There is a bar in Las Vegas at the corner of Nellis Blvd and Oakey called Sunrise Ranch Bar and Grill.

It’s being run by someone who has never run a bar before and who is convinced that by stopping most of the theft by the bartenders he has proven that he can run a successful business.

They have no kitchen. They had a roach coach sitting out back for a while, but this “successful business operator” wanted it there 24/7 when the people who owned it were losing money.

He is trying to bring in business by having Karaoke every Wednesday, a free BBQ every Sunday, an open jam on Tuesdays, and a wet T-Shirt contest every Saturday.

If you follow the link up above to their website you can see the “crowd” they attract. It certainly isn’t the Double Deuce from Roadhouse. There are no models anywhere to be seen, no real band, and in spite of a couple of fights a week, there’s no need for a room full of bouncers.

The place has more space behind the bar than around it. It’s dark and dingy and will never be anything but a local’s dive. “Dive” being the operative word.

This is not a place to bring your date. This is a place to go and drink after work with some of the guys, but not a place to go for any other reason.

And yet, this person who now runs it is convinced that it will make him thousands and thousands of dollars and that very soon he will literally own the joint.

In a world with a bar every few thousand feet and nothing to make this place inviting it will never be anything more than what it is. Especially without a kitchen.

–I wish him luck but I wouldn’t suggest that he give up his day job.

Reuters:
Russia has said it has pulled back the bulk of the tanks and troops it sent into Georgia earlier this month, but after that it intends to keep 500 soldiers in a “zone of responsibility” deep inside Georgia’s heartland.

Russian officials say the zone was established in principle in an agreement between Russia and Georgia which pre-dates this month’s conflict, but was never put into force.

The deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, Gen Anatoly Nogovitsyn, said that more than 2,500 “peacekeeping” troops with armoured cars and helicopters would remain inside Georgia for the foreseeable future.

Part of the problem is the vagueness of the EU-brokered ceasefire deal, which speaks only of “additional security measures” in “the immediate proximity of South Ossetia” - proximity being defined as a distance of “several kilometers”.

The end result is that Russian troops control an area that is as much as 40 kilometers inside Georgia and Georgian peacekeepers are being denied access.

This “zone of responsibility” also cuts the main east-west highway in two places. Effectively giving Russia control of trade, which fell 95% during the conflict, between Turkey and Georgia’s Black Sea ports.

Following a statement by the Russian defence ministy that the withdrawal was complete, US President George W Bush and his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, expressed their disatisfaction.

They agreed in a telephone call that “Russia is not in compliance” with the ceasefire pact and it should comply immediately, US officials said.

And if Russia refuses? What will they do? Declare war or just hold their breathes until they turn blue?

Russia is once again a major player in the game and the former Eastern Block countries are suddenly saying nice things about the West. –Strange how that works.

Russia is also threatening the Ukraine should they find a way to join NATO.

We have a warmongering administration who will lie to justify their invasions. We have the potential to have another warmongering administration follow them. And Russia is apparently trying to rebuild the old Soviet Union.

There is no peace in the foreseeable future. I just wonder how long it will be before US and Russian troops clash.

A War On Terror board game designed in Cambridge has been seized by police who claim the balaclava in the set could be used in a criminal act.

The satirical board game was confiscated along with knives, chisels and bolt cutters, from climate protesters during a series of raids near Kingsnorth power station, in Kent, last week.

The satirical board game was confiscated along with knives, chisels and bolt cutters, from climate protesters during a series of raids near Kingsnorth power station, in Kent, last week.

The board game included a spinner that could land on axis of evil. If the player got that they had to wear a balaclava with the word “evil” on it. The police said that the balaclava could be used to disguise a person’s face and therefore could be used in the commission of a crime.

Read the whole thing here.

I figure the cops wanted to play the game but were too cheap to buy their own.

A poster from the Metropolitan Police’s new advertising awareness campaign, asking the public to be vigilant about people taking photographs.

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Evidently the police in London have gone into full paranoid mode. They are not only harassing amateur photographers they’re encouraging others to do so by instituting a “snitch” program.

Why would you worry about a person carrying a camera when a terrorist could simply and inconspicuously take pictures with his cell phone?

For more details read this.
And for another story read this.

Now - given the level of paranoia shown by those in power - ask yourself how long before the problem in this country goes from the occasional anomaly to a state sponsored program.