News – It’s Not Who We Are, It’s What We Do

Middle East

The key to success is to know. Know your enemy and you can better defeat him, be it through the pen or the sword. Bush and his fellows don’t, in my opinion, know the enemy. Or if they do, they deliberately paint a false or incomplete picture that is counter to informing the people of who we’re up against. It’s yet another reason I have minimal respect for the man.

A deputy of Ariel Sharon says that the withdrawal from Gaza could be brought up to foil plans by opponents to disrupt it.

Two views on the Gaza withdrawl.

Iraq’s forces still aren’t ready. Sadly, creating a fighting force is no small or quick task. Even if they do things perfectly, it will take years before they’re all ready to fight on their own.

Pakistan has a spree of detentions going on ahead of President Pervez Musharraf’s expected address to the nation later on Thursday to explain Pakistan’s crackdown after the London bombings.

Five workers at an insurance firm are jailed for sedition after they glorified Osama bin Laden in a sales campaign.

A dialogue on if we’ve failed in Iraq. Regardless of all other things, I don’t think we have failed. Yet. Failure is something that comes after all efforts to effect an end are done. Only then can full success or failure be attributed. Mind you, I don’t think we’re doing as well as we could be.

North America

The Bush Administration is against a federal shield law for journalists because it would create “serious impediments” to law enforcement and fighting terrorism. Of course, looking for a means to both give reporters some breathing room without seriously hampering the nation’s security is totally out of the question, right?

Conservative lawmakers are calling again for Congress to order a halt to sales of the abortion pill RU-486 and require further safety review after the drug’s maker announced that five women taking it had died from bacterial infections. Mind you, we don’t know the precise cause of these ailments.

Rep. Tom Tancredo draws demands for an apology after suggesting the United States might consider bombing Muslim holy sites, including Mecca.

James May, chief executive of the Air Transport Association, says Anti-missile technology to be tested on U.S. airliners will not protect all aircraft from all types of missiles and is not worth the massive investment.

General

Terrorism exists in the latest Harry Potter book. Make as many allusions as you want to the present day, but terrorism is nothing new in either reality or storytelling. Use of terror tactics has long been a staple of books ranging the literary spectrum.

Today’s Papers has an international observer group concluding that heads of the militia terrorizing Darfur are still on the Sudanese government’s payroll, a peek at a Pentagon assessment concluding that virtually no Iraqi security forces are capable of independent counter-insurgency operations, the arrest in Pakistan of an al-Qaida suspect who reportedly phoned all four of the London bombers shortly before the attacks and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Mark Fiore: Double Super-Secret Background

If you decide to rob a grocery store while wearing a Fort Worth PD T-shirt, make sure the police chief isn’t shopping for milk and eggs

Iowa man who led officers on highway chase that ended at the Clay County Courthouse, ran inside and tried to barricade himself in the courtroom where he was scheduled to appear

Telemarketing firms petition FCC to create loopholes in “Do Not Call” List

Man fights town for his right to have a toilet garden

Disneyworld to confirm ticket ownership through biometrics, won’t do anything else with fingerprints. Wink wink, nudge nudge

Fire captain uses fire truck to water lawn; gets hosed by town officials

During a heat wave, when warnings about power consumption abound, women respond to cranked air conditioning in offices by running space heaters

Police allow woman to go home after she was stopped for grocery shopping in the nude because she explained that she had lost a “spin the bottle” contest

Teen warned he’s close to contempt of court, responds with, “Well you all are getting real close to pissin’ me off.” Jailarity ensues

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this pole vaulter

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this window cat

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop where this inadvisable stunt is going