Goodbye USA, hello USANADICO!

(If only this image were fake...)

Now normally I'd be taken aback by a comment like that. I'd be thinking of looney guys forming militias in the backwoods of Michigan hoarding assault rifles, canned goods and other survivalist gear, hiding from the Federal government's 'black helicopters'. Apparently these helicopter dodging folks may be onto something...

Apparently President Bush has formed a government activity called the Security and Prosperity Partnership Of North America or SPP for short (www.spp.gov) after a summit with the Canadian PM and Presidente Fox from that country down south of the razorwire.

Coincidentally this summit was in Waco (aka Wacko), TX.

At this summit they apparently decided, without much fanfare, to use the newfound cooperation ushered in by Clinton and NAFTA and kick it up a notch. Now in addition to trade, we are going to coordinate border security, immigration flows, and other areas. This is eerily similar to moves Europeans were making after the formation of the European Coal & Steel Community (which led to the European Community/Common Market, and eventually the European Union.) Call me a naysayer, call me Chiken Little ("the sky is falling") call me paranoid... but as long as you never call me Mexican or Canadian I'll be happy.

Goodbye USA, Canada, & Mexico... Hello USANADICO!!!

Miami Home for Wayward and Unemployed Dictators

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega will be released from prison on September 9 and hopes to immediately board a plane for Panama, his attorney said.

Noriega's eight-year rule over Panama ended after the United States invaded Panama on December 20, 1989, to force him from power. He is being held in the Federal Correctional Institution in Miami on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

Noriega was sentenced to a 30-year term for protecting Colombian cocaine shipments through Panama in the 1980s, but received deductions in his sentence for good behavior.

Noriega, 70, had parole hearings in 2002 and 2004 to try to cut short his 30-year sentence. He was not recommended for parole either time.

Rubino said his client plans to waive any deportation hearings and try to board a plane back to Panama the day he is released from prison.

"He wants to go back to Panama and he wants to enjoy his grandchildren in quiet retirement," Rubino said.

Noriega has received two 20-year sentences in Panama for the killings of dissident leader Hugo Spadafora, but Rubino said Noriega will fight the charges.

"When he goes back to Panama, that case will be able to be reopened. Then he'll be able to adequately defend himself on that case," Rubino said.

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Now if we could do that with Noriega, why didn't we do that with Saddam? Or Hugo for that matter...

Oil Companies that Support Terror

This list is taken from: http://www.terrorfreeoil.org/companies.php
76 (Conoco / Phillips)
Amoco (BP / Amoco)
AM/PM (BP / Amoco)
ARCO (BP / Amoco)
Beacon (Valero)
British Petroleum (BP / Amoco)
Buc-ee's (buys Chevron & Conoco gas)
Canadian Tire (buys Irving & Shell gas)
Chevron
Circle K (Conoco / Phillips)
CITGO
Coastal (Conoco / Phillips)
Conoco
Diamond Shamrock (Valero)
Elf (Total)
Esso (ExxonMobil)
Exxon (ExxonMobil)
Getty (Lukoil)
Gulf (Chevron)
Irving
Jet (Conoco / Phillips)
Lukoil
Marathon
Mirastar (Tesoro)
Mobil (ExxonMobil)
Murphy Oil USA
Petro-Canada
Petrofina (Total)
Phillips 66
Pilot (Marathon)
Sheetz
Shell
Speedway SuperAmerica (Marathon)
Starvin' Marvin's (Marathon)
Sunoco
Tesoro
Texaco (Chevron)
Total
Ultramar (Valero)
Union 76 (Conoco / Phillips)
Unocal (Chevron)
Valero

Found this info after reading this article:
http://www.ketv.com/automotive/10786780/detail.html

Titular Change

I'm experimenting with a title change for the Blog. I've stumbled across this phrase: "Dar al-Kufr" while conducting some research into the history behind the Sunni-Shiite schismn Islam in the 7th Century.

I was browsing a summary of the Islamic Worldview over on wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dar_al-Kufr) when I stumbled upon this wonderful phrase. Apparently, as wiki indicated, the term means "Land of the Infidel". I think my worldview and attitude towards Islamic militantcy, jihadists and my general disdain for muslim sensitivities (as expressed in the Danish cartoon row) group me into the Infidel camp. That's a moniker that I'll proudly carry. If being an Infidel means that you reject totalitarian religous rule; you reject institutionalized gender inequality; you embrace secular, egalitarian, republican government; if you rejoice in the civic virtues of Liberty, religious tolerance and the rule of secular/civil law not religous decree... Then count me as the Infidel-in-Chief.