News – Dilution of the Military

Americas

The US military continues to lower its standards in a bid to keep recruitment numbers up. Not just allowing those without High School diplomas, but more and more of those who score poorly on tests given by the Army are being allowed in. It might boost bodies in the short run, but in the long run it will weaken our forces in more significant ways. This trend needs to be reversed, I’d think it worse than a shortfall in forces. At least the forces that are present would be more reliable in general.

Looks like tax rebates for taxpayers are coming, with republicans and democrats agreeing on the basics. Personally I plan to spend a bit of it, then stuff the rest into the bank.

Air Force pilots are taught how to survive behind enemy lines when escaping from a downed aircraft.

Middle East

Egypt moves to seal their border with Gaza after militants blow holes into the fence Wednesday. Palestinians were quick to take advantage of the situation to buy supplies from Egypt.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki announces a major offensive will be starting against alQueda militants in Mosul.

Ever the rabble rouser, Ahmadinejad will be making a visit to Baghdad, the first Iraninan leader to visit since the revolution.

Asia/Pacific

After a three month absence, a Japanese warship is headed back to the Indian Ocean to resume a refueling mission for US ships involved in Afghanistan.

Europe

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci says that a declaration of independence for Kosovo is days away. This being the unilateral type of independences that is less preferred than an agreement with Serbia. Of course, few could reasonably hope that some mutual agreement would have been forged between the two.

The pope says the media should be more ethical in the stories they choose to report. Perhaps if the pope were paying their paychecks, they might. But their paychecks depend on how much viewership they get. And people are more interested in the darker side of life than the lighter side, hence the general trend in journalism.

General

Research says The Pill has prevented at least 100k deaths from ovarian cancer over 50 years.

Loading up your coffee with full fat milk, cream and the like makes it a ‘meal in a cup’ in terms of your daily allotment of calories.

The new Rambo movie sounds typical. Not that I expected much more than that. Pretty much the same as the past movies, with better special effects.

The Blogs look at the stimulus deal, Bill Clinton’s campaign-trail antics and mercury found in sushi-grade tuna.

Today’s Papers has the announcement by Société Générale, one of France’s largest banks, that it has lost $7.2 billion because of Jerome Kerviel, the broad agreement the Bush administration wants to reach with the Iraqi government that would replace the current U.N. mandate, more on the stimulus package and other such tidbits in the one page news.

Amusements

Neurotically Yours: Math Metal

If you’re going to vandalize a school in Alaska in the winter, make sure police can’t follow your footsteps in the snow

Colorado cops got a little something-something from hookers they were supposed to be arresting. Now they’re in deep trouble. (great audio of the actual sting operation included)

Couple find Jesus in a potato

Only in Florida would a road-raging driver assault someone successfully with an orange

Etiquette “expert” list top 10 things not to say to a woman….”Are those real?” and, “Is you sister as good in the sack as you are?”, conspicuously missing from the list

Texas’ highest criminal court adopts a policy prohibiting filings covered in “corrosive or dangerous chemicals, blood, food, feces, urine or other bodily fluids.” Writ happens

BBC creates experiment where all women from one town leave the kids and homes in the hands of men for a week. What could possibly go wrong?

Strategies You’ll Never See on Perry Mason #387: “My client’s genitals are so small he’d be too embarrassed to be a flasher”

Are you REALLY desperate to meet that special someone? You can find her here, but there’s a catch

Danny Glover convicted of trespass, is getting way too old for this shiat

Apparently a .45 caliber gun wasn’t enough power for this guy, so he modified it to fire shotgun shells. Which was dumb enough, but they he managed to shoot himself in the foot mid-robbery

Lawer for co-pilot in the Comair crash last year in Lexington says the 47 victims are to blame for the crash. The “they bought their tickets, I say let ’em crash” defense needs a little tweaking

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop theme: If cartoon characters were U.S. politicians

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop theme: Poorly designed playground equipment

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop challenge: Two famous people enter the teleporter at the same time and their DNA gets all mixcombobulated. Photoshop the hybrid person that emerges