One step forward, Two steps back

BP and the US Coast Guard are backing off from the Deep Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico because of a Tropical Depression in the eastern gulf. Currently, it has sustained winds of 35 mph and a pressure of 1006 mb. The most recent reconnaissance shows no strengthening.

Tropical Depression Three is located north of Cuba and south of the Bahamas. It looks like it will threaten Florida and possibly the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana and Mississippi. If it were to sing east instead it would go into the Atlantic or skirt along Florida's east coast and the Georgian coast. That is if...

The cap which they have been testing will have to come off. With BP and the Coast Guard vacating the area for 10-14 days, there will be more oil in the gulf again.

We can only watch and pray. Again.

So much finger pointing, no one to point at

It's Saturday, but does that mean the news stops? Nope. It keeps right on rolling.

Condoleeza Rice, our current Secretary of State, has come out and said that Russian central government has too much power. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union 16 years ago, Russia has worked, not always succeeding toward a Democratic government. However, in recent years, President Vladimir Putin has begun to crack down on civil liberties. Certain individuals that oppose his methods or his policies have found themselves imprisoned, broke or dead.

Elections for the Duma, Russia's legislative body, and the President this coming December and March. Putin has pledged to step down but may seek election with a pro-Kremlin party and thereby, gaining the Prime Minister position. With the current shift back towards totalitarian rule, it may not surprising that he would make such a move.

The same time that Secretary Rice visited Moscow and gave her grim assessment of the Democracy in Russia, there is a bit of tension between our two nations regarding Nuclear Missiles. You thought those days were over? Yeah, just like I thought Marvel would never kill Steve Rogers.

The United States wants to create Missile defense sites in the Czech Republic and Poland. The system is an effort to counter any posible long range strikes from Iran. Russia, however, can't help cut see them as a deterrent to their own aresnal. In other words, its like when the USSR parked missiles 90 miles off the coast of Florida: Cuba. Putin had basically told them to think long and hard about doing that. He does not want another Cold War. I can't say we're excited at the prospect either. Putin has threatened to pull out of an intermediate-range missile treaty that the USSR signed with the US.

Both sides agreed to meet again in six months in Washington to review this but it doesn't appear to be promising. This will just give the US time to catch its breath and Russia to hold its elections. Our position on the danger of a rogue state such as Iran possessing nuclear weapons is unlikely to change. Russia's position, that Iran is not lying aobut its nuclear program and poses no threat, is also unlikely to change.

Back in 2003, the leader of the coalition forces in Iraq was a man by the name of Lieutenent General Ricardo Sanchez. He retired in 2003 and only now will come out and speak about his feelings concerning the Iraq War. At the time, he says he was following orders and would have been inappropriate to oppose his Commander-in-chief. He now says the administration was "catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic". He also stated that there is no way the military could have achieved the objectives on their own.

In addition to his criticism of the administration, he also levelled some at the National Security Council stating there was "neglect and incompetence". He also railed politicians for having a "lust for power" and "loyalty to their political parties above loyalty to the Constitution". "While the politicians espouse a rhetoric designed to preserve their reputations and their political power, our soldiers die," was one of the most damning statements he made.

Coup!

There's a lot of news today

President Bush spoke at the opening day of the United Nation's 61st General Assembly. By the way, The President this year is Sheika Haya Rashed al-Khalifa of Bahrain. Shie is the first woman from the Middle East ot hold such a position. (w00t) Kofi Annan gave his Annual Report, the the President of Brazil spoke. President Bush finally got up to speak about Weapons of Mass Destruction and laid out our issues with Iran. Later today, the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, will also address the UN General Assembly. One can only believe that the Iranian president plans to reply to President Bush's demands for Iran to UN resolutions.

In Thailand, while the Prime Minister is in New York attending the UN General Assembly, a military coup was staged. This is a current event. CNN is reporting that all external news channels are blocked so residents are not getting CNN, the BBC or other international broadcasters.

According to CNN, there is space debris in the same orbit as Space Shuttle Atlantis. It is unclear whether it is merely debris or a piece of the shuttle itself that has broken off. Astronauts will likely need to do another spacewalk to inspect the ship again before reentry. Obviously, the reentry itself will have to be delayed until the necessary precautions can be taken.

Judge Abdullah al-Amiri, the jurist who was hearing the trial of Saddam Hussein and his cronies, has been replaced under the direction of the Primie Minister of Iraq. He was soft on the ousted dictator and even had said to Hussein during the trial that he was not a dictator. It can safely be assumed that moments like these were what led to the change of judges.

Unless you've been living under a rock, in cave in Tennessee or wherever news is not printed or broadcast, the US has enemy combatant detainees. We are holding them in Guantanomo Bay, Cuba. As long as we are a nation held ot the standards of the Geneva Convention which outlines treatment of Prisoners of War, we have to label these individuals as such. If not, we'd be in severe violation. So on a technicality, we hold these people in prison indefinitely. President Bush proposes that we amend Article 3 of the Geneva Convention to make trying these individuals easier and less recrimination on the CIA for questionable interrogation techniques. In fact, persons could be tried without access to the very evidence that the prosecution will use against them. This violates the due process we hold dearly in this country. ]They've already violated habeas corpus so this isn't a stretch. Senator John McCain, a Republican form Arizona, is leading two other Republican rebels, John Warner of Virginia and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, in the senate who are opposed to this proposal. In addition, General Colin Powell, former Secretary of State under President Bush, has also voiced his opinion against the amendment. Several questions remain" If we amend Article 3, do we negate the very convention? Will other nations amend theirs, leave it alone, or disregard it as blatantly as our government has? Can we amend it? Will our service people be treated as bad or worse than we do?

"Um... Bob... think its time to bring the shuttle in?"

An Earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale hit the Moluccas Islands in Indonesia. The earthquake appears to have happened underwater raising the possibility of tsunamis.

Tropical Storm Ernesto has begun to strengthen. The 90 miles between Cuba and Florida aren't enough to guarantee that it will reach hurricane force winds (74mph). This does not mean people in Florida should relax. Everyone should be taking precaustions. Look after yourselves, each other and your pets. NASA gave its approval to bring the shuttle in. You'd think they would be a little more on top of things.

Vivendi Universal has finally decided to offer its entire catalog for free download through Spiralfrog. A simple search of google reveals little about Spiralfrog. In any case little is known about artists will be paid. Money will be raised using advertisements.

Wikipedia will soon change how things are done. For a long time Wikipedia has had to dead with vandalism and those who would exploit their policies for idiocy. Wikipedia is going to change its editting procedures. When someone edits an entry, instead of immediately changing, it will then be reviewed by an administrator. Though this means more work for these administrators, it is the only way to go to stop the few who make it worse for the rest of us.

The President of Iran (ايران)is challenging Bush to a debate! President Ahmadinejad (محمود احمدی نژاد) said "the debate should be uncensored in order for the American people to be able to listen to what we say and they should not restrict the American people from hearing the truth." He thinks we don't hear the uncensored truth about Iran. He's right. We are constantly bombarded with what could be called propoganda. Rarely does a news item get reported without the agency itself steering toward a certain agenda or goal. We're a Pro-Israel nation and our news reflects that. Palestinian Media Watch reports on the handling of stories in the media. Another site also covers Palestinian news in English. Ahmadinejad may have points to make considering the treatment of Palestinians and some about the truth in his own nation. The White House says its a diversion. Yes, its a diversion. It might be one that would divert us from the spin the media are giving us and we might be able to make decisions on our own.

John Kerry, the Democratic Senator from Massachussetts, is now claiming voting improprieties in Ohio during the 2004 Presidential Election. I'm going to quote CNN because it is very difficult to explain this and paraphrasing was pointless: "An e-mail from Kerry will be sent to 100,000 Democratic donors Tuesday asking them to support U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland for governor of Ohio. The bulk of the e-mail criticizes Strickland's opponent, GOP Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, for his dual role in 2004 as President Bush's honorary Ohio campaign co-chairman and the state's top election official." Considering that Kerry is eyeing a 2008 run for the White House, this is really not surprising. He needs to reassure voters, donors and supporters that his loss was not his own; it is not his fault he lost.

I was listening to the Press Conference for Boulder, Colorado District Attorney Mary Lacy and they were interrupted by a fire alarm. Things just never seem to go right for her. She is explaining why they had to bring him over and do the most expensive DNA test in law enforcement history. Regardless of what this woman says to back up her actions, her career is over. Well, she can still be a lawyer.

Another legal news bit (how I despise legal news), polygamist Warren Steed Jeffs was finally taken into custody in Las Vegas. He leads the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints and in June was indicted in Arizona for arranging a marriage between a 16-year-old girl and an older man. It is believed that he may have 80 wives. He was arrested after being pulled over by Nevada highway patrol. He has been on the FBI's Most Wanted list since May. He is not part of the mainstream Mormon church.

On this day in 1949, the Soviet Union (Союз Советских Социалистических Республик) tested its first Atomic Bomb.

On this day back in 1756, Frederick the Great attacked Saxony, in Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland), which starts the Seven Years' War. Winston Churchill considered this conflict the first World War. It did involve more than one theatre but it was limited to European powers and their colonial possesions.

On this day in 1911, Ishi, the last man in the Yahi tribe, emerged from the wilderness in California. His name was never known due to a tribal taboo against saying one's own name. He lived at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, San Francisco, and died from Tuberculosis in 1916.

A year ago the levees broke in New Orleans.

Glad I don't live There!

I had a wonderful post all set to go but I didn't save it. Suddenly, all my firefox windows went skittering to a skreeching halt. So, I must go back to news aggregating to find other neat things to write about.

Since I'm so disheartened I will mention briefly those things I was going to talk about:

Professor at University of Pennsylvania arrested for possession of child pornography. A customs agent flagged him after noticing his frequent trips to Thailand.

Two buildings collapse in Egypt killing 8 so far. Reason: Dude, buildings really REALLY suck in Egypt. There wasn't even an earthquake.

South Africa is thinking about enriching uranium to start a nuclear energy program. Allegedly, they will try to stay within international "obligations". Al-Jazeera ran that one.

Kofi Annan told Hezbollah to give up the two soliders so I srael will lift its blockade of Lebanon. He'd like to see them handed over to the Red Cross. Little do most people realize but the cease-fire merely means stop shooting (more like "Reload") and does not require Israel to cease its isolation of the beleagered nation.

And according to Pravda, Paris Hilton has a clone. It's in Ukraine.

Tropical Storm Ernesto leaves Cuba and heads north for Southeast Florida. This means Miami. It will likely return to hurricane status after sitting over the the bath water like Gulf of Mexico. God be with you all those in its path. We're pulling for you.

That was about it. I'll have more in the morning.

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