Cow urine, unexpected opportunities, the Barney song, fish in a blender

Earlier this year (I forget if I mentioned it), during state elections in India the Congress Party accused the prime minister of secretly eating hamburgers. Well, cow politics are heating up (the Telegraph says brought to a boil, which is a waste of good beef) in India, with accusations going back and forth over who likes cows best. The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh says--nay, brags--that he drinks cow urine regularly. I think that’s actually more gross than the prime minister in the ‘70s who drank his own urine.

AP story: “Poll: New Jerseyans Love Their State.” There’s no accounting for taste.

Giving the commencement address at the U of Missouri, Dick Cheney told grads to look for “the unexpected opportunities” in life. My brain has just been overloaded by the sheer number of sarcastic comments I could make about that, and I will have to reboot.

Speaking of unexpected opportunities, the guy Bush put in charge of Iraq’s oil industry 1) suggested that Iraq should break OPEC quotas, 2) is paid $1m a year by Fluor, a company bidding for oil reconstruction work in Iraq, and owns $34m of its stock.

Buh bye to Ari Fleischer. There’s a good piece in Salon about what a lying sack of shit he’s been.

In Britain, at least, natural childbirth is now in the minority, 45%, the rest involving induction, Caesarean or forceps, anaethesia and such.

Musical news from Iraq: Newsweek says that US interrogators are using heavy metal and the Barney song to torture Iraqis into talking. And Saddam’s praise singer, who sang songs on tv about how great Saddam was, has been assassinated.