We are doing a great job providing security in Iraq.

STUFF : WORLD NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website: "The United Nations intends to move its remaining international staff in Baghdad to Cyprus over Sunday and Monday (NZT) where they will decide if and when to return to the volatile Iraqi capital, UN officials said.







The withdrawal will involve some 18 international workers in Baghdad while another 40 or so foreign staff would remain in the northern area around Erbil where it is safer. Some 4000 Iraqi staff are still on the UN payroll throughout Iraq. "

Praise Jeebus that good things happen every once in a while.

Salon.com News | GOP fails to break Pickering filibuster: "Senate Republicans on Thursday failed to break a Democratic filibuster of U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering's promotion to the federal appeals court, continuing a two-year standoff tinged with accusations of racial, religious and regional politics.


Pickering, a Mississippi federal judge who wants a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, has been accused by Democrats of supporting segregation. He also has been accused of pushing anti-abortion and anti-voting rights views during his time as a state lawmaker.






Republicans have countered that Pickering advocated voting rights for blacks in the 1960s and led integration efforts in the 1970s and 1980s. His supporters charged that his nomination has become a victim of an anti-Baptist, anti-Southern prejudice among many Democrats.



The GOP needed 60 votes to break the filibuster, but the final vote was 54-43. The Republicans have yet to break a Democratic filibuster this year. "

Does this make you proud to be an American?

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Up to 15,000 people killed in invasion, claims thinktank: "As many as 15,000 Iraqis were killed in the first days of America's invasion and occupation of Iraq, a study produced by an independent US thinktank said yesterday. Up to 4,300 of the dead were civilian noncombatants.

The report, by Project on Defence Alternatives, a research institute from Cambridge, Massachussets, offers the most comprehensive account so far of how many Iraqis died.

The toll of Iraq's war dead covered by the report is limited to the early stages of the war, from March 19 when American tanks crossed the Kuwaiti border, to April 20, when US troops had consolidated their hold on Baghdad.

Researchers drew on hospital records, official US military statistics, news reports, and survey methodology to arrive at their figures. "

washingtonpost.com: Sarbanes, Mikulski Protest Virginian's Appeals Nomination

washingtonpost.com: Sarbanes, Mikulski Protest Virginian's Appeals Nomination: "ow the No. 2 official at the Department of Health and Human Services, is an 'excellent nominee' who will 'honorably and fairly' adjudicate cases, said Sen. Allen.

Under questioning from Democrats yesterday, Claude Allen said he did not intend to insult homosexuals when as a campaign press aide to then-Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) he referred to 'queers.' He also said he was 'deeply conflicted' about a Helms filibuster against creation of a federal holiday for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., saying King was 'a hero for me and my family.'"

washingtonpost.com: Bush Says Attacks Are Reflection of U.S. Gains

washingtonpost.com: Bush Says Attacks Are Reflection of U.S. Gains: "President Bush yesterday put the best face on a new surge of violence in Iraq as his top defense aides huddled to discuss additional ways of thwarting the anti-American rebellion there before it becomes more widespread.



The president, speaking after attacks on police stations and a Red Cross facility in Iraq killed at least 35 people, said such attacks should be seen as a sign of progress because they show the desperation of those who oppose the U.S.-led occupation.



'The more successful we are on the ground, the more these killers will react,' Bush said as he sat in the Oval Office with L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq. He added: 'The more progress we make on the ground, the more free the Iraqis become, the more electricity is available, the more jobs are available, the more kids that are going to school, the more desperate these killers become, because they can't stand the thought of a free society.'"

Edward Luttwak on why we should end the occupation now.

Prospect Magazine - Britain's Intelligent ConversationBoth the economic and the political aims of the occupation have proven impossible to achieve. This is not because a waning number of Saddam's gunmen, and a growing number of Islamist volunteers from Saudi Arabia, Syria and elsewhere, have started a guerrilla war. If they alone were the problem, US and British forces far superior in numbers and skills could cope well enough. What guarantees failure is not even the sad fact that some sabotage and a vast amount of theft are visibly gaining on the reconstruction effort, so that Iraq is regressing in everything from electrical supply to the number of real, paid jobs. Bremer's remedy-to have US taxpayers send aid faster than Iraqi gangs can steal it-may be rejected by the US Congress in an election year, but at least in theory it could be a solution. Nor does it matter overly that some prominent Iraqis excluded from the Iraq governing council are campaigning against it, while Ahmad al-Kubaisi, "leader of the resistance," is still being allowed to raise funds in the Gulf, and address "anti-imperialist" rallies in Europe. For that too there are remedies.

But there are no possible remedies for the fundamental cause of failure: most Iraqis simply do not believe that the occupation is benevolent, and therefore refuse to collaborate to make it a success.

Winston Churchill Rush Limbaugh
Conservative (and Liberal -- he changed parties a number of times) conservative
Brilliant on radio rallying the people of the United Kingdom in the fight against fascism Brilliant on radio at rallying people to buy Stresstabs and Oreck Vacuums
Addicted to cigars Addicted to cigars, OxyContin, Lorcet and hydrocodone
Served with distinction as Colonel in World War I Unable to serve in Vietnam because of "inoperable pilonidal cyst"
Notorious for debacle at Gallipoli Notorious for referring to Chelsea Clinton as White House Dog
Graduate of Sandhurst (British Military Academy) Dropout of Southeast Missouri State University

Nobel Prize in Literature Marconi Award for Syndicated Radio
First Lord of the Admiralty, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Minister of Defence, Prime Minister Director of Group Sales for Kansas City Royals
Stayed overnight at White House while discussing military strategy with Franklin Delano Roosevelt Stayed overnight at White House while discussing political strategy with George Bush
Arch nemesis -- Adolph Hitler Arch Nemesis -- Al Franken

The "Partial-Birth" Myth - No, it's not a birth. By William Saletan

The "Partial-Birth" Myth - No, it's not a birth. By William Saletan: "President Bush exploits the same illusion. In his State of the Union address this year, he said the bill would 'protect infants at the very hour of their birth.'

That's just false. This procedure doesn't take place anywhere near the appointed hour of birth. If you paid close attention to the Senate debate, you might have noticed the part where Santorum said the procedure was performed 'at least 20 weeks, and in many cases, 21, 22, 23, 24 weeks [into pregnancy], and in rarer cases, beyond that.' He didn't clarify how many of these abortions took place past the 20th week. A full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks. In 1992, the Supreme Court mentioned that viability could 'sometimes' occur at 23 or 24 weeks. Santorum described a 1-pound fetus as 'a fully formed baby,' noting that while it was only at 20 weeks gestation, it had a complete set of features and extremities. But according to the National Center for Health Statistics, the survival rate for babies born weighing 500 grams or less%u2014that's 1 pound, 1 ounce or less%u2014is 14 percent."

Rerun -- dead at 52

Wired News: "Fred Berry, the bulb-shaped, squeaky-voiced actor famous for playing red-beret-wearing Rerun on the 1970s TV sitcom 'What's Happening!', died Tuesday. He was 52.



Police say Berry died of natural causes, but friends said he had been ill because of a recent stroke. The county coroner was investigating.



Berry wore his red beret and suspenders in real life, and it was unclear whether he originally brought his own style to the character of Rerun or whether he was forever mimicking the goofball character that made him famous.



'What's Happening!', which ran from 1976-1979, focused on three teenage friends _ Rerun, Raj and Dwayne _ who learn about life, women and trouble while growing up in Los Angeles .



The name Rerun, according to Berry, referred to the character's brainlessness: In the summer, he had to rerun all the classes he failed during the school year.



Among the more famous episodes was one in which Rerun joined a bizarre cult and another in which he was busted for attempting to make a bootleg recording of a Doobie Brothers concert.



Berry's success on the show was clouded by his heavy use of marijuana and cocaine. 'There were dealers right there in the studio, people that worked there,' he said in 1996.



By the time 'What's Happening!' ended, Berry said he had blown more than a million dollars on drugs, cars, homes and an airplane. With no acting jobs heading his way, Berry tried to live off his fame by charging for appearances at shopping malls.



Lately, he had earned money by calling fans on the telephone for the service www.HollywoodIsCalling.com. About $30 would earn a fan a 30-second call.



Rerun brought Berry another brief moment of success in 1985, when 'What's Happening!' was revived as the syndicated 'What's Happening Now!' Berry quit in a contract dispute after the first season, and the show ended in 1987.



By 1986, Berry says, he abandoned drugs and started speaking to churches, schools and other groups, finally working as a minister in Madison, Ala.



He continued to dabble in show business. Berry recently appeared on the TV shows 'Star Dates' on the E! Entertainment Network, MTV's 'Doggy Fizzle Televizzle' with Snoop Dogg and in a cameo role in the David Spade comedy film 'Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.' "

From the Guardian's archives -- Simon Schama on the corrupt Bush administration.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | The dead and the guilty: "So we should not wonder at the aversion to debate, for the United States Inc is currently being run by an oligarchy, conducting its affairs with a plutocratic effrontery which in comparison makes the age of the robber barons in the late 19th century seem a model of capitalist rectitude. The dominant managerial style of the oligarchy is golf club chumminess; its messages exchanged along with hot stock tips by the mutual scratching and slapping of backs.

The corporations from which the government draws much of its personnel, including its chief executive, and which, on taking office boasted of its business savoir-faire, have not, in truth, produced very much, though some of them like Dick Cheney's Halliburton, now under investigation by the securities and exchange commission for creative accounting practices, have been past masters at converting political connections into corporate advantage and both into personal wealth. "

Insert own joke here.

Fareed Zakaria says that General "My God is bigger than your God" Boykin should resign.

And He%u2019s Head of Intelligence? : "         This is not simply a matter of symbolism, though that is important because this story is now being broadcast across the globe. The position Boykin holds%u2014deputy undersecretary for intelligence%u2014is one in which he would have to interact routinely with Pakistanis, Egyptians, Afghans, Indonesians; Muslims from all over the world. Will he be effective in establishing close working relationships with these officials, who have all watched him slur their religion? Is this a man who will be able to objectively sift through intelligence and analysis about the state of Muslim societies, the difference between moderates and extremists, the distinctions among various fundamentalist groups? Or does he look at them all and see ... Satan?
"

Boy, we have got the terrorists on the run.

washingtonpost.com: New Tape Promises Attacks On U.S.: " In a new audiotape aired Saturday, a voice purported to be Osama bin Laden's vowed suicide attacks 'inside and outside' the United States and threatened nations that are helping the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq.



The speaker on the tape, broadcast by the al-Jazeera television network, also warned Iraqis against cooperating with U.S. forces and urged youths in neighboring countries to join a jihad, or holy war, against the Americans.



'We reserve the right to respond at the appropriate time and place against all the countries participating in this unjust war, particularly Britain, Spain, Australia, Poland, Japan and Italy,' the voice said.



The voice added that there would be 'no exception for those participating from the countries of the Islamic world and the Gulf, especially Kuwait.'"

A depressing thought on my birthday.

Islamic Anti-Semitism: "It's hard to know what is more alarming %u2014 a toxic statement of hatred of Jews by the Malaysian prime minister at an Islamic summit meeting this week or the unanimous applause it engendered from the kings, presidents and emirs in the audience. The words uttered by the prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, in a speech to the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference on Thursday were sadly familiar: Jews, he asserted, may be few in number, but they seek to run the world.



'The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world by proxy,' he said. 'They get others to fight and die for them.' Muslims are 'up against a people who think,' he said, adding that the Jews 'invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so that they can enjoy equal rights with others.'"

Shame on the Washington Post. Cowards.

New York Daily News - Daily Dish & Gossip - Rush & Molloy: Ben Affleck engages in attack on Dubya: "The paper has suspended 'The Boondocks,' a comic strip populated by cynical, politically aware African-American children, because of a series of jokes about the national security adviser's personal life. (You can read the banned comic in this newspaper.)

On Tuesday, cartoonist Aaron McGruder had one of his young characters speculate: 'Maybe if there was a man in the world who Condoleezza truly loved, she wouldn't be so hell-bent to destroy it.'

A rep for the Post, which won't be resuming the strip until Sunday, said: 'We had no way of knowing whether Mr. McGruder's assertion that Condoleezza Rice had no personal relationship was true or not.'

Rice's office didn't return a call yesterday.

The artist's rep told us yesterday, 'Not a single other paper in the nation chose to abort this week's strip.' "

Oops

CNEWS Weird News - Slang crosses up GM : " It's game over for the Buick LaCrosse in Canada. A General Motors executive yesterday admitted that the future Buick model -- which is set to debut late next year -- will be re-named in Canada after GM learned LaCrosse is a Quebec slang term for masturbation. "

Is Aahnuld really a "social liberal"?

NYPress - The Gist - Michelangelo Signorile - Vol.
16, Iss. 42: "Now Schwarzenegger has named arch-homophobe, Rep. David Dreier, to head his transition team. Dreier, who consulted for Arnie throughout this madness, has led many a campaign against gay rights, and it%u2019s highly doubtful he%u2019s going to advise the new governor to bring prominent open gays into his administration. Also on the transition team is Bill Simon, the far-right wacko whom even Davis defeated and who has been a fierce antigay crusader for a long time. Sure, there are some moderates and even Democrats on the team too. But bringing Dreier or Simon into one%u2019s camp is equivalent to bringing a racist on board and claiming to be supportive of African-Americans. If the liberal pundits could get the glitter out of their eyes, maybe they%u2019d see that a bit more clearly."

On the Security Council Resolution

A Toothless Resolution - Even if the Security Council approves the U.S. proposal, it won't change a thing in Iraq. By Fred Kaplan: " The resolution essentially changes nothing. Its drafters have paid lip service to accelerating the process of Iraqi self-governance and strengthening the United Nations' role in this process. But a close reading of the resolution indicates that all power remains in American hands, that no real authority is transferred to the United Nations, and that a new Iraqi government remains a long way off.

The resolution may pass, but the act will have no effect. It will not compel or persuade other countries to donate money or manpower. Nor will it convince anyone who needs convincing on the ground in Iraq that the U.S. occupation is short-term or legitimate. In short, the resolution fails to accomplish the main diplomatic tasks at hand%u2014to share the burdens of building postwar Iraq and to quell the violent resistance so the rebuilding can proceed securely."

The Onion | What Do You Think?: "Sarah Jacobs
Lyricist
'Who would have thought that a bad Austrian artist who's obsessed with the human physical ideal could assemble such a rabid political following?'"

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | States of war: "The last general to have been appointed president, though as belligerent as any other, understood that there was a potential conflict between his two public roles. As a result, Dwight Eisenhower never wore a uniform while in office, or engaged in the hooting and chest-thumping with which George Bush greets his troops. His warning about the dangers of failing to contain 'the military-industrial complex' has been forgotten.

Tony Blair has also played the tin soldier, but with less success. He was the first western leader to arrive in Iraq after George Bush prematurely announced victory there. But when he addressed the troops, they remained silent. I am told by a good source that the generals are furious with him for sending them to war on false pretences.

But in America, the armed forces, whether they want it or not, are being dragged into the heart of political life. A mature democracy is in danger of turning itself into a military state.

"

Scariest headline I have ever seen:

Monkeys Use Brains to Control Robot

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Some mistake?

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Some mistake?: "By all known psephological textbooks, a man presented - caricatured, he insists - as a Nazi-sympathising sexual harasser should have no chance of winning in the most liberal and feminist state in America. The importance of what happened in California on Tuesday is that two questions were tested which may have some relevance to the future of American politics. Is the sheer power of celebrity enough to take a person from nothing to government? And can a candidate win despite the discovery of horrors in their biography? The Schwarzenegger victory suggests that the answer to both is yes. "

You should immediately go to listen to the Bill O'Reilly interview on Fresh Air. He walked out on Terry Gross.

What an amazing crybaby.

Tomorrow belongs to me.

Oy vay.

Who do you think has read more books -- the Governor-elect of California or the President of the United States?

Mission accomplished (The October 6 Edition)

News: "British and American troops fired into crowds of rioting former Iraqi soldiers in Basra and Baghdad yesterday, killing one man in each city.
In both places unrest broke out as the ex-soldiers, out of a job since the Iraqi army was dissolved in May, were queuing for hours to collect a promised pay-off of $40 each. A British military spokesman, Major Simon Routledge, said that in the Basra incident a British soldier heard gunfire and then shot and killed an Iraqi holding a weapon. Troops also fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
In Baghdad hundreds of Iraqis threw stones and charged towards American soldiers, who fired in the air and beat them back with batons. 'Get out of here. It is very dangerous,' said a harassed Iraqi police officer as he stood beside the burned-out remains of a police car."

The New Republic Online: Easterbrook

The New Republic Online: Easterbrook: "YET HE NEVER GROPED THE GORGEOUS FEM-BOT IN TERMINATOR 3. SO YOU SEE, HE'S REALLY CHANGED: Did Arnold Schwarzenegger plant the woman-groping rumors against himself? Think of the sequence of events. Many voters feared Schwarzenegger had been involved in something awful involving women, rape, or some kind of mandatory casting-call submission for the young female extras appearing in his movies; it turns out he is guilty of a few groping instances, most of them years in the past; he immediately admits it and apologizes, saying he now has raised consciousness about women's concerns.

What a fabulous sequence of events for Schwarzenegger! Voters are assured--or at least, seem assured--that the candidate didn't do anything truly horrible. And anyway, everybody assumes 'rowdy' stuff happens all the time on movie sets. (Most of the incidents did not happen on movie sets, but coverage made it seem as if they did.) Then Schwarzenegger gets to appear totally honest, as if he has bared his soul; while also looking like the victim of scandal-obsessed media, a pose nearly all successful modern politicians try to take. Schwarzenegger gropes women, then he presents himself as the victim. How very current.

That Schwarzenegger admitted the incidents so quickly after the Los Angeles Times report was released, with such confident delivery and such rehearsed language, makes me think his own camp had a hand in events. The whole groping business may end up helping him at the polls. How very current.

"

I am a bad person because I find this mildly humorous?

washingtonpost.com: Tiger Critically Injures Magician Roy Horn: "A tiger attacked magician Roy Horn of duo 'Siegfried & Roy' during a Friday night performance, leaving the superstar illusionist in critical condition, authorities said.



An audience member at The Mirage hotel-casino said the white tiger lunged at Horn, who tried to beat the animal off with a microphone.



'The tiger went for his neck, then drug him offstage,' said Andy Cushman, a 23-year-old reporter from New Jersey. 'He looked like a rag doll.'



Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said Horn had a serious injury to the left side of his neck. Feldman said Horn, who turned 59 on Friday, was taken into surgery.



Horn was in critical condition at University Medical Center, said hospital spokeswoman Cheryl Persinger. Clark County Fire spokesman Bob Leinbach said that on the way to the hospital Horn was able to talk with the ambulance staff."

A Californian's Lament

Hasta La Vista, California / With Schwarzenegger as guv, CA prepares to devolve into a thick-necked, inarticulate joke: "This is what's about to happen. We are on the verge of electing a new governor of the largest and most powerful state in the nation, the one with the fifth largest economy in the world and the most frighteningly intricate political infrastructure and infinitely complex and delicate network of water/energy/environment/immigrant/agriculture issues in existence, just one year after electing the last one.

And we are, apparently, if the polls are correct -- and you should right this minute pray they're not -- about to hand the reins of this massive state over to a wildly mediocre semiarticulate muscle-bound power-hungry famously sexist actor with zero political experience and zero real-world awareness and zero communication of anything resembling detailed public policy, except for what much-loathed former guv Pete Wilson and his caveful of leering Bushites is feeding him.

Oh, what an absurd and dangerous hell we have wrought. "

Some good news.

washingtonpost.com: In a Switch, House Rejects Bush Overtime Proposal: "In a sharp rebuff to the Bush administration, the House reversed course yesterday and voted to oppose the White House's efforts to rewrite overtime pay rules. The action marked a significant victory for Democrats and labor leaders, who contended the administration's plans would deny overtime benefits to millions of employees when they work more than 40 hours a week.



While the 221 to 203 vote is not binding, it essentially overturns earlier House approval and puts the chamber on record as supporting the Senate, which opposes the new regulations. House-Senate negotiators trying to resolve legislation to fund the Labor Department and other agencies will have difficulty allowing the proposed overtime changes to go forward, lawmakers said.



Yesterday's vote highlights congressional Republicans' growing unease over the economy, and their increasing willingness to defy the White House on contentious issues. Seven Republicans switched their votes yesterday after supporting the GOP leadership position in a July roll call.



'I just had to represent the concerns of my district,' said Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), who had voted with the majority when the House voted 213 to 210 in July to back the administration. He estimated that 10,000 white-collar workers in his district would have to renegotiate their contracts if the Labor Department proposal went through."

Calling a Lie a Lie

Calling a Lie a Lie: "

To the axiom that journalists love lies, however, there's one important corollary -- and it helps explain Bush's Teflon coating. Reporters like only certain lies. Perversely, those tend to be the relatively trivial ones, involving personal matters, such as Clinton's deceptions about his sex life. Similarly, Al Gore's talk of having inspired Love Story was seized on by reporters as a 'lie,' even though it was true. Here, the press can strut its skepticism without positioning itself ideologically.

The lies reporters dislike, in contrast, center on what are usually more important matters: claims about public policy %u2014 taxes, abortion, the environment %u2014 where raising questions of truthfulness can seem awfully close to taking sides in a partisan debate. Most of Bush's lies have fallen in this demilitarized zone, where journalists fear to tread.



As part of its reverence for objectivity, journalism esteems balance. A reporter can demonstrate objectivity by quoting two opposing sides of an issue equally. In America's two-party system, the Republican and Democratic positions conveniently serve to demarcate those sides. Democratic claims receive every bit as much credence as Republican claims, and vice versa, and for a reporter to suggest otherwise is seen as joining the partisan fray.



In discussing which party's policies are preferable, this evenhandedness makes sense. But in reporting which party's claims are true, sometimes there's one right answer. Often, however, that truth isn't apparent to the lay person or the average reporter but only to experts %u2014 scientists, doctors, economists, or scholars. Reporters must themselves work through the numbers or diligently mine the experts' research to ferret out the truth %u2014 or, more likely, they fall back on presenting both sides' claims equally. Bound by professional strictures, news reporters can wind up giving a lie the same weight as the truth, while it falls to opinion writers to note when a president has lied about his tax cuts or stem-cell research policy."

That was quick.

Limbaugh Quits TV Job Under Fire (washingtonpost.com): "Racially charged comments by radio-talk show host Rush Limbaugh about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb drew widespread media attention today and eventually led to his resignation late tonight from the ESPN National Football League pregame show on which he appeared.
































undefined






Limbaugh, hired by ESPN this year in an effort to boost ratings, made the comments Sunday. Limbaugh, in discussing the talents of McNabb, who is African American, said: 'I don't think he's been that good from the get-go. I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They're interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there's a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn't deserve. The defense carried this team.'



ESPN accepted Limbaugh's resignation tonight. "

Will Krauthammer call for a special counsel this time?

LexisNexis(TM) Academic - Document: "Yet the Justice Department clearly has a conflict of interest investigating its boss, the president. That in itself should trigger an independent counsel.
"
November 3, 1997, Monday, SOONER EDITION
SECTION: EDITORIAL, Pg. A-17

LENGTH: 883 words

HEADLINE: THE HOUR'S AT HAND;
THE TIME IS PAST DUE FOR AN INDEPENDENT COUNSEL TO EXAMINE THE FUND-RAISING;
MESS

BYLINE: CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY: