Posted on 11/23/2010 10:29:06 AM PST by JoeA
In today's broadcast, conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said that the contrail spotted off the California coast by a KCBS news helicopter was a missile. "I've talked to experts" he said. "It was a missile." The comment puts him in line with many who doubt the administration’s characterization of the contrail seen off the California coast as that of an airplane.
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
No they don't. China has a second or thrid tier millitary with a economy dependent on US dollars. They may own debt, but if they want to go to shooting - debt canceled. Not in their interests.
China sees itself as pretty much the sole Superpower in the world now, if you consider military AND financial might.
I agree that China is working to achieve that spot, but they aren't there yet, by a long shot. Additionally - both their base economy and military spending are funded by borrowed US dollars. Pushing the issue to the point of hostilities takes that funding and turns it into value zero.
Right now our economy is so fragile that *if* China had the balls to call in the chips we would be screwed financially.
In a free market scenario - the dumping of US treasury reserves from China would have consequences for us, but also for China. Their currency would necessarily have to appreciate to make up for the sudden imbalance. Their already excessive inflation would go to hyper inflation overnight. Hyper inflation in a wealthy nation - serious problem. Hyper inflation in what is mostly a third world country - extremely serious problem.
If push came to shove - the US could and should freeze/embargo the transfer of at least US securities into our out of China and and any nation that would trade such with them until they decided to stop being engaged in pushing and shoving.
Personally - if things come to a shooting war for other reasons - I don't think debt service is a big issue. And I think China knows that if they launches missles at or near or toward or within pissing distance of the US, we can remove 3+t trillion in wealth from their economy overnight without impacting the soul of another debt holder on the planet.
Personally - the freaking thing looks like a contrail to me.
Notice the responses to the jet contrail suggestion, before it became the official story more than 24 hours after the fact. Nobody was buying it for a second. Now it was painfully obvious, they all knew it all along and only a tin-foil hat wearing cospiracy nutter would ever entertain the thought that it was a missile. Uh huh.
As far as I can tell, one guy on this forum had this thought before it was the conventional wisdom. Everyone else was trying to figure out whose missile it was.
I agree with you on many points, China isn’t ‘there’ yet but that day is quickly getting here. I do think China is a Superpower, if not in name, they’re quietly laying the foundation to be so. They’re obviously betting that we’ll destroy ourselves from the inside first and at some later date not have the ability to project much past our borders or the lack of will to protect our interests abroad.
I do agree that China’s financial deck of cards is more fragile than some think as they’re so far in bed with our economy they can’t separate it. Still that said, if push come to shove I think the money issue is a moot point if at the end of a shooting war you’re the only one left standing. There’s no question the Chinese military establishment is itching for a fight against us to see just where they stand.
IMO China’s weakness in what they consider their strength. They think raw numbers alone is the game changer within a conventional conflict. While quantity is a quality on it’s own, it’s not the war you win battles. China has spent a lot of money modernizing their air and navel forces but it remains to be seen if they’ve evolved their tactics and strategies.
At this point I think the likelihood of some type of armed conflict with China in the next 50 years is high. I wouldn’t be surprised if they moved on Taiwan between now and the elections in ‘12. I highly doubt the current admin would risk defending Taiwan against Chinese forces.
I hope to hell I’m wrong and we’ve turned the corner with China. Let’s hope they see us a strategic partner in the long-term; then again maybe Obama does have that magical Unicorn that will grant me all my wishes.
That looks like an airplane contrail. It doesn’t look much like the video from Nov. 8th at all.
No he didn't. He said he saw something similar the week before not the same. He didn't say anything about seeing something the day before.
Jim Cash is a retired brigadier general U.S. Air Force. A former NORAD command director, former assistant director of operations at NORAD, a U.S.A.F. pilot of F-106s, F-4s, F-15s and F-16s for 25 years and the commander of an F-15 Squadron and an F-16 Wing.
If this guy's judgment is in question we'd better find out who's in charge of NORAD today.
It's pretty disgusting to see a FReeper make snide remarks about a highly decorated USAF warrior and patriot. Let me know how your resume stacks up against this one...
BRIGADIER GENERAL JIMMY L. CASH
I feel like I'm on DU when I hear cracks like yours about America's veterans.
Someone else who insults American patriots without knowing a thing about them. (spit)
Why is it stamped PST instead of PDST if it hasn't been changed? 18:15 (6:15 PM) would be right according to how dark it is compared to the video taken at 5:15 PM.
Sorry, the only reason I asked was because what you were describing sounded a little like a blimp and the Monday Night Football game was in San Diego.
That and fitness/working out in a gym. I doublefaceplam.jpeg whenever he comments about working out.
Yes, I suppose being stationed inside a mountain, or flying fast jets, does make one an expert on identifying "definite" missile launches based on a few seconds of highly-zoomed video.
It's hooey. There are a lot of folks who for some reason really want this to have been a missile. The easy, correct answer isn't good enough for them.
Perhaps it was a blimp....we see quite a lot of them around here.
Really. Here are his exact words.
GIL LEYVAS: "I realize that it was something that we saw earlier from the week before... we saw something very similar the past Thursday and immediately I realized that it was something very similar and I called on the two-way to our assignment desk to let them know that we were seeing it again... Not as dramatic as the one yesterday. The one from yesterday was pretty spectacular."
The people pushing the airplane scenario are going to tremendous effort to get good people, honest FReepers, to look at anything BUT the video.
Notice how according to the airplane pushers, still shots of other events, airplanes and missile shots, are perfectly acceptable for comparision and study, but somehow any clip from Leyvas' video -- a clip being the equivalent of still shots being shown one after the other in order -- is questionable. Then when you say, Okay, let's look at this still shot from Leyvas' video, those same airplane people turn around and argue that somehow, becuase it is a still shot of the video, that it's not representative of the event because of editing done on Leyvas' video.
I am dismayed at how many FReepers are such easy prey, and who have so little confidence in their own abilities that they submit to phony "experts" like the sources behind contrailscience and Rick Warren photos, whose photos may or may not be of what they say are, while the Leyvas video's authenticity -- taken Nov. 8 off the Los Angeles coastline -- is so certain that it's not even in dispute.
The “one from yesterday” was the 11/8 video. He gave this interview the next day.
Yes, he was speaking on the 9th, in an interview, about the missile he saw ‘yesterday’ the 8th. Reading a difficult chore for you?
How long do you think a fighter pilot has to identify one? Publik skool product are you?
Fighter pilots are not usually assigned to identify ballistic missile launches from short snippets of TV video.
But as long as we're on the subject, FRiend .... what hard evidence do you -- or anybody -- have, aside from this one video snippet?
Can you produce any direct witnesses or data anywhere, besides this one video, to suggest that it's a missile?
Well, no..... you have no other data.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of objective data available, that point to it being a contrail.
Publik skool product are you?
Why yes ... and my public school education was somehow sufficient to cause me to demand data before I jump to calamitous conclusions, especially when simpler explanations are readily available.
By your question, however, I take it you were not a public school product. If that's the case, then your parents wasted their money by paying for private school. Or, if you were home-schooled instead, I guess you've only got your parents to blame.
If it was an airplane (LMAO!) like you suggested, then the FAA should have a record of it to tell us what kind of aircraft we are looking at?
Your argument points that this was anything other than a missile are extremely weak. You have to government stooge or a dumb schmuck to believe sewage that your putting out.
Just saying...
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