Pentagon Plans Massive Overhaul of Bases

Massive sorta. There are a lot of changes (the two volumes of the report
total about 750 pages) but the DoD is huge and much will remain unchanged.
Thank goodness for PDF documents; it only took me ten minutes to verify
that the 13 or so bases I work at will still be there. In fact, several of
them will be gaining personnel. My heart does go out to the people who
will lose their jobs, or have to transfer to another state to keep them.
Hey, what about the protesters who will have to commute because their
local base was realigned? It'd be a bummer to have to disrupt traffic
in front of a base three states away. Maybe there will be relocation funds
for displaced moonbats.

the Green Party

Paperwork isn't so hard to do today, all I have to do is
look out the window at the alternatives. Lawn mowing has broken out
all over. And I'd swear some of these guys were out there mowing
last weekend too. Have we changed the formula to twice a week?
I didn't get that memo. Anyway, I don't find lawn mowing relaxing.
Especially early in the season when the mower blade is still finding
all the jump-ropes, Barbie heads, and dog collars that were lost
last winter.

I do have lots to do. The government has started paying their bills
again, so there must be a renegade at the payment office. Best to get
all the paperwork in while I can. [sometimes I wonder if their fax
machine doesn't output directly into one of those beige government
trash cans]

Iraq

From Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s letter to Tony Blair:

Millions of brave Iraqis defy terrorism and reject dictatorship every day, without fuss, and certainly without attention from the television cameras. We undertake to rebuild a shattered country that has been scarred by decades of tyranny. With unwavering resolve we support plurality, egalitarianism, and the political process.

Building a democratic federal Iraq is a difficult, and slow, but rewarding process. Those who doubt the swiftness of transition must keep in mind that a state such as Iraq is a cultural, ethnic and linguistic mosaic that was only ever held together by brute force, thus, political speed can kill.

Nevertheless, January saw Iraq’s first free and open general election, leading to the first democratically elected government of our desolate history. Yet our struggle for a better, emancipated Iraq is only due to the consistent and unwavering support of Prime Minister Blair, the British people, and the coalition of the willing.

She's back

For one startling moment, I thought grandma Lumberjack was still among us.
I know, I know, I thought the same thing when the first pictures
from the Dylan Love, Theft, and Reading Glasses Tour came out.

Scandablogs

I've been clicking on more Scandinavian blogs lately. Not sure, but
maybe I'm expecting there to be a click as the realization settles on
the most liberal of cultures that they are under attack.
Anyway, it's interesting, and I am educating myself. For instance I now
know from Oslogirl that "The recent influx of younger, more attractive
prostitutes from abroad is squeezing older, drug-addled Norwegian prostitutes
out of the market...."

Hats

love those girls in the Great Big Hats

Weird News

From News of the Weird:

Burglars who fall asleep on the job is a retired News of the Weird category, but Steven Jakaitis, 42, was arrested in Quincy, Mass., in March outside a CVS pharmacy, where police said he fell asleep while preparing to rob the place. His car was idling; a stocking was on his head and a pistol in his pocket; and the piece of paper beside him read, "I have a Gun DO NOT Press any Alarms or let Custermors (sic) know Empty the All (sic) the register." [Patriot Ledger (Quincy), 3-15-05]

[har]

Poetic Justice

From the Corvallis Gazette-Times:

Greenpeace charged with violating environmental law
By RACHEL D'ORO
Associated Press writer

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Lawyers selected a jury Monday that will decide whether Greenpeace and its contract ship were criminally negligent by failing to have the proper oil spill response paperwork during an anti-logging campaign.

The environmental activist group, the captain of the Arctic Sunrise and the ship's agent all are charged with misdemeanor criminal counts of operating a vessel without a spill contingency plan or proof of financial responsibility in case of a spill, as required by state law.

Opening statements were scheduled Tuesday in state District Court in the southeast Alaska town of Ketchikan. Because the case involves misdemeanor charges, it will be heard by only six jurors and two alternates.

"We feel good about the jury and feel confident they'll listen to all the evidence and render a fair verdict based on the evidence presented in court,'' said Greenpeace attorney Tom Wetterer.

State environmental regulators cited Greenpeace Inc., Arctic Sunrise Capt. Arne Sorensen and ship agent Willem Beekman last July for not filing a spill response plan or having a financial responsibility certificate. According to court documents, the ship was carrying more than 70,000 gallons of "petroleum products'' when it arrived in southeast Alaska for the protest campaign against logging in the Tongass National Forest.

How much? Seventy thousand gallons? And these are the guys who presume to
instruct *us* about treading lightly on Mother Nature?

Most E-mailed

Yahoo news has had most popular, and most e-mailed news for
some time now. I'll check it from time to time, though lately I've
wondered if the ballot box isn't being stuffed by people e-mailing
stories to themselves just to bump their favorite story up the chart.

Lately though, there's new links at the bottom of the page for most
e-mailed stories from different countries. Interesting that for the last
week the french and the germans have mainly e-mailed cartoons to each
other. And with the b-fish you can see which stories they consider
important. Ah, well. It's something to do if you don't have interest
in what Paula Abdul does on her spare time.

Oh, and you don't need translation for the most e-mailed stories from
India; they're in english. Like this one: [har]

Fraudster sells PM's residence on Web site
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The intelligence department is investigating reports that a fraudster sold an American businessman the prime minister's residence in the heart of New Delhi recently, a leading daily reported on Sunday.

The businessman forked out 35 million rupees ($802,600) for the house that was up for sale on a Web site as a "huge sprawling mansion in the heart of Lutyen's Delhi with 24x7 running water and electricity", the Hindustan Times said.

He soon received the title deed for the house and arrived in the Indian capital late in March to take possession of the house for an office he planned to set up only to discover he had been cheated.

Internet Back?

I better post fast, my cable is off-again, on-again; mainly off.
What a situation, being out of cybertouch and unable to receive
the latest Runaway Bride updates. What if she bolts again? Will
she have to pay for the search? And what is Rosie O'Donnell's take
on the situation?

One thing I really did miss when the internet was gone? Laura
Bush's remarks. Har, funny, well spoken woman. I just hope she
busts chops over new-ku-lar at home too.