KRAUTHAMMER: How fractured is the GOP?

WASHINGTON ? A combination of early presidential maneuvering and internal policy debate is feeding yet another iteration of that media perennial: the great Republican crackup. This time it?s tea party insurgents versus get-along establishment fogies fighting principally over two things: (a) national security and (b) Obamacare.

National security

Gov. Chris Christie recently challenged Sen. Rand Paul over his opposition to the National Security Agency metadata program. Paul has also tangled with Sen. John McCain and other internationalists over drone warfare, democracy promotion and, more generally, intervention abroad.

So what else is new? The return of the most venerable strain of conservative foreign policy ? isolationism ? was utterly predictable. GOP isolationists dominated until Pearl Harbor and then acquiesced to an activist internationalism during the Cold War because of a fierce detestation of communism.

With communism gone, the conservative coalition should have fractured long ago. This was delayed by 9/11 and the rise of radical Islam. But now, 12 years into that era ? after Afghanistan and Iraq, after drone wars and the NSA revelations ? the natural tension between isolationist and internationalist tendencies has resurfaced.

In fact, both parties are internally split on domestic surveillance, as reflected in the very close recent House vote on curbing the NSA. This is not civil war. It?s a healthy debate that helps recalibrate the delicate line between safety and security as conditions (threat level and surveillance technology, for example) change.

The more fundamental GOP divide is over foreign aid and other manifestations of our role as the world?s leading power. The Paulites, pining for the splendid isolation of the 19th century, want to leave the world alone on the assumption that it will then leave us alone.

Which rests on the further assumption that international stability ? open sea lanes, free commerce, relative tranquility ? come naturally, like the air we breathe. If only that were true. Unfortunately, stability is not a matter of grace. It comes about only by Great Power exertion.

In the 19th century, that meant the British navy, behind whose protection America thrived. Today, alas, Britannia rules no waves. World order is maintained by American power and American will. Take that away and you don?t get tranquility. You get chaos.

That?s the Christie/McCain position. They figure that America doesn?t need two parties of retreat. Paul?s views, more measured and moderate than his fringy father?s, are still in the minority among conservatives, but gathering strength. Which is why Christie?s stroke ? defending and thus seizing the party?s more traditional internationalist consensus ? was a signal moment in the run-up to the 2016 campaign. The battle lines are drawn.

Obamacare

The other battle is about defunding Obamacare. Led by Sens. Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, the GOP insurgents are threatening to shut down the government on Oct. 1 if the stopgap funding bill contains money for Obamacare.

This is nuts. The president will never sign a bill defunding the singular achievement of his presidency. Especially when he has control of the Senate. Especially when, though a narrow majority (51 percent) of Americans disapprove of Obamacare, only 36 percent favor repeal. President Obama so knows he?ll win any shutdown showdown that he?s practically goading the Republicans into trying.

Never make a threat on which you are not prepared to deliver. Every fiscal showdown has redounded against the Republicans. The first, in 1995, effectively marked the end of the Gingrich revolution. The latest, last December, led to a last-minute Republican cave that humiliated the GOP and did nothing to stop the tax hike it so strongly opposed.

Those who fancy themselves tea party patriots fighting a sold-out cocktail-swilling establishment are demanding yet another cliff dive as a show of principle and manliness.

But there?s no principle at stake here. This is about tactics. If I thought this would work, I would support it. But I don?t fancy suicide. It has a tendency to be fatal.

As for manliness, the real question here is sanity. Nothing could better revive the fortunes of a failing, flailing, fading Democratic administration than a government shutdown where the president is portrayed as standing up to the GOP on honoring our debts and paying our soldiers in the field.

How many times must we learn the lesson? You can?t govern from one house of Congress. You need to win back the Senate and then the presidency. Shutting down the government is the worst possible way to get there. Indeed, it?s Obama?s fondest hope for a Democratic revival.

Charles Krauthammer is a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post. Email him at letters@charleskrauthammer.com.

Source: http://www.rockdalecitizen.com/news/2013/aug/03/krauthammer-how-fractured-is-the-gop/

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Tomopop Review: Hot Toys Agent Phil Coulson - TOMOPOP

I said to myself while watching The Avengers that if Hot Toys were to make a figure of Agent Coulson, I would buy it. Sure enough, $179.99 plus shipping later, I would keep that promise. Hot Toys has a reputation, and I fully bought into it. While Coulson lives, is he worth the price? Find out in the review of Hot Toys' Agent Phil Coulson.

Figure Name: 1/6 Movie Masterpieces Agent Phil Coulson
Figure Maker: Hot Toys
Price: $179.99
Available at: eBay

Going with standard protocol, here's a look at the cover slip for Agent Phil. As with all of Hot Toys' Avengers releases, you have the faded dot print, this time in blue, and the shot of Coulson himself. The name at the top and bottom of the boxes follows the standard as well. Along the sides are a small S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem.

Taking the cover off, you're treated to the goods. The most enticing part of any Hot Toys release are the accessories included. As for hands, you'll get an extra pair of trigger hands as well as a right hand for holding the best accessory, a set of Captain America vintage trading cards. Also included in the package are a S.H.I.E.L.D. dossier, watch, eyeglasses, cellphone, headset, walkie-talkie and I.D. card.

For Coulson himself, it is Hot Toys' usual effort in terms of detail. The suit fits perfectly, but you won't be able to close the jacket. Coulson is meant to be displayed in action, so much so that the tie is fixed to be uneven. Even though the articulation is top-notch, however, there is one contention that I have to make.

As you can tell, there is no range of motion for the head on its own. It's a single piece with the neck, so if you want to move it up or down, you're out of luck. It doesn't really limit too much of what you can do, but it is a bit disappointing.

While we're here, the facial sculpt is the usual Hot Toys quality. Each wrinkle and blotch of skin matches up with the likeness of Clark Gregg. Also in this shot you get a look at the headset and glasses. I will say though that the headset is a bit difficult to get in. Whatever you do, please put this on somewhere that isn't carpet. It will disappear forever should it fall in the carpet.

The big attraction though is the big gun. It features an LED in the barrel, giving it the effect of preparing to be fired. The gun is immensely detailed. From the scope to the weathering effects along the gun, it's the accessory that has to be displayed. The hands are able to hold both handles of the gun tightly and isn't too heavy to make the joints weaken. The only problem, no fault of the gun itself, is that you can't pose him looking through the scope. That's the problem created by the lack of an upper neck joint and not positioning of the rifle.

My favorite part of this figure is the smallest detail, the vintage Captain America cards. The detail on these is incredible at the scale they are. Each card is printed as it was in the movie. As you can tell, there's a bit of blood in the right hand corner of each card. I wish they would have included a clean version of the cards, but I am definitely glad they included them at all.

Another example of the detail is the I.D. card. As you see in the picture, it fits nicely into his jacket pocket. It's honestly scary how clear the I.D. is at that scale. You can read everything on the card, not to mention a clear picture of the man himself. Also in this shot, you can make out the stitching and buttons on the shirt along with the pattern on the tie.

Taking a final look at Coulson, it is the usual standout effort from the company. It is Hot Toys, you know what you are getting here. The accessory count may not be the highest, but the ones included are worth the price of entry. I knew from the beginning that I wanted Agent Coulson and I don't regret the purchase one bit. He may not have a suit of armor, a hammer, or shield, but this was the Avenger I had to have and am glad I do.

Source: http://www.tomopop.com/tomopop-review-hot-toys-agent-phil-coulson-31484.phtml

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Glaciers protect Alps mountain peaks

2 August 2013 Last updated at 19:46 ET By Simon Redfern Reporter, BBC News

Instead of wearing mountains down, evidence from Europe's high Alps shows that glaciers shield summits from erosion, acting as a protective lid.

French scientists studied erosion on Mont Blanc, western Europe's highest peak, below and around its glaciers.

Cold ice at the highest points froze to the mountain rock and played little part in erosion, the team said.

In contrast, water and rain eroded glacier-free areas 10 times faster than areas protected by the glacier.

Continue reading the main story

?Start Quote

Mountains don't grow to infinity, so there must be another mechanism which has lowered the summit of Europe?

End Quote Prof Fritz Schlunegger Bern University

The research was part of C?cile Godon's doctoral research at Universit? de Savoie, located on the edge of the French Alps, and appeared in the journal Earth and Planetary Sciences Letters.

The study focused on the Bossons glacier, which flows down the northern face of Mont Blanc towards the French town of Chamonix.

Rock debris, carved from the mountain at the toe of the Bossons glacier and sediments washed out in high mountain streams were compared with erosion in nearby glacier-free areas.

The researchers found that the cold glacial ice protected the mountain from erosion, rather than promoting it.

Rising ice

These results may explain the high altitude of the Alps. Driven by the tectonic collision of Europe with Africa, the high alpine bedrock is rising about one millimetre each year.

Glacier-free areas of the Alps erode at a similar rate but where the mountains are protected by ice, the peaks wear away at one tenth that rate.

Fritz Schlunegger, from Bern University, Switzerland, was not involved in the work and commented: "This group has used sediments at the end of Bossons glacier to determine where erosion is happening beneath the ice.

"Most material has been derived from the non-frozen part the glacier, while higher up towards (the summit of) Mont Blanc - where the glacier is frozen to the ground - erosion is much less," he told BBC News.

"This is really the first time, according to my knowledge, where this has been convincingly shown in a quantitative way and using a natural example.

"However, mountains don't grow to infinity, so there must be another mechanism which has lowered the summit of Europe. According to (Dr) Godon's findings, this erosion is not related to glaciers, so we still have to think about other possibilities."

Around the globe, mountain glaciers - especially those at low latitudes - are retreating in response to climate change, scientists say.

Reports earlier this year indicated that glaciers around Mount Everest had lost more than one eight of their area in the past 50 years, and the snowline had retreated 180 metres up the mountain sides.

Dr Godon's results suggest that changes like these could change the shapes of the world's highest mountains, and that climate and mountain landscape are intimately linked.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23553094#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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