Because distributing the vaccine (in pill form, actually) would have “cost too much money”, our good old military decided to abandon a vaccination program in 1996, which allowed a virus to spread that has killed at least six military recruits, four this year. Let’s just say that there’s plenty of blame to go around on this one (while the decision was made during the CLinton Adminsitration, its not lke the Bush Administration reversed it, now is it?). As usual, it reflects the belief that the most expendible component of our military was, is, and sadly will likely always be, the...

In response to Senator John Kerry’s snub at last Thursday’s debate, contending that the “grand coalition” the President put together to commit war crimes and atrocities in Iraq was “only the United States, with Britain and Australia”, the President quickly added “You forgot Poland”. Proving that Senator Kerry’s words (and mean thawts) are, indeed, hurting our allies, a miffed Poland announced it will be withdrawing its 2,500 troops in Iraq by the end of next year. Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski made the announcement (apparently while holding back tears) and expressed his displeasure that Senator Kerry could overlook so important an...

From our visit to People’s Daily this week, we give you this account of 5 million children returning to school in Iraq. Parents are justifiably worried about the security situation, which delayed the opening of schools for a time, as did waiting for new text books that purged reference to the Saddam/Baathist regime to arrive from their printers in Jordan and the UAE. Well, this will be a huge test for the new interim government, and its American allies. I fear that we will see schools routinely targeted by Saudi nihilists… I mean, “Insurgents”, and many (more) children will become...

This week’s visit to our friends at Pravda gives us this from Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey on why a vote for George W. Bush is a vote for armageddon. The thesis is simple, and you can read it in this column several times a week. Out chicken-hawk led Faux Macho Schmuck government, by bringing death, destruction and horror the Middle East, does not make the world safer. No, they have revivified a moribund Al Qaeda and Islamist terrorist movement that was running out of steam, until its horrific plans came together unusually well on September 11th. Now, since the American reaction, it...

Your talking dog scored the bout for Kerry, maybe 7 rounds to 5, with a 2-1 aggregate judging score. Last night’s debate was surprisingly entertaining… the President was surprisingly well-prepared and articulate (for him), and his knowledge of world affairs (Sudanese leaders, the existence of Liberia) should hurt him among his base (“I wouldn’t want to have a beer with this wonk“). Kid Kerry was loose, rested, tannned… what was with that hair, though… and as expected, the far superior debater. While the polls of actual voters are all that will matter, we can assume that by Sunday morning, somehow...

An explosion aimed at an American led convoy in the Baghdad area killed at least 30 Iraqi children. This is (supposedly) the largest number of children killed in one incident since the giant war crime against the people of Iraq perpetrated in our name was initiated seventeen months ago (jebus, it seems longer than that, no?) If no one else will say it, I will. No one has to agree with me, if they don’t want to. I’m no longer running for anything (my running mate Bruce and I, having failed to secure the Democratic presidential nomination). So I’ll just...

While I regard the Sainted Al Gore as an American treasure, there really are limits to the things he should be doing. Having elected to sit out the 2004 election cycle, I don’t think he should be doing things like giving John Kerry debate advice for tomorrow night’s pivotal first presidential debate in Miami. Kid Kerry was famously President of the Debating Society back at Dear Old Yale (where, as you will recall, our esteemed President was a C-student legacy, and served as a cheerleader– more the kind that makes inane yells, rather than one who does gymnastics, of course.)...

What do the numbers over 50, 1,052 and 52 have to do with each other? For those who hate clicking through, we’re talking, of course, about the spot price of crude oil, the number of American troops killed in Iraq, and of course, the President’s current approval rating. There are a variety of factors accounting for the high oil prices, including perceived instability in Nigeria (a big source of oil for… us), refining and distribution problems caused by recent hurricanes, and… you know… that whole Middle East thing. Prince Bandar has directed the Hermes Kingdom’s public relations office to tell...

While President Bush calls John Kerry a traitor for questioning just how rosy things are in Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell chimes in to tell us that the situation in Iraq is worsening as we prepare to rig that nation’s elections this January. I sure as hell hope that Senator Kerry is listening, and can now add Secretary Powell’s remarks to his litany. The reality, of course, is that we are killing around twice as many innocent civilians as the insurgents, and once in a while, the President might want to check what his own Pentagon is saying about...

This week’s visit to Beijing’s People’s Daily (as you recall, my theory once was that I would try to provide at least a weekly visit to the two other metropoles– Eastasia and Eurasia — I blog regularly from New York, the financial heart of Oceania, so that one is covered) covers roughly the same subject as yesterday’s visit to Pravda. In this case, the PRC’s house organ tells us that the President’s unilateral strategy as applied to Iraq violated UN protocols and rules, and indeed, as UN Sec. Gen. Kofi Annan said recently, violated international law. Further, Bush’s constant references...