Holiday Break

See you on January 4th.

Catching Terrorists Is Hard Work

Over at The Poor Man, it's one of those dirty little stories from the UK's Telegraph that our American media wishes would just go away.

Three years after Osama bin Laden fled American bombs in his Tora Bora hideout, the search for the world's most wanted man has all but come to a halt because of Pakistan's refusal to permit cross-border raids from Afghanistan, according to CIA officials.

Washington has downgraded its efforts to catch the al-Qa'eda leader in Afghanistan, from where he supervised the September 11 attacks, because it has become convinced that he is hiding in Pakistan's virtually lawless Tribal Areas, which hug the 1,200-mile frontier.

Give Me Shelter

Happy Holidays.

PHILADELPHIA - Police have arrested a soldier they say had his cousin shoot him so he wouldn't have to return to Iraq.

Army Spc. Marquise J. Roberts, of Hinesville, Ga., suffered a minor wound Tuesday to his left leg from a .22-caliber pistol, police said. He was treated at a hospital, then arrested after he and his cousin allegedly admitted making up a story about the shooting.

After giving differing accounts of the incident, "they just broke down and confessed that they concocted the whole story so he didn't have to go back to the war," Philadelphia police Lt. James Clark said Thursday.

...

Police said Roberts, a supply specialist who had spent seven months in Iraq, was distraught about having to return to combat duty and wanted to stay with his family.

More Brilliance!

Just like John over at AMERICAblog said, the first time this happens for real it's all on Bush.

Baggage screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport spotted — and then lost — a fake bomb planted in luggage by a supervisor during a training exercise.

Despite an hours-long search Tuesday night, the bag, containing a fake bomb complete with wires, a detonator and a clock, made it onto an Amsterdam-bound flight. It was recovered by airport security officials in Amsterdam when the flight landed several hours later....

In October, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported that screeners missed one in four fake explosives and weapons in secret weekly tests conducted throughout the summer by TSA agents.

In Tuesday night's test, a TSA supervisor secretly placed the bomb, which was designed to resemble the plastic explosive Semtex, inside a bag that was put through screening machines, Davis said.

A baggage screening machine sounded an alarm, but workers somehow lost track of the bag, which was then loaded onto a Continental Airlines flight.

Despite the incident, no flights were delayed and the terminal remained open.

Linda Cropp = Brilliant!


"I'm not trying to kill the deal," Council chairperson Linda Cropp said before cackling and disappearing amid a cloud of thick smoke.

"Baseball operations will proceed, but its business and promotional activities will cease until further notice," Major League Baseball chief operating officer Bob DuPuy stated.

Major League Baseball made the announcement Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the District of Columbia Council voted 7-6 to provide only half the funding needed to construct a new ball park for the Nationals, formerly the Montreal Expos.

The amendment was not part of the relocation agreement that Washington Mayor Anthony A. Williams negotiated with Major League Baseball, which committed to relocating the Expos in time for the 2005 season if council approved complete funding for a ball park and temporary renovations to RFK Stadium by Dec. 31.

"The legislation is inconsistent with our carefully-negotiated agreement and is wholly unacceptable," DuPuy said.

Asked if Tuesday's vote could prove to be a deal-breaker, Williams responded: "Yes, I think baseball is now in jeopardy."

"We had a deal," he continued. "I believe the deal was broken and the dream of 33 years is now once again close to dying."

"I am not trying to kill the deal," claimed Council chairperson Linda Cropp, who proposed the private-financing amendment.

"I'm putting some teeth in it because I'm really disappointed with what I got from Major League Baseball."

Lost Doom

The missing Doom column will be back up later today. Blogger dicked up my post on Sunday morning and I've been too busy with school the past two days to fix it. However, trust me, when Doom goes 3 - 0, he wants you to know about it.

"I Never Apologize, Lisa"

"I'm sorry, but that's just the way I am."

St. Rudy, brought to The White House for a public castration.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, attended a Christmas dinner at the White House on Sunday night to apologize to his host for pushing Bernard B. Kerik as homeland security secretary.

“I feel very bad,” Giuliani said Sunday afternoon in a telephone interview.

“ ... I realize that one of the reasons they did it was because of my confidence in Bernie over the years,” he said. “And I feel like maybe I should have involved myself more in it.”



"You disappointed me Rudy..."

Did They Mention That Kerik Was Present On 9/11?

This is a long excerpt from an even-longer editorial that is well-worth investing a few minutes in.

From start to stunning finish, George Bush wrapped his re-election campaign in 9/11 cloth, so there would be no mistaking which emotional strings or ballot levers to pull. Indeed, a video clip floating around the Internet splices together just the "9/11," "Sept. 11" and "terror" references from GOP convention speeches. It drones on for several terror-logged minutes. Included in the montage is Bernard Kerik, walking 9/11 icon and now presidential embarrassment.

President Bush picked Kerik, the able former New York City police commissioner, to be the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, not because of Kerik's extensive Washington experience (Kerik's is nil) or his button-down style (not that long ago, Kerik wore a ponytail as long as your sister's) or his acclaim fighting terrorists (battling New York's street thugs is a whole other brand of crime).

No, Kerik, who retired months after the attacks, was picked and picked first because he was on the job on Sept. 11, 2001, at the elbow of Mayor/sponsor Rudy Giuliani throughout, and later the freshman president's, and thus became a human icon of the tragedy — one who then doubled his currency by getting behind the president's re-election. He promoted that cause with a zealousness not seen since New York's war on squeegee men.

Perhaps one horse-length ahead of the sheriff, Kerik on Saturday removed his name from consideration for Homeland Security chief, stating that he discovered just a few days ago that he and his family did not pay all required taxes for their apparently forgettable nanny-housekeeper, who mostly likely was in the country illegally. Kerik said he was to blame for not being more forthcoming about the lapse, the kind of which has caused other presidential picks either to flame out in public or remove their names from short and long lists.

Kerik now holds the distinction of being the first New York pol to turn his considerable 9/11 fame into parody. Giuliani, who personally sold business-partner Kerik to eager-buyer Bush, might be next. To say that Giuliani and the White House didn't read — or appreciate — the whole of Kerik's public and private resume would to be an understatement. Reporters doing their own vetting ferreted more damaging material on Kerik — from allegations of broken marital ties to mob ties to funny-money business deals— faster than one can say "nomination withdrawn."

WHERE ARE YOU?!?

"Here."

The new Batman Begins trailer is online; follow that link!

Everybody Loves Rummy

Check your local listings for showtimes and availability.

U.S. Sen. John McCain said Monday that he has "no confidence" in Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, citing Rumsfeld's handling of the war in Iraq and the failure to send more troops.

McCain, speaking to The Associated Press in an hourlong interview, said his comments were not a call for Rumsfeld's resignation, explaining that President Bush "can have the team that he wants around him."

Asked about his confidence in the secretary's leadership, McCain recalled fielding a similar question a couple weeks ago.

"I said no. My answer is still no. No confidence," McCain said.

He estimated an additional 80,000 Army personnel and 20,000 to 30,000 more Marines would be needed to secure Iraq.

"I have strenuously argued for larger troop numbers in Iraq, including the right kind of troops — linguists, special forces, civil affairs, etc.," said McCain, R-Ariz. "There are very strong differences of opinion between myself and Secretary Rumsfeld on that issue."

When asked if Rumsfeld was a liability to the Bush administration, McCain responded: "The president can decide that, not me."