Under the Weather

Sorry for the low volume today--I'm not nearly 100 percent, and I called in at work. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be on the mend to the point that regular posting can resume. Meanwhile, I did manage to look at this Counterpunch article by Patrick Cockburn and David Enders about the Hilla bombing, and also noted the irony of this report by the State Department that notes the shocking practice of human rights violations by the Iraqi government (here are your winnings, Captain Renault). Tom Burka has more on that.

Timshel notes approvingly that the U.S. Supreme court outlawed the execution of juveniles who committed capital crimes, while the Rude Pundit says to brace ourselves for grisly details of such acts. YRHT has the shocking news that Dubya has a thing for Creedence Clearwater Revival (speaking of irony), and, to stay on the same topic, Left I observes that the US can't find Zarqawi and can't find bin Laden, yet somehow we know they're talking to each other. Hmmm.

Hamid Karzai appointed warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum to a high level cabinet position in Afghanistan--maybe he thinks "march to democracy" should be interpreted literally. Donald Rumsfeld, Col. Thomas Pappas, Gen. Janis Karpinski and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez are all being sued by the ACLU and Human Rights First on behalf of eight people tortured--then released without charges--from Abu Ghraib prison.

America Blog has a link to this story from Out Sports: apparently you can order NFL jerseys from the official merchandise shop featuring names like "Hitler," or "bin Laden," but "Gay" is right out--interestingly, this has a local angle as the discrepency was reported by an LSU professor who wanted a jersey featuring former defensive back Randall Gay's last name.

Finally, Salon's feature story today covers, of all things the displacement of Acadians from the coast of Nova Scotia to the bayou country of South Central Louisiana. Interested readers who don't have a subscription might want to deal with the 30 second ad to get a glimpse of the area I grew up in, although recall that some towns also have a Spanish heritage that's often forgotten--e.g., the French Quarter in New Orleans owes a debt to Spanish architecture...

If I'm feeling better later tonight, I'll try to post a little more, but otherwise, enjoy the day...