Probably, the Best Dollar I’ve Ever Spent

So, over the weekend I was hanging out on 6th St. in Austin, TX.

Check out these Homeless Hippies on My flickr.

As we were walking from bar to bar, we saw these two homeless guys sitting on the corner. They literally just finished writing this sign and were laughing about it amongst themselves.

Once I read what the sign says, I knew I had to take a picture. I told the guy I would give him a dollar if he let me take a picture of him and put it on the internet so I could take him “Viral!” He gotta pretty excited! His friend got a little pissed!

I mean no disrespect to these two random homeless guys, but just from the looks of your sign…. I can see why you’re on the corner.

Long story short, I totally lost that bet. I read the sign. We all had a good laugh. My friend & I each gave them a buck .

Hajj and reading the Quran declared to be a 'crime' in China

Protest rally in front of Chinese Embassy by Uighurs living in Belgium

A court in China's far-western region of Xinjiang has sentenced five imams to seven years in Chinese concentration camps for "illegally" organizing Hajj pilgrimages to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the World Uighur Congress reported.

The clerics were also charged with illegally providing copies of the Koran at a recent sentencing rally in Xayar County, near Xinjiang's Aksu City, said the Munich-based spokesman of the Congress.
More than 300 people attended the rally organized by the County People's Court, said the spokesman.

In a separate report, the World Uighur Congress said authorities in Aksu's Kalpin County had demolished a mosque, which refused to hang slogans supporting the Beijing Olympics. It happened despite the worldwide response initiated by the report about this incident. Moreover, Muslims were officially not allowed to show up on the streets during the "Olympic torch-bearing ceremony" for "security purposes".

State media said that more than 100,000 Chinese people completed pilgrimages to Mecca from 1985 to 2006. An annual record of 10,000 Chinese Muslims were sent to Saudi Arabia from November 2006 to last January, reports said.

There are almost 21 million Muslims living in China. Half of them are from the Huai nation living in Northeastern region. The largest ethnic community of the Province of Xinjiang consists of Uighurs practicing Islam. Their number is about 7.4 million.

Chinese authorities persecute Muslims on a regular basis, and imams of the mosques are supposed to undergo special "political retraining".

Man flies 235 miles in lawn chair

Kent Couch leaves his gas station in Bend, Ore., riding a lawn chair rigged with more than 150 giant party balloons in an attempt to fly to Idaho. He is equipped with a BB gun and a blowgun for popping balloons if he gets too high and three 15-gallon barrels of cherry Kool-Aid for ballast to release if he gets too low.

War veteran Michael Cobb's PHD at 91

A 91-year-old war veteran who collected a PhD from Cambridge University said today: “I don’t know what all the fuss is about.”

Michael Cobb is believed to be the oldest recipient of such a qualification from the university.

Forty members of his family joined him at the ceremony yesterday.

Col Cobb, of Plymtree, Devon, earned his doctorate by creating an atlas which records and maps the railway stations built in Britain between 1807 and 1994.

His son Stephen, 60, who flew in from Canada, said: "We're all very proud of him. To get a PhD at 91 is incredible. No one else in the family has got one. There are a few masters degrees but that's about it. It was an incredible surprise and means an awful lot to us all."

Col Cobb, however, who was among the British troops evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940, said: "I don't know what all the fuss is about. It's something I wanted to do and something I loved doing."

A university spokesman said The Railways of Great Britain: A Historical Atlas was Col Cobb's magnum opus and had involved 18 years of research.

Col Cobb gained his first degree 70 years ago, studying mechanical sciences at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and graduating in 1938 before his wartime service. He began work on the atlas at the age of 62.

"It is a remarkable piece of scholarship," said Dr Richard Smith, head of the university's geography department.

"I was deeply impressed by the systematic way the cartographic enterprise had been carried out." The academic distinction of doctor of philosophy is awarded for "original contributions to knowledge".

President George Bush: 'Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter'

George Bush surprised world leaders with a joke about his poor record on the environment as he left the G8 summit in Japan.

George Bush shares a joke with Prime Minister of Japan Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese President Hu Jintao at the G8 Summit in Toyako

The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

Mr Bush, whose second and final term as President ends at the end of the year, then left the meeting at the Windsor Hotel in Hokkaido where the leaders of the world's richest nations had been discussing new targets to cut carbon emissions.

One official who witnessed the extraordinary scene said afterwards: "Everyone was very surprised that he was making a joke about America's record on pollution."

Mr Bush also faced criticism at the summit after Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, was described in the White House press pack given to journalists as one of the "most controversial leaders in the history of a country known for government corruption and vice".

The White House apologised for what it called "sloppy work" and said an official had simply lifted the characterisation from the internet without reading it.

Concluding the three-day event, leaders from the G8 and developing countries proclaimed a "shared vision" on climate change. However, they failed to bridge differences between rich and emerging nations on curbing emissions.

Tom Selleck Cake

I said I was gonna make a cake, and make a cake, I did! A Tom Selleck cake. My friend, Emma, was having a birthday bash, and seeing as she can't have the real Tom Selleck for a present, I made her this...

Read Alicia Policia's blog

Bush And Father Do Golf Fundraiser For McCain

George W. Bush famously claimed to have given up golf out of respect for soldiers in Iraq:

"I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf," he said. "I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."

But this great sacrifice has taken the backseat to a more urgent concern -- raising money for John McCain:

If you're a high-flying Republican, and you can afford to take next Monday off to fly to Maine, have we got a treat for you.

On that day, former President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush are hosting a high-dollar fundraiser for John McCain near their home in Kennebunkport.

According to a solicitation sent by the McCain camp, for the low, low price of $5,000, you can play a round of golf at Cape Arundel Golf Course, Bush's home course.

"Both President Bush and Governor Jeb Bush will be stopping by to greet the foursomes," the missive promises. "The course is reserved for this private group, and VIPs will be visiting during your round of golf. This event is a great way to end a weekend getaway, and we would be honored if you can attend."

Amba regretting an abortion: "if an embryo or fetus is regarded as disposable, then you are, too."

I wanted to break out this beautifully written comment that Annie Gottlieb wrote in the comments to yesterday's abortion post (the one that linked to a Bloggingheads episode featuring 2 diavloggers trying to grapple with the realization that the unborn entity isn't "a blob"):

The nonreligious conclusion I came to as the result of lasting (lifelong) regret of an abortion is that if an embryo or fetus is regarded as disposable, then you are, too. I guess it's a version of what Mother Theresa was saying. An individual either is unique and uniquely valuable or isn't. All are or none are. If your existence had happened at the wrong time (I won't use the demeaning word "inconvenient" because sometimes it's little more than that, but sometimes it's a lot worse), you could have been disposed of. Your existence is accidental and contingent.

(Of course if you believe human beings are nothing special, even a plague on the planet, then by all means let's declare open season on 'em and hasten their extinction. Oh, uh, "us" is "them.")

To consider abortion acceptable is to make a philosophical decision about the world without even knowing it.

It's a tricky thing to write into law. Nearly all traditions have recognized the primacy of the mother's life and circumstances (including economic) in the early stages of pregnancy. The irony is that they knew a lot less than we do about what's involved. They really did believe it was a "blob." We know better.

But they also believed pregnancy was something like an act of God. That's why sex was so severely policed. I can understand why Catholics believe that there's a connection between the casual attitude made possible by birth control and a casual attitude toward life itself.

But is that inevitable? If people choose, for a time or for all time, to use sex to "make self" -- to make their own lives and relationships richer, which I do believe is one of its lifegiving uses -- then they should use birth control religiously. One of the big pro-choice arguments is that "birth control fails." Certainly some percentage of that failure rate is due to wrong or careless use of it. The rest -- the true failures -- might be seen as successes of someone who is just hellbent on being here. And the unwitting invitation of such a person should be viewed at all times as one of the ineradicable risks of sex.

Annie has another comment, that links to an important post of hers from 2005:

You know there are pro-life people who would make it mandatory that a woman be shown an ultrasound of her fetus before she can have an abortion.

I was once at the hospital with a woman who was beginning to miscarry, and I watched the live ultrasound. She was, I forget, maybe 8 or 10 weeks pregnant. The embryo/fetus didn't look like a baby yet, but you could see its heart beating.

I wonder if I would have been able to go through with an abortion if I'd seen that.

Thanks for writing all that over here, Amba.

I'm very interested in this idea that sex has become, as you put it, a way to "make self." It reminds me of the way people used to talk about taking drugs — especially LSD — back in the 1960s. It was supposed to be a profound journey of self-actualization. I remember being surprised to see kids only a few years younger than me taking drugs just to have fun or because they had nothing else to do. When you first break from the old traditions, maybe you have to make up a big, weighty story about how you are proceeding onto some higher ground. I'm sure you can use sex for profound self-actualization. In fact, you can still use drugs that way if you set your mind to it. But how many people do?

Boeing, Northrop, EADS Await Tanker Decision

The U.S. Air Force is expected to announce whether it will reopen bidding on the troubled billion-dollar program

Will the U.S. Air Force reopen competition for one of the most lucrative military contracting prizes in history, giving Boeing (BA) another shot at building refueling aircraft? Or will it stay the course, giving the business to Northrop Grumman (NOC) and its European partner, European Aeronautic Defence & Space (EAD.PA), the parent of Airbus? A decision is expected to be announced July 9.

The $35 billion award, the first of three contracts to replace 600 aging tanker planes, has been mired in controversy and delay for years. The latest holdup came when the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a protest by Boeing of the Air Force's chosen supplier of the planes, a consortium of Northrop Grumman and EADS.

The Air Force has several options, but the public and investors won't learn which it has chosen until Defense Secretary Robert Gates makes his announcement. Then all eyes will turn to the House Armed Services Committee, to see if they'll go along with the verdict. Congress holds the purse strings, and some in the House have threatened to find ways of compelling the military to give its tanker business to Boeing. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill anticipate getting "courtesy calls" informing them of the decision at around 10 a.m. ET; an Air Force press conference is anticipated about two hours later.

Top acquisition officials from the Pentagon are set to testify on the award July 10 before the House Armed Services Air & Land Forces subcommittee.

A "Quick Fix" or "Starting Over?"

Lawmakers from Washington state and Kansas, where Boeing employs thousands of workers, have put considerable pressure on the Air Force to reopen the bidding process and cancel the contract with Northrop Grumman and EADS.

"The Air Force could try anything from a quick fix to starting over," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, an Arlington (Va.)-based think tank. But as a practical matter, Thompson said, any attempt that appears to ignore the GAO report would meet resistance in Congress, where lawmakers could move to block the Air Force from awarding the contract to Northrop Grumman.

Meanwhile, Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) introduced a Senate resolution on July 8, calling on the Pentagon to rebid the flawed tanker contract. "The GAO's decision was clear, and today we are reiterating that message so that the Pentagon knows there is no wiggle room," Murray said. "It's time to go back and hold a truly transparent competition that does our war fighters and taxpayers justice."

The resolution was co-sponsored by Senators Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Kit Bond (R-Mo.), and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)

Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, where the Northrop Grumman plane would be assembled, said he would support the bidders submitting revised proposals instead of a "full recompetition" to speed the process along. "It is important to remember that the GAO's concerns were with procedural flaws in the Air Force's process, not with Northrop Grumman's product," Shelby said.

Why McCain Fails My Mom's Test

by Robert L. Borosage

My feisty 94-year-old mother has no patience for John McCain. "He's too old," she says bluntly, and "his ideas are out to lunch." That probably is to be expected from a woman who hasn't voted for a Republican since Eisenhower. But her opposition to McCain isn't really based on his politics. She just thinks his candidacy is an open insult to her intelligence and the intelligence of every American voter.

At 94, she doesn't claim to be an expert. She'd rather watch Wimbledon than a political debate. Her subscriptions tend towards health care and investing newsletters rather than political magazines. Her reading features schlock novels rather than the latest Bush expose. She follows fashions and styles, but isn't exactly au courant. "Is it legal to show this stuff?" she asked in a stage whisper in the midst of Sex and the City, cracking up the folks around us. But daughter of an Italian immigrant, raised in Milwaukee living above the family's corner store, she has a growing concern about the country she loves and her four great grandchildren will inherit.

That's why she thinks McCain is just insulting. He says he'll balance the budget while promising to cut everyone's taxes. "That's just nonsense," she says. "We've heard these promises before. Does he think we can't remember what Bush did and what Reagan did?" Then he says he'll stay in Iraq, increase spending on the military, and take the cuts from domestic programs. "Doesn't he look around at what is happening here? It's time to take care of this country now." She thinks his support for privatizing Social Security will just hurt the most vulnerable seniors. And his health care plan just makes her mad. "He keeps talking about more choice, and having people deal directly with the insurance companies. He's been on government health care all his life. He has no idea how complicated this is." My mother earned her PhD after raising her children and prides herself on her independence, managing her own finances, balancing her own checkbooks. But even she had to give her medical bills to my sister to manage.

After nine decades, my mother doesn't expect much from any politician. She knows strong families are the foundation of this country, and she built one with love and wisdom. But she isn't a cynic. And she wants straight talk to be more than a slogan. After a severe stroke, she left us yesterday. Her spirit lives in the hearts of the loving family and friends she touched so deeply. McCain is lucky she won't be here to cast her vote in November, because he already had lost it.

Iran tests missiles, vows to hit back if attacked

Iran test-fired nine missiles on Wednesday and warned the United States and Israel it was ready to retaliate for any attack over its disputed nuclear projects.

Washington, which says Iran seeks atomic bombs, told Tehran to halt further tests. Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, says its nuclear programme is only for electricity.

Iran's missile tests rattled oil markets, helping crude prices to rebound about $2 a barrel after recent falls.

Speculation that Israel could bomb Iran has mounted since a big Israeli air drill last month. U.S. leaders have not ruled out military options if diplomacy fails to end the nuclear row.

But the United States gave no hint to leaders of a group of eight rich nations meeting in Japan this week that it planned to attack Iran, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said.

"No mention of a military option (was made) by the United States," he said in Toyako, Japan.

Revolutionary Guards air force commander Hossein Salami said in televised comments that thousands of missiles were ready to be fired at "pre-determined targets". Missiles were shown soaring from desert launchpads, leaving long vapour trails.

"We warn the enemies who intend to threaten us with military exercises and empty psychological operations that our hand will always be on the trigger and our missiles will always be ready to launch," he said, according to ISNA news agency.

The White House told Iran to "refrain from further missile tests if they truly seek to gain the trust of the world".

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama called for harsher measures against Tehran after the tests. "Iran is a great threat. We have to make sure we are working with our allies to apply tightened pressure on Iran," he declared.

His Republican opponent John McCain voiced support for a U.S. missile shield as a defence against Iranian missiles.

The tests "demonstrate the need for effective missile defence now and in the future, and this includes missile defence in Europe as is planned with the Czech Republic and Poland," McCain said in a statement.

MISSILE SHIELD

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested the tests justified plans for such a system, which Russia firmly opposes.

"Those who say that there is no Iranian threat against which to be building missile defences perhaps ought to talk to the Iranians about ... the range of the missiles that they test fired," Rice said in Bulgaria.

"These are very dangerous missiles -- that's why the international community and not just Israel has an interest in blocking this escalation in a definitive way," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in Ramallah, in the West Bank.

Iran's State Press TV said the "highly advanced" missiles tested by the Guards included a "new" Shahab 3 missile, which officials have said could reach targets 2,000 km (1,250 miles) away. Iran has said Israel and U.S. bases are in its range.

Some U.S. facilities across the Gulf are little more than 200 km from Iran's coast. The United States has air and naval bases in nearby Arab states, including Qatar and Bahrain.

Iran has said U.S. forces are vulnerable because of their presence in two of its neighbours, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Israel, believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power, has vowed to prevent Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb."Israel does not threaten Iran, but the Iranian nuclear programme, combined with their aggressive ballistic missile programme, is a matter of grave concern," Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said after the tests.

World powers have offered Iran incentives if it suspends uranium enrichment. Tehran has rejected the demand, but Fars news agency quoted an Iranian official as saying chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili would meet European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana within days to discuss the incentives offer.

Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for about 40 percent of globally traded oil, if it is attacked. The U.S. military says it will prevent any such action.The war of words heightens risks that a misunderstanding or a minor clash in the Gulf, for instance, could get out of hand.Tehran and Washington have not had diplomatic ties for almost 30 years and have few avenues for direct communications.

An aide to Iran's Supreme Leader was quoted as saying on Tuesday that his country would hit Tel Aviv, U.S. shipping in the Gulf and U.S. interests in reply to any military strike.

Analysts say Iran's military technology often involves improving weaponry originating in China and North Korea.

"They are some way away yet from threatening Israel or U.S. bases," said London-based independent military analyst Paul Beaver, adding guidance systems over longer ranges needed work. But he said the missile programme was still "pretty advanced." (Additional reporting by Hossein Jaseb, and Paolo Biondi in Tokayo, Japan; writing by Fredrik Dahl and Edmund Blair; editing by Alistair Lyon and Charles Dick)

Australian Judge Aborts Drug Trial Because Jurors Were Playing Sudoku

A judge aborted a drug conspiracy trial Tuesday after some jurors were found to have been playing the puzzle game Sudoku while evidence was being given.

Sydney District Court Judge Peter Zahra ended the trial Tuesday for two men facing a possible life sentence for drug conspiracy charges. The trial had been running for 66 days and had cost taxpayers an estimated 1 million Australian dollars (US$950,000).

The judge was alerted after it was observed the jurors were writing vertically, rather than horizontally. It had been assumed they were taking notes.

"Yes, it helps me keep my mind busy paying more attention," the jury foreman told the judge Tuesday. "Some of the evidence is rather drawn out and I find it difficult to maintain my attention the whole time, and that doesn't distract me too much from proceedings."

Jurors in the trial are anonymous and no action can be taken against them for the puzzle playing.

The foreman admitted to the judge four to five jurors were playing puzzle games for up to half the time the trial had been going.

"Jurors are sort of the judges of the facts and it's very disappointing they weren't giving our clients a fair trial," said Robyn Hakelis, a lawyer for one of the defendants.

A new trial is expected to begin in a few weeks.

Who conspired to use X-ray machine to kill Ahmadinejad?

"Enemies of Iran attempted to kill President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with high-intensity X-ray radiation during his recent trip to Italy," Iran's former ambassador in Rome, Abolfazi Zohrevand, said on Monday.

Ahmadinejad attended a global summit on food at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's Rome headquarters in early June.

"On the eve of the [Iranian] president's visit to Rome, we checked the radiation levels in his temporary residence," Abolfazi Zohrevand told Iran's IRNA news agency.

"We found out that the radiation was higher than normal and its intensity was rapidly increasing," he said, adding that several devices were used to avoid potential error in readings, but they all showed the same results.

"A day before Ahmadinejad's arrival in Rome, I checked and found out that the (security) X-ray machines installed gave off too powerful radiation. It measured over 900 instead of 300 as normal," Zohrevand told Iran's IRNA news agency.

"We changed the machine, thinking that it was faulty, but realized the rays were being remotely controlled," he said.

"Bearing in mind that rays of over 1,500 are extremely dangerous to human life, this makes us think there was a plot," Zohrevand continued.

Former ambassador would not report any other details of the unsuccessful assassination attempt. According to him, the additional information including the one revealing the masterminds, will be publicized "in its proper time".

Last week Italian media reported referring to Iran's presidential adviser Ali Zabihi that the plotters were masterminding an assassination attempt against Ahmadinejad during his visit to Italy.

In mid-June Ahmadinejad himself mentioned another assassination attempt during his March visit to Baghdad and said only changes to his schedule had foiled the plot. Head of the Iranian government also pledged to provide proof that the United States was behind an attempt on his life in early March in Baghdad.

British 'super-spy' in coma amid fears of poisoning by Russian assassin

Britain's leading spy was fighting for his life after he mysteriously fell into a coma on the 4th of July.

Alex Allan, the head of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, was found unconscious at his west London home on Monday and taken to hospital.

The 56-year-old chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee's condition deteriorated after he complained of feeling unwell towards the end of last week.

Friends say he is a keen athlete who is extremely fit and doctors are trying to find out whether he has contracted pneumonia.
Toxicology experts were also carrying out tests.

Gordon Brown was immediately informed of Mr Allan's condition, which was described as critical, because of his role at the top of the intelligence services.

The civil servant had direct access to the Prime Minister and gave him regular briefings about the terrorist threat to Britain.

His unexpected coma has raised fears of an assassination attempt which coincide with a warning from intelligence sources today that Russia is now the third biggest threat to national security after Al Qaeda and Iranian nuclear proliferation.

Sources say the three main Russian spy agencies have 'flooded' Britain with agents dedicated to military and industrial espionage.

Former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko was murdered in London in November and Russian agents have been accused of poisoning his drink with radioactive polonium.

The members of the Joint Intelligence Committee Mr Allan chairs include the heads of the UK's three intelligence agencies, MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.
The committee is responsible for giving ministers assessments of the country's security.

Security expert Chris Dobson said of the sudden illness: 'Alex Allan's illness raises suspicions of foul play simply because of his job.
'He oversees and coordinates every aspect of our intelligence community.

'He is therefore a prime target for an assassination attempt by Britain's enemies. The nature of his sudden illness, if it is an assassination attempt, points towards the FSB, successors of Russia's KGB. 'They are acknowledged masters of assassination by poison,' he told The Sun.

'Al Qaeda is another suspect. They would see his death as a great victory, fulfilling Osama Bin Laden's threat to strike at the heart of the ‘infidel' enemy. What better target than the man whose job is dedicated to wiping them out?'

Despite the fears security sources say they are 'as certain as we can be at this stage' that Mr Allan was not the target of a sinister attack by Bin Laden's operatives in Europe.

A Whitehall colleague who saw him recently said: 'He was fit, he was in cracking form when I saw him. He was very upbeat. Although his wife's death was a tragedy, it had happened some time ago.' Mr Allan's 58-year-old Australian wife Katie Clemson died from cancer in November.

The senior civil servant had also been asked to explain why top secret documents were found on a train and handed to the BBC last month.

Despite these concerns, colleagues insisted he was upbeat and that his job was safe.

The Whitehall source added: 'It's a tragedy because he was such a lovely man. I can't believe it is anything other than natural causes.'Intelligence sources added there would be a huge challenge replacing Mr Allan if that were necessary.

His role as chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee was changed significantly in the wake of the Butler inquiry into the intelligence failings n the lead-up to the Iraq war.

The report specified that the Committee chairman should be someone of high standing within Whitehall but who had no further career ambitions. 'It is extremely difficult to find someone who is both extremely talented and willing to accept a job knowing that it will be their last,' the source said.

Mr Allan's career includes a spell as private secretary to former prime ministers John Major and Tony Blair.

"We should leave Iraq if they want us to"

Aides to Sen. John McCain sought on Wednesday to clear up their boss' position on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's recent insistence that a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops be included in any security agreement between the two countries.

"John McCain has always been clear that American forces operate in Iraq only with the consent of that country's democratically elected government," Michael Goldfarb, a McCain spokesman, told the Huffington Post. "The Senator speaks frequently with Iraq's leaders and they have made clear that they share his belief that any timeline for withdrawal must be dictated by the facts on the ground. He met with the foreign minister and President separately within the last month...He met with Maliki on his last trip to Iraq sometime in late March."

Goldfarb's remarks represent a more pronounced effort to bring McCain's position on Iraq in line with Maliki's. McCain has forsworn deadlines for troop withdrawal -- insisting that it be tied to conditions on the ground -- and he did not, initially, express support the prime minister's position.

"Prime Minister Maliki is the leader of a country and I'm confident he will act as the President and the Foreign Minister both told me in the last several days," said the presumptive Republican nominee. "It will be directly related to the situation on the ground -- just as they have always said. And since we are succeeding, I am convinced, as I have said before, we will withdraw with honor, not according to a set timetable."

On Wednesday, aides to the Senator continued to argue that Maliki's statement was public posturing designed to improve his hand during the negotiations of a status of forces agreement.

McCain's allies also were forced to make concessions today in rationalizing how the U.S. could keep troops in Iraq against that country's wishes. Peter Hegseth, the head of the non-partisan Vets For Freedom (an advocacy group that supports McCain's Iraq War plan), acknowledged during a conference on Wednesday that the next president would ultimately have to listen to Maliki's directives.

"I think the Iraqi prime minister's prerogative is obviously important," he said. "They are a sovereign country. Their wishes, I think, are going to be granted by our government. And we've created an opportunity for them to make these kinds of statements and I think that is a good thing."

Critics of the war have jumped on Maliki's remark as evidence that criticism of Obama's Iraq policy (which calls for a responsible drawdown of U.S. troops) is entirely unfounded. They noted that Iraq's National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie restated his government's desire to see a decrease in U.S. presence, on Tuesday. And pointed to a 2004 remark given by John McCain in front of the Council of Foreign Relations, in which the Senator said the U.S. "would have to leave," if the Iraqi government asked it to.

UPDATE: The Washington Post reports (as emailed out by the Obama campaign) on another instance that seemed like collaboration between Vets for Freedom and the McCain camp.

Today... there appears to be another, similar coincidence in the way Vets for Freedom's ads are going up, just as McCain's ads are going down. According to a Democratic media firm, Vets for Freedom purchased advertising time in three Michigan television markets, Flint, Grand Rapids and Traverse City, covering July 10 to July 16. At the same time, the McCain campaign decreased its advertising in those three markets for the period from July 8 to July 14.

Coordination between the group and the campaign would be illegal.

U.S. attacks Russia over Georgia tension

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attacked Russia for adding to tension in Georgia as she landed in Prague on Tuesday at the start of a three-country European tour.

"We have said both Georgia and Russia need to avoid provocative behaviour but frankly some of the things the Russians did over the last couple of months added to tension in the region," Rice said.

"Georgia is an independent state. It has to be treated like one," she added. Latent tensions between Tbilisi and Moscow over the separatist regions of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia have flared up over the last week.
"I want to make very clear that the US commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity is strong," the Secretary of State said.

Contacts with the 'friends of Georgia,' which includes Russia, had taken place to seek a deescalation of tensions around Abkhazia in particular, Rice added.

Despite highlighting tensions with Russia over Georgia she said "there has been significant cooperation" with Russia in other areas.

Rice is in Prague to sign an agreement over sitting a US missile defence radar, opposed by Moscow, in the former Soviet-bloc country. She is also due to visit Bulgaria and Georgia in the next few days.

Poland, where the US wants to install missile interceptors, would not be included in her tour, she said.Washington and Warsaw have so far been unable to seal a deal on it hosting part of the missile shield. "There are remaining issues but the United States has made a very generous offer" to the Poles who want to improve their air defences, Rice said.

"It's a matter for others to go back and take a look at some of the issues that are there," she said of recent Polish and US talks. "I believe strongly that we are at a place where these negotiations need to come to a conclusion.

"I don't think it really makes sense for me to go to Poland because we have had the meeting in Washington and now we're going to have to see if we can close the remaining gaps," she added.

Concerning Russia's anxiety about the anti-missile system in what used to be its backyard, Rice said: "We want the system to be transparent to the Russians."The US has in the past said suggested that Russian inspectors could visit the anti-missile sites as long as Prague and Warsaw agreed.

Prague has objected to a permanent Russian presence for monitoring the radar's operations, which is what Moscow is seeking.

U.S. Calls for International Police Force in Abkhazia

The U.S. Department of State said on July 7 there was "an urgent need" for an international police presence in breakaway Abkhazia.

In a statement the Department of State condemned recent explosions in the breakaway region with the latest in Gali district, which killed four people."We note the urgent need for an international police presence in the areas where these bombings have occurred," it said.

The Georgian government reiterated in a statement also on July 7 that it wanted a joint Georgian-Abkhaz joint police force in Gali and Ochamchire under international supervision.

Sokhumi and Moscow, however, are strongly against any change in the current Russian-led peacekeeping operation in the region.

The U.S. Department of State also called on Russia "to reverse its recent provocative steps in Abkhazia and consult Tbilisi on any future steps in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia."

Tbilisi wants Russia to revoke its April 16 decision on establishing official links with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as to withdraw additional troops brought in Abkhazia as part of the peacekeeping forces.

"We urge the Georgian Government and Abkhaz de facto authorities to build on efforts of the UN Friends group and resume direct talks to elaborate their own peace plan to reduce military tension, provide for the return of refugees and internally displaced persons, foster economic cooperation, and pursue a political settlement of the Abkhazia conflict," the U.S. Department of State said.

The statement does not contain a call for Tbilisi to sign a treaty on the non-use of force - something, which is part of almost every statement made by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Georgia's conflict zones.

Dicks: "This immoral self expression goes beyond freedom of expression."

Flint Police Chief David Dicks "announced that his officers would start arresting people wearing saggy pants that expose skivvies, boxer shorts or bare bottoms."

"Some people call it a fad," Dicks told the Free Press this week while patrolling the streets of Flint. "But I believe it's a national nuisance. It is indecent and thus it is indecent exposure, which has been on the books for years."

It's a misdemeanor that could put you in jail for up to a year!

A lot of people think Dicks is going too far:

"If I pay for my pants, I should be able to wear them how I want to," said 16-year-old Montez Phifer, taking a break from playing hoops in the city Monday. "Everyone thinks it's gangster, but it's a fashion. Nothing more."

His friend, Lorenzo Johnson, 14, said his mother warned him about the chief's stance on sagging.

"I pulled them up to respect her," he said. "When she left I pulled them back down."

Another friend, Senita Abrams, 18, said: "I think it's cute when boys sag."....

Greg Gibbs, a lawyer and chair of the ACLU Flint chapter, said the crackdown sounds like a "vast waste of resources."

Ha ha. Crackdown. You know which side the newspaper is on.

R= BS Squared

One of the things that had always puzzled me about Einstein was his tenacious adherence to Judaism. It seemed such a paradox for someone who was so intimately familiar with the complexities of the Universe to adhere to the superstitions of religion. Very often, religious people would cite his practice of Judaism as a symbol of his faith and therefore his belief in GOD (Bum bum BUUUM),

Well as Richard Dawkins observed, most rational men of science defer not to the religion itself but to the tradition that binds them to it, out of an "Enormous respect" for the institutions.

Dr. Dawkins certainly knows the scientific mind, as a newly unearthed letter by Einstein in his latter years now gives us new light into the thoughts of a great mind.

"The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish," Einstein wrote.

Einstein said he started questioning religion at the age of 12.

"For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions," the letter said. "And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people.

"As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are better protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them."

Jesse Helms dead at 86

Former U.S. Sen. Jesse A. Helms, the son of a Monroe police chief who rose to national prominence as one of the leading lions of the American right, died early yesterday morning. He was 86.

Read News Observer's and Alf's articles.

"'Mongol' might as well be called 'Braveheart in a Yurt.'"

So writes Michael Phillips. That's what I thought: This is like "Braveheart," right down to the deep, minimalistic love story.

There's a lot in this war movie — the coming of age of Genghis Khan — that women can love. Beautifully photographed landscapes. Fabulous fashion. (Those hats!) Horses galore. Feisty kids. Manly men who sing in that amazing overtone voice. Beautiful women who make the first move, stand their ground, and accomplish daring feats. Lovers separated and united. Bondage. (Do you know what a cangue is?) Tribal customs from the 12th century. Lots of eating and drinking. (Meat carved off the bone and eaten from a knife and endless bowls of (occasionally poisoned) liquid). Also a lot of knives, arrows, and blood.

"Mongol" should count as a law movie too. Temudgin (Genghis Khan) comes up with the big idea: "Mongols need laws." And that related idea: "I will make them obey, even if I have to kill half of them." He also happens to say: "Mongols have the right to choose."

Here's Stanley Kauffmann:

... Immediately we think of... John Ford's The Searchers ...

Other reminders of Ford abound, as well as reminders of David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia... Olivier's Henry V and Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky must also be tucked away in [the director Sergei] Bodrov's head...