WingRight

1. If you’re living in the Republic of Georgia or Ukraine, you better brush up on your Russian. Within 6 months of Obama taking office, Putin will send troops in to Georgia and Ukraine. He will make certain to grab the Baku-Supsa and the South Caucasus pipelines so he can put Europe into a hammerlock, particularly with natural gas. Obama will protest and so will the EU, but nobody will be ready to push Russian troops out. Estimated probability – 80%. Once he’s in Ukraine, Vladimir will start throwing his weight around with Belarus, Poland, Hungary, Romania, etc. Estimated probability – 70%.
2. Given the timing of the Israeli election, Israel is unlikely to be in a position to take any military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities until after Obama is inaugurated. Obama will absolutely refuse to allow Israel to attack Iran, prohibit overflights of Iraq and threaten to warn Iran if U.S. surveillance facilities observe any Israeli air force planes heading in the direction of Tehran. Estimated probability – 90%. Within the first two years of the Obama administration, Iran will explode a nuclear device and will announce that it has nuclear warheads mounted on missiles capable of hitting Israel and any other country in the Middle East or Central Europe. Estimated probability – 90%. If Israelis don’t start a major program to expedite the emigration of its citizens, Iran will fire one or more nuclear missiles at Tel Aviv. Estimated probability – 60%. If the Israelis strike first, Iran will launch nuclear missiles at Tel Aviv. Estimated probability – 90%
3. Hugo Chavez will decide that he needs some additional land to govern and will start taking it from Colombia. Obama will remember how much Bill Ayers likes Hugo and protest, but do nothing more. A significant border war will break out which will give Chavez a chance to use his new Russian military equipment. Estimated probability – 75%
4. The United States will join with the European Union in a treaty that imposes significant limits on carbon emissions. Most of the countries in the EU will cheat and exceed the limits. The United States will not. This action will reduce US corporate profits by at least 500 billion dollars in the first five years and increase US unemployment to over 10%. Residential electricity and heating bills will triple in that same period and Obama will create major energy subsidies for the middle class. China will not join the treaty and its annual GDP will grow to exceed the GDP of the US during this period.

Tags: Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Liberal "Solutions", Obama, Russia by Publius
1 Comment »

UPDATE - This video has gotten a of attention across the web. I can’t figure out where it started. See:

Hot Air
Kim Jong Il of North Korea would be proud, Obama now has indoctrinated kids singing for hope and change
Creepiest Thing You’ll See Today, I Promise… : P.U.M.A

Indoctrination: Worshipping the The Chosen One « Pocket Change - Now Lint Free!

The Obama Jugend | Dabubbler.com

Mike’s Noise

Hyscience

The Irascible Chef

Sheer Creepiness « Obi’s Sister

Tags: Climate Change, Obama by Publius
1 Comment »

All the early commentary about Sarah Palin focuses on the obvious fact that she’s a woman, evidently smart and outspoken, and a tempting choice for disgruntled Hillary supporters. Palin is also the only one of the four President/Vice Presidential candidates who has run anything bigger than a senate staff.

The most important thing that I see early on is that Gov. Palin is a big proponent of more oil drilling, including at ANWR. I take this to be an indication that McCain is going to move more toward drilling and (could it be?) away from the whole global warming/cap and trade mish-mash.

I think this is a bold, gutsy move on McCain’s part.

Tags: Climate Change, McCain, Oil by Publius
No Comments »

News flash, Citizen Obama is going to give his acceptance speech on Thursday from a set that looks like a Greek temple.

In a mixing of visual metaphors, Obama is also going to do something with a mock-up of Air Force One.

This is certainly going to build on Michelle’s “We’re just ordinary folks” theme from the first night.

via The Daily Mail

UPDATE: Here’s a look at Barack’s costume for tomorrow night.

Via The Political Inquirer

Tags: Economy, Environment, Legal, Liberal Hysteria, Liberalism by Publius
1 Comment »

The Russians have begun Cold War 2.0 by invading Georgia. Not since 1968 have the Russians invaded a small neighboring country. The 1968 Czech invasion reprised Hungary in 1956. The Georgian invasion has followed the Czech and Hungarian patterns closely even though Georgia is visibly and vocally separate from Russia, unlike unwilling Soviet bloc members Czechoslovakia and Hungary.

Russia’s strategic trump card in 1968 that allowed it to send in tanks and troops without fear of meaningful interference by other countries was a large stockpile of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles sufficient to deliver those weapons anywhere in the world. While nuclear weapons still lurk in the background today, the new Russian trump card is oil and gas.

Oil and gas are even better trump cards than nuclear weapons. Firing a nuclear weapon at another country is an unarguable act of war and even threatening to do so is an extreme act. Intermittently reducing or stopping the flow of natural gas to Western Europe in the middle of the winter or raising prices far above agreed-upon levels is something Putin & Co. have done before and can repeat without that tactic being viewed as an act of war. I doubt that Germany would consider a military counter-attack on Russia if gas is shut off for a period of time.

The Reagan strategy that won Cold War 1.0 included defense spending to build a significant increase in military capacity as its centerpiece. Previous presidents had maintained U.S. strategic arms at a rough parity with the Soviets. Arms reduction talks, a popular international activity during the 60’s and 70’s, were aimed at maintaining that parity. Conventional wisdom held that the world would be safer if the arms race between the Western powers and the Soviet bloc could be slowed down.
[Read more →]

Tags: Energy, Environment, Liberalism, Oil by Publius
3 Comments »

The Onion strikes again.

EARTH—Former vice president Al Gore—who for the past three decades has unsuccessfully attempted to warn humanity of the coming destruction of our planet, only to be mocked and derided by the very people he has tried to save—launched his infant son into space Monday in the faint hope that his only child would reach the safety of another world.

“I tried to warn them, but the Elders of this planet would not listen,” said Gore, who in 2000 was nearly banished to a featureless realm of nonexistence for promoting his unpopular message. “They called me foolish and laughed at my predictions. Yet even now, the Midwest is flooded, the ice caps are melting, and the cities are rocked with tremors, just as I foretold. Fools! Why didn’t they heed me before it was too late?”

Tags: Climate Change, Liberalism by Publius
No Comments »

When you watch the gas pump roll past $50, then $60, thank the Democrats.

From Investors Business Daily,

When the Democrats took control of Congress in 2007, and oil was $50 a barrel and corn $2 a bushel, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised an energy plan. We’re still waiting for it. Today, crude oil is $134 and corn is $6.50.

It’s pretty clear who’s to blame: Congress. In fact, House and Senate Democrats have obstructed any progress in America’s fight to regain some semblance of energy independence.

Tags: Energy, Environment by Publius
No Comments »

From the Anchorage Daily News, July 24, 2008:

The coldest summer ever? You might be looking at it, weather folks say.

Right now the so-called summer of ‘08 is on pace to produce the fewest days ever recorded in which the temperature in Anchorage managed to reach 65 degrees.

That unhappy record was set in 1970, when we only made it to the 65-degree mark, which many Alaskans consider a nice temperature, 16 days out of 365.

This year, however — with the summer more than half over — there have been only seven 65-degree days so far. And that’s with just a month of potential “balmy” days remaining and the forecast looking gloomy.

National Weather Service meteorologist Sam Albanese, a storm warning coordinator for Alaska, says the outlook is for Anchorage to remain cool and cloudy through the rest of July.

/>

Tags: Climate Change by Publius
No Comments »

One of the world’s most spectacular animals, the estimated 20,000-25,000 polar bears are in danger of losing their habitat and becoming extinct over the next 50 years.

Indeed, scientists around the world are greatly concerned about the polar bear’s future, due to global warming and melting sea ice, which polar bears depend on to hunt and den.

Senator Barbara Boxer - Boxer Statement: Oversight Hearing on Polar Bear Listing

From the Barents Observer, July 24, 2008:

New data from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute shows that there is more ice than normal in the Arctic waters north of the Svalbard archipelago.

In most years, there are open waters in the area north of the archipelago in July month. Studies from this year however show that the area is covered by ice, the Meteorological Institute writes in a press release.

In mid-July, the research vessel Lance and the Swedish shp MV Stockholm got stuck in ice in the area and needed help from the Norwegian Coast Guard to get loose.

The ice findings from the area spurred surprise among the researchers, many of whom expect the very North Pole to be ice-free by September this year.

and from Watts Up:

I am on the bridge of the massive Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov, and the tension is palpable. We have hit ice - thick ice.

The ice master studies the mountains of white packed around the ship while the 24,000-horsepower diesel engines work at full throttle to open a path. The ship rises slowly onto the barrier of ice, crushes it and tosses aside blocks the size of small cars as if they were ice cubes in a glass. It creeps ahead a few metres, then comes to a halt, its bow firmly wedged in the ice. After doing this for two days, the ship can go no farther.

The ice master confers with the captain, who makes a call to the engine room. The engines are shut down. He turns to those of us watching the drama unfold, and we are shocked by his words: “Now, only nature can help this ship.” We are doomed to drift.

What irony. I am a passenger on one of the most powerful icebreakers in the world, travelling through the Northwest Passage - which is supposed to become almost ice-free in a time of global warming, the next shipping route across the top of the world - and here we are, stuck in the ice, engines shut down, bridge deserted. Only time and tide can free us.

Tags: Climate Change, Liberalism by Publius
No Comments »

Maximum Leader Al Gore has a little leap he’d like you to make.

Like a modern Jeremiah, Mr. Gore called down thunder to justify the spending of trillions of dollars to remake the American power system, a plan fraught with technological and political challenges that goes far beyond the changes recently debated in Congress and by world leaders.

“The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk,” he said in a midday speech to a friendly crowd of mostly young supporters in Washington. “And even more — if more should be required — the future of human civilization is at stake.”

With a straight face, the New York Times actually acted like Mao tse Gore was not to be laughed off the stand.

Apparently, there was something in the air because others were levitating as well.

“Mr. Gore is continuing his talent of identifying the key challenges, emphasizing urgency and translating it to a broad audience. That’s terrific,” said Ernest J. Moniz, director of the energy initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former under secretary at the Department of Energy in the Clinton administration. “Everyone agrees that the solution to the climate challenge is decarbonization and the first place to go is the electricity sector. Can we get there that fast? Obviously it’s very, very tough.”

Brett Stephens must have been holding his breath because he captured the looniness of Jeremiah Gore and his mindless acolytes in his op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

[Gore] thinks that simply by declaring an emergency he can help achieve Stakhanovite results. He might recall what the Stakhanovite myth (about the man who mined 14 times his quota of coal in six hours) actually did to the Soviet economy.

A more interesting question is why Mr. Gore remains believable. Perhaps people think that facts ought not to count against a man whose task is to raise our sights, or play Cassandra to unbelieving mortals.

Or maybe he is believed simply because people want something in which to believe. “The readiness for self-sacrifice,” wrote Eric Hoffer in “The True Believer,” “is contingent on an imperviousness to the realities of life. . . . All active mass movements strive, therefore, to interpose a fact-proof screen between the faithful and the realities of the world. They do this by claiming that the ultimate and absolute truth is already embodied in their doctrine and that there is no truth nor certitude outside it. . . . To rely on the evidence of the senses and of reason is heresy and treason. It is startling to realize how much unbelief is necessary to make belief possible.”

Tags: Climate Change, Liberal Hysteria by Publius
No Comments »