News – Too Stubborn to Let Go

Middle East

Ghassan Khatib, minister in charge of negotiations with Israel, says that Israel is destabilizing Gaza and the Palestinian Authority by cutting it off from the outside world. Not allowing goods to get through increases unemployment and poverty, thereby increasing extremism, especially since all eyes will turn to Israel for the blame. Palestinian officials claim that their Israeli counterparts have cancelled and postponed meetings, citing holidays, absence of colleagues and differences between government ministers. Foreign diplomats have privately agreed that Israel appears to be deliberately dragging its heels. The plain and simple fact is that Israel continues to exasperate the situation by their stalling and clinging to power over Palestine. It’s time for them to let go and focus on their own internal problems. Let the rest of the world handle Palestine.

Some things have gotten so common in the news, I’ve been passing them over as a given. Bombings and shootings and all. The sun has risen, you can assume, therefore, that there has been another killing somewhere in Iraq.

That it has become such a certainty is sad.

Europe

A key aspect of Tony Blair’s new tough terrorism laws, allowing police to hold anyone in jail for 90 days without charge, could be defeated in the legislature. Blair says the time is needed as it’s tough to build cases on terrorism suspects.

The riots in poor Paris suburbs continue, with cars set ablaze and the event putting strains on the conservative government, which opens holes for opponents to poke.

Asia

Bird Flu moves into Thailand, the blame placed on fighting cocks.

North America

Democrats spring a surprise on Senate republicans, nearly initiating a closed door session of the Senate. By what I’ve heard, it stopped just short of a full closed session, which would have required all involved to sign the equivalent of a nondisclosure agreement. This was done to force the majority to complete a probe on whether the Bush administration misused intelligence before the Iraq war apparently.

“The United States Senate has been hijacked by the Democratic leadership,” Majority leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said. “Never have I been slapped in the face with such an affront to the leadership of this grand institution.” Sen. John Rockefeller of West Virginia, top Intelligence Committee Democrat, said, “My colleagues and I have tried for two years to do our oversight work, and for two years we have been undermined, avoided, put off, and vilified by the other side.”

Sometimes you need to slap them in the face just to get their attention, as a wise woman once said(Link to MP3). Of course, the need for slapping is sad in and of itself. If the Republicans are dragging feet on nailing down intelligence screw ups, which factor into the national security of the US, they need to get a kick in the ass to get them moving down the road again.

Tom DeLay gets a new judge after his lawyers said State District Judge Bob Perkins was too staunchly democratic. Visiting Judge C.W. Duncan granted a defense motion to recuse Perkins without explanation after a hearing in which DeLay’s lawyer Dick DeGuerin complained that Perkins had given money to candidates and organizations, especially liberal activist group MoveOn.org, opposed to DeLay and could not be impartial. I think that’s a bit of a stretch, it would have been better if he had a track record of liberal bias, rather than having given money to a few organizations. But if we’re playing this game, lets look at where the next judge’s money has gone, and if he has invested in too many conservative orgs, he’ll have to be pitched too, since he couldn’t possibly be impartial. “We’re not saying that Judge Perkins is a bad judge or an unfair judge. What we are saying is this is the wrong case for him to judge,” DeGuerin said. Which is wrong. They’re saying he can’t let his personal views separate from his judicial views, which is essentially calling him a bad judge. I’d be insulted.

The Washington Post unearths a secret US prison in Eastern Europe used to hold and secretly interrogate detainees. The prison is said to be part of a network of overseas prisons in 8 countries, which were created after 9/11. I wouldn’t be surprised if every word of the article was true.

Four years after it is requested, the Pentagon will allow some UN Human Rights folk to visit Guantanimo, but the UN folk will turn it down if they can’t meet the detainees. Of course, Rummy says no to that. Only the Red Cross gets to do that, and they keep their findings confidential.

A Bipartisan tax reform panel suggests cutting deductions and lowering tax rates to make the tax system more efficient. That would do it, as with less individual things to consider, people wouldn’t need a professional to get them the lowest tax possible.

Focusing on Samuel Alito’s abortion position. Add into that an index to other Slate pieces on the man.

Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, wants oil companies to donate 10% of their record profits to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. He joins Senate democrats in urging the oil companies to be ‘good citizens’, but I doubt they will be. They should, though. If they’re not going to use that cash to start diversifying the energy they have to sell, to move the country into better alternatives, let the money help those who can’t afford current energy prices.

The dangers of Martian dust will push back a manned mission to Mars until at least 2020. It’s murder on lenses and seals and could cause serious problems if it gets into the lungs of an explorer.

General

Now that Episode 3 is out, you can get the entire dual trilogy of Star Wars and watch it as a complete story arc.

Today’s Blogs muse Alito’s current nickname and if he deserves it, the billions Bush wants for his Avian Flu plan, and the potential social dangers of a cervical cancer vaccine.

Today’s Papers has an interesting number of liberal colleagues of Alito saying he’s a good pick, More on the secret CIA prisons, more on the Ried prompted near closed door session and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Before making snarky comments about a consituent’s request by email, make sure you didn’t accidentally hit the “Reply” button

Mattel unveils new Elmo that knows your name. No word on release of Elmo that knows where you live, finds Sarah Connor

Don’t you hate it when you fall asleep in a CVS bathroom and they lock the store up on you? So does this guy

Napoleon’s tooth up for sale, will be sold to whichever online casino leaves $14,000 under owner’s pillow

George Clooney picked ugly-ass painting out of garbage; tricked best friend Richard Kind into believing he painted it. Kind then hung the piece in living room for two years

Colorado crackhead, fleeing police, decides to duck into random residence to take cover. Unfortunately, it was Aspen Police Chief Loren Ryerson’s home

Having solved all other problems, EU decides that Jesus Christ’s name will be spelled with a lower-case c

Children’s films today feature more violence, says new study. Ahhh, to be back in the halcyon days of Tom trying to decapitate Jerry with an axe while a black mammy wails nearby

Fark Photoshop Challenge: “Your mama’s so fat….” Photoshop an insult

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this intimidating field hockey player

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Theme: Unlikely dorm room posters