News – Danger Stress

Iraq

Senior medical staff for the army say that one in five of our solders could experience post traumatic stress disorder as a result of Iraq. Mingled with 600 personnel extracted for psychiatric reasons and a higher than average rate of suicides for troops over there(13.5 per 100k in comparison to the army average of 10-11 per 100k), it’s obvious the stress is slowly getting to the troops. The sooner this gets finished, the better.

An inquiry into the deaths of six British military police last year suggests they lacked the means to send a simple SOS. Without being able to call for help, they were easy prey for an Iraqi mob. With soldiers telling of equipment shortages, the heat on Blair’s government is rising in the UK.

US Army helicopter crashes in Iraq. Two man crew missing. It isn’t clear if this one was shot down yet.

Nawaf al-Zaidan, the man who gave up Saddam, is now on the powerful albu-Nasir tribe’s hit list. They’re hardcore supporters of Saddam it seems and may go for the man’s family in retaliation.

An influential Sunni Muslim group in Iraq says that the US should leave before any elections. That won’t fly. Even I don’t think that should happen, simply because there should be a strong security force in place to make sure the elections go without serious violence. I don’t think the Iraqi police are up to the task yet.

Israel/Palestine

A prisoner swap will be going down today between Israel and Hizbollah. As Palestinian families await the release of loved ones from Israeli jails, a seeming refrain that is echoing is that taking Israeli soldiers captive is a good way to twist their arm into releasing prisoners. This could prove bothersome.

Hamas has said it could give Israel a ten year truce of they pulled back from territories taken since 1967. It suggests that Hamas’ core ideology of destroying Israel could be softening. But to find out if this is a true offer, it would have to be accepted. There is little chance it will be as things are now.

Response to Jenny Tonge’s comments on suicide attacks. Jenny Tonge said suicide bombers were “born out of desperation” and she might consider becoming one herself if she lived in Gaza and the West Bank.

Russia

Colon Powell is concerned with Russia and it’s authoritarian turn. What could this mean for warming relations between the two countries? Time will tell.

US

The second Mars rover, Opportunity, has landed and has set back pictures. They plan to roll it off the lander in a week. They also believe they’ve found out what is wrong with Spirit and will have it functional again within a few weeks. Good news all around.

The Bush administration is musing a chance to the international rules to cut off enriching technologies to make it harder for signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to play through loopholes.

The government is pushing forward with an E-Voting system despite the note of insecurities related to it. And despite an incident of a DoS attack stymieing their won use of E-voting. A different system, but a similar type of incident as portrayed by researchers in their report.

Six dead, including a baby in a Comfort Inn fire in South Carolina. The building, built before sprinkler systems were mandatory, did not have one.

Lieberman denounces Grand Theft Auto videogame. Will it perk up the moral voters? Likely not to any great deal. He’s only lucky that many who play that game and gamers in general are too young to vote. 😉

General

The presence of ice at Mars’ southern polar cap is one of the first discoveries ntoed by Europe’s Mars Express mission. A good indication for future potential as a useful planet to humanity.

LotR: Return of the kings has won itself some just accolades at the Golden Globe awards. It’s best drama, Peter Jackson got best director and it picked up two musical awards. Next come the Oscars.

An interesting review of Butterfly Effect. I saw it yesterday. It was pretty good. It took the old adage that you don’t mess with time very well and ended with a logical conclusion and a stable, if not happy ending. Which is likely the best you can truly hope for when you start to time travel. 😉

International Papers notes reaction to Bush’s SotU speech. Though the reception ranges from frosty to fiery, most seem resigned to the likelihood that Bush will have a second term.

Today’s Papers notes David Kay quitting and discounting the search for WMD, congressional investigators questioning the monthly expenses in Iraq and Afghanistan and more of the recent news.

Amusements

Slate: Electability Whack-a-Pol Find out which democrat is most electable to you based on some general points.

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop Clinton laughing during award ceremony

Man comes to court in bumblebee costume to protest police sting.

Workers dismantling aging nuclear weapons improperly secure high explosive components my taping them together.

Girl, 18, scratches lottery ticket to reveal 10 stars worth $20,000. Store clerk grabs ticket, tells girl there were only six stars, gives her $100 and throws her out