This and That

B-52 on the Loose?

No, I guess not.

Well, I hope not, anyway. 😉

But this is quite the headline: B-52 carried nuclear armed cruise missiles by mistake

I wonder if it overflew Tehran by mistake.

No, apparently not.

A B-52 bomber flew the length of the United States last week loaded with six nuclear armed cruise missiles in a major security breach, US military officials said Wednesday.

The lapse was reported to President George W. Bush after the nuclear warheads were discovered when the aircraft landed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, said a military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The US Air Force has relieved the munition squadron commander at Minot Air Base in North Dakota of his duties, and launched an intensive investigation into the incident, a spokesman said.

“At no time was there a threat to public safety,” said Lieutenant Colonel Ed Thomas. “It is important to note that munitions were safe, secure and under military control at all times.”

The Pentagon would not provide specifics, citing secrecy rules, but an expert said the incident was unprecedented and pointed to a disturbing lapse in the air force’s command and control system.

Hmmmm.

To Yahoo! (Or Not)

Yahoo! charged with helping Beijing suppress human rights – Asia News

The International Organisation for human rights has called web giant Yahoo! to court in the United States, guilty of having provided the Chinese government with information to trace and arrest journalists and dissidents.

The group — which has a long history of working to promote human rights world wide — has also asked a court in San Francisco to charge Yahoo! With complicity with Beijing in the abuse of civil rights and in acts of torture committed against arrested dissidents.

[…]

The web giant responded to the charges stating that it was obliged to work in agreement with the laws of each single state in which the system is used, but admitted that collaboration with the Chinese government had led to arrests and arbitrary detentions.

Law-abiding Yahoo! — good for them.

Microsoft and Google get “honorable” mentions in the article as well.

I use all three of them. Extensively.

Should I divest myself of them?

(I don’t approve of some ways my taxes are used either.)

(Nor do I approve of some of the stuff Yoder Store, Sharis, Safeway, WalMart, and Pizza Hut sell.)

People = Happiness

That seems to be a good summary of a poll done by (of all outfits for such results) MTV and AP:

So you’re between the ages of 13 and 24. What makes you happy?

[…]

Spending time with family was the top answer to that open-ended question, according to an extensive survey – more than 100 questions asked of 1,280 people ages 13-24 – conducted by The Associated Press and MTV on the nature of happiness among America’s young people.

Next was spending time with friends, followed by time with a significant other. And even better for parents: Nearly three-quarters of young people say their relationship with their parents makes them happy.

[…]

And parents, here’s some more for you: Most young people in school say it makes them happy. Overwhelmingly, young people think marriage would make them happy and want to be married some day. Most also want to have kids.

Finally, when asked to name their heroes, nearly half of respondents mentioned one or both of their parents. The winner, by a nose: Mom.

Then there’s this finding:

From the body to the soul: Close to half say religion and spirituality are very important. And more than half say they believe there is a higher power that has an influence over things that make them happy. Beyond religion, simply belonging to an organized religious group makes people happier.


Homemade Joy       A Happy Life       A Christian's Secret of Happy Life      

Russia Widens Its Carbon Footprint

Alternate title over at Yahoo! News: Russia revives Soviet-era strategic bomber patrols

Russia is immediately to resume the Soviet-era practice of sending strategic bombers on long-range flights well beyond its borders, President Vladimir Putin announced here on Friday.

My take: The revival continues.

The United States played down the Russian announcement.

“We have very good working relations with the Russians, with the Russian military,” US national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said

Well, good deal.

The announcement came days after Moscow said its strategic bombers had begun exercises over the North Pole and just a week after Russian planes flew within a few hundred kilometres (miles) of a US military base on the island of Guam.

On Wednesday a top US commander said that Russian bombers had been making increasingly frequent flights approaching US territory for several months.

Both Britain and Norway’s air forces have taken to the skies in recent months to monitor the renewed Russian air force activity, at a time when relations with Britain are in crisis over the poisoning in London of a former Russian agent, Alexander Litvinenko.

Shortly before Putin’s announcement, a Russian air force official said long-range bombers were carrying out patrol flights on Friday in various parts of the world, including the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Black Sea.

Thankfully, they’re partners, eh?

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