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WASHINGTON ON THE DNEIPER
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Dr. Jack Wheeler |
| Friday, 16
December 2005 |
Here I am in Kiev, Ukraine – but in some striking ways it
seems I never left Washington. The parallels go way beyond
the geography, as both capital cities are on the banks of a
large river, the Dneiper (nyay-purr) in the case of Kiev. In
both, the political scum dominate public opinion.
Ukraine is the largest country in Europe (entirely in Europe
– most of Russia is in Asia). It had suffered as a colony of
Russia’s since the 17th century, and underwent a
holocaust perpetrated by Stalin in the 1930s that killed
twice as many Ukrainians (well over 12 million) as Hitler
killed Jews.
When Ukraine gained its independence in 1991 with the
breakup of the Soviet Union, the Soviet apparatchiks
(bureaucrats) and nomenklatura (ruling elite) still
clung to power. The now “ex-” Communists quickly gained
control of the Ukrainian Parliament called the Rada.
Socialism, corruption, and selling state assets for a song
to apparatchiks and gangsters posing as “biznessmen,”
flourished.
The smartest and most charismatic of these “biznessmen”
wasn’t a man at all but a good-looking blonde named Yulia
Timoshenko. |
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Dr. Jack Wheeler |
| Friday, 16
December 2005 |
How upset are you over the CIA “secret prison scandal”?
Maybe you said, “What scandal?”, or maybe you’ve glanced at
stories about it carried in the back pages of your
newspaper. Here in Europe, it’s the giant screaming front
page headline story on every paper you pick up from England
to Germany.
The Europeans are in a state of high emotional froth over
CIA “renditions” of Moslem terrorists seized in one of their
countries and taken to a “secret prison” in Poland or
elsewhere. The Euroweenies are far more concerned with the
“human rights” of the terrorists than they are about the
threat of terrorists to kill them.
If you think all of this is just an excuse to bash the CIA
and indulge in anti-Americanism, you’re right – just as
planned by the weasels.
Everyone on the right, it seems nowadays, from the
editorials in the
Wall Street Journal to conservative columnists like
Mona Charen and bloggers like
John Hinderacker, are issuing calls to “Investigate the
CIA!” They have been suckered by the left.
They should instead be demanding, “Investigate the weasels,
not the agency!”
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Chapter Seventeen: FORTES FORTUNA
ADIUVAT |
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Dr. Jack Wheeler |
| Tuesday, 13
December 2005 |
The Jade Steps:
Chapter Seventeen: Fortes Fortuna Adiuvat
When they arrived at the city of Tlaxcala[1],
there was an enormous welcoming party to greet the
Spaniards. Different clans of Tlaxcalans dressed in
differing colors, their maguey or henniquen cloaks all
painted and embroidered. A contingent of priests with their
burning copal performed fumigations, wearing long white
hooded robes, their hair long and blood-encrusted, blood
oozing from their ears, and with fingernails several inches
long. The streets and rooftops were thronging with smiling
Indians who showered the Spaniards with roses of varying
hues.
When they reached the central plaza, King Xicotencatl took
Cortez by the hand and led him to a palace, explaining,
“This shall be your home in Tlaxcala for as long as you
wish.” He assured Cortez that all his men, all the Totonacs
and Xocotlans, and even the Mesheeka nobles, would be well
housed. Upon his signal, hundreds of servants began
streaming into the plaza bearing cooked turkeys, maize
cakes, fruits and vegetables for all. The soldiers all
agreed it was the best they had eaten since leaving Cuba.
With everyone so joyously happy, Cortez and Malinali retired
to their quarters. They had not had any time together since
Zautla – so they did not waste any time now, making love
fiercely and quickly. Afterwards, noticing Malinali was
staring into space, Cortez asked her what she was thinking
about.
[1] September 18, 1519. |
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Michael Ledeen |
| Friday,
16 December 2005 |
The
French just arrested 20 people, apparently pretty
close to doing some mean terrorist thing. In late
September, nine people
were arrested in Paris in "what officials said was a
crackdown on suspected Islamic terrorist activities."
It was later reported that the DST
(internal-security service) had learned that members of
this group had been trained in Lebanon, and possessed an
exotic poison: seeds of the "nigelle" plant, said to be
highly lethal.
At the end of October, the London Telegraph
reported that French authorities had discovered that
"an Islamic terror cell has smuggled two surface-to-air
missiles into Europe in a plot to shoot down planes at
one of France's main airports..." For extras, the terror
group, part of the Zarqawi network, had chemical and
biological agents including ricin, cyanide, and botulin.
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Neal Asbury |
| Monday,
12 December 2005 |
It is fascinating to observe the stark difference
between Latin America and Asia regarding the great
issues and diplomacy impacting the World War of Trade.
The Summit of the Americas (see
The Myths of FTAA) held November 6th at
Mar del Plata, Argentina attended by the 34 democracies
of the Western Hemisphere, will be remembered for the
warped bravado of a few left-wing-populist leaders from
Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela spewing out their venom
in staged events.
They have no solutions and continue to deliver their
people deeper into darkness and despair while corruption
in their ranks runs wild.
Contrast this with the recent APEC Summit
(Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) attended by
President Bush held November 18th and 19th,
in Busan, South Korea.
The APEC meeting was cold and calculated with every move
carefully choreographed. It was attended by Asia’s
economic powerhouses very confident of themselves each
promoting and defining globalization and free trade in
their own image. It was all about face and politeness
but resolute in avoiding any real dialogue in
rebalancing the American trade deficit.
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Dagny D'Anconia |
| Friday,
16 December 2005 |
| Last week Dr. Rice said
"This is essentially a war in which intelligence is
absolutely key to success. If you are going to uncover
plots, if you are going to get to people before they
commit their crimes, that is largely an intelligence
function." (See Rice)
In this information age, warfare has more and more
to do with intelligence and less to do with brute
force. The battlefield we fight on is often the
world of intelligence, and the crucial battles that
are fought can occur silently, and unseen. So it is
with a battle ongoing in the shadow lands where
politics and intelligence overlap.
The extraordinary confession of Randy Cunningham
offers a glimpse...
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Dr. Joel Wade |
| Friday,
16 December 2005 |
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There is a line in the movie, “Apollo 13”, where Jim
Lovell (played by Tom Hanks) is talking with his
wife about the moon landing of Apollo 11. He says
something to the effect of, “It’s not a miracle that
we did it, you know. We just decided to go.”
The fulcrum that moved such powerful forces toward
such a magnificent achievement was first and
foremost simply the decision to go.
The critical element of positive change in your life,
upon which all of the other elements rest, is the
decision to do it. |
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POLITICAL NASDAQ - - December
9-15, 2005 |
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Dagny D'Anconia |
| Friday,
16 December 2005 |
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This was a historic week with the elections in Iraq.
President Bush gave speeches led up to the event,
and each time he did, the market went down. In fact
it is precisely orchestrated. Bush speaks, the
market drops. Murtha gives the response for the
Democrats and it starts back up again. Next time
President Bush gives a speech that the Lefties don’t
want to hear, watch the Nasdaq and you will see what
I mean. It is an amusing thing to watch.
However pained they were, the DDI nevertheless
remained up. This is presumely due to the fact
that..
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SAYYING NO TO NOTEBOOK THIEVES
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Dennis Turner |
| Tuesday,
13 December 2005 |
If you travel with your notebook, you’re always worried
about thieves. Here’s how to stop computer kleptos with
this bag of hardware and software tricks.
You may have all the data security tools you need –
firewall, antivirus program, and antispyware protection.
But what if a thief slips into your office or hotel room
or breaks into the trunk of your car – and tries to walk
away with your trusty computer?
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THE LATEST WASHINGTON SCANDAL
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Humor File |
| Friday,
16 December 2005 |
The latest hot rumor that has all of official Washington
agog is that Senator Edward Kennedy attempted to
sexually harass Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The
only solid grounds for the rumor is this photograph –
which seems to provide convincing evidence: |
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