Random News Stories

[AFK]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21081464/

Beyonce cancels concert in Malaysia because she can't adequately display her "talents."

[Cain]

CIA watchdog chief is being investigated by order of the Director of the CIA, for investigating the extraordinary rendition and torture programs.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/10/12/unprecedented-cia-chief-_n_68182.html

[Cain]

Stephen Colbert considering running for US Presidency on both tickets

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003657754

[Cramulus]

Stephen Colbert considering running for US Presidency on both tickets

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003657754

if Colbert ran, it would prompt me to vote without the aid of a d20

[rabidpigmy]

Dido, save I'd probably divine with a d100 just to see his odds.

[AFK]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21323472/

Libya and Vietnam have won spots on the U.N. Security Council.  The U.S. did not oppose either.  Family members of Pan Am bombing are pissed at the U.S. Gov't. 

[Cramulus]

Well it finally happened

First Death from Halo 3

[LMNO]

AW Cabal strikes again...




TERRORISM NOT SUSPECTED.

[AFK]

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=72792

Portland (Maine) School Committee approves giving Birth Control pills/patches to Middle School students (6 - 8th grade).

It's big news here in Maine and I noticed it made it on the MSNBC crawler too.  Anyway, as you can imagine there are a lot of parents who are not happy with this.  But the School Committee voted 7 to 2 in favor. 

I think it's a good thing because it's clear that there are enough Middle School students sexually active to have this option available to them.  I mean, being a Mom at the age of 13 is going to screw up their life a lot more than the actual act of having sex. 

[LMNO]

The only problem I have with it is that female birth control is essentially an influx of hormones, which could easily fuck up a kid's body.


Also, why are they approving this, and are still against passing out free condoms?

[AFK]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21360857/

Hastert is resigning. 

50,000 Intertube points to anyone who can scare up that pic of him with Bush where he (Hastert) looks like a big Igor-style henchman. 

[tyrannosaurus vex]

dammit. i himeobsd that pic once:


but i dunno where the original went

[AFK]

Too Much Junk in the Trunk. 

[Cain]

This is actually two stories.

Firstly, David Horowitz, Ann Coulter and a bunch of other idiots masquerading as humans have recently taken part in something called "Islamo-Fascist Awareness Week" on US campuses, allegedly to try and raise awareness of the threat of terrorism.

Now, I don't know about you, but according to my checklist, most Islamic terrorist groups only hit on 4 of the 15 or so indicators of fascist groups.  They're not ethnically centered, nor do they care for the State, they're not a mass movement and their anti-Semitism is theologically, not racially, driven.

Of course, this is to soften up audiences for an invasion on Iran, but thats beside the point.  Iran is a corrupt Islamic republic, to be sure, but in reality it has more in common with Belarus than Hitler's Germany.

Now comes the part which may take some...mental adjustment.  You may want to take some alcohol or other mind altering substance at this point, so you can handle the contradictions more easily.

Notorious Islamophobe and alleged political commentator Daniel Pipes, who spoke during "Islamo-Fascism Awareness week" has recently spoken out in support of....Mujahedeen-e Khalq, the Iranian Stalinist/Islamist terrorist group/cult, arguing that they be taken off of the State Department's list of terrorist organizations.

He's not alone, either.  Max Boot has argued it should be funded by the US and unleashed at the throats of the Iranian government.  FOX News has had front organization spokesmen for the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, Alireza Jafarzadeh, on their programs as a "foreign affairs analyst".

Those interested in knowing the crimes of the MEK can go http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/mek.htm Note that "During the 1970s, the MEK killed US military personnel and US civilians working on defense projects in Tehran and supported the takeover in 1979 of the US Embassy in Tehran" and that "Coalition aircraft bombed MEK bases during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the Coalition forced the MEK forces to surrender in May 2003."

These people are murderers and confirmed enemies of the USA.  FOX News, Daniel Pipes, Max Boot et al are consorting with terrorist organizations and arguing in their favour.  Does someone want to alert the FBI and get a waterboarding room set up?

[Cain]

Pakistan declares Martial Law

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3127397.ece

My take on it.

Well, I suspected this was the pipelines for a while now. Pakistan has been steadily falling apart for the last few years. What with Al-Qa'ida and elements of the Taliban now being based in Pakistan, the Baloch insurgency, the vital importance of relying on US patronage for Musharraf and the increasing numbers of foreign radicals who gain their training in Pakistan, the situation has been untenable for quite a while now. Something had to give, and it seems that this is the last vestiges of democracy.

I know the Realists in the State Department are probably high-fiving each other right now, because to them a strong man dictator is a better choice for a chaotic state than a democracy, but this is really quite bad, in a way they probably haven't realized.

That this was a political decision based on the upcoming ruling on the election and not because of state security was so blatantly obvious it barely needs pointing out. None of the major systemic reasons behind the failings of Pakistan as a state have changed in recent months - though they may have intensified somewhat. No, the change has been the return of a possible challenger for the leadership of the country (Bhutto), and this ruling.

Now, I don't know the intriacies of Pakistani internal politics. I should make that clear right now. But Pakistan, as an ex-British colony and one time democracy, has a thriving civil culture who very likely wont take this lying down. Already statements have come in from opposition leaders, lawyers and political commentators condemning the move. In short, he's made the situation in the country even more unstable. While before, Musharraf could rely on the support of the national and regional parliaments, to give him that veneer of legitimacy and popular support...well, now that is not looking like a good political move.

Not that it will matter. The Constitution is suspended and law is now dictated by force of arms. So these parliaments will be sidelined, and the supporters of Musharraf will quickly come out of the closet, seeking his favour by backing his actions. Naturally, they will be condemned by their political enemies, and instability will creep up the political system.

And since the rule of law is subject to arms now, expect the Islamic extremists and Baloch insurgency to go into overdrive. In standard terrorism theory, the strategy terrorists normally employ is that of a vanguard, to force the government into repressive measures and out of proportion responses, in order to turn the population against the leadership. Now, while modern insurgencies don't necessarily require that anymore (all they really have to do is show the state is not necessary), its an added and welcome bonus.

In short, Pakistan is a powder keg of instability right now. A nuclear armed powder keg. Now, the US is supposed to have plans to get hold of those weapons and sites should something nasty happen, but the reaction of Rice and Milliband suggests this move was quite unexpected. And since the sympathies of the ISI are hard to guage at the best of times, who knows where such weapons could end up?

Now, I simply could have said Law of Eristic Calculation (Imposition of Order leads to Escalaction of Disorder) but that would have been far too simple.

Anyway, stay tuned. This move is only going to put Pakistan into more trouble, and things are going to get very interesting...