Michele Kearney's Snuffysmith's Blog

Growing elite opposition to strike on Iran

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:31:00 +0000

Growing elite opposition to strike on Iran

A number of influential members of the United States foreign policy establishment - including prominent liberal interventionists who had supported the Iraq war - are now warning against "letting a bunch of ignorant, sloppy-thinking politicians and politicized foreign-policy experts" further escalate tensions with Iran. - Jim Lobe (Jan 27, '12)

THE ROVING EYE : The Iranian oil embargo blowback

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:30:00 +0000

THE ROVING EYE : The Iranian oil embargo blowback

from Asia Times Online

European poodles will soon discover they have cocked their legs in high wind after playing fetch to the United States on the Iranian oil embargo. The blowback is high oil prices, and the strong possibility of a Greek government bond default sparking renewed catastrophe in the eurozone. The rest of the world is dismissing sanctions and all across Eurasia trade is fast moving away from the greenback. - Pepe Escobar (Jan 27, '12)

Iraq Redux

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:01:00 +0000

Iraq Redux

January 26, 2012 3:51 pm ET by MJ Rosenberg

Talk about déjà vu all over again.
In September 2010 The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg wrote, in a much ballyhooed article, that "there is a better than 50 percent chance that Israel will launch a strike [against Iran] by next July," meaning the summer of 2011.
This coming Sunday, the New York Times Magazine will feature a story by Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman, who writes, "I have come to believe that Israel will indeed strike Iran in 2012."

Clueless in Davos

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:58:00 +0000

Clueless in Davos

Posted By Clyde Prestowitz Thursday, January 26, 2012

As it always does this time of year, my inbox is filling up with messages of a certain kind. They all begin with: "I'm here in Davos" and then, in an intellectual form of name dropping, proceed to mention key words and phrases such as Geopolitical Risk, G-Zero World, and Rise of Regions. This, of course, sounds really heavyweight and important. But I am not fooled. Nobody knows what those words mean. The only purpose is inform me that the sender is among the elect glitterati who get invited to the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos.

The union’s state is dire

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:57:00 +0000

Lexington

The union’s state is dire

Barack Obama’s big speech to Congress was mainly a bit of electioneering

Jan 28th 2012 | from the print edition

Will Israel Attack Iran? (And If It Does, Can It Really Stop Tehran’s Nuclear Program?)

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:55:00 +0000

http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2012/01/26/will-israel-attack-iran-and-if-it-does-can-it-really-stop-tehrans-nuclear-program/

MIDDLE EAST

Will Israel Attack Iran? (And If It Does, Can It Really Stop Tehran’s Nuclear Program?)

By KARL VICK

Iran Mulls Pre-empting EU Oil Embargo

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:38:00 +0000

Iran Mulls Pre-empting EU Oil Embargo

China’s Global Quest for Resources and Implications for the United States

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:32:00 +0000

China’s Global Quest for Resources and Implications for the United States

Canada Plays its China Card

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:02:00 +0000

Canada Plays its China Card

Antoinette Schoar: The case for unwinding Fannie and Freddie

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:44:00 +0000

MIT Sloan Experts

Antoinette Schoar: The case for unwinding Fannie and Freddie

Posted: 26 Jan 2012 07:17 AM PST

From CBS News Today Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac–two government-sponsored enterprises originally designed to increase the availability of loans and thereby raise levels of home ownership–dominate the US mortgage lending market. Fannie Mae, which was established in 1938 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, provides local banks with federal money to finance home [...]

State of the Union: From Climate to Clean Energy to…Fracking?

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:54:00 +0000

State of the Union: From Climate to Clean Energy to…Fracking?

By Bryan Walsh

The State of the Union Annotated

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:52:00 +0000

The State of the Union Annotated

by Tom Evslin, Seeking Alpha

Tom Evslin, Seeking Alpha
President Obama recognized the importance of natural gas and the new, disruptive technologies which have made at least 100 years of this fuel available to us; that's the good news from the State of the Union Address. The bad news is that the President appears to have learned a lot of wrong lessons about the proper role of government in innovation and appears poised to take a lot of wrong-headed actions. Here's that section of the speech as reported in The New York Times with annotations by them (NYT) and by me (TE).

Despite the Current Oil Gas Boom, the Obama Administration Deserves No Credit

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:47:00 +0000

Despite the Current Oil Gas Boom, the Obama Administration Deserves No Credit

by perrymj@oilprice.com (Mark J. Perry)

“The one person who deserves no credit for this [oil and gas] boom is Barack Obama. In fact, this Administration has bent over backwards to make oil and gas production and exploration as difficult as possible. According to the Institute for Energy Research (IER), the Obama Administration has been issuing BLM oil and gas leases at the lowest pace of any president in the last 30 years – in fact at half the rate of the Clinton White House and 80% slower than in the Reagan era, dragging their feet to please the environmental…
Read more...

Saudi prince warns of Middle East nuclear arms race

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:28:00 +0000

Saudi prince warns of Middle East nuclear arms race

Watch live: Panetta’s briefing on the Pentagon budget

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:27:00 +0000

Watch live: Panetta’s briefing on the Pentagon budget

Judgment day

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:25:00 +0000

Judgment day

News On What is To Be Cut In the U.S. Defense Budget

Panetta Announces Fiscal 2013 Budget Priorities -- US Department of Defense
Pentagon Outlines 2013 Budget Cuts -- Defense News
Pentagon Plan Includes Base Closings and Smaller Raises -- New York Times
Pentagon budget set to shrink next year -- Washington Post
Budgeting for a new military vision -- CNN
Pentagon cuts reshape military, trim costs -- Reuters
Pentagon Unveils Tighter Spending Plan -- Wall Street Journal
US plans to cut Army, invest in future -- AFP
Pentagon budget cuts hit force size, facilities -- Army Times
DoD Unveils Major Force Reductions -- Military.com
Pentagon Asia Shift Favors Subs, Bombers, Tankers, Panetta Says -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Pentagon budget cuts will shrink military, reduce ground forces -- The Hill
Panetta: Troop numbers to fall, but no hit to active-duty pay and benefits -- Stars and Stripes
Panetta Outlines US Defense Budget Decisions -- Voice of America
New Pentagon Plan Would Cut Ground Forces By 100,000 -- FOX News
Panetta: U.S. ground forces would shrink by 100,000 -- USA Today/AP
US to cut almost 100,000 troops -- BBC
US to cut ground forces by 100,000 -- Press Association
Pentagon says to slow procurement of F-35 fighters -- Reuters
U.S. to slow F-35 procurement as billions get slashed from defence budget -- Canada.com
USAF to Kill Block 30 Global Hawks -- Defense News
Panetta Said to Seek Cancellation of L-3’s U.S. Army C-27J Transport Plane -- Bloomberg
Navy To Drop 3 Ships in 2013; May Keep 313-Ship Goal -- Aol Defense
Panetta: Navy will keep 11-carrier fleet amid defense cuts -- Hampton Roads/AP
Big cuts coming; lower pay raises start in 2015 -- Navy Times
20,000 Marines to be cut, Pentagon announces -- Marine Times
Pentagon cuts to hit defense industry -- Washington Post
Panetta: Military cuts to hit 'all 50 states' -- MSNBC
Pentagon to Request Two New Rounds of Base Closures -- Defense News
HASC Vice Chair dismisses proposed base closures -- DoD Buzz

The critical problem of children without a decent education needs to be addressed.

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:20:00 +0000

by Gordon Brown

The critical problem of children without a decent education needs to be addressed.

Yes, you can be a neoconservative, and still be wrong by Stephen M. Walt

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:15:00 +0000

Yes, you can be a neoconservative, and still be wrong

by Stephen M. Walt

Is the White House trying to turn America into France?

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:14:00 +0000

Is the White House trying to turn America into France?

SOTU: Much mercantilism by Phil Levy

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:13:00 +0000

SOTU: Much mercantilism

by Phil Levy

Fine words -- and then what?

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:12:00 +0000

Fine words -- and then what?

Domestic Use of Drones is Well Underway

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:10:00 +0000

Domestic Use of Drones is Well Underway

by Steven Aftergood

The use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) within the United States is certain to increase in the years to come, as a new Army policy has recently made clear. (“Army Foresees Expanded Use of Drones in U.S. Airspace,” Secrecy News, January 19.) But in fact the use of unmanned aircraft or drones within U.S. airspace has already advanced to a degree that is not widely recognized.
As of 2010, the Federal Aviation Administration had already issued hundreds of “certificates of authorization” (COAs) for the domestic use of drones.
“Right now, today as we sit here, we have 251 certificates of authorization for unmanned aircraft, 140 of them are DOD related,” said Hank Krakowski of the FAA at an informative Senate hearing in September 2010. “We have not rejected or denied any DOD COAs in 2010, and we keep moving forward.”
On the other hand, Mr. Krakowski cautioned, “While UASs offer a promising new technology, the limited safety and operational data available to date does not yet support expedited or full integration into the NAS [National Airspace System]. Because current available data is insufficient to allow unfettered integration of UASs into the NAS–where the public travels every day– the FAA must continue to move forward deliberately and cautiously, in accordance with our safety mandate.”
“Unmanned aircraft systems [were] originally and primarily designed for military purposes,” he noted. “Although the technology incorporated into UASs has advanced, their safety record warrants caution. As we attempt to integrate these aircraft into the NAS, we will continue to look at any risks that UASs pose to the traveling public as well as the risk to persons or property on the ground.”
See “The Integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) Into the National Airspace System (NAS): Fulfilling Imminent Operational and Training Requirements,” Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology, September 13, 2010 (published September 2011).
In the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress included language requiring a report on “the integration of unmanned aerial systems into the national airspace system” (h/t Emptywheel).
The legality of the use of drones in CIA targeted killing programs is among the topics that is explored in the brand new issue of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy on the subject of covert war.

The MF Global Bankruptcy Filing: Did the Regulators Sell Out the Public for JP Morgan?

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:07:00 +0000

The MF Global Bankruptcy Filing: Did the Regulators Sell Out the Public for JP Morgan?

Avoiding a ‘Dumb War’ With Iran

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:36:00 +0000

Avoiding a ‘Dumb War’ With Iran

by Philip Giraldi

The media and the punditry have been deliberately misrepresenting facts to persuade the people of the United States to start another war, not unlike in the lead-up to the Iraq fiasco. Since 9/11, hard-liners in the United States have depicted one Muslim country after another as major threats to U.S. security

US, Israel Agree: Iran Not Building Nukes

noreply@blogger.com (Michele Kearney) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:35:00 +0000

US, Israel Agree: Iran Not Building Nukes

by Ray McGovern

Has Iran decided to build a nuclear bomb? That would seem to be the central question in the current bellicose debate over whether the world should simply cripple Iran’s economy and inflict severe pain on its civilian population or launch a preemptive war to destroy its nuclear capability while possibly achieving “regime change.”