Your Blowing It Obama

Why! Why! Why! Bill Richardson as Commerce Sec.? Maybe he will be good at it, but why put someone as Sec of State who disagrees with you on the most important foreign policy issue of our time, and then put someone with Richardson's experience in foreign policy and energy as Commerce Sec? Oh, and Richardson wasn't for the invasion of Iraq either. So very disappointed.

The British Are On To Something

Maybe the British aren't so bad after all. Obviously I am not married.

Prince Harry Gets Green Light For Iraq

The head of the British army has said Prince Harry will deploy to Iraq when his unit goes. Whether you are for or against the war in Iraq, you can't help but think highly of Prince Harry for going into battle. With that said, is it a good idea for him and the other soldiers? We already heard that the militants are setting up a special force to capture him. And now the British are sending a special forces unit to Iraq to protect Prince Harry. He better be frickin Rommel with his tank unit to justify all this other stuff.

German Army Instructor Fired

The German army instructor who told his trainees, when firing their weapons, to imagine a van full of angry blacks in the Bronx has been fired.

Who Knew Terrorists Would Use Planes?

Apparently a lot more people than what we were told. The Le Monde newspaper is reporting that France's foreign intelligence service had learned as early as January 2001 that al Qaida was planning to use a U.S. airplane in an attack. The CIA was then informed of this.

(AP/USA Today) Le Monde newspaper said it had obtained 328 pages of classified documents on Osama bin Laden's terror network that were drawn up by the French spy service, the DGSE, between July 2000 and October 2001. The documents included a Jan. 5, 2001, intelligence report warning that al-Qaeda was at work on a hijacking plot.

It probably only said something like, "Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S.". But as we have learned from Condoleezza Rice, it "was an historical document" more than a threat. Which is probably why NOTHING was done prior to 9/11 by the Bush Administration. Bush, been letting Americans down since 2001.

German Army Prepares For Attack From Blacks In The Bronx

While training, some German troops are told to imagine angry blacks in the Bronx while they are firing their weapons. It's nice to see how far the German army has come since WWII.

(AP/CBS) He said the army was investigating the incident, which was recorded in an Internet video, and would probably complete the probe in two to four weeks.

A video of the army instructor telling the soldier to shoot and yell obscenities while thinking of African-Americans in the Bronx aired on German national television Saturday and prompted calls for an apology by the New York City borough's president.

The video shows an instructor and a soldier in camouflage uniforms in a forest. The instructor tells the soldier, "You are in the Bronx. A black van is stopping in front of you. Three African-Americans are getting out and they are insulting your mother in the worst ways. ... Act."

Consequences

The 15 British Marines taken by Iran are now being interrogated. And since we've shown the World that it is okay to torture, I mean pain that "must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death.", I can only assume Iran will follow these rules too now.

British Cop Goes L.A. On Women

A British cop who was removing a patron from a club decides that punching her should make the arrest go easier. Forget the fact that there were other officers to assist. With that said, this wouldn't even be front page news in L.A.

British And Iraqi Special Forces Raid Spy Unit In Basra

You know, the city that is calm enough that almost 1,600 British troops are leaving. During the raid, British and Iraqi troops found dozens of detainees that appeared to be tortured. And what was the response of Shia Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki?

(NY Times) Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a conservative Shiite, condemned the raid in Basra. He publicly said nothing about the evidence of torture.

“The prime minister has ordered an immediate investigation into the incident of breaking into the security compound in Basra and stressed the need to punish those who have carried out this illegal and irresponsible act,” said the full text of a statement issued late Sunday by his office.

Yeah, cause who cares about the fact that the Shiite-controlled units are targeting and torturing Sunnis. And who cares if this kind of stuff only extends and intensifies the civil war in Iraq, it's not like another country's civil war could affect us.

Unless it was a civil war created by destabilizing a country with an invasion that doesn't provide adequate security because the war planners botched everything after the initial invasion. Unless it was a civil war which will cost American taxpayers trillions of dollars. And oh yeah, unless it's a civil war where 140,000 + American lives are in the middle of it.

Obama and McCain were right, twice. We are wasting the troops by sacrificing them for a plan or an idea that is unattainable. It might have been attainable at one point, but the stubbornness of those running this war and unfortunately those profiting from this war have failed us all.

Obese Boy Can Stay With Mom

British authorities, who threatened to take away an obese child from his mother, have said that he can stay with his mom.

Mom Could Lose Son Over Obesity

British authorities are considering taking a child from his parent for what is being called child neglect. The boy in question is 8 years old and weighs 218 pounds, or 99 kilograms for our friends across the pond. Because of privacy concerns, it is unclear if the boy suffers from a medical condition or whether he just "can't stop eating 'em ".

This case might be the extreme situation, and I'm not so sure it wouldn't be in his best interest physically, but how about mentally? Cause children always react well when they are taken from their parents. What else could a government decide isn't good for children, and will they threaten to take those kids too? In my opinion, this is a very slippery slope.

U.S. And French Take On British

The British have a tax for cars that drive into the congested part of London, and until now, the U.S. Embassy was the only to say they wouldn't pay. Much in the way the U.N. countries stick it to New York with parking tickets and such. Well the British recently pushed the charge zone further from the center, and in the process swallowed up other embassies. And now,

(IHT) But, when the city elders almost doubled the size of the charge zone this past week, casting their cash-hungry net over an area housing many more embassies, the Americans suddenly acquired new allies in their resistance — including from unusual quarters like France, which has not always been so supportive of U.S. diplomacy.

It's always nice when we can rekindle those Revolutionary War rivalries over taxes. And the next time a Brit opens his yap about Americans and SUV's, I would ask him if he drives a Chelsea Tractor.

One quirk about the extension of the charging zone is that about 60,000 residents of the newly extended zone received a 90 percent residents' discount, meaning that people living, for instance, in Chelsea — whose legions of SUV drivers inspired the generic term Chelsea Tractor for their Range Rovers and BMW X5s — may now cruise the entire zone for a mere $1.50 a day.

The Lieutenant Formerly Known As Prince

Second Lieutenant Harry Wales, or Prince Harry and third in line to the throne, is said to be on his way to Basra.

On one hand I commend him for his commitment. After all he is a Prince and has all the money he will ever need. He could hand pick the girl or girls of his dreams. Live the life of, well, Royalty. America doesn't see as much of this as in the past. Pat Tillman is about the only American recently I can think of that gave up a life of privilege to serve(I'm sure there are more).

On the other hand, this could put his fellow troops and others in the area in a severe danger. One would think that there would be a huge target on his back. Imagine if he was killed in Iraq? And would that escalate this and make a horrible situation even worse?

With that said, I commend and thank anyone who joins ours or any military, but to join when there is a ongoing war is a level of bravery and courage we should all aspire to.

Going The Wrong Way

A Russian general has suggested that Russia might drop out of an arms-reduction treaty with the U.S. if we put weapon systems in Poland and Czech Republic.

(AP/IHT) "We shall see what our American partners do," Baluyevsky was quoted as saying by Interfax, ITAR-Tass and RIA Novosti. "Their actions to deploy missile defense sites in Europe are inexplicable."

Putin has said he does not trust American claims that the planned European missile-defense system is intended to counter threats from Iran, and he has warned that Russia would take retaliatory measures.

This may or may not be big news compared to a dead blond and snow in February(unless you live in Oswego NY), but it would be nice if the MSM started paying a little more attention.

Britain Hit With First Case Of H5N1 Bird Flu

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has hit a turkey farm in the Britain, already killing some 2,500 turkeys. The remainder of the 160,000 turkeys will now be culled too. The thing that has people a little puzzled is when this is happening.

(Reuters) Avian flu expert Colin Butter of the Institute of Animal Health said the British outbreak was surprising as it had happened outside the main bird migration period:

"We would not expect this to happen in the middle of winter. If it was going to happen we would expect it to happen in spring.

"The next thing we need to know is if this is a primary or secondary case. If this is a secondary case, it is much more serious. If this is the first case, or 'reference case', and we can stamp it out, the outbreak will be controlled."

The bird flu is now closing in on American shores. It no longer seems to be if, but rather when. And like always, preparation is the key to preventing an outbreak, and maybe someones death.

Cat Mafia Rumors In Berlin

This is actually a pretty sick story. Basically, there are rumors of people snatching up cats in Berlin to sell to fur traders or scientists.

(Spielgel Online) "You see a lot of women walking around town wearing coats with beautiful fur collars. In many cases it's synthetic fur but it's also often cat fur. Many people don't realize what they're wearing around their necks. For all they know it could be their own missing cat," said Gäding.

He said around 2,500 of Berlin's 300,000 cats vanish every year and that around 500 are "unexplained disappearances."

Russian Arrested Trying To Sell Uranium

A Russian man was arrested in Tbilisi last summer, during a joint U.S./Georgia sting, for trying to sell a small amount(3.5 oz) of uranium to undercover agents. When Russian authorities were asked to help in the investigation, they did the Russian thing and stonewalled Georgian officials. So those officials have gone public with this to put pressure in Russia.

(BBC) "We were ready to provide all the information, but unfortunately no-one arrived from Russia, not even to interview this person," Mr Merabishvili said.

"It is surprising because it is in Russian interests to secure these materials. There are terrorist organizations in Russia who would pay huge amounts of money for this."

Brrrrrrrr!

Will This Hurt Wal-Mart's Bottom Line?

This could be a devastating blow to the sale of Nazi t-shirts.

(Independent) Germany is to revive plans to criminalise Holocaust denial as well as the use of Nazi symbols in all EU countries, making them punishable by up to three years in prison.

In all seriousness, as much as those shirts at Wal-Mart disgust me, they are free to sell what they want. And people are free to buy what they want. It's Wal-Mart's hypocrisy that was at question, not their legal right to carry the shirts. And I think these laws, as sensitive as this subject is, would be seen in this country as a violation of the First Amendment. It's even more dangerous to legislate against someones thoughts, as wrong or immoral as they may be.

Turkmenistan To Pick Candidates

Members in a council of elders in Turkmenistan have agreed to a Feb. 11 date to "pick" the candidates to run in the upcoming election to replace Saparmurat Niyazov, their forceful leader who died last week.

(AFP) "These elections will be of the highest standards," said Murad Karryev, head of Turkmenistan's central electoral commission. The country's interim president Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has said that the elections will be "democratic".

Yes, because 2,500 people "picking" the candidates for the rest of the country has the smell of "democratic" elections.

Pay Attention To Turkmenistan

The ruler of Turkmenistan, Saparmurad Niyazov, has unexpectedly died. And while no one is saying there is any foul play(like polonium poisoning), it has left a vacuum in Turkmenistan which many parties are willing to fill. So why should we pay attention to this?

(SF Gate)Experts are now predicting a volatile power struggle in Turkmenistan, a desert country of 5 million with massive natural gas reserves and a strategic location bordering the Caspian Sea, Iran and Afghanistan.

The U.S. and Europe have tried to build pipelines bypassing Russian soil and sending gas to Europe and the rest of the world. By doing this, Europe would free itself from a building dependence of Russian energy. Which obviously would not make Russian President Vladimir Putin happy. And with Russian energy company Gazprom and Putin trying to consolidate the energy sector under government control, you have the ingredients for problems.