News – Supported.. Unless You’re Yella

The brokenness of the US military is glaring at times. Old ideals of strength and ‘manliness’ remain, largely making the institution capable of insane, heartless action that wastes good talent over the smallest of ‘offenses’.

Case in point..

US

Sgt. Georg Andreas Pogany, an Army interrogator, was accused of cowardice in Iraq when he had a panic attack when seeing the body of an Iraqi man who had been cut in half by gunfire. The charge came after he sought counseling for that panic attack, but the most help he received were two sleeping pills and being told to get over it. The charges were dismissed by a military court, but his commander is following up with charges of dereliction of duty and since his return to the US he’s been stripped of his security clearance and given menial jobs despite his five years of experience as an interrogator.

We have incontrovertible proof that the Pentagon did no postwar planning. The excuses for this lack are amusing.

Bush claims credit for the beginnings of improvement in the economy. He says his tax cuts did it, though I wonder how fast he’ll try to spin it the other way if that growth falters.

Tech savvy parties seem to be the order of the day in politics. Or getting there. Wesley Clark’s campaign will be starting up a community for the blogs of his supporters with tools and the whole works.

Iraq

Another US solder killed in an RPG attack.

It isn’t just the Saddam loyalists who are shooting back at Americans. To believe so and behave as such is folly.

It is being said now that the last minute peace bid that was recently uncovered was a trap to discredit US foreign policy. If that is so, why didn’t they expose it at the time and use it as further justification? You’ll pardon me if I’m skeptical about this claim, won’t you? I’ve been burned a few too many times by this administration.

The Iraqi Governing Council has not been working out well. Tales of minimal progress on objectives and members not showing up for meetings has led the US to consider other options for an interim governing body. Remarkably, they’ve even been giving thought to suggestions made by France and the UN.

Salem Pax, going from Media Shy to Media Whore. 😉 He’s learning how much a camera changes things on the street in Baghdad and at home. If you’re interested in his work, you might want to have a look.

Surface to air missiles won’t win the war for Iraqi rebels, but they’ll wreak some havoc on civilian aviation.

Kurd Sellout Watch: Day 251: Crisis over!

Israel/Palestine

The prisoner swap with Hizbollah has been approved by Israel. Though they set a potential deal breaking conditiont hat no one who has killed Israelis will be included in the swap. Considering Hizbollah wants Samir Qantar, a Lebanese prisoner who killed three people in Israel in 1979, the deal might not go through.

Arafat retains his control over security. No one is really pleased, except him.

Saudi Arabia

The US says alQueda wants to topple pro-west Saudi royals. Ummm.. duh! Anyone that knows even a bit about alQueda and Osama knows that Osama hates the Saudi royals and would try to topple them all even if they weren’t pro west. If he and his cronies succeed is a question for time to answer. They’re still quite the target after having another car bomb attack.

Afghanistan

US troops will be deploying to attack militants in northern Afghanistan.

General

Take this to your boss. Playing simple games at work can improve attitude toward the job. And you know what they say about happy workers. Test workers were allowed to play simple games like Solitaire and Minesweeper for up to an hour a day, so it isn’t a blank check for loading Half Life on your machine and going to town, but for a little recreation to help unwind the gears.

Despite the doubters, Matrix: Revolutions brought home the bacon and a new record with $204 million in sales in its first weekend. Like it or not, people wanted to see the ending of this tale. Personally, I thought it was quite fitting and didn’t leave disappointed. I think one of the problems is that some people expected to have everything explained to them in crystal clear terms. When they didn’t understand the plot, they got frustrated. Or they concentrated too much on wanting to know minutia that had little relevance to the story at hand and is more likely to be dealt with in third party exploration. Enough was explained and I think the final battle between Smith and Neo went on just long enough. Of course, that wouldn’t apply to everyone. Did you see it and if you did, what did you think?

Corporations and lawmakers are extending protections against sexual harassment to transsexuals and cross dressers. Nice to see society maturing a little to the modern, unconventional times. Lets see more of that.

Day to Day: The Voyager Probe’s long lasting fuel source and Summary Judgment on Elf, The Matrix Revolutions and Love Actually.

Today’s Papers has some interesting trash talk about the Iraqi governing council, US lobbying for pesticide exemption as ozone depleting chemicals, Iraqis fixing a plant for hundreds of thousands where the US said millions and more.

Amusements

A patch for Bush only

A spirited retelling