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Tuesday, February 25, 2003
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Greetings, all. I am experiencing some computer problems here at my place of business (a car wash), so there might be fewer updates today than normally. Rejoice, ye conservatives! Anyway, here's what http://www.ap.org says is going on:
The Big News: The war with Iraq seems more certain than ever as Saddam Hussein wildly overplays his hand. Not only is he refusing to destroy his illegal missiles, but he has challenged Bush to a televised debate! I have to admit: I would take back everything I have ever said about Bush if he accepted. He won't, though, because things are starting to go his way: The US, Britain, and Spain (chortle) have introduced a new resolution before the UN Security Council calling on all the good peoples of the world to bomb Iraq into mush, and Turkey has taken our $15 billion bribe to locate our troops there. $15 billion is half of what they were originally demanding, so I guess this is a victory of sorts for President Bush. Not for common decency, though.
The Roundup: A US Army Blackhawk helicopter crashed in Kuwait, killing all four crew members aboard. . . South Korean Prez Roh Moo-hyun had his inauguration upstaged by the North test-firing a short-range missile. . . Two Chinese universities were bombed. Nine were injured, and no one has claimed responsibility yet. According to the story, "In a country where guns are for the most part prohibited, violent disputes in China often involve explosives." Guns don't kill people: Homemade explosives kill people. . . Spanish protesters occupied that country's embassy in Baghdad. . . the first real snow storm since 1950 shut down much of the Middle East. Has anyone else noticed there have been all kinds of scary, Biblical-type events in the last few weeks? Earthquakes, fires, snow in the Middle East? No? Just me and Camille Paglia? OK then. . . More Spanish embassy news: Bombs in Caracas damaged both the Spanish embassy and the Colombian consulate. . . Albanians in Montenegro are gearing up for another round of insurgency aimed at separating from Serbia. . . The UN indicted seven Indonesian military officers for war crimes in East Timor. . . A resort hotel is scheduled to open on Vieques once the Navy stops bombing it this spring. Bon voyage!
- Consider Arms
10:36:09 AM 
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Hey kids! Keep these helpful dates in mind when planning your Spring Break!
-- Monday afternoon -- The United States is expected to submit to the U.N. Security Council a new resolution declaring Iraq in further material breach of Resolution 1441.
-- Monday and Tuesday -- UNMOVIC's College of Commissioners slated to meet. Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix is expected to give the commissioners a list of roughly 30 questions he wants his inspectors to answer about possible weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, a U.N. spokesman said.
-- Tuesday -- Turkish parliament meets, may consider approving letting U.S. troops use Turkish land to launch possible attack on Iraq.
-- Wednesday or Thursday -- A preliminary copy of chief weapons inspector Hans Blix's latest quarterly report on the progress of weapons inspections is to be sent to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
-- Saturday -- Deadline for Iraq to begin destroying its Al Samoud-2 missiles, deemed by weapons inspectors to exceed U.N.-imposed range limits. Iraqi officials dispute the charge, but have said they are considering complying with the demand anyway.
-- Saturday -- Blix's report, translated into the official U.N. languages, is to be delivered to the 15 Security Council members.
-- March 7 -- Blix is to brief Security Council members on his report.
-- Second week in March -- Security Council could vote on the new U.N. resolution declaring Iraq in further material breach of Resolution 1441.
-- March 27 -- Deadline for Blix to outline the key tasks remaining for Iraq to satisfy the inspectors - The Fifth Columnist
9:53:27 AM
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This says what the president says it says Ari Fleischer and George Bush went out of their way recently to praise a study by "Blue Chip economists" predicting economic growth of 3.3 percent if the president's tax cut is enacted. Too bad no such study exists; the group they were referring to have never published such a study. The White House hilariously claims that a survey the group DID undertake supports Bush's conclusion; the editor says "That's simply not the case."
Celebrate your freedom by mandating it It's a good thing that there are conservatives like this guy to keep government off our back! Otherwise, they would be doing crazy things like passing a bill requiring school kids to say the pledge of allegiance and then spending nearly a quarter of a million dollars in taxpayers' money informing parents of their kids' right not to say it. Oh wait, that's just what conservatives like this guy are doing.
Panicky. . . like a fox! Advice from Homeland Security officials (and others, including the Red Cross) concerning the wild stockpiling of duct tape in the event of a terrorist attack seemed crazy at the time. More than crazy: A fire marshal I talked to told me that people who sealed up their houses were asking for carbon poisoning. But how crazy was it really? It turns out that 46 percent of the duct tape in this company is manufactured by a company owned by a gentleman who gave more than $100,000 to Republican candidates in 2000. Since the duct tape warning, that company's business has jumped by 40 percent.
Celebrate your freedom by threatening others Toni Smith, a player on the women's basketball team at a Division III school, is getting roundly jeered by crowds for turning her back on the flag during the national anthem in protest of our President's policies. According to this AP dispatch, "When Manhattanville played at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Feb. 11, more than 300 flag-waving midshipmen greeted Smith with chants of 'USA' and 'Leave our country.'" The pride that I feel, as an American, at the spectacle of hundreds of military personnel telling a 21 year old woman to leave the country because she disagrees with a politician, cannot be expressed in mere words.
Make room on Mount Rushmore I usually abhor the sort of corrosive ironic mindset that celebrates camp and kitsch, but even I cannot resist this. The decal of Bush praying with the ghosts of Lincoln and Washington is so unintentionally hilarious that I cannot resist. I have already ordered my mug; you should too.
- Consider Arms
9:51:03 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Marc Hatfield.
Last update: 02/28/2003; 9:39:02 AM.
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