A Tall Glass of Blackwater

News keeps pouring in about the misdeeds of our hired mercenary goons in Iraq. Apparently Blackwater, a security company meant to protect American officials in Iraq, made a number of poor decisions in evacuating people from a secure compound in addition to their poor decision to kill Iraqi civilians. Who would have imagined that letting a bunch of cowboys run around Iraq armed could have turned out so badly? Apparently not the White House, that's for sure.

Further evidence of the federal government ignoring those displaced by Hurricane Katrina comes in the form of cities attempting to close down the confederated trailer parks where those who lost their homes in the storm currently live. Boy, if the people of New Orleans didn't get jobbed well enough by the shortsighted efforts of FEMA and their minions, now they'll get to experience the unbridled joy that comes from getting screwed at the local level.

In the habeas corpus department, selected members of the Gitmo gulag will be able to request lawyers to help battle their status as enemy combatants. If they want to put up a real fight, I would suggest getting any one of the lawyers who represented Phil Spector to fight their case.

Those looking for another reason not to support the Clinton 2008 rush to the White House need to look no further than her controversial campaign advisor--George W. Bush. He knows what he's talking about, because if there was any candidate that won an election after a more controversial tenure than the Clintons, it would have to be junior Bush.

Google and Microsoft are now taking off their gloves in the battle for computing supremacy. Whichever company wins, the public probably loses. Between Microsoft's monopolistic practices and Google's invasion of privacy, it's akin trying to pick your favorite type of genocide.

The new media revolution has now moved to Myanmar, where bloggers are a major frame of reference for media organizations looking for information about the protests in the country and the violent government backlash that followed. While the channel may have been closed by government officials when they clamped down on the internet, it's interesting to see that somebody uses a blog for a useful purpose (as opposed to yours truly).

Finally, in news of the weird, Slate produced a feature that detailed the best articles about sex from the year 2007. Just missing the cut were Larry Craig's restroom hijinks and Michael Jackson, who is probably having massive problems getting laid since he isn't actually married.

Big Hair and Big Spending

It's difficult to disagree with a face like that, with or without the Wall of Sound. The Phil Specter murder case in California was declared a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury, proving that if you are planning on shooting somebody, you should at least have the common sense to drag them into California before you kill them so you can guarantee a victory no matter the evidence. A California jury would probably have trouble reaching a decision on whether to bench Rex Grossman based upon a lack of evidence.

Robert Gates is asking Congress for more money to fight the war on terror, bringing to $190 billion this year's grand total of money spent that is helping the American people as much as it would if it was thrown in a pit and burned to ashes. At least if we threw billions of dollars in a hole and torched it, it could lower the heating bills for people in Minnesota and Alaska during the winter.

Speaking of Iraq and a change in regime, the top 3 Democratic candidates would not guarantee a troop withdrawal during their first term in office in the latest debate, doing little to distance themselves from the G.O.P. candidates. Hillary Clinton appeared to be the consensus victor of the debate. America again appears to be the loser.

The cause du jour involves the violent crackdown on protesters of the junta in Myanmar, which included the killing of monks, a Japanese photographer and even a stiff rebuke from China. If Bush could find Myanmar on a map, he'd probably invade and promote sectarian violence.

Mike Vick just can't stay out of trouble. His sincere apology followed his conviction on heinous charges, but even his mea culpa may be too little, too late after news of his positive drug test hit the news wire. Add common sense to the laundry list of things Vick hasn't tried in his approach to redemption.

USA Today has detailed the brilliant business model of the Huffington Post--don't bother to pay your high-profile bloggers. All right! The 17 cents I make on advertising trumps the money that Bill Maher generates blogging. Score one for the team.

Finally, good news comes out the dining scene on the heels of my tenacious reports on poor Grant Achatz's health developments. In all seriousness, best wishes again to a titan of fine dining.