You have got to be kidding me.

Whisky of Mass Destruction - how the US spied on a tiny island distillery

snip

"We produce 16,000 cases a year, a weapon of mass drunkenness."

Of course, God help them if they ever discover oil.

This Christmas.

Jew or Arab when God's on your side you can do just about anything. Kudos however to the Israeli government for cracking down on these guys. Now if they'll stop blowing civilians up in an official capacity.

They're all here at bushlies.com some topical ones:

"We found the weapons of mass destruction." GW Bush May 2003

Wait a second? When? Who? What? That's what Dubya said to a Polish news station. He was referring to the "mobile weapons lab" that were nothing more that a trailer with bits of equipment in it. They were part of the show that Powell put on for the UN as well after saying in Egypt that Saddam was contained.

Yes I know 9/11 blah blah blah. But once again we must remind you in a gentle voice Iraq had as much to to with 9/11 as a eunuch would do with sex.

Any-diddle-hoo it's an interesting site and a bit of a refresher on the Dubya bullshite.

A3 (sometimes know as Alabama 3) have a new CD out and you should go get it.

Who are they? You know The Sopranos? You know the theme song? That's A3 and that is just a sample of their unique and bizarrely seamless mix of a techno country gospel. They present a heady bastard of a brew that never fails to knock me down.

The Very D. Wayne Love could perhaps be the only man on Earth who could make me believe.

UPDATE:

More details here:

Altogether 27 reserve pilots signed the letter, details of which were published last week in Haaretz, but only nine of them still do active duty with the force.

snip

The signatories to the letter wrote they would refuse to take part in aerial attacks on populated Palestinian areas in the territories. "We, both veteran and active pilots, who have served and who still serve the state of Israel, are opposed to carrying out illegal and immoral orders to attack, of the type Israel carries out in the territories," the letter states.

"We, for whom the IDF and the air force are an integral part of our being, refuse to continue to hit innocent civilians ... The continued occupation is critically harming the country's security" and moral fiber, it added.

Among the signatories is Brigadier General Yiftah Spector (res.), who was a squadron leader during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Well what can one say about that?

Former president and one-time air force commander Ezer Weizman attacked the group, saying they lacked "morality," that their act of publishing a letter was a "disgrace," and that they should "put their tail between their legs" and get out of the air force "as quickly as possible."

He likened the call to refuse orders to a "cancer" which had to be cut out "immediately, before it spreads."

Ah well yes you could say that not wanting to kill civilians is "immoral".

If you had no idea what the word meant that is.

JERUSALEM - Twenty-five Israeli pilots said today they would refuse to carry out operations in the Palestinian territories, an Israeli security source said.

As I've said before you can argue with me about Israel's policies and claim that I really don't know jack because I'm on the other side of the planet, and I'm not living with the fear and pain that must come along with being anyone, not just a Jew, in the Middle East. And I would have to admit that to be true.

But you cannot argue with 27 IAF pilots risking their careers and jail because they're doing what they think is right. You cannot call them cowards and I doubt that they're sympathetic to the PLO or the Palestinian terrorists. Odds are at least a few of them have lost friends and family to cycle of violence.

So why the refusal? The article seems to hint that they're tired of dropping bombs killing more civilians than bad guys. I know I'm tired of them doing it and all I have to do is watch. They're the ones that have to live with the consequences. I guess some of them have had enough.

It's also safe to extrapolate that if there are 27 willing to risk all and step up there must be more who are silent for fear of the repercussions from all branches of the Israeli armed forces.

"If this war is so rightous and the cause so just why do the Americans have to pay for help?"

Quit simply because not everyone in the world is so righteous and just. They'd rather sign UN resolutions that threaten force for 12 years instead of ever enforce any. It's a lot easier to 'stand for the oppressed' than actually remove the oppressor. Planes aren't flying into the buildings in France and Germany.
Thank God we have a president that believes in confronting evil instead of appeasing it.

(off subject - you should take a look at www.bowlingfortruth.com)

Richard I envy the world you live in, so clean and simple, good vs. evil. Everything clearly defined and if you do the right thing then the right things will happen.

First off we're all happy that Saddam is gone. He was evil of that there is no debate. The left understands that just fine, in fact Amnesty International was saying so for years and years. Perhaps even while Donald Rumsfeld was shaking evil’s hands and selling him everything from oil equipment to weapons. Of course there’s all the evil in the “’stans” that the current administration is cozying up with. One of them enjoys boiling people alive, but since he’s fighting the other evil we’ll let that bit of evil slide until oil is discovered there or something. If your beloved president is so keen on fighting evil then why does China still enjoy favored trading partner status? (One of the many reasons why Bill Clinton is a scumbag and no liberal) Perhaps because China smokes a lot of American cigarettes and drinks gallons of Coke? Saudi Arabia is without a doubt one of the vilest regimes in the Middle East (and that’s saying a lot) and yet their leadership has their own room at the Crawford Ranch. North Korea? George Orwell would have mothballed his 1984 manuscript if he ever saw the way Dear Leader does things. “Sorry lads, I just can’t top that.” he'd say.

There is evil out there and it should be confronted but Team Dubya lacks skill, tactics and worst of all imagination. Sending in troops is the only solution they could come up with and now you’re stuck hip deep in a potential quagmire.

I wonder Richard how strong your resolve to fight evil will be when the casualties and tax bills mount. We’re already seeing cracks in that iron will from others. So childish, "We must fight evil no matter what the cost!" "87 billion?!?! I'm not made out of regime changes you know!".

Your comment about France and Germany? Uh I don’t know if you know about World War II but they saw the worst of it and France has being dealing with terrorism far longer and have lost more people over the years to it than the US.

And I love the way you tie in 9/11 and once again it must be pointed out that Saddam and Iraq had nothing to do with it, why don’t you bring up Pearl Harbour? It’s about as on point.

As for the Michael Moore thing, instead of the site you suggest may I point you to spinsanity a most excellent site with a complete breakdown of all of Mike’s bullshit in Bowling for Columbine and Stupid White Men. What Moore did was unforgivable; he pulled stuff that would make Karl Rove proud. Accident or otherwise Moore showed a breathtaking disregard for the truth when so many depend and trust him to deliver. He has made some amends by editing the DVD but you can’t unring the bell. His next book and movie better be 100%.

The most glaring being, people in Canada and Toronto lock their doors. It’s a major metropolitan city in North American not the freaking Shire in Hobbitland.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush on Sunday described as "uncivil" Sen. Edward Kennedy's remarks critical of the administration's policies in Iraq.

In an exclusive Oval Office interview with Fox News' Brit Hume, Bush said that while he respected Kennedy, the senator "should not have said we were trying to bribe foreign nations."

Please note that's not a denial, it's just Dubya saying Teddy should keep his mouth shut.

If this war is so rightous and the cause so just why do the Americans have to pay for help?

Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, elaborated on his comments in an interview on CNN on Friday, saying the administration is announcing an $8.5 billion loan to Turkey, and that country will then provide military assistance in Iraq.

I wonder how much of the Kurd's future was part of that deal?

1. The leading sheep in a flock, that generally has a bell fastened around its neck.
2. especially contemptuous
A ringleader; someone whose lead is followed blindly by others.

I will use it often I think.

Which isn't in Iraq!

New Delhi — India can't afford to send troops for peacekeeping duties in Iraq because of a surge in violence by Islamic militants in Kashmir, a defence ministry official said Friday.

You mean that they're going after the terrorist that attacked their country where the terrorists are?!? That's insane! I guess that haven't been listening to President Pudding for Brains.

Speaking of which Salon has an article:

The anti-war left shows a troubling indifference to the plight of Iraqis -- and flirts with irrelevance -- by demanding that President Bush bring the troops home now.

If the Americans pull out of Iraq before the situation there is stable it would be a disaster on every level. They are stuck there until they do actually win the peace I don't think anyone with a quarter of a brain thinks otherwise.

It had to happen... from his blog.

Yes. But many on the Western left couldn't give a damn about the lives of Iraqis. If they had, they would have supported the war, wouldn't they?

Where to begin... hey Andy did you care 10 years ago? Five? What? Only recently huh? Well your blog is full of care for the other oppressed people of the world isn't it? Tibet? Africa? Far East? Huh no, not as far as I can see.

Have you seen the casualties? According to the Baghdad morgue the body count is the highest they've ever seen. But don't let facts get in the way of a beautiful dream. Those flower being thrown by the Iraqis and all those parades were pretty sweet huh?

And yes we're all happy that Saddam is gone, and yes he was a monster, which of course is why the US never had any dealings with him in the 80s and certainly never turned a blind eye to his activities and read with great concern and interest all the Amnesty International reports about him.

Today can be yours! In a beautiful free and democratic country.

Whites only all other need not apply.

Oh wait, I got it wrong... it's not whites only.

Via What Really Happened (who are really quite mad and paranoid but have some interesting links, some should only be viewed while wearing a tin foil hat.)

DO THEY THINK WE'RE RETARDED?

Bush lied and soldiers died is good but too specific, DO THEY THINK WE'RE RETARDED? in all caps covers it all.

Today I ask the Saudis, who claim that the did not torture William Sampson (hey they only arrested him on trumped up charges!) and offer this gem:

"But for people to think that Saudi Arabia tried to pin charges on foreigners in order to hide a terrorism problem is preposterous."

We know that's exactly what you did DO THEY THINK WE'RE RETARDED?

This was sent to me, it's the political cartoon section of Aljazeera, while most of it is more than a little slanted or Fair and Balanced as they say State side, it's interesting stuff.

From the Nitpicker another peek inside the mind of Dubya and those that worship him.

One of the more odious answers as to how Saddam supports terrorists given by the chicken hawks is that the Butcher of Baghdad would give families of Palestinian suicide bombers a cash payout.

But now that Saddam is not longer playing Santa to the suicidal you’d think that the bombings would stop. After all, each and every Palestinian that’s strapped on a belt full of boom and nails was most likely thinking of all that money. But alas it turns out that Saddam’s influence was not all that profound and the bombings have continued even though Saddam isn’t in a position to send anyone anything.

But don’t worry future Martyrs! Everyone’s pal on the war against and for terrorism is stepping up to the donor plate.

Flow of Saudis' Cash to Hamas Is Scrutinized

As relations between the Israelis and Palestinians continue to deteriorate, in no small part because of recent Hamas-sponsored suicide bombings, Saudis have come under fresh scrutiny by American and European investigators here and in Israel for their political and financial support of the group.

snip

"It's a ridiculous accusation; no Saudi government money goes to Hamas, directly or indirectly," said Adel al-Jubeir, the foreign affairs adviser to Prince Abdullah. "Why on earth would we not stop this kind of funding? Why on earth would our crown prince say we do not want to support Hamas and then allow people to do this under the table?"

Oh! Oh! Let me answer! Because you want them to be blowing up Jews and Americans rather than your own dictatorship? Because you're scum who use the West as a scapegoat to cover your own corruption? Because if you don't keep the radical Imams happy they'll have the mob tear you apart?

With the terrorists at least you know where you stand.

Since it's obvious to everyone (who isn't in the SA government I guess) that the Saudis supports Palestinians terrorists (sort of in the same way the US supports Israel) why isn't anyone calling for the invasion of Saudi Arabia?

Oh right... they're chums with Bush Co. You're never an terrorist when you have oil.

Israeli FM: Israel is not considering killing Arafat

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom on Monday contradicted Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who said the Israeli government was considering killing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as an alleged obstacle to Mideast peace.

I guess somehow somewhere a sliver of sense slipped into the Knesset.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell cautioned Israel Sunday against killing or exiling Arafat. In addition, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the members of the Security Council have urged Israel not to expel Arafat because it would foster tension and instability.

Wow, a foreign policy call by Team Dubya that makes sense! Why?

Meanwhile, Arafat remained confined to his Ramallah, West Bank, compound, surrounded for a fourth consecutive day by crowds of Palestinian supporters.

Whom I'm sure would have stepped aside and let the IDF go on inside. Of course now Arafat has just become more relevant to the Palestinian people thanks to all this hoopla making the PA PM's job that much harder.

Israel should make up their mind as to Arafat's impact, one day he's irrelevant the next he's an obstacle.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- A fire broke out in a prison in the Saudi capital Monday, killing 67 inmates, a prison official said.

The official Saudi Press Agency, quoting the head of the Interior Ministry's prison's department, said 20 inmates and three prison guards suffered smoke inhalation.

The fire broke out at al-Haer prison at about midday Monday and was brought under control after about three hours.

A security official said initial reports suggest an electrical short-circuit may have started the blaze.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef ordered an investigation into the fire's cause, the Saudi news agency said.

Which was a shame because they were looking forward to cutting off bits and pieces and torturing the inmates before executing them.

Tom Tomorrow (buy his book or he'll throw penguins at you, I did and it rocks.) finds the first hint that the magic "told ya so" report hinted by GOP media foot soldiers isn't coming.

So I guess it's official, no WMD and no justification for the war.

I get the hint, will America?

The United States could learn from compromises Israeli courts have struck to balance terrorism and human rights concerns, Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer said Friday.

Yes when I think human rights Israel is the first country that springs to mind. Interesting use of the word compromise, Israel compromises rights of an entire people pretty much everyday and look where it's gotten them. From Avraham Burg's excellent essay;

it's hard to comprehend the humiliating experience of the despised Arab who must creep for hours along the pocked, blockaded roads assigned to him. One road for the occupier, one road for the occupied.

I don't think there's anything there that any democratic society would want or try to emulate even slightly.

And the call to murder Arafat? Granted the man has more than enough blood on his hands but it seems to me that this is just more groping for a silver bullet that doesn't exist. Can anyone tell me exactly what that would accomplish? Would every suicide bomber would toss away their belts? The only thing it would do is cause more terrorism. Perhaps that's what Sharon wants, a fevered fantasy of a final battle that Israel would easily win. A bit of flypaper strategy that of course will never work. It will just create more nut bags blowing themselves up in Tel Aviv.

Just more frustrated flailing by a country that knows they cannot win and cannot afford to lose and does not have the strength to admit it nor the imagination to look for different solutions other than an eye for an eye.

via The Whiskey Bar the last word in any argument about Israel and her policies.

I am no expert on the State of Israel, I've been there and I’ve read stuff about it from Mark Twain to The National Inquirer. I have criticized and complained and wondered why both sides seem to be hell bent on mutually assured destruction. But we are dealing with fanatics, on both sides, who insist that their god is on side. It's hard to argue with that.

But what's impossible to argue with:

Avraham Burg was speaker of Israel's Knesset from 1999 to 2003 and is a former chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel. He is currently a Labor Party Knesset member. This essay is adapted by the author from an article that appeared in Yediot Aharonot.

You cannot call him anti-Semitic, you cannot call him anti-Zionist and nor can you say he doesn’t know what he's talking about. So don't argue with me or any other one else when we say "Maybe Israel should stop doing what it's doing. It's not working and it's making things worse." argue with Mr. Burg because what he says and I agree. The two factions have their hands around each other's throats while falling off a cliff. If they let go they can catch themselves.

Only as Mr Burg says:

It turns out that the 2,000-year struggle for Jewish survival comes down to a state of settlements, run by an amoral clique of corrupt lawbreakers who are deaf both to their citizens and to their enemies. A state lacking justice cannot survive. More and more Israelis are coming to understand this as they ask their children where they expect to live in 25 years. Children who are honest admit, to their parents' shock, that they do not know. The countdown to the end of Israeli society has begun.

snip

We could kill a thousand ringleaders and engineers a day and nothing will be solved, because the leaders come up from below — from the wells of hatred and anger, from the "infrastructures" of injustice and moral corruption.

So Marduk (hope things are better for you) and the rest of the crowd who thinks Israel can do no wrong and will perceiver you'd better get busy correcting Mr. Burg because he makes far more sense then this.

This one not funny, from yesterday's Jpost (sorry really annoying one time registration needed)

IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Ya'alon warned Tuesday that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat himself is not immune to Israeli retaliation strikes, nor are terrorist leaders living abroad.

Remember the Sword of Gideon caper? Remember how that ended? Wasn't a policy made afterwards about that sort of thing? But this is the part that struck me:

Speaking at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center's conference, "Post Modern Terrorism Trends, Scenarios, and Future Threats," Ya'alon addressed the failed attack on Hamas spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

According to Ya'alon, the attack involved a complex dilemma. "I knew that the bombs I authorized the use of wouldn't be sufficient to destroy the building occupied by Hamas leaders," he said.

"But I also knew that a bigger bomb would cause wide range damage and result in harming civilians. We'd rather miss our target than see dozens of innocent children hurt."

Really? I wish that were true, Israel would earn a lot more support from the world if that were policy.

However, Ya'alon added, "we believe the attack has had an effect of deterrence Hamas leaders know that if they perpetrate an attack, they will immediately become a target for us."

I'm no expert but it seems to me that this actually has the exact opposite effect. Hamas doesn't seem to mind being blown up and they don't stop blowing other people up. Of course it didn't work the last 789 times but we're feeling pretty good about 780. I don't pretend to know what the solution is but this endless circle is obviously not it.

We'd rather miss our target than see dozens of innocent children hurt.

From today's Jpost.

IAF planes today bombed the home of senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, wounding him and killing his son, another family member and a bodyguard, in apparent retaliation for Tuesday's suicide bombings that killed 15.

In all, about 25 people were hurt, including Zahar's wife and daughter.

Finally, the car hits the tree, and as the two Palestinian leaders stumble
from the wreckage, battered and bruised, Mr. Arafat turns to Mr. Abbas and
says, "Abu Mazen, I told you there was a tree."

Mr. Abbas replies, miserably, "But you were driving."

Bwahahhahahhahha! Of course you could have any two politicians driving...

From his web site:

President Bush is popular because he vanquished the Taliban and has aggressively waged war on Al Qaeda and villains like Saddam.

Um I'm not sure if vanquished is the right word. Taliban is regrouping and fighting in the south and Saddam is still making tapes and someone is blowing up bits of Iraq.

Not to take it out of context but Bill's whole column is sort of a criticism of Dubya.Like this choice cut:

And why hasn't President Bush urged Americans to conserve energy? Almost every week we find out another bad thing about our "friends" the Saudis.

I think that might be the smartest thing Bill "Shut up! Shut up!" O'Reilly has ever said.

The stupidest being "Let's sue him!"

Buzzflash links us to this story that details the US and UK coming clean on the whole WMD thing.

...inspectors on the ground prepare to report that there are no weapons of mass destruction there.

Really? And it only cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars to find out what WE ALREADY KNEW?!?!

But what about this?

Former international weapons inspector David Kay, now seeking Iraqi weapons of mass destruction for the Pentagon, has privately reported successes that are planned to be revealed to the public in mid-September.

Did Novak get it wrong? Perhaps the successes are that there are no WMD in Iraq! I'm still betting they're going for the Raiders of the Lost Ark solution. That is there are WMD, but they can't be gotten to because they're buried in a pyramid full of poisonous snakes.

Although they could send in Rummy, as vipers are not cannibals.

Does the United States have its own problem with fundamentalism, perhaps as serious as the one faced by the Islamic world?

No, don't be silly. America is no more religious today then it was 50 years ago, in fact a bit less. GW and the rest mention Jesus every speech because a chunk of the knuckle draggers that voted for him like that sort of thing and get nervous if they don't praise Jesus for this or that. The 10 Commandments dust up attracted, what, a couple of hundred supporters? That's Alabama, right on the buckle of the Bible belt. Jesus is used by the GOP and the Dems (although not with the same vigor) as they use the stars and stripes. It's a decoration that's only noticed if absent. The Globe and Mail needs to relax a little.

Learning to blow themselves up apparently.

Saudi Arabia urged its citizens yesterday to report any missing relatives in a bid to stop the kingdom's youth from being recruited by militant groups.

Hey! Here's a wacky idea, how about you stop the radical Mosques from preaching death to Israel and the West? Or import a whole bunch of Playstation 2s and GameCubes, seems to work over here.

UPDATE!

Oops need more! (via Artios ) does that cat ever sleep?

Man, that's an expensive cake walk. Artios pointed out this thread at Freep. Seems that none are too happy about the price tag of freedom.

"We must save the Iraqis from Saddam evildoer 9/11 mushroom smoking gun cloud anthrax blah blah blah."

"IT'S GOING TO COST HOW MUCH?!?!?! YOU'RE GOING TO RAISE MY TAXES?"

"We can't be globocop America nation builders Iraqis must fight their own battles we can't be expected to blah blah blah blah."

War is fun when you can watch it on Fox for free!

However not all Freepers are Freetards as this post here proves. Some choice cuts:

It is disgraceful and disrespectful to your son, and what he is fighting for in the first place. We are a free country. If you want a leader who gets 99% approval at the ballot box for everything he does, Saddam used to get those numbers all the time.

There are 130,000 other sons and daughters out there other than your son. I hope your son gets on a plane back home very safely so you can quit using him as a battering ram to stifle any debate about Iraq.

Your son btw was told he was going to Iraq because Osama the fundamentalist a-hole was best friends with the butcher of Baghdad who was about as Islamic as Bill Clinton is christian. We were also told that we were about to get nuked or gassed with WMD's. $165 billion later, if this new request gets authorized, we still have no WMD, no Osama, No Saddam, and no anthrax killer. But because your son is in Iraq, we can't bring that point up.

A hairyfishnuts salute to you Freeposter!

Which is me slapping my face or something...

From Matt "All Caps" Drudge:

REPUBLICAN CHAIRMAN ED GILLESPIE ON SUNDAY ACCUSED DEMOCRATS OF HITTING NEW LOWS IN THE BUILDUP TO WHITE HOUSE RACE '04.

MORE

GILLESPIE EXPLAINED ON NBC'S MEET THE PRESS: "IF YOU SAW THE DEBATE THE OTHER NIGHT WITH THE NINE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES, I THINK HISTORY WILL SHOW THIS FIELD HAS TAKEN PRESIDENTIAL DISCOURSE TO A NEW LOW. THE RHETORIC YOU HEAR, ON EITHER SIDE OF THE AISLE, RONALD REAGAN NEVER SAID JIMMY CARTER COULDN'T FIND COUNTRIES IN HIS OWN HEMISPHERE.

If Jimmy didn't I will.

"MONDALE NEVER SAID REAGAN WAS A MISERABLE FAILURE. WHEN BILL CLINTON RAN AGAINST GEORGE BUSH, HE DIDN'T COMPARE HIM TO SADDAM HUSSEIN OR THE TALIBAN. WHEN BOB DOLE RAN AGAINST CLINTON, HE DIDN'T SAY HE WAS A PHONY OR LIAR.

Maybe not but he did say:

"My wife was here six days last week, and she'll be back next week, and she does an outstanding job. And when I'm elected, she will not be in charge of health care. Don't worry about it. Or in charge of anything else. (Muffled crowd gasp.)

and

"This crowd, they have given us Filegate, they have given us Travelgate and now they are giving us some other gate, hundreds of thousands of dollars coming in from foreign sources," Dole said, hitting at contributions to the Democrats from an Indonesian banking family. (128K WAV sound)

And well I'm sure you can find your own

THE WORDS WE'RE HEARING FROM THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES IS SO BEYOND POLITICAL DEBATE. THIS IS POLITICAL HATE SPEECH.

HATE SPEECH! Did a Republican just use the most PC of PCisms?

"I THINK THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL REJECT THAT APPROACH. THEY APPRECIATE THE PRESIDENT'S STRONG AND PRINCIPLED LEADERSHIP, THAT HE HAS A POSITIVE AGENDA AND THEY HAVE NOTHING BUT NEGATIVITY AND PESSIMISM TO OFFER."

Principled? Ah interesting use of the word.

Hey! You know what Presidential candidates they didn't mention? Bush vs Dukakis so I'm thinking "new low" is not the case here.

Accusing a liar of lying? Where are the Dem's manners?

Bush on TV tonight, I think there's going to be reference to:

Weapons of mass destruction, they will have their report soon chock full of proof. More blurry satellite shots of blobs and skid marks I'd imagine.

And that the world owes the US for so much and that they should all pitch in under the UN. That would be "old" Europe and the chocolate makers. Can't imagine why they wouldn't want to send their troops in a meat grinder? The UN was described as dead and obsolete and an obstacle to peace is now becoming a life line for W as US casualties mount and Iraq becomes more of a quagmire. Not to mention the cost, a billion a week? Rebuilding one corner of Iraq while another gets blown up. While the US own infrastructure goes without.

NEW DELHI: The new draft UN resolution on Iraq circulated by Washington is unlikely to prove bait enough for India to send its troops to assist the US occupation of that country. On July 14, the Cabinet Committee on Security had rebuffed the US request for troops but also promised that ''were there to be an explicit UN mandate for the purpose, the Government of India could consider the deployment of our troops in Iraq''.

Ooops, India who has been very keen in fighting the fight against terrorists (and for good and obvious reasons) has said no to going to Iraq. They're saying no a bit more gently than "old" Europe but it's still a no.

Man bridges look so pretty when you torch them but the mess and smell they leave behind...

Administration Action figures and a Jesus thing!

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- In the al Mukmin Islamic school in the Javanese city of Solo a slogan above one classroom reads, "Death in the way of Allah is our highest aspiration."

snip

...the primary feeder school co-founded by Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir still teaches an intolerant and radical form of Islam that often advocates violence.

snip

Ba'asyir has said "I make many knives and I sell many knives, but I'm not responsible for what happens to them."

That's sounds familiar.. I guess psycho terrorists and the NRA have the same gag writers.

Three Israeli Air Force F-15 fighter jets thundered over the Auschwitz death camp Thursday afternoon in a display of modern Jewish might.

Note: pain in the ass registration needed.

That moment must have been overpowering. I won’t even try to word it.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- An Internet site owner was arrested Wednesday on charges that he created and used misleading domain names on the Web to deceive minors into logging on to pornographic sites.

snip

Zuccarini registered various domain names that consisted of misspellings of legitimate domain names that are popular with children -- including Bob the Builder, Britney Spears, Nsync, DisneyLand and the Teletubbies. For example, he registered www.dinseyland.com instead of www.disneyland.com.

Now this guy is a scumbag and that's obviously what he was doing, what bothers me though, if this is such a crime, which it is, why is that the links still take you to porn?

Schwarzenegger's absence from the debate fit into his campaign strategy of appearing in public in controlled settings where he avoids protracted questioning from reporters.

That's sounds familiar...

A whack of my portfolio is up, memories! All the crap I stuffed into my portfolio and dragged from client to client to job interview to job interview to shooting gallery to shooting gallery, ah nothing took the sting out of being a freelance type more than taking a sting of heroin. I honor gods of employment with a toad sacrifice each full moon so that I may continue to enjoy a "real" job. Anyway if you click the folio thingy you can see some of my designs. More to come as I root through a box full of CDs, ZIPs and these floppy things.

But enough of that happy crappy, did you read Coulter's latest?

With all their pointless chitchat about Osama bin Laden, liberals of all people ought to have known the war would not be over with the deaths of Odai and Qusai. Speaking of which – where is Osama? We haven't heard much from him lately. Nor is Saddam Hussein out shaking his puny fist at the Great Satan anymore. Concerned that he might try to sneak out in disguise, U.S. soldiers in Iraq have been given pictures of Saddam Hussein in various outfits, hairstyles and even makeup schemes. (And I thought this was kind of interesting – it turns out he's a "winter.")

(Bolding where my spit-take hit the screen)

Did she just say that Osama isn't much of a threat? The man behind the men who kill 3,000 people in a morning with 19 guys is pointless?!?! Speaking of which Osama really doesn't announce himself to the likes of us (future victims) I can guarantee you right now he is planning something, or at the very least, inspiring others to act.

Ladies and gentlemen the vanishing act is starting, Osama exit and Saddam front and center.

Mission Accomplished indeed! David Copperfield hand in your wand and Doug Henning start your spinning, you can't hold a candle to these cats.

Templates and dreamweaver, got hung up on the details. Speaking of which let me say a big right on over this

Citing a 2002 Supreme Court ruling that only juries can impose the death penalty, a federal appeals court Tuesday overturned about 100 death sentences imposed by judges in Arizona, Idaho and Montana.

Now I won't go into all the details as to why the death penalty is wrong but I'll just say: It doesn't prevent crime, it's more expensive, it's barbaric and worst of all it's soft on crime and hard on the victim's survivors.

What also delights me is the thought of John Ashcroft getting mighty pissed and I can guarantee he will now double his efforts to ram the death penalty down state DA's throats. States rights? Ashcroft believes in them as long as the state is doing what it’s told to do.

But if you still think that executing the occasional innocent person is worth killing a bunch of guilty consider the last bit of the article:

Meanwhile, the case that led to the appeals court ruling was described as "the raw material from which legal fiction is forged."
That "raw material" included:

• Police getting a tip about the killing from the defendant's mother-in-law based on her daughter's extra-sensory perception
• One of the defendant's attorneys having a romantic encounter with the prosecutor during negotiations on a possible plea agreement
• And an allegedly drug-addled judge imposing the death sentence. That judge was later disbarred.