The CIA World Factbook field listing of territorial and border disputes. [via robot wisdom]
Daily Archives: 13 Sep 05
Talabani Says Iraqis Could Replace Many U.S. Troops
President’s Claim About Major American Withdrawal by Year’s End Conflicts With White House Position: “Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in an interview yesterday that the United States could withdraw as many as 50,000 troops by the end of the year, declaring there are enough Iraqi forces trained and ready to begin assuming control in cities throughout the country.
After the White House and Pentagon were contacted for comment, however, a senior adviser to Talabani called The Washington Post to say Talabani did not intend to suggest a specific timeline for withdrawal.” (Washington Post)
End of the Bush Era
“The Bush Era is over. The sooner politicians in both parties realize that, the better for them — and the country.
Recent months, and especially the past two weeks, have brought home to a steadily growing majority of Americans the truth that President Bush’s government doesn’t work. His policies are failing, his approach to leadership is detached and self-indulgent, his way of politics has produced a divided, angry and dysfunctional public square. We dare not go on like this.” — EJ Dionne (Washington Post op-ed)
March of the Conservatives
Penguin Film as Political Fodder: “…(C)onservative groups have turned its stirring depiction of the mating ordeals of emperor penguins into an unexpected battle anthem in the culture wars.” (New York Times )
All the President’s Friends
Paul Krugman: “…(w)hat we really should be asking is whether FEMA’s decline and fall is unique, or part of a larger pattern. What other government functions have been crippled by politicization, cronyism and/or the departure of experienced professionals? How many FEMA’s are there?” (New York Times op-ed)
Midnight caller-foiler
Invention: “Ever been plagued by wrong numbers or midnight calls from far-flung time zones? No problem, says SK Telecom of Seoul.
Instead of the caller getting a standard brrrp-brrrp tone after dialling a number, their system allows subscribers to play a personalised message back to the dialler.
The approach works for fixed or cellphone lines, and the message heard by the dialler can be the subscriber’s number, name or nickname, interspersed with normal ring-tone and the time of day at the subscriber’s end. So anyone who has mis-dialled, or called from across the world and forgotten the time difference, immediately knows to hang up.” (New Scientist)
