I guess the first rule of being a politician is to never admit you were wrong even when it is plainly obvious:

But even though Biden said the surge worked militarily, he said he didn’t regret his vote in the Senate against it because Bush did not include a plan to address Iraq’s political problems. “I don’t regret a thing, what I said or did about Iraq policy,” he said.

It was the Obama administration, Biden said, that put in the plan that led to success. “What was lacking in the past was a coherent political process.” Biden said 145,000 U.S. servicemembers were in Iraq when President Obama took office in January 2009. In five weeks, that number will be down to 50,000.

Biden said success in Iraq can be defined as “enabling Iraq’s transition to autonomy” and that goal has been accomplished, including free elections and trained security forces. “Now it’s up to the Iraqi people and their leaders.”  [USA Today]

The political process and elections would have never took place without the troop influx and local tribal militias providing increased security for the Iraqi government to advance the political process.  Can anyone think of a politician that has admitted they were dead wrong something before?

Andrew Bolt has been warning about the great slick of hype by the cash hungry Green Groups when the Shen Neng 1 ran aground in the Great Barrier Reef back in April and he warned that the same thing would happen with the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and this report from TIME magazine just goes to show he was right:

President Obama has called the BP oil spill “the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced,” and so has just about everyone else. Green groups are sounding alarms about the “catastrophe along the Gulf Coast,” while CBS, Fox and MSNBC are all slapping “Disaster in the Gulf” chyrons on their spill-related news. Even BP fall guy Tony Hayward, after some early happy talk, admitted that the spill was an “environmental catastrophe.” The obnoxious anti-environmentalist Rush Limbaugh has been a rare voice arguing that the spill — he calls it “the leak” — is anything less than an ecological calamity, scoffing at the avalanche of end-is-nigh eco-hype.

Well, Limbaugh has a point. The Deepwater Horizon explosion was an awful tragedy for the 11 workers who died on the rig, and it’s no leak; it’s the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. It’s also inflicting serious economic and psychological damage on coastal communities that depend on tourism, fishing and drilling. But so far — while it’s important to acknowledge that the long-term potential danger is simply unknowable for an underwater event that took place just three months ago — it does not seem to be inflicting severe environmental damage. “The impacts have been much, much less than everyone feared,” says geochemist Jacqueline Michel, a federal contractor who is coordinating shoreline assessments in Louisiana.

Yes, the spill killed birds — but so far, less than 1% of the number killed by the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska 21 years ago. Yes, we’ve heard horror stories about oiled dolphins — but so far, wildlife-response teams have collected only three visibly oiled carcasses of mammals. Yes, the spill prompted harsh restrictions on fishing and shrimping, but so far, the region’s fish and shrimp have tested clean, and the restrictions are gradually being lifted. And yes, scientists have warned that the oil could accelerate the destruction of Louisiana’s disintegrating coastal marshes — a real slow-motion ecological calamity — but so far, assessment teams have found only about 350 acres of oiled marshes, when Louisiana was already losing about 15,000 acres of wetlands every year.   [TIME Magazine]

You can read the rest at the link, but this USA Today article today also exposes the cash hungry Green Group’s eco-alarmism.

You have got to hand it to the Korean Christians they are committed enough to proselytize anywhere:

Two Koreans are detained in Libya for proselytization, which is illegal in the Islam country, the local JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said on Saturday, citing a diplomatic source.

One of them, a Christian missionary, identified as Koh, has been detained since about a month ago, while another, identified as Joo, was arrested last week, it said.

The diplomatic source said Koh was a well-known figure in the Korean community in Tripoli, the nation’s capital.

Joo, a businessman who owns a farm there, has been known to finance Koh’s missionary work, it said.

The news didn’t elaborate on whether and when the two will be subject to judicial hearing for their reported violation of the local law.  [Korea Times]

I just hope that these two don’t go whinging for the Korean government to save them like the proselytizers in Afghanistan did when the Taliban caught them.  If someone wants to proselytize in a country that forbids it then they should be prepared to suffer the consequences.

Via PowerPoint Ranger.

I recently took a trip to Disney World and noticed something interesting about the “it’s a small world” ride. 

Can anyone point out what might irk the Korean community in the above photos?  

Korea wasn’t represented very well at Disney World but I did manage to snap a few more photos.

This coke machine seemed out of place in the African Pavilion at Epcot Center.

I did see a few Korean Employees that were recruited by Disney World from their Universities in Korea.

There were a lot of Korean tourist at Disney World,  so I am a little suprised that Korea wasn’t represented with more than a few dolls dressed in Hanbok and a misplaced coke machine.  The Korean employees I talked to all said they wanted to stay longer than the maximum one year but were denied.

Here is an update from the Dan Choi front:

A former Army lieutenant who was discharged from service last week for being openly gay said Sunday that he will continue to fight for a quick repeal of the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

“I know that there are a lot of people who are suffering, and my oath, my commitment to them, doesn’t end,” former Lt. Dan Choi told CNN’s Don Lemon.

Choi was arrested in March for handcuffing himself to a White House fence in protest of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which bars people who are openly gay or lesbian from serving in the military.

He admitted his sexual orientation publicly for the first time last year on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” prompting the Army to initiate proceedings to discharge him.

Choi said that while his honorable discharge hurts, he knows there is a “greater purpose for every single one of us, even if we’re stripped of all our wealth or our resources.”

“One thing about honor, one thing about dignity — it’s not dependent on what’s written on a document,” he said. “That comes from standing up and being truthful to who you are.”  [CNN]

This guy should feel fortunate he got an honorable discharge and wasn’t court martialed considering he was protesting in uniform in front of the White House. So does anyone think that if a bunch of US military members who were Tea Party supporters showed up in front of the White House and started protesting, denouncing the President’s policies, and chaining themselves to the White House fence that they would not be court martialed because that is exactly what Choi did?  Maybe if they were gay Tea Party supporters they would receive no punishment? 

As I continue to maintain the issue in the military is not one about gays serving openly it is about what special treatment they are going to receive and what can be seen with Dan Choi the special treatment is already starting.

The unemployed veteran that won the South Carolina Democratic primary without campaigning is now under the media microscope and what has been uncovered will likely end his political career:

Surprise U.S. Senate nominee Alvin Greene frequently mentions his 13 years of military service, but records obtained Thursday by The Associated Press show that the veteran who has called himself an “American hero” was considered a lackluster service member at best.”The records, which document his superiors’ decisions to pass over Greene for promotion, cite mistakes as severe as improperly uploading sensitive intelligence information to a military server, and as basic as an overall inability to clearly express his thoughts and perform basic tasks.”  [Associated Press]

I actually knew quite a few soldiers like this over the years.  I guess when I did a counseling statement on them I should have recommended they run for Congress.  Really, Greene couldn’t be any worse of a Congress person then this woman?

LTC P over at OPFOR is wondering where was this level of media scrutiny from the Associated Press of a flashy Illinois Senator in 2008?

So who knows where this harbor is located?

Here is this year’s Korea Finder Leadersboard:

1. Mark – 10
2. Leon Laporte – 4
3. Lemmy – 3
4. Kushibo – 2
5. Dr. Yu – 2
6. The Korean – 1
7. Sonagi – 1
8. Chickenhead – 1
9. Cloying Odor – 1

The person with the most points at the end of the year of the weekly Korea Finder contest will be rewarded with a book or DVD of their choice from Amazon.com.   Also note that if you have a picture that you think would make a great Korea Finder feel free to send it in to me.

Congratulations are in order for Lee Young-ae who is pregnant with her first child:

Lee Young-ae, one of Korea’s top acting stars, is pregnant with her first child, management associates said Friday.

“Lee is currently pregnant,’’ representatives of Storm S Company said, adding that further details would be released later so that the excitement won’t distress Lee in her condition.

The 39-year-old actress married a Korean-American in August 2009, in a low key wedding kept away from the prying eyes of the public. The sudden marriage in Hawaii came as a surprise to many of her fans. The only information Lee released about her husband was that he had graduated from an engineering college in Illinois and was working at an IT firm.

Lee first made her debut on Korean TV as a model before moving on to gain popularity in dramas and films. Her role in “Dae Jang Geum,’’ or “Jewel in the Palace,’’ led her to reach a new level of hallyu popularity in Southeast Asian countries and Iran.

Her film performances include a role in the 2000 “Joint Security Area’’ and the lead in Park Chan-wook’s “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.’’  [Korea Times]