Only in America

America, the (armed and) beautiful.

A Kentucky pastor is inviting his parishioners to bring their firearms to church in order to celebrate the Fourth of July. A gun will be raffled off and patriotic music will be played. How better to honour America's deep belief in God and weaponry?

The Story.

The war on sanity

Am I the only one who doesn't believe that North Korea is dangerous? Seriously, I don't know what all the hoopla is about. Does anyone actually believe that those in charge are anxious to have their country destroyed and for them to die an ugly death or be imprisoned for life? Does anyone not believe that would be the only possible result if they fired missiles at anyone? They aren't as loony as some would have you believe. Even if they were, I'm sure they're instinct for self preservation would trump any delusions they may have.

And the same thing goes for Iran.

When the U.S. spent trillions of dollars over decades on developing ridiculous numbers of nuclear weapons--enough to destroy the entire world many times over, I'm sure they didn't think of themselves as insane. But if today a country develops a single nuclear weapon, they're painted as individuals so unstable that they're apt to start a war with any of their neighbours at the drop of a hat. Give me a break. The United States has always been the most aggressive state since it's rise to power and even now should be feared more so than any other. If they can go to Iraq for no reason at all, what is beyond the realm of possibilities?

Not a bad return for 10 days!

I've been remiss posting about my stock transactions. I raved to you about Suntech (STP) in this space. It is a solar power component manufacturer. I bought some shares exactly 10 days ago at $12.61 (U.S.) and sold them a few minutes ago for $17.69.

I apologize for leaving you out of the loop and promise to do better. However, if you've been following me (and the stocks I've recommended), you would have picked some up. Other stocks I've had my eye on are:

Highveld Steel and Vanadium (HSVLY), a company in the quickly expanding South African economy
Tata Motors (TTM), Indian auto producer of the world's cheapest car
Seagate (STX) disk storage producer
Akamai (AKAM) internet data performance company
VMWARE (VMW) specialize in server virtualization
SOHU.com (SOHU) Chinese internet portal and gaming concern

Different fathers for pair of twins

Video

Gunfight at the OK Convention Centre

Hours before former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were scheduled to begin their "conversation" at downtown Toronto's Metro Convention Centre on Friday, dozens of protesters, cops and gawkers had gathered along Front Street to witness the historic meet-up. But the protesters, at least, had their sights on just one of the two men.

Resting against benches on the other side of the street from the convention centre were row upon row of placards decorated with pictures of Mr. Bush and the words "war crimes." Other protest signs carried the now-infamous picture of the hooded, electrode-laden Abu Ghraib prisoner in a crucifix pose. Members of the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War carried signs reading, "War criminals not welcome here." Another political group, Food Not Bombs, set up an impromptu buffet table on the street, featuring such delicious puns as "Condoleezza Rice" and "Chard (him with war crimes) stir-fry." Even local 1005 of the Steelworkers' Union got in on the act. Virtually every sign, cause and chant related to the 43rd, rather than 42nd president.

From today's news...

Canadians seem to know their politics. We like fornicators better than war criminals.