A restaurant in North Carolina has changed the name of one of it’s side orders from french fries to FREEDOM FRIES. That’s right, Freedom Fries. So take that, France. Not only that, but a country club down the road (which probably doesn’t allow any blacks or women!) from said resteraunt POURED ALL IT’S FRENCH WINE out in the middle of the road, appearently to send a message that they are not happy the French are defying the USA’s plans for war. A hair salon in Atlanta refuses to call one of it’s hair twists by it’s name (french braids), instead referring to them as FREEDOM BRAIDS.

Now, someone pinch me. Am i going mad or are the United States of America, my homeland, the home of the brave and land of the free losing are f*cking minds? Isn’t this whole thing getting childish and doesn’t it almost reek a bit of cold-war blackmail and quasi-McCarthyism with a modern twist? And when we’re not calling the French names (and banning their products), we’re getting blackmailed by the Turks who now want $32 Billion for the USA to use their air fields for landing strips. Oh brother…

Now, does ANYONE out there think that the whole idea of world peace and solid, positive relationships between Europe, the USA, Asia and the Middle East is being undermined by this plan for War on Iraq? Or does the USA government have a real point, in that, Iraq has to be attacked NOW, right now. Or, is it a combination of things, most notably, the management of Oil (64% of the world’s reserves are in Iraq…but when that information was highlighted for the public…the HYDROGEN POWERED CAR was unleashed to the USA media, who swallowed it whole…say, isn’t Hydrogen quite UNSTABLE?…oh, nevermind…), to which Iraq has a good supply of.

So here we are in this here United States of America; Inflation is up (especially Gas prices!), unemployment is up, stocks are down, 401Ks have people afraid to read their statements, corporate crime is up, the USA debt is at the absolute CEILING as of today, our trade deficit is an unheard of $450 Billion in the red…the highest in 13 years, our allies can’t stand us (or at best, tolerate our crass, condescending rhetoric) and here we are, talking about French Fries, wine and Turkey!!!! All this talk of politics is making me hungry………

Mike Randle