Category: Grave

Satellite images over Iran
Via Reuters, mere hours ago: “U.S. Says New Images Show Iran Plans Nuke Bomb”

A prominent international expert said on Wednesday that new satellite images showed the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran may be a site for research, testing and production of nuclear weapons. Iran denies having an atomic bomb program.

Satellite images over Iraq
From U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s egregiously dishonest presentation to the United Nations in early February 2003, on Saddam Hussein and Iraq’s purported possession of WMDs and whatnot (via CNN.com):

Powell then showed satellite photos that he said indicated the presence of “active chemical munitions bunkers” disguised from inspectors.
The first photo showed was from a weapons munitions facility, which Powell said was one of 65 such facilities in Iraq. He said the photo contained “sure signs that the bunkers are storing chemical munitions,” including a decontamination truck and special security.

Most media-minded people are aware of last year’s imbroglio at the 2003 BookExpo in Los Angeles between vitriolic Fox News host Bill O’Reilly and his mealy-mouthed liberal arch-nemesis Al Franken. And, of course, there’s a fair amount of awareness of last fall’s lawsuit-and-taunting exchange between the two media figures over the distribution of author Franken’s “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.”
But what of the battle occurring underground? Earlier, we examined the treatment conservative firebrand O’Reilly has received at the hands of those with the inclination and opportunity to deface Fox News posters sporting his fleshy visage in New York’s subway system. Now, the gauntlet has been thrown…and another network, the Sundance Channel, is littering the city’s subway walls with advertising for Al Franken’s new television series.
The scorecard? It’s been several weeks, and Al’s face is still looking pretty pristine, in contrast to the “Nazi”-themed abuse heaped upon his Republican-leaning counterpart. Witness our representative sampling below:


But there’s always an exception, right?

So, wait…what happened with this image? Admittedly, the one sampled above is in the extreme minority, but are there still RNC delegates lurking in Manhattan? And are they sporting razor blades and Sharpies alongside their patriotic hats and neckties? Or maybe they’re simply carrying cages filled with crows, who are periodically released to peck out the eyes of liberal ideologues?

OK, scratch the boxing reference. Looking at the embarrassingly camel-toed Dick Cheney in action, so to speak, it seems as though some candidates are best-suited to coaching from the corner instead of “fighting the fight.”

From the “It’s not breaking news per se, but good old-fashioned press-release analysis” department at the New York Times, we’ve got Adam Liptak’s “Fewer Death Sentences Being Imposed in U.S.” in the September 15, 2004 edition of the paper. The article is largely culled from data gleaned from a report put out by the Death Penalty Information Center, a research group that “says it takes no position on capital punishment, though it has been critical of the way the death penalty is applied.”

But the report’s thesis – that exonerations play a major role – as well as its data on the number of people exonerated are the subject of debate. The report says that 116 innocent people have been released from death row since 1973, after serving an average of nine years each.
[…]
Prosecutors said the report overstates the number of innocent people who have been released from death row. They said 20 to 30 is more accurate. “You’re talking about an extremely small, microscopic number,” said Ward A. Campbell, a supervising deputy state attorney general in Sacramento.

Fair enough. No word, however, on an as-yet-unannounced bill going through the California state legislature right now calling for the indiscriminate and unjust execution of 20-30 members of this Ward Campbell fellow’s extended family. Seriously, it’s an extremely small, microscopic number, and he probably won’t notice.

From the Associated Press: “Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, listens to gun control advocates speak at a campaign stop in Washington Monday, Sept. 13, 2004.”

“Yeahhhhh! Look at me! Look Rummy, no hands!”

From “Bush Stresses Commander-in-Chief Role“, the Washington Post, September 13, 2004:

Administration officials disclosed plans yesterday that show the many ways Bush will try to emphasize his role as commander in chief. He will interrupt his swing-state travel in just over a week to go before cameras at the United Nations with the interim president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai. Two days later, Bush will welcome Iraq’s interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, to the Rose Garden.
[…]
The Bush-Cheney campaign’s focus on safety and security pervaded the Republican National Convention, where prime-time speakers repeatedly portrayed Bush as a steady and steely commander in the war on terrorism, with little attention to domestic issues.

From “Key General Criticizes April Attack In Fallujah; Abrupt Withdrawal Called Vacillation“, also in today’s edition of the Washington Post, September 13, 2004:

The outgoing U.S. Marine Corps general in charge of western Iraq said Sunday he opposed a Marine assault on militants in the volatile city of Fallujah in April and the subsequent decision to withdraw from the city and turn over control to a security force of former Iraqi soldiers.
[…]
The comments by Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, made shortly after he relinquished command of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force on Sunday, amounted to a stinging broadside against top U.S. military and civilian leaders who ordered the Fallujah invasion and withdrawal. His statements also provided the most detailed explanation — and justification — of Marine actions in Fallujah this spring, which have been widely criticized for increasing insurgent activity in the city and turning it into a “no-go” zone for U.S. troops.

Responding to the majority of the 9/11 Comission’s 41 recommendations for intelligence reform, legislation was introduced into the Senate by a bipartisan group.
A .pdf of this lengthy, complex 280 page bill is available here. But for the sake of our readers who are not yet up-to-date and in-the-know concerning all things intelligence, Low Culture has obtained a document from the CIA which succinctly describes the ramifications of the new bill, putting together a simple and fun reference tool to guide you through your government’s new configurations.

Simple, really.