Blue Star Chronicles

Gretchen Peters is a journalist who has spent five years on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. She has written a book, ‘Seeds of Terror’, exploring how the Taliban opium trade is funding their terrorist activities. Read more below and see a video.

Poppy Fields

Gretchen Peters says that all the U.S. military needs do is eradicate the drug trade in Afghanistan and we’ll put the Taliban out of business. No big deal. Right? Not so fast says Classical Values. We’ve been trying that for 90 years here in the U.S. and it hasn’t worked.

She says the U.S. must disrupt the Taliban’s heroin money trail.

“While the insurgents earn some money from collecting taxes from the farmers, the bulk of the earnings come from protecting the trade, protecting the convoys and protecting the refineries and taxing the refineries and yet we are not going after that element of it,” Peters said. “Even the US military resisted that until very recently.”

In other news …

I just got a letter from Chrysler explaining how they were being sold to Fiat and for me not to worry about anything changing in their products or services. However, shortly after I received that letter, I read that the Supreme Court has blocked the sale. That letter might have been sent a bit prematurely.

The U.N. Environmental Chief is planning on banning plastic bags. The Admonition is remembering the environmentalist were behind switching us from paper to plastic. So what is it? Paper or plastic?

I saw this photo earlier and wondered the same thing that Fausta is wondering. What is with this photo and why does fame, fortune, power, glamor, personal stylists, make-up artists, traveling at tax payers expense and privilege not seem to make the First Lady happy.

Ace of Spades thinks the photo is about Michelle Obama being upset that she’s constantly upstaging the top international model and First Lady of France, Carla Bruni. You know, like the media keeps telling us she does. Yeah, that’s what most people thought it was.

So … is Obamacare on the way? He says if he doesn’t get it passed by the end of this year, it won’t happen. Have you ever lived on the border with Canada? If so, then look north to our future and get sensible shoes for long waits in line to get medical care. Need an appendix out? Schedule it for next year sometime. If it bursts, then that’s just one less person the state has to provide medical care for.

Sarah Palin has a few thoughts on Obama’s health care plan.

And what if you don’t get the State run health insurance program?

…There could be a tax penalty for those with adequate financial resources who don’t elect to get insurance, according to the outline…

The Liberty Boys notices some interesting body language between Obama and French President Sarkozy. Ha!

Below is a video on Gretchen Peters and her new book, ‘Seeds of Terror’.