General Ray Odierno spoke about progress in Iraq Tuesday at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, DC.

Operation Moshtarak is into its fifth day in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand Province.

USS Nimitz pulled into Hong Kong Wednesday despite reports that China might prevent the port call over differences with the U.S. on arms sales to Taiwan.

Some news and rumors circulating within the Beltway:

• Former first lady Laura Bush has joined The Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board, a group of civic, philanthropic, and business leaders who help the organization in a variety of matters including strategic planning.

Bush, who has attended her first board meeting in San Antonio, Texas, is a longtime supporter of The Salvation Army’s charitable works   and served as the keynote speaker during the Army’s 2007 National Advisory Organizations Conference in Dallas.

“We are honored that Mrs. Bush will be joining The Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board to help serve The Salvation Army in its mission nationally,” said Board Chairman Rob Pace.

“Mrs. Bush’s experience, compassion and leadership will be an asset for the organization, and we look forward to working with her for years to come.”

• China has rejected Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s criticism of its Internet censorship, saying it “damages China-U.S. relations.”

Clinton said on Thursday that in the last year there has been a “spike in threats to the free flow of information,” and cited China among the countries that are restricting Internet access and erecting other electronic barriers.

Ma Zhaoxu, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said on Friday: “We firmly oppose such talk, which runs counter to the facts and damages China-U.S. relations.”

Ma urged the U.S. to “respect each others’ core interests and concerns, and handle issues of disagreement and sensitive issues in an appropriate manner, in order to guarantee the stable development of China-U.S. relations,” the Financial Times reported.

Harsher words came from The Global Times, a Communist Party mouthpiece, which stated that China would not be “victimized by information imperialism.”

• Some people are betting newly elected Senator Scott Brown could have a future in an even higher office.

Several days before the election, the rights to the domain name ScottBrownforPresident.com were purchased, The Hill newspaper reported.

On Tuesday, the day Republican Brown won a stunning victory in Massachusetts, someone acquired the domain names ScottBrown2012 and ScottBrown2016.

A Tuesday night posting on CraigsList.org stated: “Need a great web designer to volunteer their services to create a website to help elect Scott Brown for president in 2012. Only conservatives need apply . . . I own 2 superstar domain names.”

Source: Newsmax

I think we all know all about this so-called “climate summit” that’s taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark. You know, the one where climate change propaganda will be the discourse of the day. And also the meeting of contradictions.

You’re probably wondering what I mean by “contradiction”. By that, I am referring to the huge “carbon footprint” that the participants at the meeting will  leave in Copenhagen. Stuff such as:

• 1,200+ limousines in the city alone.
• 140 extra jets expected at the city’s largest airport. For those who cannot park at the local airport, they will have to fly off to regional airports or even Sweden, returning to Copenhagen to pick up their VIP passengers.

And even the food is a contradiction; the masses will dine on such foodstuffs such as scallops, foie gras and sculpted caviar wedges- presumably all sustainable.

And of course, besides the meeting participants, there are the Hollyweird celebrities who will be present, as well. Expected are: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daryl Hannah, Helena Christensen, Archbishop Desmond Tutu (why?), Prince Charles and countless others. On the flip side, Republican senator Jim Inhofe will be there for what is described as an anti-climate change “truth squad”. The protesters haven’t been forgotten, either.

The Danish government have set aside one million kroner ($199,202.21 USD) to give the protesters KlimaForum, a “parallel conference” at a local sports centre. Officials are of the hope that the protesters will work off their energy on the climbing wall, swimming pools and bowling alley. But just in case they want to actually protest, the government has a water-cannon, along with additional police powers. Then there’s the prison (formerly a brewery) where the protesters would call home after their arrest, which would have 360 cages which would house up to 4,000 detainees.

Look folks, this meeting is nothing more than a “dog-and-pony show” as nothing concrete will actually take place. Unless you consider their grand propsal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050 as something of substance. By and large, this meeting is more of a “statement of intent” than any actual binding agreements getting signed.

So what can one expect to be discussed at this meeting? Probably depends on who is doing the actual talking, but I would suspect that the recent skewed climate numbers and those hacked and damning emails will be among the topics discussed. Again, this is the dog-and-pony show that I speak of. And by the way, President Obama will attend the summit during its latter stages (after all, he has a Nobel Peace Prize to pick up). I’m not exactly sure why his presence at the summit will actually be productive as China and the U.S. will not come to any agreement in reference to climate change. After all, it is common knowledge that China is one of the heaviest polluters on the planet, especially compared to us.

So if you’re into contradictions, then Copenhagen is the place for you. But if you’re like me and believe that this “global warming” is nothing but a scam, then you’ll discover (if you haven’t already done so) that these meetings are an exercise in futility. There’s better places to get your self-importance fix.

A look at the new military pay raise.

Gunmen storm a guest house used by U.N. staff, killing at least a dozen people.

Officials announced the successful completion of an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense intercept flight test.

An update on the recent missile defense test.

The U.S. and China reaffirm a commitment made this past April.

Military officials say low visability caused a MH-47 helicopter crash Monday in northwestern Afghanistan.

Our country is on the Path of Unsustainable Debt.

Experts and average people alike worry that the United States is headed for second rate status as a world power because we are “mortgaged” to the hilt to foreign creditors. One recent USA Today analysis found that our real federal debt amounted to more than $500,000 per American household. Much of the true federal (American taxpayer) debt is not even commonly tallied–such as more than $32 trillion in pending Social Security obligations. In addition to its other advantages, the FairTax is the easiest, simplest and best way to expose the true cost of government in every purchase –leading to voter awareness that will restrain politician’s penchant for spending money we don’t have.

Never before has the world seen its richest and most powerful nation so deeply in debt to even the poorest of countries. It is bad enough that we owe a trillion dollars to China, but we even owe money to Botswana!

Today there are few politicians from either political party who can resist the easy reelection strategy of promising and legislating more and more spending. More worrisome is the fact that for many in the voting public, such spending seems divorced from our own earnings. The idea that government spending must eventually come from our own paychecks is obscured because our taxes are largely hidden from sight through payroll withholding and payroll taxes. Thus, many celebrate the refund of a few hundred dollars after April 15th but overlook the fact their refund is but a tiny piece of the thousands of dollars that have been withheld from their paychecks throughout the year. What we are actually doing is making a big interest free loan to our government throughout the year.

Few members of the public would agree that the lucrative industry that has grown up around the tax code justifies the damage to our economy caused by the income tax system. It’s a really attractive system for a very small population of both Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C. and a really bad deal for all the rest of us. Love of power over the tax system and the profits derived from those close to the inner workings of these Congressional committees unite both Democrats and Republicans in Washington–and makes clear the distance between what is good for these few and what is good for the nation.

Because our taxes become obvious with every purchase under the FairTax–instead of hidden from us in payroll taxes–we will all begin to see the true cost of the federal government every time we shop. It’s right there on every receipt instead of hidden from us through payroll withholding. Many believe that when we finally “connect” the cost of the federal government with what comes out of our personal spending, a far different attitude about vote-buying spending promises will make “earmarks” like the “bridge to nowhere” a thing of the past. Families well understand that incurring debt beyond one’s ability to pay is a dangerous path. The FairTax makes obvious how much our government costs us, making unchecked government spending recognized as equally irresponsible and makes it far less acceptable to the American public. The FairTax is the most direct path to healing our nation’s finances.

It’s in the United States’ long-term interest to engage more closely with China, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today, and his new top officer in the Pacific said he’s looking forward to the role he hopes to play in the dialogue.

Dialog between the two countries, particularly about China’s military modernization efforts, will go a long way toward promoting transparency and “preventing miscalculations,” Gates told a gathering of U.S. and South Korean troops here today.

It also can promote the kind of relationship required for the United States and China to work together to confront mutual security concerns, he said.

Gates cited China’s important role in the six-party talks aimed at getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. “The Chinese have a similar interest in preventing destabilizing activities in the region as much as any of us,” he said. “Our goal moving forward is to try to encourage China to grow its participation in internationally stabilizing activities.”

Navy Adm. Robert F. Willard, who took the helm at U.S. Pacific Command just two days ago, said welcomes the role he’ll play in promoting more dialogue and engagement with China.

China brought an abrupt halt to that interchange after the United States announced arms sales to Taiwan in October 2008, but slowly is showing interest in reengaging.

Chinese Gen. Xu Caihou, China’s No. 2 military officer, will meet with Gates in Washington next week, but Willard said he wants more lower-level engagement throughout the military ranks as well. He expressed hope that these exchanges will engender trust and help to clear up some of the uncertainty – particularly about China’s military buildup that’s proceeded at “an unprecedented rate.”

The United States isn’t the only country that’s taken notice, he said. “Our regional partners are somewhat uncertain about it,” he said. “And one of my responsibilities is to seek to better the relations and the levels of understanding regarding intentions and regarding that military development.”

Willard said he’d like to use the dialog as a way to “seek areas that we have in common and common interest in.” He noted efforts China already is involved in or might want to contribute toward, including humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, counterpiracy in the Gulf of Aden, counterproliferation, and search-and-rescue and submarine rescue efforts.

Increased dialogue also could help to clear up differences in how the two countries interpret maritime law. It’s caused some close calls when Chinese naval vessels tried to prevent U.S. ships from operating in international waters off its shores.

“[The Chinese] interpret military operations in their exclusive economic zone differently than we do – and differently, frankly, than the majority of countries do globally,” Willard said.

“We are more than happy to sit down and have an adult discussion about our differences,” Willard added, but he also said the United States isn’t about to back down.

“The United States has operated in the maritime domain in this region of the world for 150 years, and we have no intention of doing differently,” he said. “We very much exert our right to operate militarily and with our commercial ships in international water throughout the Asia-Pacific region.”

Willard noted China’s rise as an economic and world power, and said he welcomes the role it can play as a regional partner.

“China is not our enemy,” he said. “We look forward to a constructive relationship with China, and their constructive contribution to the security of the Asia-Pacific region.”

Jim sent this in:

A federal jury convicted a US Department of Defense official on charges involving providing classified information to a man working with the People’s Republic of China and then lying to the FBI about it, according to reports obtained by the Security Committee of the National Association of Chiefs of Police.