3.15.2008
Maybe we need some new way to measure progress, ya think?
Al-Qaida in Iraq, which did not exist as a coherent group before U.S. troops invaded in March 2003, probably now numbers no more than 6,000, according to U.S. intelligence estimates. It may have been closer to 10,000-strong before the severe pummeling it took last year, when it lost its main bases of Sunni Arab support.
[From US commanders: Al-Qaida in Iraq to stay - Boston.com]
Air Force über alles
The Air Force has a new advertising campaign to recruit the next generation of Airmen as well as better inform people about the Air Force mission: "Above All."...
Although the phrase 'uber alles' describing Germany well precedes the rise of Hitler, any one who lived through World War II would easily associate it with its Nazi use. The adoption by the Air Force is either stupid or scary.
[From UNDERNEWS: US AIR FORCE ADOPTS NAZI MOTTO]
"Stupid or scary"? The Bush administration? Wait, is that another new motto?
Or maybe what?
ATLANTA - Crews hadn't even had time to assess the damage from a possible tornado that ripped through downtown, smashing skyscraper windows, sucking furniture out of hotel rooms, crumbling part of an apartment building and rattling a packed sports arena, before they braced for another storm on Saturday.
[From Atlanta braces for another severe storm - Yahoo! News]
That's the official weather service description, at least as of the date of this AP story: "possible tornado." No word on what, possibly, else it might have been.
3.14.2008
Can the Ds win this next election, is that what you're wondering, bunky?
Not if the press keeps fawning over McCain like this, they can't.
SPRINGFIELD, Pa.—John McCain traveled like a man of the people Friday morning, riding an Amtrak train to Philadelphia after a late night of voting in Washington.
[From McCain travels Amtrak like everyone else - Boston.com]
Mid-life crisis morfs to war
"I must say, I'm a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you...in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger."
[From Doonesbury@Slate - Daily Dose]
-- George W. Bush, during a video conference with military briefers in Afghanistan
3.13.2008
Pretty much sums it up
Governors who hire adult prostitutes must resign immediately lest the public trust be forever sullied. Presidents who break the law by spying on Americans with no warrants, who torture people in violation of multiple treaties and statutes, who start hideously destructive wars based on false pretenses, who repeatedly proclaim the power to ignore laws, and who imprison people -- including Americans -- with no charges of any kind, should remain in office for as long as they want. Anyone who suggests otherwise is an irresponsible, shrill, partisan radical.
[From Misadventures in logical reasoning -- and lessons learned from the Spitzer scandal - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com]
Those Cubans, they've crossed the line this time
In a country where dissent is a crime and there are no legal avenues for voicing dissatisfaction with government, tuning out the Revolution with earphones has become a form of social and political protest. The hottest accessory among Havana’s youth are earphones attached to iPods, MP3 players or antiquated Sony Walkmans. Havana’s tuned-in youngsters affect being tuned out....
The significance has not been lost on Communist officials who complain that headphones are “anti-revolutionary,” acts of anti-social behavior by the undisciplined. In 2006, deputies in the National Assembly proposed banning headphones, but the measure was not enacted into law.
[From Havana’s Youth Tune Out the Revolution - NAM]
Public document? Not so much, Pentagon says
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Wednesday canceled plans for broad public release of a study that found no pre-Iraq war link between late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the al Qaida terrorist network.
Rather than posting the report online and making officials available to discuss it, as had been planned, the U.S. Joint Forces Command said it would mail copies of the document to reporters — if they asked for it. The report won't be posted on the Internet.
[From McClatchy Washington Bureau | 03/12/2008 | Pentagon cancels release of controversial Iraq report]
I can't imagine why they wouldn't want you to read it but...oh, wait...
The study comes at a difficult time for the Bush administration.
Well then. I guess I can.
Is this one of those things you can get an online prescription for?
LONDON: A steamy sex session in the morning can keep you in good health, say British researchers.
According to a research from Queen’s University in Belfast, a good morning session at least three times a week, decreases the risk of heart attack or stroke by half and a regular session improves circulation, thereby reducing blood pressure.
[From Morning sex can keep you healthy-Health/Sci-The Times of India]
3.12.2008
Click
Noted by our Seattle Bureau:
Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Breast Cancer site is
having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to
meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an
underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their
site and click on "donating a mammogram" for free (pink window in the
middle).
This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers
use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for
advertising.
Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.
Maine hit by bunnynapping wave
PORTLAND, Maine—A Portland teen has been charged with stealing a pet bunny and trying to extort money from the bunny's owner.
[From Teen charged with stealing bunny, trying to extort money - Boston.com]
OK, one. But it's too cold in Maine to do a lot of bunnynapping and anyway, one bunnynapping is enough.
3.11.2008
Move over, Mare
Ranking right up there with Richard Daley of Chicago (no, I'm not talking about Richie here, I'm talking about his father, Da Mare) who, when queried about cronyism in his administration, responded "Ya want I should do business with strangers?", this from "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss on the Eliot Spitzer news:
Well, you know, who wants a governor who doesn't have sex? That would be creepy.
[From Fleiss on Spitzer, Prostitution | Newsweek Politics | Newsweek.com]
Didn't work out too well then?
Police also were forced to remove two people after they tried to perform a citizen’s arrest on Rove for what they said were his crimes while a member of the Bush Administration.
[From CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Rove taunted at University of Iowa « - Blogs from CNN.com]
You didn't think they meant, like, real citizens, did you?
3.10.2008
Sending in the A team, are we?
WASHINGTON - President Bush, dispatching Vice President Dick Cheney to the Middle East, said the goal is to get Israelis and Palestinians to hold firm to the promises they've made toward peace.
[From Bush: Cheney to press for Mideast peace - Yahoo! News]
Nobody says peace like Trickshot Dick.
3.09.2008
Ouch!
Then there’s Mike, who buys a laptop that has a reassuring “Windows Vista Capable” logo affixed. He thinks that he will be able to run Vista in all of its glory, as well as favorite Microsoft programs like Movie Maker. His report: “I personally got burned.” His new laptop — logo or no logo — lacks the necessary graphics chip and can run neither his favorite video-editing software nor anything but a hobbled version of Vista. “I now have a $2,100 e-mail machine,” he says.
It turns out that Mike is clearly not a naïf. He’s Mike Nash, a Microsoft vice president who oversees Windows product management.
[From They Criticized Vista. And They Should Know. - New York Times]
I'm holding out for fries, myself
The prime minister of Finland, Matti Vanhanen, failed to win a lawsuit against his former mistress, who published a book which revealed that he liked to take a sauna before sex and eat beef and potatoes after it. Romance, Finnish style: “Once, when he kissed me, he said that I tasted better than baked potato.”
[From Whatever It Is, I’m Against It: Baked potato with sour cream and bacon bits?]
Are they saying this won't work?
Entrepreneur: Lane Becker, co-founder of GetSatisfaction
Bad idea: MMOmmerce, the future of the future of commerce
[From SXSW: 7 Fake Startups Compete for 'Worst Website Ever' | The Underwire from Wired.com]
The pitch: Shop for real-life items within MMOs. Frag Nazis while shopping for designer home furnishings in a game co-developed by Target and the U.S. Army. Shop for goods on Amazon.com in a virtual Amazon jungle. Visit a Barnes & Noble inside the Lord of the Rings multiplayer game for the true "Clicks and Mordor" experience.
Not counting thousands
For few, Iraq war has changed everything
[From For few, Iraq war has changed everything - Yahoo! News]
Those Buckeyes are sooooo laid back
"We will get through this," Gov. Ted Strickland said Saturday. "The snow will stop, the wind will cease, and the sun will shine."
[From Midwest cleans up after record snowfall - Yahoo! News]
(Buckeyes are nuts.)
Who says the government isn't trying to keep drug costs down?
A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
[From AP probe finds drugs in drinking water - Yahoo! News]
Recycle the stuff. As long as it's not from Canada.
"A little flu" doesn't work any more?
Clinic: have vasectomy, watch NCAA hoops
"When March Madness approaches you need an excuse ... to stay at home in front of the big screen," the clinic's radio ad says.
[From Clinic: have vasectomy, watch NCAA hoops - Boston.com]