the terrorists are getting cluster bombs

The NYT off-leads Israel asking the U.S. to speed up delivery of a cluster-bomb rocket system that Israel thinks could help against Hezbollah. State Department officials, who presumably tipped the Times, are opposing the delivery because of the likelihood of civilian casualties. As the Times puts it, the rockets "carry hundreds of grenade-like bomblets that scatter and explode over a broad area." The U.S. blocked the sale of cluster bombs to Israel back in the 1980s after concluding that Israel used them in civilian areas.
--today's papers

and as one put it on DU:

Qasam and Katyusha rockets -- bad
M26 antipersonnel rockets armed with cluster munition -- good

Civilians killed by Muslims -- bad
Civiliand killed by Israelis -- good (because they're really terrorists)

Nukes owned by Iran -- bad
Nukes owned by Israel -- good

Hotels blown up by Muslims -- bad
Hotels blown up by soon-to-be Israelis -- good

HYPOCRISY OF THE DAY

"Promoting transparent, accountable governance is a critical component of our freedom agenda,"
--GEORGE BUSH JUNIOR

source

Letter Of The Day

John K. Wilson would have us believe he is concerned only with the health of homosexuals when he suggests the government prevent them from being married. The fact is that every one of the health risks he identifies is equally true for heterosexuals.

I agree with the Register on civil unions, but I will go a step further and suggest the government get out of the business of marriage ceremonies and into the business of civil unions.

Separate the church marriage ceremony from the state legal contract and never mix them again.

Thomas Jefferson knew what he was talking about when he articulated the importance of the separation of church and state: “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God … legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state.”
— Carl E. Olsen, Des Moines.
attribution

how do you protect yourself from breaking the law?

changing the law and make it retroactively.

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration drafted amendments to the War Crimes Act that would retroactively protect policymakers from possible criminal charges for authorizing any humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees, according to lawyers who have seen the proposal.

--source

from the WELL, DUH files

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sixty percent of Americans oppose the U.S. war in Iraq, the highest number since polling on the subject began with the commencement of the war in March 2003, according to poll results and trends released Wednesday.

And a majority of poll respondents said they would support the withdrawal of at least some U.S. troops by the end of the year, according to results from the Opinion Research Corporation poll conducted last week on behalf of CNN. The corporation polled 1,047 adult Americans by telephone.
--source

and i whine when it hits 90

U.S. troops endure 125 degrees in Iraq

Column of the Day

Man spreads peace, one flier at a time
the kid, well, 50 year old activist, kept a log on all the churches he went to. some of the reactions he got from pastors is telling.

the democrat's answer to drudge

The Fudge Report

gay rights in iraq

there are none. in fact, it has gone from being tolerated to one of acceptance of honor killing.

There is growing evidence that Shia militias have been killing men suspected of being gay and children who have been sold to criminal gangs to be sexually abused. The threat has led to a rapid increase in the numbers of Iraqi homosexuals now seeking asylum in the UK because it has become impossible for them to live safely in their own country.

--source

here's a wiki account of gay rights under saddam:

Reports about the treatment of Iraqi homosexuals during the rule of the Ba'athist Party oftentimes seem to conflict with each other, and what little information does exist is from the 1990s.

In the 1990s the Iraqi representatives to the United Nations opposed having the body address gay rights concerns or give consultative status to international gay rights organizations, on religious grounds. Some recent reports from the United Nations have said that Saddam Iraqi security forces would often harass and abuse Iraqi gays, and that honor killings of gay family memberes were tolerated, and still are.
Yet, some reports from Iraqis have suggested that an active gay nightlife was tolerated by the Ba'athist government, including nightclubs and annual events with transgendered people, and that even homosexual prostitution was generally overlooked by the regime in the 1990s, at the most being something that incurred brief jail time and a small fine.[9]

--source

Headline of the Day

Israeli pilots 'deliberately miss' targets