News – Bush Rhetoric Goes On and On and..

I can’t listen to Bush speak without getting this urge to slap him every few dozen words. His actions have so tainted his words, I find it difficult to believe anything he’s said without hearing it from a separate, more trusted source. His most recent speech was just more of the same.

Bush had his victory speech last night. The sheer fact that he came in a military aircraft for a ‘real landing’ on the carrier from which he spoke was an affront in my opinion. Playing up his ‘military service’ is a joke, considering the man never saw a moment of combat and later went AWOL, never catching flack for it. It feels like lying to me. Several times I wanted to smack him as he spoke. The sheer insincerity of his words and hypocrisy was sickening. Claiming that Iraq will be left with a government for and by the Iraqi people loses its meaning when your top men are stating that there will be no Islamic government allowed. And talking about being hard on terrorists plays false on my ears when you make deals of non-aggression with Iranian terrorists. But 80% of America will never know these things because they are content to sit in their own little worlds, feeling safe with Bush out there smiting the wicked for them. He continues to pimp the war for the wrong reasons and American continues to eat up every word.

Ignorance is bliss.

What about loose ends?

Kurd Sellout Watch day 60: The term federalism means quite a bit to the Kurds. But the question remains what will become of the long autonomous Kurdish regions of Iraq in the wake of pending US reconstruction of the country? And what will its effects be on local Kurdish populations in neighboring countries?

We also have a particular marine under investigation for War Crimes charges. He told a local newspaper that he executed an Iraqi soldier. Now Americans are split on if he should be considered a criminal or a hero.

“Gunny” Covarrubias, now back in Las Vegas recovering from concussion from the battle, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he had tracked down two Iraqi soldiers he believed had fired a grenade at his unit, shooting one in the back of the head and another as he tried to escape.

He described his actions as meting out “justice”. The Pentagon disagrees. “If this story is true, then clearly it would be violation of the law of war,” Captain Shawn Turner, a marine spokesman said.

As I told my radio this morning when I heard about this, ‘He wasn’t there to mete out justice. He was there to do a job. If they surrender, capture. If they fight, kill. Those are the rules of war.’ Personally, I think this whole patriotic, quasi-religious justification for war, including a little demonization of the enemy here and there was a good climate for people to find this sort of thing ‘right’ even heroic, while the same acts done by ‘the enemy’ are deplorable affronts against humanity.

There’s too much to be displeased about these days.

Today’s Papers digs into Bush’s speech well, with some interesting side notes from The Post. The most recent Israeli incursion into Palestine is there and more, both benign and annoying.

Iraqi police have detained two suspects in the killing of a cleric last month. Some good initial work for the volunteer civilian police.

Wondering about North Korea and terror? Need to know what sort of bad men little Kim likes to aid? The State Department has N Korea on its list of those that sponsor terrorism and explainer has the info on what Kim and his cronies do perpetrate.

Hong Kong doctors are saying that face masks do help prevent the spread of SARS, though paper masks should be avoided. This being a protection from droplet transmission. For example, when you cough. OF course, this isn’t a 100% deal, but for those in SARS infected areas, it is an extra layer of protection. Unfortunately, the gene sequences for SARS aren’t being easily forthcoming on clues to better understand the virus. The unique nature of this new bug is a hurdle, but they’re keeping at it.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has given Xerox PARC 3.5 million to build a ‘privacy-protection system’ as part of their new TIA program. It is described as “making it harder for intelligence agencies and other government users to get personally identifiable information–names, addresses, or Social Security numbers, for example” or being able to “narrow queries in such a way that only a handful of people meet certain criteria”.

Will that suffice to cure privacy concerns? I’m not too sure yet, but it is a mildly good sign to see that it is being addressed.

You want silly? How about robot dogs playing soccer? Now that’s silly. 😉

The Matrix is a geek paradise to its fans, not the daunting dystopia that it is portrayed as.

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I’ve seen shirts like this before

That shirt is almost witty. 😉

Perfect combo of form and function. 😉

Lastly, a little cute to top you off.