OBAMA/BIDEN '08

I probably will be still be sleeping when the news breaks that will allow the world to spin again, but it looks more and more like Joe Biden from Delaware is going to be Obama's VP pick. If it is, great choice Obama. That ship is going to sink faster than the titanic.

I just received a text from CNN stating they confirmed Biden IS the VP pick. AP is reporting it also.

Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware is Barack Obama's pick as vice presidential running mate, The Associated Press has learned.

Biden, 65, is a veteran of more than three decades in the Senate, and one of his party's leading experts on foreign policy, an area in which polls indicate Obama needs help in his race against Republican rival John McCain.

The official who spoke did so on condition of anonymity, saying they did not want to pre-empt a text-message announcement the Obama campaign promised for Saturday morning.

 

As for McCain's VP, I'm sure he will piss off all Conservatives and select Romney or Lieberman.

Condi Tells It Like It Is, Tells Russians To Shut It Regarding Threats To Poland

Secretary of State Condolezza Rice told the Russians, you attack Poland, you attack the US.

Russia's foreign ministry today threatened to go beyond diplomatic protests in response to the signing of a U.S.-Polish deal to base part of an American missile defense system in Poland, which borders part of Russia.

The latest threat came after a top Russian general said Poland would risk a military strike if it allowed the base and as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed Russia's saber rattling, saying the threats "border on the bizarre."

"When you threaten Poland, you perhaps forget that it is not 1988," Rice said, according to The Associated Press. "It's 2008 and the United States has a ... firm treaty guarantee to defend Poland's territory as if it was the territory of the United States. So it's probably not wise to throw these threats around."

Russia Still Has Yet To Withdraw From Georgia, Soldiers Taken Prisoner, US Humvees Stolen

Why did it only take Russia less than 24 hours to launch an invasion into Georgia, but a week after they were supposed to withdraw, they're still there? Could it be because they had planned all along to invade Georgia, but had no plans to withdraw?

Georgian soldiers have been taken prisoner because they weren't at their base. They were handcuffed, blindfolded, and held at gunpoint. The Russians have also stolen US Humvees while they were at port awaiting shipment back to the US. The Russians are also continuing to destroy the infrastructure of Georgia.

Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgians in military uniform prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia on Tuesday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American Humvees awaiting shipment back to the United States.

The move came as a small column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles left the strategic city of Gori in the first sign of a Russian pullback of troops from Georgia after a cease-fire intended to end fighting that reignited Cold War tensions.

The two countries on Tuesday also exchanged prisoners. However, Russian soldiers seized Georgians in Poti — the country's key oil port city — and commandeered four U.S. Humvees that had been used in U.S.-Georgian military exercises.

Germany Supports NATO Membership For Georgia

They should've supported them the first time around, but nonetheless, better late than never. I wonder what kind of fits the Russians will throw this time?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is offering strong support for Georgia, saying the country is on track to become a member of NATO.

Merkel flew to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Sunday, two days after she met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

In a speech Sunday, Merkel also suggested that NATO could help rebuild the tattered Georgian military.

It's Official: Beer-Goggles Are For Real

The next time you wake up with an ugly in your bed, just remember...it's not your fault.

THE next time you hear someone blaming "beer goggles" for their behaviour, you may have to believe them. People really do appear more attractive when our perceptions are changed by drinking alcohol.

There have been few previous attempts to investigate the idea that people seem to find others more attractive when drunk. In 2003, psychologists at the University of Glasgow, UK, published a study in which they asked heterosexual students in campus bars and cafés whether they had been drinking, and then got them to rate photos of people for attractiveness. While the results supported the beer goggles theory, another explanation is that regular drinkers tend to have personality traits that mean they find people more attractive, whether or not they are under the influence of alcohol at the time.

To resolve the issue, a team of researchers led by Marcus Munafò at the University of Bristol in the UK conducted a controlled experiment. They randomly assigned 84 heterosexal students to consume either a non-alcoholic lime-flavoured drink or an alcoholic beverage with a similar flavour. The exact amount of alcohol varied according to the individual but was designed to have an effect equivalent to someone weighing 70 kilograms drinking 250 millitres of wine - enough to make some students tipsy. After 15 minutes, the students were shown pictures of people their own age, from both sexes.

Both men and women who had consumed alcohol rated the faces as being more attractive than did the controls (Alcohol and Alcoholism, DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agn065). Surprisingly, the effect was not limited to the opposite sex - volunteers who had drunk alcohol also rated people from their own sex as more attractive.

Did Anyone Know Racewalking Was An Olympic Sport?

If you haven't seen it...words cannot describe how ridiculous it is.

Taliban Militants Are The Preferred Food Of Military Dogs

Military Dogs are out in the field for long hours too. When they get a craving, there's only one thing that suppresses their hunger...Taliban militants!

US coalition dogs bit two fleeing suspected Taliban militants during an operation in eastern Afghanistan in which a total of eight insurgents were detained, the coalition said Friday.

The raid Thursday in the Muslim country's Paktika province targeted a Taliban subcommander wanted for kidnapping, killing Afghan soldiers and involvement in roadside attacks, it said.

During the operation, "two militants attempted to flee and were pursued by coalition military working dogs," the coalition said in a statement. "Both militants received dog-bite injuries, one of which required treatment on scene by coalition medical personnel."

1st Lt. Nathan Perry, a coalition spokesman, would not say what kind of dogs were used in the raid, but said the troops will "use dogs when we need to." Perry did not know if the targeted Taliban subcommander was among those detained and the statement did not specify.

In Islamic tradition, dogs are shunned as unclean and dangerous.

Now That Poland Agreed To Missile Defense, Russia Threatens Nukes

Russians have escalated their hissy-fit to new levels. Now they say Poland may face a nuclear attack by allowing interceptor missiles to be based there.

A top Russian general said Friday that Poland's agreement to accept a U.S. missile interceptor base exposes the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported.

The statement by Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn is the strongest threat that Russia has issued against the plans to put missile defense elements in former Soviet satellite nations.

Poland and the United States on Thursday signed a deal for Poland to accept a missile interceptor base as part of a system the United States says is aimed at blocking attacks by rogue nations. Moscow, however, feels it is aimed at Russia's missile force.

"Poland, by deploying (the system) is exposing itself to a strike — 100 percent," Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of staff, was quoted as saying.

He added, in clear reference to the agreement, that Russia's military doctrine sanctions the use of nuclear weapons "against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them." Nogovitsyn that would include elements of strategic deterrence systems, he said, according to Interfax.

After Russia's invasion of Georgia, what now for the West?

Another great piece by John Bolton:

As bad as the bloodying of Georgia is, the broader consequences are worse. The United States fiddled while Georgia burned, not even reaching the right rhetorical level in its public statements until three days after the Russian invasion began, and not, at least to date, matching its rhetoric with anything even approximating decisive action. This pattern is the very definition of a paper tiger. Sending Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice to Tbilisi is touching, but hardly reassuring; dispatching humanitarian assistance is nothing more than we would have done if Georgia had been hit by a natural rather than a man-made disaster.

The European Union took the lead in diplomacy, with results approaching Neville Chamberlain’s moment in the spotlight at Munich: a ceasefire that failed to mention Georgia’s territorial integrity, and that all but gave Russia permission to continue its military operations as a “peacekeeping” force anywhere in Georgia. More troubling, over the long term, was that the EU saw its task as being mediator – its favorite role in the world – between Georgia and Russia, rather than an advocate for the victim of aggression.

Even this dismal performance was enough to relegate NATO to an entirely backstage role, while Russian tanks and planes slammed into a “faraway country”, as Chamberlain once observed so thoughtfully. In New York, paralyzed by the prospect of a Russian veto, the UN Security Council, that Temple of the High-Minded, was as useless as it was during the Cold War. In fairness to Russia, it at least still seems to understand how to exercise power in the Council, which some other Permanent Members often appear to have forgotten.

The West, collectively, failed in this crisis. Georgia wasted its dime making that famous 3am telephone call to the White House, the one Hillary Clinton referred to in a campaign ad questioning Barack Obama’s fitness for the Presidency. Moreover, the blood on the Bear’s claws did not go unobserved in other states that were once part of the Soviet Union. Russia demonstrated unambiguously that it could have marched directly to Tbilisi and installed a puppet government before any Western leader was able to turn away from the Olympic Games. It could, presumably, do the same to them.

Read the rest.

Venezuela Pres. Hugo Chavez Blames US For Russia-Georgia Conflict

The Venezuelan crazy man has accused the U.S. of "incitement of violence" between Russia and Georgia.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused the United States of masterminding the current conflict between Georgia and Russia.

A statement from Chavez's government Thursday alleged that the conflict was "planned, prepared and ordered" by Washington in an "incitement of violence."

Venezuela is a close ally of Russia, which it says has acted to protect local residents from "unacceptable acts of violence" perpetrated by Georgian troops.

Venezuela's statement saluted steps toward peace in South Ossetia, saying Russia's stance had been in line with international accords.

US Delivers Aid To Georgia, Russia Ignores Cease-Fire Agreement

They're still destroying military equipment and installations, still shooting at people, and still continuing to move further into Georgia. Though, they seem a little worried that we may be bringing more than food to the Georgians.

Russia's foreign minister declared Thursday that the world "can forget about" Georgia's territorial integrity, and American and Georgian officials said Russia appeared to be targeting military infrastructure — including radars and patrol boats at a Black Sea naval base and oil hub.

[...]

In Washington, an American official said Russia appears to be sabotaging airfields and other military infrastructure as its forces pull back. The U.S. official described eyewitnesses accounts for The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The official said the Russian strategy seems like a deliberate attempt to cripple the already battered Georgian military.

The United States poured aid into the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Thursday and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice launched emergency talks in France aimed at heading off a wider conflict.

Russia's deputy chief of General Staff Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn said he was not sure that the U.S. planes carried exclusively humanitarian cargo. "It causes our concern," he said.

 

Watching on Fox News now, SecDef Gates said they are re-examining relations with Russia and canceling all joint military exercises with Russia in the near future.

American Airlines Charging Troops For Extra Baggage

It never ceases to amaze me how these companies continually screw over the very people that makes their business possible. Oh sure, they will get reimbursed for the charges, but why should they have to go through the hassle? I'm sure the stockholders wouldn't mind a small decrease in profits should AA just waive that fee, and if they do mind, they need smacked in the face with a hammer.

American Airlines is charging troops for their extra baggage, a practice that forces soldiers heading for a war zone in Iraq to try to get reimbursement from the military. One of the country's largest veterans groups is asking the aviation industry to drop the practice immediately.

American, which recently charged two soldiers from Texas $100 and $300 for their extra duffel bags, said it gives the military a break on the cost for excess luggage and that the soldiers who incur the fees are reimbursed.

Al-Qaeda Big Fish Killed In Pakistan

Surprisingly enough; it was the Pakistani's that got him, not an errant missile from Afghanistan. al-Qaeda leaders have been dropping like flies lately. In the past month the top bio/chem weapons expert was killed, now AQ's #3 #2 leader al-Masri, and possibly #2 #1 Ayman al-Zawahiri

Senior Al Qaeda commander Abu Saeed al-Masri was killed in recent clashes with Pakistani forces near the Afghan border, a security official said on Tuesday.

"He was believed to be among the top leadership of al Qaeda," the senior security official said on condition of anonymity.

Al-Masri, which means "the Egyptian," was the most senior al Qaeda operative to have been killed in Pakistan's tribal belt since the death of his compatriot, Abu Khabab al-Masri, an Qaeda chemical and biological weapons expert, last month.

Television channels identified the dead man as Mustafa Abu al-Yazid and said he was also known as Abu Saeed al-Masri.

He was killed in recent clashes in the Bajaur tribal region, a known sanctuary for al Qaeda operatives on the Afghan border, the security official said.

Yazid, commander of al Qaeda operations in Afghanistan, was an Egyptian who served time in jail with al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri after the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981.

He has been referred to as al Qaeda's third most senior figure, after the elimination or capture of five earlier occupants of the number three spot since 2001.

Russia Surrenders, Will Withdraw Troops From Georgia, S. Ossetia

So they say. Their actions are telling something far more different.

Russia ordered a halt to military action in Georgia on Tuesday, after five days of air and land attacks sent Georgia's army into headlong retreat and left towns and military bases destroyed.

Georgian officials insisted that Russia has continued the bombings despite the pledge, but Russia denied that.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced at a press conference Tuesday that they have endorsed a plan in which both Russian and Georgian troops withdraw to their initial positions in Georgia.

According to the endorsed plan, Russian peacekeepers will remain in Georgia's breakaway provinces.

The plan also calls for a fuller discussion on the future status of Georgia's two breakaway provinces. Medvedev says breakaway provinces must be able to decide for themselves whether to remain in Georgia.

How To Stop The Soviet, OOPS, Russian Expansion

Send in the USS Ronald Reagan! He defeated the commies once, he can do it again!