The plot thickens.................... This pronouncement comes on the heels of the Summit in Kazakhstan between Russia, China, and Iran. It doesn't surprise me a bit, and I actually wonder how much of this comes at the behest of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad? China and Russia, while full members of the UN Security Council, are NOT (full) members of NATO. In my mind, things are falling into place. Watching closely.............. T.W.
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One of my favorites used to be when the ER would be rocking late in the evening, full of trauma patients, medical crises, and the usual three or four psychiatric cases, sucide attempts, and various other cases stacked upon another.
The lobby would inevitably be standing room only, and complaints, even threats, would be hurled repeatedly at the hospital staff.
Well, at times like this, one of us would invariably remark, "we need a Valium salt lick in the ER lobby", or "what we need is aerial spraying of Prozac", among others.
Well, with all that being said, it looks as if it's not just ER Nurses that have this sense of humor.
Except that this is seriously being put out there by a group of British scientists;
Lithium in public water supplies to combat widespread depression.
I can think of at least a dozen medical reasons against this offhand, not to mention the multitude of legal/constitutionall issues such a thing would ignite.
Of course, it's all conjecture, but still, it makes one consider the 'what if' factor.
http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/05/22/052211-news-lithium-1-5/
Well, if all else fails, there's still the aerial spraying thing...............
Just sayin'.
T.W.
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In a speech outlining U.S. policy in the Middle East and North Africa, Obama on Thursday sided with the Palestinians' opening position a day ahead of a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu is vehemently opposed to referring to the 1967 borders.
Until Thursday, the U.S. position had been that the Palestinian goal of a state based on the 1967 borders, with agreed land swaps, should be reconciled with Israel's desire for a secure Jewish state through negotiations...."
I was born October 11 1962, during the height of the tensions, when the US and the Soviet Union stood on the brink of thermonuclear war.
My mother, however, remembers it vividly. She has told me many times of the fear, the terror, of those days. She was 18 years old, a young wife, and new mother of yours truly.
I am now 48 years old, and the father of four, grandfather of four (so far).
Are we to relive the terror of October 1962?
Will the Iranians follow through?
Will the Obama Administration do anything?
These are interesting times, my friends.................
T.W.
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http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=220879
BERLIN – The Iranian government is moving forward with the construction of rocket launch bases in Venezuela, the German daily Die Welt wrote in its Thursday edition.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is Teheran's most important South American ally.
Iran is building intermediate- range missile launch pads on the Paraguaná Peninsula, and engineers from a construction firm – Khatam al-Anbia – owned by the Revolutionary Guards visited Paraguaná in February. Amir al-Hadschisadeh, the head of the Guard's Air Force, participated in the visit, according to the report. Die Welt cited information from "Western security insiders."
The rocket bases are to include measures to prevent air attacks on Venezuela as well as commando and control stations.
The Iranian military involvement in the project extends to bunker, barracks and watch tower construction. Twenty-meter deep rocket silos are planned. The cost of the Venezuelan military project is being paid for with Iranian oil revenue. The Iranians paid in cash for the preliminary phase of the project and, the total cost is expected to amount to "dozens of millions" of dollars, Die Welt wrote.
The Paraguaná Peninsula is on the coast of Venezuela and is roughly 120 kilometers from America's main South American partner, Columbia.
According to Die Welt, the clandestine agreement between Venezuela and Iran would mean the Chavez government would fire rocket at Iran's enemies should the Islamic Republic face military strikes.
Meanwhile the German press agency (DPA) reported on Friday that Germany will not contest the placement of the Hamburg- based European- Iranian Trade Bank (EIH) on the EU sanctions list at the end of the month. The US Treasury Department sanctioned the EIH last year, saying it was one of the most important institutions in Europe for financing Iran's missile and nuclear proliferation programs. Germany was the subject of criticism from American, French, British and Israeli officials because it refused to shut the EIH.
The EIH plays a crucial role in facilitating financial transactions for midsize German firms that are active in Iran. German- Iranian total trade amounted to over 4 billion euros in 2010, making German Iran's No. 1 EU trade partner.
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