News – News for a New Year

Middle East

So, I hear Saddam is dead.

Only thing left to determine is how this will effect the current situation across the sea. Opinions are many and diverse. Some think it will be a bad thing ultimately for the overall situation. Some think it will be positive. Personally, Ren thinks that whoever planned it on the Eid al-Adha, the Islamic feast that marks the end of the Hajj, was an idiot. Even I, a novice at the significance of Islamic holidays, knows that you don’t do anything provocative on said days if you are aiming for the least negative impact among Islamic opinion. Even Bush is concerned about how the execution went down.

Of course, unofficial pictures of the event got out. To be expected, but still the officials at the scene didn’t intercept them. Personally, I would have made it a private execution to prevent pictures from getting out. The video put out by the Iraqi government pales in comparison to a full vid taken by mobile phone with sound when it comes to the true disorder of Saddam’s end. Reviewing a blow by blow of the vid without actually watching it(I’m sure the vid link in the article goes to the government’s version), I can easily see the execution being taken as a retaliation rather than justice. With obvious sectarian shouted against him and the ‘eagerness’ I sense in the coming of the end.

Ren won’t argue whether or not Saddam should have died. Murder this and justice that, it all gives me a headache to tell the truth. I saw Saddam’s death as inevitable regardless of what others might have thought. What I find distressing is the cruelty in the end, the chaos of it, which doesn’t improve my view of the current Shia dominated government. One wonders if the next two executions will be as disgraceful.

Looks like Libya will be building a statue to honor Saddam, as flags on Libyan government buildings are flown at half staff.

Interestingly the man who has repeatedly been reported dead, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, has been declared as the new leader of the banned Baath party in the wake of Saddam’s execution. One wonders if that’s a sign that he isn’t really dead(his status is currently unknown).

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki says clearly he dislikes being leader of Iraq. One can easily see why.

In a rare show of unity, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and PM Ismail Haniya are telling armed Fatah and Hamas members to get off the streets. If only they will listen.

British officials say five Iranians arrested in Baghdad last month were there to influence Iraq’s government. The White House suggests this is evidence of Iran’s meddling in Iraq. Since they had(according to the article) been invited by the Iraqi government, I don’t see what there is to argue about. If we’re letting the Iraqi government handle its own affairs, they can invite whomever they wish. It’s their mistake to make if they invite the wrong people.

As part of a change to his fresh strategy for Iraq, Bush’ll be shifting around US military leadership on the ground. As much as he and his ilk like to kvetch about not changing horses in mid race, they like to change a lot of the horses in Iraq, don’t they?

Africa

Ban Ki-moon, the new chief of the UN, has pledged to pay the highest attention to the conflict in Darfur. One can only hope.

I see the situation with the UIC has come to a head. The Islamists are overpowered. An international force is being called for. Not sure who is who? Here’s some info on the sides, then.

Asia/Pacific

Bird Flu issues continue to crop up here and there in Asia. I haven’t posted much on it for some time, but I always see little tidbits here and there. While it hasn’t yet grown into a serious threat to human health on a global scale, it continues to linger in the region like an ember that won’t go out. In my opinion, anyway.

Commodore Frank Bainimarama, leader of the coup in Fiji, is sworn in as the country’s PM. However, executive authority has been returned to President Ratu Josefa Iloilo. My jury is still out on this particular coup.

The video of Steve Irwin’s death has been give to his family and all other copies destroyed. As well it should be. Despite the morbid curiosity of the world, the family should be the decider of whether or not the video of his last hours gets put out.

Europe

The EU dislikes the gratuitous use of product placement in movies and on television. But, they face a problem.. there are few laws to regulate the same in the US. Banning it in the EU would give US producers a marked advantage with all the funding that product placement brings in from advertisers. Personally, Ren doesn’t care. I’ve never bought a thing because I’ve seen in in a TV sitcom or in a movie and could care less if the can of cola a character is holding says Pepsi or Poopsie.

Another book on Anne Frank comes out, claiming to be the most comprehensive story on her to date. Being as I’ve never read anything on her, I couldn’t say.

Americas

FBI files on William Rehnquist are released, saying he had some issues with painkillers while he was on the Supreme Court, but before he became Chief Justice.

US nuclear weapons agency chief Linton Brooks is kicked to the curb after several security breaches on his watch.

The parents of a disabled girl named Ashley seek treatments to keep her small as a child the remainder of her life. They’ve also opted for surgery to block breast growth and had her uterus and appendix removed. The girl has static encephalopathy and is expected to show no improvement from her current status of having the mentality of a three month old at the age of nine. The parents made this decision, they say, so it will be easier for them to move her, bathe her and involve her in family activities. Yet they also say in their blog:

“A fundamental and universal misconception about the treatment is that it is intended to convenience the caregiver.

“Rather, the central purpose of the treatment is to improve Ashley’s quality of life.”

This has, of course, sparked a good deal of controversy. Do the parents have a right to make such drastic alterations to their child? Is it truly for her good or their own primarily? Is it ethical? I’m not sure. It seems rather drastic. Many take care of adult sized, normally formed relatives who have similar mental states just fine, which would suggest that such changes are hardly necessary. Yet, would such changes, as they believe, improve her limited quality of life? I suppose the only one that could say for sure is she, yet she cannot speak.

Our US makers of huge, gas guzzling cars are losing out to Asian competitors more focused on smaller, more efficient cars as US buying preferences shift. The companies can whine about it all they want, but they only have themselves to blame for not recognizing and anticipating the trend. It’ll take more than cut backs to keep US companies up. They have to meet the new needs of the consumer.

The congress opens with Democrats in the lead, yet little really changes in the end.

General

Research suggests that men who father three daughters and no sons are 60% more likely to develop prostate cancer. However, the study is criticized by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, which believes the cause may be the male ‘Y’ Chromosome, not the act of having sons or daughters.

Updates on updates for the Mars rovers. Quite remarkable that those little rovers are still puttering about the planet.

You want to know, I want to know.. is soap self cleaning? Explainer also lets you know how to tell a meteorite from your average everyday rock.

The age of reason can’t stop the flow of stupid drug stories. Reefer madness lives on.

The Blogs look at John Negroponte’s resignation and shift, Barack Obama’s cocaine use and Rep. Keith Ellison swearing on the Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

Todays Papers has that President Bush had attached a “signing statement” to a postal-reform bill emphasizing the government’s authority to open U.S. mail without a warrant(feeling safer?), the resignation of Harriet E. Miers as White House counsel, approximately 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops launching a “major offensive” in Diyala province and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Neurotically Yours: Accidents at Home

Mark Fiore: Luckiest Despot in the World

Cab driver fighting speed camera ticket that claimed he was doing 420mph in a 30mph zone. In a Cavalier. “According to this, I’ve broken the land speed record,” he observes

Not news: Woman fails driver’s test again. News: DMV inspector passes her anyway. Fark: After she agrees to strip for him

News: Woman tries to carry condoms filled with flour onto plane. Not news: Police tests positive for opium, cocaine; woman held for 21 days. Fark: The condoms really were full of flour

Montreal grandmother who is a hit on YouTube says, “YouTube, does that have anything to do with U boats?”

Mullah Omar: Osama never calls, he never writes

North Korea setting us up the bomb, again. No word on bad sunglasses yet

Brazil orders YouTube to block obscure supermodel sex video, instantly assuring that it will be downloaded and hosted by millions worldwide

Candidate for 2007 Dumbass Publicist of the Year goes to former Fox News flak, identified through his IP address after spreading nasty rumors about Brit Hume

Not News: Guy arrested for DUI. News: Passes keys on to friend who is then arrested for DUI. Fark: Third guy gets the keys and – well, you know what’s coming next

Watch Out: You could get arrested for videoing a Vice President whiles he watches a group of dancing women

Lazy mooching birds ride the ferry every day rather than fly 3 miles

Reaching a new high in journalistic standards, Wired News using a dating site that features women fluent in Klingon as a metric for rating a city’s technology savviness

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this man being rescued by his dog

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Picasso this young guitarist

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Theme: Three dead guys walk into a bar…