pardon the blankets

* atrios thinks this article in wapo is the stupidest thing he has ever read. thats a helluva standard the premise of the column is that the existence of athletes prove Intelligent Design. its difficult to disagree with atrios.

* arianna: "Reading the latest New York Times Judy Miller editorial is the journalistic equivalent of watching a bombing comic pull out all the stops in a frantic attempt to wring a reaction out of his audience. You can feel the flop sweat dripping off the page"
she proceeds to tear it apart deliciously.

* the nyt Miller editorial quotes Reporters Without Borders to justify their position on judy - however xymphora says "Reporters Without Borders is another bought-and-paid-for American government propaganda outlet. The perfect advocates for Judith Miller." they are funded by the US State dept (via NED)

* "(kentucky) Governor Ernie Fletcher, in one of the more audacious displays of political grandstanding, in a setting full of cheering and clapping political supporters, announced that he was thumbing his nose at the Kentucky criminal justice system, announced he was issuing "blanket" pardons (calling it amnesty, but Section 77 of the state constitution does not contain the term 'amnesty', only 'pardon') to anyone who "might have violated" state's Merit System laws." (link)
are they gonna syndicate this gig nationally?

* "U.S. forces first used DU in the 1991 Gulf War, when some 300 tons of depleted uranium... But in the current wars in Afghanistan and, especially, Iraq, DU has become the weapon of choice, with more than 1,000 tons used in Afghanistan and more than 3,000 tons used in Iraq. And while DU was fired mostly in the desert during the Gulf War, in the current war in Iraq, most of DU munitions are exploding in populated urban areas.
One way or another, the Pentagon will pay a price. “DU is a war crime. It’s that simple,” Rokke says. “Once you’ve scattered all this stuff around, and then refuse to clean it up, you’ve committed a war crime.”" (link)

* "KURDISH politicians negotiating a draft constitution have criticised the US ambassador to Iraq for allegedly pushing them to accept too great a role for Islamic law... Mr Khalilzad had specifically supported those provisions, urging other groups to accept them ." (link)
(via xymphora)

* "Mideast analyst Kenneth Pollack is one of two U.S. government officials referenced in the indictment against two former staffers of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee" (link)

* holden pointed to this: "An evangelical group has begun a weeklong advertising campaign in Iowa criticizing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for backing expanded embryonic stem cell research." with the comment "Frist is the New Gay Marriage" :-)