text:
Obama Fighting War of His Making Ignoring Others
Filed under: 24/7 News Reporting,Absolutism,Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,Act of War,Administration,AFP,Agency France Press,Al-Jazeera,Amalekites,Ambassador,Ambassador Christopher Stevens,Anti-Israel,Anti-Semitism,Anti-Zionist,AP,Appease Islamic Interests,Appeasement,Appointment,Arab Appeasement,Arab Authority,Arab League,Arab World,Arabs,Associated Press,Ayatollah,Ayatollah Khamenei,Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,BBC,Benyamin Netanyahu,Blood Libel,Borders,Boycott,Breakout Point,Cabinet,Calaphate,Caliphate,Cave of the Patriarchs,Civilization,CNN,Communism,Condemning Israel,Conflict Avoidnce,Congress,Congress,Consequences,Constitutional Government,Coverup,Crimea,Defend Country,Defend Israel,Democracy,Dhimmi,Ditherer in Chief,Divestment,Domestic NGOs,Ease Sanctions,East Jerusalem,Economic Sanctions,Elections,Equal Responsibility,Equal Rights,Equal Treatment,Equality,Europe,European Council,European Governments,European Media,European Pressure,European Union,Executive Order,Fadjr,Federica Mogherini,Fordo,Foreign NGOs,Fox,France 24,France Channel 2,G 20,Gaza,GCC,Golan Heights,Golan Heights,Google,Government,Government Controlled Media,Government Shutdown,Government Worker,Gulf Co-operation Council,Haaretz,Hague,Hamas,Hamas Charter,Hassan Rowhani,Hate,Hatnua,Havard,Herzog,History,House of Representatives,Internal Pressures,International Politics,Iran,Iranian Pressure,Iraq,ISIS,Islam,Islam,Islamic Pressure,Islamic State,Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham,Islamist,Israel,Israeli Capital City,Israeli Interests,Israeli Media,Jerusalem,Jewish Heritage,Jewish Leadership,Jewish State,Jihad,John Kerry,Jordan River,Jordan Valley,Jordanian Pressure,Judea,Judean Hills,Kadima,Knesset,Kurdistan,Kurds,Labor Party,Land for Peace,Leftist Pressures,Libya,Likud,Machpelah,Mahmoud Abbas,Mainstream Media,Media,Media Bias,Media Censorship,Mediterranean Sea,Middle East,Misreporting,Murder Israelis,Muslim Brotherhood,Muslim Brotherhood,Muslim World,Muslims,Naftali Bennett,Netanyahu,Netherlands,New Media,New York Times,Nobel Prize,Nuclear Program,Nuclear Sites,Nuclear Weapons,Obama,Old City,Omission,One State Solution,Oslo Accords,P5+1,Palestinian,Palestinian Authority,Palestinian Media,Palestinian Pressures,Parchin,Peace Prize,Peace Process,PLO,Plutonium Production,Politicized Findings,Politics,President Obama,President Vladimir Putin,Prime Minister,Prisoners,Promised Land,Protective Edge,Qom,Recep Tayyip Erdogan,Recognize Israel,Refugees,Remove Sanctions,Response to Muslim Takeover,Response to Terrorism,Reuters,Rock Throwing,Rocket Attacks,Russia,Samaria,San Remo Conference,Sanctions,Secretary of State,Security,Sharia,Shiite,Six Day War,Social Networking,Soviet Union,Start Treaty,State Department,Statehood,Strong Sanctions,Submission,Sunni,Support Israel,Supreme Leader,Sykes-Picot,Syria,Taqiyya,Taqiyya,Temple Mount,Terror,The Twelfth Imam,Third Intifada,Threat of War,Turkey,Twelvers,Two State Solution,Tzipi Livni,Ukraine,United Nations,United Nations Presures,United States,United States Embassy,United States Pressure,Uranium Enrichment,Vice President,Victims,Washington Post,West Bank,White House,World Media,World Opinion,World Pressures,World Without Zionism or America,Zionism,Zionist — qwertster @ 3:30 AM
Tags: China, Climate Change, Cold War, Congress, European Union, France, Germany, House of Representatives, Iran, Labor Party, Likud Party, middle east, Nongovernmental Organization, nuclear weapons, One Voice, P5+1, Putin, Russia, Sanctions, Senate, Terrorism, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Nations, United States, V15, V2015, War
President Obama is fighting what he believes is the greatest of evils facing mankind in the world today. He is marshaling the Democrat troops, sending Vice President Biden across the oceans, having Democrat Senators enter meetings of the greatest urgency, hoping to coral as many Democrat House Representatives to hold their meeting concurrently as the Senate Democrat meeting, and calling for efforts on the ground in Israel to canvas the nation warning against the greatest evil challenging the world in hopes of gathering the Israeli public in his efforts to right the wrongs and defeat the greatest of evils. But what is the nature of this evil which demands such efforts and coordination across two continents marshalling the people to fight and finally put this menace to all that is holy to rest. Senators, Representatives, public leaders and political ground forces capable of raising awareness with resultant actions across two nations to face an evil; a pernicious and foreboding evil that has threatened the very ties between two civilizations risking a calamity which if not addressed immediately could result in explosive violence across the Middle East. This threat has taken the highest priority on the President's plate, but first let's take a look at the solutions the President has in place on some of the other problems before we debate the merits of the President's present obsession.
There is a deadline approaching, well, not so much a deadline as the latest date by which the negotiations between the P5+1 (United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany) with Iran over their nuclear program and the concerns that they just may be working towards the manufacturing of nuclear weapons are to conclude. Secretary of State Kerry let slip this week the secret negotiating technique the State Department has been applying to this recent and seeming last ditch effort to reach an agreement by March 24 avoiding a third procrastinating setting of a new date which would probably set yet another date towards the end of summer. But the new negotiation technique should resolve any outstanding issues as the instructions are should the Iranians balk at any of the demands then they are to drop said demand and move along to the next position and hopefully there will be sufficient time to readdress the outstanding and dropped issues. It is far more likely that we will see some agreement which will allow for President Obama to announce the reopening of an United States embassy in Tehran during his visit to Tehran where he will join Iranian President Rowhani in a signing ceremony setting the parameters and inspection format permitting only peaceful and low level uranium enrichment under IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) oversight. What could ever go wrong with having the IAEA inspectors under the guidance and power of the United Nations?
Then there is the problem with the JV (Junior Varsity) of the terror world, ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), sometimes simply referred to by their preferred title of IS (Islamic State) or the Caliphate. They had swarmed across one third of Iraq's central regions and almost half of Syria before being slowed and finally contained by the Kurdish militias, Peshmerga forces, contained them in northern Iraq and reinforced the Kurdish YPG (People's Defense Unit) and its complimentary YPJ (Women's Defense Unit) stopping ISIS dead in the northern Syrian town of Kobanê, their official Internet Site and slowly retaking their home town. Further, the allied efforts of sixty nations carrying out airstrikes have also prevented ISIS from taking the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad as well as assisting Kurdish efforts to take back some lands in Syria and northern Iraq. The areas liberated by the Kurdish forces in Iraq have revealed a telling and horrid tale spelled out by the mass graves of Yazidis and Iraqis with numerous of the dead having single bullet wounds to the back of their heads and some with signs of having had their hands tied. Many of the witnesses have retold stories spinning a tale revealing the atrocities and degradations committed by the forces under ISIS, many of which are too horrific to be spoken of except as an impetus to action by those opposing the butchers of ISIS. One such horror that was regaled before the world in a video showed the execution by immolation of the Jordanian pilot held prisoner by ISIS. This atrocity has steeled the Jordanian people in any efforts to avenge their countryman's fate. Jordanian monarch, King Abdullah II referred to ISIS as "Islamic Extremists" and vowed that Jordanian military was able and readying to ramp up their efforts to destroy ISIS claiming they would be "relentless" with strikes upon "their own homes," and to continue the fight until Jordan runs "out of fuel and bullets." When the video which showed the Jordanian pilot's fate was released to the world, King Abdullah was in Washington D.C. where President Obama refused the Jordanian King's request to be supplied with drone aircraft to make reconnaissance and other tactical missions thus aiding and increasing the effectiveness of the Jordanian efforts against ISIS.
Another front facing the world and especially the United States as the head of NATO and presumably the free world, President Obama has been all but absent from the uprising and Russian interference in eastern Ukraine. The uprising has had the telltale signs of Russian intervention as many of the fighters, especially those manning the heavy weapons and armored vehicles, have what appear to be wearing Russian military combat fatigues with no rank, name, unit or other markings. These troops are further tied to Russia as they are most often noted in numbers immediately after there have been additional armor or heavy weaponry crossing the border from Russia into the eastern Ukraine. While the Europeans had installed deep sanctions on Russia which had been starting to have their full effect felt, President Obama was busy leading the way for calls to remove the crippling sanctions were made and eventually heeded by the Europeans. In return, the United States has delivered non-lethal equipment such as night vision equipment, blankets, meal packets and similar supplies. The United States will be debating the pros-and-cons of providing the Ukraine so-called "defensive lethal aid," that might be permitted to include anti-tank, anti-air and anti-mortar systems. The Russians led by President Putin who will likely call President Obama and remind him of the message he had relayed through then President Medvedev stating that, "This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility." The aim is to put an end to the Russian adventurisms before Russian backed rebels rise up against the government in any NATO nation whose government then invokes Article V which requires the other NATO members to come to the aid of the nation facing such an invasion. Where the Ukraine is not as of yet a NATO member, they had been inching in that direction and it was the fears of their being accepted thus placing them under NATO Article V protection. The problem will boil over should Russian President Putin attempt the same scenario in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland or even Poland as Putin had boasted in a threat late last year when he described his feeling and disrespect for NATO implying that it was a hollowed out paper tiger completely devoid of the strength or will to prevent Russia from retaking the lands which had been under the influence of the Soviet Union. Such a threat would reveal the true intestinal fortitude of President Obama assuming that he has any to stand upon.
These problems would appear to be capable of filling the plate of even the greatest of leaders and of taxing their ability to fulfill their obligations as the leader of the free world. They surely have filled President Obama's cup to overflowing, but as we have seen above, the President is right there with a resolute stance and the will to back that up if required. When the time comes to put up or go home he inevitably chooses to stay home and lead from behind. In Mali President Obama allowed the French to take the lead while he waited should any catastrophe require he stand up and be heard defining why this particular problem was not such a serious threat requiring any further actions, especially requiring American "boots on the ground." He followed in Libya and then walked away with the job at hand only half completed. The refusal to step up and clear out all of the rats and their nests eventually assisted in leading to the tragedy which occurred in Benghazi where United States Ambassador to Libya John Christopher Stevens was murdered while the United States Consulate building was torched and burned to the ground. Also murdered were Sean Smith, U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer and aide to Ambassador Stevens along with two former Navy SEALS, Glen Doherty and Tyrone S. Woods who answered the desperate calls for assistance and eventually were murdered during the ensuing battle at the Central Intelligence safe-house where they managed to hold out for close to eight or nine hours calling for an air strike and any relief though none was ever going to be sent. Thus far investigations have yet to place the blame for giving the orders to "stand sown" to all units who were close enough to have rescued the two former SEALS who had rescued a number of Consulate staff and were fighting the insurgents attempting to save anybody still requiring their assistance.
The above challenges and the numerous scandals have the administration attempting to run out the clock until the term is complete and interest in them should die. Despite the appearance of great importance some of the situations such as with ISIS in both Iraq and Syria, Iran on the verge of producing nuclear weapons, and Russia threatening to overrun the Ukraine as well as potentially striking Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or even Poland, and keeping the lid on the many scandals his Administrations, and especially Attorney General Erik Holder has produced, such as the Veterans administration keeping multiple lists to conceal their atrocious wait times which were actually killing many of the United States' most vulnerable and destitute veterans, the NSA (National Security Agency) peering and hacking into personal files and other information stored on their computers as well as from credit card records and other such files, the Fast and Furious Program which could of added Fiasco to its alliterated name. The firearms placed intentionally in the hands of the Mexican drug cartels resulted in one dead American Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry, and who even knows how many Mexican innocents, police officers and military forces assisting in their war on drugs. The rest of the tragedy which was Fast and Furious was that the firearms were never recovered nor were there any arrests or convictions attained due to the intentional arming of the worst criminals throughout Mexico and especially on the United States southern border. Add in the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) scandal where groups applying for tax exemption due to their nonprofit status were placed last to be processed and made to go through the most twisted demands and requirements to prove their nonprofit status including the answering of thousands of questions and even required them to turn over lists of their donors simply determined by if their name included words which were deemed suspicious and automatically placed the petitioner in the slowest and most intensive inquiries possible. What were some of these words? Words such as freedom, independence, guns, firearms, Constitution, Bill of Rights, Tea Party, 9/12 Organization, and other keywords which were considered to dictate the inquiry came from conservative or libertarian motivated organizations. There additionally were the attacks on the privacy of selected news and editorialists with whom the White House had difficulties or disagreements with their slant. These invasions of their private lives even went so far in at least one instance that the reporter's parents' files and information was run through the mill to see what may fall out. There is even more on the domestic scandal front but you get the idea.
Either side, the domestic scandals and the terror and Russian threats and other menaces on the world's stage would be enough on their own plate and would lead anybody into a dizzying schedule just attempting to keep up, but the President has a singular mission he has placed before all others, the changing of the make-up of the Israeli government resulting in the replacing of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu with the collaboration of Tzipi Livni and Yitzhak Herzog at any cost. Towards this end the White House has set up a funding headquarters in an office in New York City on West 38th Street under the name of the NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) V15/One Voice. In a surprising effort in Israel there exists another NGO with a name very similar to the NGO in New York, the Israeli one is named V2015 though on some of its material the name is shortened to V15. We have covered some of the particulars, and more should become available as we approach the March 17 Israeli elections. Our previous article was titled, "Obama's Deceits Over Israeli Elections" and includes the letter written by Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Lee Zeldin who are both Member of Congress sent to Secretary of State John Kerry demanding to know and have an accounting over whether government funding of V15 and One Voice are being utilized in efforts to affect the Israeli elections. The efforts the White House is taking to attempt to embarrass Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for accepting an invitation from Speaker of the House Boehner to address the combined houses of Congress on the Iranian nuclear issue and to give a summary of anything the Israelis might know that the State of the union address failed to mention. What is interesting about the protestations being staged by the White House is that they are premised on some false information. Firstly, the Prime Minister was going to be in the United States to speak to the AIPAC Conference the first week of March and it has been almost a given custom to have the Israeli Prime Minister address the Congress while he is in the United States. Additionally, the White House had been given notice that the Speaker of the House was going to request that the Israeli Prime Minister address Congress, the Speaker simply did not wait for an answer as the last time he made such a request it took the White House almost, if not all of, three months before granting him a reply. Additionally, the Speaker was aware that the White House would take an equally lengthy time this time as well so he decided that advising them of his intent to request such an audience was sufficient, for which there exists no reason that the Speaker of the House is required to have such invitations approved by anybody, the third in line to become President in a catastrophe where both the President and the Vice President were rendered unable to continue as the leader of the United States.
The White House has taken an additional step beyond their very public statement repeated numerous times stating that President Obama will refuse to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and that Secretary of State Kerry has been instructed not to meet with the Israeli Head of State; they have further made grand mentioned that Vice President Biden will also not be present as he will be out of town in the midst of travels on the date of Netanyahu's speech. Adding insult to injury, Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Kerry both made particular effort to conspicuously hold excessively visible meeting with Israeli Labor Party leader Yitzhak Hertzog demanding the press make note of this public display intended to send a visceral message to Israelis that the White House has found their lackey with whom they can arrange what President Obama has wanted since he made his very first official call as President to Mahmoud Abbas, to force Israel to surrender all of Judea, Samaria and Most of Jerusalem returning to within the Green Line which guarantees a bloody war will soon ensue when Arab rockets close Ben Gurion Airport and destroy numerous skyscrapers in the heart of Tel Aviv. The lengthy discourse stressing the complete lack of any relations between the two groups have continued to the point of absurdity and cemented the ties in place for all to see if only they desire to seek the truth. In all honesty, Benyamin Netanyahu or his Likud Party have retained the services of a political group which assists with campaign organizational functions and all other aspects who have previously been used by Republican candidates. The difference is that the firm assisting the reelection of Prime Minister Netanyahu and the return of his predominant Likud Party has been done straight up without any denials or other shenanigans. The V15 or V2015 and One Voice campaign refuses to even come out and say for whom they are working. When approached they claim they are not supporting the Labor Party-Hatnua Party alliance list running under the name "Zionist Camp," a misnomer intended to mislead the electorate, and even refuse to recognize that they are attempting to bring down Prime Minister Netanyahu from forming the next coalition and say instead that they desire to force a change in the government from the nationalist to something else. They do not presumably care as long as the governance changes, I wonder what their reply would be if somebody then stated they must be supporting Jewish Home Party leader Naftali Bennett which my bet is would elicit the response of dismissing such as a silly idea as Bennett is not the next in line should Likud not be tapped to form the next government. The final incriminating piece of evidence is the stated plan of feeding the Israeli staff through the New Israel Fund (NIF) which is an NGO which has a history of being a clearing house of sorts for progressive groups, NGOs and even political campaigns to funnel moneys from outside of Israel into Israel such that the entity receiving funding from NIF can sometimes be dirty money being funneled illegally into Israeli politics. This has been the method of choice by the Anthropomorphic Climate Change entities when receiving funding from European governments or even from the European Union (EU) or the United Nations (UN). The final push will come in the final week to week and a half which is also when the New York office intends to flush the monies into Israel hoping that its late entry will not be revealed and caught by the agency which monitors the election for irregularities. Perhaps once the Israeli elections have concluded then President Obama can address some of those trifling matters such as Russia's President Putin threatening to return the world to the Cold War days or address ISIS who is intent on introducing the hottest conflagration of war possible to the whole of the world given sufficient time and munitions.
Time for Israel to Diversify her Relations in the World
Filed under: 1967 War,Administration,Advanced Weapions Systems,Air Support,Amalekites,Anti-Israel,Anti-Semitism,Anti-Zionist,Appease Islamic Interests,Appeasement,Appointment,Arab World,Armed Services,Asia,Blood Libel,Borders,Breakout Point,Britain,Civilization,Conflict Avoidnce,Disengagement,Divided Jerusalem,Egypt,Eilat,Europe,European Governments,European Union,Executive Order,Foreign NGOs,France,Gamal Abdel Nasser,Hate,Hezballah,History,IAF,IDF,Internal Pressures,International Politics,Iran,Islam,Israel,Israeli Capital City,Jerusalem,Jewish Heritage,Jewish Home,Jewish Leadership,Jewish State,Jordan,Judea,Judean Hills,Land for Peace,Lebanon,Middle East,Military Aid,Muslim World,Nuclear Program,Nuclear Sites,Nuclear Weapons,Plutonium Production,Promised Land,Recognize Israel,Response to Terrorism,Samaria,Sinai Peninsula,Suez Canal,Syria,United Nations,United Nations Presures,United States,Uranium Enrichment,World Opinion,World Pressures — qwertster @ 3:49 AM
Tags: Breakdown United States Israel Relations, Britain, Cold War, Egypt, Fighter Jets, France, IDF, Iran, Israel, Lavi, Military Equiipment, Peace Process, Post World War II, President Obama, Sinai Peninsula, Soviet Union, Straits of Tiran, Suez Canal, United States, Vulnerable Dependence
After World War II the United States took steps to assure that they would be the leader of the Western World and the sole defender of Democracy. They freed the European countries from retaining large militaries probably hoping to avoid another European driven conflagration that would drag the United States into the conflict before it ended much as the two world wars had done. They even went so far as to almost completely neuter the British Navy to where they had to overcome difficulties in the 1980s to field a force to the Falkland Islands to rescue them from an Argentine attempted takeover. This arrangement worked well for quite some time especially as the United States had to remain militarily powerful as a balance against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Eventually, Israel came to depend on the United States as well, though not immediately or as early in her history as many tend to believe. The Israelis largely depended on a combination of Europeans and for a while at the start from the Soviet Union who saw Israel as a socialist ally and fellow traveler initially. The Soviet Union drifted off and sided with the Arabs who forced them to choose one side and as the Arabs had more natural resources and offered a seemingly better dependence and patronage than the Israelis as well as a much larger market for Soviet weaponry.
The United States led the charge after the 1956 War between Israel and Egypt over the closure of the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to Israeli shipping as well as European shipping through the Suez Canal. Technically speaking, the Israelis were invited to join with the British and French in the war with Egypt after President Nasser closed the Canal to Western shipping, something Britain and France could not live without or their markets in Asia would have become unprofitable. The British and French were supposed to attack Egypt concurrent with the Israeli attack but only Israel offensive ever came to fruition. The British and French got their reopened Suez Canal and the Israelis got their reopened port using the Red Sea at Eilat and control of the Sinai Peninsula. This was the first time that Israel held the entire Sinai Peninsula after a war with Egypt. The United States along with Israel's so-called allies in the war, Britain and France, all joined the United Nations Security Council in demanding that Israel return every inch of the lands won, which she did without much fuss. It was not until after the Six Day War where Israel responded to the threats and massed troops on her northern and southern borders, open threats of genocidal annihilation, and the closing once again of the Straits of Tihran closing off Israeli access to Asia which after the 1956 War had been declared a casus belli for war by Egypt. Once again the Israelis, using almost the exact same battle plan, took control of the Sinai Peninsula along with the Golan Heights and after Jordan joined the attack on the second day believing the Egyptian and Syrian claims of massive victories and disbelieving Israeli requests that they not make a disastrous mistake on erroneous propaganda, Israel also took control of Judea and Samaria and all the land occupied by Jordan since the 1948 War which cemented Israeli independence. President Johnson ordered the Pentagon to assess the Israeli military capabilities and after reading the impressive report decided that Israel would make a suitable ally for the United States to balance the Soviet Union leaning Arab states.
Even this was not the final cementing of what has become Israeli semi-dependence on the United States for armaments and equipment parts. That came when Israel had designed their own fourth generation fighter Jet named the Lavi which many thought would compare favorably with the United States F-16. This was viewed as a potential threat to the United States almost unique ownership of fighter jet sales so the United States made an irresistible offer to Israel of supplying F-16s and F-15s with Israeli modifications and full support at a far lower price than it would have cost Israel to produce the Lavi themselves. This led over the years to the United States slowly Americanizing much of the IDF equipment including replacing indigenous weapons systems such as rifles, grenades and numerous other pieces with United States built replacements to where Israel slowly became dependent on the United States for parts and support of much IDF equipment. Israel did not, as many argue, come supplicant to the door of the United States asking for American weapon systems which is partly why the Israeli Defense Force does not field the M1A1 Abrams heavy battle tank and instead uses the very capable Merkava MKIV and MKV heavy battle tanks. Not having relied on in-house weapons systems development and domestic manufacture may end up proving very costly for Israel with an antagonistic President in the White House. Let us hope that Israel will not end up paying too high a price learning that there is no such thing as friends between nations, just temporary relations for as long as mutual benefit and convenience dictate.
Israel is facing a threat which nobody speaks of but might be heard in the whispers if you possess a trained ear and know where to listen closest. Dependence on the United States for weapons systems, especially fighter aircraft, may be the Achilles Heel of the IDF. If the United States were to stop supplying replacement parts and maintenance for the fleets of F-16I and F-15I fighters that make up the Israeli Air Force and also cancel the planned shipments of F-35 Strike Fighters scheduled for the next two years, Israel would be behind the eight ball and needing to design or find a replacement fifth generation fighter close to overnight in order to maintain sufficient air suppression superiority. That is why the Merkava Main Battle Tanks are a blessing in so many ways as it is a fully capable modern main battle tank comparable to any other currently fielded or in production and the older models have been repurposed as personnel carriers and armored field ambulances thus providing systems necessary for the type of warfare Israel may face and supplying superior defenses when compared to other systems used by other nations, especially the armored field ambulances. Should there come an irreconcilable difference between Israel and President Obama and his Administration over possibly Israeli refusal to accept an interim deal with the Palestinians or after Israel strikes known vital Iranian nuclear sites to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapons breakout and President Obama decides to break relations with Israel in protest placing military sanctions upon the Israelis, then Israel would be facing a severe challenge simply to keep her Air Force functioning without replacement parts. The emergency such a predicament would present is beyond definition or explanation, it is simply unimaginable. The bright side is Israel, providing she survived long enough to produce replacement systems indigenously, will have learned a basic and vital lesson, never place all your eggs, especially if those eggs protect your nation, in one basket. The United States under the leadership of President Obama has made one thing evidently clear, the nations who thought that the United States was completely reliable and beyond being turned on its head by a single person, even the President, is a false belief and could prove to be fatal to those holding to that premise. The Obama Presidency has hopefully taught the Israelis a basic and vital lesson, never rely totally for your defense on any single nation, spread your vulnerabilities around even at the cost of efficiency as one can efficiency themselves out of existence. There is no such entity as an ally who will never let you down or fail you when you most need them, and that must be part of all military planning. Next time somebody offers Israel a sweet deal and promises to always be there, let us hope that Israel will not act like a school girl with a crush and believe such a story. The only friend who will never desert you is your own in-country production of vital defense systems. Oh, and on another note, they also make for a great trade item once you build the next and better system to replace them. Don't worry, there will still be nations where you now discarded weapons are an improvement.


I know because I read all those other lists out there and picked the things that (I think) every writer should know about their character. Some of them are just for fun, but most really help me narrow down how I'm going to write a specific character. I thought it would be nice, while we're working with character development, to share these with you.
They've helped me build characters, as well as stories. They dig deep into the character's psyche, so you know where s/he is coming from. And they SERIOUSLY reveal character.
I will also share some of my favorite answers, after the list. So, without further ado, let's begin.
1. How old is s/he (physically AND mentally)?
2. Did s/he have a happy childhood? Why or why not?
3. What are their past and present relationships and how do they affect him/her?
4. What does s/he care about?
5. What is s/he obsessed with?
6. What is his/her biggest fear?
7. What is the best thing that ever happened to them? Worst?
8. What is their most embarrassing moment?
9. What is his/her biggest secret?
10. What is the 1 word that defines him/her?
11. What do you know about him/her that s/he doesn't?
12. What music does s/he sing when no one else is around?
13. What is his/her favorite movie?
14. What is his/her favorite piece of clothing? Shoes?
15. Who is his/her favorite person?
17. Does s/he play any instruments?
18. What is his/her catchphrase?
19. What is his/her favorite excuse?
20. What is his/her favorite song?
22. What is the most beautiful thing s/he has ever seen?
24. Has anyone close to him/her died?
25. What would s/he wish for if s/he found a genie?
27. When and where was s/he happiest?
28. What is something s/he can't resist?
29. What is something people misunderstand about him/her?
30. What is his/her favorite holiday?
31. What are his/her hopes and dreams?
32. What would s/he die for?
33. What would mentally destroy him/her?
34. Why would s/he defend a stranger?
35. What does s/he lie about?
36. Does s/he have a positive or negative body image?
37. What object will s/he never give up?
38. What can s/he do at the end that s/he can't do at the beginning?
A lot to take in, I know. Let me explain how this works.
It's OK to think outside the box. Sometimes the answer will just pop out of nowhere, sometimes you'll really have to think hard to get to the heart of the issue. (P.S. This list is also great to help create backstory).
I'll give you some examples of some of my characters' answers. They're…. interesting, to say the least.
We'll start with a question where my character dropped a quote in my lap that completely answered the question.
Q: What is his biggest fear?
Sometimes, the way your character thinks about something will come out in their answer, or even the way they talk. Like this answer from a Texas boy character.
Q: What is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen?
A: A Texas sunset by the Gulf beach.
Not how I would have put it, but characters do that sometimes.
Q: What is one thing she can't resist?
Q: What is her favorite holiday?
A: New Year's. New beginnings.
Lastly, sometimes your character will give an answer that completely shapes how they see themselves, other people, or even the world.
Q: What was her most embarrassing moment?
A: Found boyfriend with her best friend. On date night.
Ouch. That probably shaped how she views guys and herself. Because of this, she doesn't have great self-worth. Think about those kinds of experiences. Why the character is who they are.
Do that, and your characters will end up pretty amazing.


I know this is sorta off topic but it does have to do with the enviorment: i have a friend who is totally addicted to radio disney she always has the boom box in her room and she leaves it on ALL the time she falls asleep with it ON with her headphones stuck in her ears, she still has it on when she gets up, she keeps it on when she's in school so she can go right back to it immideatly. I like that station but i am NOT that addicted to it! she is deffinetly wasting elctrisity!
I'd say you're right. She is definitely wasting electricity. It might seem like the radio is small and doesn't use much, but when you add it all up, all day, all night, all week, and on and on, that's a LOT of electricity! Maybe you could try suggesting that she turn it off when she's not in her room, like when she's at school.


text:
Oil pares gains as industry is said to post surprise crude build
US inventories said to rise 1.63 million barrels last week
Luke Sharrett / Bloomberg
Oil pared gains after an industry report was said to show US crude stockpiles unexpectedly rose last week.
Inventories increased by 1.63 million barrels in data from the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute released Tuesday, people familiar with the report said. That would be the largest build since June if confirmed by Energy Information Administration data on Wednesday. Gasoline supplies slid by 5.45 million barrels, while stockpiles in Cushing, Oklahoma increased by 608,000 barrels, the API was said to report.
"I do expect a modest draw in crude," James Williams, an economist at London, Arkansas-based energy-research firm WTRG Economics, said by telephone. But if the EIA confirms API's crude build, "I think we see crude prices go down. There's no doubt about it. We certainly consider returning to the bear market trend."
West Texas Intermediate for August delivery traded at US$46.25 a barrel at 5:01 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after settling at $46.40 a barrel. Total volume traded was about 3 percent above the 100-day average.
Brent for September settlement advanced 42 cents to end the session at $48.84 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.25 to WTI.
Oil has hovered below $50 amid concerns that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies won't be able shrink a longstanding glut, as producers such as the US and Libya ramp up output. Citigroup Inc. cut its oil-price forecasts for this year and next as Libya and Nigeria restore previously halted supplies and US production climbs.
Earlier in the session, oil rose as much as 2 percent following a report from U.K.-based consultant Petroleum Policy Intelligence saying Saudi Arabia is considering cutting exports further by as much as 1 million barrels a day to offset the rise in output from Libya and Nigeria.
Ecuador Oil Minister Carlos Perez said he spoke to Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih and that both countries are committed to reducing inventories to a "normal" level, a day after he said the South American country would need to increase output to boost revenue.
"The market is waiting for the proof in the pudding," Michael Loewen, a strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto, said by phone. "There's a lot of chatter these days. If Saudi Arabia is actually going to reduce exports" investors will need to see it in tanker-tracking data before they believe it, he said.
Saudi Arabia crude oil exports fell to 6.924 million barrels a day in May from 7.006 million barrels a day in April, according to JODI data. Iraq's crude exports rose 1.7 percent to 3.818 million barrels a day, the data showed.
OPEC member Kuwait last week said Libya and Nigeria may be asked to cap their oil output amid concern about their rebounding production.
Libya will participate in a technical meeting with fellow OPEC members as well as Russia in St. Petersburg on July 22 to share the "factors enabling and constraining Libya's production recovery," Mustafa Sanalla, chairman of the National Oil Corp., said on Tuesday. Supplies from Libya have increased to 1.1 million barrels a day, according to a person familiar with the matter.
US crude inventories probably decreased 3.5 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg survey before an EIA report Wednesday. Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI and the biggest US oil-storage hub, probably fell by 1.5 million barrels last week, according to a forecast compiled by Bloomberg.
*Bloomberg
Updated: July 19, 2017 09:09 AM
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