Molly Ivons "Crow Eaten Here"

Molly Ivins has apparently been pontificating on the Iraq War for the last couple of years without the seemingly crucial piece of information that Saddam had murdered several hundred thousand people. Surely self-reflection over this sort of grievous error might lead her to conclude that she ought not be a commentator at all. (Scroll to bottom, hidden under pontification about power grids)

Echinacea - cold feet in lab tests

Three preparations of echinacea, with distinct phytochemical profiles, were produced by extraction from E. angustifolia roots with supercritical carbon dioxide, 60 percent ethanol, or 20 percent ethanol. A total of 437 volunteers were randomly assigned to receive either prophylaxis (beginning seven days before the virus challenge) or treatment (beginning at the time of the challenge) either with one of these preparations or with placebo. The results for 399 volunteers who were challenged with rhinovirus type 39 and observed in a sequestered setting for five days were included in the data analysis. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant effects of the three echinacea extracts on rates of infection or severity of symptoms.

Israel Commentary

Martin Peretz in TNR writes about the Churches' enthusiasm for divestment from Israel:
The clerics and the lay leaders on this indefensible crusade are so fixated on Palestine because their obsession, which can be buttressed by various Christian sources and traditions, is really with the Jews. A close look at this morbid passion makes one realize that its roots include an ancient hostility for the House of Israel, an ugly survival of a hoary intolerance into some of the allegedly enlightened precincts of modern Christendom.

Consequences of News Media Naval Gazing

Sad but true from Nicholas Kristof:

The manhandling of journalists accompanying Ms. Rice got more coverage than any massacre in Darfur has.
NYT - All Ears for Tom Cruise, All Eyes on Brad Pitt

Dealing with spam the Russian way

Pretty gruesome - a simple DDOS attack would have sufficed
MOSNEWS - Russia’s Biggest Spammer Brutally Murdered in Apartment

London Mayor Outrages Jewish Community

UK Jewish community response to Ken Livingston(PDF), the anti-semitic Mayor of London

bill of rights takes form in iraq

Publius Pundit details improvements in the latest draft of Iraq's Bill of Rights: removing the exclusion of Israeli's from citizenship eligibility, recognizing property rights, expanding due process provisions and removes reference to Sharia law.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Spam haters given right of reply

BBC NEWS - Spam haters given right of reply

A great website discussing the meaning of nursery rhymes:
Three Blind Mice rhyme

The origin of the 'tale' of Three blind mice!
The origin of the words to the Three blind mice rhyme are based in English history. The 'farmer's wife' refers to the daughter of King Henry VIII, Queen Mary I. Mary was a staunch Catholic and her violent persecution of Protestants led to the nickname of 'Bloody Mary'. The reference to 'farmer's wife' in Three blind mice refers to the massive estates which she, and her husband King Philip of Spain, possessed. The 'three blind mice' were three noblemen who adhered to the Protestant faith who were convicted of plotting against the Queen - she did not have them dismembered and blinded as inferred in Three blind mice - but she did have them burnt at the stake!

Good news, the US is finally getting involved in the Darfur genocide.
allAfrica.com: Sudan: Rwanda Sends More Troops to Darfur

Two battalions are to be deployed by the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) to the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur.On Sunday morning, the first contingent comprising ninety five soldiers left Kigali aboard U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster 111 cargo plane deployed from U.S. bases in Europe as part of an ongoing mission to carry African peacekeeping troops and supplies to the region.

Metula News Agency

Hmmm, somehow I hadn't heard of this particular episode before:

That is what, according to Parker, explains the evolution of the New York Times (NYT) that gave, on 7 February, a striking demonstration of the disinformation it practices in its treatment of Middle East news. The incident happened when, reproducing in its columns an article from the Herald Tribune [1], its affiliated daily paper, the New York Times took the liberty of amputating from the article a paragraph that did not fit in with its editorial policy.

This paragraph revealed the red-handed lying of the permanent correspondent of the French public television channel France 2 in Israel, Charles Enderlin, reporting the fact that the chief editor of L'Express, Denis Jeambar, had written in Le Figaro that there were no pictures of the child's agony in the raw rushes in France 2's possession. This same paragraph, which the New York Times consigned to oblivion, also indicated that the raw footage contained numerous scenes in which Palestinians “played” war games where they fought against Israelis, simulating, in most cases, imaginary wounds.

So the readers of the New York Times had to make do without this information, unless they consulted the complete version of the article available in the Herald Tribune.
Metula News Agency

Matt on first-date financials...
The first-date dilemma that won't die: Who pays?

Women routinely offer to pay - even though it is at best half-hearted and bogus, and at worst a kind of test.

Clinton first linked al Qaeda to Saddam - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - June 25, 2004

The Clinton administration talked about firm evidence linking Saddam Hussein's regime to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network years before President Bush made the same statements.

Hooray! Another protestant church shows its commitment to anti-semitism. I think this is a relatively small group. Still, every last corpse on the bandwagon helps.
JTA - Breaking News

A resolution passed at the UCC’s biennial synod Tuesday urged local churches “to use economic leverage,” including “divesting from those companies that refuse to change their practices of gain from the perpetuation of violence, including the Occupation.” A separate resolution called upon Israel to remove its West Bank security barrier.

Tirelessly working on behalf of the good citizens of Bethnal Green, is George Galloway:

Thus far, he has not attended a single parliamentary vote since being elected, according to the British Public Whip. He recently signed on with a 'celebrity productions' promoter to travel around the country presenting 'The 'Mother of All One Man Shows' — An Audience with George Galloway MP.'
Forward Newspaper Online

Iraqi insurgents are finally realizing that their jihadi allies don't exactly share the same goals:
Telegraph- US delight as Iraqi rebels turn their guns on al-Qa'eda

live ate

This is London - Showbiz

the food put out for the celebrities, which included lobster, caviar, doughnuts and Ben & Jerry's ice-cream.