Strasbourg France

Strasbourg France Welcomed with thunderous cheers, President Barack Obama pledged on Friday to repair damaged relations with Europe, saying the world came together following the 2001 terrorist attacks but then "we got sidetracked by Iraq." "We must be honest with ourselves," Obama said. "In recent years, we've allowed our alliance to drift."

The new U.S. president said that despite the bitter feelings that were generated by Iraq, the United States and its allies must stand together because "al-Qaida is still a threat." Speaking before a French and German audience at a town-hall style gathering, Obama also encouraged a skeptical Europe to support his revamped strategy for rooting out terrorism suspects in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and said Europe should not expect America to shoulder the burden of sending in combat troops by itself.

He opened his appearance with a 25-minute prepared speech in which he set a dramatic, long-term goal of "a world without nuclear weapons." He said he would outline details of his nonproliferation proposal in a speech in Prague on Sunday, near the end of a European trip that is spanning five countries in eight days. "Even with the Cold War now over, the spread of nuclear weapons or the theft of nuclear material could lead to the extermination of any city on the planet," Obama said.

Ritz Camera

Ritz Camera will close almost 50% of its stores in a move to reorganized after a court-supervised bankruptcy. The closing will leave 400 stores in the U.S. Ritz was one of the first and finest camera chains but, as we all know, these chains are about as useful now as a dinosaur with a buggy whip. Online news sources provide most of the camera advice we need and online stores make it easy to get that latest 12-megapixel wonder. Besides, who needs some guy telling you what to buy when every point-and-shoot is basically the same now.

As part of its newfound bankrupcy status, Ritz Camera's gearing up to close more than 300 of its around 700 brick-and-mortar stores across the US, or about 43 percent of its retail presence. Starting April 4th, the affect stores will begin liquidation sales that'll go on until -- in the words of the press release -- "everything is sold to the bare walls." Forget DSLRs, if you were needing any fancy, brick-and-mortal shelving units, now might be your chance! Hit up the read link for a PDF listing all the closing stores

n case some of you missed this yesterday, Ritz Camera--and by association Wolf and Kits Camera among others--is shutting down more than 300 stores around the U.S. as part of a court-supervised bankruptcy reorganization. This of course means stock liquidation sales, which will begin Saturday, April 4. s with the Circuit City liquidation, I wouldn't expect huge discounts despite a senior VP at one of the four LLCs handling the sale saying we'll find "quality, brand-name merchandise at greatly reduced prices.

pistachio recall

pistachio recall due to contamination worries. Here we go again with another food recall. Earlier on March 27 the California Department of Public Health had announced that it had been investigating the pistachio recall from a CA supplier. According to naomistarkman FDA held conf call at 7pm ET to announce expansion of pistachio recall, said consumers shouldn't eat any pistachios until more info is known.

According to CBS report "Food safety officials are looking through Setton Farms' plant in rural Tulare County to see if it could lead them to the source of the contamination. The recalls began last Friday when the Georgia Nut Company recalled its Kraft Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix after some samples tested positive for salmonella. Setton Farms has started a separate recall of roasted pistachios, and grocery operator Kroger also has recalled some pistachio products."

Emaxhealth reports that this latest pistachio recall is involving one million pound, thus adding to the Salmonella worries, that periodically make news in the recent years. "What's up with nuts? First peanut butter, now a pistachio recall? Government conspiracy to quash a nut uprising? You decide," Twits graywes.