Professor Steven E. Jones: The three buildings collapsed nearly symmetrically

* juan cole: ""Al-Qaeda in Iraq" explained that it hit the hotels because they were used by Iraqi and Western intelligence agencies to fight fundamentalists, and were centers of iniquity. It should be pointed out that on the ground in Iraq, nobody talks of "al-Qaeda in Iraq." And, we have no idea who is posting these messages. It could be the Baath military intelligence... Personally, I'm not so sure the Iraqi Baath is not behind it. I think they often use Zarqawi as a cover for horrible things that they themselves actually do." (link)

* (via simbaud) this from blinky's speech: "While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began. Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war. "
wow - i heard him say that - but its even more incredible in print - he is so far on the back foot that he has to actually say that lots of people think he's a liar. I AM NOT A CROOK.

* "dispositive" is apparently the word of the month. i must have read it 10 already, compared to approximately zero in the previous ten months of the year. i dont even know what it means - even after reading the dictionary entry.

* mccain was on PBS talking about how we need to implement the 'oil-spot' strategy in iraq. apart from the fact that its entirely unworkable - its also a really bad name.

* "An ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted last week found that 40 percent of Americans believe Mr. Bush is honest and trustworthy, down from 53 percent 18 months ago and 70 percent three years ago." (link)
we were right 3 years ago. Blinky's honesty and trustworthiness hasnt changed in that period. people are slowly waking up. its frustrating.

* helen from unknownnews: "Muhammad Ali ought to be ashamed of himself. Carol Burnett, Aretha Franklin, and Frank Robinson owe this nation an apology. Vinton Cerf, Robert Conquest, Alan Greenspan, Andy Griffith, Paul Harvey, Robert Kahn, Sonny Montgomery, Richard B. Myers, Jack Nicklaus, Paul Rusesabagina -- all these people received Presidential Medals of Freedom from George W. Bush on Wednesday, so of course, they're all scumbags. They couldn't have made their scumbaggery any plainer had they mugged a little old lady on live television, and then called a press conference to announce that they're not sorry." (link)

* the nyt has this: "A poll released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan research group, found that 43 percent of Americans believe that the American and British governments lied about Iraq's weapons to justify the invasion"
but not this: " an NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll released November 10th showing 57 percent of Americans believe Bush deliberately misled them in making his case for war"

* " The physics of 9/11 — including how fast and symmetrically one of the World Trade Center buildings fell — prove that official explanations of the collapses are wrong, says a Brigham Young University physics professor.
In fact, it's likely that there were "pre-positioned explosives" in all three buildings at ground zero, says Steven E. Jones... The three buildings collapsed nearly symmetrically, falling down into their footprints, a phenomenon associated with "controlled demolition" — and even then it's very difficult, he says." (link)