News – The Truth Won’t Set Captain R Free

Israel/Palestine

Recorded radio conversations bring dispute to the Israeli Army account of the shooting of a 13 year old Palestinian girl who was subsequently riddled with bullets by an Israeli soldier. The radio talk reveals he was never closer than 100 yards, was identified as a child from the start and there was no talk of a bomb or threat. The tape also reveals she was headed away when shot and that she was described as ‘scared to death’. The tape in question was a three way conversation between the army watchtower, the army post’s operations room and the captain, who was a company commander. The captain, named only as Captain R, is the one who shot her and then emptied his magazine into her.

I think we can safely show this as an open example of why few trust the IDF when they say something. They’re predisposed to covering up faults like this when they make statements. It makes it impossible to take what they assert seriously.

Iraq

The continuing strong of US offensives continues with raids on Sunni towns and villages south of Baghdad, termed surgical. British special forces are getting in on the action as well.

Of all the things the US Marines in Iraq have to fear, the lest of them should be letters form home, yet those letters can be as painful as a physical wound.

The Iranian, Egyptian and Syrian governments are expressing the opinion that the US is using excessive force in its attacks on insurgents. I’d think if the force being used is excessive is a good question. Mostly with regard to the use of airpower in my opinion. I don’t know that it’s as needed or effective for the damage it does in this sort of fighting. Of course, I’m no military strategist. 😉

156 different political parties will run candidates in Iraq’s upcoming elections. Wow. Who to choose?

Iran

Iran says no way to complete nuclear dismantling. And they shouldn’t be forced to if they can be verified as having left the bad aspect behind. No one has a right to deny them nuclear as a power source. We just have to make sure they don’t extend that to negative areas.

Britain, Germany and France are demanding that the UN investigators have full access for investigation of Iran’s nuclear program, coming in a resolution that is for a board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency taking place this week in Vienna. That’s the kind of access that will allow Iran’s compliance to be confirmed and perhaps finally quell US concerns. Or, at the very least, their public concerns. I have a feeling this administration wouldn’t be satisfied until all traces of any nuclear tech are stripped from Iran.

US

There’s been a big ruckus raised recently when someone snuck a nasty little provision into a spending bill hours before a vote on it, which would have allowed lawmakers access to individuals’ tax returns and the ability to release the info therein without penalty. It was only headed off by the sharp eye of a staffer who caught it in the massive bill. The bill won’t be signed when needed, but a smaller measure is being passed in the meantime to keep things running until the spending bill can be corrected. That such things can be slipped into a bill without debate and being vetted is one of the problems with how congress is run now. There needs to be a regulation that no legislation can be added to without the addition being debated and there should be a cut off date for additions, so that congressmen can have a finished copy of the bill to consider and vote on, rather than something that could be changed hours before a vote.

Rummy denies being an obstacle to intelligence reform. Sure, that’s what you say, Rummy. Unfortunately, I have reduced trust in him, thus his assurances don’t do it for me.

With the reform bill stopped for the moment, Bush as started issuing orders to the CIA and FBI to match some of the recommendations of the 9/11 commission. One calls on the CIA to increase by 50 percent the number of intelligence analysts and officers in the clandestine unit. Another gives the FBI 90 days to allocate “sufficient resources and authority” to develop an “intelligence cadre” of special agents, analysts, linguists, and surveillance specialists. The FBI one is a little vague. What’s sufficient? Another asks for an interagency review of whether the Defense Department should run covert paramilitary operations traditionally mounted by the CIA.

Rummy vows that there will be no repeat of the Boeing scandal, where an Air Force arms buyer steered billions in contracts to Boeing before taking a job there.

Concern remains on the changes to Bush’s cabinet, seen by some as moves to stifle dissent within the White House. Not a good thing. While having a cooperative staff is good, great even, having a cabinet chock full of ‘yes men’ isn’t. While I don’t know about some of the people being shuffled personally, I see Condi’s elevation as that, since I don’t see her as having any open skills that make her an ideal choice for the position. Goss isn’t doing that good a job of showing he’s leaving his partisan ways behind either, but I’ll give him more time on that.

The airlines turn over scads of data to the government for the testing of their passenger screening system. Fortunately it wont’ go online untl the Gao gives the thumbs up on a number of issues.

Dan Rather is resigning as a CBS News correspondent, but will remain with 60 Minutes and other assignments.

The water filled yo-yo ball toy should be banned form the US, says the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. It’s been banned in other countries and has been the source of many hundreds of injury reports in the US. I don’t know about banning, but it would be a good idea to keep it out of the hands of young children.

It’s hard to believe that the Bush administration really wants the dollar to be strong. They talk about it a lot, sure, but have yet to do anything to fix the situation with notable results.

General

The head of NATO is making a visit to Algeria in a push to get better cooperation with the Arab world in counter-terrorism, defense reform and military training. Greater cooperation is a good thing overall.

The Nintendo DS is out and I have one. And I can say that it’s a neat toy. The dual screens make it easier, to have the action in the top one and much of the interaction and status displays on the bottom one. The touch screen, with the stylus, is also useful, making it intuitive to simply touch what you want to select, making minigames more hands on.

Cell Phones running the Symbian Series 60 software could be vulnerable to a new Trojan out there. If you have a phone that runs this software, such as the Nokia 7610, pay close attention to the details of this article.

How likely is it that the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich would last ten years without mold? Pretty good given certain circumstances, says explainer.

Alexander an empty movie? I might see, as it’s currently the flick I plan to see on my movie excursion this weekend.

Today’s Papers has some of the pork stuffed into the budget bill despite claims to fiscal responsibility by this administration, more protests in the Ukraine as 200,000 take to the streets to demanded the prime minister acknowledge voter fraud in their election and concede defeat, a Pentagon draft that notes US special forces should be ready to operate against alQueda anytime and anywhere, even in allied nations that might not get informed of US action in their territory and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Norwegian hatches scheme to get others to do his sexual harassment for him

Entire student body banned from McDonald’s after throwing Big Macs, setting off fire extinguishers, and clogging toilets. Not clear if toilet clogging related to thrown or consumed McDonald’s food

Man to sue Google for being a search engine

Oregon man slows down speeders by sticking a painted plywood police cruiser in his bushes

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop these beachwalkers in Bermuda

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this boy in an Afghan poppy field

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Theme: What if the Mac really was a cult?