Remembering Fallen Heroes on Christmas

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33 Minutes

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I have spent my military career as a Space and Missile professional.  We did our job so our adversaries would not dare attack the United States.  My oath of office reads:

I, Daniel C. Mosqueda /// having been appointed a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force /// do solemnly swear /// that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States /// against all enemies, foreign and domestic /// that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same /// that I take this obligation freely /// without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion /// and that I will well and faithfully discharge /// the duties of the office which I am about to enter /// so help me God. 

The key line for purposes of watching the video below is "I will support and defend the Constitution . . . . against all enemies, foreign and domestic."  This is probably one of the clearest requirements of the US government outlined by the US Constitution.  The Preamble states:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Defend the Common Defense - consider this as you watch the video below:

For a look at "Life as a Missileer" click here: http://danmosqueda.blogspot.com/2007/11/life-as-missileer.html

All That Is Necessary...: Autoworkers: "I'm Sticking to the Union... Till the Day I Die"

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All That Is Necessary...: Autoworkers: "I'm Sticking to the Union... Till the Day I Die"

Breast Cancer victim speaks - the internets respond

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"I was just your normal mother and wife. Then, like two cars slamming head-on, my world was rocked. The lump was cancer - aggressive and fast growing. On March 29, I had a bilateral mastectomy and will soon start a comprehensive and overwhelming menu of treatments, including chemotherapy and possibly hormone therapy." Here is your chance to purchase pixels and give yourself a plug in the process. The grid below is essentially a blank billboard. You can purchase a piece of the billboard and display your own self-uploaded image. Each block costs $1 and each block is 100 pixels (a 10 x 10 pixel square). $1 = 1 block = 100 pixels. At least 25 percent of all billboard pixel purchases will go to the Frozen Pea Fund, a non-profit organization established by bloggers that promotes breast cancer awareness and uses social media (i.e., blogs, podcasts, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) to help raise money for several great breast cancer charities, like the American Cancer Society's Making Strides. Click the "Read More" link to learn more.

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Leno fears Top Gear USA - How about Leary?

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NBC has officially purchased the rights to produce an American version of Top Gear, and seeing as it has one of this country's biggest gear heads on its payroll, it's a no-brainer that they would at least ask Jay Leno to host. In his most recent editorial for The Sunday Times, Leno recounts being asked by a corporate suit with practically no clue about of the hit British show to host the American version. It goes something like this. "Well, the network has bought the TV show... um... High Gear? Top Gear? Top Gear! Top Gear, yes. We know you like to build cars." Sigh...

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From Dan:I agree fundamentally. NBC does not have the capability to make this show right. Think about TopGear - it has incredible production values, they knock it out of the park. It's brilliant and we don't even get to see it in HD (imagine how glorious it would be in HD). 

NBC will never take the time to get that perfect shot. You know the one, a corner of the car gleaming in the sun, with just the right background. There won't be enough ROI for the work.

Car and Driver TV is shovel ware, it's the same crap the old Nashville Network put out for Motor Trend. The host is so boring. PBS's long-running show sucks too and always has. Boring. 

I just don't see how NBC can do it. 

PLUS, think about how un-PC Top Gear is. They make fun of homosexuals (I'm not condoning it, but it is true), they make fun of America (we're cool with it, we can laugh at it) and yet they have huge hearts (ref: their New Orleans episode, it went from making fun of Red Necks to "Oh s#$t, look at the damage done here"). 

Adam Carolla may be fine. I can't say. The Top Gear guys are bona fide stars in Europe. I actually think Leno could do something like it, but not quite. The hosts must be irreverent. Oh, it just hit me, Dennis Leary - yes he could do it. 

Recap: NBC cannot do it - they don't have the production skill. Top Gear might not be imitable. 

Thought: Why not put TopGear as-is (UK) on NBC. It couldn't hurt to try. It clearly brings in a much wider audience than the crappy car shows on Speed and Spike. 

I will continue to DVR Top Gear and savor it.

Fox News Channel via iPhone!

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I love Fox News Channel.  There I said it.  So, yes I'm biased towards it.  It's most certainly the number 1 news channel on cable TV.  Many of its shows have more audience than all other news channels combined.  It's a media juggernaut.

I also have an iPhone.  And I love it.  It's a fantastic phone and the longer I have it, the better and more useful it becomes.  Of course this is apparently true for many folks around the world.  According to Appleinsider.com, stores in Manhattan are selling out and even online, you can expect to wait a week to get one.  Digg's founder, Kevin Rose, is claiming knowledge of Apple ordering 10 million "next-gen" 3G iPhones.  It's a cellular/media device juggernaut.

Now, let's combine the two!  By simply pointing your Safari browser and the Edge data network on your iPhone to http://iphone.foxnews.com it's a done deal!

The site gives the reader the choice of not only reading the latest news stories, it also makes you a viewer.  Many services are taking advantage of the ability to jump from the browser to the built-in Quicktime feature.  So Fox News will present you with a wide variety of stories, by category, to watch.  This means you're not limited to politics! 

 

The other day while working out at the gym, I used iPhone.foxnews.com instead of listening to the iPod or streaming audio.  Of course I didn't watch the video, I just started up a story and listened to it as I lifted weights.  It worked out, pardon the pun, perfectly.  I listed to some Bill O'Reilly and Neil Cavuto.  It was entertaining, informative and it kept me going on my workout by making the time go by faster.  So give it a try.  These two juggernauts are doing all the right things to bring media to you wherever you are at any time!

BMW 135i

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I had a great test drive today of the new BMW 135i.  This car rides like a dream, a very fast dream.  I actually took it easy, though got a little rambunctious for a few moments.

I love the opening statement Automobile Magazine used to describe this fantastic vehicle:

"Get up from your computer, drive to your nearest BMW dealer, and put down a deposit on a 135i. Now. You won't regret it. In the years to come, you'll probably even look on this as the best purchase of your long and distinguished life, a moment that defined your personal idiom, a moment that caused the tide of your existence to turn away from mehand toward Eat Your Heart Out, John Q. Dull, I'm Awesome. In other words, when you drive out of the dealership in your sparkling new 1-series, it will be the Rip Taylor moment of your life, confetti shower and all. This car is that good."  Yep.

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Sci-Fi vs. Reality: Lost's Black Box Story Holds True

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So why does Widmore want Ben? And what use is the black box to him? Would the thing even spit out anything useful after four months in salt water? While we can’t answer the first question, we talked to James Cash, chief of the vehicle recorders division at the National Transportation Safety Board, to get some answers to the latter two.

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10 TV Shows That Changed The World

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Have you ever been watching television and thought, “Wow, this soap opera is so good it could cause the downfall of a corrupt communist regime,” or even, “I bet one day this show is going to send the first woman into space”? Well, maybe you’re not giving the boob tube enough credit.

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Nielsen: Hulu Off To A Strong Start

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Here are the numbers (finally.)

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WGA Strike's Over, So When Are My Shows Coming Back?

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Calendar of returning shows post-WGA Strike.

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Americans apathetic about Jericho

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Just to give you an idea about how far reaching this show (Jericho) was, this is an Iranian website!

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Copywrite, Ink.: Getting Wishes: Jericho Rangers

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Copywrite, Ink.: Getting Wishes: Jericho Rangers

Internet Fandom: Still Not Ready for Primetime

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It was just a couple of days ago that CBS VP and Chief Marketing Officer Patrick Keane used fan-favorite "Jericho" as an example of why television networks should potentially begin to include web viewership in ratings numbers. "The online viewers of one episode [of 'Jericho'] boosted the ratings from 4.2 to 5.1 - nearly a whole percentage point." But the large web following wasn't enough to keep "Jericho" on the air -- CBS axed the show.

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Insurer Ponies Up to Sponsor X Prize

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The X Prize Foundation and Progressive Corp. announced that the insurer would put up the $10 million prize for the development of a production viable, 100 mile-per-gallon vehicle. The vehicle will have to seat four, carry their luggage, and travel 200 miles. Oh, and make 0-60 in 12 seconds.

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Charlie Rose sacrifices face for MacBook Air

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Turns out Rose had a choice to make when he tripped on a 59th street pothole in New York City: protect his newly purchased MacBook Air, or his face -- he chose the former. According to his producers

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Construction Update - furnace and doors

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Follow the progress of building a new house. Lots of great information on different aspects of building a new home. I include lots of pictures and it has been really fun to document the history of building my latest home.

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President Obama Panics

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This video could very well represent a future with a certain Senator as President:

TSA explains MacBook Air grounding: just doing its job

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A TSA security officer, who apparently doesn't read the news nor watch TV to see MacBook Airs come out of envelopes, held up a guy with an Air because it couldn't be a laptop without a hard drive (it had an SSD) or enough ports off the back. Sigh. (Click "Read More" below to read the full account at www.engadget.com).

If the TSA reads this - please take a look at the Apple Video below as a reference material.

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the john and sherry blog: Our New Granddaughter

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the john and sherry blog: Our New Granddaughter

Aston Martin Rapide production goes to Austria

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One of the first decisions that David Richards and his partners made after buying Aston Martin from Ford last year was to produce the four-door Rapide. The platform architecture of the DB9 was designed to be easily stretched in both length and width, making derivatives like the Rapide and the DBS a possibility without much fuss and expense. 

There was, however, one annoying little detail to address with the Rapide. 

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BMW to announce U.S. Spartanburg plant expansion

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This Monday, BMW will announce plans to expand its sole U.S. assembly plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This is more great news for Spartanburg, as BMW has increased production at the plant three times previously, and the facility is already running over capacity.

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CBS's Jericho: A Constitutional Dilemma?

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A good friend of mine from Twitter, @brendajos, turned me on to a CBS show called “Jericho.”  Frankly, I hadn’t really heard of it.  The plot is described really well on the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com):

“When Jake Green returns to his Kansas small-town home Jericho, where his dad Johnston is mayor, everyone is preoccupied with petty private business and family matters, but that changes drastically after a completely unexpected explosion. It soon becomes clear there has been a nuclear attack, but neither by whom nor on which scale. Suddenly life in Jericho, and as the inhabitants gradually discover all over the disintegrating USA, becomes a more primordial struggle for survival, where unexperienced dangers, primitive as well as technological, have to be weighed against pressing primal needs, such as food, fuel and self-defense against plunderers, invaders and even each-other.”

I reluctantly started to watch the new season, but it only took a few minutes to know I was hopelessly lost.  I let the DVR record and watched something else.  Fortunately, iTunes carries “Jericho” and I downloaded the first episode (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTVSeason?i=193811852&id=192599257&s=143441). That’s all it took - I was hooked.

At first I really was captivated by the story of survival, the human interactions, some of them good, some of them completely outrageous in their inhumane treatment of each other, and the multiple strings of intrigue woven throughout each episode.  I quickly finished up Season 1 and caught up to Season 2.

In Season 2, Episode 4 “Jennings & Rall,” a lot of the story and intrigue is brought to light.  But what got me really upset, not at “Jericho,” was the idea that a successor government was ever allowed to exist.  

In a discusison with @brendajos (the “@” is an internet method of replying to others online) she asked me if I would serve the government based in Cheyenne, Wyoming, which was one of 6 “US” governments.  I had to think about it.  I did a quick search on Presidential Succession and arrived at the conclusion:  NO!!!

Why No?  I mean after all, I’m a serving reserve officer in the United States Air Force right?  Well, the day I was commissioned I was given a copy of the United States Constitution by Captain Al Zaccor, United States Army.  I keep it handy and cherish it.  

Above: Taking the oath of Office, 2007 on the occassion of my promotion to Lieutenant Colonel

My guide has to be the Oath of Office I took that day in front of Al Zaccor and my family.  It is based on a law written on 1 June 1789 by the 1st Congress., 1st session, in statute 1, chap. 1 in part reading “I, A.B., do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States.”  It doesn’t mention the President, the Congress, the Flag, but the Constitution.  Lt Col Kenneth Keskel, USAF writes in his article “The Oath of Office: A Historical Guide to Moral Leadership” that  “the very first law of the United States identified the requirement for government officials to take an oath or affirmation according to Article 6 of the Constitution.”  He goes on to say “The current oath is more than a mere formality that adds to the pageantry of a commissioning or promotion ceremony - it provides a foundation for leadership decisions.” The very decisions the military officers and even civilians in “Jericho” would have hopefully made correctly with the Constitution serving as their compass vs the argument by the 5 of the 6 “Presidents” who attempt to take over the nation after the tragic events in the show’s storyline.

The fictional Secretary of Health and Human Services is the only surviving Cabinet Member and becomes President of the United States, but the "five other guys believe that the attacks have changed the rules."  The good people of Jericho fall under a fictional Wyoming Senator who claims the Presidency, but in doing so he and his administration form an essentially new nation, the “Allied States of America.”  Civil rights seem to be thrown aside, and an essentially “friendly” fascist regime rises up with more power than the President of the US (at least East of the Mississippi river), and it is working towards “uniting” the entire nation.

So what’s the problem?  Let’s finish up the oath of office I took:

“I, Daniel Chay Mosqueda, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

So, I agreed to support and defend the Constitution, but  I also agreed to do this “ against all enemies, foreign and domestic . . . and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office.”  

Back to Jericho.  There are men and women in uniform.  There are elected officials local, state and federal.  It is a fact the federal officials take the same or very similar oaths, and many local officials take similar oaths.  Fundamentally, the Constitution itself is designed in such a way as to protect the nation from those who would do it harm.  

The “Cheyenne” government attempts to handle this by organizing a “Constitutional Convention” to setup a new Constitution.  It replaces the flag with a new flag.  By the way, @brendajos and I agree the flag is creepy at best and infuriating beyond measure.  The flag is described in Wikipedia as being “a heavily altered version of the Stars and Stripes flying over the base. These alterations include vertical strips, thirteen in total, seven red and six white, as well as a total of only 21 stars.”  The so-called President of the Allied States says the Flag vertical stripes represent a “change in direction” for the nation.  To that end, the Mayor of Jericho is asked to attend the Constitutional Convention, to which he feigns being honored, but later confides he wanted to keep his thoughts, namely the questionable authority of the “Cheyenne” government, to himself so he has a chance to express them.

So, the United States Constitution requires, and I quote from the source document,  that “The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.”  

The fictional situation in Jericho does not come even close to meeting any of these requirements.  All 50 states still exist.  A rightful successor to the presidency exists in accordance with “The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 (3 U.S.C. § 19),” which establishes the line of succession to the office of President of the United States in the event neither a President or Vice President is able to "discharge the powers and duties of the office. The authority for the Congress to enact such a law is twofold: Article II, section 1, clause 6 of the United States Constitution and Section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution.”  So, the thought of just throwing out the Constitutional requirements and “The Presidential Succession Act” is inconceivable in that, per the Constitution, “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution,” as outlined in Article 6.

At that point, an elected official or officer of the executive branch must ask the question “is this a case of a domestic enemy?”  I would, without reservation or hesitation, answer that question with a loud and clear “YES!”  The next question would be “what does one do about it?”  That’s a question best answered later in the season based on where the writers takes the plot.

I love my friends- Kidney Humor

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PreppyDude is very good friend of mine who is going in for surgery to remove a kidney.  We thought it'd be nice to cheer him up with some gifts.  It appears to have worked!
PreppyDude's Mobile post sent by Mosqueda using Utterz.  Replies.

A chilling comment to the WSJ on Huawei/Bain/3COM Deal

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By Dan Mosqueda

Recently, Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mi)  has been campaigning successfully to stop a proposed buyout of 3Com by Bain Capital (founded in part by Gov Mitt Romney) and Communist China's Huawei Technologies.  The Wall Street Journal's Heidi Moore reports that "the Pentagon is worried that 3Com’s pending deal to sell itself to Bain Capital and China’s Huawei Technologies is a real threat to national security."  Her report goes on to say the Department of Defense, in it's recent report (see http://danmosqueda.blogspot.com/2008/03/china-increases-military-budget-by-at.html for more information) "calls out Huawei by name: Information technology companies, including Huawei, Datang, and Zhongxing maintain close ties to the PLA and collaborate on research and development." 

The Report goes on to say "the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is pursuing comprehensive transformation from a mass army designed for protracted wars of attrition on its territory to one capable of fighting and winning short duration, high intensity conflicts along its periphery against high-tech adversaries – an approach that China refers to as preparing for “local wars under conditions of informatization."

As if this report isn't scary enough, a reader on the WSJ blog wrote:

"I worked at Huawei R&D centers in Shenzhen headquarters and Shanghai before coming to the U.S. for my graduate degrees. We (Huawei) did develop cellular and data intercept equipments primarily for PLA and the National Security Bureau (NSB) of China, the notorious secret police involved in Yahoo’s snitcher scandal.

When working in the Lab, I constantly saw some teams studied a variety of components from SAIC/Cisco/Alliant Techsystems/Raytheon/Honeywell (if you don’t know what products those company make, simply google th’m). Didn’t how where the hell they got those things from, but I didn’t care since I wasn’t in those teams.

Look here is my point: I love China for she is my motherland; but the last thing I’d like to see is a communism dictatorship. So I personally believe there is a good reason to block the Bain Capital/3Com deal.

Btw, Bain Capital is a traitor, at least somebody at the firm. Or should I believe somebody at Bain Capital have been “penetrated” by NSB?

Comment by Ex-Huaweier - March 4, 2008 at 3:14 pm"

And here's the real rub:  There are reports Senator John McCain is considering Governor Mitt Romney as his running mate.  It seems pretty clear Romney is relatively far removed from Bain at this time, but this falls into the category of "perception is the greater part of reality."  Having a running mate connected, no matter how loosely, to the Chinese Communist PLA cannot be a good thing for Senator McCain, nor for the nation at large.

I applaud Congressman McCotter for his courage in fighting this merger and bringing this situation to light.  The Chinese are pretty upset and have referred to the congressman in very rude terms.  He is not backing down.  Perhaps Thaddeus McCotter would be a better choice for the next Vice President of the United States.

To read the WSJ blog click here.

Learn about Thaddeus McCotter here: http://mccotter.house.gov/HoR/MI11/About+Thaddeus/

Two Canadian Diplomats, One Evasion by Obama

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For the past four days, Sen. Barack Obama and his campaign staff members have been strenuously denying a story first aired by Canadian television on Feb. 27. The story has gone through several versions. In its original form, CTV said that a 'top staffer' from the Obama campaign had telephoned the...

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China increases military budget by at least 17%

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Today the Pentagon released it annual report on the “Military Power of the People’s Republic of China.”

http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/China_Military_Report_08.pdf

The document states communist China reported a military budget of over $45 billion, a 17.8 % increase over its 2007 budget. This figure continues the nation’s trend of increased military spending surpassing its GDP. Yet, the report states “Accurately estimating actual PLA military expenditures is a difficult process due to the lack transparency,” outside estimates calculate the real military-related budget as high as $139 billion for 2007. Among communist China’s focus, the PLA has invested in ballistic missiles, satellite weapons and cyber war fare technologies.

STEINEM MOCKS MAC'S POW ORDEAL

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From the New York Post:

By CHARLES HURT in DC and CARL CAMPANILE in Sedona, Ariz.

March 3, 2008 -- WASHINGTON - One of Hillary Rodham Clinton's best-known supporters, feminist author Gloria Steinem, belittled John McCain's ordeal as a prisoner of war and the torture he endured as a captured Navy airman.

"I mean, hello?" Steinem told a Texas crowd Saturday night as she was discussing McCain's captivity by the Viet Cong.

"This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don't think so," The New York Observer quoted her as saying.

The red-faced Clinton campaign quickly denounced Steinem's remarks.

"Senator Clinton has repeatedly praised Senator McCain's courage and service to our country," campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said.

McCain senior adviser Mark Salter said that the Republican's 51/2 years in captivity indeed made him more qualified to be commander-in-chief.

"Would you put your country before your own life? Check. Can you perform under great stress? Check. Does it test your courage? Check," Salter said.

Steinem's slap at McCain's service in Vietnam came during a "Women for Hillary" campaign event in Austin on Sunday night.

Her anti-military riff was part of her claim that the press has a gender-based bias against Clinton.

"Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years," she said.

"Reporters would ask, 'What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years?' " Steinem said.

She went on to slam military experience in general - an unusual tactic in a state with some of the country's largest military installations.

"I am so grateful that she hasn't been trained to kill anybody," Steinem said of Clinton.

churt@nypost.com

New Air Force Branding Campaign

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The United States Air Force introduced a new branding campaign called "Above All.""The new slogan is admittedly a bold one," said Col. Michael Caldwell, deputy director of Air Force public affairs, "but so are Airmen." This campaign accurately portrays Airmen and how they're executing the Air Force mission to ensure the security and safety of America now and in the future. 

""Above All' is  about what we do and how we do it," Colonel Caldwell said. "The job of the Air Force is to defend America and we do that by dominating air, space and cyberspace. The new campaign and slogan captures our roots, but also illustrates where we're going as a service as the Air Force prepares to contend with future threats." 

The purpose of the campaign is to create a dialogue with potential recruits, their parents and those most likely to influence young people to join the military about the critical role the Air Force plays in defending America's future, said Colonel Caldwell. 

The "Above All" campaign kicks off this month and will be prominent on television, in print and, of course, in cyberspace. In addition to being shown at several sporting events, "Above All" ads will be seen in magazines and during commercial breaks on many top-rated commercial and television news and entertainment programs, Colonel Caldwell said. 

Jolie: Surge prepares the way for Humanitarian Efforts

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Staying to Help in Iraq
We have finally reached a point where humanitarian assistance, from us and others, can have an impact.

By Angelina Jolie
Thursday, February 28, 2008; 1:15 PM

The request is familiar to American ears: "Bring them home."

But in Iraq, where I've just met with American and Iraqi leaders, the phrase carries a different meaning. It does not refer to the departure of U.S. troops, but to the return of the millions of innocent Iraqis who have been driven out of their homes and, in many cases, out of the country.

In the six months since my previous visit to Iraq with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, this humanitarian crisis has not improved. However, during the last week, the United States, UNHCR and the Iraqi government have begun to work together in new and important ways.

We still don't know exactly how many Iraqis have fled their homes, where they've all gone, or how they're managing to survive. Here is what we do know: More than 2 million people are refugees inside their own country -- without homes, jobs and, to a terrible degree, without medicine, food or clean water. Ethnic cleansing and other acts of unspeakable violence have driven them into a vast and very dangerous no-man's land. Many of the survivors huddle in mosques, in abandoned buildings with no electricity, in tents or in one-room huts made of straw and mud. Fifty-eight percent of these internally displaced people are younger than 12 years old.

An additional 2.5 million Iraqis have sought refuge outside Iraq, mainly in Syria and Jordan. But those host countries have reached their limits. Overwhelmed by the refugees they already have, these countries have essentially closed their borders until the international community provides support.

I'm not a security expert, but it doesn't take one to see that Syria and Jordan are carrying an unsustainable burden. They have been excellent hosts, but we can't expect them to care for millions of poor Iraqis indefinitely and without assistance from the U.S. or others. One-sixth of Jordan's population today is Iraqi refugees. The large burden is already causing tension internally.

The Iraqi families I've met on my trips to the region are proud and resilient. They don't want anything from us other than the chance to return to their homes -- or, where those homes have been bombed to the ground or occupied by squatters, to build new ones and get back to their lives. One thing is certain: It will be quite a while before Iraq is ready to absorb more than 4 million refugees and displaced people. But it is not too early to start working on solutions. And last week, there were signs of progress.

In Baghdad, I spoke with Army Gen. David Petraeus about UNHCR's need for security information and protection for its staff as they re-enter Iraq, and I am pleased that he has offered that support. General Petraeus also told me he would support new efforts to address the humanitarian crisis "to the maximum extent possible" -- which leaves me hopeful that more progress can be made.

UNHCR is certainly committed to that. Last week while in Iraq, High Commissioner António Guterres pledged to increase UNHCR's presence there and to work closely with the Iraqi government, both in assessing the conditions required for return and in providing humanitarian relief.

During my trip I also met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has announced the creation of a new committee to oversee issues related to internally displaced people, and a pledge of $40 million to support the effort.

My visit left me even more deeply convinced that we not only have a moral obligation to help displaced Iraqi families, but also a serious, long-term, national security interest in ending this crisis.

Today's humanitarian crisis in Iraq -- and the potential consequences for our national security -- are great. Can the United States afford to gamble that 4 million or more poor and displaced people, in the heart of Middle East, won't explode in violent desperation, sending the whole region into further disorder?

What we cannot afford, in my view, is to squander the progress that has been made. In fact, we should step up our financial and material assistance. UNHCR has appealed for $261 million this year to provide for refugees and internally displaced persons. That is not a small amount of money -- but it is less than the U.S. spends each day to fight the war in Iraq. I would like to call on each of the presidential candidates and congressional leaders to announce a comprehensive refugee plan with a specific timeline and budget as part of their Iraq strategy.

As for the question of whether the surge is working, I can only state what I witnessed: U.N. staff and those of non-governmental organizations seem to feel they have the right set of circumstances to attempt to scale up their programs. And when I asked the troops if they wanted to go home as soon as possible, they said that they miss home but feel invested in Iraq. They have lost many friends and want to be a part of the humanitarian progress they now feel is possible.

It seems to me that now is the moment to address the humanitarian side of this situation. Without the right support, we could miss an opportunity to do some of the good we always stated we intended to do.

Angelina Jolie, an actor, is a UNHCR goodwill ambassador.

Northrup-Grumman and Airbus win Air Force Tanker Contract

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Northrop Grumman and the maker of Airbus planes beat out Boeing Co. to win a $35 billion government contract to build military refueling planes, the Air Force said Friday.

The selection of Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman and its Paris-based partner, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., came as a surprise to Wall Street.

It is a big blow to Chicago-based Boeing, which has been supplying refueling tankers to the Air Force for nearly 50 years and had been widely expected to win the deal.

The contract positions EADS to break into the U.S. military market in a big way. And it opens up a huge new business opportunity for Northrop Grumman.

In after-hours trading, shares of Northrop climbed $3.74 to $82.37, while Boeing's stock price fell $2.59 to $80.10.

The Air Force has estimated the tanker contract will be worth between $30 billion and $40 billion over 10 to 15 years. It is the first of three deals that could eventually be worth as much as $100 billion over 30 years to replace the entire Air Force fleet of nearly 600 refueling tankers.

As the winners of the first award, EADS and Northrop will be in a strong position to win the two follow-on deals, analysts believe.

Military officials say the Air Force is long overdue to replace its air-to-air refueling tankers, which allow fighter jets and other aircraft to refuel without landing. The service currently flies 531 Eisenhower-era tankers and another 59 tankers built in the 1980s by McDonnell Douglas, now part of Boeing.

But the new contract has emerged as a major test for the Air Force, which is trying to rebuild a tattered reputation after a procurement scandal in 2003 sent a top Air Force acquisition official to prison for conflict of interest and led to the collapse of an earlier tanker contract with Boeing.

The tanker deal is also certain to become a flashpoint in a heated debate over the military's use of foreign contractors since Boeing painted the competition as a fight between an American company and its European rival. The Chicago-based company is expected to protest the decision.

The EADS/Northrop Grumman team plans to perform its final assembly work in Mobile, Ala., although the underlying plane would mostly be built in Europe. And it would use General Electric engines built in North Carolina and Ohio. Northrop Grumman, which is based in Los Angeles, estimates a Northrop/EADS win would produce 2,000 new jobs in Mobile and support 25,000 jobs at suppliers nationwide.

"I've never seen anything excite the people of Mobile like this competition," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said. "We're talking about billions of dollars over many years so this is just a huge announcement."

———

Associated Press Writer Ben Evans contributed to this report. 

McCotter Comments on Possible New Huawei/Bain/3Com Merger

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WASHINGTON DC – News circulated today Bain Capital and communist China's Huawei plan to resubmit an application seeking U.S. approval for a planned buyout of American 3Com Corporation within the next several weeks. Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) made the following comments on the possible new merger:

"No business can sufficiently structure such deals to protect America from this stealth assault on America's national security.  It is the solemn duty of the United States government to protect our liberty from all threats; and CFIUS must again do its job and reject this latest threat to our cyber-security."

Last October Massachusetts based Bain Capital and communist China's Huawei tried to purchase 3Com Corp, an American company which provides the Pentagon with security technologies.

The deal collapsed earlier this month when the three companies withdrew their applications to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CIFIUS), because they could not calm national-security concerns with the U.S. government panel. Specifically in question was 3Com's Tipping Point unit, which sells security software used by U.S. government agencies.

McCotter, Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, was the first member of Congress to bring this issue to public attention and oppose it.  In early October 2007 Congressman McCotter circulated a letter signed by his colleagues and subsequently sent to CFIUS.  McCotter also continued to oppose the deal, despite communist Chinese inspired personal attacks in the media.

Bain Capital LLC is a Boston, Massachusetts-based private equity firm founded in 1984 by Mitt Romney, T. Coleman Andrews III and Eric Kriss; all partners in the consulting firm Bain & Company. Romney was the Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. Bain Capital was originally conceived as a combined equity start-up and leveraged buyout fund, an innovative strategy at the time.

iPhone - a future Enterprise Device?

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Apple: All signs point to a more business friendly iPhone by ZDNet's Larry Dignan -- Apple has dropped some serious hints that its iPhone strategy will at least be tweaked–mostly in ways that will court business users. First up, Apple has sent invitations for the launch of the iPhone SDK next week and as David Morgenstern notes the device will have “some exciting new enterprise features.” Meanwhile, Tim Cook presented at [...]

NAFTA Nonsense Insults Our Allies

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Election 2008: In Tuesday's debate, Democrats blasted the North American Free Trade Agreement. Sure, they're pandering for Rust Belt votes. But do they ever consider the impact of their statements on our allies?

That's who is being hurt by the slew of anti-NAFTA statements that seem to be particularly aimed at Mexico, even if the problem actually comes from somewhere else.

"In Youngstown, Ohio, I talked to workers who have seen their plants shipped overseas as a consequence of bad trade deals like NAFTA, literally seeing equipment unbolted from the floors of factories and shipped to China, resulting in devastating job losses and communities completely falling apart," Democratic front-runner Barack Obama said at a Texas debate last week, making sure that all the woes of China trade got wrapped in the word NAFTA.

It got even more shrill Tuesday night in Ohio:

"I would immediately have a trade timeout, and I would take that timeout to try to fix NAFTA by making it clear that we'll have core labor and environmental standards in the agreement," said Obama's rival, Hillary Clinton. Likewise, Obama spoke of using the "hammer" of withdrawal to enforce compliance.

Both candidates threaten to leave NAFTA unless its "labor and environmental standards" are strictly "enforced." Enforcement? Hammer? What kind of criminals are these would-be G-men talking about? Evil ruffians out there committing . . . trade.

This not only insults our allies and trading partners, it signals to everyone else that America's capricious, chest-thumping protectionist ally, Mexico, a third-world nation that is trying hard to transform itself into a first, bears the brunt of this coded jingoism.

That's because trade pacts these days are about more than just trade — they represent long-term strategic partnerships. But after this talk, who'll want to sign a permanent trade deal knowing they'll be threatened by ambitious politicians every election season?

Far from being an enemy, Mexico is a partner with whom we did $350 billion in two-way trade last year. In the process, we've gained millions of high-paid jobs in the U.S. The relationship has boosted U.S. incomes an average $2,000 per family since 1994. Besides buying 35% of our global exports, Mexico and Canada are also two of our biggest oil suppliers, selling us energy we'd be in huge trouble without.

Casting NAFTA nations as villains sends a chilling message to the dozen other nations that have since signed NAFTA-like agreements — countries as friendly and diverse as Singapore, Jordan, El Salvador, Australia, Morocco and Chile.

They must be wondering when their moment will come to be blamed for poisoned toys, sick pets, bad dumplings, factory shutdowns, outsourcing and all the broader problems of globalization that have nothing to do with their pacts.

Worse still, the irresponsible talk could have a chilling effect on strategic allies waiting for free trade pacts they've already signed to be approved — Colombia, Panama and South Korea. We've left them hanging. What a fine way to win and keep allies.

The demagoguery is particularly objectionable because it's dishonest. First, the NAFTA pact wasn't shoved through by fiat. It was negotiated over years by the Clinton administration, with major input from both Republican and Democratic Congresses.

Everyone got his or her say at the time, and after many debates, the agreement passed both houses in late 1993.

Unlike our trade with China, which is subject to tariffs but contains no major labor or environmental demands, NAFTA did include labor and environmental standards, with the trade-off for Mexico and Canada being the permanence of the treaty.

Subsequent ones, such as 2007's Peru free trade agreement, and the nearly identical pending Colombia pact, required even tougher labor and environmental standards to ensure passage.

Nations give up a lot to sign free trade pacts with the U.S. And some, such as Mexico, endure considerable internal opposition.

But they do it not because selling cheap toys here is such a big deal, but because embracing the trade pact's legal infrastructure comforts investors and helps lure foreign investment.

For these countries, those investments are their future.

Threatening to renege on a permanent treaty — as Clinton and Obama are doing through their identical vows to "opt out" of the deal — signals loudly that America's word is no longer its bond. A permanent pact with the U.S., it turns out, isn't so permanent.

An approach like that toward our treaty partners sends a chilling signal to our friends. It's Obama and Clinton who need to cool it.

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