News – Feeling Safer?

North America

NBC Nightly News reports that screeners at 21 US airports failed a government test to find bomb making materials. Which means a few guys could get past security with the materials to craft a homemade bomb.

The Senate narrowly passes a fat, $2.8 trillion budget. Not only do we continue to bleed money with this bill, but it also opens up ANWR, finally, so we can squeeze a few more drops of oil for our billion barrel a day habit.

Bush also gets another $91.9 billion for Afghanistan, Iraq and the gulf coast. One wonders how much any of those situations will be helped by this new batch of money being recklessly thrown at them.

Bush says he’ll still preemptively attack those who he thinks are threats to the US as part of his national security strategy. And who does he name as the biggest security challenge to the US? Iran. Nope, not North Korea, Iran. Hopefully his ass will be out of office before he gets a chance to get us into another poorly conceived war.

Government prosecutor Carla Martin, who may have single handedly bungled the sentencing phase of the trial for Zacarias Moussaoui, has been put on leave, pending punishment for tampering with the jury. Sadly, things like this happen more than you’d think, they just aren’t always caught because the people that do them are smarter than Miss Martin.

What’s to be done with Feingold and his push to censure Bush? Personally I say let him go at it. He’ll reap whatever reaction the public wishes to give him when it comes to his own actions.

Middle East

By Saturday, Hamas will turn over to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a list of its cabinet picks. The other Palestinian factions won’t work with them, but they’re determined to govern regardless. Personally, I looks to me as though Hamas might mature through this process. Rhetoric has been relatively low and largely reactive and they haven’t(as I’m sure we’d know the moment they did) participated in any of the violence that has gone on since they were elected in. These are good trends to say the least. Trends that should be encouraged, rather than the continued discouragement they receive.

The US again accuses Iran of doing dirty deeds in Iraq. I, again, wonder when our leaders will provide proof. I find it hard to believe that we, a superpower, can’t find one shred of admissible proof that Iran is doing nasty things. All we get are vague accusations and hints and possible circumstantial evidence, which, in my opinion, only blunts our power by making us appear foolish.

A highly publicized offensive is going on in Iraq, against the insurgents. Of course, we’ve had several of these big offensives in the past, all of which have shown negligible results when it comes to weakening the terrorists.

General

According to numbers compiled by the UN, the number of asylum cases industrialized nations get have been dropping for the last five years, making negligible claims of a growing problem with asylum seekers.

St. Patrick Revealed. Silly holidays, no one knows who they’re really about.

The blogs look at the suspicious timing of the latest US assault in Iraq, the pre-emptive nature of the Bush administration’s national-security policy and Jessica Simpson’s reported snub of President Bush.

Today’s Papers has electoral strong-arm tactics in Belarus, Frist making a power play in immigration reform, widespread protests in France and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Radical hair stylist uses axes and swords to trim people’s hair. Free Band Aids with every visit

Man sues Wal-Mart over exploding Spongebob shirt

Bad: Driving drunk. Worse: Driving to pick up your kid from school and you’re drunk. Fark.com: So is your chihuahua

Ways not to get a job at the CIA: Tell the guard that God sent you, and then assume a fighting stance when he says go away

Suspected coke dealer walks into police station, asks if he’s wanted. You know the rest

A Pennsylvania restaurant beats its own record by introducing a new hamburger as big as a car tire and weighing 15 pounds

Police pull over drunk naked 70-year-old woman having sex with naked drunk man 11 years her junior. This thread is useful without pictures

Convenience-store clerk brings squeegee to a knife fight with an armed robber, wins anyway

Americans cost the U.S. economy $586 billion a year thinking up stupid headlines and checking their auctions

When robbing a bank, make sure it’s not of the cashless variety

Man tries to buy condoms and cologne with fake $100 bill. Unless he was planning on a fun night in prison, his date isn’t going to go well

Fark Photoshop Challenge: <A HREF="http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=1947336″>Photoshop these porcupine babies

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Theme: Earth, wind and fire. Difficulty: No musical references

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop these deep thinkers