if you don’t want to hear more about iraq, you’re in the wrong place. as long as our government insists on occupying a foreign nation under false pretenses, I’m going to keep questioning it.

the latest news appears to be an exercise in pretend-math.

Between 50 and 60 attacks are carried out each day, the same number as in 2004, according to Gen Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

sooo… okay, there have been the same number of “insurgent” attacks as there were last year. normally, you’d expect this to mean that the situation hasn’t changed. I mean, over an entire year, there hasn’t been any kind of decrease from these 50 or 60 daily attacks. that’s still a hell of a lot, even spread across an entire country. so things are at a stalemate, right?
Read the rest of this entry »

looks like the army is as excited as everyone else about those new-fangled hybrids. though it won’t be replacing anything in a combat-area, this new motorcarriage is supposed to help soldiers get around the base without relying on gas from the a-rabs:

The vehicle is powered by a small, three-cylinder diesel engine and two hybrid motors. It would cost about $20,000 to manufacture and could replace a $65,000 Humvee, Almand said. The vehicles are expected to get about 50 miles per gallon, compared to the Humvee’s current 11 mpg. “The more money we can save the better,” Almand said.

Read the rest of this entry »

the only explanation for the 40-degree drop in temperature that I can come up with: many of you have not been fully supporting the new pope, and he is using his magical powers to illustrate his anger.

the supercardinals convened again today in the hall o’ penitence, announcing with a puff of white smoke that they’d elected a conservative white guy as pope. and while he may have been part of the hitler youth, don’t worry! he says he wasn’t a nazi. kind of like wearing a member’s only jacket in the 80’s… no one was actually a member.