The more things change.....

.....the more they stay the same.

Two stories highlighting this principle.

First, Russian strategic bombers land in Venezuela. Apparently payback for the missile bases in Eastern Europe, Russia comes and plays in the U.S's backyard a la Cuban Missile Crisis.

Second, forget free trade and non-discrimination. The Pentagon has re-opened bidding on the lucrative refueling project which had been awarded to a Northrop Grumman/EADS (Airbus) consortium. The Pentagon has decided to reopen it to Boeing, a U.S. corp. EADS is the European competitor of Boeing in the most profitable export industry in the world. The back and forth in aviation industry trade disputes is legendary (including European claims that U.S. military contracts were disguised subsidies), and looks to continue despite all rhetoric.