News – UN Pull Out

Not a good sign for Bush getting more help from the UN, though Kofi says they will still be doing their work in Iraq.

Iraq

As Iraqis mourn the loss of Akila al-Hashemi, more UN staffers are pulled out of Iraq. Kofi Annan was thinking of a full pull out, but a one third pull out was a compromise brokered by Colon Powell.

An amusing little note of Colon trying to brush off his contradictory statements before 9/11.

Notes here of the soldiers involved in the killing of eight Iraqi police have been acquitted of wrongdoing as they followed the blurrily defined ‘rules of engagement’. Statements on the details of the incident don’t mesh with those of witnesses at the scene.

Is Iraq on OPEC a bad thing? Seems like it might well be for the economy.

Israel/Palestine

Sharon said he’d take US concerns into account over the question of expulsion/death for Arafat. Question is, will the Bush Administration lay down the law if the Israeli leadership decides to do something else that’s stupid.

Iran

Iran has requested and been granted more time to prepare before their Oct 31 deadline to show they’re innocent of nuke creating. Let the speculation continue.

Afghanistan

The Taliban has willfully acknowledge their hand in killing some Afghan aid workers. The normal reason, collaboration with the US.

US

On an amusing note, Congress did act decisively to return the Do-Not-Call list to functionality. Only to have another federal judge knock it down on free speech grounds.

Bush has pressed OPEC to not do things that might hurt the US economy after a decision by the group to lower oil production. Another display of how we’re pathetically dependent upon those countries and their oil.

The Information Awareness Office is being liquidated and TIA appears gone for good. A delightful turn out for privacy advocates.

Will the brainwashing defense stave off the death penalty if Lee Boyd Malvo is convinced in court? There is evidence to suggest that it might be a defense that holds water. But will the jury buy it, if used?

The Gaffes of Howard Dean: Uncertainty over Dean’s inferred uncertainty about Saddam’s badness. Did you get that? 😉 As well, we have Dean suggesting the US won’t always have the strongest military. Confessed deficiency in being commander in chief or forward looking to prepare for an uncertain future?

The New York Democratic debate was a face off between the front runners, yet there was no attack on Wesley Clark amid the fracas. Clark did well, despite an initial stumble, but most of the attacks in this debate were focused around Dean. Slate’s good for a breakdown of the major players and a collection of noteworthy lines.

General

Pop ups are a problem and new pop ups are taking advantage of the Windowns messenger service to circumvent normal blocking software. Here are two tips to close up that hole.

Inside the Islamic Mafia

Day to Day: New Converse shoes commercial and marriage preemption.

International Papers is all about Bush’s trip to the UN. Was it a wasted effort? We have views on the speech and recent events from a few sources.

Today’s Papers notes an interview in which Powell notes a possible 6 months to write a constitution for Iraq. A note of the poverty rate increasing for the second year in a row. Republicans are starting to complain about the 20 billion that Bush wants for Iraq. And more in a page of news.

Amusments

Male Hell

No Respect Either

That Last Quote is Just Cruel. 😉