Quickies

Paul Wolfowitz hires his mistress (he's married), provides her with salary raises and promotions, and now says he's being treated "unfairly" by the World Bank Board of Directors. Wow, could the U.S. have picked a better person to clean at corruption at the World Bank?!!? Crocodile tears and all of that.

Speaking of corruption, here's one that's flying under the radar in a lot of U.S. press: an American in charge of an Iraqi prison camp has been arrested. And here's an essay on how American media often shuns investigative reporting.

British diplomats are being criticized for an army campaign that tells Afghan farmers that it's OK to grow poppies. I think that not only is it OK, but England, which is short on morphine supplies, should legalize it and import the product. Doing so would increase prices on the world market and perhaps decrease heroin use, if only temporarily.

Meanwhile, in America's so-called War on Drugs (aspirin: you're next!), two Atlanta police officers admit guilt in a case where they raided a 92 year old woman's home and killed her. Radley Balko at Hit & Run has the whole, gruesome story.

Putin is upset about the U.S. proposal to put a "missile defense system" closer to his state. I can certainly understand why. The implication is that these eastern European states are preparing for a defense against a Russian attack. It also means that Russia will see these "defenses" as a possible attack vector against it. Of course, no one in the Bush administration could have predicted Putin's response. Putin heightened his language today.

In U.S. Presidential politics, McCain attempts to distance himself from Bush (moderating his recent stances, slightly) while Guiliani attempts to embrace Bush closer.

Environmentalists call for a ban on bottled water. Bottled water is generally a hoax of purity and freshness. Most city water in the U.S. and Canada is of equally high quality. In fact, some studies have shown that some bottled water is just tap water with no extra treatments. It costs a great deal of resources to package and ship bottled water. Petroleum products in the plastic bottle and in the tanks of trucks used to ship it. Many high end San Francisco restaurants no longer serve bottled water due to the harm it causes the environment. Fact is, bottled water is wasteful. Yea, it's convenient to carry a bottle of water around when hiking or at work, but you can buy one bottle to do that with or, better yet, use a ceramic mug. Note: I don't support a government ban on the stuff, but a personal boycott is fine by me.

Meanwhile, Americans overwhelmingly agree that something needs to be done about global warming. Some think that reducing dependence on oil is necessary while others think we should hire illegal immigrants to take care of the problem for us. (that's a joke, son) Seriously, here's your conspiracy theory of the day: think that the current rise in gasoline prices might be a way to stave off potential gasoline taxes that would go to preventing global warming - Americans would not take kindly, understandably, to the double whammy?

Ever need a Jesus action figure? Like Jesus surfing or riding a bull or playing football? Get them here.

Speaking of religion: Dinosaurs were created on days 5 and 6, according to the Bible, and lasted several hundred years after Noah's flood. So says a former evolutionist now turned creationist. Put that in your Afghan poppy pie and smoke it.

Finally, fun music links: You Say Party! I Say Die! is a self-described punk/dance outfit from Vancouver, B.C. Naturally, they have a MySpace page. Their first and second albums are available via online orders. They were featured in a video podcast by This City Rocks. Good stuff. Highly recommended. Reminds me a bit of music being made in the late 70s and early 80s.