|
SHOULDN’T THE PALESTINIANS BE
TERRIFIED OF IRAN? |
|
Dr. Jack Wheeler |
| Friday, 09
December 2005 |
Israeli military intelligence now states that Iran may have
the capacity to build a nuclear bomb by March, 2006. That’s
less than four months away.
Thus the pressure for Israel to mount an attack on Iranian
facilities is getting intense. Yet they are dispersed and
dug in deep fortified subterranean tunnels. Sabotage, rather
than a missile attack, seems the only option – but the
frightening reality is that Mossad, the Israeli CIA, can’t
pull it off.
Some sort of military assault, covert or overt, may be
attempted anyway, but let’s also watch out for Sharon to
deal a card from the bottom of the deck as well. This sure
is a good time he thinks, for some Psy-Ops – directed at the
Palestinians, and all Sunni Moslems worldwide.
It is a very good time to point out to them that there is no
way to make a nuclear bomb that just kills Jews. There is no
way to “wipe Israel off the map” in a Nuclear Armageddon
without wiping out the Palestinians as well.
|
|
Read more... |
|
Dr. Jack Wheeler |
| Friday, 09
December 2005 |
Given all the frantic efforts by so much of the media, and
by so many folks with agendas, to freak you out with fear, I
think you should look upon To The Point as The Paranoia
Antidote.
In addition to this week’s article on how Iran’s nuclear
threat may be of benefit to Israel (Shouldn’t
the Palestinians Be Terrified of Iran?), let’s take
three examples.
The first concerns the liberal paranoia of global warming,
or more precisely man-made global warming, as in, it’s all
our fault. It’s hilarious, of course, that COP-11, the
assemblage of eco-goofballs attending the UN conference on
“climate change” are freezing their tushes in Montreal this
week in record cold while whining about the earth burning
up. They would be enlightened by reading
Solar Warming in To The Point in September.
Our second example concerns conservative paranoia over the
phony terrorist threat of “EMP.” The “threat” is a cry of
nuclear wolf, as originally discussed in
The EMP Annoyance last June.
Our third example is the current paranoia over torture –
specifically the torture of terrorists to extract
information from them regarding planned terrorist acts. All
of this can be avoided – all brutalizing torture can be
avoided – with the techniques described in three To The
Point articles:
D3 Terrorists (July 2005).
How To Get A Terrorist To Sing Like A Canary Without Torture
(January 2005).
Interrogating Osama (October 2001). |
| |
|
Read more... |
|
Jack Kelly |
| Friday, 09
December 2005 |
On August 2nd, Dafna Linzer of the Washington Post reported
that: "A major U.S. intelligence review has projected that
Iran is about a decade away from manufacturing the key
ingredient for a nuclear weapon, roughly doubling the
previous estimate of five years."
On December 5th, the Jerusalem Post reported that Mohammed
el Baradei, chairman of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, "confirmed Israel's assessment that Iran is only a
few months away from creating an atomic bomb.
"My, how time flies. It hasn't seemed as if ten years have
elapsed since last summer.
The CIA could be right, and Mossad and the IAEA could be
wrong. But given the CIA's forecasting record -- it missed
the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Islamic revolution in
Iran, the warning signs of 9/11, and Saddam's WMD -- that's
not the way to bet.
Intelligence analysis isn't the only thing the CIA does
sloppily. |
| |
|
Read more... |
|
|
THE KAZAKH TIGER IN CENTRAL ASIA
|
|
Dr. Ariel Cohen |
| Friday,
09 December 2005 |
President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the leader of Kazakhstan
since 1989, won the country's Dec. 4 presidential
election hands down. The Central Election Commission
reported he got 91 percent of the votes. Gallup and
International Republican Institute exit polling says he
got only 83.2 percent. Either way, no Orange Revolution
there.
To put the Kazakh elections in perspective, it is
important to note there were no democratic procedures
there during the Russian czarist or the Soviet times.
Seen in this light, the Kazakh elections were among most
open in Central Asia.
What makes Kazakhstan unique are its real economic
achievements, fueled by high oil prices. Kazakhstan
today is as one of the more positive available examples
of post-Soviet market development, including Western
access to oil and gas resources, which Russia
increasingly rejects.
|
|
Read more... |
|
|
Neal Asbury |
| Tuesday,
06 December 2005 |
President Bush’s visit to Beijing on November 20th
was a tremendous disappointment in achieving any
tangible progress on easing our trade crisis. Our
stratospheric trade deficit is clearly one of the
gravest national security threats we face – and no one
in Washington seems to have a clue on how to deal with
it.
Our overall trade deficit in 2005 is tracking to exceed
$700 billion up from $612 billion in 2004. Our trade
deficit with China will exceed $200 billion up from $162
billion in 2004 and $124 billion in 2003.
It may surprise many (including President Bush!), but
there are a number of actions that can immediately be
taken that in the short term will have a dramatic impact
to turn around our trade crisis with China.
|
|
Read more... |
|
|
VIRTUE AND HAPPINESS ARE
SYNONYMS |
|
Dr. Joel Wade |
| Friday,
09 December 2005 |
If there is one bold, clear, central point that I hope
you come away with from reading these columns, it is
that virtue and living well are congruent
aims. To live a virtuous life
is to live well.
Many of the qualities that have traditionally been
considered virtues hold benefits to others, to society,
to posterity, but they also speak deeply to one’s own
self-interest. This is part of the beauty of a life well
lived. Of course, it is in one’s self interest to earn a
good reputation and to foster goodwill in your
relationships, but there can arise conflicts between
self and others and an understanding of virtue can be
very helpful in sorting these out.
Let’s take a look at some of the virtues, and see where
your self-interest lies: |
| |
|
Read more... |
|
|
POLITICAL NASDAQ - - December 2-8,
2005 |
|
Dagny D'Anconia |
| Friday,
09 December 2005 |
This week was loaded with news, most of which was bad
news for the Leftist market movers. As a result, the
market went down a little in spite of the DDI remaining
up all week. The avalanche of news made for a volatile
Nasdaq this week.
Friday (Dec. 2) was mixed: In economic news , Greenspan
warned of deficits and there was a jump upward in new
jobs numbers. 10 Marines were killed by a bomb in Iraq.
The market went mostly sideways.
On Monday morning (Dec. 5), Saddam’s trial was in
turmoil, but nevertheless proceeded. We have seen before
that the market movers are surprisingly sensitive to
events surrounding Saddam. It has appeared that they did
not like to see him captured, or on trial. While the
trial was in session today, the Nasdaq dropped about 1%,
then promptly leveled out after the trial was adjourned
for the day.
|
|
Read more... |
|
|
Dennis Turner |
| Friday,
09 December 2005 |
While setting up a wireless network is easier today than
ever, it’s not the type of thing a computer novice is
likely to try on his or her own as it requires at least
some degree of technical awareness.
One could assume that people who have set up their own
wireless networks would be among the users of anti-virus
and other security programs. They are almost certainly
among those who avoid opening e-mail attachments, who
check downloads for viruses, and set up firewalls to
keep out unwanted intruders.
But most people’s concerns over security stops at the
entrance to their hard drive, it seems.
|
|
Read more... |
|
|
To The Point, Inc. |
| Friday,
09 December 2005 |
An atheist was walking through the woods. "What majestic
trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!" he
said to himself.
As he was walking alongside the river he heard a
rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look. He
saw a 7-foot grizzly charging towards him.
He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over
his shoulder and saw that the bear was closing up on
him. He looked over his shoulder again and saw that the
bear was even closer. |
| |
|
Read more... |
|
|
)