"This is a simple model
you can use
to explore
some aspects of
the war on terror."

Newsgaming.com -- September 12th

] The Bush White House, irritated by pesky questions from
] congressional Democrats about how the administration is
] using taxpayer money, has developed an efficient
] solution: It will not entertain any more questions from
] opposition lawmakers.
]
] The decision -- one that Democrats and scholars said is
] highly unusual -- was announced in an e-mail sent
] Wednesday to the staff of the House and Senate
] Appropriations Committees. House committee Democrats had
] just asked for information about how much the White House
] spent making and installing the "Mission Accomplished"
] banner for President Bush's May 1 speech aboard the USS
] Abraham Lincoln.

Further proof that the Bush administration is off its rocker... as if we needed any further proof.

White House Puts Limits on Queries From Democrats (washingtonpost.com)

] Mr. Perle said he sought authorization from C.I.A.
] officials to meet with the Iraqis, but the officials told
] him they did not want to pursue this channel, and they
] indicated they had already engaged in separate contacts
] with Baghdad. Mr. Perle said, "The message was, `Tell
] them that we will see them in Baghdad.' "

Diplomacy: Iraq Said to Have Tried to Reach Last-Minute Deal to Avert War

]         How could such poor intelligence rise all the
] way to the top of the Bush administration? The original
] material came from the Iraqi National Congress, the
] umbrella group of exiles headed by Ahmed Chalabi, the
] former banker who now heads Iraq%u2019s governing
] council. Chalabi%u2019s material found its way up to the
] highest levels of U.S. policymaking%u2014and the White
] House script%u2014through three routes, according to
] officials present at the CIA review.

Not that any of this is going to come as a shock to anyone...

Credibility Gap

] ERIE, Pa. - A pizza delivery man told police he had been
] forced to rob a bank and asked authorities to help him
] minutes before a bomb strapped to his chest exploded and
] killed him.
]
] On Saturday, federal agents and police in northwestern
] Pennsylvania were trying to solve the bizarre case of
] 46-year-old Brian Douglas Wells, who left to deliver a
] pizza to a mysterious address in a remote area about an
] hour before he turned up at the bank with a bomb strapped
] to his body.
]
] No one else was hurt in Thursday's explosion, which
] happened in front of law enforcement officers as they
] waited for a bomb squad to arrive.
]
] WJET-TV of Erie captured audio and video from Wells as
] he sat handcuffed in front of a state police cruiser.
] "Why is nobody trying to come get this thing off me?" he
] asked.

Yahoo! News - Officials Probe Bizarre Pa. Bank Robbery

The government is warning financial institutions about a virus-like infection that has targeted computers at roughly 1,200 banks worldwide, trying to steal corporate passwords.

Stupid Bloody Tuesday, Part 9...

Wow, and we're all living in the 21st Century now. Isn't it cool? Isn't it all just SO unique! Like, wow.

Yahoo! News - U.S. Warns Banks of Virus-Like Infection

The following is adapted from a Clemens Lecture presented in April for the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut.

Kurt Vonnegut lays it down.

AlterNet: Strange Weather Lately

After a four-year investigation, students at the University of Illinois have determined the identity of Deep Throat, the most elusive, anonymous news source in history: Fred Fielding, deputy counsel to former President Richard Nixon ? not Patrick Buchanan, as speculated in a Dateline NBC report last year.

Deep Throat: Uncovered | Department of Journalism | University of Illinois

Fielding, a lawyer, was first assistant to John Dean, chief counsel to President Richard Nixon, at a time of the Watergate break-in in 1972.

United Press International: Professor, students identify 'Deep Throat'

] Who is that masked man? One of Japan's newest
] politicians.
]

Just when you think the world is going to hell, something like this happens to restore your faith in... Well, I'm not sure what.

Masked Wrestler Wins Japan Assembly Seat