Case # 1:

Say what you will about Ariel Sharon, it was his decision to vacate Gaza and turn it over to the Palestinian Authority. The PA has clearly done a wonderful job with the government there, and Israel is resultingly much safer having done so.

To the point where Israel has its military lined up ready to, essentially “retake” Gaza — and they are entering northern Gaza at this moment.

Case #2:

President William Jefferson Clinton decided it would be wise to provide North Korea with American cash in exchange for its dropping interest in a nuclear program. Yesterday, North Korea demonstrated in an equally efficient and proficient fashion its ability to saber-rattle by shooting off its own equivalent of fireworks on July 4th.

We threw money at North Korea to abandon its nuclear program and delivery systems, then, huh, find ourselves once again being “blackmailed” for cash for same.

Except this time the NKM (North Korean Midget) has become a laughingstock in the international missile community on one hand, and on the other has managed to actually raise the ire of UN members — Japan predominantly amongst them due to its proximity to the NKM’s property.

But let’s go back a bit: North Korea refused to carry out its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and other nuclear accords it had signed by building nuclear reactors and a plutonium reprocessing plant at a site called Yongbyon. Nations believed North Korea had enough weapons-grade plutonium for the manufacture of at least one nuclear weapon.

Clinton tried negotiations, but North Korea’s violations of its obligations under the NPT killed the talks until August of 1994. However, the US and North Korea signed an agreement on October 21, 1994, that offered North Korea a package of benefits in return for a freeze of North Korea’s nuclear program.

Benefits to North Korea included: light water nuclear reactors totaling 2,000 electric megawatts by the year 2003; shipments of “heavy oil” to North Korea (50,000 tons in 1995 and 500,000 tons annually beginning in 1996 until the first light water reactor is built); U.S. agreement to establish liaison offices as an initial step toward diplomatic relations; and a relaxation of the American economic embargo against North Korea.

In December 1995, the United States and North Korea signed a supply contract for the light water reactors.

So, by way of appeasement wherein the US provided NK with lots of cash and nuclear technology, NK kept up its end of the bargain by continuing its nuclear program on the sly and then in the clear and further, on July 4th this week, by firing off its first official generation of a nuclear weapons delivery system.

Let’s cut to the chase:

Appeasement by US and other regimes does not work; invariably it comes right around to haunt the offerer. And the NKM wants what he wants when he wants it but, first, he simply wants the CASH — though he has indicated more missile tests are coming.

But wait, there’s more:

Taiwan, China’s non-conformist little brother, says it will “test-fire a missile capable of hitting China, alarming the island’s main ally, the United States, a cable news network said on Thursday.”

The Hsiung Feng III, developed by Taiwan’s Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, has a range of 600 km (360 miles) and is accurate to within half a meter, the online edition of cable news network ETTV (http://www.ettoday.com) said, quoting unnamed military sources.
That range would put areas along China’s coast from Fuzhou in Fujian Province to Nan’ao in Guangdong within striking distance of the missile, the Web site said.

The plot thickens — is China getting some of its own medicine when, at the same time, it and Russia refuse to condemn the NKM’s recent missile tests?

I do not believe, knowing what I do about the history of our shuttle system, that I would set foot in any of our current shuttles — not only as these airframes are old and tired, but because of the continuing culture of not only NASA but its numerous contractors, as illustrated by the deaths of fourteen of our finest astronauts — most recently the STS 107 mission on February 1st of 2003 wherein chunks of material insulation sloughing off the main propellant tank holed the shuttle Challenger and caused it to burn up in the atmosphere. All seven astronauts perished in, I can only assume, the horrible fires of Hell.

Now, Tuesday’s launch of Discovery occurred in fair skies:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – The U.S. space shuttle Discovery roared off its Florida launch pad on Tuesday on a voyage to the International Space Station, a mission whose failure would likely ground the shuttle fleet permanently.

Discovery, carrying seven astronauts, lifted off from the seaside launch site at 2:38 p.m. EDT (1838 GMT) and soared into sunny skies, jettisoning its booster rockets about 2 and a half minutes into the flight. It reached orbit safely about 9 minutes after launch.

Not a bad beginning but, of course, there is more:

Up to six pieces of debris that could be foam insulation fell off Discovery’s troublesome external fuel tank minutes after liftoff Tuesday, a top NASA official said. Officials cautioned, however, that it was too soon to know whether the debris struck Discovery and that the pieces came off later than would normally endanger the shuttle.

Columbia’s demise in February 2003 was caused by foam insulation that peeled off 70 seconds after liftoff and struck its heat shield.

“About two minutes and 47 seconds give or take (after the Discovery launch), we saw three perhaps four pieces come off (the fuel tank),” said shuttle program manager Wayne Hale, adding that it was unclear whether it was foam or “something else.”

“We also saw another piece or two come off at about four minutes 50 seconds,” he told reporters at the Kennedy Space Center.

He cautioned, however, that it was “very raw, preliminary data” and would have another report later Tuesday.

But Hale said the debris came off the fuel tank later than officials fear it could damage the shuttle’s heat shield.

This certainly appears to me, at first blush, a most similar and sinister replay of the STS 107 Columbia disaster of February 1st, 2003. All seven astronauts perished.

As you no doubt recall, the shuttle Challenger exploded back on January 28th, 1986, the result of an O-ring failure when the craft powered up only 73 seconds into its flight. Engineers at Morton Thiokol (manufacturer of the solid rocket boosters) knew that the colder temperatures at launch were outside of the design range of the O-rings. They strongly objected to the launch, but were overruled by senior Thiokol management. NASA, of course, “went along” with the decision of MT.

T+68.000 seconds:
CAPCOM: “Challenger, go at throttle up.”
Scobee: “Roger, go at throttle up.”

A massive investigation occurred via the Rogers Commission, wherein Richard Feynman famously demonstrated, during a televised hearing, how the O-rings became less resilient and subject to seal failures at ice-cold temperatures by immersing a sample of the material in a glass of ice water.

He was so critical of flaws in NASA’s “safety culture” that he threatened to not sign off on the report unless it included his assessment, which appeared as Appendix F. He pointed to the discrepancy between management claiming a 1 in 100,000 chance of serious failure and the engineers claiming 1 in only 100, a risk one thousand times greater. The commission worked for several months and published a report of their findings.

Feynman was clearly the hero on this commission.

If this is the best we can do as a nation, then we either need to completely redesign and rethink our expensive space transportation systems or abandon our space program altogether. There are clearly more pressing issues back on the planet.

Simply: let’s do it right, or not at all.

I fear for our astronauts on the shuttle Discovery. There is much riding on this mission. And there are only three remaining shuttles available for use: Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavor.

Discovery has already made 32 flights since the program’s first flight in 1981.

Don’t you think that is sufficient?

BZ

From the enlightened Netherlands:

From Amsterdam, this country’s capitol:

Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk has introduced a bill that would require some Dutch citizens to pass a test of what some call as “Dutchness.”

Since March of 2006, immigrants arriving from non-Western countries have had to take the exam, whcih covers the history of the Netherlands, the Dutch language, and Dutch culture.

In addition, Verdonk’s bill would extend the requirement to those who came to the country earlier, even people who have lived and voted in the Netherlands for decades.

Opposition leaders denounced the bill as clearly discriminatory.

But Verdonk said that Dutch society had a “legitimate interest” in drawing a distinction between native-born and naturalized citizens.

If the bill does in fact finally pass, 500,000 people, primarily Muslims, will have to take the test.

The Dutch are finally addressing the Muslim issue but only because they were dragged there, kicking and screaming, due to the uproar about Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad and the murder of Dutch film-maker Theo Van Gogh and — now — the exile to America of Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Dangerous persons and situations all.

Once the most liberal of all countries, the Netherlands appear to be stepping back and re-examining their positions and, of course, like most Euro countries, they are facing their own Population Deficit — as opposed to Paul Ehrlich’s prognosticated Population Bomb.

The Left isn’t always Right.

BZ

America is in fact a wonderful country. People reading my blog cannot ever deny this.

And I would suggest that perhaps it’s time to reflect not only on our independence but on the means and manner in which we currently keep our independence:

The American Soldier.

These few sentences bear repeating:

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag. — Charles M. Province

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty. — John Fitzgerald Kennedy

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. — Dwight David Eisenhower

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. — Ronald W. Reagan

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory. — Douglas MacArthur

The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking… the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker. — Albert Einstein

In Flanders fields the poppies grow; Between the crosses, row on row; That mark our place, and in the sky; The larks, still bravely singing, fly; Scarce heard amid the guns below. — John McCrae

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you’re reading this in English, thank a soldier. — American Axiom

May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won’t. — General George S. Patton, Jr.

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May you all have a safe, happy and healthy 4th of July.

God bless America — because other than its occupants, no one else will.

BZ