News – Verbal Escalation

North America

Democrats demand an apology for comments made by Karl Rove: “Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.” Personally, I pu these sort of remarks in the same boat as those made by Durbin. There was likely a good point in there somewhere, but it gets lost in the counterproductive language. Comments like this, regardless of the aim, are the problem that keep widening the divide in America today. So long as both sides keep spouting such bullshit, things will remain as contentious and inefficient as they are now. At a time where inefficiency can be dangerous. Rove won’t apologize for it and as I’ve seen from McClellan’s covering, his cronies won’t be pushing him for any such, thus I’m sure it won’t be long before democrats come out with their own pseudo-insulting quotable and so on. And most political pundits will, instead of decrying the loss of civility and respect in political discourse on both sides, steadfastly defend the meaning and spirit of their sides latest remarks, ultimately convincing no one but the already convinced and generally wasting their time.

The Senate denies Democratic efforts to require better mileage for cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and puts off the vote on energy legislation until next week.

Greenspan and Snow warn that trade sanctions against China may slow the drive to persuade Beijing to adopt a more flexible currency and won’t protect U.S. jobs. Now we get to see the true dark side of capitalism, in which businesses have no sense of national loyalty, selling their assets to whoever can pony up the most cash while hiring cheap, barely adequate labor and slave labor prices. Why hire an American to make something of quality when something that’s sub-par is enough for the US consumer and can be made by someone looking for a wage less than half that required in America? China has been a topic on Cspan and it’s amusing listening to the more extreme Republican’s freaking out, one going so far as to suggest full ending of trade with China and putting nukes in Taiwan.

In several states, legislators are proposing legislation to bar illegal immigrants and their families from receiving health, welfare and other public benefits.

The government unveils plans for safer skyscrapers, drawing on lessons from 9/11. Good. They’re also suggesting current buildings be evaluated for increasing their safety.

Privacy advocates assail the Pentagon over their database on our youth, which includes data such as names, birth dates, addresses, Social Security numbers, individuals’ e-mail addresses, ethnicity, telephone numbers, students’ grade-point averages and field of academic study. I don’t know, I’m a bit unnerved by such tracking of our youth by the military. I mean, recruiting directly in schools is one thing, but this database? Creepy. David Chu, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, says there isn’t anything sinister about this, arguing the ability to contact young Americans was critical to the success of the all-volunteer U.S. military. Sure, but what do you need GPAs and fields of study for to contact the young? All you need for that is Address, telephone and email. I also think a list like this should be public(in terms of letting parents see if their kids are on the list) and allow parents or kids to have their names removed. Then it wouldn’t be as creepy.

More questioning of Gitmo. Two medical ethics experts opine that military interrogators may have breached medical privacy and encouraged doctors to violate professional and legal standards. The Pentagon’s top health official said the allegation were “an outrageous distortion” of what actually was going on at the prison camp. Personally, I wouldn’t find it hard to believe the allegations. Are they true? I don’t know.

The Supreme court decides that a city can take your home or business for a development project designed to revitalize a depressed local economy. Eminent domain just got nasty teeth.

Middle East

Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari would be fine with the inevitable withdrawal of US troops, but is against setting a strict date for it.

The tale of an insurgent attack on a fortified police station in Iraq. The insurgents failed in overrunning the station, but succeeded in shaking local confidence in the government and security forces.

Asia

Protestors march in Manila demanding Philippine leader Gloria Macapagal Arroyo quit over allegations of wrong-doing that have rattled financial markets..

General

Land of the Dead! I’ve been waiting for this ever since I got wind that it might be coming. Romero’s fourth movie, made with a real budget. The other three movies were a delight, despite their humble resources, I’m hoping the delight this one will be will only be magnified by it’s more robust budget.

Today’s Papers has Iraq’s anti-corruption office is investigating loads of complaints about the previous interim government, Gen. John Abizaid saying the insurgency isn’t in it’s last throes(what do you have to say to that, Cheney?), more details on the eminent domain case and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Mark Fiore: Rewriting Reality

Drug agents seize $47,000 from woman’s money belt at airport. Woman says she was going to use the money for plastic surgery. Of course, that much cash in a money belt will make anybody’s ass look big

University lecturer arrested for stealing coins from payphones by wrenching them open with metal objects. Said he did it in order to study mechanics. Jailarity ensues

If you’ve been changing traffic lights in Sillicon Valley for the last three months, you may want to go on hiatus for a while or the police will speak with you

Chinese outrage over McDonald’s TV spot depicting middle-aged man on his knees, begging for a special. Company says if they think that’s humiliating, they should have seen the first version

After 21 years of high performance marks, female bartender fired for not wearing makeup. Her base allegations will make you blush

“Support-the-troops-without-actually-doing-anything-worthwhile” jingoism reaches new heights

Suspect sought after two of five women injected at “home silicon party” hospitalized. In other news, women are having “home silicon parties”

You can drive as fast as you want in Winnipeg, provided you memorize the phrase, “Quel est le problème, officier?”

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop theme: What the future holds for spelling-bee champions

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this Alaskan breakdancer

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Theme: Signs you should not have confidence in your medical professional