Karen at Peripetia considers changing her Brand Loyalty based on the news that Chiquita has just agreed to a $25 million fine for hiring terrorists, right-wing AUC and left-wing FARC thugs, in Colombia to protect their crops and deal with labor problems.

Actually this is a step up, as in the old days, the part of Chiquita that was called the United Fruit Company sponsored coup d’états and revolutions to benefit its plantations in Central and South America.

Yes, in the “good old days” you couldn’t be a real Latin American fascist dictator unless you were on the UFC payroll. Why do you think they were called “banana republics?”

In Europe anything longer than two months is considered to be a long campaign, but we hadn’t finished counting the votes from the 2006 elections when people started running for 2008.

Ms Kane presents her platform: How About Campaigning For Shorter Campaigns?

Over half the field has made it to Nome, but the race will continue for a few more days as people push on to finish.

Sigrid Ekran of Norway came in as the first rookie and first woman to finish. She was the 21^st musher to reach the arch in Nome.

Winner Lance Mackey is still concerned about his dog, Zorro, who was diagnosed with pneumonia. As the Anchorage Daily News put it: Zorro didn’t finish, but he left his mark. Actually he was the father of seven of the dogs on the winning team, and is Mackey’s main stud for his breeding business.

Phinky of Ignorant Hussy posted that she is still in Iraq.

She left for Iraq on November 15^th, 2006 thinking she would be gone for three months, but it now appears she will be in-country until June. She is in western Anbar province working for a contractor.

A bad day for empires and emperors.

In 44BCE Julius Caesar was stabbed in the back by Senators. This was the first time, but definitely not the last time this would happen, as the Shrubbery will surely point out when he figures out that the White House staff is all on Capitol Hill talking to Congressional committees.

In 1848 the Emperor of Austro-Hungary discovered he wasn’t the beloved leader of the Magyars, as revolution broke out in the Hungarian side of the Empire.

In 1917 Tsar Nicholas II decided that it was probably a good idea to hand the crown, mace, and scepter to his brother Michael, Prince of Lvov, who promptly turned it down. Unfortunately, Nicky wasn’t bright enough to get out of the country, and received the Julius treatment in the following year.

The 15^th of March is a bad day to be Emperor.