Pope Debuts in U.S.

Pope Benedict XVI will be touring the U.S. starting today. His stops include the White House and a synagogue.

Suspect in Slain Pregnant Marine Case Caught

Marine Corporal Cesar Laurean was arrested in Mexico. He escaped and stayed at large by using the same skills taught to him in the Marine Corps...put that in your hookah and smoke it.

More Torch Protests

Another problem with the passing of the torch because of demonstrations in San Francisco. I am starting to wonder is China getting the hint...

Petraeus Pushes for Patience

Gen. Petraeus asks the government for more time, because six years just isn't enough. Well, he's got until next November...well, technically next January.

Anniversary of King's Death: 1929-1968

Obama the Divider?

I have my concerns, and I feel my concerns are justified.

One of my red flag occurred when I watched a Democrat get-together where Obama made undisguised efforts to avoid shaking Clinton's hand. That might seem as him "being honest," but given that as president he will have no choice but to work for people that are not "on his bandwagon," the fact that he couldn't even pull off a handshake disturbed me greatly. There were several red flags between and before this one, my first flag being how could such a political novice decide that he is ready to become president without having the ego of an Antichrist?

Today an article mentioned a partnership between him and McCain falling apart. I will confess, that I believe that much of it is party-based nonsense and the fact that McCain is running for president is undoubtedly playing a significant role in his comments, but I do not completely dismiss the idea that Obama isn't a uniter, either.

I know Obama promises change, but then, doesn't every politician? Shouldn't we watch his actions on and off the field before we hand him the role as the most powerful person on the planet?

Unrest with Tibet

I confess that I have not devoted most of my time to the problems that Tibet is facing in the shadow of its big brother China, but given the history of the Chinese in dealing with unrest, I can just assume the worst. What I don't understand is why China didn't decide to use "quieter" methods to deal with the situation, instead of confirming to the world what we already knew, which is that China will not be up for humanitarian of the year any millenium soon.

And right before the Olympics, too. Talk about bad timing.

Fuzzy Math: Banks and Their Interesting Practices

I thought I had my checking account down pat. Little did I know that forces were abound that were much more keen on making money than I was on saving it. Wachovia just put $70.00 in fees on me out of nowhere and gave me a long-winded explanation of past purchases to "explain" it. Even the customer sales rep admitted that other customers had been calling with the same problem, but the best that the bank can offer is to return a percentage of the fees.

Public: BANK ANYWHERE BUT WACHOVIA!

Ode to Paper Season - A Limerick

The time of Paper Season is here
Six weeks of quivering in fear
The concept of this season
Is absent of reason
Bring on the tequila and/or beer

4,000 American Soldier Died Yesterday

On a day of resurrection, the 4,000 American soldier was killed. Our president assures us that the outcome will warrant the sacrifice. Forgive me if I don't share his optimism.

Military Recruitment Office Bombed!

Apparently some fledgling domestic (there is reason to suspect that these geniuses are home-grown) terrorists decided to forgo the normal route of expressing discontent over the Iraqi War (little things they could do like...vote) and decided to take their fight to the streets by bombing a military recruitment office.

I assume that they are fledgling terrorists because there are a couple of things that they clearly overlooked which gives me the impression that they are just starting out:

1.) The military has no control over this war. This government is set up to let civilians run wars.

2.) The best way to fuel the War on Terror machine is by committing acts of terrorism, which I am guessing goes against the objective of this bombing. These guys seem to forget that this War on Terror was the reason given to justify going into Iraq in the first place.

I had to edit this post three times because it was laced with so much profanity. Aside from just being disgusted over the idea of a bombing, this particular one was just dumb as hell. I get that they wanted to be symbolic, but somehow I think that if someone in that area really wanted to join the military, this bombing would be more likely to increase their sense of patriotic duty instead of destroying it.

Bush Endorsed McCain

President Bush tipped his hat in favor of McCain for president. Given the president's approval ratings nationally and internationally, I think McCain would have been better off with an endorsement from Satan.

War in South America?

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez deployed troops to the border of Colombia after Colombian troops crossed over to kill rebel leader Raul Reyes. Chavez, who is a supporter of the FARC, warned the Colombian government that any border crossings would be considered an act of war. President Bush condemned Venezuela and stated that U.S. support would be towards Colombia.

Nader to Screw Up Another Election

He is the thing that won't die.

Ralph Nader, leader of the Green Party, has just decided to screw up another election by jumping into the race. I think the fact that he has been able to do this is evidence that we need some reform on the rules of how people can decide to run for president. We have a golden opportunity to bring our beloved country out of darkness, and here is this jackass jumping back into the ring to ruin that once again.

Personally, I think he was hired by the Republicans.

Rape Ain't What It Used to Be...

Apparently Senator Henry Douglas from TN has nostalgic views on what rape was back when he was growing up:

"Rape, ladies and gentlemen, is not today what rape was. Rape, when I was learning these things, was the violation of a chaste woman, against her will, by some party not her spouse. Today it’s simply, 'Let’s don’t go forward with this act.'"

Send this genius a letter or email if you are offended (if you are not offended, please refrain from reproducing in the future; the world has enough fools):

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/letterslist/?id=8129

CASTRO STEPS DOWN

After ruling Cuba and dodging over 600 assassination attempts by the United States and surviving 10 U.S. administrations, Castro is calling it quits.

His brother Raul, who is only five years younger than he, is to assume the role of president and Commander-in-Chief. Raul Castro has been running the country for quite some time already, and still there are no signs that Cuba's government will make any changes any time soon. Exiles and descendents of exiles and refugees are salivating, but the odds of them ever reclaiming the property that was taken from them is a very slim chance at best. It is because of their voting power in Florida that no U.S. president has been able to try to make amends with Cuba.

Cuba is one of the last surviving communist countries after the fall of the former USSR.

The U.S. Creates New Al Qaeda Martyr

I was very dismayed to read that the United States bombed parts of Pakistan--without permission--to kill Abu Laith al-Libia, a senior Al Qaeda commander. Al Qaeda is set up so that it does not fall should one of its leaders die, much like our military is designed to survive the death of leaders through a line of automatic succession.

What really disturbs me about this--other than the fact that once again my country has violated another state's sovereignty--is that this "War on Terror" is fought with Cold War mentality. Death to the Westerner and death to an eastern terrorist are not the same. They don't mind dying for their cause. We talk a good game about dying for a cause, but the truth is that while we are willing to risk our lives, few walk into a situation fully prepared to die. Once more, the only thing that comes out of the deaths of these operatives is that they become martyrs, only serving to reinvigorate their cause.

So thanks a lot, CIA, you just made the world a bit more unsafe.

New Threats from DHS

There is evidence that suggests that female suicide bombers are using prosthetics to mimic pregnancy with bombs inside of the would-be wombs.

This bothers me on a personal level because I pitched this idea months ago to someone that works for the government and they told me that it was "highly unlikely." The question that should be brought to the table now is what will happen to the women that are actually pregnant? DHS' hypervigilance already has us walking barefoot through airport terminals, are they going to have doctors on standby to examine pregnant women to see if they are actually with child? I also said that I would not be surprised if they used children and now there is evidence that training camps are being opened to kids as young as 10 years old.

This may be considered to be a crazy idea, but I have always believed in the practice of hide-in-plain-sight. Our increased, visible security efforts are only going to push terrorist to become more creative. Perhaps if we gave off the illusion that our guard was down and had a bunch of plain-clothes walking the airports and subways, then maybe the terrorist would make spotting them a lot easier.

The Election

I know I have not been blogging about the election as I should. The truth is that I have been too busy biting my nails while my eyes were fixated on the television. I promise to come to my senses soon.

Violence in Kenya Escalates

Today in Kenya a church was burned by a mob, who deliberately sought to murder members of the Kikuyu tribe, killing 50 people including children. They attacked people with machetes and then set them on fire and beat anyone that tried to save lives. The violence is the result of the questionable election of President Mwai Kibaki. Kibaki tried to meet with opposition leaders to try to address the violence but the opposition refused to meet with him unless he stepped down from power. The U.S. and the EU have refused to acknowledge the election.

It is now estimated that almost 300 people have been killed as a result of the election of Kibaki.