Posted by Lou. The time is 12.09pm here in London, UK.

Hitler finds out Michael Jackson is dead. Lou wets herself.

Posted by Bel. The time is 11:06am here in Wellington, NZ.

As the US military continues its 'war on terror' on numerous fronts, resources are stretched and it has become increasing difficult to recruit and re-deploy soldiers in a battle that even middle America is realising may be costing more than it is worth.

One result of this is a slipping of standards. Official policy is that soldiers are not allowed to be members of racists groups, but this expose on Salon has a lengthy interview with a neo-Nazi who details his experiences, and many other examples. Internal reports have tracked the issue for years, but as a spokesperson for 'Iraq Veterans Against The War' states, "The military is attractive to white supremacists because the war itself is racist."

However, not all standards are slipping. The US military is sticking by its policy of firing anybody who dares to be openly gay. The most high profile example is that of Sargeant Darren Manzella, who served twice in Iraq (read more here and here at the Huffington Post for further dismissed soldiers and background on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy). As far as I am aware, if any other kind of company fired you because of your sexual preference, that would be TOTALLY ILLEGAL, but this is not the first time these guys have demonstrated they believe they are above the law.

This is the same army that George Bush pumped over $800 billion into with a final flurry. That's in US dollars, people.

The "base" defense budget, which excludes the expense of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has grown 40 percent since 2001 to an estimated $518.3 billion requested for fiscal year 2009. But this doesn't tell the whole story.
If you figure in other military expenditures, such as those incurred by the departments of Homeland Security, Energy, Veterans Affairs, and the numerous defense "supplemental" bills that the Bush administration has relied on to fund its foreign adventures, US defense spending stands at a staggering $863.7 billion.
This exceeds the collective annual defense spending of the world's militaries combined.

[Source: Mother Jones]

How much more is now going to be spent on law suits do you think? Oh well, only a fraction of a fraction I suppose.