The Brits are getting ready to pack up and di di the hell out of Iraq.

They just handed Basra over to the Iraqis.

About three months ago they pulled back from the city of Basra to their base at the local airport, and by next March they plan to be down to 2,500 troops.

In a poll of 1,000 Basra residents for BBC Newsnight, more than 85% said they believed British troops have had a negative effect on the Iraqi province since 2003.
But two-thirds of those polled thought security would improve following the handover.

It’s unfortunate, but based on the behavior in other parts of Iraq, I believe that their version of security is secular in nature and consists primarily of the application of “peace through superior firepower.”

The way I see it. Basra (the city) is a test of the resolve of at least a part of Iraq.
It’s the country’s largest port and is surrounded by petroleum storage and production facilities. Leaving them with not only secular differences but with the inevitable disputes over the control of the oil and the money it generates.

The Shi’as will continue to control the area but, the Sunnis have a strong presence, so we’ll see if peaceful coexistence is possible.

One hopeful sign is that flights to Baghdad from Bosra’s international airport by Iraqi Airways have resumed and nobody is shooting them out of the sky…. Yet.

Pioneer Loan ordered the removal of an employee’s blog today.

It appears that one of their IT guys was forced to sit at one of the company offices dealing with customers, while he waited for one of the two people who were supposed to work that day to arrive. She had overslept.

The IT guy who was being forced to wait called the other IT guy about something, and in the course of the conversation complained about the situation.

While he was writing his blog the second man posted a single line about the incident.

In spite of her name not being mentioned, the woman took this as a personal attack, and threw a temper tantrum that lasted until that evening when she could corner one of the owners and complain long and loud.

The end result is that the second IT guy received a call from on high ordering him to remove the first IT guy’s blog.
The second man had enough common sense to preemptively remove his own blog.

The sites are now on RCNevada.

Hostility now resides at mike.rcnevada.com.
Richard’s Blog now resides at richard.rcnevada.com.

Freedom of what???

A blog that has been sitting unused since June or July is finally up and running.

It’s name is Political Nevada, and it’s supposed to be about politics and business in Nevada.

Their first post is a bit of a rant about public servants.

In Switzerland euthanasia has been legal since 1942.
There are only three required conditions: a documented proof of the existing disease, relatives’ disinterest in the death of a person and a signed contract, confirming that the decision to leave this world is voluntary and invariable.

Until recently only hospitals had the right to commit euthanasia. Now there are four specialized companies working in this industry. These upstart companies provide all necessary services, for a price, usually not more than 5,000 euros.

This service is not limited to Swiss citizens. As a result there is an infant industry; Suicidal tourism.
People come to Switzerland from all over Europe to end their pain with a certain amount of dignity.

In most of the rest of the so called civilized world they ban euthanasia, while the religious organizations debate suicide as sin and pain as punishment.

After all this time they are still trying to save us from ourselves. No matter how much pain we go through.
Banning any form of suicide designed to end our pain always sounds to me like Tomás de Torquemada burning people at the stake to save their souls.

PC World - Business Center: Penalty for Security Breach? No Vacation
The data breach is expected to cost the state upwards of US$3 million.

This guy essentially gave away $3 million dollars and they took 1 week of vacation time.
Just how much does this guy make an hour?