Next on no-fly list: Lighters, matches
By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY

Airline passengers will no longer be allowed to bring lighters or matches on planes under a new U.S. security policy expected to go into effect within two months.

The ban will require federal screeners to confiscate lighters and matches from passengers trying to take them through security. The policy could force airports to halt smoking in restaurants and lounges located beyond checkpoints.

Raise your hand if this is the stupidest thing you’ve heard in a while. I know, it’s a hard call…

U.S. stands in way of POWs’ compensation from Iraq
By DAVID G. SAVAGE, Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — The latest chapter in the legal history of torture is being written by U.S. pilots who were beaten and abused by Iraqis during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. And it has taken a strange twist.
The Bush administration is fighting the former prisoners of war in court, trying to prevent them from collecting nearly $1 billion from Iraq that a federal judge awarded them as compensation for their torture at the hands of Saddam Hussein’s regime.
The rationale: Today’s Iraqis are good guys, and they need the money.
The case abounds with ironies. It pits the U.S. government squarely against its own war heroes and the Geneva Conventions.

We really are being lead by a bunch of callous pricks, in case you hadn’t picked up on it yet.

These folks are so crooked, they must have to screw their pants on.

AP: Donor Was Promised Ambassadorship

By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - A big Republican donor goes to his governor and senator, saying he was told by President Bush’s chief fund-raiser he’d be getting a plum ambassadorial appointment but it wasn’t delivered. The senator takes his case right to the top of the White House.

Nothing happens for two years.

The donor then helps stage a fund-raiser for Bush. A week later, the donor lands an appointment as the chairman of the federal board overseeing billions of dollars of student loans.

“But everyones doing it” is a statement, not an excuse…

Whew buddy, this is great. Petra Haden, formerly of That Dog, daughter of jazz legend Charlie Haden, recreates the classic Who album “The Who Sell Out” acapella.

Whew.

US Fights Back against ‘rule by clerics’

To head off this threat of a Shi’ite clergy-driven religious movement, the US has, according to Asia Times Online investigations, resolved to arm small militias backed by US troops and entrenched in the population to “nip the evil in the bud”.

Asia Times Online has learned that in a highly clandestine operation, the US has procured Pakistan-manufactured weapons, including rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, ammunition, rockets and other light weaponry. Consignments have been loaded in bulk onto US military cargo aircraft at Chaklala airbase in the past few weeks. The aircraft arrived from and departed for Iraq.

Nice. Guess we were serious when we said Iraq wouldn’t be ruled by Islam.

We weren’t as honest, however, when we called Iraq a “free country”.

Mothers Against The Draft is an excellent resource for information about the upcoming draft.

This Gannongate thing just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Read the latest at AMERICAblog. To quote:

So in the end, why does this matter? Why does it matter that Jeff Gannon may have been a gay hooker named James Guckert with a $20,000 defaulted court judgment against him? So he somehow got a job lobbing softball questions to the White House. Big deal. If he was already a prostitute, why not be one in the White House briefing room as well?

This is the Conservative Republican Bush White House we’re talking about. It’s looking increasingly like they made a decision to allow a hooker to ask the President of the United States questions. They made a decision to give a man with an alias and no journalistic experience access to the West Wing of the White House on a “daily basis.” They reportedly made a decision to give him - one of only six - access to documents, or information in those documents, that exposed a clandestine CIA operative. Say what you will about Monika Lewinsky - a tasteless episode, “inappropriate,” whatever. Monika wasn’t a gay prostitute running around the West Wing. What kind of leadership would let prostitutes roam the halls of the West Wing? What kind of war-time leadership can’t find the same information that took bloggers only days to find?

Ok, this isn’t just weird or tasteless, its shameful. This should be on every front page in the country. Why? Because it shows, in a clear manner, that the people running this nation are two-faced lying crooks.

http://www.cryptome.org/

Get thee hither and read. It’s all here.

For example, reports on the effects of taking out Iraqi’s water system- developed in 1991. Ward Churchill is currently being roasted over this issue.

Hey, what are these guys doing?

TORPEDO PRODUCTION LINE BECOMES OPERATIONAL IN IRAN

New Russian Topol Missile Makes U.S. Defenses Obsolete — Expert

Russia Says It’s Ready to Arm Saudi Arabia

America Chides Venezuela for Russian Weapons Deal

Uh, do we need to dig Reagan up, fight these people again?

Lawyer: Contractor Beat Afghan As His Duty

A CIA contractor charged with beating an Afghan detainee who later died was protecting the nation against terrorists and should not be prosecuted because he was following directives from the president and his administration, his lawyers argued in filings released this week.

Nice. Anyone remember the phrase “Destroying the village in order to save it”?