by anna missed,
pigment incised into douglas fir (detail, compressed);

full (130 KByte)

.. the unit transported an embedded reporter to a site "where school supplies were to be handed out to needy students," according to the Dec. 21 restricted "Official Use Only" report for the Center for Army Lessons Learned.

An excellent idea, but when they arrived at the school, the unit was "surprised to find that no schoolchildren were present and that an Iraqi family was homesteading in the building," the report said. What’s more, "the Iraqi police were unwilling to remove the family and no school supplies" could be issued because the children were nowhere to be found.
…
"Fortunately," the Army folks said in their report, "the reporter elected not to cover the event, which could have made us look bad, since we didn’t know what was going on with the school after we funded its construction." The reporter, who was not named, "understood what had happened and had other good coverage to use . . . rather than airing any of this event."
No News Is Good News

Food Fight

on why you should not throw pies at “people for exercising their free speech rights, even if they are the vile scumsucking lackeys of crazed right-wing multimillionaires — or even worse, David Horowitz.”

"We all know that the Iraq case was a difficult case because Saddam Hussein went out of his way to hide what he was doing, to deceive. There were obviously efforts to deceive on the short side as well as on the — in the sense that he was perhaps giving the impression that he had things that he did not have, as well as efforts to hide that which he did have."
Secretary Rice in an Associated Press interview

—

`There’s more evidence to come yet, please your Majesty,’ said the White Rabbit, jumping up in a great hurry; `this paper has just been picked up.’

`What’s in it?’ said the Queen.

Cont. reading: Condoleezza’s Evidence

Desolation Row
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UPDATE:

Yeah, let’s dance! From Russia With Cash Russian Dressing
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Schiavo memo, Heilrocket, Powerline, Power Lie
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Culture of Death

Healing the sick, sheltering the homeless, caring for the poor, comforting the dying, consoling the grief-stricken, providing emergency relief to the disaster-stricken, educating the children (in places where they otherwise woudn’t be) — these are hardly small things, and the church does them all over the world every day. They don’t usually make the papers or become discussion topics in the political blogosphere, but they make an enormous difference in the reduction of human misery on the planet.

But that’s precisely why, on further reflection, John Paul II’s failings seem so grievous to me, and why I should have confronted them more directly in my earlier post. By endangering the church’s going-concern value, he may have done great harm to the world, creating costs which future shareholders will be paying for generations to come.

This is simply an update (with GOOD news) about my 4-year-old son and his/our fight against a brain tumor.

For those of you here who are not familiar with the story, you can go to the diary I posted a few weeks ago on dKos: The kindness of strangers – an internet odyssey. and to the earlier posts at the Annex, copied here.

Cont. reading: Good (Personal) News

Judgement Day

It’s all about "taking back" the country. And, as with most radicalized movements, it’s not at all clear where they would draw the line.

Which is why when I hear Sen. Cornyn ranting about "foreign influence" in the U.S. legal system, it makes me very nervous. Cornyn may be just another pompous hack, but that kind of talk reminds me too much of another right-wing politician who also promised a "purging of the nation, and particularly of the intellectual classes, of influences of foreign origin."

Your news, views, opinions …

Via Soj comes a news report about China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao visit to Pakistan. A treaty of friendship and cooperation was signed and someone dropped a geopolitical bomb:

Briefing newsmen about official talks, Pakistan Ambassador to China Salman Bashir said the ‘most important’ aspect of the talks were the "clear and unambiguous, categorical assurance by China to defend Pakistan’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity".

Clear, unambiguous, categorical assurance is exactly what one likes to have when there is some geopolitical game going on – and it is extremely strong diplomatic language.

Why is Pakistan turning its back to the United States and falling into China’s arms?

Cont. reading: Free Baluchistan

U.S. Will Tighten Passport Rules writes The Washington Post. Passport rules for United States citizens are meant, not just for foreigners. In future, when traveling to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean, U.S. citizens will only be allow a return to the States, when they have a valid passport. A driver license will no longer be sufficient.

Other parts of the world are opening their borders and make it easier to travel. In Europe the Schengen agreement allows the people to travel between fifteen countries, and more in future, without any border controls or passports.

This type of Homeland Security makes me wonder what the administration really anticipates to be a security risk.

In fact I think the singularity of 9/11 is not the reason for this, it is rather the excuse.  It is another step in a new isolationist wave in the U.S. that will develop far further than we now imagine. The real reason behind this is the fear and uncertainty of a falling empire. Emperors do not need passports.

The White House via RBN – April 5, 2005

As a mark of respect for His Holiness Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Husayni Sistani, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset on the day of his interment. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half staff for the same period at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
…
GEORGE W. BUSH

Link 1, 2

TV Guide

…and more…

by anna missed,
pigment incised into douglas fir (detail),

full, (130 KByte)

"I’ve been enchanted with the shows these last few weeks. The thing that strikes me most is the fact that the news is so… clean. It’s like hospital food. It’s all organized and disinfected. Everything is partitioned and you can feel how it has been doled out carefully with extreme attention to the portions- 2 minutes on women’s rights in Afghanistan, 1 minute on training troops in Iraq and 20 minutes on Terri Schiavo! All the reportages are upbeat and somewhat cheerful, and the anchor person manages to look properly concerned and completely uncaring all at once."

Riverbend, April 03, 2005: American Media…

Coffee anybody? Matched Set

Horowitz organizes "Workers for Economic Freedom": Intellectual Consistency

Emperor Hirohito on Social Security legislation: Masters of Understatement

You will love this one: Technical Difficulties

How to Make a Conservative’s Head Explode

As I posted this, I just saw that Billmon had put up a new post on a related topic, so I suggest to discuss both in the same thread:

Billmon: Beyond Our Means

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To start with, the rosy one…

Despite their recent warning that oil production was very tight and that it might make sense to engage in measures to reduce energy demand, the International Energy Agency still has a surprisingly optimistic view of future oil production, as shown by this graph (copied from the paper version of Le Monde, sorry if the quality is not great, I could not find a direct link, the source is an IEA publication that you need to buy):

Cont. reading: Future Oil Production. Some Scenarios

Your news, views, opinions, …

The World and Easter Islands: Beyond Our Means

Right now I’m picturing Shrub and the Bug Man up on the wall at the Alamo, looking out at Santa Anna’s army as line after line of soldiers move into position for the attack.

"Bring ’em on," Shrub screams as the bugles blare out the deguello — the traditional call that signifies no prisoners will be taken.

"Damn straight, George. You tell ’em," croaks the Bug Man. "Ain’t no raggedy ass greaser army gonna git inside this here fort. Nosirreebob."
Link

… your teen already had sex?

If you find out your son or daughter has already had sex, it’s important for you to take them to a health care professional to be screened for pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted diseases. Be sure to tell your teen that having multiple partners in their lifetime can be one of the biggest threats to their physical and emotional health.

U.S. federal taxes spend on 4parents.gov,

part of a new national public education campaign to provide parents with the information, tools and skills they need to help their teens make the healthiest choices.

You will love the Conversation Starters. Try this one today:

I was at the store yesterday and ran into Kendrick, Mrs. Jakes’ son. He joined the military after high school. What do you think you want to do when you graduate from high school?

"to help their teens make the healthiest choices" – join the military?

As you may have seen, a couple of stories on European elections have been started over at dKos, and I thought I’d share these with you guys over here, as these are a harbinger of things to come (hint, hint). The new installments have been posted over at BooMan Tribune, which is an offshoot of dKos with a wider international focus, and a potential model for an "European Kos" type of site.

So, please go read Welshman’s
UK Elections 05 – Diary 1
UK Election 05 – Diary 2
as well as Febble’s
A short guide to the British constitution and electoral system

As well as my own:
France Votes on EU Constitution (I)
European Constitution – France votes soon. Diary II. (this last one is also to be found below the fold here)
An introduction to the French electoral system (check that diary for other countries as well)

Cont. reading: European Votes