This Is Interesting

In the New York Times, an article by David Sanger and David Barstow says that the information that was "leaked" to a reporter was in dispute.

And this is different from any intelligence estimate how? These people presenting the information are career bureaucrats who play CYA in the world class league. Of course they make sure they have an out if it turns out they have it wrong.

What really struck an odd note (it took me a couple of reads to catch what was bothering me) was the fact that throughout the article, the authors used the title "Mr. Bush" instead of "President Bush".

I think that odd, but I haven't read anything by these two before. Is this normal for them? To not refer to the President as the President?

One Argument Destroyed

One of the common arguments heard all the time from the people who really don't like Bush is that Saddam had no ties to terrorists.

Well, this article pretty well demolishes that particular piece of meme. Since I don't speak or read Arabic, I can't confirm or refute the article. I would assume that the authors would not publish something that was false if there was any chance of it being publicly refuted. Since the translation is up for all to see, I suspect it is likely true. Search here for the translations.

Please do not start the "Yeah but Bush Lied" crap - read the damned documents.

I Don’t Even Want To Think About The Withholding

Sarah Patterson is finally, at age 22, going to file income taxes. She attended a workshop to do just that. Up until now she has never reported her income, but she wants to be a taxpaying member of society instead of being considered a tax evader. Up until now, she has not reported any income, even though she says she is making a pretty good living.

As a foot fetish model. Men pay to gawk at and stroke her feet. Apparently quite a few men.

But how to list her various revenue streams? Ms. Patterson is self-employed — getting her own private clients through word of mouth — but also receives regular payment when booking a foot massage session through her booking agency, the Foot Worship Palace, a Manhattan company that employs fetish models. On top of that, she is an English tutor for immigrants.

She has a booking agency for this?

Well, kudos for joining the ranks of taxpayers. We here at Blue Crab Boulevard applaud Ms. Patterson for doing the right thing. We just really, really don't want to know any more details about your career path. Really.

Something Fishy About This

Something about this report sounds very, very wrong indeed. The wording and the tone of the quotes do not ring true at all. But I'm sure people will run with it anyway.

Kind of proves my earlier point that journalist need leaks or they'd be out of business.

UPDATE: Forgot the link.

UPDATE: Dr. Sanity has a new hit song out!

UPDATE: The Washington Post has more, they say they have not been able to confirm Hersh's claims.

UPDATE: The Officer's Club is seriously underwhelmed by Hersh's article.

UPDATE: In a ground rule double, Bush calls reports "wild speculation" and addresses the release of information.

Coffee Makes You Grumpy

See-Dubya over at Patterico's Pontifications has an interesting post on a small coffee shop in Tulsa that is getting hassled by Starbucks for using the name "Doubleshot Coffee Company. It seems Starbucks trade marked the name "Starbuck's Doubleshot" some years ago. Sounds like mindless bullying to me.

Me, I am not a lawyer and I don't have a dog in this race. But See-Dubya's post references this post from The Consumerist that had me endangering my monitor yet again. It's the one titled Clash of the Titans, and do not have coffee, Starbucks or not, in your mouth when you read it.

We here at Blue Crab Boulevard do not want to be blamed for you destroying your monitor.

I Gotta Get Me Some Of Those

Values of course. Well, that's how I read this article from the New York Times:

A Roman Catholic who has struggled at times to talk about his own faith, Mr. Kerry also told the group that he believed "deeply in my faith" and that the Koran, the Torah, the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles had influenced a social conscience that he exercised in politics.

He forgot the Bhagavad-Gita, the Triptaka and Comopolitan.

John Kerry is one of the most transparent panderers ever, He is so blatant about it, it's downright comical.

"I will tell you, nowhere in there, nowhere, not in one page, not in one phrase uttered and reported by the Lord Jesus Christ, can you find anything that suggests that there is a virtue in cutting children from Medicaid and taking money from the poor and giving it to the rich," Mr. Kerry said.

What an empty suit.

UPDATE: Ann Althouse has much the same take as I do. She's more pleasant than I am, of course.

Now We Can Finally Find Out

If there are any hovercars on Mars!

NASA has released the first image from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. It shows a view of the Southern hemisphere and is astonishingly detailed. The picture is actually an infrared image shifted to longer wavelengths.

Great shot, isn't it? You can also now Google Mars. That's probably the best place to look for hovercars…..

Unintended Consequences

The banning of smoking in bars will cause a rise in binge drinking in women, says a British study.

It points out that as bars and pubs become more appealing venues to women, female customers are more likely to consume larger amounts of alcoholic drinks than before.

And because women are marrying later, they are spending more time in pubs and other venues that serve alcohol, where they are more likely to meet men.

The study also notes that the consumption gap between men and women is narrowing and evidence of liver disease is appearing at much younger ages.

As is always the case when using laws to perform social engineering, some things are never anticipated.

As I Have Said All Along

Democrats have been raising the issue of corruption even though it is a two-edged sword. As I have stated in the past, these things tend to be equal opportunity scandals  with neither party having clean hands.

So along comes this item at just about the worst time for the Democrats. Even the New York Times has a three (web)page article on it.

Congressman Alan B. Mollohan has a host of questions swirling around his sudden acquisition of personal wealth and the federal funding of five non-profit organizations that he set up. To the tune of $250 million of funding. To compound the problem, Mollohan sits on the Ethics and Appropriations committees in the House.

He's charging it's all a political attack and refuses to step down. Pelosi has refused to call for him to step down. Coming so soon after her remarkable silence during the McKinney fiasco, that is not a good way to handle this.

Average voters are not going to like this, folks.

Successful Test Of The X-37

The X-37 Approach and Landing Test Vehicle (ALTV) was drop tested and flew under autonomous control to a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base. Some sort of program glitch did cause the vehicle to roll off the end of the runway. The nose gear was extensively damaged.

But it did bring itself in for a landing. That's really amazing. The X-37 resembles a toy space shuttle more than anything else:

It will be interesting to see how this develops.

Fugitives In The News

Must be a theme for the day again.

First item: Dog Gone. A golden retriever named Sam has finally been captured and returned to his owners, after two years on the run. The wily dog evaded numerous attempts to capture him, including using a helicopter to search for him. He finally fell for the old ham dinner under a remote-controlled net trick.

Second item: Heigh-o Silver! A man tried to escape capture by police by riding off into the sunset. The man's mother had called police to report that her 35 year old son was acting strangely. When police arrived, the man fled. When deputies spotted him later, the man grabbed a horse and fled. The pursuit lasted for about three miles before the horse tired and refused to run any further.

Third item: Gas Up! Remember to check the gas when you steal a police cruiser. State police spotted a stolen car driven by Deborah Grace Williams, gave chase and finally apprehended her when she rammed into a West Virginia State Police cruiser. After her capture, she managed to slip out of her handcuffs and stole the cruiser she had been placed in. The ensuing chase ended after winding through Virginia and three counties in West Virginia. The Cruiser ran out of gas. But not before hitting two more police cruisers. Sounds like the plot of Smokey and the Bandit.

There you have it! A trifecta in one post.

God Not Allowed To Drive

Well, actually, a judge has forbidden a man to sign his name as "God" on his driver's license. Paul S. Sewell has signed all sorts of records from tax returns to bank records with the name, but the judge refused to allow him to use it on the license. Sewell says he started using the name because while working as a bond enforcement agent, fugitives would always say "Oh, God" when he captured them.

God will be appealing the judge's ruling. But to whom?

Wow, Journalism At It’s Best

Writing in the San Jose Mercury News, Warren P. Strobel and Ron Hutcheson inform us that the revelation that Scooter Libby testified that President Bush authorized the "leak" of "classified information" "fits a pattern of selective leaks of secret intelligence to further the administration's political agenda".

The entire tone is disapproving and implies that this allowance of certain leaks, while clamping down on unauthorized leaks is somehow sordid.

Then comes this:

But secret information that supports their policies, particularly about the Iraq war, has surfaced everywhere from the U.N. Security Council to major newspapers and magazines. Much of the information that the administration leaked or declassified, however, has proved to be incomplete, exaggerated, incorrect or fabricated. (Note, the article never provides evidence that this statement is true, it's just kind of tossed out there for atmosphere).

I am in awe of the High Journalistic Standards™ on display by these two writers.

News Flash! The sky is blue! The Pope has revealed that he is Roman Catholic! Bears have been found to, well, you get the picture.

Politicians selectively leak information to reporters to impart spin on a story. The information tends to support whatever spin the person providing the information wants to impart and they don't always release information that would negate the spin. In other words, business as usual in Washington. I doubt there is one single politician in Washington who has not provided "leaks". Sometimes they leak classified information, too. Reporters rely on these leaks because otherwise they'd have to actually dig some of this stuff up on their own.

Why is this hit piece being published at all? Oh, answered myself there, didn't I.

UPDATE: To clarify this sentence: (Note, the article never provides evidence that this statement is true, it's just kind of tossed out there for atmosphere). The article provides some incidents where information turned out later to have been incorrect, as a commenter points out. However, this sentence by the authors: "Much of the information that the administration leaked or declassified, however, has proved to be incomplete, exaggerated, incorrect or fabricated." is a subjective judgment and is not quantified or supported objectively within the article. Hopefully, that makes my point more clear.