This won't do the oil price any good

Both Ecuador and Venezuela have moved troops to the border with Colombia, already site of one of the planet's longest running wars, after Colombia's military incursion into Ecuador at the weekend. Given that the Colombian government is one of Washington's favourites, despite serious human rights concerns, there is little question which side Captain Codpiece and his minions will support.

Will there be a shuttle bus to England?

By 2011 parking at NHS hospitals in Wales will be free. In contrast the parking at my local NHS hospital, right here in scenic Bromley is on £1.50 for two hours.

Enlistment time?

Josh Romney has already served his country by helping his father not become the 2008 Republican party nominee for President. Now he has decided to serve his country by not running for Congress in Utah. Clearly his next step is to serve his country by not enlisting in the armed forces and not going to Iraqistan, or as he already not enlisted? I'm confused.

Don't forget to enjoy today!

Baron Black of Crossharbour starts his six and half year prison term today. His inmate number will be 183-30-424. Is there anyway to play that in the lottery?

Still at large

America's favourite terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, curiously absent from the luxurious facilities at Guantánamo Bay Beach and Leisure Resort, still roams the streets of Miami. I thought you should know.

Quote of the day

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction."

Blaise Pascal

Headline of the day

From Haaretz, a moderately left of centre Israeli paper: "2 Israelis lightly wounded as 21 rockets slam in western Negev". Only later in the article does one found out that "at least 70 Palestinians" have been killed.

Let them eat diesel!

The diversion of grain crops to produce "green", if ethic-less, fuels for the US and the western world has driven the price of grain to record highs. In turn this is causing USAID to drastically cut back on the amount of food aid it provides to the hungry and starving. But at least no one need feel guilty when filling up the 4x4 before the half mile trip to the Wawa!

And they're off!

The 34th Iditarod dog sled race is underway.

It is not everyday I agree with Bill Donohue...

...but I agree with him about this guy.

Consider this a John Hagee primer.

When they came for the gas companies....

...I did nothing because I was not a gas company. And rightly so.

Dear Security Council

The Israeli government is, in clear violation of its responsibilities as an occupying power in international law, preventing Palestinians in dire need of medical care from getting access to treatment. If you have any balls one of you will at least put forward a resolution for the US to veto.

Please.

Whilst we're not watching

The situation in Darfur is headed from really bad to much, much worse and we sit idly by and say "tut tut". I just don't understand why Captain Codpiece's intelligently thought out strategy hasn't been a success like his intelligently thought out strategies in Iraq, Afghanistan and occupied Palestine.

Before he was silenced

Former SAS soldier Ben Griffin has been gagged by the High Court and prevented from making any more revelations related to British forces turning over prisoners to the Afghans and the Americans to be tortured, in violation of the Geneva Conventions and basic human decency.

He is his last public statement, made before an anti-war gathering in London on 28/2/08.

Today in infamy - "sharia in America" edition

On this day in 1692 Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba were arrested for witchcraft in Salem Massachusetts. Ms. Goode was executed, Ms. Osborne died in prison and Tituba was never charged.

Is Neil Bush a Moonie...

...or is he just in it for the money? The President's younger brother has spent some time in Paraguay, visiting with government officials, as part of an entourage from the Universal Peace Federation which is run by Sun Myung Moon's Universal Life Church. Are there no depths that this family will not plumb?

Listening to the Generals on the ground

General David Petraeus wants a pause in cuts in troop levels in Iraq but the White House is clear that more troops will be withdrawn during the balance of Captain Codpiece's reign. They wouldn't be timing them for say, October, in order to influence the electorate would they?

Since when has Jonah Goldberg been a judicial activist?

Everyone's favourite idiot has a column on the National Review website in which he whinges about the raising of the issue of John McCain's birthplace and whether or not he is therefore disqualified from being US President. Now I really don't think that being born in the Panama Canal Zone, which was righteously stolen from first Colombia then from Panama, should prevent McCain from coming in second in November. However if you want to take a strict constructionist interpretation of the meaning of "natural born citizen" it is certain that the writers of the US Constitution would never have conceived of the United States having a colonial possession nor would they have expected American soldiers and their families to be stationed outside of the United States. Hell they certainly did not expect the country to have a standing army hence all that trouble with the second amendment.

So Jonah, if you are going to take latitudes in this case, as you clearly are, you aren't allowed to argue against them later, OK?

McCain and Haggee in a tree...

...k-i-s-s-i-n-g. In terms of hatefulness and bigotry there isn't much difference between Louis Farrakhan and John Hagee. One wonders therefore why John McCain seems so happy with the endorsement of the later. Well it is America and I reckon Christian bigotry is just to be accepted.

What happens in Vegas....

...doesn't always stay in Vegas. Given that a material quantity of deadly toxin ricin was found in a motel room in America's gambling den and a man is in hospital in bad shape I can only assume that the man in question is white, and probably Christian, now that the LVPD has said

"there is no information to lead us to believe that this is the result of any terrorist activity or related to any possible terrorist activity."

Is there any use for ricin that isn't involved with terrorism? I don't think so.

I think he may have tipped his hand

Anyone wish to place a bet as to which side Chief Justice Roberts is going to side with in the Exxon Valdez case after this inane question during oral arguments? I willing to give very long odds.

This must stop!

The Israeli Offence Force has killed over fifty Palestinians of which at least twenty four were civilians, probably more. One of the dead is a six month old baby. Everyone one of the dead civilians was a human being of equal value to any other, including the one dead Israeli civilian who was killed by a missile strike.

This must stop. The American government needs to tell them that these are not acts of defence; that this will not be tolerated.

This is not a defence of the activities of Hamas or other Palestinian militants who are responsible for the missile attacks. That too is unacceptable behaviour but the condemnation is unequal and unbalanced.

This must change now!

Wing nuts ♥ Spinal Tap

Bay Buchanan, whoever she is, tries to suggest that there is nothing wrong with continually calling Barack Obama by his middle name. Key quote: "he's got Muslim in his blood".



For those of you that have forgotten the relevant Spinal Tap scene.

Jes like de prezinent

The US Department of Homeland Security gives itself a "C" grade in cyber security. Heaven only knows what a true expert might have said!

Love him, love him, love him he's a liberal!

John McCain lets the cat out of the bag.

If you are driving in New Jersey...

...and you are reading this on a mobile device you are under arrest; justifiably so in my opinion.

Judge, jury and no need for the executioner

Are we approaching a constitutional crisis as US Attorney General Michael Mukasey decides, without the aid of a grand jury or an investigation, that White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former presidential counsel Harriet Miers are not in contempt of Congress for refusing to appear before the House Judiciary Committee. House Speaker Pelosi has ordered the Committee to commence a lawsuit.

It may get interesting.

They're back!

Wikileaks has returned to the (American) internets after a Federal judge dropped his injunction. A small step for freedom.

Brace yourself for the right wing outrage!

I'm having a Schadenfreude overload this weekend as Timothy S. Goeglein*, a special assistant to Captain Codpiece, has had to resign after admitting he plagiarised a newspaper column. The White House has said that the Captain is "saddened" for Goeglein and his family. The question I would have to ask is "why?".

* Why is Mr. Goeglein so ashamed of his middle name that he only uses an initial? Is he trying to run away from it? Could it be Satan? (Note: that is only an uninformed guess.)

The music of the circles

This is ever so cool. It lets you assign musical notes to integers and then plays the first 10,000 positions of π, (Note: be patient. It may be some time before you come up with something you're willing to listen to.)