Oops Part III

Box of British Leaflets Kills Afghan Girl

London (AP) -- Britain's Ministry of Defense has confirmed
that a box of leaflets dropped from a British plane killed a
girl in Afghanistan.

bound to happen from time to time - stiff upper lip and all that

Good Plan

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed a plan Tuesday to radically alter the way Californians pay taxes, calling on state lawmakers to make dramatic changes before year's end to take the state off the "roller coaster ride" of boom-and-bust budgets.

The governor called a special session of the Legislature to consider proposals in a 415-page report from a government commission that spent nine months studying ways to modernize the state's tax system. Among the ideas from the bipartisan Commission on the 21st Century Economy presented in the report and draft legislation are dramatically reduced income levies and a revolutionary new business tax that would replace existing retail sales and corporation taxes.

"I would sign it immediately," Schwarzenegger declared at a Capitol news conference. "It's an unbelievable compromise between Democrats and Republicans."

But the commission's proposals quickly came under fire from all sides, including labor unions and business groups. Among the criticisms were that the plan unfairly favors the very rich while potentially hurting California businesses and exporting jobs.

Other than that, it's a great plan.

Gov. Mark Sanford To Move to Iran

Iranian Leader Says He'll Seek Leniency for Hikers

WE DID COMMIT GENOCIDE, DAMMIT!!

Berlin (dpa) -- German diplomats are prepared to walk out in protest if Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeats before the UN General
Assembly his past denials of the Holocaust, Berlin officials confirmed Tuesday.

Oops, Part II

Plane Crash Mars Iran Military Parade

By NASSER KARIMI
Tehran, Iran (AP) -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Iran is stronger than ever and warned that its military will "cut the hand" of anyone who attacks. But a military parade where he spoke was marred when an air force plane crashed, killing seven people, according to state radio.

Oops, Part I

Thousands of Florida's Walt Disney World theme park visitors were stranded for hours Thursday as officials inspected the entire fleet of 300 buses when a suspicious device reported on a bus led a bomb squad to investigate. However, bus service resumed once the object was identified as a prototype tire-pressure monitor utilizing wireless technology.

Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger said Monday a maintenance crew was unfamiliar with the device, which was installed on a single bus in 1998.

Your Congress at Work

House Resolution 185

Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should issue, and Congress should hold hearings
on, a report and a certification regarding the responsibilities, authorities, and powers of his “czars”.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The U.S. recession probably ended in late July or August, Paul Krugman said in Helsinki today.

The Townhall Crazies Were Never Winning

Josh Marshall writes:

Who'da Thunk It

Public opinion and polling expert Professor Charles Franklin, a Professor at the University of Wisconsin, has posted a fascinating analysis of a ton of recent polling data on health care reform. And the upshot is that contrary to what I would imagine most of our expectations would be, the decline in support for reform began slowing in August and has now basically stopped. Meanwhile, support for reform firmed up and started to grow at around the same time. In other words, the inflection point seems to have been during the heat of the townhall craziness, and in advance of the presidential speech.

If he's right, the history of August was very different from what we thought. This is a very interesting read.

This is what I've been saying.
Here's the link to Professor Franklin's analysis.

Guns On A Train

Washington (AP) -- The Senate voted Wednesday to permit
passengers on the Amtrak passenger railroad to transport
handguns in their checked baggage. The proposal, approved by
a 68-30 vote, seeks to givehandguns in their checked baggage.
The proposal, approved by a 68-30 vote, seeks to give Amtrak
riders rights comparable to those enjoyed by airline passengers,
who are permitted to transport firearms provided that they declare
they are doing so and that the arms are unloaded and in a securely
locked container.

Landrieu on Health Reform

STEPHANOPOULOS: So what's the problem with the public health option?

LANDRIEU: Well, many of us believe, George, that it will undermine the private insurance system.

Right.

For the two-minute Bobblespeak versions, see This Week and Meet The Press translations.

Ashcroft Liable for Violating Constitution

Former US Attorney General John Ashcroft can be sued by an American citizen held as a witness suspected of having information in a terrorism case, the Ninth Circuit has ruled. Abdullah al-Kidd accused Ashcroft
of violating his constitutional rights in 2003, when he was held for without charges for 16 days. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals also said the government's policy was "a painful reminder of some of the most ignominious chapters of our national history" and detention of witnesses without charge after the 9/11 attacks was "repugnant to
the constitution". The judges said even qualified immunity does not allow the Attorney General to carry out national security functions
in violation of the law.

JOE KLEIN WOULD APPROVE

Distinguished American actor and producer Sam Wanamaker
was watched by MI5 for several years for his alleged communist
sympathies, it has emerged.

Files released by the National Archives show Mr Wanamaker,
father of actress Zoe, would have been interned had the UK been
attacked in the mid-1950s.
.

OBAMA TO CIA: DROP DEAD

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration placed new
controls on interrogating terrorism detainees to prevent the
kinds of abuses that allegedly occurred when the CIA captured
and questioned suspected al-Qaeda operatives.

A special unit of interrogators housed at the Federal
Bureau of Investigation will be established to question so-
called high-value detainees, administration officials in
Washington said today. The multiagency group’s deputy will be
drawn from the intelligence community, the officials said.

The special unit will stick to existing procedures outlined
in the U.S. Army Field Manual, with oversight from the White
House National Security Council.

The new controls were set in motion by President Barack
Obama two days after taking office in response to international
criticism over practices by the Central Intelligence Agency that
included waterboarding, which simulates drowning. The CIA said
earlier this year it had closed its detention facilities and
suspended interrogations, pending the administration review.

REAL DICTATORS OF NJ

NJ Town Wants to Block Gadhafi From Staying There

Englewood, N.J. (AP) -- Officials are trying to prevent Libyan
leader Moammar Gadhafi from staying in northern New Jersey
when he visits the United States next month.

CHEERFUL THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Swine Flu May Infect Half of U.S., Kill 90,000, Report Says

.

Osama's Ex-Driver Now a Yemen cabbie

SANAA, Yemen, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Osama bin Laden's former chauffeur
says he is back to driving for a living following his return to
his native Yemen. Salim Ahmed Hamdan told the Toronto Star
business is difficult given the lack of tourism in the
capital of Sanaa.

But Hamdan says his life is a lot better than it was for seven
years when he was locked up at the U.S. detention center
at Guantanamo Bay.

Sure, but only because he's not driving a cab in New York.

Webb Wins Release for American in Myanmar

Seth Mydans reports that Sen. Jim Webb has gotten a commitment from the government of Myanmar to release the American who swam out to Aung San Suu Kyi, who Webb also got to meet with. Swimming out to her house may not have been the brightest idea, but it's another win for the Obama administration.