Over the last few weeks a rift has been brewing between the U.S. and Israel. The Obama administration is asking Israel to stop developing settlements in the West Bank. For those who do not know, the West Bank is a disputed territory between Israel and Palestine. As Palestinians try to achieve statehood, many clashes have come about because of the continued growth through settlements. It seems that Palestine is now ready to work with Israel, unfortunately it does not seem Israel is ready to work with Palestine.

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On Sunday, several bodies of victims from the Air France disaster began to be recovered. Pieces of the plane, including the tail have also been discovered floating in the ocean. Now the hunt continues to find the black box and figure out what went terribly wrong on that stormy night.

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Its Californias favorite time of the year: budget time. And of course our buddies in Sacramento are doing what they do every year, arguing over what to cut and who to tax. Governor Schwarzenneger continues to cry wolf and say that if cuts are not made the state will fall apart. It was even reported today that the Governor is contemplating cutting all welfare as a way to save the state and get it out of its $24 billion debt. Unlike businesses, the state can not file for bankruptcy.

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On the war front, Monday marked the beginning of the new surge in Afghanistan. As reported, about 7,000 troops were deployed into Afghanistan. This is only the beginning with an additional 14,000 being deployed throughout the summer. Much of the surge is to chase out Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The new surge hopefully will work like it did in Iraq especially with presidential elections happening in Afghanistan later this year.