Random News & Views Roundup

Alrighty then. Well, it's been quite the day what with all of those North Korean missiles flying around and possibly more to come. The overwhelming CNN consensus was that Kim Jong-Il was just being a big, bullying kid who wanted to get attention by getting his face on the teevee. Mission Accomplished! I'll tell you one thing: it seemed to be a helluva long time between the moment CNN first announced that N Korea had launched a missile and the next report that it had fallen into the Sea of Japan. And then, of course, those of us who weren't watching that soccer thing that's happening somewhere in Europe rode that missile rollercoaster for a few more hours. I had a long bath and de-stressed. Now, it's time for some more news and views...

- Check out this poignant piece about the Iraq war, written by an Air Force captain, that will appear in Wednesday's Washington Post.

- Apparently, the hunt for Osama bin Laden is over now that the CIA has closed its office dedicated to finding the elusive terrorist.

Agency officials said that tracking bin Laden and his deputies remained a high priority, and that the decision to disband the unit was not a sign that the effort had slackened.

Instead, the officials said, it reflects a belief that the agency can better deal with high-level threats by focusing on regional trends rather than on specific organizations or individuals, the Times reported.

Regional trends? What are they going to do? Poll Afghans to see where they think OBL is?

- Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, the Brits have decided to dispatch more engineers instead of more troops. Perhaps those engineers will be conducting those polls on OBL?

- Whoa! Bloomberg News has a funky, new neon look! It scared me, frankly ... Holy Crap. I doubt it will make their news coverage any more interesting though,

- Ned Lamont's blog has some fun with Joe Lieberman's recent announcement that if he loses the primary, he'll just take his ball and run as an Independent (but he'll still call himself a Democrat...or something).

- Israel's war against the Palestinian children. Seriously thought provoking stuff. The Red Staters applaud what's been going on, of course:

What has transpired in the last few days is the most profound example of the "needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many" in a most beautiful and violent way.

Yes, apparently unhinged violence is 'beautiful'. (The same writer still thinks the so-called 'rescue' of Pfc Jessica Lynch was a 'proud moment for Americans'. I guess he never read the follow ups to that little piece of Bushco propaganda.)

I haven't yet written extensively about what's happening in Gaza right now but I will soon.

- Another mad cow case has been discovered in Canada. My daughter and her family stopped eating beef this year. Maybe I'll be next.

- Last, but not least, thanks to all who wished me well while I was going through a hard time this past weekend. I'm off to the doctor's tomorrow. If only he had laughing gas...