Sunday, December 16, 2012

Win

Lower House Election in Japan.

After all the troubles, and the additional disappointment of November in the USA, finally there is a clear victory for those of us with at least some amount of sense.

A big win, too:

The Liberal Democratic Party took 294 seats of the 480 out there.

Their "allies" New Komeito took another 31.

Two minor parties that might actually be allies of the LDP, Your Party and Japan Restoration Party, took 18 and 54 seats respectively.

Oh, and the Democrats? The ones that had 230 seats (+ a handful of useful idiots minor party supporters)? They got 57 seats... fifty seven.

Now if we can overturn that damnable Consumption Tax Increase, get some real tax reform here, and get back to spending government money primarily on the things government is supposed to do...

So yeah, we've got a chance here. Sorry Yanks, you had yours... but we'll see about trying to help once we've got our problems under control here.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Remembrance Day, 2012

Remembrance Day.

Armistice Day... and Veteran's Day in the U.S.A.

The list of friends to visit got rather longer this year, but that's how I spent my day.

I still think it is quite the pity that my adopted country (Japan) pays no national recognition to the day, but the bad memories of WW II apparently still outweigh the credit due to the glorious dead of Meiji and Taisho times (1860's~1920's). About the only event I know of is at the "Foreign" Cemetery in Yokohama, which always has a Remembrance Day that notes the Japanese role in WW I and The Siberian Intervention in addition to the recognition of Commonwealth graves at that site... but it's been years since I was down that way.

Ich hatt' einen Kameraden...

***

On a more upbeat note, my best Veteran's Day wishes to:

My BBBAM (Big Brother, by another Mother) who reportedly remains hale and hearty in his retirement. E-8 on his way out the door (a couple of years ago now), but still properly addressed as "Agent", and...

The ol' Misawa hand (another BBAM, but younger) who managed to fit in a whole bunch of non-military fun in between episodes of showing that a few Zoomies sometimes have to get out in the dirt and do a real job.

Both you guys be well and safe... and I'll see you 'Stateside maybe this Spring.

***

Quick reminder before anyone lumps me in again with the heroes that this day honors: I am not formally considered prior-service. The US Army did see to my first years of training (and a couple trots around the block) and the USMC did kindly provide for an Honorable Discharge when it was time to get out of uniformed service. The rest of the party after that doesn't officially count either.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Some thoughts...

Some thoughts...

and an outburst

...about losing four Americans including Chris Stevens (U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens; Libya) in the Benghazi Consulate Attack, and the current protest / assault against American interests sweeping across various countries-in-turmoil.

Yes. I did wait for a couple of days to get as many different reports in as I could before commenting.


First the outburst:

DAMN IT! Avoidable; it seems as of information coming out today, predictable; and absolutely unforgivable that an Ambassador was in a low-security Consulate in a risk-area at ten o'clock at night with only his traveling (and likely doing more than one job) Diplomatic Security close-team at the location.

Now the thoughts:

There should currently be a search for at least two replacement Ambassadors going on in Foggy Bottom. The public conduct of the US EMB CAIRO has been shameful and I don't care if the Ambassador was out and he left Public Affairs in the hands of underlings. Command Responsibility and all that.

While we're at it, this sort of multi-level screw up should fall on the Administration, especially the SecState. Given the crew currently running the regime in D.C., that's not going to happen voluntarily, but it should.

There can't be, for many reasons, any public recognition of some of the people who kept the 37 Americans that survived the Benghazi Consulate Attacks (multiple wave complex assault; it was not just a riot, folks), it is probably ok in the near future to hang some public "thank-you" on the small detachment ...reportedly U.S. Marines, reportedly only eight men... that were rushed in from the Embassy in Tripoli and were essential in holding things together until a proper rescue / evacuation could be done. Same goes for the loyal-to-the-Libyan-government troops that did help... yes, there were some.

The apology from the Libyan government and their promise to bring the attackers to justice is one that should be accepted. It also should be waved in the face of any local official that interferes with the effort to bag the attackers... oh and while one is at it, do find out why the local Libyan "guards" helped the attackers continue their assault... and bag them all too.

Egypt, specifically "President" Mursi, on the other hand... need to pretty quick be doing the old Chinese Kowtow crawl to the steps of the White House for their role in actively promoting the fraud that led to the Cairo Riot and Perimeter Breach... or a reply somewhat similar to that made to the Boxer Rebellion is entirely in order.

Karzai in Afghanistan, jumping on the "Outrageous Outrage" bandwagon, needs to remember his place in the order of things... or else.

In fact, the entire "Outrageous Outrage" as a political mechanism by the leadership of an chronically insecure social theocracy needs a little rough treatment by the civilized world right now. Yes, I know it is "your custom" to be so outraged (presuming one is a hardened Islamist; no such claim applies against Sufi or other Muslims that are also victimized by the fanatics)... might I remind one and all of the British Colonial-era reply as to the Hindu practice of Sati (suttee), paraphrased as: "You may burn her, as is your custom, but then we will hang you for murder, as is our custom."

The timing of all these events ~ Tunisia; Libya; Egypt; Yemen; the provocations in Afghanistan and other places ~ is not coincidental. A concerted effort was made to get the "insult to the Prophet" translated into Arabic and publicized juuuuuust in time for the eleventh day of September, and then it was pushed out in the various local media anywhere someone could be found to take offense.

There is a real possibility that the original "movie" that is the supposed excuse for all the "Outrageous Outrage" justification mentioned above is not legit. Several serious questions about the main person behind making the film are being raised... like a history of criminal fraud and false identities... and the claims of Jewish or Coptic interests being behind the film production are looking pretty fake too (at least as of today). In the old school, we used to call these sort of inside-the-opponent-country propaganda jobs "Active Measures"... and I'd say this case is similar enough to bear a whole lot of investigation.

Lastly...

It is helmets and shovels time for any American, (or European, or Japanese) diplomatic presence anywhere within reach of the fanatics. Shutter the Consulates and Offices and get everyone back inside the Embassy. Dig in deep, fellows, and aim true when they come over the wall. Because Friday is the day of prayer... and the frothing fanatics will be doing everything they can in their sermons to stir the masses into doing something very very stupid.

***

I am reminded (thank you, Glenn Reynolds!) that the paraphrase above re: Sati is more correctly rendered as The Napier Response:
"Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them, and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs."

  Welcome Legal Insurrection readers! Thank you, Professor; It's great to be the Post of the Day.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

College Insurrection

Longtime readers here know that CompHyp has a good friend in Professor William A. Jacobson, a Clinical Law Professor at Cornell (and in his younger years, quite the Russia expert). We 'blogged together during the Honduras Autogolpe Crisis. Well, his efforts at his shop, Legal Insurrection, have been going swimmingly... Law and Politics, mostly American issues, but all very good work... and now he's expanding the franchise:

Here's his latest effort: College Insurrection. Done in the same flavor as his original work, but focused on presenting issues as seen by conservative and libertarian student writers.

It is another great blow struck against the Established Academic Bias, and I hope it is very successful.

Sinai issues

In the wake of the insurgent terrorist attack that killed more than a dozen Egyptian Army soldiers at a camp on the Sinai-Israel border, the Egyptian Army was compelled to act... and did so by remilitarizing a significant part of the Sinai and then whacking a fair number of the resident and transient terrs. So far, so good. I have it on good authority that some number of (older) M-60 MBTs were part of the Egyptian Army force sent in, and that there was open communication with Israel to forstall any concerns with that being a violation of the terms of the Camp David Peace Accords.

Well, some time has passed, and as I've mentioned (see previous thread post) there are signs that the Egyptian 'government' and military aren't on the same page any longer... and now there are some concerns.

...entirely warranted concerns, in my opinion.

Not a good time to be stuck out on dust, checkpoints and rowboat duty. Might be time for Task Force Sinai to be... shall we say "re-enforced". Either that or get the hell ready to bug out...

Monday, August 13, 2012

Freedom for Egypt: Not happening.

It's not happening.

Here's Barry Rubin's take on the naked power-grab by al-Ikhwan (The Muslim Brotherhood) as of early yesterday: Egypt: There goes....

He's got it right.
This is a coup. Mursi is bound by no constitution. He can do as he pleases unless someone is going to stop him. And the only candidate–the military–is fading fast, far faster than even we pessimists would have predicted.
If President Mursi gets away with these moves, say goodbye to the last hope of Egypt being anything but a conquest for al-Ikhwan.


Told you so (diplomatic appointments edition)

Long time readers of CompHyp may vaguely recall that this author was to-say-the-least unimpressed with the appointment of J. Scott Gration as the American (Obama Administration) Special Envoy to Sudan.

Here's a little reminder from back in 2009 as to how deserved that lack of regard was: Gration gets the proper treatment.

Well, low and behold, the years go by... Gration got a 'promotion' to a regular ambassadorship (to Kenya)... and...

Close Obama ally rated worst ambassador in the State Department.

Read the whole thing, please.

Then for those reading who have any say in such matters... let's not be doing this again, shall we?