So much for our ‘stay the course’ president and his soul-seeing eyes. According to Newsweek Maliki is proposing the following:

A timetable for withdrawal of occupation troops from Iraq. Amnesty for all insurgents who attacked U.S. and Iraqi military targets. Release of all security detainees from U.S. and Iraqi prisons. Compensation for victims of coalition military operations.

Those sound like the demands of some of the insurgents themselves, and in fact they are. But they're also key clauses of a national reconciliation plan drafted by new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who will unveil it Sunday. The provisions will spark sharp debate in Iraq—but the fiercest opposition is likely to come from Washington, which has opposed any talk of timetables, or of amnesty for insurgents who have attacked American soldiers.

Interesting, but I call B.S. on the implication that there will be any retaliation from Washington. In fact, I think Maliki is giving Team Chimpy such a gift that they must have worked out a deal beforehand.

Iraq is an unmitigated disaster, perhaps the worst foreign policy blunder in global history. And the GOP own it. They control all three houses of government and are therefore stuck with any policy decision arising from the last 5 years. While their disaster-inflated popularity erodes around them, Iraq starts stinking more and more like a big honkin’ fart they just can’t run away from.

I think BushCo realized sometime about 6 months ago that the war was hopeless and are desperate for any way out of it that allows Bush to claim ‘mission accomplished’. The only way for this to happen is if the Iraq government proves its ability to maintain a unified coalition. And this can’t happen without a certain degree of appeasement. So I would imagine that the White House is unlikely to say boo about this unless the media manages to call them out on it. In which case, resistance will be merely a rhetorical token with a private wink to Maliki.

I have to say that, as somebody who spends an embarrasing amount of time on blogosphere comment boards, I am emphatically impressed by the quality and sophistication of my own readers. Contrary to some other site's postings, which tend to reside in the same realm as fart jokes, the commenters on this site always have thoughtful and articulate comments to make. For instance, check out antihebe 's comment on my Milgram Experiment post from a while back as an example of a well-reasoned inquiry which serves to intelligently advance the dialogue.

I'm the proudest blogger to ever handle a laptop!

I’ve posted previously about the Milgram Experiment as an explanation for how the government convinces good people to commit war crimes. But let’s not forget the added dimension that, in addition to brainwashing people to see ‘brown’ people as ‘animals,’ budget cuts and poor planning are placing our soldiers in savage conditions, in some cases living in feral huts. If you have any doubts as to how poorly this war has been executed, be sure to check out this video:

Little Ricky is clinging to his story, despite it being complete bollocks. But who needs the truth when you have FOX News who claim that the story is true, but was suppressed at of pure altruism in order to protect their good buddies, the French. Meanwhile, Santorum’s constituency thinks Ricky has some splainin’ to do.

John Edwards continues his campaign to combat the Conservative Nanny State and eradicate poverty. Please, please let this guy run the country for a while.

Speaking of poverty, good thing we have an intrepid leader who believes in No Child Left Behind. Except of course, the ones who are.

Religious fanatics the world over are doing their best to hasten Armageddon by combining technology with religious texts, as well as a healthy dose of the Red Heiffer. That’s right, I said Red Heiffer. Anybody else tired of wackjobs with a death fixation trying to ruin the world?

Note the quivering lips, the stuttering, stammering fool, the squeaky voice, the beads of sweat. Gitmo torture room or reporter calling Bartlett out on his utter B.S.

Our neighbors to the North note how Americans are shocked, outraged even at the clamping down on civil liberties. Nah, just kidding. We’re actually just learning to live without freedom.

This is your terrorist. This is your terrorist with a pack of high-yield plastic explosives strapped to his chest. Any questions?

First Lieutenant Ehren Watda became the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq. “I am opposed to this war and the misconduct within this administration. I am willing to sacrifice my freedom and my good name to end this war and save lives: both Iraqi and American.” So why exactly don’t the Republicans want the war to ever end??

GM prompts the largest employee buyout in American history offering workers a choice between the sudden loss of security in a lifelong career, or to “take the cash and walk away.” PBS offering follow-up coverage.

A fleet of unmanned spy drones flying over Los Angeles?

Ann Coulter has finally completely lost control of her verbal bowels. Check out this radio broadcast and explain to me what drugs she is on and where I can get them. In other news, Coulter has endorsed Joe Lieberman. Yes, the Coulter endorsement is every Democrats dream come true. Oh, wait. Kissy-Joe’s not actually a Democrat.

Washington ‘inadvertently’ hands Somalia to radical anti-American militants.

No, no. The timing isn’t suspicious at all. Why would you even insinuate something so cynical? It happened in Florida, you say? Well so what you crazy, liberal, pinko, commie, America hater! Jerk.

And in lighter news, this is what happens when Disney kids grow up.

Privacy is the one issue where liberals are completely united, along with anyone who truly deserves the ‘conservative’ label. Government intrusion is rapidly approaching Soviet levels. Yet the Democrats have yet to wake up to the fact that this is a campaign winner. The golden egg. The 2006 equivalent of a four-leaf clover. It’s happening now, everybody hates it, and the Repugnant Republicans can’t say boo about it because they’re the ones doing it!

Right on cue, AT&T has now revised their terms and conditions to reflect their viewpoint that they retain ownership of everything you do on their network, and will do with it whatever they damn well feel like with it thank you very much:

Revising its privacy policy, AT&T Inc. said Wednesday that personal account information was owned by the company and might be shared with authorities to investigate "potential threats."

"While your account information may be personal to you, these records constitute business records that are owned by AT&T," the company will tell customers in a policy revision that will go into force Friday.

A copy of the new terms can be found here. As though this latest outrage isn’t enough, the government has lost yet another laptop with data on millions of citizens. Your blood still not boiling? Then how about this:

Under a secret Bush administration program initiated weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, counterterrorism officials have gained access to financial records from a vast international database and examined banking transactions involving thousands of Americans and others in the United States, according to government and industry officials.

But don’t worry, these bank records are searched on a limited basis and only for known Al-Qu’eda members. Ok, well they might be targeting Americans, but only if they do business overseas with known Al-Qu’eda agents. Er, well maybe it’s Americans dealing with Americans, but only when one party is overseas. Ok, well it’s pretty much everybody, but it’s all done for the War on Terror. Terrorism. Terror. 9-11. September the 11th. Al-qu’eda.

Get it?

When I was a young buck, I decided to relinquish my cushy life in the northeast for the exploration of southern accents and sunny weather in Clemson, S.C. Needless to say, the culture shock was intense.

Probably one of the biggest surprises was that the Civil War, for most of the country a relic of the history books, is very much alive in the Southern tribal culture. While the north (and most of the country) has generally forgotten this deep division in our historical narrative, a very real and palpable sense of anger and oppression has persevered throughout the generations in the lower eastern seaboard.

This schism is not simply among the wack-job pro-slavery crowd, and is certainly not to be underestimated. I am reminded of the Aztechs (or was it the Mayans or Incans?) who were conquered by the Spanish so very long ago. Inferior in weaponry, a military defeat was inevitable. But the culture persevered and after a few generations, the Spanish conquistadors had been assimilated into the pre-existing culture. In the long-term, it was a spectacular nonviolent defeat of the Spanish.

I see the same movement happing in the U.S. in the rise of the Bush administration. The South will rise again is no longer a hick flight of fancy but has assumed at least the façade of reality. By waiting patiently, keeping the culture alive, and spreading their ideology through Talk Radio, etc., the south has effectively assumed control of this country through the cooperation of the BushCo administration.

As if to prove my point, this website has a line-by-line comparison of the Confederate States of America and the current United States. It’s pretty eerie stuff. But moreover, I think it is a lesson to us all that humiliating defeats live on in the psyche of the subjugated long after fading from the victors memory. Solutions that employ the rule of force-power alone will never do more than exacerbate the problem in the long-term.

Still don’t believe me? Well just take a look at this past week. The GOP congress killed the vote to renew the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a critical piece of legislation targeting areas (in the South) that have a notoriously poor civil rights record. Is there really any question towards whose value system Republicans are campaigning?

Finally somebody got around to publishing an urban etiquette guide for all the hicks mucking up the streets. Some examples:

• (1) No raking women with your eyes; glance quickly and respectfully.
• (2) Offer to share a taxi rather than fight over it.
• (3) Babies in strollers get right-of-way—until they abuse it.
• (4) Still no ogling girls—c’mon!
• (5) And skateboarding, are you kidding me?
• (6) Not everybody loves your dog as much as you do.
• (7) No bicycling on the sidewalk unless under the age of 6.
• (8) Pedestrians can die of secondhand smoke, too.

To this list I would implore that people begin treating the sidewalk the same as the highway – i.e. if you want to stop suddenly and gawk at something, pull the hell over!

Now if only somebody would publish an etiquette guide on tipping, driving, sending email, and talking to service people. Hey, while we’re at it, how about an etiquette guide on frakking up the planet with pre-emptive strikes on small countries which pose no threat for personal and political gain?

"Boutique" gasoline blends to help states meet clean air rules are not a factor in higher prices as President Bush has suggested, says a draft of a study ordered by the White House.

Although often cited as a reason for volatile gasoline prices, so-called "boutique fuels" have not caused unusual distribution problems or contributed to price increases, the report concludes.

The review was conducted by a task force headed by the Environmental Protection Agency and involving representatives from the 50 states as well as the Energy and Agriculture departments.

I’ve lived in Europe now for almost 6 years and in that time fuel prices have risen about 10-12 cents per liter. Now granted, that is about 30-36 cents per gallon, though hardly on par with the tripling cost of petrol in the U.S. Moreover, road maintenance, pollution reduction, etc. are all covered by tax revenue directly from the sale of fuel. In other words, our infrastructure is paid for by the drivers at the pump and not by increased tax revenues. So maybe somebody could explain to me exactly how Big Oil has justified such a gross display of price gouging in the U.S?

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke said Tuesday she agreed with claims made by defense attorneys that the indictment against Padilla and the others is "very light on facts" that would link the defendants to specific acts of terrorism or victims.

Jose Padilla spent 3.5 years of his life in jail, for charges that the administration is not willing to test in a court of law. Yet it is now bringing a case against Padilla that is "light on facts." This administration was willing to void Padilla's rights and lock him away indefinitely on the President's say-so, and it is bringing forth a case that is "light on facts."

Watch your footing there. That precipice you’re walking along is a slippery slope .