Great line of the day

From Rev Paperboy, a prediction:

Tune in next week when he tells us that us that the government being found in contempt of Parliament is an example of how Michael Ignatieff hates democracy and is just some Johnny-come-lately who is playing games with the economy and is the son of Russian aristocrats not a "real immigrant"and besides LIBYA! FREEDOM! Democracy! Whisky! Sexy! We are at War! Don't switch horses in midstream!
And if that doesn't work, expect him to try proroguing the house again, just to "save it from itself" and delay the budget so that he can "focus on the economy and the war".

Yep, that sounds about right.

The Obama Doctrine

Fascinating article by Marc Ambinder on the back story of Obama's no-fly resolution and what it means for US strategy in the Middle East.
First, why did Obama flip?

They argued that if nothing was done, despots and beleaguered leaders everywhere would vow never to repeat the “mistake” of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who yielded power without foreign military intervention. Iran, in particular, would find itself with an incentive to continue to spread its proxy forces to other countries and further repress its own citizens. And Rice has made the reinvigoration of the United Nations one of her prime goals as ambassador. The legitimacy of that body was at stake too, she argued.

Second, what is the goal

It was important to the U.S. that Libyans and the world understand that this coalition of the willing was more than a U.S. rhetorical construct. An hour before bombing began Saturday, Clinton spoke to the press in Paris. Asked why military action was in America’s interest, she gave three reasons and implied a fourth. A destabilizing force would jeopardize progress in Tunisia and Egypt; a humanitarian disaster was imminent unless prevented; Qaddafi could not flout international law without consequences. The fourth: there’s a line now, and one that others countries had better not cross.

Third, what does this mean for the future

The development of a new doctrine in the Middle East is taking form, and it could become a paradigm for how the international community deals with unrest across the region from now on. The new elements include the direct participation of the Arab world, the visible participation of U.S. allies, as well as a very specific set of military targets designed to forestall needless human suffering.
Though the Libyan situation is quite unique - its military is nowhere near as strong as Iran’s is, for one thing – Obama hopes that a short, surgical, non-US-led campaign with no ground troops will satisfy Americans skeptical about military intervention and will not arouse the suspicions of Arabs and Muslims that the U.S. is attempting to influence indigenously growing democracies.

Crazy

When Alberta MLA Raj Sherman kept talking about vendettas against doctors and coverups of lung cancer deaths, I started to think his accusations were just too bizarre and he was maybe a little nuts.
But now we're finding out that accusing health system critics of being mentally ill is one of the sleazy tactics that has been used for years to discredit doctors and shut them up.
No matter how cynical I get, I just can't keep up.

Slouching toward Tripoli

Declaring war on Qaddafi is the worst choice we had, except for all the others.
Our soldiers face the blood-dimmed tide yet again, but how we could just leave the people of eastern Libya and Benghazi to be slaughtered by their own government?

Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem

Nothing like the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem on St. Patrick's Day.

Deep blue sea

Between the devil of another disastrous civilian bloodbath and the deep blue sea of US involvement in another Middle-East war, the Obama administration has finally dived in up to their necks.
Of course, they should have realized a week ago that they were going to have to make this decision, because Qaddafi and his son are megalomaniacs. But they were probably hoping against hope that the army would flip like they did in Egypt. No such luck this time. Wishful thinking is not a foreign policy, as much as we would all like it to be.
Booman says

Don't dick around with no-drive zones and military advisers. Either stay out of it entirely, or go get the bastard and put him in the Hague.

A new Simon's Cat video

50

It appears that 50 heroic nuclear technicians are standing between Japan and catastrophe.

A small crew of technicians, braving radiation and fire, became the only people remaining at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on Tuesday...
Tokyo Electric Power, the plant’s operator, has said almost nothing at all about the workers, including how long a worker is expected to endure exposure [to radiation.]
The few details Tokyo Electric has made available paint a dire picture. Five workers have died since the quake and 22 more have been injured for various reasons, while two are missing. One worker was hospitalized after suddenly grasping his chest and finding himself unable to stand, and another needed treatment after receiving a blast of radiation near a damaged reactor. Eleven workers were injured in a hydrogen explosion at reactor No. 3.
Nuclear reactor operators say that their profession is typified by the same kind of esprit de corps found among firefighters and elite military units. Lunchroom conversations at reactors frequently turn to what operators would do in a severe emergency.
The consensus is always that they would warn their families to flee before staying at their posts to the end, said Michael Friedlander, a former senior operator at three American power plants...

The workers were withdrawn for a time Wednesday but are apparently now back at it.

Sounds familiar

As they raced to avert a potential nuclear catastrophe, Japanese officials said Tuesday that they were considering a risky plan to spray water from a helicopter to prevent new fires in a pool of spent fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

The Official Plan from the Japan nuclear disaster is sounding more and more like BP's fill it up with junk plan from last May and we know how well that worked out.

$26 million

All those hundreds of Economic Action Plan ads have cost us $26 million.
And I don't think that even counts all those other federal ads we're also seeing, like the lawyer ads from Immigration Canada and the eggshell baby Health Canada ads.
Steve V says

really this is bullshit so pungent my nose hairs are burning.

Tsunami impact

ABC News Australia has a series of unique photos showing the before-and-after of the Japanese tsunami.
Here is one good news story about a man rescued at sea after being swept away by the tsunami.
And here's a chilling photo:

Tweet of the day

If you live in Wisconsin, don't forget to set your clock back 50 years this weekend.

Equals

Thanks, Boris

Unless the Libyan rebels get help, this isn't going to end well

They're driving to battle in pickup trucks.
I'm no military strategist, but it doesn't look like these rebel "soldiers" know what they're doing militarily.
Juan Cole provides the latest updates of how far the rebels are advancing -- best case, they link up with other rebels closer to Tripoli; worst case, it appears Gaddafi could use his remaining air force to attack rebel positions now that a sandstorm is over.
NATO and the UN may soon have a decision to make.

Shake the dust

Yes, I know there's a little whiff of the Deteriorata about this, but its still pretty neat:

Shake the dust from Anis Mojgani on Vimeo.

Complete poem is here

Do not let a moment go by that doesn't remind you that your heart beats 900 times a day and that there are enough gallons of blood to make you an ocean.
Do not settle for letting these waves settle and the dust to collect in your veins.

Thanks, Crystal.