News – An Admission too Late
North America
Bush finally takes personal blame for the faulty intelligence. Took him years to get around to it, but he finally did it, without trying to dilute his failing by hiding behind ‘well everyone else got it wrong too’. Of course, like all things, the impact of this has mellowed with age and while it might have impressed me a few years ago, now it doesn’t. Nor do I believe he’s doing all he can to refom intelligence. Just like he’s never really done all he can to fix any of the things he’s promised to fix, such as national security, which remains spotty, and Louisiana, which has seen little progress overall. Ultimately, he has little time for anything but those ideological desires that he focuses on, like Iraq.
Bush backs Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rove. Not surprising. He’d likely support them if he found them standing over a body with a bloody knife in hand, in my opinion. Normally when your employees fuck up, you chastise them or can them. Bush does nothing like that, only giving a thumbs up, which allows them to continue screwing up.
The House definitively supports banning torture. Bush needs to give it up. We don’t want a torture exception for the .0001% chance that the ‘ticking bomb’ scenario becomes a reality.
New York is in danger of a bus and subway strike. That could be crippling.
The contrast between US and Mexican cross border justice.
Middle East
Iraqis go to vote. The turnout is more widespread, which is good. Not too many attacks, but I think that’s to be expected with the massive security. Better to wait until attacking is less costly, since the insurgents have less power to waste than the US does.
Paying people to vote in Iraq? I don’t like the looks of this. I hope it’s false.
A note in this article has the Pentagon continuing their little psychological ‘warfare’ by planting positive stories in Iraqi media. One of the military officials in charge of the program told USA Today the campaign was designed to counter terrorist ideology and sway foreign audiences to support American policies. It will target newspapers, websites, radio and television. I don’t think this will help at all, since if it is marked, it is likely to be dismissed as American propaganda, and if not it is likely to be found out and again marked as American propaganda. Better to open up more info for Iraqi journalists to write about, to avoid the good news being dismissed as lies.
Abbas tried to heal the split in the Fatah party ahead of Palestinian elections. It’s amusing because Israel should very much want Fatah to remain strong, otherwise Hamas will start making gains in Palestine’s government. What will they do if Hamas legitimately takes power in the country? Israel needs to aid Palestine in settling down, in part by ceasing their incursions into the country, by settlement and by military.
Iran’s president calls the holocaust a myth on live TV. He’s an idiot.
The Bush administration puts it on faith that Iraq will rebuff Iran meddling. It will be interesting to see what happens if Iran and Iraq end up getting close after US influence has left the country. What would the US do then? Slap Iraq’s hand and say ‘bad boy’?
General
The Blogs look at Bush owning up, the prospects for tomorrow’s elections, as well as waiting for the cows to come home on Brokeback Mountain.
Explainer details the Muslim version of Satan.
Today’s Papers has the Pentagon acknowledging that a counter-terrorism program aimed at gathering info on U.S. citizens included details on peace activists and others who weren’t suspected of possible connections to terrorism, the bureaucratic morass that has defined the Small Business Administration’s response to Katrina, more tidbits from Iraq and other things in the one page news.
Amusements
Neurotically Yours: Summoning Santa
Mark Fiore: Backdroppin’
In case you haven’t received viral email with pics of a drunk Matt Leinart (and questionable back story), here ya go
Just another day in Puerto Rico: Man claiming to be Pope John Paul II and woman claiming to be Virgin Mary excommunicated. Meanwhile, appearances of red-suited men imitating St. Nicholas spread unchecked
Man claims ancient writings give him authority over Jewish people
Apparently, asking female co-workers if they had sex last night and referring to them as your biatches is not considered “friendly office banter”
Police whack giant snow penis. Nothing left but big mess (with before and after photos)
Nothing like holding a few fake executions to motivate 16-year-old athletes at swim camp
Just in time for the peak of holiday season: shopping cart rage
U.S. government vetoes Cuban team playing in MLB sponsored 1st annual World Baseball Classic. Apparently the war against communism isn’t over and Cuba is scarier than China
Having just been found guilty, you might not think you had many options. But apparently bolting out the door is still one of them
Hero kid saves bank untold thousands of bucks from ATM thieves. His reward is a plastic calculator
Fark Photoshop Challenge: Theme: Rejected X-Men characters
Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop theme: Danger, falling rocks
Fark Photoshop Challenge: Theme: The Domino Effect
Bush may have admitted the intell was wrong but he did blame it on others and he said even knowing what he now knows he would have invaded Iraq. So what’s really new about all that? He admits nothing and the buck still doesn’t stop with him.
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