while shiites and sunni representatives working on iraq's draft constitution may be able to agree on much, it appears both groups are on the same page on at least one issue. they both wanna dump the requirement by which women are guaranteed 25% of the seats in iraq's national assembly. they've obviously learned more than we might have realized from american politics cuz these guys got the whole majority vs minority anti-quota schtick down pat. check this out: "Since men and women are...

it's not often i'm able to applaud the words and/or actions of republican party officials (sad, cuz i can remember a time when it happened much more frequently).   as of thursday, i found myself doin it for the second time in two days on 7/14/2005 (thursday  in other words), in a speech delivered to this year's annual naacp convention in milwaukee, republican national committee chief ken mehlman came clean bout one of the party's dirty lil not-so-secrets.    ...

consider this part 3 of an ongoing lewis carroll-inspired peek at events and policies through the looking glass (parts 1  Link   and 2 Link .) if karl rove did nothing illegal or innapropriate as regards novak's announcement that valerie plame worked for the cia and was married to ambassador joe wilson, wouldn't it have been easier on everyone if he'd stepped up to a microphone 2 years ago and let us know that was the case?  as one of gwbush's closest associates (if no...

this is the second of what may easily become a series of observations predicated on the possibility the 'real life' we're living is actually the product of lewis carroll's imagination as he pens a new work entitled 'washington through the looking glass'.    new york times reporter, judy miller, is spending her first night as an involuntary guest of the federal detention center in alexandria, va., after being held in contempt of court by us federal district justice thomas hogan ...

this is over a week old but it blew me away--especially after seeing gwb last night explaining how iraq (which the cia reportedly has now designated as the main global location for training and motivating islamic terrorists) is so crucial to the war on terror. apparently the opinions of the rest of the world (or parts of it anyway) and international law really do matter--much more that previously acknowledged--to  this administration and its new cia director.   time ...

in a thread of another article by  the very astute Sean Conners, a.k.a. SConn1   Link    there's been an ongoing sidebar discussion turning on the question of what constitutes a bonafide plan.  i found an article that seems germane to that conversation located here:  Link   rather than dump what's turned into a lotta text onto mr. conners excellent post, i'll overload my own blog.  the article in question was published on 9/12/0...

how horrible is this:  little physically and mentally abused two-year-old conjoined iraqi quadruplets forced by demonic mullahs to rip pelts off cute lil live bunnies every 2 seconds for 14 hours a day using only their teeth. if that ain't bad enuff, if even just one american won't publicly praise every homosexual whenever passing them in the halls, a new law will permit howard dean to double taxes of the 1000 richest americans ...

to: all supporters of our  president's counter-revolutionary determination to assume to his office and himself monarchist powers against which--and from which to free us forever--this nation's founders fought and died. re:  the absurd incongruity of officially abrogating all relations with terrorist state syria while simultaneously utilizing syria as a backchannel instrument with which to perpetrate our own brand of s...

talk about irony.  since assuming office as 'determinator of even the most crypto anti-semiticism' and being granted the power to view into all mens' hearts and see the moral rot therein,  moderateman has been unrelenting in sniffing out and denouncing as 'jew haters' anyone who dares criticize policy implemented by the civil government of israel. so it is that his most recent screed (featuring introductory actual anti-semitic quotes attributed to h...

altho i can't recall ever feeling anything but creeped out by george hw bush,  his wife, barbara, always seemed to me a pleasant, down-to-earth very likeable woman.  i could never imagine what she could have seen in her husband nor how much alcohol she musta had to imbibe in order to mother his children.  speaking of which, i never...ever...thought badly of her for bringing them into the world.  after all, that was something she's hadda live with for over  half century.&...

sadly, for as long as it remains standing, iraq's infamous abu ghraib prison is gonna be an haunting reminder about how combining hubris, executive incompetence and ideology can very easily and swiftly wrest defeat from the heart of impending victory.   contemplate for a moment or two this report about abu ghraib's current status compiled and distributed by the associated press. The sprawling facility on the western outskirts of Baghdad wi...

perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the dubai port world deal--so far anyway--is the president's public position.  he aggressively supported something with which he then claimed to be barely familiar. if he's lying about his limited knowledge, it's pretty scary.  if he's not, scary ain't nearly strong enuff. i tend to go with the former possibility.  as i've tried to point out several times in the past, he may be dumb as he often seems, but not nearly as dumb as he thinks...

christina applegate and jennifer tilly are two very smart, sexy, funny women who share a very unique talent.  both are able to conjure up characters who say and do such incredibly stupid things with such finesse, it is sometimes difficult not to confuse christina with kelly bundy or jennifer with damn near a sorority of goofy sounding ditzy bimbos. brilliant as they may be, they have nothin on george w. bush.   i may seem gullible and naive but i've done seed da light.&nbs...

day before yesterday i began--but then abandoned--a piece about generalissimo gonzales' attempt to strongarm google with a subpeona demanding a week's worth of user search queries as well as a random list of website urls from google's database. like the tools they are, yahoo, aol and msn appear to have already caved to government demands. gonzales--who seems at times to believe his job title is attorney tsar rather than attorney general--claims the information is needed to persuade ...

no, i don't know anyone who's suffered as a consequence of this administration's decision to defy the congress and judiciary by monitoring our communications.  i do know someone who's in custody and subject to being deported for a drug-related felony because the government claims she isn't a citizen.  she was born on a us military base in germany to parents who were both us citizens.  i also know former admiral poindexter's proposal for the tia was voted down by ...