Quickies

What is THAT, you might be asking. Relax. It's a new kid's toy. Of course it is, you might be sighing with mock relief...

RIP Ruth Brown. I came to her music late, but I'm so glad that I got to it at all. A Million Miles Away has 3 samples.

Al Jazeera English has it's first scoop: Blair admits that Iraq has been a disaster.

After seeing Borat last night, it's probably not surprising that this story of US troops seizing Iraqi homes for months at a time (a successful technique for winning wars and friends, no doubt learned from many other occupying forces throughout the ages) has not gotten much play here.

Taylor Marsh has a guest poster on her blog who delivers a caustic analysis of what the Baker Commission Report is likely to say (hint: the poster suspects a political cover-up that will allow the President to "stay the course" in all of the important ways). A quote:

The next six months will be critical (Where have we heard that before? As we have been in Iraq for over 42 months, there have been at least 7 inflexion points where "the next six months will be critical." These are Fabian tactics).

The Iraq government needs to get its act together (Do tell. But how can the dummy solve problems created by the ventriloquist?).

The Iraq government must be given a timetable/benchmarks/some other euphemism (This finding will challenge the creative writing skills of the commission staff).

Not even "white rednecks" voted for us, says Republican Adam Putnam, who wants to chair the GOP conference.

A man used an mp3 player to tap into ATM records and bilk customers for over 200,000 pounds. Genius! Or, um, horrible security.