It seems my shot at the US Postal Service the other day hit home. They’ve just announced they are ending Saturday mail pickup and delivery—other than at the Post Offices. If they weren’t authorized in the Constitution, Article I, Section 8, they would have long been bankrupt.

This announcement is just another example of the USPS’ stagger towards irrelevancy and extinction. If they truly wanted to save the Service, they’d end union domination and outsource most of the operation. But, that will never happen and UPS, FedEx and other commercial package and delivery services will continue to grow while the demand for the USPS diminishes.

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This is an interesting item.  The unions want to become drug dealers…specifically dealing marijuana.

Together, the dispensaries are a symbol of the growing bond between the nascent medical marijuana industry and struggling labor unions.

During the last few years, unions, led by the UFCW, have played an increasingly significant role in campaigns to allow medical marijuana, now legal in California, 17 other states and Washington, D.C.

In the November elections, UFCW operatives also helped get-out-the-vote efforts in Colorado, where voters approved a measure that made possession of one ounce (28.3 grams) or less of the drug legal for anyone 21 and older. Washington state approved a similar measure and both states require regulation of marijuana growers, processors and retailers. — Reuters.

At least the unions are limiting themselves to a quasi-legal area. If they expand beyond medical marijuana, they’d find themselves in competition with the Mexican Cartels and their US allies, M13 and others. The difference between unions and the gangs is blurry enough without making the distinction worse.

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The tensions in WesPac between China, Japan and the other western pacific nations is heating up. A ChiCom warship engaged missile radar lock on a Japanese warship. Many nations consider this an act of war. At one time, the US Navy considered such an act as an attack worthy of immediate response, i.e., an anti-radar missile fired back along that radar path.

“The incident is a dangerous conduct that could have led to an unforeseeable situation. It is extremely regrettable that China carried out such a one-sided, provocative act when signs are emerging for dialogue,” Abe told parliament.

“I ask the Chinese side to return to the spirit of mutually beneficial, strategic relations and prevent the recurrence of an incident like this. I strongly ask them for restraints so that the situation will not escalate further.”

Fire control radar is used to pinpoint the location of a target for missiles or shells. Directing the radar at a target can be considered a step away from actual firing.

The radar incident, which Japan said took place in the East China Sea on Jan. 30, came days after Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping told Abe’s envoy that he was committed to developing bilateral ties. — Dawn.Com.

The territorial disputes arise from the claims of a number of nations to the oil and gas fields in the South China Sea and the Spratly Islands. China has laid claim to the entire area and has threatened to close it to shipping of other nations.  In response the US sent a carrier battlegroup through the South China Sea to show support for open navigation.

There have been unverified reports that China may seed the disputed area with mines in an attempt to deny access to other nations. In January 2013, China announced naval exercises in the South China Sea in another attempt to intimidate Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippine Islands—all parties with interests and claim to that area.

China to conduct naval drills in Pacific amid tension

updated 1/30/2013 3:20:08 AM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) – Three advanced Chinese warships left port on Wednesday for naval drills and war games in the Western Pacific, and the fleet will likely pass through disputed waters in the East and South China Sea, state media said.

The official Xinhua news agency described the maneuvers as routine, but they come as China is engaged in an increasingly bitter, high stakes dispute over maritime territory with Japan and with several Southeast Asia nations.

“The fleet will carry out more than 20 types of exercises including naval confrontation, battle drills far out at sea, the protection of maritime rights and command and control,” Xinhua cited the Defence Ministry as saying in a statement.

“These exercises on the high seas will take in the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, the South China Sea, the Miyako Strait, the Bashi Channel and the seas to the east of Taiwan.”

In the US, everyone’s attention is on the Mideast with Iran’s announcement they are now nuclear, and by inference, have a nuke. However, if WW3 erupts, it’s more likely to occur in the Pacific.  China is a nuclear power. Taiwan is one of several nations, like Israel, South Korea, who have quietly developed nukes or could develop nukes quickly.

Note, too, that Japan has nuclear technology. They have the knowledge to make nukes whenever they want. However, they also have a cultural prohibition. I would expect that prohibition to go out the window if China ever threatened Japan with a nuke.  Japan also has missile technology that could be easily converted to ICBMs.

If large scale war erupts in the Pacific with an exchange of nukes, strategic or tactical, I expect Iran to “accidentally” go poof.