not quite so formal, but just as deadly, and it overlaps with the declared war. It is the worldwide war of Islam – not radical Islam, but Islam – against the homosexual community. Under Sharia Law homosexuals can be, and are, sentenced to death for homosexual acts. This is practiced by the ISIS – the Caliphate – in varying ways, including throwing gays off high buildings. Other Muslim countries employ other methods, the most usual being the traditional method of execution by the sword. Iran has chosen public hangings. This becomes war against the United States when they attack our citizens, at home or abroad.

Beyond that narrower war, there is yet another: the Koran proclaims perpetual war against infidels until they submit; until the world becomes one house, the house of submission; the House of Islam. There can be no other end to that war, although the Koran does allow truce; but truce is only truce. It cannot be peace.

The war against the Caliphate is the easier of of our two wars. It requires two sets of action.

One is domestic: we must defend our citizens. Since there is no defined field of battle – attacks can take place in nightclubs, county recreation centers, marathon races, and nearly anywhere citizens, gay or straight, assemble – we will need far more citizens in arms. That means civil defense programs. The need is acute, and I have proposed one action that can be taken quickly: require all the serving combat arms officers in the United States armed forces to BE armed, not just on duty, but at all times. When in uniform they should wear side arms, on and off post, as the British officers wore their Webleys with Sam Browne belts (given the sheer weight of a Webley the shoulder straps was needed). When not in uniform, they may carry a concealed weapon.

This alone would put tens of thousands of trained and responsible citizens in arms in many likely places of attack. It would complicate terrorist battle plans, reduce their frequency, and reduce their effectiveness. There would need to be rules of engagement, but we can argue those after we put armed men onto the battlefields of this war against America; but wee need the protection of the Army, and now.

That is defense, and cannot be decisive. We must also have an offense. The action required is a more conventional military operation: massive action against all Caliphate territories, so that it is a state no more. Reduce it to terrorists hiding in caves and spider holes. The way to do this is with overwhelming force. Give Libya to the Navy, and let the Admirals plan the air, sea, and Marine operations to recover all ISIL territories. Occupation of recovered ground is an international problem; it is unlikely that Secretary Kerry is sufficiently skilled to bring this off, and Hillary has already proven that it is beyond her abilities, but there is a good chance that someone more skilled could induce the Europeans and Britain to come up with a European force to do so. They have a large stake in restoring Libya to the community of nations; and after all, there is oil there. Surely some deal can be formed.

We will require at least three divisions, one of heavy armor, on the Iraq/Syria front. In addition, we will need all the A-10 close support aircraft, and sufficient other Air Force resources to destroy Caliphate air defenses, mostly missiles. A-10’s are the wrong instrument for that operation.

The actual conquest is our task, and like Iraq and Syria, will require a lot of military resources, but we have most of what we need. The important point is that it cannot be done gradually. It requires overwhelming force.

The more difficult war is with Islam itself. There are two phases to this as well. A good part of the first will have been accomplished when the Caliphate vanishes. Once they have no state, the resources for Islamic Jihad are greatly diminished, and it will be much more difficult to plan operations against the American homeland. They will have fewer recruits when it is clear that they do not have the favor of Allah. Once the Caliphate is destroyed we will need to distribute the former Caliphate territories; that will require negotiation skills that it is clear that neither Barrack Obama, nor Kerry, nor yet Hillary possess, lest we find ourselves entrapped in the Mesopotamian sand pits.

It is war, not law enforcement, that we need now. When the nation itself becomes the battlefield, armed citizens are the best defense of the land.

 

Newt on Orlando and President’s response

https://www.facebook.com/newtgingrich/videos/10154224174889197/

—

Phil Tharp

 

Newt takes on, respectfully, the President on Islamic Supremacy.

On Orlando — two months ago

I don’t know how legit this is, but it was posted two months ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBlwxqqAprQ

The Scarlet Pimpernel

 

The Wall Street Journal says it’s true. http://www.wsj.com/articles/islams-jihad-against-homosexuals-1465859170

 

 

 

 

Castalia House is pleased to announce the publication of THERE WILL BE WAR Volume V. THERE WILL BE WAR is a landmark science fiction anthology series that combines top-notch military science fiction with factual essays by various generals and military experts on everything from High Frontier and the Strategic Defense Initiative to the aftermath of the Vietnam War. It featured some of the greatest military science fiction ever published, such Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game” in Volume I, Joel Rosenberg’s “Cincinnatus” in Volume II, and Arthur C. Clarke’s “Hide and Seek” in Volume III . Many science fiction greats were featured in the original nine-volume series, which ran from 1982 to 1990, including Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, Gordon Dickson, Poul Anderson, John Brunner, Gregory Benford, Robert Silverberg, Harry Turtledove, and Ben Bova.

34 years later, Castalia House has joined with Dr. Jerry Pournelle to revive this classic science fiction series and make the previous volumes available to the public again. THERE WILL BE WAR is a treasure trove of science fiction and history that will educate and amaze new readers while reminding old ones how much the world has changed over the last three decades. Most of the stories, like war itself, remain entirely relevant today.

THERE WILL BE WAR Volume V is edited by Jerry Pournelle and features 21 stories, articles, and poems. Of particular note are “He Fell Into a Dark Hole” by Jerry Pournelle, “The Interrogation Team” by David Drake, “The Road Not Taken” by Harry Turtledove, “Masterplay” by William F. Wu, and “House of Weapons” by Gordon Dickson. It retails for $4.99.

 

Contributors to Volumes I, II, III, IV and X should make certain their addresses, both paper mail and and electronic address capable of receiving money, is known to

books@castaliahouse.com  .

Royalties are coming due, and will be paid directly by the publisher.  Owners of contributor estates should also make contact with the publisher at that address to ascertain the best way of receiving royalties.

Living Contributors to Volumes I & II may request a free contributor copy of the hardbound edition.

==========================

There Will Be War Volumes I & II Jan 15, 2016

by Jerry Pournelle

Hardcover

$34.99

Living contributors to Volumes I and II of There Will Be War may request a free contributor’s hardcover copy from the publisher.  Send request and address to

books@castaliahouse.com.

A contributor copy is not required by contract, and given the expense may not be available to estates, but all living authors will receive one if requested. Even if you do not want a copy, make sure that the publisher is aware of your address, either surface mail or some electronic address capable of receiving money, as royalties will come due shortly on both print and electronic sales of the first volumes and will be paid directly to contributors by the publisher.

Paul Ryan: A Muslim Ban is not in our country’s interests

http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/06/14/paul-ryan-muslim-ban-not-countrys-interests/

They have all become idea-logs and lost all common sense. People like Ryan have had it too good for too long.

—

Phil

Obviously the Trump supporters believe so.  Mr. Ryan is trying to find a modus vivendi. I do point out that our last balanced budget happened under President William Clinton and Speaker Newt Gingrich. A conservative Speaker and a pragmatist President, in the days when the Clintons were pragmatic New Democrats. Hillary has long ago given up pragmatism.

“If our fleet of small numbers is so fragile that it cannot afford the loss of a single ship due to budgeting, how will it survive the inevitable losses of combat?” Commander Phillip E. Pournelle wrote in Proceedings.’

<https://warisboring.com/the-u-s-navy-s-big-mistake-building-tons-of-supercarriers-79cb42029b8>

—————————————

Roland Dobbins

replacing Americans with 3rd world companies

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/us/laid-off-americans-required-to-zip-lips-on-way-out-grow-bolder.html

I hope they all speak up this election year. This has to stop.

—

Phil

The image says it all

What could I possibly add to this?

{^_^}

 

Trump: Man of Science?

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/145668188291/trump-man-of-science

[quote]

Which of the many candidates for president this season is familiar with the SCIENCE of persuasion? Only Trump, until recently. He saved time and money by ignoring the stuff that doesn’t matter (facts) while putting all of his energy into the stuff that does. And it is working.

…

If you are NOT a trained persuader, the scientific consensus on the climate change PREDICTIONS seem solid to you. If most credible scientists are on the same side, that’s good enough.

But…

If you ARE a trained persuader, you might believe the underlying data

shows human-made climate change, but you probably place LOW credibility

on the models that say it will destroy the world. In the worldview of a

trained persuader, mass-wrongness of experts is a routine feature of our

experience. We see it all the time. …

[end quote]

Long ago, at the end of _The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom_,

James Burnham asked whether a scientific approach to politics was

possible. He concluded that it was — an approach based on the

logico-experimental findings of Vilfredo Pareto and the other

Machiavellians, who found that humans actions are driven far more by

non-rational causes than by rational arguments grounded in

logico-experimental theories and results.

Somewhere, in the Valhalla where Thought-Warriors go, James Burnham is

smiling.

Rod Montgomery==monty@starfief.com

Pareto was one of Asimov’s models for Hari Seldon and his science of psychohistory.  Pareto was a bit more modest in many of his claims. Burnham’s book is long out of print, but an audible version appears to be available. https://www.amazon.com/Machiavellians-Defenders-Freedom-James-Burnham/dp/1470889269/ref=tmm_abk_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp%3B%3Bqid=&amp%3Btag=chaosmanor-20  I have not listened to it.

 

The importance of the Caliphate

You seem to be placing a lot of faith in the idea that collapsing the Caliphate will keep angry disaffected Muslim men from executing these kind of terrorist attacks on Western targets. Unfortunately, it isn’t as if the world was free of Islamic terrorism before ISIS declared itself a Caliphate in 2014. Al Qaeda never declared itself a Caliphate or sought to claim and control territory, yet they were able to spread their ideology with some effectiveness, and had an ability to attract recruits and inspire actions from afar.
In comparing the two, is the greater effectiveness of ISIS in spreading radical Islam mainly the result of their Caliphate declaration, or is it as much the result of their greater mastery of social media? Perhaps Al Qaeda has been eclipsed by ISIS mainly because of their stubborn pursuit of ever more spectacular, centrally directed terrorist plots (which are easier to defend against), whereas ISIS never had that focus, and was able to seamlessly shift to a strategy of outsourced jihadism once the expansion of the Caliphate stalled?
I suppose, from an Islamic theological perspective, the association of ISIS with a Caliphate increases their legitimacy with some Muslims. But is that really a decisive factor when it comes to converting someone like Mateen into a jihadist? Was he a diligent scholar of Islam, persuaded by a theological argument, or just an angry Muslim who happened to associate himself with ISIS because it is the highest profile proponent of jihadism at the moment? Isn’t it quite possible that, absent the continued existence of the Caliphate, people like Mateen will have no trouble finding other sources of inspiration and justification for their actions?

Craig

The number a d sophistication of attacks on the United States (and in the United States) has increased since the proclamation of the Caliphate, while its existence gives enormous advantages to its recruiters and mission planners. They proclaim legitimacy and their open existence strongly supports that claim.  When they first declared war on us, we could have extirpated them with a single division of armored cavalry; it requires much more than that now.  They declared war on us; must we wait for them to gain equal strength?  How long would you wait?

 

Congress can authorize and require all commissioned officers of the United States to carry firearms at all times, on duty, off duty, and retired.

David Couvillon
Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Retired.; 
Former Governor of Wasit Province, Iraq; 
Righter of Wrongs; Wrong most of the time; 
Distinguished Expert, TV remote control; 
Chef de Hot Dog Excellence;  Avoider of Yard Work

But there can be legitimate concern about retired officers, possibly with stress related problems; I would not think they ought automatically to be included, particularly at first.  As part of a civil defense organization, yes. As a second phase, including retired officers would seem advisable.  We entrust the active duty officers with our sons and daughters; surely we can trust them with firearms.

 

 

Freedom is not free. Free men are not equal. Equal men are not free.

Chaos Manor View, Monday, June 13, 2016

Liberalism is a philosophy of consolation for Western Civilization as it commits suicide.

Under Capitalism, the rich become powerful. Under Socialism, the powerful become rich.

Under Socialism, government employees become powerful.

 

 

The news today is filled with Orlando. Most of what needs to be said is old news to readers of this site. The Caliphate declared war on us over a year ago, and predictably Obama’s response was to make some speeches, in none of which he mentioned Islamic terrorism, nor acknowledged that This Means War and we can expect terrorist attacks on the people of the United States by operatives loyal to ISIS or The Caliphate, AKA Daesh, ISIL, and various other names. When such utterly predictable attacks happen, everyone is astonished. Not, I hope, readers of this journal, but many of our “leaders”. The heads of our “intelligence” agencies are in a pickle: either defy the President and say they knew it was going to happen, or admit incompetence.

We are at war. We must act as if we are at war.

One action we can take: arm our military, don’t disarm our people. It can be done in hours to weeks. Congress can authorize and require all commissioned officers of the United States to carry firearms at all times, on and off duty. This preempts all state firearms carry laws. Allow the commanding officers of the various services discretion in applying this requirement: they may at their discretion exempt non-combatant officers from this requirement; and they are required to forbid any others whom they believe may be a threat to public safety to carry.

I’d go further in the details, including requiring a loyalty oath explicitly renouncing any religious obligation to conduct jihad against infidels, from all members of the armed forces starting with the officer corps.

We can add to armed America designated non-commissioned officers, leaving that to the discretion of the officer corps. I start with the officer corps because if we can’t trust our officers with’ weapons, I damned well won’t trust them with my sons or daughter. But that’s a detail. The important thing is that we are at war, and the internal United States is one of the battlefields. Barrack Hussein Obama won’t recognize this, and his solution is to disarm as much of the citizenry as he can manage with his pen and phone. He will also continue to politicize and bureaucratize the FBI and other security services: he will never let this crisis go to waste.

I cannot find any details on what the one armed policeman at the Orlando dance hall did after the shooting started. The Los Angeles Times account said, in passing, that the first responder to the event was a police officer hired as part of the cabaret’s security team. Having said that, he is never mentioned again. The next sentence says that the gunman was killed by SWAT three hours later. If anyone has any other information (as opposed to speculation) on this, I’d appreciate it.

[See below for a tad more, but it is not really informative.]

We do know that this was an act of war.  Not a “hate crime” whatever that is.  It was an act of jihad, carried out by a sworn agent of The Caliphate, whose spokesmen now take credit for it. It is not the first, and it will not be the last.  We must act accordingly.  The Caliphate is able to recruit agents, who may be given orders or may choose their own missions, because it governs territories and imposes Sharia Law on them.  If it has no territory to govern it forfeits its right to be the Caliphate.  We have known this for years.  It is fundamental to its legitimacy.

 

I pointed this out about two years ago.  I said then that I could destroy ISIS with an augmented division of Armored Cavalry and the A-10 wings for close support. As time went past and we trickled forces into the Mesopotamian meat grinder, the force requirement   grew.  It is now up to three divisions, one of them heavy armor, and a great deal of air support to take out Caliphate air defenses and build strike bases.  It is now going to require the power of the nation to win this war decisively. Frittering in advisors, special forces, and logistic support to the Iraqi army will not do it.

War is not police action.  The Korean War was declared a Police Action, and ended a stalemate.  That may have been justified back then, since the goal was containment. A strategy of containment requires that you use enough force to contain you opponent.  It implies a long Cold War that includes. among other things, economic attrition.  Containment worked in the Cold War, for many reasons.  One of them was the nature of the USSR and its rule by nomenklatura; the nomenklatura needed the myth of Marxist world conquest for their legitimacy, but their hearts were not in it, and the  Comintern deliberately avoided terrorist acts against the United States. Espionage, fine. Slaughtering US sympathizers inside the Soviet Union, fine; but when US CIA agents were personally involved the rules changed into a rather delicate dance. It was Cold War.

This is not Cold War.  This is war, war to the knife, and we need leadership that recognizes that.  Barrack Hussein Obama is not that man.  Hillary Clinton is not that woman; the Caliphate was created on their watch.

 

And as long as the Caliphate exists it will continue to recruit agents who will work us harm.  Most will be acts of terror. Some will be more effective than others. And they will continue. Do not be deceived. So long as the Caliphate exists, they will continue.

 

Obama declares ‘no clear evidence’ Orlando terrorist directed by ISIS

President Barack Obama on Monday said there is “no clear evidence” that Omar Seddique Mateen, the accused Orlando nightclub gunman, was directed by the Islamic State or was part of a larger plot.

 

An ISIS spokesperson claimed Omar Mateen was acting on behalf of the Caliphate, according to the LA Times.  Perhaps the Times has sources not available to the President.

ISIS Claims Responsibility For Orlando Terror Attack

By:

Michael Qazvini

June 12, 2016

 

The Islamic State has taken responsibility for the savage mass shooting at an Orlando gay club late Saturday that left 50 people dead and 53 others injured. It was the deadliest mass shooting in American history. “The attack that targeted a nightclub for homosexuals in Orlando, Florida and that left more than 100 dead and wounded was carried out by an Islamic State fighter,” the terror group said in a statement.

ISIS took credit for the attack via Amaq Agency, a news agency affiliated with the terror group.

Shootout with the off-duty officer at the club’s entrance

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3639596/Did-delay-police-response-shooter-time.html

It tells nothing about what happened either to officer or shooter,

 

 

Orlando terrorist known to the FBI for years

 

The mass slaughter at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando was performed by a man known for years to federal law enforcement but whose connections to terrorism were found to be insubstantial, highlighting a vexing problem for counter-terrorism investigators and privacy advocates.

US officials, former FBI agents and counter-terrorism experts say the FBI retains significant data on people it interviews even after it determines they do not pose a security threat, and caution that spreading that information beyond the bureau carries with it a “profound” risk to privacy rights.

US officials have for years warned that so-called “lone wolf” terrorists, unconnected to established and monitored extremist groups, are notoriously difficult to identify in advance of an attack. But in the case of Orlando shooter Omar Mateen, the apparent lone wolf was a known quantity to the FBI.

FBI counter-terrorism officials “pursue all possible leads and once that’s been exhausted, it’s closed”, said Erroll Southers, a former FBI counterintelligence and terrorism agent.

 

 

Yet Another FBI Failure

Jerry,

I have not felt right since 9/11. That did not have to happen if the FBI had been paying attention.

Now we have another FBI failure leading to the Orlando Massacre. How could the FBI fail to put the shooter’s name on the list of those whose attempt to purchase a fire arm would be stopped until an interview was held and approval was either denied or granted.

Like most of the departments in the Federal Government the FBI has become a disgraceful waste of money.

Bob Holmes

There are the remnants of a fine organization within the Bureau, but its politicization and bureaucratization have severely impaired it.  This will continue under Hillary and Bill of course.

 

 

 

 

Respectfully, time to repost this…

http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_copybook.htm

Jim

 

---

The Gods of the Copybook Headings

Rudyard Kipling

---

AS I PASS through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “Stick to the Devil you know.”

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “The Wages of Sin is Death.”

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “If you don’t work you die.”

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

---

 

Castalia House is pleased to announce the publication of THERE WILL BE WAR Volume V. THERE WILL BE WAR is a landmark science fiction anthology series that combines top-notch military science fiction with factual essays by various generals and military experts on everything from High Frontier and the Strategic Defense Initiative to the aftermath of the Vietnam War. It featured some of the greatest military science fiction ever published, such Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game” in Volume I, Joel Rosenberg’s “Cincinnatus” in Volume II, and Arthur C. Clarke’s “Hide and Seek” in Volume III . Many science fiction greats were featured in the original nine-volume series, which ran from 1982 to 1990, including Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, Gordon Dickson, Poul Anderson, John Brunner, Gregory Benford, Robert Silverberg, Harry Turtledove, and Ben Bova.

34 years later, Castalia House has joined with Dr. Jerry Pournelle to revive this classic science fiction series and make the previous volumes available to the public again. THERE WILL BE WAR is a treasure trove of science fiction and history that will educate and amaze new readers while reminding old ones how much the world has changed over the last three decades. Most of the stories, like war itself, remain entirely relevant today.

THERE WILL BE WAR Volume V is edited by Jerry Pournelle and features 21 stories, articles, and poems. Of particular note are “He Fell Into a Dark Hole” by Jerry Pournelle, “The Interrogation Team” by David Drake, “The Road Not Taken” by Harry Turtledove, “Masterplay” by William F. Wu, and “House of Weapons” by Gordon Dickson. It retails for $4.99.

You’ve just been reviewed at Tor.com
http://www.tor.com/2016/06/13/troubled-futures-the-mercenary-by-jerry-pournelle/

Fred

No Words …

One of the nicest commercials I’ve ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/uoABty_zE00?rel=0

Nick

 

Contributors to Volumes I, II, III, IV and X should make certain their addresses, both paper mail and and electronic address capable of receiving money, is known to

books@castaliahouse.com  .

Royalties are coming due, and will be paid directly by the publisher.  Owners of contributor estates should also make contact with the publisher at that address to ascertain the best way of receiving royalties.

Living Contributors to Volumes I & II may request a free contributor copy of the hardbound edition.

==========================

There Will Be War Volumes I & II Jan 15, 2016

by Jerry Pournelle

Hardcover

$34.99

Living contributors to Volumes I and II of There Will Be War may request a free contributor’s hardcover copy from the publisher.  Send request and address to

books@castaliahouse.com.

A contributor copy is not required by contract, and given the expense may not be available to estates, but all living authors will receive one if requested. Even if you do not want a copy, make sure that the publisher is aware of your address, either surface mail or some electronic address capable of receiving money, as royalties will come due shortly on both print and electronic sales of the first volumes and will be paid directly to contributors by the publisher.

 

Freedom is not free. Free men are not equal. Equal men are not free.