I went to a 5-hour seminar on this old man from Purdue who lecture on energy efficency. He stated that whether what party you are, all energy needs must be meet as growing US demand and world wide demand would outstrip all forms of energy in the near future.

Energy conversation is a must and wasted heat energy is a focus that must be recirculated to prevent net energy loss.

I just wanted to post something if $5 a gallon of gas would have MLB attendence drop significantly especially like in Kansas City or Milwaukee or Arizona where driving distances are much longer.

The Iranian situation does not appear to look so good right now.

I think the world economy would be affected if Iran did the oil shipment blockade in Strait of Hormuz.

Why would a lecture about an old man from a chicken company last 5 hours?

Carrier Joins Marine Amphibs, Gives Ops More Bite In 'Bold Alligator'
By Carlo Munoz
Published: February 6, 2012
http://defense.aol.com/2012/02/06/carriers-give-amphib-ops-more-bite-in-bold-alligator-exercise/
ABOARD THE USS WASP: For the first time, Marine and Navy planners have melded a carrier strike group into the Marine Corps' premiere amphibious operations wargame known as Bold Alligator. This appears to bridge what had appeared to be a growing divide between a Marine Corps eager to build more amphibious ships and a Navy intent on saving its existing carrier fleet. It also offers very concrete proof of the Marines recommitment to amphibious warfare, which they regard as their core competency.

This year also marks the first time military leaders conducted Bold Alligator with live ships, soldiers and aircraft. Called the largest amphibious exercise in 10 years, it was designed to replicate a sea-to-shore assault spearheaded by U.S. and coalition forces against enemy troops from a fictional country. This year, enemy troops from the country of "Garnet" invaded the neighboring country of "Amberland". Just like last year's virtual exercise, American and coalition forces were sent in to push back the invading forces. But unlike last year, the Navy and Marine Corps decided to bring the USS Enterprise with them.

The addition of the carrier group to Bold Alligator, which Marine Corps leaders have touted as a touchstone event in the service's effort to get back to the shoreline, comes at an interesting time. A number of top service brass, including Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos, has been pushing the Pentagon to add more amphibs to the Navy fleet. The ships, he argued, can compliment or -- to a certain extent -- replicate a carrier's capabilities at a much lower cost. They are also key to the service's return to its amphibious roots. For its part, the Navy argues that carriers, including the new Ford-class, will be critical to supporting the department's pivot from Southwest Asia to the Western Pacific. Looming defense budget cuts, set to begin in fiscal year 2013, has only inflamed that rhetoric inside the beltway. But both arguments got a shot in the arm in recent weeks.

Defense Secretary took the Marine Corps variant of the Joint Strike Fighter off the budget chopping block earlier this month, lifting the DoD-imposed probation on the program set by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. But only weeks later, Panetta announced the White House and DoD were fully committed to maintaining 11 carrier strike groups, which essentially spared the Ford-class ship from the budget axe. Adding a carrier element into the Marine Corps' showcase for amphibious ops could be seen as an effort to shoehorn the carrier fleet into those missions. However a number of top U.S. and coalition military leaders say that is not the case.

The USS Enterprise, along with the associated cruisers and destroyers that make up a carrier strike group, will be a "complementary" force to the fleet of amphibious ships that carried out the beach assault today, Lt. Cmdr. George Pastoor, a Dutch naval officer tied to Navy Expeditionary Strike Group 2, told reporters. ESG2 and the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade were the lead U.S. forces in the exercise. The carrier group's ships were used to protect the amphib ships supporting the assault, Pastoor said. The air assets on the Enterprise could also be used to lighten the load of the Marine Corps helos and fighters, letting them concentrate on supporting ground forces as they push inland from the beach, said 2nd MEB chief of staff Col. Scott Aiken.

Specifically, the Navy F/A-18s were used to help Marine air units to "shape the battlespace", Col. Scott Jensen, commander of the 2nd Marine Air Wing told reporters aboard the USS Kearsarge yesterday. Once the beach assault began, Marine airpower shifted from those ops to providing overwatch for landing forces, he added. "There has been a handoff at this point," Jensen said regarding the shift. That type of cooperation is the true hallmark of the Bold Alligator exercise, a top Navy official said.

Sharing air, land and sea capabilities that "cut across all [service] lanes" is a major goal of the combat drill, Rear Adm. Kevin Scott, ESG2 chief, said. If the U.S. is to be able to fight and win wars from the shoreline, the services have to look at all the warfighting capabilities on the table, according to Scott. "We are not just in our own amphibious cocoon," he said.

Strait of Hormuz is rocks, stones, 200 percent saline (salty) water, no vegetation, 118 degree blazing dangerous sun.

Since Israel would have to cross the airspace of several other countries who would not respond at all kindly to that, it is not something Israel will do. Now, they may do something covert, but they will not risk war with all those other countries (hence the suicidal remark). Those thinking that Israel would be so reckless as to do that are silly.

They do not have the right to cross the airspace of all those other countries to get to Iran, so refueling is moot.

One of the most tragic events in the Mid East was the assassination of Rabin. It was an Israeli extreme right wing settler who pulled the trigger. The various settler groups, by and large, give Netanyahu their support. Until today Rabin's family is bitter toward Netanyahu who they feel, then and now, plays to the extremist aspirations of this group. With Netanyahu in there, it is highly doubtful there will be a one state solution for the Palestinians. This all ties in to the animosity countries like Iran stir up among their population to portray Israel as the devil. It is one of their primary reasons for developing this nuclear weaponery. In a sad and sick way the radicals in Israel and in the Arab countries NEED each other so they may use fear and hatred to maintain their political power. The closer they are to the brink of war the more their words and actions are justified. It is a sick spiral.

Rabin was such a good man. The day he was murdered was, perhaps, the saddest day in the middle east, imo. He represented such hope and promise for peace...

I can't disagree with any of that.

The guy was a war hero who understood first hand the suffering that conflict can bring upon a civilian population. He was very wise. I remember him saying that nothing good can come from being an occupier. It changes you, dehumanizes you, and hardens your heart. He did not want that to be the legacy of Israel with the Palestinian people.

Two great men of peace Rabin and Sadat. And the world gives them a bullet to the head.

It would require flying over Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria or Turkey. It is uncertain whether any of these Muslim countries would "knowingly" allow Israel to use their airspace. Hopefully our Israeli friends are bluffing. (I doubt it)

Purdue a chicken company?

I thought it was extensive information about energy issues for 5 hours is way better than most boring candidates running for office.

Not sure what the flyover issue is about. They could cordinate with the u.s military bases with a strong ally in Kuwait. Woudn't they just fly from there which borders iran? Kuwait would not allow the media or public to know and as far as the world knew, they flew from isreal? Could also fly in from Turkey.

Chicken politics..bunch of turkey politicians.

Lack of poultry increases in middle east could trigger fighting conflicts. The politicians may not chew the fried chicken at some fundraiser campaign stop real good if it (war) happens.

After pulling out of Iraq, 4 EC-2 Hawkeyes returned to the area and resumed training near shoreline in our area based at Chamber's Field. They've been doing it just about every weekday since returning. They've pretty much stopped doing it the last two weeks. When it's quiet at Norfolk NOB, that usually means something's up.

When they go after Syrian Command and Control (as was done initially in Libya) that controls the air from the coast of Lebanon to the Syrian/Iraqi border and take it out for humanitarian reasons (genocide), exactly who do you have to ask permission from? Looks like Commies got a little too greedy about their former 'colony' they inherited from France by proxy to me. They just gave us a justification to clear the airspace from the Med to the Iraqi border. And what Iraqi Air Force is going to stop us, btw... none. That means clear flying from Iran to Israel for our friends and significant others. Yep... you are right about re-fueling being moot.

Someone in Russia and China forgot one part of Marxist thought this week... 'give them enough rope, and they'll hang themselves with it.'

The U.S. is currently training for an assault on the Iranian coast. Lets hope this is plan...like Q...on the list of possibilities. This could get ugly quickly if Turkey was to attack Syria, if Iran attempts a preemptive strike on Israel or in the Straits. What will Russia do?? Lots of factors.

Operation Bold Alligator: 20,000 Troops Preparing NOW On US East Coast For Persian Gulf Action

Some 20,000 marines, seamen and air crews from half a dozen countries, a US nuclear aircraft carrier strike group and three US Marine gunship carriers are practicing an attack on a fictitious mechanized enemy division which has invaded its neighbor. It is the largest amphibian exercise seen in the West for a decade, staged to simulate a potential Iranian invasion of an allied Persian Gulf country and a marine landing on the Iranian coast. Based largely on US personnel and hardware, French, British, Italian, Dutch, Australian and New Zealand military elements are integrated in the drill.

Bold Alligator went into its operational phase Monday, Feb. 6, the same day as a large-scale exercise began in southern Iran opposite the Strait of Hormuz. This simultaneity attests to the preparations for a US-Iranian showdown involving Israel behind the words on Feb. 5 of US President Barack Obama (“I don’t think Israel has decided whether to attack Iran”) and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Feb. 3 (“The war itself will be ten times as detrimental to the US.”).

Monday, Feb. 6, the US president ordered the tightening of sanctions by freezing Iranian assets in America and blocking the operations of Iranian banks including its central bank.
US Rear Adm. Kevin Scott and Brig. Gen. Christopher Owens are coordinating the exercise over large stretches of coastal terrain in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida and Atlantic Ocean from the USS Wasp amphibian helicopter carrier. It is led by the USS Enterprise nuclear carrier with strike force alongside three amphibian helicopter carriers, the USS Wasp, the USS Boxer and the USS Kearsage. On their decks are 6,000 Marines, 25 fighter bombers and 65 strike and transport helicopters, mainly MV-22B Ospreys with their crews. Altogether 100 combat aircraft are involved.

The exercise is scheduled to end on February 14, a week before the winding up of the Iranian drill, after which the participants are to be shipped out to Persian Gulf positions opposite Iran. Altogether three American aircraft carrier strike groups, the French Charles de Gaulle carrier and four or five US Marines amphibian vessels will be posted there, debkafile’s military sources report.
In Feb. a flow in unprecedented numbers of US military strength to two strategic islands, Yemeni Socotra and Omani Masirah, within range of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran.

US naval officials insist that the exercise has nothing to do with Iran, but the scenario is a giveaway. A mechanized division from the fictitious hostile country of Garnet (Iran) has invaded its neighbor, Amber (Saudi Arabia), which has asked for coalition assistance to halt the enemy’s northern advance. Garnet has already mined harbors (Hormuz) and established anti-ship missiles on its coastline.

Coalition forces are required to develop strategy for defeating the enemy and carry the combat onto its (Iranian) soil. Hence, the preponderance of amphibian Marines in the exercise.

Did a bit of research on the muslim brotherhood. They are hezbollah. supported them in the 1980s when calling for independence,palestinian statehood. I can understand wanting independence,freedom for their people but support Isreals right to exist as well. i can not support an org whos goal is shiria law and its suppression of womens rights. Their being in power hopefully will be moderate and not radical support of extremism over peaceful dialogue.

Neither one of the 2 splinter groups in the org is good for u.s,israel relations.

in 1952, MB split into two factions. One, led by Hasan al-Hudaybi, favored working with Nasser's secular government in an effort to gradually move the country toward Islamic fundamentalism. A more radical faction, led by the writer and ideologue Sayyid Qutb (1909-1966), advocated armed revolution against corrupt (i.e., non-Islamist) regimes in the Middle East and, more broadly, against unbelievers in Western nations.

What about the worsening of the Greek fiscial crises?