Sunday, May 19, 2013
On Benghazi and Obama's Real Foreign Policy Scandal
Regarding Benghazi, the real foreign policy scandal isn't that the administration lied about what happened, which was obvious from day one, or that security at the U.S. facilities was practically non-existent, or, even, that for all the billions of dollars spent on national defense, the Pentagon wasn't able to scramble armed units in time to save U.S. diplomats and support personnel from being slaughtered by barbaric, Third World terrorists and mobs.
All that, bad as it is, pales in comparison with the much larger scandal--namely, that the United States needlessly intervened in Libya in the first place and that the intervention resulted in destabilizing--and Islamizing--a completely contained, former secular enemy that had become an important asset in the fight against Islamism (rightwing political Islam).
In other words, the real scandal is President Obama's pro-Islamist foreign policy, that is to say, his overt alignment of the U.S. with Islamism and overlapping organized Islam under cover of diplomatically engaging (collaborating with) all Islamist regimes and groups with the exception of Al Qaeda, and, in a clear nod to Islamist ideology, an odious embrace of ("outreach to") what he insists on calling "the Muslim world."
Copyright © 2013 Foreign Confidential
Defiant North Korea Fires Missile from Coast
Provocative Projectile Firing Follows Yesterday's Launches
North Korea is ignoring U.S. calls for restraint.
Read more.
We are witnessing the complete unravelling of the Obama foreign policy. America's adversaries are not impressed by his lofty lectures on his view of how they should behave according to their true, enlightened self interests.
There is also a clear degree of coordination between North Korea and Iran, tag team partners in nuclear and missile crimes.
The United States should cut a deal with China about regime change in North Korea, reunification of Korea and U.S. withdrawal from the South.
Similarly, Washington and Moscow should cut a deal on the political neutralization, division into autonomous provinces and demilitarization of Syria.
There needs to be order in the world, which requires statesmanship--not political posturing--and deal-making at the highest levels of government. The price for pacifying Korea and Syria, and isolating--ahead of removing--the Iranian regime will be Grand Bargains among the superpowers (China and Russia need the status, still have the nuclear arsenals that must be taken into consideration, etc.) encompassing agreement on spheres of influence allowing for protection of key U.S. allies Japan and Israel. There is a huge difference between, on the one hand, staying strong and not being seen as weak and vulnerable, and, on the other hand, insisting on a divine right to "lead the world" in such a manner so as to approach the whole globe as a sphere of influence.
There is also a huge difference between isolationism and imperialism--not as Marxists use the term but as it applies to a foreign policy that aims to overturn the status quo, radically alter power relationships among nations, reorder and reshape regions (in the name of democracy promotion and humanitarian intervention). Both policies--isolationism and imperialism--are pathways to disaster.
Copyright © 2013 Foreign Confidential
Assad Defiant; Wider War Could be Catastrophic
The Syrian dictator seems determined to stay in power at any cost.
Read more.
The road to peace in Syria leads to Moscow. The United States needs to come to an understanding with Russia while there is still time to prevent the Syrian civil war from turning into a catastrophic regional conflict.
Related: War of Attrition Against Israel Looms
Saturday, May 18, 2013
N. Korea Launches Short-Range Missiles
Friday, May 17, 2013
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen from Cannes Hotel Room
Will French Cops Catch a Thief?
A jewel heist on the Riviera … classic crime caper at a fabled film festival.
Read more.
EXTRA: PINK PANTHER GANG SUSPECTED
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Pollywood Author's New Play Focuses on the Tumultuous Life and Times of Legendary Hollywood Movie Mogul Louis B. Mayer
A decidedly declassified dispatch … The world must know about this! Stop the digital press! … from our man in Manhattan, André Pachter.
Read on.
NEW YORK, May 16 --- Broadway was shaken … not stirred … last Friday night by a theatrical event that demands attention. The positively brilliant, unbelievably multitalented … he always seems to be writing, producing, directing … something … somewhere … Polish-American filmmaker, author and all-around creative genius Andrzej Krakowski unveiled a new play that promises, practically guarantees, to be a hit on every stage … here, there, everywhere … wherever people are endlessly fascinated by America's greatest commercial gift to the world … the motion picture industry … commonly called Hollywood. Which is to say, at the very least, audiences across all of North America and Europe.
Simply put, Krakowski's new play, which came to us, humbly, as a stage reading at the Directors Company Theater, with the intriguing working title of Mayer & Co., is a masterpiece that cries out for immediate production … and adaptation. Really. Mayer & Co., which Krakowski directed and co-authored with Michal Komar, is clearly the stuff … a tour de force dramedy ... from which great movies … the kind that Krakowski has long been associated with … are made. Great movies and Broadway musicals. One can almost hear the songs before they are written.
A triumph of the spirit--Krakowski fans will appreciate the phrase--Mayer & Co. tells the story of the men who came from nowhere to build an industry from nothing. It could even be said that for the most part they came from less than nothing. So poor were they, this impossibly hard-working, smart … and lucky … band of immigrants who built chains of "picture palaces" and entire factories … from scratch … studios, they named these massive complexes in sunny California … for the exhibition and production of … dreams … celluloid depictions of fantasy and reality that entertained, inspired, and encouraged generations of movie-goers … lifting the spirits of newcomers and natives alike, uniting them, enlightening them, educating them, teaching them, especially, after the advent of sound, how to talk, dress, eat, dance, drive a car, smoke a cigarette, mix a martini, look cool, throw a punch, be sexy, stand up for what's good and right and decent … while … always … and this is key to understanding these dream merchants … appreciating the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Ten Commandments, the whole way of life that in their eyes was only possible for their kind and others like them in The Golden Land … America!
Fact is, the melting pot would probably have never happened without the men who made Hollywood.
Interestingly, they were all Jewish; even more interestingly, they nearly all came from one corner of the Jewish world, Poland when it was part of the Russian Empire. One of these men, the subject of Krakowski's play, was Louis B. Mayer, born Lazar Meir (maybe) … the man from Minsk (maybe) … the Mayer in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (certainly, even though, contrary to popular perceptions, he never owned a single share of stock in the firm) … who, like the other pioneering moguls and producers, was a master of reinvention, a worshipper of the American Dream, above all, an immigrant who made it big … really big … in a big, rough-and-tumble country that celebrated wealth and success, regardless of who made it and how it was made, to an extent that was unimaginable in The Old Country.
Krakowski has mined this material before. Pollywood, his nonfiction take on the Jews who built Hollywood, is a critically acclaimed bestseller in his native Poland. In Mayer & Co. the focus is on Louis B. Mayer … everyone always called him Louis B. Mayer, or, simply, LB … and the premise is an imagined behind-the-scenes look at production of a newsreel tribute to the man … he died of leukemia in 1957 …. featuring recollections by Samuel Goldwyn and Jack Warner.
More than that should not/need not be disclosed at this time. Suffice it to say, the dialogue is pure Krakowski … rapid-fire exchanges akin to Mamet Speak … words that translate into action … an emotional roller coaster that will make you laugh, think, marvel and maybe, even, cry a little. Krakowski has the uncanny ability to pull you into the world he creates without ever breaking the fourth wall illusion. He entertains … and elevates … and, in the process, engages the observer in ways that defy description, at least, to this reporter, an unabashed fan.
Lubitsch had his world famous touch, that delightful device, or special nuance, that said so much with seemingly so little effort. Krakowski, too, has a touch, one that he has most assuredly applied to Mayer & Co.
CREDITS: Mayer & Co. by Andrzej Krakowski & Michał Komar.
(Based on the book Pollywood by Andrzej Krakowski)
The Cast:
Samuel Goldwyn – David Little
Jack Warner – David Deblinger
Editor – Arturo Castro
Producer – Marie Guinier
Narrator – Dale Spencer Weeks
Directed by Andrzej Krakowski
Casting: Ellyn Marshall-Long & Maria E. Nelson/Orpheus Group
Produced by: Majka Elczewska
A triumph of the spirit--Krakowski fans will appreciate the phrase--Mayer & Co. tells the story of the men who came from nowhere to build an industry from nothing. It could even be said that for the most part they came from less than nothing. So poor were they, this impossibly hard-working, smart … and lucky … band of immigrants who built chains of "picture palaces" and entire factories … from scratch … studios, they named these massive complexes in sunny California … for the exhibition and production of … dreams … celluloid depictions of fantasy and reality that entertained, inspired, and encouraged generations of movie-goers … lifting the spirits of newcomers and natives alike, uniting them, enlightening them, educating them, teaching them, especially, after the advent of sound, how to talk, dress, eat, dance, drive a car, smoke a cigarette, mix a martini, look cool, throw a punch, be sexy, stand up for what's good and right and decent … while … always … and this is key to understanding these dream merchants … appreciating the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Ten Commandments, the whole way of life that in their eyes was only possible for their kind and others like them in The Golden Land … America!
Fact is, the melting pot would probably have never happened without the men who made Hollywood.
Interestingly, they were all Jewish; even more interestingly, they nearly all came from one corner of the Jewish world, Poland when it was part of the Russian Empire. One of these men, the subject of Krakowski's play, was Louis B. Mayer, born Lazar Meir (maybe) … the man from Minsk (maybe) … the Mayer in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (certainly, even though, contrary to popular perceptions, he never owned a single share of stock in the firm) … who, like the other pioneering moguls and producers, was a master of reinvention, a worshipper of the American Dream, above all, an immigrant who made it big … really big … in a big, rough-and-tumble country that celebrated wealth and success, regardless of who made it and how it was made, to an extent that was unimaginable in The Old Country.
Krakowski has mined this material before. Pollywood, his nonfiction take on the Jews who built Hollywood, is a critically acclaimed bestseller in his native Poland. In Mayer & Co. the focus is on Louis B. Mayer … everyone always called him Louis B. Mayer, or, simply, LB … and the premise is an imagined behind-the-scenes look at production of a newsreel tribute to the man … he died of leukemia in 1957 …. featuring recollections by Samuel Goldwyn and Jack Warner.
More than that should not/need not be disclosed at this time. Suffice it to say, the dialogue is pure Krakowski … rapid-fire exchanges akin to Mamet Speak … words that translate into action … an emotional roller coaster that will make you laugh, think, marvel and maybe, even, cry a little. Krakowski has the uncanny ability to pull you into the world he creates without ever breaking the fourth wall illusion. He entertains … and elevates … and, in the process, engages the observer in ways that defy description, at least, to this reporter, an unabashed fan.
Lubitsch had his world famous touch, that delightful device, or special nuance, that said so much with seemingly so little effort. Krakowski, too, has a touch, one that he has most assuredly applied to Mayer & Co.
CREDITS: Mayer & Co. by Andrzej Krakowski & Michał Komar.
(Based on the book Pollywood by Andrzej Krakowski)
The Cast:
Samuel Goldwyn – David Little
Jack Warner – David Deblinger
Editor – Arturo Castro
Producer – Marie Guinier
Narrator – Dale Spencer Weeks
Directed by Andrzej Krakowski
Casting: Ellyn Marshall-Long & Maria E. Nelson/Orpheus Group
Produced by: Majka Elczewska
Again, a Star is Born in Cannes: Marine Vacth
Young and Beautiful Model-Actress Captures the Spotlight
An enigmatic character study, a riveting performance by 23-year-old model-actress Marine Vacth.
Life (You Call this Living?) in Austerity-Ravaged Greece
Drinking from a bitter cup, to put matters mildly.
The medicine is poison, but the people tolerate it … for the time being.
Read more.
US-Saudi-Turkish-Backed Genocide Looms in Syria
Sunni Islamist Cannibal Identified
Shocking but true … the U.S.-backed cannibal in the Syrian atrocity video.
The story is too sickening for comment, except to note that this is the garbage, the human filth, that the administration is backing under cover of humanitarian intervention and democracy promotion, the sort of monstrous maniac that idiots like John McCain refer to as a "freedom fighter" in line with decades of U.S. support for radical/rightwing political Islam and Islamic extremism.
Related: 8th Century Civilizational Values: Saudi Islamic Justification for Mutilating Victims
Related: 8th Century Civilizational Values: Saudi Islamic Justification for Mutilating Victims
Earthquakes Could Kill Iran's Clerical Fascist Regime
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Stormy, Star-Studded Cannes
Israel Poverty Rate Tops 20%
Formerly Egalitarian State Now Poorest Developed Country
The architects and founding leaders of the Jewish State would be proud of its remarkable achievements in high-technology industries and other fields … but deeply disappointed by today's economic news. Social democratic ideals have been battered; from the socialist Labor Zionist pioneers to the anti-socialist (Revisionist Zionist) Rosh Betar, the brilliant and charismatic rebel and statesman, Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky, whose economic ideology was basically that of a welfare state, in the classic, European sense, practically all leaders, parties and factions believed strongly in social justice.
Eurozone in Longest-Ever Recession
Austerity Deepens Economic Misery for Millions
Germany can't pull the Eurozone out of recession.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Is Obama's Nuclear Iran Red Line Fading?
Pro-Administration Think Tank Considers Defeat
Obama's election assured Iran of at least four more years to achieve a strategic objective: nuclear weapons. Barring a miraculous development, his reelection all but guaranteed that the Islamist nation would soon become a nuclear weapons state.
The news isn't surprising because Obama (of "the Muslim World") came to power seeking a Grand Bargain with the Iranian regime. Rebuffed by the atomic ayatollah, his mad mullahs and their maniac-in-chief, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Obama unreservedly embraced Turkey's neo-Ottomon Islamist regime and Egypt's clerical fascist Muslim Brotherhood. And the rest is history: springtime for Islamists across the Arab world, winter for secular Muslims, minorities and … Israel … America's only real ally in the Middle East.
The cruel joke is that there are still so many Obama supporters who see their preacher-in-chief as … progressive. Not since Moscow-controlled Communist Party members dutifully followed Stalin after his perfidious pact with Hitler have left-wingers behaved this badly.
The cruel joke is that there are still so many Obama supporters who see their preacher-in-chief as … progressive. Not since Moscow-controlled Communist Party members dutifully followed Stalin after his perfidious pact with Hitler have left-wingers behaved this badly.
Russia to Israel: Hands Off Syria
Bibi's Trip Backfires
Israel is caught between a rock and a hard place as Russia continues to support--and arm--the Iran/Hezbollah-backed Syrian regime in its war against Islamist rebels supported by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
Read more.
Syria is FUBAR.
Paul Krugman On the Crumbling Case for Austerity
Austerity--savage spending cuts during recession when stimulus is obviously called for--has failed miserably at home and abroad. The real mystery is why the positively irrational policy was ever seriously considered, let alone adopted, in the first place.
Read more.
And click below for a related video on the shocking but true state of wealth inequality in the United States.
Radical Islam in Action: Gunmen Attack Liquor Stores in Baghdad
What the US Wrought in Iraq: Islamist Hell
Islamist gunmen attack liquor stores in Baghdad, kill 12. Another day in the Islamist hell that the United States has helped to create across the Arab world under the banner of democracy promotion.
Fact: Iraq was a contained secular enemy--accents on secular and contained--with no weapons of mass destruction and no meaningful connections to Al Qaeda, in sharp contrast with (a) Iran, a country that assisted Al Qaeda before and after 9/11, and was (and still is) a rising Islamist power with ballistic missiles, chemical and biological weapons--and a nuclear arms program--and (b) Saudi Arabia, a duplicitous oil-rich monarchy … actually, a dysfunctional, extended family business passing as a legitimate country … with neither human nor civil rights … which spawned Al Qaeda and supported the Taliban, the monstrous, medieval gang that harbored and aided Al Qaeda before and after 9/11.
As a result of the wholly unnecessary and horribly costly and counterproductive U.S. intervention in Iraq, from which the U.S. has yet to recover, Iraqi secular society was basically destroyed and the country was turned into a Shiite-dominated … Iranian satellite … and a center for Al Qaeda and affiliated Sunni Islamist terrorists, many of whom have migrated to Syria in order to join the U.S./Saudi/Turkish-backed Sunni Islamist insurrection against an embattled … secular … Shiite offshoot (Alawite)-dominated dictatorship that is propped up by Shiite Islamist, non-Arab Iran, its Shiite Islamist, Lebanese Arab terrorist proxy, Hezbollah, and … Russia … which (a) is itself threatened by Sunni Islamists, including groups linked to the Boston Marathon bombers, and (b) is still seething over the U.S. covert intervention in Afghanistan … the Cold War-era conflict that brought the Taliban to power, contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union … and led to formation and cancerous spread of Al Qaeda.
So it goes.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Assad Gaining in Syria
Backed by Russia--Moscow is determined to prevent Syria from becoming another Libya--and Iran and its Lebanese Shiite Islamist proxy, the foreign terrorist organization Hezbollah, the Syrian regime appears to have turned the tide against Sunni Islamist rebels stirred up and supported by the United States, Europe, Turkey, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, and Saudi Arabia.
Obama Opposed to Iran Oil Cut-Off
Sanctions and diplomacy have failed to stop Iran's atomic advance. Nevertheless, the Obama administration's answer to the Iranian threat is … still more sanctions and failed diplomacy.
Read more.
New SARS and Bird Flu Diseases Cause Concern
Global health officials are monitoring and studying two new worrisome disease outbreaks. Click here for the story.
Syrian Rebel Leader Accuses Israel of Aiding Assad
A leader of the Sunni Islamist insurrection that could bring Al Qaeda to power in Syria has accused Israel of aiding the country's embattled secular dictator and his Shiite Islamist Iran and Hezbollah backers.
Read more.
