We couldn't find Ossama in Afghanistan so we attacked Iraq ...

Rumsfeld Says Saddam Like a Needle in a Haystack

I guess that means we should now attack the Falkland Islands?

Does ANYONE in the media know how to use the word "alleged"?

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'Alleged victim had praised Jackson in Feb audiotape' : HindustanTimes.com

"Michael Jackson's alleged 12-year-old victim and his mother made an audiotape in February praising the superstar and signed affidavits clearing the 'king of pop' of inappropriate behaviour.

But the victim's mother now says that she was confused and coerced into it.

The alleged audiotape and affidavit were made after the broadcast of a documentary in which the pop star admitted that he sleeps in the same bed with young boys, New York's 'Daily News' reported.

The alleged cancer survivor's mother went to Jackson's Neverland ranch after the boy was spotted in the documentary and became the target of 'cruel teasing' by his classmates."

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Does ANYONE still TRY to spreak Engrish? Does ANYONE care?
Is it an alleged audio tape that actually might be something else?

Are they suggesting that the kid MIGHT be a cancer survivor but MAYBE he's not? Or is the suggestion that the person who's making alligations about the tape and affidavit might be not the kid's mother?

Are we so concerned with covering our asses that we've started speaking gibberish?

But the Neo-cons don't think sanctions work .... they'd rather go to war amd kill someone

Key dates in Lockerbie bombing case

If the facts don't fit, go back and get new facts ...

Bush big, bold, visionary, but is he out of touch?"

"In setting out a bold vision of a democratic Middle East, President Bush has once again demonstrated two trademarks of his presidency: a view of his job as a place to do grand things and a willingness to brush aside realities that might not fit into the bigger ideological picture. "

One should always be careful of the bed one makes lest one be forced to lie in it.

That awful Vietnam comparison

"Ah, the weapons. In the run-up to the 2004 presidential elections, this issue may yet become thorny for Mr Bush. America went to war ostensibly to rid Saddam of his weapons of mass destruction. None has yet turned up, despite searches by hundreds of soldiers and trained inspectors. Congressional committees are investigating the quality of pre-war intelligence. In the Senate, Democrats on the intelligence committee are reportedly seeking an independent inquiry that would examine how the White House used intelligence (in other words, whether Mr Bush and his advisers exaggerated). Mr Bush has so far weathered evidence that he overstated Saddam’s efforts to obtain uranium and the links between the Iraqi regime and the September 11th attacks, but voters may ask harder questions as election day approaches."

16 Dead in Rocket Attack on US Chopper

New Attacks Intensify Pressure on Bush (washingtonpost.com)

"But the latest round of attacks in Iraq, and especially yesterday's deaths -- which amounted to the biggest single day of losses since last spring's conventional war -- may prove more significant in strategic terms.

'It is damaging not only because of the tragic human toll, but also because it looks like a dramatic escalation in lethality and therefore begs obvious questions: Are all helicopters at risk now? Are we losing the initiative? Who is winning?' said Peter D. Feaver, a former National Security Council staff member who teaches political science at Duke University.

'If the attacks get interpreted as evidence that the Baathist holdouts are winning, then attacks like this can be as lethal for public support as they are for the soldiers involved,' he said. "

That would be "Two Steps Backward and One Step Forward".

The Salt Lake Tribune -- U.S. military brass push to re-form units of Iraqi army

Its about time someone started showing a little "millitary intelligence".

"Some U.S. military officers in Iraq are pressing to reconstitute entire units of the former Iraqi army, which the top U.S. administrator in Baghdad disbanded in May. They say the change would speed the creation of a new army and stabilize the nation. "

So ... we figured it was a good idea to break up the units then, a few months later we decide it's a better idea to keep them in tact.

There may have been a plan for all of this but it wasn't one that drew on any past experience. It was all an overly optimistic pipe dream.

uh .... Bring 'em On? The President gets his wish.

FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Thirteen Killed After Helicopter Attacked in Iraq

File Under "Life Imitates Art"
Weather Cools Wildfires' Fury

Remember all those disaster moveies that were set in LA. Art has come back to haunt us. Fires, Earthquakes ... WOW

President Decries General's Remarks

"Bush says comments about Muslims do not reflect his point of view. But firing doesn't seem to be an option."

I bet if the SOB had said the war in Iraq was ill advised he'd be out on his kiester!

"Gen. Boykin is kind of the living embodiment of a key Republican electoral constituency. So forcing him out would not be a very bright move with elections approaching," said military analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based public policy group.

Jesus wept.

Does the word "inarticulate" ring a bell?

Newsday.com - Political Threat To Bush Growing

"The people have got to understand, the Iraqi people have got to understand that any time you've got a group of killers willing to kill innocent Iraqis, that their future must not be determined by these kind of killers."

- G. W. Bush

File Under: Everyone's a Critic ...

Lightning Strikes Actor Playing Jesus

"Jim Caviezel, the actor playing Jesus in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ” was struck by lighting during filming of the controversial movie.

The crew was on location outside of Rome when a lighting bolt struck the actor and assistant director Jan Michelini. What makes this more strange is this is the second time that Michelini has been struck by lighting during the filming of this movie, according to a report from the BBC. Both men were not badly hurt. "

Yes ... but would you buy a used car from this guy?

Rumsfeld Defends Memo Questioning Anti-Terrorism Results

Rumsfeld agonises over US failures in 'war on terror'

Hindsight is always 20/20. But that's why we have friends and allies and why we ask for second opinions when we face a medical crisis. Maybe going it alone wasn't what it was cracked up to be?

The answer is magic?
Newsday.com - Student Questioned in Security Breach:

"Washington - Investigators were interviewing a 20-year-old college student yesterday hoping to learn how he got past airport screeners while carrying box cutters, modeling clay shaped like plastic explosives and notes detailing his intention to test security."

duh????

I think you have to ask yourself ...
Bush’s News War
which gives more aid and comfort to an enemy: a.) the continuation of news reporting that allows American citizens to gain some piucture of the truth of a situation even the news may be bad and may not reflect well on a political administration or b.) the knowledge that the American public's right to know and the rights to a free press are being curtailed - and that we are becoming more and more like the Iraq of Saddam?

Speaking of Small Potatos ...

IOL : Peace Prize is not very important - Khatami

The official Iranian position may be that Shirin Ebadi's Nobel Peace Prize isn't very important but it seems to me that President Mohammad Khatami should be aware that Nobel Peace Prize winners will be remembered long after he becomes a dusty, hisrotical footnote.

"The Nobel Peace Prize is not very important, the ones that count are the scientific and literary prizes," he added.

What planet has this troglodite been vacationing on for the last century? I suspect the comments come from the personal jealousy of a man who will pass through history leaving only the dimmest of footprints. How often people try to build themselves up by deminishing the accomplishments of others. It's never worked.

The things that people say and do speak volumes about them and say little about you.

Bush bids for a Controlled rather than a Free Press:
ABCNEWS.com : Bush Goes Around Media to Make Iraq Case

The Bush Administration makes a promise it intends to keep

The Salt Lake Tribune -- Bush doubts whether investigators will find leaker

London Free Press: News Section - Harassment claims pile up as California election nears

Most of the claims were made up, said Arnold? I guess that means, in a round about way, that some were not made up. That some were true.

No Rush to judgement; Limbaugh fumbled

Nope ... you REALLY can't fix stupid.

Limbaugh has diluded himself for years, imagining that his audience represented something other than a fringe element. I'm proud to be an American when I see the results of his opinions confronted by real public opinion

Ah-nold whats to know why this stuff didn't come out before

Schwarzenegger on offensive, denounces sex harassment claims

It doesn't take a lot of thought to conclude that it might have something to do with the fact that an actor has few public responsibilities. However, when an actor decides to take on public responsibilities like representing the people ... maybe he's measured by a different set of standards.

Something slightly more worthwhile than the current state of domestic and international politics:

Winners of the Ig® Nobel Prize

If It Was So Justified ...

ABCNEWS.com : Bush: Hussein 'A Danger to the World'

If the war was so justifyable - and I accept the proposition that Saddam was a threat to those around him in the Middle East and perhaps to others throughout the world - why couldn't the case be made with real evidence? Why was it necessary to fudge on WMD and links to terrorists?

Which reminds me, where is Ossama, anyway? I thought HE was at the top of the list of the most wanted. Unfortunately, it seems the only time we hear about him these days is when he cuts a new tape for broadcast.

It would seem that it's OK for a Republican.

Raunchy Arnold apologizes

Ah-nold is only the latest example. His prediliction sounds familiar but the response from the right doesn't. Must be ok to have morals like rubberbands.

Moral indignation is something to behold and it seems some are only willing to roll it out only when it's the other guy. That, to me, smacks of hypocracy.

Where is the moral indignation:

• when we can't find weapons of mass destruction that we were told were there and
  ready to be used against us in 45 minutes? If they were that readily
  available, they should be somewhat more findable than they seem to be?


• when we're told for months that there's a connection between Saddam and al
  Qaeda then told by the same people they have no evidence? What brought those
  good folks to make the connection without evidence?


• when the lives our intelligence agents are jeopardized for cynical political gain?


• when we start to realize the deficit is all on our children's credit cards?

Where are those indignant calls for impeachment now?

I've been wanting to start one of these blogs for a while. Here it is!