In keeping with the tradition of a new start to a new year, I'm making some long overdue additions to my blogroll. Here's some of my new favorite regular reads:
Babalu Blog: Val's a great writer, and I especially enjoy his weekly Cubanisms.
Bogieblog: Survival in the wilds of New Hampshire
Country Store: The Cracker Barrel Philosopher, deconstructing the world one Democrat at a time
Martinis, Persistence, and a Smile: Lawren's a very astute law student in Indianapolis
Yates on the States: Married to our beloved Natalie, Andy's always a jolly good read.
Now I'm going to go indulge in a Robitussin shooter & a hot shower to see if I can regain the ability to breathe.
But I'm just not feeling too well today. See, WildChild was sick over Christmas...and spent a lot of time with us. And my daughter came over for dinner Sunday night sick with something. So guess what I caught?
*sigh*
Makes me think of my favorite line* from It's A Wonderful Life
"Why'd we have all these darn kids anyway?"
So if you'll forgive me, I'm taking my sniffles & aches & going back to bed.
*My second favorite line is when the lady is dumping her savings onto the table in the big scene at the end and says "I was savin' this up for a dee-vorce in case I ever got me a husband!"
You just can't find dialogue like that these days.
So ephedra's been banned because it's been linked to "as many as 100 deaths"....primarily teens and a few well-known athletes. Well, give 'em a button. [/sarcasm]
If the Bush administration wanted to do something effective to stop drug-related deaths, why don't they ban psuedoephedrine....or at least return it to its former prescription-only status? You know what psuedoephedrine is, right? The main ingredient in Sudafed, available very cheaply OTC.
One of the unintended consequences of making it available without a prescription, and cheap to boot, has been the explosion of meth across the country. Because it's also one of 3 primary ingredients for making meth. And as such has arguably caused considerably more than 100 deaths....though none of famous athletes that I can think of offhand.
So if you really wanted to stop the widespread use of a deadly drug, that would be the one to ban or heavily restrict its availability.
If you really wanted to do something effective, that is.
One of the country's biggest spammers is allegedly turning over a new leaf.
He stopped sending e-mail offers for everything from debt repayment schemes to time-share vacations even before President Bush, on Dec. 16, signed the new Can Spam Act, a law meant to crack down on marketers like Mr. Ralsky.
He plans to resume in January, he said, after he overcomes some computer problems, and only after he changes his practices to include in his messages a return address and other information required by the law, the title of which stands for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing.
*cough*Bullshit*cough* Like the guy who recently was the principal defendant in the civil suit filed by the NY A.G., spammers aren't going to suddenly start following the law.
Still, in the week after the suit was filed, Mr. Richter's company, OptInRealBig.com, was actively sending e-mail messages promoting dozens of products, including laser guns, breast enlargement pills and Christian dating services.
Thanks to this asshole, my spam e-mail reached a new high this week....172 in a 24 hr. period. If I would just enlarge my penis & breasts, I could meet Christian singles that had seen me at church. (They must have very long memories) And we could talk about paying off my mortgage and credit cards.
And I suspect the new law, even with its potential penalty of up to $6M in fines and up to 5 yrs prison time, is going to do little to stop the flood....about as effective as spitting in the ocean. What I would like to see is anti-spam software where you could send a little packet that would wipe the spammers' hard drive....and deliver an electric shock to anyone who touched that computer. Not anything deadly, the equivalent of a cattle prod should do it. I'd call it the Skinner Spam Solution.
Hmmm....I wonder if I could write that in QBasic.
A hacksaw is a big help when replacing mini-blinds in an older house with oddly sized windows.
A pug dog, on the other hand, is as useless as teats on a boar hog.
Saddam is reportedly starting to give it up.
"Saddam has confessed the names of people he told to keep the money and he gave names of those who have information on equipment and weapons warehouses," Iyad Allawi, a member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat daily.
The money, up to an estimated $40 billion dollars, is thought to be hidden in accounts in Switzerland, Japan, Germany and a few other countries. Seizure of those funds ought to have the Palis & the other like-minded groups crying in their beer.
Saddam's interrogators are now trying to find out info about any "relationship between him and terrorist organizations and on funds paid to groups outside Iraq".
Just a matter of time.
With all the excitement of the past few days, I've neglected to mention my ol' buddy Rodger has gotten his technical problems fixed and has moved back to his old MT site. Welcome back cuzz!
Update your links accordingly.
We are pleased to announce the engagement of my baby girl to the very nice young man she's been dating. His proposal last night was very romantic, just like in fairytales....albeit the fractured kind. You see, it didn't quite go according to plan.
He'd been working on the plan for months, wanting to surprise my daughter with her dream proposal....a very difficult feat since my daughter usually figures such things out in a heartbeat. He came to ask our permission on Christmas Eve....not realizing I was still at work. So he asked Mike's and swore him to secrecy. He came back Christmas night and asked for mine....which I gladly gave as long as they waited until after she graduates in the spring....and Mike & I became co-conspirators.
He told my daughter that he was going to Little Rock to spend the weekend with some friends, and my daughter's roommate was going to take her for a girls' night out. The plan was for my daughter & her friends to have dinner in a restaurant off the downtown square at 5:30. At 7, they were to all walk up to the square to see the Christmas lights, at which time he would be waiting with a horse-drawn carriage. At the end of the carriage ride, he would get down on one knee in the town square, where family & friends would be gathered, pull out the ring that he had designed himself and propose.
By the time we met him on the square, the child was a nervous wreck. My daughter had almost seen him in town several times yesterday while he was finalizing all the preparations; the ring didn't get finished until the last minute; and my daughter & her friends were late going to dinner. Which meant by 7 pm, the carriage & everyone was waiting but my daughter & her friends hadn't started eating yet....and there was a nasty rainstorm fast approaching out of Oklahoma.
Finally we decided I would go pull her out of the restaurant with some cock-and-bull story about how Mike was waiting up on the square with her remaining Christmas present. We thought she might fall for it because we do still have one of her presents because it's too big to fit in her car (it's a computer desk), I had told her earlier that we were going to see the lights up on the square that night, and she had mentioned to me where she & her friends would be eating.
She totally fell for it. Her friends caught on pretty quick & tagged along, telling her they wanted to see her present. (Though their waiter was totally confused when her roommate shoved her debit card in his hand & told him they'd be back, they had to go see something) All the way up there she kept saying how she knew we were just teasing about the size of her present and how she knew it wasn't as big as we said. I'm cracking up by this time, telling her she's right, it's not what she thought. At all.
We get up to the square where Mike is standing with his camera and my daughter says "Ok, now where's my present?" Mike takes a step back, I point to the waiting carriage where her boyfriend, resplendent in his suit, is standing with a big bouquet of flowers, and say "Right there." She's totally floored and delightedly gets in the carriage with him....not really noticing that there's a small crowd trying to hide in front of the bank to her left.
They take off, and we all stream over to the designated spot. After an interminably long wait, the carriage returns. They get out and my daughter notices the crowd of family & friends...she looks at her boyfriend and asks "What are you doing?" He gets out the ring, goes down on one knee and proposes. She starts crying and accepts, the crowd cheers. After all the celebrating ended, she looks at him and says admiringly "You're good. I had no idea"....then accusingly points her finger at me "Mom! I should've known you'd be in on this!"
Heh.
So all in all, it went fairly well. The storm held off until after the post-proposal get-together at his grandparents, the ring was beautiful, and my daughter was completely surprised with a romantic proposal that she's always dreamed of. And we're getting what so far appears to be a hard-working, intelligent, mature young man for a son-in-law.
Not a bad start for the new year.
Another terrorist plot has reportedly been busted in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi security forces have seized light planes packed with explosives near Riyadh's King Khalid airport, foiling a plot by suicide pilots to blow up a Western airliner on the runway, a British newspaper said on Sunday.
Hasn't been a very successful month for the 'splodeydopes. May their run of bad luck continue indefinitely.
Alberta, Canada has been tenatively identified as the origin of the mad cow infected Holstein.
Dr. Ron DeHaven, chief veterinarian for the Agriculture Department, said Canadian officials have provided records that indicate the animal was one of a herd of 74 cattle shipped from Alberta, Canada, into this country in August 2001 at Eastport, Idaho.
They're now trying to track down the other 73 cows from the herd.
We noticed while grocery shopping this morning that all the media hysteria hasn't seemed to have affected the price of steaks yet. But we did pick up some good deals on ground round.
Diseased dead cow. It's what's for dinner.
A merry Christmas was had by all....especially WildChild. He's finally old enough to understand presents and was quite blown away by it all. WOW! was his word for the day. Although I told my sister we could've all saved a lot of money by just buying him batteries for the big red Dr. Suess fish-shaped flashlight she got him...his favorite toy by far. He also really liked the "My First LeapPad" from us, and the Go, Dogs, Go book. It is full of words he can "read", like "stop", "go" and "dog"...and he was tickled by the idea of dogs driving cars.
We had Christmas dinner at my parents', which also went pretty well. My increasingly senile mother managed to cook a reasonably decent meal...and she and my father only had one minor yelling spat. Not too bad.
In related news, my temp job ended as of last night, subject to recall. We're debating whether I would go back if they do call.....sacrifices to be made either way, though right now I'm thinking the non-tangible ones from not working outweight the extra breathing room the additional income provides. So it's likely you'll be seeing more of me around...at least until next semester starts.
There's even bigger good news in the works, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out what. I've been sworn to secrecy.
And you know how tight-lipped lawyers can be.
Michael Jackson has reportedly married again. (Link via Fark)
The singer is said to have wed a stunning 23-year-old Muslim beauty in the summer.
Known only as Alisha, she is a brilliant pianist with an IQ of 154, according to reports in US magazine The Globe.
If true, that would put his bride in the top tenth of a per cent of the population - more intelligent than the average university professor.
If true, that just goes to show you that having a high IQ doesn't mean you've got the sense God gave a goose.
Much like the average university professor.
Dean has rediscovered his religion.
The former Vermont governor - who does not attend church regularly, but prays daily - said he plans to include more references to Jesus and God in his speeches during campaign stops in the South.
Why is this news?
The shift is significant because Dean, who practices Congregationalism, has rarely talked about religion during the campaign - a topic that could play a huge role among Southern voters.
A recent ABC/Washington Post poll shows that 46 percent of Southerners said a president should use his religious beliefs to make policy decisions. Only 38 percent of Easterners agreed.
Why the sudden change from a man who left his former church over a disputed bike path?
Dean spokesman Jay Carson denied that the former Vermont governor was using religion to get more votes.
"He's never been the type of person or the type of candidate to make a decision based on the best political strategy," Carson told The Post yesterday.
You'll forgive my cynicism if I say that just about pegs my bullshit meter.
A 6.7 earthquake has devastated the ironically named Iranian city of Bam, "killing "thousands" and razing many buildings".
I'm off to work, so if I don't see you again before tomorrow, here's wishing you and yours a merry little Christmas.
And for any of you who waited until today to start your gift shopping, I have a feeling I'm going to hate you before the day is over.
A local Harrison man is a pretty tough old boy.
While cutting brush, Mondy fell between the tractor and the blades, suddenly finding himself in a fight for his life.
His wife said he told her he grabbed a sway bar and wrapped a leg around another support. He struggled to reach up under the seat and pulled the tractor out of gear.
Dodging the spinning power-takeoff bar between the tractor and brush cutter, Mondy reached up and tried to disengage the brush cutter. But the blades caught him hard, taking off his right arm at the socket and slicing through part of his right buttock.
Mondy told his wife that the blades also cut off the back of his right boot and destroyed his belt buckle.
The tractor finally came to rest in a ditch, brush cutter blades still spinning.
Rather than wait for help, Mondy said, he disengaged the blades and recovered part of his arm. He placed the arm on the back of the tractor, put the tractor in gear and drove out of the field.
He had to pause at a gate to open it to get to a road, pulling through and then getting off again to close the gate.
Mondy first headed for home but turned around to go to a closer house when he began to feel lightheaded. On the way, a couple in a pickup truck stopped to help, getting him to a local hospital.
Day-mn.
Doctors weren't able to save his arm, but Mr. Mondy otherwise is expected to recover. And he's embarrassed at all the attention he's receiving.
"What was I supposed to do?" his wife said he asked. "Lie there and die?"
Pretty damn tough for a 56 yr. old.
Amazing.
The major networks are sounding the alarm about terrorists' warnings found online.
Alarming messages published on known Al Qaeda (search) Web sites are claiming the terror network is about to launch its biggest strikes ever - and are warning Muslims to leave the cities of New York, Washington and Los Angeles.
*collective yawn*
That is so...last month.
The NY Times has admitted it was wrong about Bush's policy towards Libya.
In a Dec. 20 editorial, the newspaper said, "This page recommended lifting American sanctions ... but President Bush left them in place pending further steps, most notably Libya's decision to end its unconventional weapons programs. It is now clear that he was right to do so. The added American pressure worked just as intended."
Personally I think the NY Times is still wrong....the fall of Saddam's regime had more to do with Libya's apparent change of heart than sanctions. But still, like Cal Thomas said:
Applying moral equivalency in negotiations with dictators is like taking a used car salesman at his word without inspecting the vehicle.
Whether or not Gadhafi really means to get rid of his WMD destruction program remains to be seen. But one thing is clear.
He at least sees which way the wind is blowing in the Middle East.
A Washington state Holstein has tested "presumptive positive" for mad cow disease, and South Korea & Japan have stopped all imports of US beef. Canada has not...for now.
Looks like my dad, who sold the last of his small herd a few months ago, picked a good time to retire from raising beef cattle.
Police in Liberal La-La Land, aka Los Angeles, have been making pre-emptive arrests of potential terrorist suspects.
Those arrests were made in the past 48 hours and included people who came to authorities' attention after the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda terror attacks in the United States.
The source stressed that none has been charged with any terrorism-related offense but were rounded up on unrelated charges -- in one case, credit card fraud -- in an effort to get information about possible threats. None of those picked up was identified.
Gee, I guess realizing one is a serious potential terrorist target changes ones' perspective on civil liberties.
The more I read about the security preparations for the holidays, the more I'm starting to get the heebie-jeebies. I strongly suspect the authorities have much more specific information than they're letting on.....and it's serious this time.
Deadly serious.
Michele mentions something as a gag gift I've been thinking about:
"Santa says brushing your teeth is an important part of your day. I knew you would love the economy pack of toothbrushes, then."
I have been absolutely flabbergasted at the numbers of people who are buying toothbrushes, toothpaste & mouthwash as stocking stuffers for their kids. WTF is wrong with you people? Christmas stockings are for candy, not dental hygiene. It's one of the few days a year, besides Halloween, that kids can eat candy til they puke. Finding a toothbrush in your stocking is about as exciting as the inevitable socks & underwear I always got from one of my grandmother's as a Christmas present. At least that became a family joke as my granny became progressively more senile and we had to sneak around & exchange our gifts with our cousins to get the right size & type of underwear.
But toothpaste? That's just wrong.
What's the dumbest thing you ever got in your stocking?
One of the more fun things about being a grownup is that if I want to eat candy for breakfast, I can.
And I just did.
What's your favorite thing to do now that you're grown up that you weren't allowed to do as a child? (And I'm not the slightest bit interested in your sex lives, BTW.)
Just happened to re-check my schedule for this week last night and discovered I'd been given an early present. The 4 hrs. I'd been scheduled to work Christmas Eve had been changed to an 8 hr. shift. Thanks...and a special thanks for checking with me before changing it. [/sarcasm]
Anyway, the change meant I had to start my Christmas baking early....like today. Which is what I've been doing.
In case you were wondering.
There's been a 6.5 earthquake in central California. No reports of major damage or injuries so far.
Tom Ridge is currently announcing that the terror threat level has been raised to orange. His basic message was that the terrorist "chatter" level had risen dramatically, we're all gonna die....but hey, enjoy the holidays.
Then the reporters' stupid question time began.
The Iraqi "opposition" terrorists are getting desperate.
U.S. forces in Iraq say they have uncovered a plot to kidnap the country's provisional leaders - in the hopes of trading them for Saddam Hussein.
A U.S. military source said supporters of Saddam planned to abduct at least one and possibly two members of the Iraqi Governing Council.
As if we'd turn him loose for love or money.
According to extensive documents found in his briefcase, Saddam was clearly still running the show even while on the run.
The bag contains documents and reports that show that since the collapse of his government, Saddam commanded a phantom regime from hiding.
The briefcase holds evidence of a resistance movement run on the lines of a Ba'athist totalitarian state, with himself at the top. It contains hundreds of names - all of them now in U.S. hands.
We're now putting those documents to good use....and the "resistance movement" is becoming increasingly desperate as their numbers dwindle.
Release Saddam now?
Not bloody likely.
Thank God for Kentucky....and West Virginia.
Henry VIII's castle is allegedly haunted....and it's been caught on tape.
Wood said security guards had seen the figure in closed-circuit television footage after checking it to see who kept leaving open one of the palace's fire doors.
In the still photograph, the figure of a man in a robe-like garment is shown stepping from the shadowy doorway, one arm reaching out for the door handle.
A ghost? Perhaps. Or someone's having a great joke.
I shouldn't think ghosts have to open doors.
I know his name is R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., but who is he? And more importantly, what is he smoking?
Today Dr. Howard Dean aspires to the Oval Office. If he has his way, he will be the first Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the 21st century. He will face our era's Herbert Hoover: a Texas Hoover who has mired the country in economic gloom, who has failed to confront tyrants from afar.
Uh. Ok. Yeah. As soon as I finish posting this, we're gonna finish loading up the truck, strap Granny in her rocker on the top and head out West. Hear they're paying hard cash for fruit pickers out in Californey. A-course we'll have to take plenty of ammo to ward off them there suey-cide bombers, but Pa's got his ol' squirrel rifle all oiled up and....hey wait a minute. We both have jobs. Unemployment rate 'round here is holding at a right steady 2% or so. Git down offen that truck Granny. We ain't a-goin' nowhere.
Oh here's his claim to fame. He once had a series of debates with Dr. Dean on a talk show in Montreal. And now everyone wants his take.
Just as a priest must not betray what he hears in a confessional, I have a feeling I should not betray the raw and primitive Dr. Howard Dean who was presented to me in Montreal.
Let's not be coy now. What do you think about Dean?
Shall I betray my views of Dr. Howard Dean lo those many years ago and be but another conniver in the political maelstrom of ego?
Possibly I shall. The fact is all these calls from the press are very enticing....I could become his Boswell. I could become a Bernstein wrapped in a Woodward and with a yellow bow tied round.
Now now, let's not be a pompous ass. What do you think of Dean?
What course will I follow? Will it be the discretion of a gentleman or the excess of a blabber mouth? I have to decide before the next press inquiry comes in. I am thinking.
Good Lord man. Get over yourself. It was a freaking Montreal talk show from the 90's that no one ever heard of.
Sheesh.
But something's obviously screwed up here. First the entire domain went down, now this site isn't displaying properly.
If you figure it out let me know. Right now I have to go to work early.
It's Payday!
The jury has convicted Lee Boyd Malvo of capital murder in the Washington sniper shootings. Now they'll decide whether he gets death or life in prison.
What a waste of a child.
Part of my shift is usually spent working the express checkout, which I like except for the stupid animated Santa & snowman that are near the exit. They have motion detectors, which means the freaking things are going nonstop the entire time I'm there.
Santa lost his voice a few weeks ago, so now he just "dances". There's just something so elementally wrong with Santa wiggling his ass as he leers at you silently while his lips move that I can't even begin to describe the weirdness. It's just creepy.
But the snowman still sings constantly. My plan is to buy the damn thing on the after-Christmas markdown sale, drive over it a few times with my car....then douse it with charcoal lighter fluid & burn it. Then I'll pick its metal voicebox out of the ashes and chop it up with my ax until there's nothing left except metallic confetti.
Why anyone would intentionally pay $50 for the bloody thing for any other reason is beyond me.
From Paul, who has the exquisite good taste to drive a car just like mine.
"Buy a Subaru; make Winter your bitch."
--Wesley Clark: "If I'd been president, I would have had Osama bin Laden by this time"
--Saddam Hussein: "[G]o ahead and organize elections...[I'd] win big"
--Madeleine Albright: "Do you suppose," she asked, "that the Bush administration has Osama bin Laden hidden away somewhere and will bring him out before the election?"
Just when I think that freak of nature Michael Jackson can't get any weirder, he outdoes himself.
Michael Jackson last night became a member of the Nation of Islam - and sources told The Post his religious changeover comes along with a shake-up of his personal staff.
High-ranking members of the Nation of Islam have been working to bring Jackson into Rev. Louis Farrakhan's flock - and Jackson's conversion is now well-known in the NOI community.
The Gloved One and Louis Farrakhan...now there's a match for you.
Ever really want to blog, but can't find anything to write about?
Me too.
This cracked me up. (Link via Fark)
Director Peter Jackson had laid down his requirements for the Battle of Pelennor Fields - the climactic engagement in The Return of the King in which the heroic defenders of Middle-Earth face the overwhelming might of Sauron and his armies of Darkness. Jackson wanted the computer-generated antagonists to have absolute authenticity on the big screen and to be indistinguishable from the real actors.
So programmers wrote this incredibly detailed program that basically allowed the CG soldiers to evaluate conditions & decide on an individual course of action. One little problem.
"For the first two years, the biggest problem we had was soldiers fleeing the field of battle," Taylor said.
"We could not make their computers stupid enough to not run away."
I'll not be able to watch the battle now without LMAO.
Guess they forgot to program in the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.
Looks like France & Germany are getting a clue.
U.S. special envoy James A. Baker III won German and French agreement Tuesday to work for Iraqi debt relief, overcoming serious misgivings in Berlin about the U.S. exclusion of German firms from Iraqi reconstruction.
"Germany and the United States, like France, are ready not only for debt restructuring but also for substantial debt forgiveness toward Iraq," German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's spokesman Bela Anda said in a statement.
Of course there's no telling what Baker promised in exchange. I trust him about as far as I could throw him.
It's only been a couple of days since the capture of Saddam, and I'm already sick of the "Let's all cry for Saddam" crowd.
"I felt pity to see this man destroyed, (the military) looking at his teeth as if he were a cow. They could have spared us these pictures," [Cardinal Renato Martino] said.
"Seeing him like this, a man in his tragedy, despite all the heavy blame he bears, I had a sense of compassion for him," he said in answer to questions about Saddam's arrest.
Boo-freaking-hoo.
I don't see that he's been treated all that badly. He's definitely been afforded more decent treatment than he gave to his victims. It's not like we stripped him naked, wrapped him in razor wire and forced him to do an interpretive dance to the "Sugarplum Fairy"....as fun as that might be.
Bleeding hearts aside, the real complaint of most of those who have whined about the display of said video is that it reveals Saddam for what he is.
Without others to do the fighting & dying for him, the monster under the bed was nothing but dust bunnies....and the hero of the terrorists is a coward.
Like all cults of personality, the illusion is more imposing than reality.
The NYTimes confidently implies that Saddam has had nothing to do with the repeated attacks in Iraq.
Saddam Hussein has denied playing any direct role in commanding Iraqi insurgents or in planning attacks after he went into hiding, and he said his government possessed no prohibited weapons, United States government officials said Monday.
Well we can just all go home then. Heavens knows Saddam wouldn't lie.
Unfortunately for the Times, documents found with Saddam imply otherwise.
U.S. officials said that crucial documents, found in the Butcher of Baghdad's briefcase, included a list of six names, including two financiers, two bomb makers, and the two arrested resistance leaders, described as distant relatives of Saddam.
The documents also detailed the structure and financing of eight to 12 vicious terror cells around Baghdad - of which the U.S. had known little.
The documents also show that Saddam was in "regular contact" with those leaders, as well as Izzat Ibrahim al Duri, suspected leader of the terror cells.
It's downright delusional to think Saddam gave up all hopes of power and has just been hiding out quietly over the last 8 months. And the discovered documents, which the Times conveniently ignores, are just the tip of the iceberg showing proof of his involvement.
Of course, the Times has never been one to let the facts interfere with their dreams.
Four of the new leaders of Iraq questioned Saddam after his capture. One, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, a member of the Governing Council and previously tortured by Saddam, had some tough questions.
I told him, `You keep on saying that you are a brave man and a proud Arab.' I said, `When they arrested you why didn't you shoot one bullet? You are a coward.' "
Saddam reportedly began swearing, using "all his French". But Rubaie, speaking for many Iraqis, had the best last words.
"And I have to confess that the last word was for me," he continued. "I was the last to leave the room and I said, `May God curse you. Tell me, when are you going to be accountable to God and the day of judgment? What are you going to tell him about Halabja and the mass graves, the Iran-Iraq war, thousands and thousands executed? What are you going to tell God?'
What indeed.
John Hawkins has the best photoshopped Bush/Saddam/Chirac photo I've seen yet. (Scroll down to Update #2)
Bremer has released a photo of Saddam after his capture.
Wow.
His days of living high on the hog have been over for a while haven't they?
The French are proposing a ban on the wearing in schools of the "foulard islamique", the headgear worn by some Muslim women, because it is a religious symbol. But Amir Taheri argues that it is a political symbol, not religious.
It was first created in Lebanon in 1975 by Imam Mussa Sadr, an Iranian mullah who had become leader of the Shi'ite community there. Sadr wanted the foulard to mark out Shi'ite girls so that they would not be molested by the Palestinians who controlled southern Lebanon at the time.
Then it was co-opted by Iran's religious leaders.
In 1982, the Lebanese-designed headgear was imposed by law on all Iranian girls and women, including non-Muslims, aged six years and above. Thus, Iranian Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian women are also forced to wear a headgear that is supposed to be an Islamic symbol. The Khomeinist claim is that women's hair has to be covered because it emits rays that turn men "wild with sex."
Well sure. We've all seen those Herbal Essence commercials. Right? That's why I stay out of those glass-walled showers....reflects those rays right back on me and well....I just get out of control. *snicker*
The colors of the headcoverings also have meaning.
Second, the various Islamist movements have developed specific color schemes to assert their identity. The Khomeinists wear dark blue or brown. The Sunni Salafis, who sympathize with al Qaeda and the Taliban, prefer black. Supporters of Abu-Sayyaf and other Southeast Asian radical groups wear white or yellow. Supporters of Palestinian radical groups don checkered foulards.
Just like gangbangers.
More importantly, Amir makes the clear distinction between the Muslim religion and the militant Islamists.
What France is witnessing is not a clash of civilization between Islam and the West. It is a clash between a new form of fascism and democracy. Islamism must be exposed and opposed politically. To give it any religious credentials is not only unjust but also bad politics.
It's not just France, this is what's happening worldwide. Religion is just a convenient cover for the fascism of the militant Islamists, just like communism was the cover for those like Mao and Stalin.
Power and control is what it's really all about.
Saddam has been captured in Tikrit.
Multiple high-level sources told Fox News they were certain that the former Iraqi leader was captured in a raid designed to net him in his hometown of Tikrit. He was said to be much thinner than his last known appearance and he had a long, white beard, sources said.
The officials said the former leader, who during his rule slept in lush palaces while many ordinary Iraqis lived in poverty, was found "cowering" in a basement in a home raided by coalition soldiers. The sources said Saddam had millions of U.S. dollars in his possession.
If true, this is good news indeed.
UPDATE: Paul Bremer has confirmed that Saddam has been caught by US troops.
Sweet. Good job guys!
For any of you young folk that might read this:
If you ever need your mom to break her longstanding rule about never giving money to grown children who should sink or swim on their own, just tell her that you don't have enough money to buy food for the week AND your birth control pills. And that you gotta eat.
Not that that would ever work on me. I have principles you know.
*ahem*
How long does it take for an electronic transfer to clear?
Looks like the first winter storm of the season is headed our way....I've seen predictions of anywhere from 3 to 8 inches by tomorrow afternoon. I'm heading to work in a little bit. I figure we'll be a right smart busy what with the usual Friday evening grocery shoppers, and all of the panicked idiots cleaning us out of bread, milk and eggs due to the forecast.
Me, I plan on staying at work for my full shift. Give the aforementioned idiots time to get off the roads before I start home. My little all-wheel drive car will make it just fine as long as no one slides into us or the snow doesn't get over 6 or 7 inches deep.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Some scientists are researching the cause(s) and effect(s) of the Earth's shrinking magnetic field.
The decline, as measured by magnetometers on Earth's surface, is 10 percent in the last 150 years. "We're seeing it's actually decreasing at a fairly impressive rate," said Dr. John A. Tarduno, a professor of geophysics at the University of Rochester.
Interesting, but not very you say? Not so. A weaker magnetic shield allows more high energy particles to penetrate from space, which can have a variety of effects....like shorting out satellites or producing "electrical surges leading to widespread blackouts." And then there's this effect.
Protons hitting the atmosphere also produce nitrogen oxide, which breaks apart ozone molecules that protect Earth from harmful ultraviolet light. At present, the nitrogen oxide appears mainly over the polar regions. Dr. Charles H. Jackman, an atmospheric scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, showed computer models indicating that with a weaker magnetic field, a series of strong solar storms could cause "significant but not catastrophic" ozone destruction over a much larger portion of the planet. The damage would naturally heal within two to three years, he said. [Emphasis mine]
Hmmm. And where is it that the big holes in the ozone have been found?
Could it be that we aren't really destroying the ozone after all?
Global warming my ass.
Following Tuesday's news that non-contributing countries would not be allowed to bid on Iraq contracts, President Bush has offered an alternative.
President Bush yesterday said forgiving Iraqi debt would be "a significant contribution" to postwar reconstruction efforts and suggested that such a move by France, Germany and Russia might be enough to permit those countries' companies to compete for prime contracts to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure.
Well done. Anyone who knows anything knows the best way to deal with recalcitrant braying jackasses is to whack them firmly between the ears with a big stick to get their attention....then dangle a carrot to get them to do what you want.
Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat and presidential aspirant, said awarding prime contracts to war supporters "is an enormous mistake" that "borders on the stupid."
"It is counterproductive and is the exact opposite of what we should be doing in order to bring other countries to the table," Mr. Kerry said.
Sorry Mr. Kerry, but the only thing ass-kissing gets you in these situations is a big kick in the teeth.
Didn't learn much in 'Nam, did you?
...my head is not up my ass. Everything went well, no major problems found. I am still wasted so a long nap is next on the agenda.
Right after I eat & get a caffeine fix.
Later.
Ok, not really. Only 1 hour til the colonoscopy. But I'm still ready to be sedated....or at least get an IV bag hung so I'll stop feeling so dehydrated.
I am a wee bit cranky this morning. Last night was horrendous. I'll spare you the details.
More blogging when I return....stoned on Versed & Valium.
That should be interesting.
AT LEAST I'LL BE ABLE TO FREAKING EAT SOMETHING THEN.
If you've been wondering what's happened with our favorite Rodger, he's moved....new site address is http://rschultz.blogspot.com/. Update your links accordingly.
Welcome back, cuzz!
Jack has pledged to donate $1 to a couple of his local charities for every hit he receives today. (Thanks to Jim for the link)
Let's see how deep those pockets really are.
Hit him...then back up and hit him again.
It's for a good cause.
We've only gotten about 1/2-1 inches of snow, but apparently the roads are icing over....which leads to one of my favorite winter entertainment spectacles.
Watching idiots who don't know how to drive on ice/snow try to make it up the deceptively steep & sloping street in front of our house.....like the one I just saw who obviously didn't realize that flooring the gas only makes you spin more, which makes you slide more.
Yes. I'm easily amused.
Even more changes have been reportedly made to the WTC tower design, which will be made public next week. Although only 70 stories will be offices, the design changes will make it the world's tallest......cigarette? String cheese? Twizzler?
What do you think?
It's snowing! Yay! Prediction of 1-3 inches.
Yeah I know. Mike will still have to go to work tomorrow, and I'll still have to go take two finals.
But it's still the first snow of the season.
And it's very pretty.
Scott has just the thing to get you into the real spirit of Christmas.
I'm not sure which I like better....the screams or when the snowman eats the little girl.
Heh.
It's official. Gore's endorsing Dean.
Former Vice President Al Gore endorsed Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean on Tuesday and called him the only candidate who could "take America back on behalf of the people of this country."
Take America back to what?
The Carter years?
No thanks.
As my beloved regular readers know, our little town is in the midst of a battle to ban smoking in all businesses & restaurants. After much wrangling & fussing, there's an election set for February 10th. However, the election may not take place because there's a interesting lawsuit pending which may make the election unnecessary....because it claims the smoking ordinance is an unconstitutional pre-emption of state legislative power.
Unfortunately for the Beserkly-based Americans for Nonsmoker's Rights that's really behind our local smoking ban ordinance, Arkansas has a statute, 20-27-701-703, that expressly exempts hotels, motels & restaurants from a statewide smoking ban that covers schools, hospitals and such. Like to hear it? Here it goes.
20-27-701: (a) Information available to the General Assembly based upon scientific research data has shown that nonsmokers often receive damage to their health from the smoking of tobacco by others.
(b) It is therefore declared to be the public policy of the State of Arkansas that the rights of nonsmokers be protected in the manner provided in this subchapter.
For all the nonlawyers, this section means that our state legislature has bought into the second-hand smoke danger B.S., and is declaring their power to legislate accordingly.
20-27-702: Any person violating the provisions of this subchapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100).
Sets up the punishment for violation of the statutes. Nothing to see here, moving along to the interesting one.
20-27-703: (a) Smoking of tobacco or products containing tobacco in any form in a doctor's or dentist's waiting room, in hospital corridors, in nurses' stations in hospitals and clinics, in all hospital rooms, except private patient rooms in this state, and on school buses is prohibited.
(b) The provisions of this subchapter shall not prohibit smoking in any of the aforementioned areas if the smoking is assigned to areas designated as smoking areas.
(c) The provisions of this subchapter shall not apply to hotels, motels, and restaurants.
The interesting subsection is (c), which expressly exempts "hotels, motels, and restaurants" from the smoking ban.
Now, any lawyer worth his 30 pieces of silver should tell you that when a state has expressly declared their power to regulate, expressly exempts certain things from regulation, AND has not expressly delegated any regulatory power to local municipalities, a city cannot enact an ordinance that specifically contradicts a state statute.
The only legitimate method of enacting an Arkansas smoking ban is through the state legislature....which the Beserkly group has tried and failed about 3 times. Next, they co-opted the head of the state Health Dept., who tried to pass additions to the health regulations to ban smoking. Until our Governor "gently" reminded said department head that he did not have the power to do so...only the state legislature did. So the Beserkly group picked Fayetteville as the perfect location to try another end run by getting the city council to pass an ordinance banning smoking....which, IMHO, they don't have the power to do.
Why Fayetteville? Fayetteville is run by a group of pseudo-hippies that are natural allies of ARN. They both believe passionately in protection of diversity....if by protection of diversity you mean protecting them whats like us and getting rid of or controlling them what ain't. The Fayetteville group have been for years quietly and covertly attempting to gentrify Dickson Street. Dickson Street used to be the NW Arkansas equivalent of Greenwich Village....a very cool place. Enter the much-touted Walton Arts Center, and there began a drive to get rid of everyone who might disturb the upscale clientele of the Arts Center during their brief walks to and from their Beemers. Sad really, because they also eradicated all the things that made Dickson Street such a fun place to go.
The gentrification also extended to buildings, starting with the hideous new office building on the upper end of Dickson, quaintly named the Three Sisters. The building is such an eyesore that it prompted one local wag to comment that the referenced Three Sisters were undoubtably Clothos, Atropos, and Lachesis. The renovation has continued down the street with the remodeling and expansion of the local tofu palace health food co-op and such places. And for the last upteen months, the entire street has been ripped up and replaced...complete with a hand lain brick Razorback at the intersection of Dickson and Arkansas Avenue. (Where the Village meets the College you might say). Coincidentally I'm sure, the construction started on each end of Dickson and met in the middle....the ends being finished first and having businesses largely friendly to the ruling pseudo-hippies and the middle ones, who still have the street & sidewalk torn up in front of their businesses, are largely not. Also, there's been a few other little coincidences, like a business that has vehemently opposed the smoking ban getting a visit from the Health Dept. Seems in the midst of the smoking ordinance battle, there was an anonymous complaint about the business' 6 yr. practice of opening its large glass garage door type front during warm weather so that its patrons could enjoy fresh air dining while being protected from the elements. Pure coincidence I'm so sure.
At any rate, ARN and our local city government are natural bedfellows...and aren't going to let a minor detail of unconstitutionality stand in the way of "progress". And they've both show that dirty tricks are just part of their arsenal to make people behave as they think they should.
Small town politics meets wild-eyed liberals. The drama continues.
Ain't it great?
[/sarcasm]
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. (Link via Fark)
[Bill Maher] stunned some of Hollywood's most powerful liberals by joking about Bill Clinton's sexual indiscretions at a benefit honoring Sen. Hillary Clinton...."Maher began bringing up 'Bill Clinton's [bleep] jobs' - with Hillary sitting right there in front of him eating her chicken," says a witness.
Insert "blow" for "[bleep]". I know this is rude but I just can't help it.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I'da paid a whole dollar to see that.
I have to go have a mammogram this morning. Yee-freaking-haw.
Both tits in the wringer....what a great way to start the week. I can't wait to see what the rest of the week will bring.
Oh yeah.
Finals, work, Christmas prep, and a colonoscopy on Thursday.
Please sir, may I have some more stress?
Steve's obsessed with correct punctuation. I'm obsessed with correct spelling. Maybe it's a lawyer thing, but using the incorrect word, like "rein" for "reign", just bugs the batshit out of me. Like this.
A 25-year-old man died in Rhode Island when the inner tube he was riding on, towed behind a truck, hit a utility poll. [Emphasis mine]
No. He hit a pole, dipshits. Just because Reuters printed it that way earlier doesn't means it's correct.
And spellchecking won't catch those types of errors. Why? Repeat after me. "SPELLCHECKERS CAN'T PROOFREAD."
What do they pay you people for anyway?
The Iraqi military official alleged to be the source of the infamous British WMD memo says the information in the memo is accurate.
Lt. Col. al-Dabbagh, 40, who was the head of an Iraqi air defense unit in the western desert during the buildup to the war, said that cases containing warheads for weapons of mass destruction were delivered to front-line units, including his own, toward the end of last year.
They were "designed to be launched by hand-held rocket-propelled grenades", and were to be used only upon direct order by Saddam. Why weren't they ever used?
The only reason they were not used, Col. al-Dabbagh said, was because the bulk of the Iraqi army did not want to fight for Saddam. "The West should thank God that the Iraqi army decided not to fight," he said.
But the weapons, he says, are still in Iraq.
Col. al-Dabbagh, who was recalled to Baghdad to work at Iraq's air defense headquarters during the war itself, believes the weapons of mass destruction have been hidden at secret locations by the Fedayeen and are still in Iraq. "Only when Saddam is caught will people talk about these weapons," he said.
Absolutely. Few will talk as long as Saddam & his thugs still have the ability to kill informers. I think it's more likely than not that Saddam did have multiple WMD's at his disposal....but it's going to be a long time before we have a definitive answer. One, they are fairly easily hidden. Two, people are still afraid to tell what they know.
At least now it appears that the Beeb was wrong....the Brits did in fact have a basis for the 45 minute claim in the not-so-"sexed up" dossier.
"Forget 45 minutes," said Col. al-Dabbagh. "We could have fired these within half an hour."
And still could.
Sen. Kerry has the dubious distinction of being the first presidential candidate to publicly use the F-word.
"I voted for what I thought was best for the country. Did I expect Howard Dean to go off to the left and say, 'I'm against everything'? Sure. Did I expect George Bush to f - - - it up as badly as he did? I don't think anybody did," Kerry told [Rolling Stone magazine].
Hardly presidential.
It may make him more popular among the younger set....but he might want to remember that they don't vote in an appreciable numbers. Us old fuddy duddies do....and we expect better out of our representative officials.
At least I do.
Lawren has been stirring up quite a stink at her law school....as well she should.
Students and professors wrapping up the semester at IU's School of Law in Indianapolis are hotly debating the dean's decision to remove a 12-foot tree after complaints that it was a religious display, then replace it with an exhibit featuring two smaller trees and a sleigh.
With few exceptions, no one can be an absolute goober like a law professor.
"The tree is placed there to celebrate a Christian holiday -- it is not put there in the middle of summer," said Roisman, who is Jewish. "To honor one religion and not honor others is exclusionary. This is unacceptable at a place that presents itself as inclusive of all people."
Actually, you ignorant twit, I think the Christmas tree has its origins in one of the pagan religions. If you'd done a little research, you might have discovered it has nothing to do with Christianity. Of course, if you'd done a little research, you might've also found this.
The Supreme Court disagrees. It has ruled Christmas trees are secular symbols of the holiday. At the same time, the court said putting up trees in a public place gives any other group the right to place a holiday symbol there.
So you see, you don't have the right to force the tree to be taken down. You do have the right to place your own holiday symbol on display. Go ahead. Put up a blazing menorah that shoots off rockets every night when another candle is lit. Nobody cares. (Actually that would be pretty cool. I wonder if we could make one of those.)
I've had it with the PC bullshit crowd that wants to take all the fun out of the holidays. Celebrate (or not) as your religion or customs dictate. More power to you. But leave me the hell alone to do the same.
If you're offended by something as innocuous as a Christmas tree, then don't look at it. There's a certain amount of give-and-take we all must do to live in a multi-cultural society....and I think it's about damn time people like that did a bit more giving and a lot less taking.
Kudos to Lawren for standing up for us.
A fisherman in Lake Conway (central Arkansas) got quite a surprise Monday.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission says an Illinois fisherman caught a live octopus at Lake Conway.
John Mazurek of Glenn Ellyn, Illinois, caught the octopus on Monday when he saw it clinging to one of the gates at the lake's dam.
That'd make you spill your beer wouldn't it?
"Hey Bubba! C'mere and lookie here at whut he dun catched."
Remember the woman who was allegedly trampled in the DVD player stampede? Well, it seems this isn't the first time she's been so...."unlucky". (link via Fark)
An investigation by WKMG-Local 6 reveals Vanlester has filed 16 previous claims of injuries at Wal-Mart stores and other places she has shopped or worked, according to Wal-Mart, court files and state records. Her sister, who accompanied her Friday on the visit to Wal-Mart, has also filed a prior injury claim against Wal-Mart, with Vanlester as her witness, a company spokeswoman said yesterday.
That's right. 16 previous injury claims against stores.
*ahem* Color me skeptical about her present claim....though her attorney says she hasn't decided whether to file suit. Right.
Ellzey said in an earlier interview that Wal-Mart should have foreseen the danger of unleashing shoppers on a huge bargain at 6 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving. "For several years, every time they do this, people get trampled," she said last week, adding, "I'm panicked. I'm afraid to go into any stores, especially Wal-Mart."
That's a plaintiff if ever I heard one.
Why climb Mt. Everest?
Of course, now that this is online, you don't have to climb Mt. Everest to see it.
Sweet.
Some conservative activists are planning to file a complaint asking that the NAACP lobbyist who pressured Sen. Kennedy to block a judicial appointment be disbarred for unethical conduct.
Elaine Jones, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund, asked Mr. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, to block the nomination of Tennessee Judge Julia S. Gibbons to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals until after that panel had ruled on last year's landmark affirmative action case, an internal Democratic memo showed.
"It's manipulating the outcome of a case to which you are a party," said Jeffrey Mazzella, director of the Center for Individual Freedom. "It's no less than tampering with a jury or bribing a judge."
Now you may say that Ms. Jones was only doing what lobbyists do...but that doesn't make it ethical.
And Judicial Watch has filed a similar complaint with the Senate on Sen. Kennedy & Durbin, alleging
Mr. Kennedy "improperly and unlawfully developed and engaged in a scheme to obstruct the confirmation of Tennessee Judge Julia S. Gibbons," wrote Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "Rather than allow the confirmation process to continue in the regular course, Senator Kennedy and his agents deliberately manipulated both the judicial confirmation and legal processes to achieve his partisan political goal."
In other words, he was being Ted.
Other charges filed say Mr. Durbin and his staff "improperly developed and engaged in a racially motivated scheme to obstruct the confirmation of judges at the behest of political interest groups."
These charges stem from the infamous "he is a Latino" memo. And the Dems still don't understand what was wrong with it.
Durbin spokesman Joe Shoemaker said of the ethics complaint against Mr. Durbin: "That is an out-and-out distortion of what the memo says. The groups were opining" about the qualities of Mr. Estrada that will make him difficult to oppose for many Democrats.
They see nothing wrong with saying that one of the factors that would make Estrada "difficult to oppose" is that he's a Latino....implying that he would be supported by certain groups just because of his race. It also implies that the Dems hold certain racially stereotypical views about Latinos....astoundingly hypocritical coming from the alleged party for minorities.
And also very wrong. Whether you group people by race, ethnicity or whatever, that group is going to have a broad spectrum of views from conservative to liberal. Because when you get right down to it, no matter what color, race, religion....people is just people.
As Johnathon Stein suggests in this morning's WashTimes, the investigation into the leaking of the Dems' memos by Repub staffers may have some unintended consequences for the Dems.
Senate Democrats have demanded a probe into these leaks; their request has been granted by detrimentally congenial Republicans. The investigation notwithstanding, if the leakers are dismissed, they may have actionable claims against the government.
Why? Exposure of abuse of public office is protected by the 1st Amendment....i.e., you can't fire whistleblowers.
If the Senate fires staffers for leaking memos revealing how Senate Democrats abused, or planned to abuse, their positions as senators, the staffers will likely have a cause of action against the government based on First Amendment rights. Such action will get to the substance of the memos. The Democrats will bear the burden of defending the substance of their memos — an untenable position that includes defending the unprecedented filibusters of highly qualified minority nominees because powerful far-left interest groups merely want to deny Republicans the perceived political capital associated with appointing minorities to the federal bench.
Plus, the staffers arguably did nothing illegal to gain access to the memos.
It is important to note that the memos weren't "hacked" or "stolen" — due to an error committed by the Democrats' own IT personnel, the memo files were accessible to all.
Everyone shared equal access to everything on the server, Dems & Repubs alike....a policy which has now been changed. It's the old "close the barn door after the horse got out" method of network administration.
Of course, the only staffer that I know of who's lost his job over this so far worked for Sen. Orrin "Hang All Software Pirates Except When It's Me" Hatch, so he'd likely be the first defendant.
Heh.
Like I always say, if you don't keep up with the changes in computer technology, it's gonna eat your lunch.
Like Frank has suggested, we're gonna nuke the moon....why? Because we can.
Ok, not really. But President Bush has announced a renewed interest in going back to the moon, and maybe establishing a permanent presence there.
The return to the moon would be for the purpose of technological advancements in technology, including energy exploration and testing a military rocket engine.
And a permanent presence likely will include robots and communication satellites.
There's even increased interest in sending a manned flight to Mars.
Cool.
Finally. A Bush domestic policy with which I can agree.
This one was long overdue. Environmentalists are the biggest threat to forests that there is.
Damn ignorant tree-huggers.
Let me get this straight. An overweight man with heart problems who is high on cocaine, PCP & alcohol starts a fight with police, dies....and it's ruled a homicide.
All I can say is y'all got some weird ass definition of homicide up North.
Ruling the death a homicide "should not be interpreted as implying inappropriate behavior or the use of excessive force by police," [the coroner] said.
Rev. Jackson et al would never do that, right?
Riiiight.
Anti-spam groups like Spamhaus have been hit with a nasty variant of the W32/Mimail-L e-mail worm....believed to originate from a spammer. Not only does this one forward itself to other email addresses AND use the infected computer as a zombie in a DOS attack, it also has a particularly nasty twist.
In a new twist, a follow-up e-mail is sent to the infected user stating that an order for a CD containing images of child pornography will be delivered to their postal address.
To stop the order, the e-mail advises, they should respond to what appears to be an e-mail address for billing complaints, but which is actually an e-mail for one of the eight targets.
Which floods the targeted anti-spam group with complaints from recipients.
So if you get an email from "Wendy" who wants to send you photos, respond appropriately.
In a perfectly legal manner of course.
*ahem*
An Australian man was almost buried alive by a turkey. (Link via Fark)
The man was walking along a track in the Burleigh Heads National Park, near Goodwin Terrace, when he fell into the 'hole of love' before being buried up to his head.
It is believed a brush turkey scampered up to the man, moments after he fell, and tried to bury him in a mating ritual.
And I thought our wild turkeys were mean.
Thanks to Scott, I discovered that there are about 260100 women in the US named Rita....which makes me wonder if they've heard the jokes about "Lovely Rita, Meter Maid" as many millions of times as I have.
Yeah, it happened again last night.
Sometimes I hate wearing a name tag at work.
Unconfirmed reports say that the top aide to Saddam, Izzat Ibrahim, has been captured by US forces.
"There was a major action against a highly suspicious objective last night in Kirkuk and it is very possible that Izzat Ibrahim has been captured or killed," Mowaffaq al-Rubaie told Reuters. He said he had been in contact with U.S. forces.
Another high-level source in the U.S.-appointed Council said he had been informed that Ibrahim had been caught in the raid.
If true, this is great news....Ibrahim is suspected of being "a mastermind of the guerrilla resistance" in Iraq and is the second most wanted person after Saddam.
Stay tuned.
UPDATE: The US military is saying the reports of al-Douri's capture are not true.
The Christmas buying season officially started last Friday. Finals started today. What a great combination....for kicking my butt.
Thanks for sticking around through the lameness.
Youse guys are the greatest.
There isn't any. Just ask Saddam.
For two years before the American invasion of Iraq, Mr. Hussein's sons, generals and front companies were engaged in lengthy negotiations with North Korea, according to computer files discovered by international inspectors and the accounts of Bush administration officials.
Saddam even made a $10 million downpayment, for which he got.....nothing.
The trail that investigators have uncovered, partly from reading computer hard drives found in Baghdad and partly from interviews with captured members of Mr. Hussein's inner circle, shows that a month before the American invasion, Iraqi officials traveled to Syria to demand that North Korea refund $1.9 million because it had failed to meet deadlines for delivering its first shipment of goods.
North Korea deflected the request, telling Mr. Hussein's representatives, in the words of one investigator, that "things were too hot" to begin delivering missile technology through Syria.
Don't you just know ol' Kim was LHAO. What's Saddam gonna do, sue him?
Heh.
54 Iraqis were killed and 8 captured during an attempted ambush on an American convoy yesterday. 3 al-Qaeda members were captured in northern Iraq. And Syria gave 22 suspects in the Instanbul bombing to Turkey.
That ought to thin 'em out a little.