Annoying

If anybody's getting the same stupid little login window I get every time I load this site, my apologies. Several of the buttons on the page were here courtesy of the nice lady who designed this blog template, and for whatever reason she has now decided to hide 'em behind a password. As if the friggin' "Blogger" button was worth that kind of effort to me.

Anyway, even though I'm technically obligated to post a link to her for credit, if she's going to make it a pain to do that, I figure I'm off the hook until she sorts it out. If she puts things back as they were, the credit will re-appear as well. But I'm certainly not going to tolerate the login window for somebody else's site popping up on my blog.

Humph. |

88 More Signs of Success

Sure, to the lay person, or somebody who dabbles in geopolitics, it looks like the 88 American fatalities we suffered in the first half of April are a sign that things are maybe not going so well in Iraq. Thank god, the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard B. Myers is here to set us straight. He told us today that the violent insurgency in Fallujah and six other Iraqi cities is in fact "a symptom of the success that we're having here in Iraq".

"I think it's that success which is driving the current situation, because there are those extremists that don't want that success," Myers said. "They see this as a test of wills, a test of resolve against those who believe in freedom and self-determination against those who prefer a regime like we saw previously in Afghanistan, or perhaps a regime like we saw previously in Iraq."
Washington Post

In other words, every newly-identified American fatality shouldn't be taken to represent a new widow, a motherless or fatherless child, a parent's grief, or a promising life cut brutally short. When you see those flag-draped coffins, know that they are really a sign of George W. Bush's firm resolve. He loves the smell of charred American flesh in the morning... smells like victory.

PS: Just to emphasize how bad April has been, the deadliest month for American troops so far was November, with 94 dead. That's 94 for the entire month... as compared to 88 for just the first half of April. I truly hope November retains its title, but it doesn't look promising. |

Our Soldiers Can Sleep Soundly Tonight

The following letter was distributed on the streets of Baghdad today:

To our families in Baghdad:

Do not leave your homes and do not go to school, universities, offices. Do not walk around in the markets and to all supermarket owners and commercial markets: close your shops from April 15 2004 to April 23 2004, since your brothers the Mujahadieen in Ramadi, Khaldiya, and Fallujah will transfer the resistance fire to Baghdad, the capital, to help out Mujahideen brothers from the Al-Mahdi Army to free you from the darkness of the occupier, and so you have been warned.

Your Brothers the Mujahideen companies

From God victory and success

(Name of source withheld)
From The Agonist

But don't you feel safer knowing that we captured Saddam?

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[crickets] chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp [/crickets]

Apologies to anybody who has stopped in looking for something new over the last two days... my schedule is sometimes such that daily blogging doesn't quite work out.

Both of you will hopefully find something more interesting here tomorrow. ;)

Until then, might I recommend this wonderful post from "Fafblog!" ? I bow before Fafnir and Giblets... this is how I would write if I actually had talent.

As an added bonus, if you go read Fafblog! for five or ten minutes and then come back here, my blog will magically turn sorta pinkish. Check it out! |

Places I Didn't Expect to See Bob Dylan, #34

Boy, just when you think reality has debased itself to such a degree that even black humor just makes you cry, god steps in and dishes up something this funny.

Which brings me to the second possible motive: pure whimsy. He may just think it's funny to be in an underwear ad and that flying to Venice to leer at models could make for a diverting weekend. (I also wouldn't totally discount the idea that he's playing a sly, decades-in-the-making practical joke. Newspaper reports have noted that in 1965, when asked what might tempt him to sell out, Dylan said, "Ladies undergarments."

Now, I don't actually know much about Bob Dylan... I know the one time I had a chance to go see him play (Beale Street Music Festival, around, like, '96 or so) I passed up the chance and was delighted to instead hear the guy who recorded "Poke Sallet Annie" playing in the street for spare change. (He was good, too.) But I'm thinking Bob probably deserves a pass from Hicks' First Law of Artists in Commercials.

But the question remains: Do I wany my underwear to "exude the spirit and essence of Bob Dylan"? |

Bremer Reads Between the Lines

Want to see why we're fucked in Iraq? Take this little exchange between Tim Russert and Viceroy Bremer, and then extrapolate...

MR. RUSSERT: John Burns of The New York Times was taken in custody for several hours, and his driver, who had been in prison for two years under Saddam, said, "It was God who finished Saddam, not the Americans," "The Americans broke all their promises to us, they have brought their infidel beliefs to Iraq. We hate them, and they are worse than Saddam." How do you deal with that mind-set?

AMB. BREMER: Well, first, isn't it nice that an Iraqi could speak his mind freely to a Western journalist a year after he would have had his tongue cut out for saying that under Saddam? Isn't that really the message?
Meet the Press, APR 11 04

Is Bremer really this stupid? Or -- more bluntly -- does Bremer really think we're this stupid?

By the way, I caught wind of this on the wonderful Today In Iraq. Go give 'em a visit. |

Happy Day of the Living Dead Messiah

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