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Lotus Requiem

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 9:15 am


Many of you probably remeber doing such projects in school. Where you had to gather newspaper articles and present them in class. Maybe a discussion or debate on them.

Well i'm just going to dedicate this thread to those who wish to talk about specific events or information dealing with the news. This may be a wide generalization but for now i'm just going to leave it as is.

I am rather short on time today so if any of you are on now or later in the day. I ask that you please help me get the ball rolling on this topic.
PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 5:29 pm


Hadley wants 'war czar' as soon as possible

President Bush's top national security adviser said Thursday that there is an urgent need to name a high-powered White House official to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It's something I would like to have done yesterday and if yesterday wasn't available, the day before," National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters during a briefing at the White House. A day earlier, the White House had said the idea for a so-called war czar was still in its infancy.

Hadley said he is looking primarily at retired military leaders and active-duty military personnel, but is open to civilian candidates to become assistant to the president for Iraq and Afghanistan policy implementation.

He said he wants to invite two or three candidates to the White House to talk about the job with Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Gen. Peter Pace, the Joint Chiefs chairman, and White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten.

Position not yet formally offered
The White House has approached at least three retired four-star generals in recent weeks and is seeking advice from a number of people about the job, but has not formally offered the post to anyone. Currently, the most senior White House official responsible exclusively for the wars is Meghan O'Sullivan, a deputy national security adviser who reports to Hadley.

Hadley, whose portfolio spans foreign policy issues worldwide and cannot focus solely on the wars, said O'Sullivan is leaving, and it was clear that the White House needed someone who could focus on the wars full-time. Hadley noted that Gen. David Petraeus recently took command of U.S. forces in Iraq, Ryan Crocker is the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Adm. William J. Fallon recently became commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, presenting an opportunity for the administration to rethink how it manages the wars.

Hadley said the position would report directly to the president. It is not expected to be a Cabinet-level post, but whomever fills it would have direct access to members of the Cabinet to speed up the implementation of strategies on both battlefronts.

Michele Flournoy, a former Pentagon defense strategist, expressed skepticism about the new post, saying it sounded like a "bureaucratic fix" to a larger problem. "I think a war czar is a desperate attempt to inject new energy into what is a vacuum of leadership," she said in a conference call with reporters.

Lotus Requiem


Lotus Requiem

PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 5:59 pm


stare Create a new position in the government to redirect the blame.

Rather sad but I highly doubt it will actually work.
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 10:39 am


Kanon Vilente
stare Create a new position in the government to redirect the blame.

Rather sad but I highly doubt it will actually work.


I did not grasp Harding's reasoning to create this 'czar'. Haveing one more person focus on the war full time would not make major difference.

It seems pointless.

Did they specify a specific task the choosen individual would carry out?

affaire


Lotus Requiem

PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:06 am


affaire
Kanon Vilente
stare Create a new position in the government to redirect the blame.

Rather sad but I highly doubt it will actually work.


I did not grasp Harding's reasoning to create this 'czar'. Haveing one more person focus on the war full time would not make major difference.

It seems pointless.

Did they specify a specific task the choosen individual would carry out?


Heres a small interesting Article to give you the basic idea of what the "War cZar" will be doing.

Wanted: One Scapegoat For New “War Czar” Position


Because some of the generals they’ve approached have begun to talk about it, we’re now hearing about the Bush war machine’s efforts to hire a “War Czar.” The problem is, for some reason, nobody wants the job.

I know, I know, you’re thinking we already have a war czar. It’s the guy who likes to dress up in flight suits and call himself a war president (and who in fact is the Commander in Chief).

The War Czar is supposed to direct the Iraq and Afghanistan war efforts, issuing orders to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies.

The job, according to the Washington Post, has been offered to at least three 4 star generals, who’ve all turned it down. One of the generals is ret. Marine General Jack Sheehan. He describes a White house torn between delusional Cheney’s hard line “al Qaeda is there and we’ve got to fight them" attitude, and the pragmatists who see a catastrophe for Republicans in 2008, and want to find a way out.

The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they're going," Sheehan is quoted as saying to the WaPo.

If you’re not sure how you feel about the idea, consider that it’s enthusiastically endorsed by Fred Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute, who was the author of the surge plan:

“Hope they do it, and hope they do it soon.” Gosh, that means it's a great idea.

So let’s help them write a want ad.

Wanted: Scapegoat with high threshold for pain, low self-esteem to act as mouthpiece/puppet for Bush war. Must be willing to provide “guidance” to the President on the conduct of the war, in the form of stating to him what he already wants to do so that he can say it was Czar’s idea. Must be able to take responsibility for mistakes and disasters. Must be prepared to leave job suddenly and without warning.

On the other hand, they could just give the job to McCain. He loves the shopping.
PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 7:32 am


This is why he wishes to create the position of "War cZar"

George W. Bush faces a real predicament over the congressional challenges to the war in Iraq, and it is one entirely of his own making.

This is what happens when a president dashes to war on shaky premises and false pretenses; when he buys into a theory of warfare that promises instant victory with startlingly few resources; when he demands such iron party discipline that skeptics are hounded and oversight is banned.

What happens is that, when the theory proves wrong, the war goes bad, and the opposition party wins back Congress (mainly because the war's gone bad), skeptics rise to the fore, oversight returns, a few erstwhile stalwarts jump ship—and, if he wants to keep his war going, he has to put up a convincing case for once, he has to drop the bluster in favor of bargaining and persuasion.

Lotus Requiem


Lotus Requiem

PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 4:23 pm


An Earthlike planet spotted outside our solar system is the first found that could support liquid water and harbor life, scientists announced Tuesday.

Liquid water is a key ingredient for life as we know it. The newfound planet is located at the "Goldilocks" distance — not too close and not too far from its star to keep water on its surface from freezing or vaporizing away.

And while astronomers are not yet able to look for signs of biology on the planet, the discovery is a milestone in planet detection and the search for extraterrestrial life, one with the potential to profoundly change our outlook on the universe.

”The goal is to find life on a planet like the earth around a star like the sun. This is a step in that direction,” said study leader Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland. “Each time you go one step forward you are very happy.”

The new planet is about 50 percent bigger than Earth and about five times more massive. The new “super-Earth” is called Gliese 581 C, after its star, Gliese 581, a diminutive red dwarf star located 20.5 light-years away that is about one-third as massive as the sun.

Smallest to date
Gliese 581 C is the smallest extrasolar planet, or “exoplanet,” discovered to date. It is located about 15 times closer to its star than Earth is to the sun; one year on the planet is equal to 13 Earth days. Because red dwarfs, also known as M dwarfs, are about 50 times dimmer than the sun and much cooler, their planets can orbit much closer to them while still remaining within their habitable zones, the spherical region around a star within which a planet’s temperature can sustain liquid water on its surface.

Slide show

Month in space: Bursts of glory
See an exploding virtual star, Saturnian wonders and other space highlights from March 2007.

Because it lies within its star’s habitable zone and is relatively close to Earth, Gliese 581 C could be a very important target for future space missions dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life, said study team member Xavier Delfosse of Grenoble University in France.

“On the treasure map of the universe, one would be tempted to mark this planet with an X,” Delfosse said.

Two other planets are known to inhabit the red dwarf system. One is a 15 Earth-mass “hot-Jupiter” gas planet discovered by the same team two years ago, which orbits even closer to its star than does Gliese 581 C. Another is an 8 Earth-mass planet discovered at the same time as Gliese 581 C, but which lies outside its star’s habitable zone.

Possible waterworld
Computer models predict Gliese 581 C is either a rocky planet like Earth or a waterworld covered entirely by oceans.

“We have estimated that the mean temperature of this super-Earth lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius [32 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit], and water would thus be liquid,” Udry said.

The scientists discovered the new world using the HARP instrument on the European Southern Observatory 3.6 meter telescope in La Sille, Chile. They employed the so-called radial velocity, or “wobble,” technique, in which the size and mass of a planet are determined based on small perturbations it induces in its parent star’s orbit via gravity.
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