100 Years at Fenway

Off politics for a second.. this was a joke. How did we not win this game?? This season is a complete disgrace so far. The Fenway faithful deserve better. Valentine needs to regain the respect of the team and the team need to respect Valentine's authority.

Appointment of Valentine to RS.

Appointing Valentine was a great move by John Henry. At least now he has a great manager to match up with Kenny the creep.

Freedom issues..

1) 'I went to a journalist'. As an intelligence officer, you cannot give classified material away without the receiver holding an appropriate clearance level. If in doubt.. do not shout. It is not up to individuals to decipher the legality of complex intelligence programs. Clearly, where evident wrongdoing occurs it should be brought to light.. but Mr. Drake's case is less than convincing in this particular scenario. (I do believe in the journalist right to publish whatever intelligence they have access too... hopefully with caution... just not the right of an intelligence officer etc to leak that information)

2) Rice and Cheney both have their bios coming out in the next few weeks.

3) Interesting how no one gives a shit about Africa... So sad. Most people are satisfied with an annual Bob Geldof concert and throwing a few dollars/pounds at 'Africa' each year. Think of the support that we could bring to bear for Congolese Government if we really wanted to.

4) Another Japanese Prime Minister. The country needs some strong leadership that can win the support of the public and push through a coherent debt reduction plan, alongside recovery from the earthquake.

5) It is appropriate that there be a memorial at the Flight 93 crash site.

6) A slightly comical event in Libya.

7) The UK debate surrounding the censure of social media sites during riots is stupid. Social media exists to propel freedom of speech. Where criminal acts take place online, the police can follow these actors to the source of their crime and can prosecute them with the evidence of their words-following action. Constricting the freedom of a country to make it easier to catch a few criminals is truly absurd. Sometimes I wonder what planet some politicians are on. Though, I suppose I am not alone in that regard.

8) Red Sox crushed Toronto last night. Thanks Gonzalez.

Tom Rogan Thinks..

Exams over so back to it.

1) The Argentinians are increasing pressure on the UK vis-a-vis the Falkland islands. They know that the UK has gutted its expeditionary force capability and in so has presented a great opportunity to push the issue up the agenda. On the other hand, I would imagine that the Royal Navy has one or two Trafalgar Class subs somewhere around here. It is unlikely that the US (at least under the current administration) would provide much more than covert intelligence support for UK forces during a second Falklands war.

2) Greece has major problems. Obviously. The entrenched special interests in that country (the wealthy who hate paying taxes, unions etc) do not want to give ground and the French and Germans are fighting each other over how best to proceed.

3) Strauss-Kahn was bitching about his cuffs.

4) The Israelis are getting ready for another show down with a Gaza flotilla that will sail this month. The flotillas are a nightmare for Israel. The Israelis cannot allow the ships to reach Gaza (to do so would be a direct, unacceptable challenge to Israeli authority and would invite an image of weakness that is unaffordable) but they are also desperate to avoid more negative publicity in the run up to the UN meeting in September. My opinion is that the Palestinian UN state hood move is counter-productive. Although, it is sad that the Lieberman is the Israeli FM. He lives in a dream world and may also be corrupt.

5) The US relative silence on Syria has been pathetic. Assad is committing terrible abuses and Obama is staying quiet. Even from a purely US interest-centric viewpoint this is counter-productive. Iran and Hizballah will view American silence on Syria and impotence in Lebanon as examples of our weakness. We need to be more assertive.

6) I think this would be a much better deal than this.

7) The Red Sox continue their excellent run. 11/12 now.

Tom Rogan Thinks..

I have exams at the moment so will not be posting.

However, I do want to draw attention to the Red Sox.. who are kicking ass.

Tom Rogan Thinks..

1) The ongoing Twitter saga is interesting. David Cameron has now come out against the injunctions. The New York Times seems to think that it is unlikely that Twitter will co-operate with attempts by the English courts to access the personal details of the 'tweeters'. I hope Twitter tell the High Court to f**k off. If you are in the public eye and you base your public image (and earning power) upon the visage of an honorable family man focused only on athletic excellence, but are in fact engaging in a long term affair, the public must be allowed to judge you on the truth. If you want privacy then go live in a box.

2) Once again Obama's sums don't add up

3) A shame that Mitch Daniels is out of the Presidential race. However, Tim Pawlenty's announcement ad is pretty good. I want him to win the nomination (not just because of the ad!!).

4) Yemen's problems are only going to grow. The country has no water, demographics that do not suggest political stability (very young population) and is fragmented along deep political divisions. A wonderful place for Al Qa'ida to reconstitute its Arabian operations.

5) Rumsfeld is right about the White House and Bin Laden.

6) Michelle Bachmann is an embarrassment to our democracy. This ad sums up why. Bachmann relies upon people who take comfort in locking themselves in a specific understanding of the world. I had a debate with one such individual yesterday in the comments below a Naples News article.

7) Red Sox played very well last night. Very disappointing that Blackpool were relegated from the premier league. I hope Ian Holloway gets a premier league job soon. Great guy.

Tom Rogan Thinks..

1) Netanyahu played Obama yesterday. The President of the United States should never allow a foreign leader to lecture him in public without retort. Especially in the Oval Office. Regardless of the content, it makes the country like a limp dick.

2) Obama should tell Netanyahu the 67 borders with associated swaps are the way it will go down. If not in their administrations then certainly in future ones. David 2000 will provide the basic foundation for peace -  Netanyahu claiming the 67 (with associated swaps) borders are not defensible is a bunch of bull. The US can (and does) guarantee Israeli security.

3) This is interesting -  I would say that body art has to be distinguished against a standard copyright entity -where the art is peripheral to the central object (the body) of the profit scheme, ie.. a model shoot or whatever. Otherwise the art takes precedence over the human being. If that is the case then anyone with a tattoo would have to seek consent to appear in the public eye. In this case, if it does not apply against Tyson then it cannot apply against Ed Helms character.

4) This is a national embarrassment. We owe at least a basic level of protection to those we incarcerate. Reckless endangerment should not be an accepted reality in prison policing.  Though I don't think the US should be held to the standards of UK prisons (where prisoners can sue for being attacked by other prisoners).

5) The Taliban continue to build their historical portfolio of atrocities.

6) Haha you can't control the twitter! If I was living in the US full time I would post the name of the footballer. However, seeing as I have a law degree to complete in the UK.. I will have to suffice by directing interested persons to search query 'footballer imogen thomas' on twitter.

7) Pretty big win.

8) Tomorrow Ian Holloway's Blackpool will play Manchester United on the English Premier League's final day. If Blackpool win then they will probably stay up. I really hope they do. Holloway is a great manager and a great guy.