What a truly odd day. At all of the usual progessive sites, there are articles discussing things I have covered in the recent past. Arianna Huffington, Mark Morford, and RFK Jr. all have pieces on Bush's lack of knowledge and or sensitivity on the environment, and how the Democratic nominee could slay the GOP on this issue. I have given a lot of time and effort to the environment. I don't think I can add anything at this juncture. The only caveat I'll issue the reader, is that none of these folks are scientists, much less climatologists that have chosen the effects of greehouse gases on climaic change, so check their facts.

The Doonesbury $10K Guard challenge I've been aware of for a few days, so I don't think that worthy of more than link.

It's been a rough day for new political stuff that I have enough of a working knowledge of to possibly add something useful to the dialogue. There are plenty of things that I have read, but don't have enough background concerning the topic to make a meaningful statement about. In fact, that's most of the news on most days. :)

Even Cursor, a usual sourse of good stuff is covering items I've already done. I will note that Commissioner Kean did indeed get his extension to the 9/11 commission. (I got that from Cursor)

Cursor also has news that the Senate is having a closed session to "scrutinize flaws in America's prewar intelligence about Iraqi weapons."

Of interest is Reuters piece wherein a U.N. representative says that the Iraq security has worsened. I do see this from a statistical standpoint, with the caveat that any statistics from Iraq must be viewed with skepticism..as all data must be.

I touched upon the security issue a couple of days ago here. My armchair conclusion was that Iraq has turned into precisely the kind of place that we, well heck, I'll quote myself:

Iraq is still a very dangerous place.

Unexploded cluster munitions have caused most of the post-conflict(?) casualties. A hospital director in Najaf said that families were playing with the munitions not knowing what they were. This continues to this day.

So, it looks like the U.S. worst fears are coming home to roost. We are not up to the task of even maintaining law and order, or basic services in post-war Iraq. We were told that we would stay in Iraq as long as it takes for democracy to take hold in Iraq. Iraq, as it is today, we were told, would not happen.

Let us hope that the people of Iraq, who deserve none of this, will forgive us for the carnage we have inflicted upon them. Let us hope that we have the patience, and the courage to follow through on our promises to the Iraqi people.

Thus far, our record has not been an enviable one.

If you think that was just a wee bit narcissistic, I assure you it's not. And the two dozen mirrors in my office agree :)

Unlike lots of bloggers, I don't play expert in anything but a tiny area in the field of semiconductor technology. Where I think I am qualified to be something of an authority.

Anything I write should be fact checked. I try and fact check everyting that I post as fact. If I am speculating, I try and alert the reader.

I think I'll go round up ten links of interest for this evening. At least that will lend the appearance that I'm actively blogging tonight.