Guy in a hat.

Conditions: Sunny and cold.


Facing facts in Iraqs

A 23 page Global Security Assessment that came out this week by the National Intelligence Council (Collective U.S intelligence top brass) has become the latest argument piece in America between Bush and effectively everyone else. The report:

Cast new uncertainty about the chances of success for President Bush's plan to contain the war through the deployment of an additional 28,000 U.S. troops, mostly in and around Baghdad.

The conclusions also appeared to be bleaker than a White House assessment produced by the top U.S. officials in Baghdad, which found that Iraqi politicians have made satisfactory progress on some of the 18 benchmarks set by Congress in May.

And the whole 'Al Qaida is to blame' thing that Bush likes to lean on?

The new report repeats a January intelligence assessment that the conflict is a "self-sustaining sectarian struggle between Shia and Sunnis" for which al Qaida in Iraq attacks have served as "effective accelerants." - truthout.org

Mmmm, sobering.



Bush's policies claim another victim: McCain

The US senator John McCain was today struggling to keep his White House bid alive after the resignations of his closest aide and other top advisers.

Mr McCain, who mounted a strong challenge for the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential race, lost his chief strategist and long-time adviser, John Weaver, and his campaign manager, Terry Nelson, in the latest blow to a faltering effort.
[...]

Once the favourite to win the Republican nomination, Mr McCain has seen his poll ratings slump, mainly because of his strong support for President George Bush on the Iraq war.

Mr McCain restated his support for Mr Bush's "surge" strategy in a speech in the Senate yesterday, saying the US military was "making progress". The Arizona senator, who has just returned from Iraq, plans to give another speech on the war in New Hampshire on Friday. - The Guardian

You know, I doubt his loss of popularity is really due to the fact that McCain is pro-surge, I think what the problem is, is that McCain keeps telling people that progress is being made in Iraq, and that Bush has any kind of strategy. People are getting rightly (cynical) about Iraq, so cheerleading for it is a bad move.



Fashion Industry to ...take a stand? Strike a pose? Nothing to it.

I know you were concerned. The Model Health Inquiry, set up due to concerns over the health of models at London's fashion week last year, has decided that using children is bad, and that not eating is possibly something to be concerned about.

But the panel, headed by Labour peer Lady Kingsmill and made up of health specialists and fashion industry insiders, including designers Giles Deacon and Betty Jackson, has stopped short of trying to enforce rigorous measures to weigh models or test their body mass index (BMI) before they are allowed on the catwalk. - guardian.co.uk

Well, I'm glad we have some priorities right, at least.



Don't fence me in.

In the latest missive from the Mars/Venus war, the women of Pamplona are demanding their own version of the infamous (and stupid) bull run, only with cows instead of bulls. Why, you ask?

A student website, www.estudiln.net, set the ball rolling with its campaign "Cows want to run" which asks for a separate encierro, as the bull-runs are known, where only women are allowed to take part.

Women have been allowed to take part in the San Fermin bull-running for some years but they still represent a tiny minority of the thousands of runners who attempt to dodge 600-kilo bulls along an 800-metre course through the streets of Pamplona.

The students say it's only logical that women should have their own bull-run. - news.ninemsn.com.au

Oh, yes, 'logical'. The main event is open to both sexes, so therefore ipso facto it's then logical for women to have their own.


Head's in the dirt.

In Detroit, Reverend Wendell Anthony of the NAACP is to hold a funeral for the 'N' word. 'Nationalism'? I wish. No, this is not a joke.

Anthony, president of the civil rights organization's Detroit branch, said members and supporters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will conduct services and a "eulogy" for the racial slur. The mock funeral will be held during the NAACP national convention July 7-12 in Detroit, he said.

"We are committed to ending hate — word and talk," Anthony said. "It doesn't do anyone any good, whether it's a journalist on TV or a rapper on the radio." - usatoday.com

I have two questions. One, how can you bury a word? Especially one no-one is allowed to say? (Does the casket get blurred out?) And Two, ...is everyone freaking insane? How is this supposed to help anything? Is this an intelligent form of debate over race relations, or a cheap publicity stunt?

Yes that's a trick question.




Feed the hungry

Is there anything more annoying than lazy cannibals? First you have the whole 'eating people' thing, which is enough to keep one up at nights, but now they're making you put the food right in their mouth..

DailyFreeGames - Cannibal Control



Innovative ideas for suicide

Because sometimes it's fun to see what others have thought up.





Hey, pssst.

Hey you! Wanna see something cool?

How about a short behind-the-scenes clip from Indy4?
Indy Arrives




Peace out.