Falkland Islands,revisited.

Its 9:10 am...


   Good morning everyone....hope everyone is doing well today. I see so many of Paul's friends came over to support my entry on his situation,some of you signed his petition over at Change.org and my dear friend Marselle even reposted it on few Occupy groups. Like I told Paul,I wish I had the 10,000 voices/readers to carry his story forward but I am very grateful for the people who came by and supported him. I'll be posting updates on what is going on as well...
   Looks like our streak without a major snowfall is going to end. The weather folks are saying we going to get hit with a 4-8 inch snowstorm tonight going into Friday. So this means I'll be saddling up the iPod and going to walk to our local gas station to get some fuel for our little snowblower. Of course,I'll have to shovel first before Rusty can be anywhere effective.
 Lori and I enjoyed a nice day off yesterday...we ended up in Ann Arbor because she had forgotten a package in a store where she was training a new store manager. So we had to venture out to get it and decided to chill at the huge Barnes and Noble for a couple of hours of lounging and enjoying a coffee.
 This store is so beautiful,maybe a shade behind the store in Royal Oak but its still very impressive. I read that sales have really improved for BN...all those people who liked Borders had to go somewhere to get their book fix,right?
 I was happy to see the store had both Combat Aircraft and Military Combat magazines in stock,it has been a while since I have been able to check them out. And so glad I did...been sort of keeping a eye at the rising tensions once again between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. These two fought a war back in 1982 after Argentina thought Britain was too weak to retake the Falklands after they invaded.
The Brits proved them as they pretty much destroyed most of the front-line fighter aircraft of the Argentine Air Force and sunk the navy's flag ship,the light cruiser,General Belgrano. The Brits paid a steep price with heavy naval losses including the destroyer the HMS Sheffield.
  After the war,Argentina was pretty much cut off from the world and their economy went into a major tailspin. But they worked hard to regain their international status and repairing relationships,helping out with support during the Iraq war and several natural disasters. The U.S. helped rebuild their air force by selling them the AR-4 Fightinghawk. The relations between the countries also have improved.
But flash forward to today and a dull drumbeat can be heard as Argentina once again is pressing claims that the Falklands is theirs. They are once again thinking the UK is too weak and spread out to perhaps defend the islands.
  This is a mistake on Argentina's part. While it is true that Britain is in an even worse military position then in '82 in regards to defending the Falklands,I think while the US and NATO stood aside while these two fought,it won't be the case this time. The UK has been at the US's side in both Iraq,Afghanistan and Libya and that will put the US in Britain's debt. And they'll need the help as the Royal Navy no longer has any active aircraft carriers and they sold their 72 Harrier jets to the Marine Corps. While the Brits are building two carriers,they won't be ready til 2020 and the jets they are going to use on them,the F-35,is still years away from being ready.
  The Brits do have much improved defenses after the war. They now have a patrol ship that is permanently stationed there,the HMS Clyde along with a Type 45 guided missile destroyer,the HMS Dauntless which will take up station this month. And despite signing a treaty that states no nuclear submarines will allowed in the area,the Brits do indeed have a submarine in place as well. It was a nuclear submarine,the HMS Conqueror,that sank the AFA General Belgrano during the war.
  The RAF now has Flight 1435 on a new airbase they built after the war...4 Eurofighter Typhoons are there along with 4 support aircraft. But if a shooting war started,the RAF would need help in sending reinforcements because its a very,long flight from the UK to the Falklands and with no carriers other then a helicopter carrier,the HMS Ocean,the Royal Air Force would have to conduct several inflight refueling missions. This would add additional stress to the pilots who would be stuck for those hours and then be asked to perform a potential combat mission...a tough job.
  While I think what the Brits have in place will be enough to keep the peace,its just another hot spot that bears watching.
 
    After we left the bookstore,we had a nice lunch at Olga's and then headed back home and made a stop at the Dollar Tree where I got my book fix by picking up two new reads.
 At home,just had a relaxed evening.....Lori was played Slingo and I continued to load the iPod with a lot old favorites. So far I've been uploading whole albums but I think I'm done,I'm going back and deleting the songs that don't really grab my ear. But I really do enjoy is listening to iTunes while I job search or write a blog entry. I hit shuffle and off we go....I find music really helps with the flow of my writing,well that and seeing Derek curled on the couch watching me.
  Unless I'm trying to read.....once he sees me reading,then its all about jumping on my lap and wanting to bury his face in my arms. He'll warm up for about 20 minutes then jump back down...until he sees the book open again.
  Speaking of animals,I was going to write about a different topic today but I have decided to wait til either Saturday or next week to talk about the Zanesville Zoo incident. Lori had signed me up to get Esquire magazine and my first issue came yesterday. Included was perhaps one of the saddest stories I have ever read. Its extremely haunting and a lot worse then most folks know about. Two men at odds sparked such a senseless tragedy.....and knowing me,I have some thoughts that I'll share on this.
  Like to extend a warm welcome to my new follower Stella and her grumpy iguana,Zorro. If you take a peek at the blogs I follow,I have added Stella's to the list. Its a very fun read and I hope you take a minute to go check her out.
  Okay,that is all I got time for,I have to go do some errands and get ready for the snow storm. I will return here on Saturday,hope you will also.

Thanks for reading.