News – Powering Iraq, Spinning the Message

Hopefully power will be restored soon in Iraq. They need it. Bush and friends need less, as they’re starting to change stories again. Did we see it coming? Better have.

Despite what I say, there are engineers who are working on Iraq’s power. Hats off to them for keeping at it, despite the looting that complicated the job significantly.

Got WMD confusion? Here’s a run down of things said by various officials about them. Gotta have a scorecard. 😉 Add to that this startling little admission. Rummy, saying that the WMD might not exist anymore. So the question is.. who will come up and say what next? So far they’ve been all over the board. I doubt it will stop now. British folk have pounced upon Rummy’s admission, using it against Blair and his prior position of war with Iraq as necessary.

A blast from the past, considering if the Saddam bunker bombed at the beginning of the war even existed. Nor was the strike a success as some report the main palace wasn’t destroyed and that someone could have survived the attack while inside it. Not a super important thing, but an interesting tidbit.

A woman named Marla Ruzicka has formed her own non-profit organization, Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, and has been in Iraq since Saddam’s statue fell. She’s there, going door to door with survey teams to count Iraqi dead.

Another British soldier is being held and questioned over PoW torture after pictures surfaced that allegedly show Iraqi PoWs being tortured. His being held was confirmed, as was the launch of an investigation.

A British Defense Minster has admitted that cluster bombs were used around Brasa, but Adam Ingram deflects criticism saying the bombs aren’t illegal and that they were only used on specific targets.

Despite the general lack of progress, the Israeli-Palestinian summit was given a positive spin by the participants. Hopefully things will turn out better when Bush goes for the three way, but I’m not counting on it. Bush is with Sharon in telling Palestine to ‘disarm’ Hamas. Never mind that doing a hard crackdown like they seem to want could foster a civil war.

Bruce Berkowitz, a scholar working in a CIA think tank associated with the CIA’s Directorate of Intelligence, has written a report that decries the CIA’s classification of technology as a boogeyman rather than an ally. The same general idea as the music industry. If you don’t embrace and adapt with technology, its going to run you over and pass you by.

International Papers looks at the recent Everest climb and some of the past efforts, as well as a bit of what it means for the region. Today’s Papers covers a wide range of topics, from SARS, to the MS/AOL settlement to the inability of the pentagon to secure troops from other nations to relive US troops in Iraq.

An amusing and educational look at possible reasons the Guantanimo detainees are gaining weight. Added is a smirk where Chatterbox muses the NRA and their general silence on the weapon bans in Iraq.

Interesting tidbit. Democrats are urging Bush to adjust the tax cut. Why? Cause in their bid to keep the cost of it under $350 B, they adjusted who gets the increase in the child tax credit. Families that make $10,500 and $26,625 a year won’t be seeing that benefit. Personally, I wonder why they cut this for the poor, but not for the wealthy. Doesn’t make sense as $400 per kid is more useful to a poor person than a wealthy person.

Is the Bush style hydrogen energy economy something that we want to pay for? Read up on the details and let me know. Speaking of Hydrogen, the bright minds are working on better ways to store hydrogen for use a fuel, aiming for set goals.

Bob Hope is 100! Wow. :p And here’s a little tribute to Bob.

And lastly, news of the strange. Studies show that men who have the healthiest, fastest sperm are often rated the most facially attractive by women. Meaning handsome men have the best swim team. How’s about that? 😉

Funny Pics!

Scary, but he thinks its true

Speaks for itself

Someone hand me the phone

Bush’s Earth Day