Quickies

More Afghan civilian casualties. If this keeps up, and it's likely to do so, they'll want us out even more than the Iraqis. Not acceptable - pull the troops from Iraq, focus on Afghanistan, punish those who would coddle the Taliban or work with them to eradicate those folks and then go home. That's my moderate stance, by the way. The radical one says we should get out altogether and never have gone in. Update: The Afghan Senate has called for talks with the Taliban and for attacks against them to stop. Talk instead of civil war?!!?

Charges were dropped against Cuban terrorist Luis Posada Carriles. The U.S. screwed up the translation of his immigration interview and tried hanky panky to convict him. Still, he is an alleged terrorist and deserves to be tried.

Funny, the U.S. sent Kindasleazy Rice to the Middle East for a summit last week. The problem is that she's been undercut so many times that leaders there aren't certain that she speaks for the administration. So, now, Cheney's over there. Will he undermine her again?

The UN is warning against a hasty switch to biofuels. Will Washington state or Bush or other U.S. leaders listen? Probably not since it means income for industrial farming.

Bill Clinton supports cheaper AIDS drugs made by India. India is break patents in order to make the drugs. If Clinton really is supporting the undermining of patents - in any way - this is a major step and it will likely throw fire on his wife's candidacy. In other medical news, doctors get payoffs from drug companies. Wait, this is news?!!? Oh, it's only news if someone is being harmed.

The World Bank called on Israel to ease up on it's restrictions on Palestinian movements. Israel, I'm sure, will reply that it doesn't take orders from political institutions with corrupt leaders, unless that institution is the U.S. administration.