She was too cute to be in jail.

The Washington Post reports:

Gillian Gibbons, 54, a British teacher jailed in Sudan for allowing her 7-year-old students to name a teddy bear Muhammad as part of a class project, was released Tuesday. She is seen here (right) embracing her son John after arriving at London's Heathrow airport. (Photo: Steve Parsons/ AP)

Click here to see more photos of the freed woman who reminds me of my kindergarten grade teacher.

Why Iran NEEDS nuclear energy, not weapons.

Iran holds the second largest crude oil reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia. It has the second largest gas reserve after Russia. It is geographically positioned ideally for export and has a sufficient infrastructure of pipelines, so this leaves two questions:
1. Why does Iran only supply 5 percent of the world's oil?
and
2. Why does Iran need nuclear energy?

The answers are actually much clearer than the American people like to see or the American government likes to admit.

Dirty deals for a cleaner energy source
Believe it or not, it was the US that actually sponsored the early atomic proliferation program in Iran. After the CIA-supported coup of 1953, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was brought to power and the US deemed the Iranian regime sufficiently friendly to possess nuclear technology. From a Cold War mindset, this was practical because it gave the US a nuclear-powered ally on the doorstep of the USSR and conveniently sitting atop the world's second-largest oil supply in the heart of the Middle East. Through the '60s, the Shah constructed a plan to rollout a nuclear program and, with the aid of the US, 23 nuclear facilities. He was emboldened by a firm belief that some day in the near future, the world's oil supply would be depleted and the need for energy would persist. Nuclear energy, in the Shah's mind, was the answer.

IN 1976, President Gerald Ford (with Dick Cheney as White House Chief of Staff and Donald Rumsfeld as Sec. of Defense) made an offer to the Shah to buy a US-built plutonium reprocessing facility - a nuclear reactor. The goal on both sides was to preserve the natural well beneath Iran, guaranteeing a long-term oil supply for the future, but the deal was put off by the 1979 Revolution.

Following the revolution, Iran attempted to restart its nuclear program with the same intentions as before: a need to prepare for the future. But the international community reneged on agreements signed prior to the revolution neither delivering fuels that were promised to Iran or aiding in the construction of new facilities, nor returning the billions of dollars that had been paid by Iran for the aid. This led to the tension between Iran and the West that we are still dealing with today and the placement of sanctions over Iran by the US.

US Sanctions
Now imagine for a minute that you are Iran and the West is, say, a case of Coca-Cola. Now every time you tried to deal with this case of Coke through the '80s, the cans were either empty or blew up in your face. What would you do? Switch to Pepsi maybe?

Well, that's what Iran did. Since the capitalists screwed Iran over, they turned to the Communists and began making deals with Russia and China. The US didn't like this very much, and when Iran purchased a nuclear conversion plant - much like the one they were promised by Cheney and Company twenty years before- the US (like an Amy Winehouse song) said, "No, no, no." Iran has been under official sanctions by the US for nearly two decades, but following this event, the US tightened its grip approved secondary sanctions over any country that does business with Iran. That was 1996. Since then there has been no (recorded) foreign investment into Iran - especially not by American firms.

Refineries, subsidies and a need to import energy.
No one is doing official business with Iran, but there are plenty of black market sales. Petrol is highly subsidized by Iran, which means easy access at low prices - the A-B-C of that means high consumption and a huge smuggling problem into boarding countries. And because Iran not seen a lot of capital for industry development, there aren't many refineries in the country. So lacking the ability to convert crude into a usable energy source coupled with an enormous consumption level, although Iran is one of the world's largest oil producers, it still has to import petrol.

Pipeline projects and international pressures.
Iran actually has an enormous pipeline network and because of its massive production, it would be a contender for more pipeline projects, but sanctions have prevented investment in this area as well. To add insult to injury, the US has consistently negotiated to have pipelines circumvent Iran. They are even pressuring India to move their big project through America's favorite Pakistan.

You decide
Sure Iran has lots of energy sources. Yes, a massive quantity of their primary natural resource is being wasted through corruption and smuggling. They need to regulate their borders and find ways to secure their oil. And there is little doubt that the Iranian government is hoarding an incredibly valuable international asset. But are they wrong for doing it? Really? With all of the talk about global warming and all of the concern globally about renewable energy sources, the Shah of Iran was actually ahead of in foreseeing the day that the wells run dry.

To date, there is no evidence that Iran has weaponized nuclear technology. Nor is there evidence that it is seeking to manufacture nuclear weapons. So ask yourself this, considering the magnifying glass under which the country is operating, doesn't it make sense that the people of Iran would trade oil that they can't refine for weapons rather then spend years and billions of dollars trying to figure out how to manufacture them?

Iran war rhetoric marches on.

Today, President Bush responded to an intelligence report released Monday that  

Still, Bush has maintained that Iran is still a threat and that they are operating a covert program to develop a nuclear arsenal. He says that this report is a sign that the international community needs to ramp up its efforts unearth such a program and that the responsibility lies at the door of the Iranian leadership to prove that they are willing to cooperate and cease such production.

New York Times reports, Bush said the Iranians had a "strategic choice" to make - to fully acknowledge past nuclear activities and suspend their uranium enrichment work, or to "continue on a path of isolation that is not in the nest interests of the Iranian people." He added, "The choice is up to the Iranian regime."

[Iranian President] Ahmadinejad said the intelligence report's conclusions had come about as a result of Iran's resistance to international pressure.

"This report tried to extract America from its impasse but it also is a declaration of the Iranian people's victory against great powers," Ahmadinejad said in a rally today in the western provice of Illam, the ISNA student news reported. "With the help of God, our people have resisted, are resisting and will resist until the end," he said, referring to Western effort to make Iran stop enriching uranium to make nuclear fuel. "They are disappointed that they cannot make you compromise even an iota," he added.

(Read more)

This all sounds strangely familiar. Recall the ramp up to the Iraq invasion in 2002 when the Bush administration was insistent, even after UN inspectors maintained otherwise, that Iraq was housing weapons of mass destruction. The problem with this stance is that it puts the accused in an inexorable position: You cannot disprove a double negative. How do you prove that you are not doing something without incriminating yourself?

If the US wants war with Iran, it is going to have it.

Remembering Our Troops for the Holidays

'Tis the season to be selfish and greedy for an 8 year-old, but for those of us who are worried about the price of gasoline, crude oil and the stability of our IRAs, it is the time of year to think about others, and who better than the men and women overseas who work every day to ensure our ability to continue watching 'Family Guy' without Osama bin Ladan banging on our door. There is no time in the year more difficult to be deployed in a war zone. So, here are some ways to let the troops fighting to preserve the image of infallible strength which guarantees our liberty know that they'll be home for Christmas, if only in our dreams.

Christine Fulton put together a great starter list of gift ideas for troops serving in Fort Sandbox. Check it out, click here. This list includes everything from food stuffs to headlights and knee pads.

From what I understand, Halliburton's standards for quality food have fallen over the course of the last five years, so food stuffs are always a great gift. MyGiftBasketIdeas.com

offers two sizes "Treats for Troopers." The small box is priced at $28.95, and the medium is $34.95. If you were thinking something with a little more substance than just CheezIts and M&Ms, I have had two separate requests for non-perishables such as EZ Mac or packages of beef jerky (people say Slim Jim's, but before you buy them think about it... do you like Slim Jim's? Go for the Jerky. Try Jack Link's. It's awesome.)  A few suggestions for beverages: Swiss Miss or Nestle hot cocoa, juice boxes, coffee supplies such as instant coffee, sugar packets and non-dairy creamer, or Crystal Light's On-The-Go packets. 

At E.D. Foods Inc., you can find a package of 10 instant soups free. Just pay the shipping.  

Sticking with food products, get regionally specific, and send troops a taste of normality. For example,  servicemen and women from the tri-state area will appreciate TastyKakes as a reminder of home. The company has a highly unpublicized holiday season sale for troops: Buy one case and get a second case of equal or lesser value free. They even handle the shipping for you. Just call 800.33.TASTY. 

Under Armour gear is a hot item among those stationed overseas. At Brigade Quartermaster's, you will receive 10% off all Under Amour products - including gloves, shirts and briefs - by using promotion code UA10 AND through Dec. 7, you also receive $25 off an order of $150. 

Pre-paid phone cards are a great gift. These are hard to come by online, most of the time when you purchase a "card" over the Internet, you are just buying airtime minutes with an access code. But check out BaseOps for information on international cards for troops.

Gift certificates are also good. Believe it or not, troops have a wealth of access to the Internet and can do their own shopping if they have funds. Sites like Amazon.com or Best Buy are great places to find entertainment for the idle mind such as DVD's, CD's, books or video games.

Cigarettes are always in short quantity because, let's face it, soldiers tend to be heavy smokers. Order European cigarettes and save huge. Smokin'4Free also has a variety pack with 10 brands in one carton for under $15.

Personal hygiene products are always in high demand as well. Think shampoo and conditioners, body washes, face masks (yes, apparently even GI's care about the size of their pores and acne problems), and moisturizing lotions. Help The Soldiers can put together a care package with everything from Q-tips to Advil (and that's not the expired Ibuprofen that they give to our troops).

Here's a gross, yet practical one for you. A publication in Nova Scotia ran a piece on the persistent skin problems troops face. The article recommended a product called SkinFix, a paste that treats everything from psoriasis and rosacea, ecsema and sunburns to athletes foot, fungal infections and minor burns.  

For something a little lighter that might just bring a smile, try CSL News Cartoons. They take military comic strips and put them on everything from t-shirts to coffee mugs.

If you don't have anyone in particular overseas, but you still want to help, Operation Troop Appreciation takes donations, both monetary and "new or gently used" items to send to troops. 

Some Soldier's Mom has some great suggestions for gift items and how to go about shipping them as well.