Northman's Fury

A depiction of Jesus sculpted out of chocolate has been shut down due to public outcry. Apparently it was determined to be offensive to some Catholics. Given that the Catholics in question are being represented by Bill Donahue, I'm inclined to think this is just some stupid overreaction. There's a good post up where you can decide just how tasteful the sculpture is, (no pun intended).

In the meantime, I'll wait for all those bloggers who raged against religious intolerance when Muslims were offended by the Mohammed cartoons to condemn Donahue's Catholic League and defend the gallery's free speech rights.




(crickets chirping)




Yeah, that's what I thought.

There's a saying somewhere about history not repeating itself, but that it rhymes. The situation in Somalia has rhymes in multiple contexts.

The Somali capital Mogadishu is being wracked by the worst fighting in 15 years, with dozens killed and thousands fleeing the violence, aid agencies say.

Fighting resumed on Saturday for the third day, since Somali and Ethiopian troops launched an offensive against Islamist insurgents.

Apparently the US advisors to the Ethiopians are advising the same sort of "surge" approach the US is using in Baghdad, probably with similar results. And there are other echoes, including the dragging of a couple of Ethiopian soldiers through the streets by crowds of Somalis and this incident from yesterday.

Witnesses described how two Ethiopian helicopters fired on a rebel stronghold on Friday, before one of them was hit by an anti-aircraft missile.

"Smoke billowed from the cabin and it turned towards the ocean," Swiss journalist Eugen Sorg told Reuters.

"It crashed at the south end of the airport runway."

I wonder how long and how bad this is going to get.

if this is good news or bad news or just kind of funny.

Colourful ribbons tied to their Kalashnikovs and opium flowers decorating a van, police in flip-flops meet with Canadian soldiers about a new anti-Taliban operation in southern Afghanistan.

. . . Night fell and Canadian armoured vehicles discreetly took positions around the post, ready to intervene should anything happen.

"There will be no clashes. The Taliban know you are here," one Afghan policeman said.

In the meantime, about 20 policemen had blocked the road for a few hours, "high after smoking opium and searching everything that moves," a Canadian soldier said.

There was no incident apart from some trucks turning back after seeing the roadblock.

Ruff, the Canadian officer, said he does not have much confidence in the police in a district where the governor himself is suspected of being involved in the trafficking of opium, of which Afghanistan is the world's top producer.

"With the army, there is no problem but the police are something else," he said, adding: "Far too many policemen smoke opium."

"It is possible that some police are collaborating with the Taliban. Some of the guys have not been paid for a year."

Ah well, there is some good news in the works for Afghanistan. They're finally starting to work on the idea of legalizing the Afghan opium crop for use as medical pain-killers. They should have done this right away before they pissed off all the farmers trying to scratch out a living by destroying their crops.

I've been watching the news regarding the US prosecutor firings and waiting to see mention of "The Gap". Maybe I missed it, but so far its news has been confined to the blogosphere.

The other fun thing I've been noting is the GOP's old tired mantra of "Clinton did it too!" in regards to this. Hell, they're even trying to pretend he was far worse by firing all 93 attorneys where Bush only fired eight! Of course, they fail to mention Bush did fire all 93 attorneys as well when he took office. The subsequent firings for political reasons is why this is a scandal.

One final note of what this scandal has done to the reputation of the remaining attorneys. They now appear to be nothing more than totally partisan hacks. They've got to feel great about that.

There are no other words

Honestly there have been tens of thousands of children killed already in this war, but every now and then, the utter depravity of their being used and killed in a manner like this just hits you afresh.

Happy Birthday

Russia is pulling out its experts from the Iranian nuclear reactor site they were helping build, U.S. and European officials said Tuesday.

Why do I get the feeling a bombing campaign is that much closer to fruition?

As a side note:

Because of the delay, Russia also indefinitely postponed delivery of enriched uranium fuel it had promised to provide Iran by this month.

Does this kind of thing strengthen or weaken Iran’s case for wanting to be able to produce its own nuclear fuel?

Maybe it's just me,




but somehow I get the feeling there's an election on the way.

Perusing the news today, I see a bunch of headlines about Khalid Sheik Muhammad admitting to all manner of terror acts. The fact that the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks has admitted to being the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks isn't exactly news. The Daniel Pearl beheading is moderately notable, but quite minor comparatively. I guess I'm just not sure why this is being treated like such a big deal. He's already admitted to this stuff and a lot more under torture in undisclosed locations. I guess it's about what crimes he's really proud of.

On the other hand, it has managed to push the Walter Reed and federal prosecutors scandals off the front page. Timing is everything.

Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits" after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday.

. . . Tiney said the "spirit guides of the Mayan community" decided it would be necessary to cleanse the sacred site of "bad spirits" after Bush's visit so that their ancestors could rest in peace.

When the guys behind Tiananmen Square are calling you out on human rights issues, you've definitely slipped up.

China blasted the United States today for trampling on Iraq's sovereignty, using its campaign against terrorism as an excuse to carry out torture and violate the rights of its citizens.

Self-examination by a "warblogger".

It's a long essay, but well worth reading.

On a personal note, I only got into reading political blogs after 9/11, and only what I would call heavily during the run-up to the Iraq War. Originally, I sought out both left- and right-wing leaning sites, which at the time was defined as pro- and anti-war. I tended to stay away from the fringes, particularly on the left. Given my general political leanings, that worldview was just too far off the radar to make sense.

In the beginning, the sites on my favourites list were fairly evenly spread between the two camps. I haven't added too many more over the last three and a half years, but of the originals, all of what I would call the truly conservative blogs have underwent the kind of self-examination the above warblogger did and now oppose the Bush Administration and his foreign policy. The only blogs I have left that support him I still read to remind myself how foolish one can sound like when you put on blinders and refuse to listen to those who disagree with you. Not surprisingly, these are the same blogs that ban commenters and don't allow new registrations to keep their bases "pure" of inconvenient or contrary opinions.

I haven't determined whether the correct attitude is pointing and mocking or just pity.