Gates On the F-35

Uncle Jimbo has a piece in the WashTimes trying to decide who won this debate between SecDef Gates and SecDef Gates:

Robert M. Gates is on his farewell lap as secretary of defense and is making his final speeches to the service academies. He also seems to be debating himself in the process. He made the following remarks to Army cadets at West Point:

“And I must tell you, when it comes to predicting the nature and location of our next military engagements, since Vietnam, our record has been perfect. We have never once gotten it right, from the Mayaguez to Grenada, Panama, Somalia, the Balkans, Haiti, Kuwait, Iraq and more - we had no idea a year before any of these missions that we would be so engaged."

“The need for heavy armor and firepower to survive, close with and destroy the enemy will always be there, as veterans of Sadr City and Fallujah can no doubt attest.”

As Jimbo so eloquently states, "Thats common sense right there"

He [Gates] also said this:

“In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should ‘have his head examined,’ as Gen. MacArthur so delicately put it.”

So now we've eliminated two whole continents and the center of Islamic extremism.

Now Lets hear the SecDef at the Air Force Academy:

“That includes the requirement for more sophisticated, high-end capabilities. I’ve said before that it would be irresponsible to assume that a future adversary - given enough time, money and technological acumen - will not one day be able to directly threaten U.S. command of the skies.

“So even as I’ve touted the need to incorporate the lessons of the current conflicts, I have also committed the Department of Defense - and this country - to the most advanced and expensive tactical fighter program in history - the $300 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The department is programmed to buy 2,400 of these aircraft, and the first Air Force training aircraft will arrive at Eglin Air Force Base in just over two months. Having a robust, large quantity of fifth-generation tactical air fighters is something I view as a core requirement, and in this era of increasing budget constraints, my goal has been to ensure that core capabilities for all the services are protected. This has meant increasing development funding for the F-35, scaling back or cutting other programs that are not as essential and intervening directly to get the program back on track, on budget and on schedule.”

DDT is good for you and other living things. Well, except mosquitoes.

DDT is a danger to the natural world! It kills Bald Eagles! It kills Peregrine Falcons! Its horrible!


Not. So. Much.


What it IS a danger to is mosquitoes. And mosquito borne diseases are on the rise again. Millions die in Africa because of Malaria and other diseases borne by the mosquito. Malaria is on the rise.
But the hue and cry is for an HIV cure. Why not prevent malaria first, thereby improving the immune systems of millions.

From the American Enterprise Institute:

The United States was not the only country in the Americas to use DDT to great effect. Table 1 details the dramatic impact of DDT on malaria cases in selected countries in the Americas. Notably, success was greatest in island countries, where the vector could be contained most easily. In 1955, WHO launched its own malaria eradication program, based on the extraordinary successes seen thus far with DDT. The program was funded mostly by the U.S. government.

The Richmond Examiner exposes the fact that Dengue fever, aka "bone break" fever, is on the rise in the US.

Key West is the latest outbreak.

Bring back DDT. Save lives. Maybe yours.

US programs in Africa helping millions. Who knew?

President Bush has been vilified and criticized for years about his apparent disinterest in the poor and downtrodden of Africa. I say "apparent" because to all appearances, the US has done little to help the sick and poor of Africa. And who presents that appearance? Why, the US media. The same media that trumpets any less than stellar achievement as a disaster, IF the person to benefit is President Bush.
(emphasis mine)

President Bush and Sir Geldof

The Most Powerful Man in the World studied the front cover. Geldof in Africa — " 'The international best seller.' You write that bit yourself?"

"That's right. It's called marketing. Something you obviously have no clue about or else I wouldn't have to be here telling people your Africa story."

It is some story. And I have always wondered why it was never told properly to the American people, who were paying for it. It was, for example, Bush who initiated the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) with cross-party support led by Senators John Kerry and Bill Frist. In 2003, only 50,000 Africans were on HIV antiretroviral drugs — and they had to pay for their own medicine. Today, 1.3 million are receiving medicines free of charge. The U.S. also — whcontributes one-third of the money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria which treats another 1.5 million. It contributes 50% of all food aid (though some critics find the mechanism of contribution controversial). On a seven-day trip through Africa, Bush announced a fantastic new $350 million fund for other neglected tropical diseases that can be easily eradicated; a program to distribute 5.2 million mosquito nets to Tanzanian kids; and contracts worth around $1.2 billion in Tanzania and Ghana from the Millennium Challenge Account, another initiative of the Bush Administration.

So why doesn't America know about this? "I tried to tell them. But the press weren't much interested," says Bush.

Sir Bob Geldof, being British, misses this part of the equation when he scolds the President for his lack of knowledge about marketing. Its not that the press isn't interested. Its that the press is not interested in Bush getting ANY credit about ANYTHING. President Bush could cure cancer and he would not get good press. If Bill Clinton had achieved this, he would have been made a saint....