For shame.

The "whistle blower" blower website WikiLeaks released a fresh batch of stolen diplomatic papers today. Some of the papers show revelations that are more than just potentially embarrassing about views on the United States' allies, as they also include developments among foes of the U.S. and competitive nations. The details were released from a crop of 250,000 cables that were illegally taken from the State Department's records and include discussions on the United States being unable to stop the selling of Syrian arms to the known terrorist group Hezbollah, and the hacking of American computers by the Chinese government. Other communications passed on to several newspapers by the website also reveal talk about individual leaders.

Rather humorously, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was noted to be "accompanied everywhere by a 'voluptuous blonde' Ukrainian nurse." The Guardian also noted that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was referred to as an "alpha-dog" (though I hardly think that's uncalled for when referring to the pseudo-dictator). The Afghan President Hamid Karzai is "driven by paranoia" (surprise, surprise), and German Chancellor Angela Merkel is one who "avoids risk and is rarely creative."

More importantly, the cables suggest that the United States had planned on using its network of embassies in global espionage. The material shows secretaries of State Clinton and Rice telling officials to collect personal details of political leaders such as iris scans, DNA samples, and vehicle descriptions. Listen. I'm all for freedom of the press and all those shenanigans, but this is absurd. Obama has said that he supports an open and transparent government, but there's a reason certain documents are confidential. This isn't freedom of information, this is anarchy. And quite frankly, if that founder of WikiLeaks turns up dead some day, don't expect anyone to be surprised.

That's just a baaaad idea.

A disturbing thing has been discovered recently, though it should come at no surprise considering we're talking about North Korea. Turns out, the country most heavily under the effect of small-nation syndrome have been working on a sophisticated uranium enrichment plant in an attempt to go nuclear. The discovery has been described as "stunning" and an "act of defiance." The plant was first witnessed by U.S. scientist Siegfried Hecker, a former director of the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory. U.S. officials have long suspected North Korea of having such capability, and have regularly raised it with them directly and with global partners. According to them, it validates a long standing concern they've have with respect to North Korea. As a follow-up, they state that clearly North Korea and its dictator feel free to destabilize the region.

According to Hecker's report, released Saturday in the New York Times, North Korea recently completed 2,000 centrifuges needed for making uranium required in a nuclear reactor. Hecker also said that the North told him it was producing low-enriched uranium. However, he was not allowed to take photos or reveal the plant's location, however the U.S. reportedly has been watching the area he visited by satellite. The plant has not been reported as producing plutonium needed for a bomb but the uranium used in an energy reactor could easily be converted, especially in the facility which has been described as "astonishingly modern." The senior administration official said if the details were true, then North Korea is in violation of its pledges and commitments. Too assume that the U.S. didn't know about these things earlier is somehwat stupid though. It is North Korea after all. And with luck, maybe they'll blow themselves off the face of the earth.

Who doesn't love a fixer upper.

Following the Republicans hearty trouncing of Democrats in the congressional, gubernatorial, and state races, many political experts weighed in on what Obama's first order of business should be. Some decided that he should scale back his heavily liberal agenda and attempt to appeal to the middle-ground independent voters, and to bring in some new staff for some fresh and untainted blood. For others, they believed that the answer was much simpler. He needs to appeal to his own party again. He's fallen out of favor with the people that got him to where he is now and it's showing negatively.He has almost completely ignored his original voter base for the last two years and has some serious damage to heal. Even if he some how manages to command the indpendent voters, he will have absolutely no chance of victory in 2012 if he doesn't hae a vast number of Democrats behind him. Because let's be honest, a great deal of the country is pissed off at him.

For starters, he completely shut down his high-end donors. Following their extremely generous donations, they were looking at Obama and his administration give them the perks that have become expected for wealthy donors. And Obama basically told them not to hold their breath, because he didn't give a damn. Sure, that's great for public image when people are struggling in a tough economy to know that they aren't being passed over for the wealthy. Unfortunately for Obama, when elections come by again and he needs donations to pay for the voter initiative materials, guess who doesn't want to pay? That's right. Even Obama's attempt to use religious influence failed miserably, as his Catholic voter base decided to bail out for the Republicans. That really sucks. Time to pay attention I guess? Yeah.

Love him or hate him.

Say what you want about former President George W. Bush, but the guy has a certain aura about him that denotes him as a man's man. Whether people agree with him or not, they all know where they stand with him. Recently, he has become a prime example of how to turn the other cheek and act stay clear of with humility. But in order for one to truly turn the other cheek as a legitmate option, they must also be able to do otherwise. Take, for instance, something like, say... Canada. They like to say that they foreign affairs and wars overseas because they "turn the other cheek," as if they know better. Nuh unh. They're not turning the other cheek. They're pulling a Sweden circa World War II. They don't have the military might to choose any other option outside of remaining uninvolved. Now as stupid as this sounds, a prime example of true power is the continued existence of Canada. yeah.

The fact that Canada exists isn't an example of their power. Quite the opposite. The fact that they exist demonstrates the power of the United States. Hear me out. The United States would heavily benefit from conquering a region so rich in natural resources. But we don't. Instead, the U.S. decides to make relationships beneficial to both countries. That's real power. Obama repeatedly points to G.W. Bush as if he is everything that is wrong with the world. Instead of coming out and pointing out all of Obama's shortcomings, Mr. Bush instead decides to remain silent. That's a show of true power. What a stud.