News – The Hits Keep Right on Coming

In Iraq, in Israel, in Palestine and in Afghanistan, the bombings and attacks and retaliations keep right on flowing. Perhaps one of the few things you can trust in this world is violence.

Iraq

A fifth car bomb attack in Iraq has killed one and injured 53. This one in the northern, Kurdish controlled area of Iraq. And another, in which three Iraqis, including a young boy, have died and six US personnel were injured.

Congress hammered the Pentagon over various aspects of Iraq and Bush’s cronies continue to encourage standing behind the president in this time of crises rather than asking questions like, what went wrong. Personally, I think it is the exact right time to be asking what went wrong so you can fix it!

“If killing Americans leads to defeat and the restoration of the old regime or any kind of new tyranny, they would score an enormous strategic victory for terrorism and for the forces of repression and intolerance, rage and despair, hatred and revenge,” Wolfowitz said.

You should have thought about that before engaging in this war, Wolfie. You and the boys screwed up and now we either have to slink away or stand and take the punishment that was earned for being hasty and stupid. That’s a bitter pill to swallow.

France and Germany will only back a new US resolution on Iraq if the UN is given full political control over the country. I doubt Bush will abide by t hat, so we’ll remain divided until one of the sides budges.

Israel/Palestine

An Israeli airsttike against the house of a top Hamas man missed killing him, but did kill his eldest son and bodyguard. Resentment rises and the cycle continues, after Palestinian bombers killed 15 in two separate attacks in Israel.

Iran

A resolution has been passed that gives Iran until October 31st to prove it doesn’t have a nuke program. Unlike most US backed ventures, this one actually did have a lot of support from the international community.

Afghanistan

Four workers from the Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees have been killed. The Taliban is being blamed for their deaths on assumption currently.

US

The Archdiocese of Boston is paying out 85 million dollars in settlement to over 540 plaintiffs. This to close up the civil cases on sexual abuse by the clergy.

We all know that men are being held without trial, without charge and without hope of being free ever again. But are those men being tortured? An uncomfortable question, considering the often touted moral high road of the US.

Slate has some tidbits you might have missed if you watched the Baltimore democratic debate on TV as well as a scorecard.

9/11 is big news as tomorrow swiftly approaches. Are you planning anything for it? Personally, I’m not. I know what happened and I know how it makes me feel. I won’t forget, because no one will let me so I don’t need a day to remember it. I know Bush screwed up the opportunity it presented. All in all, I agree we shouldn’t commemorate September 11th. Flag waving on this upcoming day misses the point.

The Worst of George W. Bush: Bush was on the board of directors of Harken energy in 1989 when his little money losing energy company Spectrum 7 was acquired. Before Harken went under, just before its shares tumbled, Bush cashed out most of his stock and failed to alert the SEC to this as was required for 34 weeks. An SEC memorandum indicates they decided he broke the law, but no charges were filed. The defense? Bush’s conduct shifts in good and badness depending on what portions of the timeline of events you emphasize.

General

Flash Mobs are turning a little dangerous. Flash mobs are a strange experiment popping up all over the globe where participants receive emails to gather in a certain place at a certain time to perform a strange, scripted event. They do so and then disperse as quickly as they came. In some places flash mobs are being met with trouble, though it remains rare as flash mobs are a nonviolent event.

Genetically modified bacteria could form a ‘living condom’ within a woman’s vagina to protect her from HIV. I suppose ‘no glove, no love’ might go out of style of this manifests into a usable product. Though it is still good for a guy to be wary of promiscuity. This would, no doubt, be all but undetectable, so you’d have to trust that the person actually has it in place.

Today’s Papers notes the settlement and the bombings. A suggestion of French isolation in recent US acts and a French/German/Russian counter proposal. Even more news tidbits, many of which aren’t noted above.

International Papers notes the varied responses to Bush’s international appeal. By and large, they see through the attempted spin and know Bush is holding his hand out. But the decision of if to smack it away hasn’t been made yet. One interesting comparison made, which I hadn’t seen yet, is to compare Iraq to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. It has interesting parallels.

Amusements

All roads lead to Katima Mulilo

Just.. eww. :p

Ooops