Peace is 'considered divisive'

* amy:

"And in Colorado, a homeowners association is threatening to fine a resident for putting up a Christmas wreath with a peace sign on her house because it could be considered divisive. The owner of the wreath – Lisa Jensen – has vowed to keep the wreath up until after Christmas even though it will result in a fine of about one thousand dollars."

* TREX:

"The Iraq Study Group is merely going to be another exercise is delusional bullshit. It will be Conservative Yoga, that rarified practice in which the participants have dedicated years of their lives to learning how to tie themselves into intricate ethical and semantic knots while simultaneously blowing smoke up their own assholes. "

* Philly:

"When Center City lawyer and Russian trade expert John J. Gallagher lost a $2.5 million investment in a cognac distillery in a former Soviet republic, a family friend stepped up to help - in a big way.

The friend, U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, first called the president of Moldova. When that didn't work, Weldon went to the House and proposed cutting all U.S. aid to Moldova until Gallagher got his money back.

That deal, now part of an FBI corruption investigation, wasn't the only time that Weldon used his office to help Gallagher, a lawyer who specializes in putting together business deals - from Philadelphia City Hall to the U.S. Capitol to the Kremlin.

Weldon also backed an effort that funneled federal money to former Soviet scientists working for a partnership between Gallagher and a Russian firm.

Gallagher's software firm apparently had no workers and did little in the partnership, The Inquirer found."

* everyone's 2nd favourite Australian, Michael Ware, tells CNN that Iraq is in a civil war. watch it. If it wasn't so deadly serious, it's funny to watch him roll his eyes when Kyra Phillips does the 'dare we call it civil war?' dance