Dyre Portents The Rantings and Ravings of a Radical Moderate Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 72 6351

Articles from Dyre Portents

Public Campaign Financing 2007-09-19 01:01:13 One of my all time favorite blog posts by me is An Open Letter to America which is about the merits of publicly financed campaign. I've always felt that it had really good mix of righteous indignation, passion, common sense, and wasn't too badly written. I bring this up now because as The Nation points out there are currently two bills on The Hill that if passed would make public campaign financing law.From the Nation: With the nation's first billion dollar presidential campaign, pay-to-play scandals occurring at breakneck speed (think Jack Abramoff and Norman Hsu), results in elections that are flawed by suppressed votes and machine error (and a War that Stays the Course despite the millions who went to the polls in November 2006 with a demand to end it), the public has had it with politicians who don't listen to them, care about them, or respond to their concerns. This climate of discontent has led to a rethinking among champions of public financing and clean elections about h ...

Another One Bites the Dust 2007-09-18 11:14:11 First Chuck Hagel declares he's not running for reelection (or anything else), then former Senator Lincoln Chafee bails on the GOP, and now its Congressman Jim Randstad.From the Star TribuneCiting fatigue and political isolation, U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad triggered a scramble by potential successors with a surprise announcement Monday that he is retiring from Congress next year after nine terms.Ramstad, 61, had barely finished announcing his decision when at least five potential candidates declared an interest in going after his seat while other potential hopefuls were mentioned.And even though the Third District in the Twin Cities' western suburbs has been supremely safe for him, Ramstad said there's no guarantee it will remain so for a Republican successor.He said he has grown tired from the relentless physical grind of service in Washington and weary of being a lonely centrist in an increasingly polarized legislative body.Looks like the GOP has begun to hemorrhage moderate politician ...

Iraq War Was About Oil? 2007-09-18 01:00:40 Alan Greenspan thinks so...From the UK Times AMERICA’s elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, has shaken the White House by declaring that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil.In his long-awaited memoir, to be published tomorrow, Greenspan, a Republican whose 18-year tenure as head of the US Federal Reserve was widely admired, will also deliver a stinging critique of President George W Bush’s economic policies.However, it is his view on the motive for the 2003 Iraq invasion that is likely to provoke the most controversy. “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” he says.Greenspan, 81, is understood to believe that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the security of oil supplies in the Middle East. more**Update**Greenspan later clarified his statement in an interview with the WaPo:Greenspan, who was the country's top voice on monetary policy at the time Bush decided to go to war in Iraq, ...

Does Anbar Need Reevaluation? 2007-09-14 01:48:57 First there's this..From the BBC: Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, 37, led what was known as the "Anbar Awakening", an alliance of Sunni Arab tribes that rose up against al-Qaeda in Iraq. US President George Bush met and endorsed the sheikh last week in Iraq. The White House, which has held up the movement in Anbar province as an example for the rest of Iraq, condemned his assassination as "an outrage".However that meeting may have actually been causal in his assassination. Over at The American Prospect Marc Lynch writes: While Americans celebrate their cordial relations with certain tribal shaykhs, the insurgency's leaders publicly fumed that the fruits of their victory might be snatched by undeserving interlopers. The widely disseminated pictures of President Bush shaking hands with Sattar Abu Risha, the epitome of such illegitimate bon vivantes, were likely his death warrant.Additionally he goes on to point out that while here Abdul Sattar Abu Rish claims to have told W "that his people ...

The Issue - The Blog Newspaper 2007-09-13 10:58:00 If you haven't already checked it out The Issue bills itself as the blog newspaper. Essentially the site pulls key posts from many major blogs (...and me. I don't know why. Maybe they were drunk when they added me or there could be pity involved...) and organizes them in a simple and attractive manner similar to the format of an actual newspaper. Additionally I have noticed that the stories it carries are usually different than those found on Memeorandum so its well worth checking out. So you may want to add them to your rounds when looking for items worth posting about. ...

Petraeus, The Surge, and The Choices 2007-09-13 00:33:15 Petraeus' report essentially confirms what independent journalist/blogger Michael J Totten saw in his recent trip to Iraq. In some places the surge is working and in some it isn't. We can hem and haw all we want about the surge but the simple fact of the matter is that there isn't going to be a significant decrease in troop levels until after W is out of office. Even then the draw down of forces is in my opinion likely only to be enough to prevent genocide in Iraq which means we'll still have a significant number of troops there for years to come. With those being the most likely options we as voters have a limited number of choices either one crosses their fingers and prays the surge works, one can demand the immediate withdraw of all forces knowing that it'll take two years to accomplish won't be done while W is in office and knowing that we'll probably have to retake Iraq's only port to do it since the Brit's pulled out of there and that a genocide may follow, or one could ...

They Like Me! 2007-09-12 22:53:10 Yesterday it was Central Sanity and today its apparently my turn to win the coveted Blog of the Day award. I would like to thank the BOTDA Academy, my Mom, The Misses and most importantly those of you that take time out of your day to read my opinions. Thanks! ...

9/11 Year 6: A Plan of Action 2007-09-12 02:55:31 Last year I posted 9/11 Reflections and Rage and here it is a year later and ya know hat? I'm still pissed for roughly the same reasons. However I know that not much is going to change until we have a new POTUS. Its sucks, but that's what its going to take. However, the Senate and the Congress have changed hands and one thing I mentioned last year hasn't changed. The 9/11 memorial at the WTC site still hasn't been built.So this year rather than go on a great big rant and/or analysis on the failings of various elected representatives I propose this; We, meaning you and I and few of your friends and some of their friends etc etc etc, light a fire under the asses of our elected representatives to get it built. All we have to do is is pester our political "leaders" endlessly by sending them a short simple message endlessly.You can find their email addresses here. Example:Dear Congresscritter (fill in name),It's been six years since 9/11 and we still haven't managed to build a monumen ...

New Blogger Resource 2007-09-11 01:38:09 Are you covering the/a candidate this election season? You may want to check out Wonkosphere to see what the buzz is. It's sort of like Memeorandum save that it only covers the buzz on candidates and the most popular articles of the day about them. It's an excellent site save for the fact that they link to me. But don't hold that against them after all "track hundreds of blogs and web sites per day ... Our patented ... text analysis technology identifies posts that matter, not just posts that are popular. If you're tracking individual candidates, our unique analysis will show you their share of buzz in conservative and liberal blogs, highlight the most representative posts, and tell you whether the tone of discussion about your candidate is trending up or down." ...

Shock and Ewww 2007-09-11 00:26:26 Looks like MoveOn.org has finally gone off the deep end with its new full page ad.From The SwampPetraeus 'Betray Us' ad is group's 'shock and awe'The ad's text is an indictment of Petraeus in which they do everything but call the general a serial liar: General Petraeus is a military man constantly at warwith the facts. In 2004, just before the election, he saidthere was “tangible progress” in Iraq and that “Iraqi leaders are stepping forward.” And last week Petraeus, the architect of the escalation of troops in Iraq, said, “We say we have achieved progress, and we are obviously going to do everything we can to build on that progress.” Every independent report on the ground situation in Iraq shows that the surge strategy has failed. Yet the General claims a reduction in violence. That’s because, according to the New York Times, the Pentagon has adopted a bizarre formula for keeping tabs on violence. For example, deaths by car bombs don’t count. The Washington Pos ...

Judge strikes down part of Patriot Act 2007-09-07 07:45:24 From the AP: Judge strikes down part of Patriot ActA federal judge struck down a key part of the USA Patriot Act on Thursday in a ruling that defended the need for judicial oversight of laws and bashed Congress for passing a law that makes possible "far-reaching invasions of liberty." U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero immediately stayed the effect of his ruling, allowing the government time to appeal. Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said: "We are reviewing the decision and considering our options at this time." The ruling handed the American Civil Liberties Union a major victory in its challenge of the post-Sept. 11 law that gave broader investigative powers to law enforcement. The ACLU had challenged the law on behalf of an Internet service provider, complaining that the law allowed the FBI to demand records without the kind of court supervision required for other government searches. Under the law, investigators can issue so-called national security letters to entities like I ...

Is China quietly dumping US Treasuries? 2007-09-07 01:36:14 From the Telegraph:Is China quietly dumping US Treasuries?A sharp drop in foreign holdings of US Treasury bonds over the last five weeks has raised concerns that China is quietly withdrawing its funds from the United States, leaving the dollar increasingly vulnerable.Data released by the New York Federal Reserve shows that foreign central banks have cut their stash of US Treasuries by $48bn since late July, with falls of $32bn in the last two weeks alone."This comes as a big surprise and it is definitely worrying," said Hans Redeker, currency chief at BNP Paribas."We won't know if China is behind this until the Treasury releases its TIC data in November, but what it does show is that world central banks are in a hurry to get out of the US. They don't seem to be switching into other currencies, so it is possible they are moving into gold instead. Gold is now gaining momentum across all currencies and has broken through resistance at 500 euros," he said.While the greenback has been res ...

Thompson Finally Announces 2007-09-07 00:45:27 From the NY TimesThompson Declares His Candidacy for PresidentDES MOINES, Sept. 5 — After months of false starts, staff shake-ups, and questions about the seriousness of his intention to run for president, Fred Thompson rolled out his presidential candidacy this evening with a two-pronged, guerrilla-style entry into the race that sought to take the spotlight from his Republican opponents as they squared off in a debate. Choosing “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” to declare “I’m running for president of the United States,” Mr. Thompson said, “I don’t think people are going to say, ‘That guy would make a very good president but he just didn’t get in soon enough.’ ” Mr. Thompson’s announcement, which has been expected for months, was released to reporters about an hour before the other Republican candidates took part in a Fox News-sponsored debate in the early primary state of New Hampshire. But as if to poke fun at his opponents, he ran an ad, titled “Debate, ...

Of Note 2007-09-05 00:56:18 The Glittering Eye picks up where I left off on the recent hacking of Pentagon.Kevin Sullivan has an excellent post about what we realistically can and can't do about Iran.Michael J Totten has had an article published about a group of Kurdish exiles planning to overthrow the Iranian government.Finally at Midtopia Sean Aqui is Back in the Saddle again. ...

RIP: The Beer Hunter 2007-09-05 00:46:02 From Reason Magazine:Michael Jackson, who died last week at the age of 65, made a career of sharing his enthusiasm for the world's myriad beer styles with people who were accustomed to the bland, indistinguishable lagers that dominate the U.S. market. Eventually enough of them shared his enthusiasm to support a microbrew revolution that has brought real diversity to bars, restaurants, and grocery stores throughout the country.Farewell oh mighty Beer Hunter. Your service to your country is duly noted and much appreciated. I raise my glass in your honor. ...