A poison factory is a term of art

Evidently the US tabloids have been calling the French what Le Monde has translated as primates capitulards et tou-jours en quête de fromages (cheese-eating surrender monkeys). It comes from Les Simpsons. There is also a column against France in the Sunday NY Times by Tom Friedman, whose IQ drops a point per day as we approach war. Yes, the French aren’t convinced of the need to fry the children of Baghdad, they must be stopped. Rumsfeld says that European governments that don’t support the war will be rejected by their own people. Meanwhile, his own German relatives told him to go to hell.

A British story, but it’s bound to be happening here too, says that bullied children are turning to steroids.

Colin Powell showed a satellite picture of what he called “terrorist chemicals and poisons factory” in northern Iraq. An Observer reporter has gone there, and it is no such thing, although there is a bakery. The NY Times also reports on this. Defending the lie, a State Dept spokesmodel says, “A poison factory is a term of art.”

Also in the Observer, a bit more about the British citizen Texas executed this week. I had missed the fact that the real murderer didn’t serve even a day of jail time. And that all 12 jurors signed a petition asking for DNA testing, which was never done.

The Bush admin threatens public schools with loss of federal funds if they don’t allow students and teachers to pray, loudly and openly, although not with each other.

The GAO gives up on its attempt to get the records of Cheney’s energy task force. Wimps. And in the Senate, James Inhofe hired a mining industry lobbyist to oversee clean air legislation.

6 of 7 of the judges on the new International Criminal Court will be women.