Twice before, Sgt. Michael Konvicka has picked up a rifle to go to war. Doing it a third time won't be any easier.

Despite the lack of an actual threat to America?

I don't understand why I can't get the logic of that.

Speaking of which, this is quite mad:

Although the president was publicly polite, few of the key Baker-Hamilton recommendations appealed to the administration, which intensified its own deliberations over a new “way forward” in Iraq. How to look distinctive from the study group became a recurring theme.

As described by participants in the administration review, some staff members on the National Security Council became enamored of the idea of sending more troops to Iraq in part because it was not a key feature of Baker-Hamilton.

Well, that sounds like a good reason. I understand most wars are won by stubborn petulance, if Hitler would have pouted more we'd all be wearing efficient lederhosen.

ADDED: Glenn Reynolds:

"ANTI-ALTHOUSIANA?" I think when the haters become a genre, you've made it!

Tee hee. Tubbuc's going to be so mad. He coined the word and -- I see now -- he's actually one of the haters. Oops. Sorry, Tubby.

Ann you're not really "hated", how can anyone hate you? You're mostly harmless and far too bland for such a strong emotion. Disliked perhaps but I can't see anyone making an effort to really express it. It's be like hating on a particular brand of bottled water or a kind of soap dish, something only the most OCD would fuss over. No, no, what you're not getting (and I'd need gigs of space to catalogue all that falls under that category) is that people are laughing at you not hating at you.

For proof I go to that great modern settler of bets (and finder of porn) Google; when I punch in "hate"+"Ann"+"Althouse" I get:

Nothing.

For contrast let's punch in "hate"+"Michael"+"Moore" :

Why do I hate Michael Moore?

Hating Michael Moore

Practical Penumbra: Clap if you hate Michael Moore

Yow! See what I mean? That's hate and there's a lot more. One of the many differences between you and Moore is he, y'know, does stuff. Wheras you... what the hell do you do anyway?

Now what if we punch in "stupid"+"Ann"+"Althouse" what do we get?

Ann Althouse always has the capacity to completely and utterly astound me. There is always another layer of just plain nuts.

(To be fair that post's title is "I Will Be Eternally Hateful" which on the surface blows my thesis out of the water but there is nothing within the post to suggest actual hatred of Althouse. I think the author wanted to use the pun headline despite it not quite meshing with the body content. Something you will never ever see around this blog)

Politics makes Ann Althouse stupid

And Ann Althouse is now the winner-for-life of the Stupidest Woman Alive contest:

Oh no, you can't criticize a woman for her stupidity because others stereotype all women as stupid. (Ann Althouse is mouth-breathing a huge sigh of relief right now.)

And in case you're thinking "Well that's just people talking on the Internets, doesn't mean much." consider:

(2) Ann Althouse yesterday: "calling your opponent stupid is incredibly lame... an admission that you have no substance."

Ann Althouse last week:"Glenn Greenwald is such an idiot. Am I supposed to respond to this foolishness? Glenn, you moron . . . , you disreputable slimeball? (And your writing is putrid.)"

Now should one hate someone like that or point and laugh? There is no guile there, no Rovian mastermind being strategically obtuse, she's a brainless tool! You can find smarter forms of life clinging to the underside of aquatic invertebrate.

Now of course I'm sure if I dug more than a page or two of returns I could find some post or comment from somebody who does in fact "hate" Ann but are they getting together to the point that they need nomenclature?

The closest thing I can find is this and it's pure mockery cuz a Muppet graphic just doesn't say hate.

Not even one of Animal.

Ben "Sex is dirty and evil so save it for marriage" Shapiro seems a tad put-off by Pelosi's history making moment...

On January 4, Pelosi took the gavel as speaker of the House of Representatives. She was escorted to the podium by her six grandchildren, including a sleeping baby she carried with her. After thanking her family for helping her move from the "kitchen to the Congress," Pelosi humbly chortled over her own achievement. "For our daughters and granddaughters, today we have broken the marble ceiling," she crowed. "For our daughters and our granddaughters, today the sky is the limit."

Humbly chortled? Crowed? Is it just me or is Ben coming off a wee bit cranky here? Then again it could be that Nancy's a chick and that makes Ben... uncomfortable.

But the next graph is an awesome bit of wingnuttery:

The media would hammer any Republican congresswoman who dragged her grandchildren with her to work; it would rightly be considered a political ploy with children as props.

Awesome or what? I bet it was that grandkid standing that won Pelosi the election!

And for the record the GOP would never ever use children for political ploys or as props.

They're much better as shields.

President Bush will tell the nation today that he will send more than 20,000 additional American forces to Iraq, acknowledging that it had been a mistake earlier not to have more American and Iraqi troops fighting the war, a senior administration official said.

The President will use a toy horse and barn to illustrate his point. He will close the barn door and then spend the whole prime-time address trying to jam the horse into the barn through the window.

But hey, here's a triumph:

A senior al-Qaeda suspect believed to have planned the deadly bombings of US embassies in East Africa has been killed in a US air strike, it was claimed today, amid reports of fresh air attacks in southern Somalia and unrest in the capital Mogadishu.

That's nice, ever going to get his boss like Bush said he was?

The president's plan is our one last hope

Now to be fair I haven't read the article because with a headline that stupid I didn't see the point but I did skim it and this stuck in my eye;

One way to do this is to privatize Iraqi oil production for the good of all the Iraqis. The Iraqi oil industry is the most economically developed of all industries in the country. It would be a straightforward matter

Straightforward.

Iraq.

You use those two words in the same graph without a negative and you are, without a doubt, a fucking retard and everything written before and after is held suspect for eternity.

Can you make out the image of Jesus and Mary in the rock pictured with this story?

Cornell Neace says he can.

In fact, it’s the fourth time in the past year the Bartlett man has claimed he’s seen the image of Jesus in the rocks he collects.

That looks like Jesus like I look like Bob Marley and all the Wailers. Worst sky god manifestation ever.

I like the guy's last comment however:

But he knows there will be many who don’t believe his discoveries have any spiritual or healing value.

“Skeptics are probably single-minded, unopened and pretty much set in their ways,” he said. “And these stones are not here to change people’s minds. They’re here to open people’s hearts that are already opened.”

Um if they're already opened....

Hard to believe but I read about it on the Internets.

Via Wingnut satirists extraordinare Blogging Points.

*Note the question mark as I don't fully believe the story or believe that we have the whole story there, something about it doesn't hang right but since Carlson is an asshole better safe than sorry.

Bush is climbing into his aviator jumpsuit with extra crotch wondering if the new banner is back from the printer.

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- The U.S. launched at least two airstrikes on different locations against terror targets in Somalia, an official and witnesses said Tuesday.

A U.S. AC-130 gunship attacked suspected al-Qaida terrorists near Ras Kamboni in southern Somalia, the Somali Defense Minister said.

Earlier an eyewitness told The Associated Press that a gunship hit targets near Afmadow, 155 miles north of Ras Kamboni.

Well I'm sure the Bush Administration has thought this through very carefully because they're not the kinds to rush blindly into a situation without working out the ramifications both short and long term.

Analysis: US airstrikes could backfire
The United States' decision to bomb Islamists holed up in a corner of Somalia near the border with Kenya is a high-risk tactic which could ignite an Iraqi-style insurgency across a swathe of East Africa, analysts and regional experts say.

Pah! Analysts and regional experts, what do they know? Look how wrong they were about the Iraq invasion being a bad idea.

Braced? I mean really, totally prepared for a most mind-blowing, reality shattering alternate universe creating, paradigm shifting piece of shocking news that by now you've now doubt figured out the gist of and I'm just beating the tar out of a dead horse?

Bush is a clueless liar who is making this war up as he goes along and is going to get even more people killed.

And a wild guess but I think his real new plan is to make sure that the poor sap who has to clean up whatever mess he's going to leave behind gets blamed along with Clinton.

The one he's going to mutter, stutter and 911 through on Wednesday is just the same stupid crap he's been doing for the last three years.

Or he might announce that the bombing of Iran has started, when you're as schlussel as Bush is anything is possible.

UPDATE:

Okay this time I'm serious, totally brace yourself.

Joe Liberman is liar.

According to Oliver North.

Ahem.

Well, really we know they're both liars but I can't imagine what motive North would have to lie in this particular case.

**** UPDATE: NO, I AM NOT A SUPPORTER OF GAY RIGHTS OR A SUPPORTER OF HOMOSEXUALITY. The, "Not that there's anything wrong with that," part was a joke reference to an episode of "Seinfeld." Click on the link to see. Sorry that some misunderstood me. ****

No, I'm not gay. "Not that there's anything wrong with that." (I'm joking--it's a "Seinfeld" reference.)

But I'll be on Sirius' gay channel, "Sirius OutQ," Channel 106, on the "Michelangelo Signorile Show," this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. We'll be discussing Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison.

Should be interesting.

**** UPDATE: Apparently, some people didn't get my reference, "Not that there's anything wrong with that," above, regarding being gay. It's a joke--a "Seinfeld" reference. No, I'm not a supporter of gay rights or a promoter of homosexuality. I was making a joke that apparently some people didn't get. If you clicked on the link, you'd know that. I forget that the whole world did not watch "Seinfeld" as fanatically as I did (or even at all).

****UPDATE: REMIND ME NEVER TO DO THIS SHOW AGAIN. EVER.

See? There is no way Debbie Schlussel is remotely gay, we now have confirmation so I want all the snide and snarky double-entendres to stop right now.

Furthermore the fact that she doesn't like fat chicks is purly out of concern for their health and not a manifestation of some sort of twisted self-loathing neurosis.

She is as straight as the day is long.

Now a humble train station in northern Sydney could become the city's next religious attraction, with onlookers convinced they are seeing an apparition of Jesus Christ on the side of a platform.

The ghostly image appears in a patch of eroded paint on platform two at Waverton station with what looks like the eyes of a bearded man staring out at commuters.

One commuter is convinced the image is that of Jesus. Others said it looked more like William Shakespeare.

I'd worship Shakespeare before Jesus anyday.

Oh man it's retards a-go-go all over the chromosome deficient side of the Internets.

Here you have wingnuts screaming "TERROR! TERROR! Oh gawd please let it be a terrorist thing!" only to be sadly, disappointed.

Here you have Glenn Reynolds admitting that he in fact doesn't read what he links to, something I've long suspected.He just gets paid to put the links up, not to read them I guess.

Here you have Power line haxed! Haxed by evil morons and surprise surprise it was an inside job.

And don't think I'm just linking here, while the big white-bread whales have already been 'pooned and flensed there are still plenty of fish in the dumb sea. With that in mind I give you Lord Spatula I, King & Tyrant:

Memo to the Donktards: When we tar and feather Limpdickya, (Dear Leader Bush) and you pricks go "Yeah, yeah, we told you so!!!!" - well, I'm sure that the one-third brain cell that all you leftist morons collectively share thinks that you've gotten one over on us.

That's to be expected from liberal fuckwits who couldn't graduate Romper Room if all the test answers were placed on the seats of their shortbus.

But when you spew your bullshit about him, it's because you hate him. No rhyme or reason for it, just an irrational hate (again, irrationality being something we've come to expect from libtards). When we rip His Gonadlessness a new one, it's precisely because...well, because he's governing like one of you.

Spat is obviously a bastion of rational hates as he only takes Bush to task for trying to help poor people rather than bomb them. I know, it's like reading a blog written by Jesus.

For those of you unfamiliar with Spats and his awesome Buddha like rationality his catch phrase is "say it to my face" and one day Mykeru decided to do just that in the form of an UFC style match at a mid-way point between their two hometowns. The whole story (an exchange of emails, blog comments and the like) is the stuff of Internet legend and in the end Spats declined to settle things like ungentlemen due to an acute case of bigmouthsmallballiteis. Sadly you can only get a taste for the whole saga here as Mykeru has taken down the summary page for reasons of pity I guess. This gives you an idea however:

by kreecher5, Sep 19, 1:46am, 2005
Lord Spatula is very brave indeed from the confines of his gated apartment. So brave in fact that if you say something he doesn't like in a chat room or blog or whatever he will challenge you to say it to his face. He does this or at least he used to do this all the time. Now the thing is he expects you to go to his place of residence and if you don't then he will just declare victory and pronounce you to be a coward. But the reality is that behind the false bravado is really a timid insecure man. IF you can call him a man. After the humiliation he received from this blogger (www.mykeru.com) I'm surprised he still has his site. Because when push came to shove Lord Spatula cowered like a scared little girl.

Hey now, that's a bit unfair, I've been hoofed in the shins and higher by many a little girl (and older models). I'd put them up against Spats any day.

Is a barker for clowns.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Saturday that Iraq's armed forces are set for an assault on Baghdad to take out militias and rogue security forces.

Aided by multinational troops, the Iraqi forces "will hunt down all outlaws regardless of their sectarian and political affiliations," al-Maliki said at an Iraqi Army Day parade.

"We will also severely punish those [security forces] who do not carry out orders or operate in a partisan or sectarian way," he said.

Because up until now they've been doing nothing of the sort over there, they've just been politely asking the various factions to "C-c-c'mon everybody":

the war on drugs.

Then read this and wonder why our governments (yes Canada's too) are so goddamn fucking stupid.

Here's how.

Nothing even remotely suspicious or blatantly criminal was going on in any way shape or form and you would have to be an American hating, terrorist loving moonbat to say otherwise.

The White House and the Secret Service quietly signed an agreement last spring in the midst of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal declaring records identifying visitors to the White House are not open to the public.

The Bush administration did not reveal the existence of the memorandum of understanding until last fall.

But look! A crack in a wingnut's shell:

Lefty FoxNews website Newshounds thinks that Fox's infamous captioner might be showing a little bias. I can't say I disagree.

FoxNews has had this problem before, and they're doing nothing about it. They're making themselves into jokes. They'd better get this jackass under control, or even I may stop watching them.

See? Old A of S over there doesn't mind being spoon fed partisan propaganda mush and then spitting it up over his cyber-bib as long as you don't make so fucking obvious.

Way to almost take a stand for your dignity Ace! You'll excuse the rest of us for setting the bar a wee bit higher.

"One thing is for certain: I will want to make sure the mission is clear and specific and can be accomplished," Bush said Thursday.

Because then he gets to take another plane ride!

Nice ideas Chimpy, four years too late but then I'm thinking your train of thought takes a while to pull out of the station.

wrong again.

I am this surprised:

Michael Goodwin, once a high-living motorsports promoter, was convicted of two counts of murder Thursday in the 1988 ambush killings of Mickey Thompson and the racing legend's wife.

snip

The killing of Thompson and his wife, Trudy, seemed to be the ultimate "cold case." But Thompson's sister kept the pressure on to solve it.

snip

Eyewitness identifications didn't help much. The only witness to see the killings was a 14-year-old girl who testified at the trial. As an adult she claimed her memory of events was good, but defense attorneys questioned that.

A couple who claimed to have seen Goodwin casing the area with binoculars before the killings did not come forward until 13 years after the crime when they saw a TV show about it that they said triggered their memories.

The article doesn't say but that TV show is an episode of CSI called "Early Rollout" which of course sucked. I've seen every episode of CSI a dozen times and they all suck and they just get worse with time.

And to be clear that stupid show is doing far more harm to the justice system than good.Criminals are being let go because stupid fucking couch potatoes don't know real life from fake.

Officials at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport are proposing stiffer penalties - including suspension of an airport taxi license - to Muslim cab drivers who refuse service to passengers toting alcohol or service dogs.

Holy shit, I can't even begin to image how badly I would freak out if a cabbie refused to drive me someplace because I had a bottle of wine with me.

It's simple, do your job and leave your god(s) at home, the church / mosque / synagogue / mirror. Why can't they be smug in their faith? Drive the dog to the vet, give the woman the morning after pill / the pill, let the sinner sin knowing that one day your angry sky god will let you sit on his shoulder as you watch him huck unbeliever after unbeliever into the fire pits of Mordor for reasons that differ from era to era, country to country and person to person.

Isn't weird that the sky god can't convince everybody of his greatness all at the same time? You'd think that'd be a snap for an omnipotent being. I know, I know, strange and mysterious, strange and mysterious.

Story link via the really very stupid Dan Riehl and it pains me to the point of wanting to huddle in the shower scrubbing myself with Red Devil's Lye and a Brillo Pad muttering "unlean, unclean... won't come off." over and over again but I agree with him in this very narrow, unlikely to happen again instance when he says:

When it comes to alcohol and dog saliva, Muslim cabbies will have to suck it up, or find another job.

To be clear this glittering diamond of sense is nestled in a rough of dumbassery full of this sort of thing:

I'd imagine Keith Ellison has enough sense to avoid the issue, what with his having read Thomas Jefferson's Koran and all.

Can you just image what his inflection would be if he said that out loud? I'm thinking heavy sarcastic sulk, like a 11 year old being made to do chores.

Danny? I imagine he's read more than a few Koran's over the years. You should give that a spin sometime.

No, no, not being Muslim the more reading thing.

Whether I am as much a hypocrite as the Lip Libs of The Corner or the Ole Perfesser, I leave to be judged by my non-existent God. I will say that Hit and Run is one of my favorite blogs, and that the only thing that kept me from wasting a whole morning raging over Victor Davis Hanson was this eloquent David Weigel analysis -- or should I say dialysis? In any event he sure takes the piss out of the old clown.

Read alicublog everyday because if the blogoshere ever moves out of the basement Roy will be the first one with a penthouse.

President George W. Bush is likely to link any short-term increase in U.S. troop levels in Iraq to political milestones or other conditions, a key Senate Democrat said on Thursday, saying he might consider backing such a "surge" if those conditions are right.

Michigan Democrat Sen. Carl Levin also predicted the Republican president would soon find a way to end the "open-ended commitment" of U.S. troops to Iraq, even if Bush does propose a short-term boost in forces.

"I can't believe the president is simply going to say, 'We're going to increase troops in Iraq,"' Levin told reporters outside the Senate. "It's likely the president would add something of a conditionality to it."

Then the Senator was asked, "What's that stuck in your hair?"

"Wha? Oh, that's a chunk of turnip, guess it got there from my ride into town." he then added "hyuck".

See, it's shit like this that dampens any enthusiasm I might have for the Democrat's victories in November.

Bush cannot find a way out of Iraq, if the last three to six years hasn't convinced one that the man is a criminally incompetent moron then there is no hope that one will ever understand anything more complex than watch battery replacement instructions. Any plan of Bush's, sight unseen, is wrong if one favors the laws of probabilities. Chimpy coming up with a last-minute Iraq saving scheme is as likely as David Letterman calling me up and saying "Hey salvage, love the blog, how about you guest host next week?"

I think I started to eat lunch just as Richard Gere was sitting down in the House gallery for the Pelosi coronation.

Bad timing.

Choose your own lame fat joke snark-line:

a) What time wouldn't you be eating?

b) Richard Gere starred in American Gigolo, Kathryn Jean Lopez is a jiggling American.

c) Fat drunk and stupid Is no way to go through life, daughter.

Stolen from POE News forums.

Is this the best you can do?

The Democratic Party: A Vast Sleeper Cell

She mentions Vietnam:

In January 1973, the United States signed the Paris Peace accords, which would have ended the war with honor. In order to achieve a ceasefire, Nixon jammed lousy terms down South Vietnam's throat, such as allowing Vietcong troops to remain in the South. But in return, we promised South Vietnam that we would resume bombing missions and provide military aid if the North attacked.

It would have worked, but the Democrats were desperate for America to lose. They invented "Watergate," the corpus delicti of which wouldn't have merited three column-inches during the Clinton years, and hounded Nixon out of office. (How's Sandy Berger weathering that tough wrist-slap?)

See? Nixon would have kicked the commie's asses even redder but he was too busy being framed by the Dems for doing stuff that had nothing to do with blowjobs so what's the big deal anyway?

Ann is an authority on Vietnam.

Man-made religious decorations are a common sight at this time of year, but the image on a tree in an Arlington man's front yard is natural and some neighbors have begun calling it a holy tree, according to a WJXT-TV report.

snip

"Jesus don't just pop up like that. If you know the word of Jesus and you believe in Jesus, then there you go. He does exist," Brown said.

I'm convinced.

So how do you crucify a tree?

Stay the course of course!

I favor neither the surge nor the exit. Keegan assumes that Iraq can be saved by winning a few decisive battles against the forces that are creating the instability. But it seems more likely that these forces would decline to engage us in true battle and instead would melt away for while, contenting themselves with acts of terror. Indeed, they seem already to be adopting this approach.

Seem already to be adopting?

There are only two choices here, this post is three years old or NotHindrocket is a retard whose head is so far up his ass that he's looped around and no one can tell other than the odor.

He blithers on:

That's why most surge advocates say that we need to remain engaged, and at post-surge troop levels, for an extended period (say 18 months) during which we would police the worst neighborhoods.

Baghdad is a neighborhood?

But then objections regarding manpower and over-stretch come into play. More importantly, there's little reason to believe that the various insurgent forces and militias can't wait us out for even that sort of extended period.

And that's where he leaves it! So from what I can see NotHindrocket is declaring that Iraq is now and forever an American occupied state.

Glad my taxes aren't paying for that.

The weather?

This might be Ottawa’s year without a winter, with December’s average temperature hovering at around –1.7 C, almost six degrees higher than normal.

That warmth is continuing into the new year, with Saturday expected to see 14.

But despite the higher temperatures, Ottawa is not in danger of losing its status as the world’s third-coldest capital. The rest of the world is also feeling the heat, reporting average December temperatures far higher than usual.

snip

Environment Canada predicts that winter temperatures will continue to slowly rise, such that winters like this year’s could be the norm for Ottawa in just a few decades.

“In 30 or 40 years, people won’t be writing about it,” Mr. Phillips said. “Because it will be a normal kind of winter, where winter doesn’t come until after Christmas, where you might be lucky to get a skating season on the Rideau Canal and people are going to have to make snow rather than just count on nature to produce it. We’re still going to be the land of ice and snow, it’s just that our longest season is getting shorter and is not as reliable.”

You mean when I'm old and my fingers laced with arthritest from 4 decades of video game play it won't be that cold? That sounds... just... awful.

Now I'm off to buy a Humvee.

BusinessWeek.com confirms what Sony said about the lifespan of a gaming console: that it spreads for around 10 years. And since PS2 has only been around for 6 years, we should expect it not only to still exist next year too, but to also outsell its “bigger” sister, the PS3.

I have no doubt it will.

I've had my PS3 for a couple of weeks now and I do love it but I'm an idiot whose arrested development and short attention span demands that I love all that is new and shiny. The fact is it only has one decent exclusive title* so far and offers nothing new. Whereas the PS2 has so many titles (that you can get second had for $20) that you can find enough to keep you occupied till the PS3 enters its heyday.

*Resistance: Fall of Man if you like 3D shooters you'll like this one while graphically inferior to Gears of War its game play is Half-Life worthy.

With thousands of Iraqis desperately fleeing this country every day, advocates for refugees, and even some American officials, say there is an urgent need to allow more Iraqi refugees into the United States.

Until recently the Bush administration had planned to resettle just 500 Iraqis this year, a mere fraction of the tens of thousands of Iraqis who are now believed to be fleeing their country each month. State Department officials say they are open to admitting larger numbers, but are limited by a cumbersome and poorly financed United Nations referral system.

That damn UN! We all know how keen Americans are for dark skinned Muslim immigrants, if only the UN were more efficient. Or maybe it's because...

Some critics say the Bush administration has been reluctant to create a significant refugee program because to do so would be tantamount to conceding failure in Iraq. They say a major change in policy could happen only as part of a broader White House shift on Iraq.

No!

Shut.

Up.

There is no way Bush would let his ego get in the way of saving lives!

Inconceivable that he could do such a thing. He goes to church every Sunday and chats with Jesus, he has to be a good person.

It's going up to 7°C this week.The normal high is -7°C. I have yet to buy gloves, toque and boots for this year. I'm still in my unbelievably stylish fall jacket and my big stupid puffy winter thing is still in the closet.

I know, I know, it's bad but damn if I'm not loving this winter.

Democrats have balls?

Then go read this and this also from John Cole: The Only Sane Conservative on the Internets.

An example from the always silly Jeff Emanuel:

On a personal note, beyond all of that, as someone who has been to Iraq, and who – along with plenty of others who served – has seen the mass graves and the torture chambers with his own eyes, and has met men whose children have been murdered, wives and daughters raped, and limbs removed by Saddam’s underlings simply for their day’s entertainment, I can unequivocally say the following: Saddam’s execution provides an opportunity for a sigh of relief from actual lovers of humanity – not façades like HRW and others – that such a murderous criminal will never again harm another human being. And that is always a good thing.

Pst Jeff? Buddy? Reality called, that bad stuff? It's still going on in Iraq without Saddam, has been for the past three years... soooo that means that the invasion and occupation hasn't actually improved things. But I'm guessing you're not going to notice that anytime soon or probably ever.

I wonder, Two years from now when American forces are pulling out to Kuwait while watching a bloody civil war in their rear-view mirror, will Emanuel and others still be flying their Mission Accomplished banners? Gibbering about how they've improved Iraq by killing one very bad man? All signs point to yes.

A killer elephant named after Usama bin Laden by fearful villagers was killed by sharpshooters, officials said Sunday. The animal was blamed for 14 deaths in the northeastern state of Assam.

The killer terrorist bin Laden however is still alive because he continues to refuse to be in places that GW Bush wants to invade.

According to your moment of schlussel:

G-d works in mysterious ways.

Remember Maggie Gyllenhaal, the hideous movie star who said America is to blame for 9/11 and deserved it?:

Because I think America has done reprehensible things and is responsible in some way.

Well, her holiday vacation went up in flames, literally. She and brother Jake Gyllenhaal were burned out of their vacation at Northern California's Manka's Inverness Lodge when a fire started there, early Wednesday Morning, after a tree fell and hit a water heater. Call that "Brokeback Burned Vacation."

Wow. What a lame-ass god. What's next? He'll make their spare tire flat? Kill their goldfish?

And for what? Pointing out that America bears some responsibility in the cause and effect of history? Guess he doesn't like freedom of speech either. That is one petty deity Deb's worshiping right there.

``We will remain on the offensive against the enemies of freedom, advance the security of our country, and work toward a free and unified Iraq,'' Bush said in a New Year address released by the White House.

I thought they were already free?

President George W. Bush wrote, "Let Freedom Reign" in response to a note passed to him by Dr. Condoleezza Rice while attending the opening session of a NATO summit June 28, 2004, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Wha' happened?

The crap I regularly do here will return tomorrow when I get back to client work and need an excuse to slack. Right now I'm now trying to figure out Tony Hawk's Project 8. Hardest game ever, can't even get past the tutorial. It really doesn't help that I don't know my ollie from a hole in the ground, they assume that you're some snot nosed skate punk who does all this stuff in the real world. But if I were an actual skater I like to think I'd be out skating rather than playing video games.

Killing Saddam was pretty much the only mission left that the Americans could accomplish, what else is there that they can do?

And isn't it funny? Saddam got a fair trail (or at least a close approximation thereof) and Joseph Padilla doesn't. I guess the message there is to earn a bit of justice you have to kill a whole lot more people than none.

US President George W Bush says he is making "good progress" on a new Iraq strategy, after talks with top aides.

Which is ironical because up until now Bush's Iraq strategy was to keep saying that the progress in Iraq was good:

It's only natural that the Iraqi people look forward to the day when they're fully prepared to defeat this enemy. I look forward to the day when the Iraqis are fully prepared to do that.

And we're making good progress. More and more Iraqis are taking the fight to the enemy, and day-by-day, they're assuming more responsibility for their own security.

---

Bush insists 'very good progress' made in Iraq
Continuing a public relations campaign to counterattack criticism over his Iraq policy, President George W. Bush insisted Monday that "very good progress"has been made in the rebuilding of Iraq.

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t Iraqi political leaders are making good progress toward forming a unity government, despite the recent violence," Bush said. "I also remain optimistic because, slowly but surely, our strategy is getting results."

And so on and so on.*

30-40% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing. That amazes me because from what I can see he doesn't know what he's doing. Why would they want him to keep on trying?

I'd list more but I just picked up NBA 27K and I'm taking the Miami Heat to the finals as soon as I win a game. That shit is hard.