The UN, Iran and Russia

The U.S. demonized Ahmadinejad? That’s what the new U.N. U.N. General Assembly president says. I can see his point to a degree. Part of his argument is that the U.S. vilifies one leader while supporting the likes of Pinochet and Marcos. But, then the U.N. president stated that Ahmadinejad didn’t really deny the Holocaust.

D'Escoto said he did not support Ahmadinejad's comments on Israel but questioned whether they had been made. "If he said that I think it's lamentable," he said.

To make matters worse, despite all the evidence of Genocide in Darfur, he basically stated it was just a Bush administration smokescreen that brought about an arrest warrant on March 4 for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for alleged war crimes. The good news is D’Escoto’s position has no real power. The sad part is much of the world will listen to him.

In other news on Iran, the Obama administration is reshaping policy. That’s not really a surprise after Secretary of State Clinton issued an invitation to a conference at The Hague. Iran has not yet responded to that invitation.

Meanwhile, the Russians are rearming, planning to spend $140 billion through 2011.

Analysts say the brief war in Georgia exposed problems with outdated equipment and practices within Russia's armed forces and led to calls for military modernisation.

The announcement also stated a primary focus of the buildup would be the strategic nuclear forces. The wave of regional conflicts causing modernization is understandable. Better ground forces and strategic planning makes sense. But, regional conflicts do not require strategic nuclear weapons.

11/1 Morning Report

Think the U.S. is the only country with immigration problems? Think again. British authorities have said for years that migrant workers benefit the economy. But, yeasterday’s news story on more recent information revealed:

More than half of new jobs created under Labour since 1997 have gone to foreign workers, it has emerged.

Among other things, the statistics revealed it is incredibly hard to keep track of people. The government used wrong population data to make their original conclusions. And, then it revised those conclusions twice.

(…and the Democrats on this side of the pond wonder why we don’t trust their version of immigration impact…)


In, another scary report today U.S. officials are ready to say Russians nuclear missiles ”are secure”. Isn’t it wonderful that it’s done two years ahead of schedule? Meanwhile…

On Monday, the Russian military claimed to have conducted more than 20 long-range flights with its aging fleet of strategic nuclear bombers, and said a similar number of flights were planned for this week.
Russia has also taken to broadcasting state-controlled news reports of tests of cruise missiles and powerful conventional weapons, drawing comparisons to American systems and suggesting that the tests are necessary because of threats from the West.

(…Oh…and radiation detectors will be installed along the borders by 2011…does anyone really that that means only four more years of dirty bomb possibilities…very encouraging…)


Still over in Russia, it seems that corporate America, in this case Ford, has gone another step into hyper-political correctness. RFE reports:

ORTHODOX CLERIC BLASTS FORD MOTOR'S 'POLITICAL CORRECTNESS'
Andrei Kurayev, who is a deacon in the Russian Orthodox Church and a professor at the Moscow Theological Academy, was quoted by Interfax as saying on October 30 that the management of the Ford plant in Vsevolozhsk in Leningrad Oblast refused to allow him to tour its premises in clerical attire, Interfax reported. Kurayev added that he is currently giving lectures in that town and was interested in seeing the factory. He said that he was "told that the plant has a multiethnic work force, and it might insult someone if I came in wearing my cassock." He was accordingly told he "should wear ordinary clothes" on his visit. Kurayev stressed that the ban reflects not bureaucratic arbitrariness but an "ideology, a new totalitarian form of censorship in the name of political correctness." He added that there is "a part of this transnational corporation that does not want to take into account the character of our cultural and political climate.... [This shows] disrespect even for its own workers and for the country in which they work."

Meanwhile, another report states that Haloween events are banned in Moscow schools.

(…I guess you can’t have everything…some things are just better than others…)


In other weird news, there was yesterday’s report in the NYT that Iran is hiding art. Billions of dollars worth of art, at that, by artists such as Renoir and van Gogh all the way to Andy Warthol.

(…Sadaam hid lots of cash…maybe the Iranians have a different take on valuables?...)


I think the most concerning thing I’ve read the last few days was this report on Sir Hillary, from yesterday. Supposedly, there are photographs showing she was involved in President Bill’s presidential pardon extravaganza. However, the most frightening thing is not that photos exist which show it may be true. No, it’s the comment threads that follow, demonstrating the politicized apathy of America, that is truly frightening.

(…remember, Halloween never ends…just watch the politicians constantly putting on their new constumes…)

And, in sad news, Any Soldier reports the following:

Spc. Hugo V. Mendoza, 29, of Glendale, AZ, died of wounds sustained when he came in contact with enemy forces using RPG, machine gun, and small arms fire during combat operations on Oct. 25, in Korengal Valley, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 530rd infantry Regimentm 173 Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy.

Well, Specialist Mendoza, at our house we remember your cry—the cry of all warriors:

"Tell them of us and say,
For their tomorrow, we gave our today."
--The Kohima Epitaph--

We remember what you have given. And we say thank you for the tomorrows you have given others. May God give back to your family more than they have sacrificed and lost.

And, now, we dance In Memoriam.