Is Russia our friend?

In a word, no.

10 alleged Russian secret agents arrested in US

WASHINGTON -- The FBI has arrested 10 people who allegedly spied for Russia for up to a decade - posing as innocent civilians while trying to infiltrate U.S. policymaking circles and learn about U.S. weapons, diplomatic strategy and political developments.

An 11th defendant - a man accused of delivering money to the agents - remains at large.

There was no clue in the court papers unsealed Monday about how successful the agents had been, but they were alleged to have been long-term, deep cover spies. Among them were four couples living in suburbs of New York, Washington and Boston. One woman was a reporter and editor for a prominent Spanish-language newspaper in New York whom the FBI says it videotaped contacting a Russian official in 2000 in Latin America.

These deep-cover agents are the hardest spies for the FBI to catch and are dubbed "illegals" in the intelligence world because they take civilian jobs with no visible connection to a foreign government, rather than operating from government jobs inside Russian embassies and military missions. In this case, they were spread out and seeking a wide swath of information.

The last time Russia was even remotely a friend of the US was during WWI, before their military collapse and withdrawal from that war, and certainly before the Bolshevik's took over. Once the Bolshevik's took over, the Russians have done everything in their power to gain whatever information they could about us - whether military or industrial information - and it continues to this day.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that the Russian government is our friend. It's an out and out lie.

Sen. Robert Byrd has died

All I will say is, it's about time the KKK wasn't represented in the US Senate any more.

RIP Lt. Col. William Holloman

Who is William Holloman? A member of the Tuskegee Airmen, who flew during WWII, and he also served in Korea and Vietnam.

Not only that, but he was [o]ne of the airmen most responsible for preserving, protecting and promoting the history of the veterans, ensuring that the respect, belatedly, did come and that it helped change society ...

Thank you Lt. Col. Holloman for your service to your nation both during, and after, your military career. You served during a time when your devotion to duty, and love for your country was called into question simply because of the color of your skin. What you did took great courage, both in the air against our enemies, and on the ground against the fear and prejudice that was present (and still is in many ways, unfortunately), which reflects great credit upon you, sir.

To absent comrades - Lt. Col. Holloman, 1925 - 2010

Thanks folks, but ...

I want to say a quick thank you to everyone who has been keeping my five year old post about Alice Cooper at the top of the Google search results page, but I have done other posts too, you know. ;)

If what you really want is a direct link to Alice Coopers web site, click here.

Another sad day for Seattle sports fans

Ken Griffey, Jr. has hung up his spikes.

Without "Junior", there would be no Seattle Mariners, there would be no Safeco Field, there would be no joy in "Mudville" during the summer months.

Thanks, Ken, for all of the wonderful memories you provided us over the years. Your leaping catches in center field to rob yet another hitter a home run, and probably most significantly, your full-speed-ahead race from first base on the double by Edgar Martinez to the slide at home that improbably beat the New York Yankees in 1995.



Thank you so much, Ken.