News – Quashed Dissent

North America

An upcoming National STD Prevention Conference gets retooled, from a critical look at the dangers of Abstinence only sex education programs to a half disguised shill for said programs. Typical of Bush.

Bush says he’d like to close Gitmo, but is waiting for a Supreme Court ruling on how suspects held there might be tried. After all, all of the high value detainees are likely in the secret prisons by now, rendering Gitmo more an eyesore than anything else. Right?

Suddenly, Porter Goss has resigned from heading the CIA. Who is expected to replace him? Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the National Security Agency. The possibility of a military man leading the civilian intelligence agency doesn’t sit well with everyone.

In his latest stint of soul looking, Bush has looked into German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s soul and marks her as “authentic, open and direct”. Personally, I think Bush should stop with the soul glimpsing. Didn’t work too well with Putin and every time I hear him say things like that, it amuses me.

US companies get set for the possibility of bird flu.

Bush’s best moment in office? Catching a fish in his lake.

Middle East

To put it bluntly, the West’s boycott of Palestine is deadly to many in Gaza. I hate such simplistic statements, as some might know, but sometimes it seems there are those who can only understand simple absolutes. Some are willing to do what they can to stave off the crisis, but at the center of it is the US and how long its willing to let things fester. It seems obvious to me. The US wants regime change in Palestine and they’ll(with Israel), cut the country off as much as possible until they get it, damn the consequences for the people. Iraq all over again.

British forces are reevaluating their tactics, as they seem to lose some control in Basra. Most notably, the scene at the site of a downed helicopter where Iraqis turned out in anger, not goodwill.

Secret strife and trials in Iraq. From the point of view of an Iraqi woman, a film made by her own hand.

Was the release of the Zarqawi outtakes handled in a less than optimal fashion? I’d agree with the writer, having someone besides the US military break the story would have given it more impact with Iraqis, I bet.

Europe

Blair resists a partial mutiny within his government. It had to happen. The only question is, will he survive the decisions he’s made in the last few years?

Russian Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko says that the G8 nations must bury “Cold War era ghosts” and accept that Russia is committed to democracy. Personally, I’ve never referred to the Cold War(and don’t know a great deal about it). Who has to with the present day anti-Democratic leanings the country has had? Cheney is still belaboring the issue in his speeches. One wonders why he doesn’t take any substantive steps.

General

The true mark of a good game is a memorable, lasting boss battle. One that gets your adrenaline flowing and makes you want to tell the tale to whoever might listen. 😉 The best ones force you to use every skill you’ve developed in the game up until the fight itself. Making you push your skills without frustrating you.

The Blogs look at Patrick Kennedy’s problems, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s outtakes and Cheney’s mean words for Russia. Personally, I find the shrill whine coming from many on the conservative side to be amusing, considering the lack of such when one of their boys screws up. Case in point, a local conservative talk radio host devoting entirely too much of his show to belaboring every little detail of the story again and again. Guh..

DarkRen will go on record saying that Patty boy needs to take an extended leave of absence from any sort of political office. But, by the same token, Rush Limbaugh’s drug swilling ass needs to be set right alongside him. Political affiliation means nothing, both need to get the help they warrant. The same goes for any alcoholics or pull poppers hiding in the Senate or House or any other local, state or federal position of importance, regardless of which lever they pull in the poll box. Lets hear some of these moral conservatives say the same. Go ahead, note me some links to where they have.

Today’s Papers has Iran’s nuclear provocation of the day, a dispatch from a Chinese town where 98 percent of the residents are divorced, a study that breaks claims that Bush has the most minority and female appointees in his government and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Chicago-area library drops plans to fingerprint-scan patrons, not because they realized it would be an invasion of their civil liberties, but because they couldn’t get the software to work

New Jersey forced to scrap new tourism slogan because, among other reasons, West Virginia still using it

Kellog’s Cornflakes were created to stop people from fapping

Woman sues five-star hotel after pool causes her hair to turn green, “everyone calling her the Incredible Hulk”. Marvel Comics considering legal action</A>

Click and hold left mouse to shoot a rope and get your robot as far as you can. Not responsible for fist-in-monitor disease (Around 180 for me after a few mins)

Burglar who had already robbed same house four times in the same month, and had been identified in a lineup by the victim, can’t resist going back for a fifth time

United Flight 787 diverted to Denver after passenger decides to do her nails during flight

10 rules for dipping your pen in company ink

Cambridge, Mass., declares illegal immigrants are welcome, health care and education are free and police won’t harass them. Too bad the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,400 a month and immigrants can’t afford to live there

Farmer stops 16 year-old water leak, which water officials had insisted was a natural spring, by turning shutoff valve

Keepers at London Zoo are resorting to smearing their cell phones with hot mustard to keep the squirrel monkeys from stealing them

Al Gore is super serial about the enviroment, makes a documentary showing how serial he is

Person found passed out on the BR Parkway at mile marker 420. Empty FunYun and Dorito bags found at the scene

Montreal police declare war on one of that city’s most hallowed traditions: Jaywalking

Health officials want to make ice cream trucks illegal because ice cream is too much of a danger to kids’ health

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