News – Looting Still a Problem

Iraq

The IAEA has warned that some equipment and material that could be used to make nuclear weapons have disappeared from Iraq. The agency found, in some cases, entire buildings housing high-precision nuclear equipment had been dismantled. Ren’s question: Why in the hell weren’t these places either guarded or leveled beforehand? We’ve had a damn year to deal with this shit.

US air strikes destroy the popular Haji Hussein kebab house on Falluja’s main street, killing two guards. US forces say it was a ‘precision strike’ on a meeting place for militants loyal to Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. They probably just went there for lunch. “Zarqawi does not come here. Where is Zarqawi? We have not seen Zarqawi,” yelled one Falluja resident after the U.S. raid.

Now that it seems the fighting in Sadr City may well be largely over, it’s time to look into quickly and decisively restarting reconstruction projects to start rebuilding the battered slum. The faster we get into improving the lives of people in that section of Baghdad, the less likely the people there will be to rebel.

Israel/Palestine

Sharon is pursuing a wider coalition within his own government to try and expand support for his Gaza pullout plan.

The Israeli military is investigating the death of a thirteen year old Palestinian girl who is said to have been shot dead by soldiers then riddled with bullets by their commander.

Afghanistan

Electoral maters have calmed with some of the opponents backing from their boycott and election ballots being drawn in for counting that is slated to begin tomorrow.

Iran

The New York Times reports that the Bush administration could be discussing incentives for Iran with allies in Europe, aiming to negotiate them from uranium enrichment. Isn’t hat the plan that Kerry had?

Asia

China has urged the US to break it’s official contacts with Taiwan and to stop selling them arms Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said in a news conference that they hope the US will “abide by its promise to oppose Taiwan independence, stop conducting any type of official contact with Taiwan (and) stop selling arms to Taiwan.” This administration promised that?

US

GlaxoSmithKline Plc is looking at ways to get their Fluarix flu vaccine into the US market in the wake of Chiron Corp’s mistake. It’s a good time for them to try and break in against their competitor.

A classified report being prepared by the RAND group notes that frontline commanders didn’t benefit as much as they should have from cutting edge technology due to glitches depriving them of needed vital intelligence and surveillance data.

Human Rights Watch plans to label the US practice of holding prisoners in its war on terror incommunicado and in secret hiding places a violation of international law in a new report that calls for the end of such practices. Yup, holding people like that is usually the tool of dictatorships and authoritarian regimes. Which isn’t labeling this administration as such. Only noting that this is not the sort of act a democratic republic should make a practice of.

I’ve noted before that disability groups are hot on voting machines to make voting easier for the disabled. All well and good and noble and all that. Of course, they’re also opposing e-voting machines that produce a paper trail. Given that at least one of these disability groups has a financial connection with the parent company of Diebold, it brings up the question.. are all of these groups truly noble? Or are their agendas more murky? I don’t’ see why a disability group would oppose machines that give a paper trail. That has little to do with the accessibility of the machines from a user standpoint.

Could terrorists be in your chatrooms, planning below the din of the average inane conversation hat goes on in them? The US government thinks so and will be funding a yearlong study on chatroom surveillance. So take care with what you say, you never know who is listening. 😉

Is Dred Scott code for Roe vs. Wade? Or is Bush just incoherent when it comes to making up an analogy on the fly?

One of the amusing bits of conspiracy theory has to do with the bulge noted on Bush’s back during the first presidential debate. Some think it might have been a wire for coaching him secretly, but to be honest the positioning is all wrong. Some, including myself, have mused it is some sort of protective vest, which seems much more likely with the state of the world today. What the heck do you think it might be? I think its obvious the bulge was real. I’m not interested in defaming Bush, I’m just intensely curious as to what the heck it is.

General

Christopher Reeve: 1952-2004

Some iPod users are ‘going into the closet’ by not using those telltale white earbuds, some to avoid the growing number of people who are, others for various reasons. Personally, I like to show it off. Of course, I rarely see anyone around me with them, so I feel a bit like a lone example out there.

Today’s Papers has big states getting shafted on Homeland Security funds, a round up of attacks and incidents in Iraq, passage of a $136 billion corporate tax cut bill that has received quite a bit of negative feedback and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Cosplay fetishist found with over 10,000 stolen uniforms

21,000 pounds of tomato sauce unleashed upon I-95 in Connecticut

You’ll be relieved to note that a gigantic bronze statue of sasquatch holding a case of beer gets the greenlight in small BC town

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop these parts back together<P>
Fark Photoshop Challenge: Autumn leaves. Big whoop. Photoshop something really exciting to herald in the new season

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop Farker’s co-worker looking dapper for the bigwigs