Russia to sink flag in Arctic Ocean in oil, land grab at the North Pole

Thanks to global warming, the ice is thinning at the North Pole and Russia is moving in to “claim” all the oil and land for themselves. When I saw this story I wondered if this means the U.S. owns the moon since we were there first and planted a flag on the surface in 1969.

Apparently, Russia has used ice breaking ships to grind through the thinning arctic ice in a plan to drop some capsules with Russian flags inside. Their belief is Russia would then own the “rights” to the land and natural resources in the arctic. It’s estimated the arctic floor contains more than 10 billion tons of oil and gas deposits. The full article can be found here.

All I can say is thanks. Thanks to the Bush administration for not “believing” in science and ignoring all the evidence of global warming and our impact on planet earth.

China’s unsafe imports strike yet again – Fisher Price toy recall

Fisher-Price recalled as many as 1 million toys today after testing found lead paid on their products. The items were made, surprise surprise, in China. The full story can be found here.

It’s been one unhealthy import scandal after another for China. I hate that it’s virtually impossible to live in today’s society without buying something made in China. In July there was a news story about a U.S. family who tried living without Chinese products. The article can be found here. They found the challenge to be nearly impossible.

Senator Barack Obama speaks out against Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf

Senator Obama spoke out today against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and the lack of action against the terrorists and training camps in the tribal areas of Pakistan. I found this speech very interesting because i said something very similar on 21 July in my post “Bumper sticker “support the troops” slogans mean nothing to US military personnel“. On that post I said (in part):

Supporting the troops is about stopping this ridiculous funding that’s being sent to Pakistan while Al Qaeda is growing and operating freely in the tribal regions of the country. On September 20, 2001, President Bush addressed a joint session of Congress and said (in part)

“We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. (Applause.) From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.”

and yet the administration has looked the other way as Al Qaeda has restrengthened itself in the safe-haven sanctuary of the tribal regions of Pakistan.

I find Obama’s speech inspiring and right on target. It’s going to be a hard choice to choose between Obama and Edwards during the Presidential primary.

Below are exerts from the article. The full article can be found here.

Obama said he would send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists even without local permission if warranted – an attempt to show strength when his chief rival has described his foreign policy skills as naive.

The Illinois senator warned Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that he must do more to shut down terrorist operations in his country and evict foreign fighters under an Obama presidency, or Pakistan will risk a U.S. troop invasion and losing hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid.

“Let me make this clear,” Obama said in a speech at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al-Qaida leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will.”

Thousands of Taliban fighters are based in Pakistan’s vast and jagged mountains, where they can pass into Afghanistan, train for suicide operations and find refuge from local tribesmen. Intelligence experts warn that al-Qaida could be rebuilding here to mount another attack on the United States.The Bush administration has supported Musharraf and stressed the need to cooperate with Pakistan, but lately administration officials have suggested the possibility of military strikes to deal with al-Qaida and its leader, Osama bin Laden.

Congress passed legislation Friday that would tie aid from the United States to Islamabad’s efforts to stop al-Qaida and the Taliban from operating in its territory. President Bush has yet to sign it.