News – It Hurts and Stings

At least, our first story does.

One of the big stories today is about Aron Ralston, who was forced to sever his own arm to escape being pinned by a boulder. Personally, there is part of me that is skeptical. I mean, this is a bit too extraordinary. Then again, there is the part of me which knows its possible and the evidence is probably still out there, trapped between two boulders. Quite a thing to go through either way.

US and UK plan to introduce a resolution to the UN that not only aims to lift the sanctions on Iraq, it also gives them control of Iraq’s oil for a year and more or less relegates everyone else to an advisory role. And if this resolution doesn’t pass, will the US again ignore the UN and do whatever the hell it wants? That remains to be seen. Meanwhile Halliburton admits to the SEC that it paid bribes in Nigeria.

There is a bit of a mystery as US soldiers shot a 56 year old Iraqi man named Khaled Taleb Mehdi. A soldier on scene declined to comment and a witness can offer no explination.

The site, Iraq Body Count, is challenging the Pentagon’s report that only one civilian was harmed by cluster bombs during and after the war. Their numbers are at 200. The topic has stirred up yet another hornets nest of distaste. Personally, I’m on the disgusted side that our forces would use indiscriminate, messy cluster bombs after purporting their spiffy guided munitions as much as they have.

Was it really the Rumsfeld Doctrine that won the Iraq war? Or was it a balanced mix of old and new tech ?

The shiny new liberation is tarnishing. The people grow restless and upset. Their situations worsen on a personal level, with no hopeful end in clear sight. Lots of promises, but will they deliver?

Today’s Papers deliver a mix of headlines, including talk of the new US/UN action, the Patriot act, the tax cut and SARS.

More twister madness in the south central portion of the US. Tornados in Oklahoma are estimated to have destroyed 300 homes and injured over 100 people, five critically. Thankfully, no deaths.

Germany’s Schroeder is looking to get relations back on track and not choose between France and the US. A good outlook to have. Hopefully Bush can meet him half way.

Has Syria’s power over Lebanon waned some in the wake of the Iraq war?

Privacy advocates are worried over the increasing usage of more invasive FISA warrants(wiretaps and secret searches) and the diminishing use of Title III wiretaps, which are less invasive. I am a bit too.

Bushism of the day: “I think war is a dangerous place.”—Washington, D.C., May 7, 2003

Exploring the “Heroic Narrative” of Good against Evil, we can se how easy it is to take the faceless threat that was born on 9.11 and focus it into recognizable, despicable personalities that in turn become the next most important goal for the Bush administration. In this is a strange power. And a frightening one. All the while, trouble remains unmet in Bush’s America.

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