CBS carries this fairy tale about an intelligence report that says: Israel: Venezuela Supplying Iran Nukes. This is supposed to be an Israeli intelligence report that claims that Iran is receiving uranium from Venezuela and Bolivia.

With a little checking you find out that there are geology reports that indicate there might actually be uranium deposits in Venezuela and Bolivia, but no one is sure because it isn’t being mined, much less being refined into yellowcake and exported anywhere. Apparently it is hoped that bringing in Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales, who are despised by neocons, will help convince the powers that be to bomb Iran, or some other simple-minded garbage.

Iran wants nuclear power because it has its own uranium deposits. Iran has to import refined petroleum products because the companies that began pumping out their oil fields never built any local refineries. Iran wants to be energy self-sufficient because they know the oil will run out. They want to mine their own uranium and do all of the processing in the country because of the way they have been screwed over by Big Oil, and the West.

Back in January The Times was reporting that Iran in scramble for fresh uranium supplies, which might be somewhat true, as the IAEA has reported a drop off in concentrated uranium production. Iran might be having problems in its mining and initial processing operations. If true, any possibility of getting enough highly concentrated uranium for a weapon is kicked further down the road than ever before.

If Iran were looking for more yellowcake, Kazakhstan is the most logical source as it could come in by ship on the Caspian Sea, not from the other side of the world. It would be even more logical to simply wait until their own mines catch up, because the neocons seem to be the only ones in a hurry for Iran to start a nuclear reactor.

The Local Puppy Trainer covers another Memorial Day event in Santa Rosa county: Students, parents protest ACLU restrictions

PACE — Frustrated by restrictions stemming from an ACLU lawsuit, about 200 students and parents gathered to pray and protest outside Pace High School on Monday.

None would talk on the record about their concerns, but their presence was clearly a reaction to a court-approved consent decree that limits who can speak at graduation ceremonies.

Now, only the valedictorian and salutatorian can speak – but not the class president or any other student body representative.

In May, after months of negotiating through the courts, the American Civil Liberties Union won the final chapter of a lawsuit filed against the Santa Rosa County School District last August.

The suit was filed on behalf of two Pace High School students who alleged that school officials regularly promoted religion and offered prayers at school events in violation of their First Amendment rights.

This was a consent decree. This is what the school board agreed to do to comply with the US Constitution. The government is not supposed to impose a religion on people, but that’s what the Santa Rosa County School Board had been doing for years.

Memorial Day is about paying our respects to those who paid with their lives to support the Constitution, not a day to advocate ignoring it. The ACLU isn’t restricting anything, the restriction is in the Constitution. If you can’t live with it, you are free to emigrate, because frankly, you want to act just like the Taliban.

The Pensacola News Journal reports on a Memorial Day event: Protesters steamed over government

About 60 people gathered on a north Pensacola roadside Memorial Day afternoon to speak out against a wide variety of government policies.

The “tea party”-style event went on near the intersection of Creighton Road and North Ninth Avenue from noon to 2 p.m.

Demonstrators’ emotions ranged from patriotism to outrage as they displayed protest signs and waved to passing cars.

Complaining about the taxes you pay on a day dedicated to people who have paid the ultimate price is not patriotic, but it is an outrage.