News – Cover Up Potential

Middle East

According to early reports, the inquiry into the killings of Iraqi civilians in Haditha will note that some officers gave false reports to their superiors, who then failed to scrutinize the information. Thus cover up at a low level and incompetence at the higher level. Mark that Bush promises the investigation into this will be made public and punishments will be handed out. Lets see him keep it now.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s field tests his first attempt at an iron fist security crackdown in Basra. Hopefully the can control the bloody situation in the region.

Meanwhile, in Palestine, Palestinian security forces protest their overdue wages. Most were members of the recently deposed Fatah faction. The UN is appealing for an increase in emergency aid, knowing that a humanitarian crisis is on the horizon.

Israel’s PM says UK based Islamic Relief is a charity that supports terrorism. This accusation coming hours before authorities deported the head of its operations in Gaza, Ayaz Ali, who had been in detention for three weeks prior to this. THe charity says that the accusations are a mixture of confusion and malice intended to justify the detention of an innocent man. One wonders, but he does make one insightful comment. If Israel had any evidence against him, they would have charged him, wouldn’t they have? Instead, they deported him.

Bush and company plan to let Pakistan buy a mess of advanced Boeing Co. Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Big perks to playing the war on Terror ally role, you see.

What’s up with the lack of realism in out government? Too many of our politicians try to treat areas like Iraq as if they weren’t as complex as they really are.

Where do things currently stand with the US and Iran?

Africa

Kenya updates its rape laws, which hadn’t been touched since 1930, hoping to reduce the number that occur in the country. It also added note for child prostitution, sex tourism and trafficking, which hadn’t been in the law before.

North America

Rare coin dealer Tom Noe admits to three counts of illegally funneling money into Bush’s 2004 campaign.

Washington and New York get a 40% cut in counterterrorism funding from the federal government.

New Orleans has repaired levees now. Of course, they’re not guaranteeing that it will protect the region from every storm that might be coming. And what happens if the area gets flooded as badly again? Perhaps then people will realize it’s a bad idea to build inside of a bowl right next to the ocean?

Security gets tightened at the eastern corner of the US-Canada border.

General

The ten most flagrant engineering oversights in recent history.

Eight entirely unknown species of crustaceans and scorpion-like invertebrates are found inside of a sealed cave. Someone just made the find of their career, I’d say.

Explainer looks into why people can’t seem to use a third arm. Also, why are some days more allergen filled than others?

The Blogs look at new evidence in the Haditha massacre investigation, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust obsession and news that Batwoman is into chicks.

Today’s Papers notes that violence in North Carolina’s Wilmington in 1898 was the first recorded coup in US history, new info on global warning 55 million years ago, the Justice Department asking Internet companies to save data of surfers’ activities—such as search terms—for two years and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Neurotically Yours: News

Mark Fiore: Ethics Liquidators

Guy caught at county fair filming up girls’ dresses. His supervisor at the local children’s home doesn’t see this as a problem

Al Gore admits that his movie contains lies, but claims it’s for a good cause. Our house shrink takes a closer look at Al Gore and his morals

Put the image of Jesus on all your baked goods with the Jesus Pan. Christ, this is good bread

Seventy-year-old Scottish actor charged after spanking 21-year-old actress: “All pretty little girls deserve to be spanked once a day”

Grandparents offer $100 to undercover police officer to kill their daughter-in-law, three grandkids and their pet dog. (With anus-cringing picture)

Only time you will ever see the words “drunk lederhosen-clad yodelling folk dancer” in a news story

If you’re going to build a $32 million whitewater park and plan to hold grand opening in two weeks, you might want to make sure homeowners don’t own the one road leading to it and don’t put up barricade (with pic)

For some reason, conservative “news” portals can’t leave Dr. Kinsey or his reports alone

Oil prices fall $2 due to…*shakes magic 8 ball*…U.S. opening talks with Iran. Ah hell, this thing’s broken again

Cutthroat competition, midnight attacks, strategic plotting — the stuff of a Tom Clancy novel? Nope, a gardening competition in Brooklyn

Teen left home alone blows up house (deep breath) by putting laundry on top of stove, which set fire to the clothes, spread to a bag of groceries and caused can of deodorant in it to explode and that blew off the roof and burned down the house

Tip for female sexual predators: If you give your 16-y-o boytoy a Mercedes-Benz, his mom is probably going to get a little suspicious. The Smoking Gun is there with the babe’s mug shot

“Say, that new guy you hired sure is quick at filling up the customers’ gas tanks and taking their money.” “New guy? I didn’t hire any new guy”

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this wheelwright’s stone lying beside the Sortridge leat in Dartmoor

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this work of art

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Theme: If the world were really flat. Difficulty: No turtles</A