October, 2007 archive
Drumbeats (Updated and Kicked to the Top) 1
They want more war. Seymour Hirsch:
The President’s position, and its corollary—that, if many of America’s problems in Iraq are the responsibility of Tehran, then the solution to them is to confront the Iranians—have taken firm hold in the Administration. This summer, the White House, pushed by the office of Vice-President Dick Cheney, requested that the Joint Chiefs of Staff redraw long-standing plans for a possible attack on Iran, according to former officials and government consultants. The focus of the plans had been a broad bombing attack, with targets including Iran’s known and suspected nuclear facilities and other military and infrastructure sites. Now the emphasis is on “surgical†strikes on Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities in Tehran and elsewhere, which, the Administration claims, have been the source of attacks on Americans in Iraq. What had been presented primarily as a counter-proliferation mission has been reconceived as counterterrorism.
We are led by warmongers.
God help us all.
Via Dan Froomkin.
Addendum, 10/2/2007:
Hear Mr. Hersh interviewed on today’s Fresh Air. From the website:
Hersh exposed the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and covers the administration closely. He’s a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and the recipient of five George Polk Awards, two National Magazine Awards and a dozen other prizes. His most recent book, Chain of Command, is a detailed analysis of events at Abu Ghraib.
No Leg To Stand On 4
Oh, my.
Maiden police said the man opened up the smoker and saw what he thought was a piece of driftwood wrapped in paper. When he unwrapped it, he found a human leg, cut off 2 to 3 inches above the knee.
The smoker had been sold at an auction of items left behind at a storage facility, so investigators contacted the mother and son who had rented the space where the smoker was found.
The mother, Peg Steele, explained her son had his leg amputated after a plane crash and kept the leg following the surgery “for religious reasons†she doesn’t know much about.
I’m no lawyer (that’s how I can dare to make posts about morality), but it sounds to me as if he bought the leg fair and square.
Now he does have a leg to stand on.
But I think I’ll be making my own barbecue for a while.
Wanna Dog? 5
Free to a good home. Will deliver (Linda says she doesn’t care if we have to go to Colorado–Karen?).
The Gutter Guys were here today.
They installed nice, new gutters.
They also left the gate open.
Two of the three dogs escaped. The third one is too much of a diva to move fast enough to escape, though she seemed vaguely irritated that she was left alone.
A good Samaritan called from about a mile way. The sons of bitches (and they are sons of bitches, what with being dogs and all) were gallivanting down Governor Printz Boulevard (50 mph speed limit, 60 mph traffic).
Three heart attacks later, my girlfriend coralled them.
Tomorrow, I shall call up the Gutter Guys.
I think I shall suggest to them, that, in penance, they should TAKE THE DAMNED DOGS.
Drinking Liberally 0
Tomorrow, Tangier Restaurant (great fish and chips!), 18th and Lombard, Philly, 6 p. m. till whenever.
I might even make it this time. At least I don’t have to go to the cooling tower place.
Swampwater 0
Waist deep in the Big Muddy . . .
Among the most serious charges against the prominent security firm is that Blackwater contractors sought to cover up a June 2005 shooting of an Iraqi man and the company paid, with State Department approval, the families of others inadvertently killed by its guards.
Blackwater has had to fire dozens of guards over the past three years for problems ranging from misuse of weapons, alcohol and drug violations, inappropriate conduct and violent behavior, says the 15-page report from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Just after the report was released, The Associated Press learned the Federal Bureau of Investigation is sending a team to Iraq to investigate an incident that has angered the Iraqi government.
The founders learned that the Hessians could not be trusted. Neither can modern mercenaries.
. . . and the big fool says, “Push on.”