Tunnel Wall

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Russia Offers Different Threat than Cold War Era

"Russia's military maneuvers in Crimea have left U.S. analysts questioning what sort of threat the former Cold War military giant's forces, platforms and weaponry currently present.

"Russian leaders have pushed to expand the military's conventional land, air and sea forces and quickly transition into the higher-tech information age while steadily pursuing next generation platforms.

"Overall, Russia's conventional and nuclear arsenal is a fraction of what it was during the Cold War, but the country is pursuing a new class of submarines, a T-50 stealth fighter jet, next-generation missiles and high-tech gear for individual ground soldiers."

Hat tip to John Paul Curnutt; Madras, Oregon

Oh, by the way: Putin to put Russian bases in Latin America

Western Hemisphere left wide open by Obama's weakening policies
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/putin-to-put-russian-bases-in-latin-america/#DVj37zkPi5la0YwW.99

Before Al Gore there was Noah;(UPDATED) little mention of God, and "unbelievers" are those who do not believe in man-caused global, er, climate change

Hollywood Reporter

"To be sure, this is not the genial, grandfatherly Noah charmingly evoked by John Huston when he led an orderly assemblage of animals into the ark two-by-two in his 1965 epic The Bible. Crowe's Noah is a fighter, a survivalist and yet a tortured man dismayed by the ruin brought upon the land by the others of his species. In a visit with his ancient grandfather Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins), the men agree that, “It's men who broke the world,” and that, as a result, the Creator will destroy it. Foraging with one of his sons, Noah instructs, “We only collect what we need, what we can use.” For many today, this sort of environmental, back-to-the-earth religion has replaced the old-fashioned kind, with nonbelievers as shunned and disdained by the faithful as heathens once were by the righteous."

UPDATE: Noah epic awash in flood of controversy for green agenda and taking liberties with Bible ... "Noah's director Darren Aronofsky, a self-described atheist who made the Oscar-nominated hit The Black Swan, has described the movie as is "the least biblical biblical film ever made" and called Noah "the first environmentalist". According to one early review, the name "God" is not actually spoken at any stage.

"Now, amid a wave of criticism from some Christian groups about its loose interpretation of a sacred script, the Paramount studio has taken the unusual step of issuing an "explanatory message" to accompany marketing material."
....
In a effort to stymie the criticism, Paramount has just released a new eight-minute promotional video called Noah Featurette running praise from Christian leaders for the film.

" 'Movies aren't meant to preach. Movie's aren't sermons [WHAT?], and so if they can bring up the topic and start conversations, that's a good movie" ...
Emphasis added. Who hasn't grown sick of the progressive agenda promoted so often by the entertainment we watch?

Obama May Issue 'Very Controversial Executive Orders' on Immigration

CNS News

"Díaz-Balart suggested that Obama could scrap a Homeland Security program called Secure Communities, which allows state and local police to check the immigration status of people they detain for other reasons.

" 'That has caused more thn 150,000 people to be deported," Díaz-Balart said. "And maybe the president could tackle that specifically. That would mitigate immediately in local communities people who have minor traffic infractions and find themselves deported.' "

Saturday, March 22, 2014

News in Brief

Beijing hotel workers already 'fed up' with Obama entourage in 3400-square-foot, $8,350-per-night suite inconveniencing 'pretty much everyone' – and the first lady's mother is 'barking at the staff'

The issue seems to be the security and with Michelle's mother.

"Ordinary Chinese describe Mrs. Obama and her family as kind and gracious, but hotel staff are 'fed up'" (Also here)

"But the Obamas' stay has already affected staff and guests at the hotel, with the Westin front-desk veteran alleging that Mrs. Obama's mother Marian Robinson has been 'barking at the staff since she arrived.' "

....

"Ordinary Chinese who have met the American first lady have described her in media reports as approachable and friendly, and the hotel staffer agreed. " 'The first lady is gracious, and the girls are lovely,' he said." UK Daily Mail

Open Letter: To the Fraternal Order of the Perpetually Offended ... "I do realize that you could have taken the easy way out by protesting the imprisonment, torture, and execution of homosexuals in such places as Russia, Iran and China, but all of you have recognized the true threat that faces these oppressed people: the threat of losing the “right” to shamelessly seek attention at every social, religious, political and private function. It takes a pair to stand up to Christianity, a mob that prides itself on forgiveness – although their definition of “forgiveness” does not sync with yours; your “forgiveness” is more like “submission from the other side." ”... Daily Clash

I do realize that you could have taken the easy way out by protesting the imprisonment, torture, and execution of homosexuals in such places as Russia, Iran and China, but all of you have recognized the true threat that faces these oppressed people: the threat of losing the “right” to shamelessly seek attention at every social, religious, political and private function. It takes a pair to stand up to Christianity, a mob that prides itself on forgiveness – although their definition of “forgiveness” does not sync with yours; your “forgiveness” is more like “submission from the other side.”

Dangerous Times: Obama Surrenders ... "Well, two of the biggest bullies in the world just took Obama at his word, Russia and Iran. Bow down to thugs and you will get what you ask for.

"To top it all, both Obama and John Kerry just went into a public rage when Israel’s defense minister dared to tell the truth about Obama’s surrender to Iran -- which happens to threaten Israel with nuclear genocide." ...

....

"Bullies bow down to the biggest thugs on the block, and abuse the weakest. This is now our foreign policy. "

The Left’s Laughable Effort to Label Paul Ryan ‘Racist’ Crumbles “ 'The attacks on Mr. Ryan are one more example of the politics of personal vilification that typifies the left these days. Its policies were supposed to reduce inequality, but instead the income gap is widening,” an editorial in the Journal on Friday read. “Liberals have to smear conservatives personally because they know they’re losing on the merits.' ”

Another Hate Crime Hoax: Black Student Admits To Writing Racial Slurs On Her Dorm Room Door…

Frozen Mid-Cut: Log Sculpture Shows How Trees Get Sliced

Vincent Kohler "Ever wonder how boards turn from trees into building materials? While not a secret, the process is also not entirely obvious - and rarely this clear or quite so visceral."

"Vincent Kohler (photos by Geoffrey Cottenceau) shows the art and geometry of the dissection process in much the same way an insect specialist might cut and splice a living specimen (or a butcher's chart shows where slabs of meat can be found).

"The result is a kind of three-dimensional version of a logging diagram drawing, showing in frozen time and physical reality how each cut is made and what the resulting sizes are, from which our minds can also reverse-engineer the order of cuts."

Hat tip to Jeff Hayden; Plano. TX

Vlad vs. Barry in pictures

Krauthammer: Obama’s pathetic response to Putin’s invasion of Crimea

Charles Krauthammer ... "During the Ukrainian prime minister’s visit to Washington last week, his government urgently requested military assistance. The Pentagon refused. It offered instead military ration kits."

"Putin mobilizes thousands of troops, artillery and attack helicopters on Ukraine’s borders and Washington counters with baguettes, American-style. One thing we can say for sure in these uncertain times: The invasion of Ukraine will be catered by the United States.

"Why did we deny Ukraine weapons? Because in the Barack Obama-John Kerry worldview, arming the victim might be taken as a provocation. This kind of mind-bending illogic has marked the administration’s response to the whole Crimea affair."

ELIZABETH WAHL: I Was Putin’s Pawn

"What it was like to work for the Russian propaganda machine, and why I quit on live TV."

Politico ... "My heart racing, I took my earpiece out and got up from the anchor chair. As I gathered my belongings, the news director said he wanted to have a word with me in his office. He asked me why I did it, as though I had some reason other than the one I had just announced on live TV. I explained that it really was because of the propaganda RT [Russia Today] was pushing about Ukraine. Then I left the building and walked a couple blocks to a restaurant to sit down and let the reality of what I did settle in.

"Fifteen minutes later, my phone started ringing." ... Full article

Well, RT lost Wahl but got Larry King

Wahl's resignation

Reason.com

Fred Phelps, 1929-2014; " … God still hates fags.” (UPDATED)

World Magazine

... "Phelps’ most public era began in 1991 after alleged homosexual activity in a local Kansas park brought on his first protests. Taking his crusade national, he thrust himself into the spotlight for picketing after the 1998 murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard.

"Westboro Baptist picketed at the funerals of victims of everything from tornadoes to AIDS to school bus crashes, declaring the deaths retribution for society’s acceptance of homosexuality. The family says it spends $250,000 a year on travel, and the church’s website now claims to have staged more than 53,000 pickets."

Westboro Baptist Church protests Lorde concert; first protest since Phelps' passing

Don't Give Away the Internet! UPDATED: Counterpoint from Legal Insurrection

bokbluster.com

Big Peace ..."As former senior State Department official Christian Whiton has observed, there are predictable consequences to having the “directory and traffic signals of the Internet” come under the control of such hostile forces, including the following:

Greater control over the content of the Internet, including censorship, by governments who regard it as a threat to their holds on power.

Impediments to technological innovation as bureaucrats and hostile governments seek to dictate what can and cannot be done with the net.

UN taxation of domain name registrations and, in due course, other Internet transactions. Such international taxation will make the United Nations even less accountable and afford it the latitude to fund activities detrimental to U.S. interests and those of its allies.

Control of the Internet can allow it to be used as an instrument of warfare. While the United States has refrained from making such use, allowing actual or potentially hostile powers to exercise such control may mean the Internet is simply disabled at a critical moment, or perhaps employed against us.

Giving up US control of internet naming while #Twitterisblocked in Turkey

"One of the memes hitting the blogosphere recently has been that the US just “gave up control of the internet”.

"This week on Canto Talk, Legal Insurrection’s Mandy Nagy explained why that wasn’t the case. Legal Insurrection

Friday, March 21, 2014

Hitler at 50: Color Photos of a Despot’s Birthday

Time Life "We do not usually give so much space to the work of men we admire so little.

"So began a remarkable editor’s note to LIFE’s readers in an April 1970 issue of the magazine, introducing a photographer named Hugo Jaeger — a man who, the note pointed out, “was a fascist before the Nazi party was formed.”

"In that issue, LIFE published a series of startling color pictures that Jaeger made in the late 1930s and 1940s, when he enjoyed unprecedented access to the Third Reich’s upper echelon, traveling with and chronicling Adolf Hitler and his Nazi cohorts at massive rallies and, frequently, in quieter, private moments, as well. Jaeger’s photos were, it turned out, so attuned to the Führer’s vision of what a Thousand Year Reich might look and feel like that Hitler declared, upon first seeing the kind of work Jaeger was doing: “The future belongs to color photography.' ”

....

"Here, in grudging acknowledgment of the scope of Jaeger’s achievements as a photographer — acknowledgment, in other words, of the work of a man we admire so little — LIFE.com presents a series of color pictures from the over-the-top celebrations in Berlin marking Hitler’s 50th birthday (April 20, 1939), as well as some of the ludicrously gaudy gifts bestowed on the German leader by his Nazi peers and sycophants.

"Seen today, Jaeger’s photographs elicit an unsettling sense of both dismay and dread: dismay at the sheer scale of the tribal, nationalist madness that once, not so long ago, convulsed a country of millions; and dread at the horrors that, we know, such madness was soon to unleash."

World's worst hunting dog

Hat tip to Danny Balmer, Bay City, Oregon