Smart Power(tm) in action!

Man, we are so lucky to have the team of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (advised by Elder Thing elder statesman Joe Biden) in charge of our foreign policy after those dark years under George Bush. Following up on their triumphs of the reset button, the throwing of our Central European allies under the bus to offer a deal on missile defense to Russia, and a train wreck of a speech in Cairo, the gang that couldn’t shoot straight has decided to insult Great Britain again by dumping some of the Uighur terrorists held in Guantanamo on the British protectorate of Bermuda:

The British Government responded with ill-disguised fury tonight to the news that four Chinese Uighurs freed from Guantanamo Bay had been flown for resettlement on the Atlantic tourist paradise of Bermuda.

The four arrived on Bermuda in the early hours, celebrating the end of seven years of detention after learning that they were to be accepted as guest workers.

But it appears that the Government of Bermuda failed to consult with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the decision to take in the Uighurs – whose return is demanded by Beijing – and it could now be forced to send them back to Cuba or risk a grave diplomatic crisis.

Bermuda, Britain’s oldest remaining dependency, is one of 14 overseas territories that come under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom, which retains direct responsibility for such matters as foreign policy and security.

Granted Bermuda screwed up too, but you’d think the Braniacs in the Smartest Administration Ever(tm), led by a man whose backers listed his superior judgment as a reason for election, would think to consult with our closest ally, who also happens to be sovereign over Bermuda. Would it have taken much to just call up Whitehall and say "Hey, we’re thinking of dumping some Islamic psychos on you. Whaddya say?"

They probably already knew what the answer would be.

Add this to insulting the British press and humiliating Prime Minister Brown, and you have to wonder if the Obama administration isn’t out to deliberately wreck the "special relationship."

Or are they really just this inept and clueless?

 

Technorati tags: Bermuda, Uighurs, Guantanamo Bay, terrorists

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God may not play dice

But he might enjoy a game of galactic billards now and then:

Astronomers calculate there is a tiny chance that Mars or Venus could collide with Earth – though it would not happen for at least a billion years.

The finding comes from simulations to show how orbits of planets might evolve billions of years into the future.

But the calculated chances of such events occurring are tiny.

Writing in the journal Nature, a team led by Jacques Laskar shows there is also a chance Mercury could strike Venus and merge into a larger planet.

Professor Laskar of the Paris Observatory and his colleagues also report that Mars might experience a close encounter with Jupiter – whose massive gravity could hurl the Red Planet out of our Solar System.

They even have a video to illustrate. Tito? Roll tape!

Neat! Should be a great show! Don’t worry, however. This won’t happen for at least a billion years or two, so you have time to stock up on popcorn and soda for the party.

 

Technorati tags: BBC, planetary collisions, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Earth