News – Tragedy in Northern Iraq

Iraq

Crowds mourn one of the nastiest attacks in the north during the Iraq war. A double suicide bombing at the offices of both the Kurdistan Democratic party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan have resulted in anywhere between 50 and 70 deaths and over 200 wounded. Kurds were gathered in mass to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice. The body count is expected to rise as some of the injured are critically so. Blame for the attack is being nudged toward Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish Islamist group, by some. Ultimately it might prove an event that helps the two organizations join together as they are already edging toward, to better fight for an independent Kurdish state.

Another pair of attacks in northern Iraq(on the eve of Eid al-Adha) resulted in 12 dead and 50 wounded. One car bomb killed 9 and injured 45 at an Iraqi police station in Mosul and three US soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb near Kirkuk.

Israel/Palestine

Sharon never ceases to amaze me. He’s planning to pull back seventeen settlements, more than I had expected him to. He’ll be looking for US support in moving the 7,500 settlers and no timetable has been given. Could Sharon become a somewhat reasonable man? Anything is possible.

The Israeli women of the Machsom(Machsom is the Hebrew word for checkpoint) Watch go to keep an eye on the Israeli checkpoints, seeking to keep Israeli soldiers from harassing Palestinians.

Another round of terror threats has airlines canceling flights to the US as well as a domestic flight. In particular it is believed this one was a biological threat.

Hard-line British Interior Minister David Blunkett wants terror suspects to go into secret trials in Britain if needed to protect intelligence assets, lower the burden of proof against them and allow preemptive charges for before they stage an attack. Britons are understandably annoyed.

David Kay, with his perchance for speaking what he thinks(laudable) questions the Bush doctrine of preemptive strikes, considering the flaws in our intelligence. I do as well. Part of being successfully preemptive is having good intelligence. If you don’t have that, you’re screwed.

In a reversal of prior opinions, Bush is to announce the forming of a bipartisan, independent investigation into intelligence failures with regard to Iraq. That’s a grand total of two major intelligence failures on his watch.

The Arizona prison standoff has ended without violence as both of the inmates involved surrendered. No note of the condition of the female guard who was their hostage.

After a ten day vacation, the Spirit rover has been declared healthy again. Let the geeking out continue! 😉 For those interested: NASA scientists were able to restore Spirit to working order by deleting thousands of files, many left over from its seven-month flight to Mars, from its flash memory — a type of re-writable electronic memory that retains information even when power is off.

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But to be safe, NASA will reformat Spirit’s flash memory on Monday and “start again with a clean slate,” Adler said. Everything stored in Spirit’s flash file system will be erased and a clean version of the flight software will be installed.

Sounds like Windows. :p Yes, I know. Bad. 😉

Why the unemployment rate could be higher than it looks. I just wish there was an easier, more precise means by which to gauge things like this.

General

Score one for MyDoom. After a valiant early fight, SCO shuts down their site, under heavy traffic bombardment as a result of the virus. Soon after SCO launches a new site afterward and Microsoft prepares for its own battle. Security experts are understandably edgy at this stunning showing. Building a zombie PC army in six days is a little worrying.

Could the case of Armin Meiwes underscore a large issue of people with the same and similar extreme fetishes? If so, does it matter? I’m likely one of the few who won’t be quite so horrified or intent that the man should be prosecuted. Considering the admittedly disturbing act was consensual.

Google has demanded that an adult search engine named Booble cease and desist.

The adult search site says Google sent it an e-mail that says in part, “This Domain Name is confusingly similar to the famous GOOGLE trademark. Your Web site is a pornographic Web site. Your Web site improperly duplicates the distinctive and proprietary overall look and feel of Google’s Web site….” The message also disputes that Booble.com is a parody because it does not create a composition that comments on the original.

Personally, I think Google is overreacting. I hear the double ‘o’ is made to look like breasts. I don’t think anyone will mistake Booble for Google, but it does provide an interesting subject for legal discussion.

Today’s Papers has one third of Iran’s parliament resigning after a three week sit in to protest hardliner clerics disqualifying thousands of reformist candidates. In response the president warns the coming elections might be cancelled. There are other things, but this is rough here. Iran’s in store for some rough times if this political instability continues on its current course.

Amusements

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Theme: all sorts of things are getting recalled, pick the next item to be recalled and photoshop the reasons why

Newgrounds: Lame: Episode One and Two

Liquid Generation: Suck my News #86: Michael Jackson’s Jesus Juice