News – Bush Hasn’t Changed His Stripes Yet

US

Bush is all about his political capital now. Some think he has a mandate. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t think he has one. Why? He barely won. Not by a huge margin in terms of percent, like 70-30 or even 60-40, but the normal 50/50 split of this nation. And you have to look at why those people voted for him. Many simply voting conservative because they hate democrats or voting over this or that moral issue even if they don’t think the war was a good idea.

His win wasn’t the people lauding him, but the people allowing him to keep his job by a slim margin, largely(I think) because the democrats didn’t have a strong candidate to field. Had they a strong one, I don’t think Bush would have won. Given his advantages, I think he should have done much better. And so much for reaching out, listening to his press conference, you can see the heavy black and white in his speech. His way or the highway. You can tell it most clearly when he talks about matters overseas. Painting those who don’t agree with him as ‘not believing some people can govern’ and other such general bullshit that paints anyone who doesn’t bow to his vision as utterly and irrevocably wrong, even if they don’t believe what he says they do. Bush hasn’t changed and I don’t see that his means of ‘reaching out’ has either.

Bush has no mandate and he’s quickly starting to dirty his ‘clean slate’. Other nations might be hoping Bush will get started on a new foot, but they shouldn’t hold their breath.

But, I suppose it’s not too much to ask for something positive about Bush. How about it, can we have a ‘be nice to Bush’ moment?

The new political topic of the day? What changes will come to Bush’s cabinet? There are rumors Ashcroft might resign(no tears here) and that Colin Powell might not be around for the next term.

Arlen Specter is in a pickle. He was quoted as saying that it was “unlikely” the Senate would approve a Supreme Court judge who would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in a post election news conference. Now some republicans have their knickers in a twist, thinking that Specter was warning the president.

Elizabeth Edwards has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Just bad news on top of bad news.

Election observers believe it a good idea to work on shortening lines to vote. I agree.

Estimates put the cost of flying the public, who grow increasingly meaty on average, into the hundreds of millions. Yup, you heard right. The ‘fatter’ the public gets on average, the more it costs for airlines in fuel. We’re not talking a huge increase, just an average of ten pounds a person. That equals quite a bit when you cluster forty people into a plane.

A National Guard F-16 mistakenly fired 25 rounds of ammo at the Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School in South New Jersey. Just a little reminder of the fallibility of the military. Fortunately the only one in there was a custodian and no one was harmed. One thing I find surprising is that this school is within 3.5 miles of a military firing range.

GM is recalling almost 1.5 million vehicles for minor to major problems to be fixed. The recall of the mid-size cars with the sticky accelerator includes the 2003 model-year Chevrolet Malibu, Oldsmobile Alero and Pontiac Grand Am. – The recall of nearly 1 million SUVs includes the 2002 to 2004 model-year Chevrolet TrailBlazer, TrailBlazer EXT, GMC Envoy XL and Oldsmobile and the 2004 Buick Rainier . Vibration and heat may cause the rear brake and turn signals to stop working. – A third recall includes the 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire small cars for faulty rear brake and turn signals that could fail due to inadequate contact between the bulb and socket. – Lastly, GM recalled a total of 5,914 of its 2004 to 2005 Cadillac XLR and new 2005 Chevrolet Corvette sports cars to fix a brake line that could leak. If you have any of the above, you should look into the recall. Especially for those serious issues.

Think your tech support is tough? Try being an advisor for the Army, doling out tech support to soldiers in the field.

Looks like we have another e-voting company to eye carefully. Over 4,500 votes were ignored in a North Carolina county because officials thought UniLect’s voting machines could hold more info than they really could. Local officials said UniLect, the maker of the county’s electronic voting system, told them that each storage unit could handle 10,500 votes, but the limit was actually 3,005 votes.

A series of articles musing why the Democrats lost it. Draw your own conclusions.

Iraq

Falluja has been sealed off and air strikes were loosed last night. Hopefully most got out of dodge before. The last we need are even more civilian casualties, whether we’ve got 10k or 100k on our heads. Considering some Iraqis currently think we should talk more and shoot less.

Iyad Allawi s getting off to a poor start with foreign relations. He called nations who opposed the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein spectators, while on a visit to Rome. Just before the EU, having several of those nations, had it’s first meeting at which they’ll be offering a modest aid package. Never mind that some of those folks are currently doing things to aid Iraq, such as Germany with troop training.

The brother of a Black Watch soldier who was killed in Iraq expresses his anger. “He said he didn’t think he should be there because the regiment has already done their time over there, the first time, so he didn’t think they should be back,” he told reporters. The issue of UK soldiers shifting into more dangerous areas to allow US soldiers to go into Falluja is a fractious one indeed. This man’s brother was among three killed by a suicide bomber.

<A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1344503,00.html”>Chirac is skipping the EU meeting with Allawi. He denies the move is a snub. He should know most won’t bite on that, true or not.

Israel/Palestine

After some confusion yesterday, including a report Arafat was brain dead at one point, we’re back to plain ole coma style Arafat and the lovely note that some of his powers have been shifted to his PM, Ahmed Qurie. Now if only he would just slip away quietly. Hopefully the power jostling won’t get too out of hand.

Now that he’s, hopefully, on his way out, an assessment isn’t unwarranted. I don’t think he’ll be winning any lifetime achievement awards.

Africa

Sudan’s government has refused to sign the current security deal, made to end the violence in Darfur. The rebels say they’re willing to sign it. Fortunately talks aren’t over, so perhaps the government can be kicked into signing. AU mediators are calling it the best possible compromise. The deal makes a no fly zone over Darfur and calls for the disarming of pro-Khartoum Arab militias. It doesn’t have the governments demand that the rebels must move their forces into barracks, but asks the rebels to hand over info on their whereabouts.

General

The Incredibles is here and it looks like another winner for Pixar. Long may theyi reign as the best source for spiffy animated flicks.

Two studies show that current flue vaccines could work just as well watered down. However docs aren’t in a hurry to start watering down stocks in the US.

Insurers are urging clients to nosh a little more chocolate. The antioxidants found in cocoa have been shown to decrease the risk of coronary artery disease, so don’t hesitate to have a nibble now and then.

Musing the lack of amusing games. Games designed for comedy are rare in today’s word, with the laughs restrained to the background more often than not. A sad thing, as I like laughs with my visceral visual thrills and twitch gaming.

International Papers covers the less than warm international reaction for a second Bush term.

Today’s Papershas note of a military hospital preparing for the impending Falluja assault with doubled staff and body bags, GIs accidentally shooting innocent teens then one being killed to(as one soldier said) ‘put him out of his misery’, a Bush advisor bearish on all the talk of unity and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Police officer docked 28 minutes pay for visiting a prostitute while on duty

Drunken man with superior fighting skills and ill-fitting pants challenge the police to a fight

Texas teachers now have to explain to third graders that the three branches of government aren’t the missionary, the doggy style and the hot carl

Confused by their new fangled billing system, Bell Mobility tells subscribers to “pay only what they think they owe”

Words you thought you’d never see together: Vatican Sex Guide

Man, 46, survives jump into lion’s den after trying to convert lions to Christianity (with pic)

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop what this stick man is really running from

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop farker’s kid for his 17th birthday. Degree of difficulty: No boobies, his mom may be looking

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop the teaser poster for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith</A