meta-roj

seems the bush administration asked the blair administration to come up with some justification (any justification) for a war in iraq. and they knew they had a weak case going in.

Blair plays down new Iraq claims [bbc, 2005.05.01]

The Sunday Times has published what it says is a leaked memo dated 23 July 2002 by Matthew Rycroft, a former Downing Street foreign policy aide.

In the memo, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is quoted as saying US President George Bush had “made up his mind to take military action even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin”.

It adds: “Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran.

“We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would help with the legal justification for the use of force.”

well played, good man! well played!

two items today on the bush adminstration’s trouble with math…

first, let’s do the serious one. this is practice for numbers 3 and 4.

Libyan is 4th Al-Qaida No. 3 captured so far [ap via pittsburgh post gazette 2005.05.08]

A Libyan seized in Pakistan last week was the fourth purported No. 3 leader of al-Qaida killed or captured since the Sept. 11 attacks, but the global dragnet has yet to reach up the terror group’s hierarchy to the main prizes — Osama bin Laden and his right-hand man, Ayman Zawahiri.

…

The first man dubbed al-Qaida’s No. 3, Mohammed Atef, was killed by a U.S. airstrike on Kabul in November 2001 as the Taliban regime crumbled in Afghanistan.

Abu Zubaydah, the next to assume the role, was captured March 28, 2002, in the eastern city of Faisalabad. The Saudi-born Palestinian survived gunshot wounds in the stomach, groin and leg, and has been in U.S. custody ever since.

Zubaydah’s replacement, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was arrested in Rawalpindi, near the Pakistani capital, on March 1, 2003. He also is in U.S. custody.

Ramzi Binalshibh, another top bin Laden deputy, was arrested in the southern city of Karachi on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

sucks to be #3… and now for numbers 4 and 5.

Bush holds early Cinco de Mayo celebration [cnn, 2005.05.05]

President Bush said he likes to use the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo to practice his Spanish, but this year he’s practicing his arithmetic.

Bush poked fun at himself in front of about 200 people gathered in the Rose Garden for the White House celebration on May 4, one day before the holiday marking the Mexican troops’ defeat of a French army on May 5, 1862.

“My only problem this year is I scheduled the dinner on cuatro de mayo,” Bush said. “Next year I’m going to have to work on my math.”

more trouble at the schoolhouse… this time with nails.

Boy, 11, arrested for having nails at school [rock hill herald, 2005.05.07]

A school resource officer arrested an 11-year-old Rawlinson Road Middle School student Wednesday after the boy went to school with 10 nails in his pocket.

…

State law says anything that can be construed or used as a weapon on school grounds can be classified as unlawful, said Lt. Jerry Waldrop of the Rock Hill Police Department.

personally, i subscribe to the adage that the pen is mightier than the sword, and all pens (and pencils) should be classified as unlawful too.

while we’re here (in rock hill, that is), i suggest making sure the new dress code forbids pockets.

might be a good plan… cheaper than a nursing home, eh?

74-Year-Old Man Sentenced for Drug Sales [ap via abcnews, 2005.05.07]

A 74-year-old man who illegally sold prescription drugs was sentenced to 70 years in prison, but the judge suspended all except 10 years of the term.

Lloyd Edgar Williams Sr. pleaded guilty in January to distributing the powerful pain killer oxycodone and conspiracy to distribute.

wise confuse-us say
erection that last whole month
keep hurting for years

(just to get all political on the form)

cowboy slim

veteran

cloud studio

greenpeace

education