micah holmquist's irregular thoughts and links |
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Welcome to the musings and notes of a Cadillac, Michigan based writer named Micah Holmquist, who is bothered by his own sarcasm. Please send him email at micahth@chartermi.net. Holmquist's full archives are listed here.
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Sites Holmquist trys, and often fails, to go no more than a couple of days without visiting (some of which Holmquist regularly swipes links from without attribution) Aljazeera.Net English Blogs that for one reason or another Holmquist would like to read on at least something of a regular basis (always in development) Thivai Abhor |
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
"grave and gathering" assertions Bush usually demands that he back up any assertions that he makes so that people do not think he is making it up as he goes along, so we must assume that the fact that he did not explain why there was any reason at all to think "Saddam was a grave and gathering danger," let alone a "graver and gathering threat to America and the world," was merely an issue of time constraints and his decide not to bore those who were present, those who would view it on the telly and even those reading the transcript. Bush cares about us very much and respects us enough to recognize that our time is just as important as his. No doubt it was for the very same reason that Bush chose to elaborate on his statement "we're now in the business of making sure Iraq is free and democratic. And that's important as well for long-term stability and peace in the world." Specifically our very honorable president did explain why freedom and democracy in Iraq is more "important" than freedom and democracy in, to name just a few examples examples, Colombia, Pakistan or Uzbekistan. I'm sure there is a good reason and Bush would give it to us if WE only had the time. *** "Bush 2004 Campaign Pledges to Restore Honor and Dignity to White House," reports The Onion. (Thanks to blogdex.net for the link.) Personally I think they left off the best part of Bush's speech -the section where he said, "If you reelect me to the White House I promise to stop talking to the American people like they are all idiots." *** Paul Koring reports on the Bush Administration's new rationale for invading Iraq in yesterday's Globe and Mail. (Thanks again to blogdex.net for the link.) *** "U.S. weapons inspectors in Iraq found new evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime quietly destroyed some stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons in the mid-1990s, former chief inspector David Kay said yesterday," Walter Pincus and Dana Milbank write in today's Washington Post. "The discovery means that inspectors have not only failed to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but also have found exculpatory information -- contemporaneous documents and confirmations from interviews with Iraqis -- demonstrating that Hussein did make efforts to disarm well before President Bush began making the case for war." Kay is scheduled to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee today. Hopefully a transcript of that testimony will quickly be made available so that it is possible to see what he says without the filter of journalists. UPDATE: "President Bush may seek an additional $40 billion or more for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan next year -- on top of the $400-billion military budget he will send to Congress next month, congressional sources and budget analysts said on Wednesday," Adam Entous writes in a January 21 Reuters story. "But Bush is unlikely to send the request to Congress until after the November presidential election to minimize any political damage, the sources said." *** The British American Security Information Council's "Unravelling the Known Unknowns: Why no Weapons of Mass Destruction have been found in Iraq" is worth reading. *** *** Charley Reese's "Threat of Terrorism" is worth reading, although I think it is a bit off for him to say Osama bin Laden "no desire to occupy the United States, nor does he wish to convert the West to Islam." He probably does but it isn't a high priority. *** "The Defense Department plans to stand up more National Guard-staffed civil support teams trained to assist local authorities in the event of a weapons of mass destruction attack on the American homeland, a senior DoD official said Jan. 16," Gerry J. Gilmore of the American Forces Press Service writes in a January 20 story. Of course there is no need to fear these weapons in countries that Bush got to invade. *** Bush wants to promotes sexual abstinence so it is interesting to note Leslie Akst's report in the September/October 2003 issue of Psychology Today "virginity pledges" don't seem to have much effect on whether or not people have sex before marriage, according to a study.12:38 p.m. 01/28/04 UPDATE #2: Michigan State beat Minnesota tonight in overtime 79-78. MSU was down by as many as 23 in the first half but managed to find a way to win. Maurice Ager hit a three point shot with three seconds left in regulation to tie it while Paul Davis hit two free throws with 15 seconds left in overtime to give MSU the lead for good. Beating Minnesota isn't the most impressive accomplishment but doing it in this matter says that this team has far from given up. *** Despite being titled "Iraqi govt. papers: Saddam bribed Chirac," nothing in this UPI story indicates any documents saying "Saddam bribed Chirac" personally. I'm not saying it didn't happen. Just that it isn't mentioned in the body. Not that a certain law professor should be expected to understand this. Perhaps his motto should be "if it bolsters the aspects of the 'war on terror' that I like, there can be nothing wrong with it." 11:39 p.m. 01/28/04 UPDATE #3: Joe Rexrode of The Lansing State Journal has more on the victory. 3:10 p.m. 01/29/04 |