Accidental Blogger

(Leaked classified military chart showing where Iraq stands on the Peace – Chaos spectrum)

A Work of Art: On a day when violence continued unabated, a US general compared Iraq to a "work of art in progress" in order to play down the deteriorating situation.  I am not sure if the general just has a macabre taste in art or if the military is under pressure by the Bush administration to prettify the Iraqi situation for the upcoming midterm elections.

"An American general in Baghdad called Iraq a "work of art" in progress yesterday in one of the most extraordinary attempts by the US military leadership to put a positive spin on the worsening violence.

On a day in which 49 people were killed or found dead around the country, Major General William Caldwell, the chief military spokesman, argued that Iraq was in transition, a process that was "not always a pleasant thing to watch.

"Every great work of art goes through messy phases while it is in transition. A lump of clay can become a sculpture. Blobs of paint become paintings which inspire," Maj Gen Caldwell told journalists in Baghdad’s fortified green zone."                          

Between Osama and Kim: George Bush’s poll numbers are dismal at home. But he managed to garner high numbers in a public opinion polls abroad. The honor is dubious – it puts him smack dab in the center of an axis of evil. In a survey conducted among US allies, Bush is outranked only by Osama Bin Laden as the greatest danger to world peace. N. Korean president Kim Jong Il and Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are considered less of a threat than Bush.

"America is now seen as a threat to world peace by its closest neighbours and allies, according to an international survey of public opinion published today that reveals just how far the country’s reputation has fallen among former supporters since the invasion of Iraq.

British voters see George Bush as a greater danger to world peace than either the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, or the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both countries were once cited by the US president as part of an "axis of evil", but it is Mr Bush who now alarms voters in countries with traditionally strong links to the US.The survey has been carried out by the Guardian in Britain and leading newspapers in Israel (Haaretz), Canada (La Presse and Toronto Star) and Mexico (Reforma), using professional local opinion polling in each country.

It exposes high levels of distrust. In Britain, 69% of those questioned say they believe US policy has made the world less safe since 2001, with only 7% thinking action in Iraq and Afghanistan has increased global security.  The finding is mirrored in America’s immediate northern and southern neighbours, Canada and Mexico, with 62% of Canadians and 57% of Mexicans saying the world has become more dangerous because of US policy. Even in Israel, which has long looked to America to guarantee national security, support for the US has slipped."

No fish by 2048:  Overfishing has depleted edible marine life to a degree that may make availability of seafood scarce to nil in less than fifty years.  So says a new study to appear in today’s issue of the journal Science.

"Unless humans act now, seafood may disappear by 2048, concludes the lead author of a new study that paints a grim picture for ocean and human health.

According to the study, the loss of ocean biodiversity is accelerating, and 29 percent of the seafood species humans consume have already crashed. If the long-term trend continues, in 30 years there will be little or no seafood available for sustainable harvest. The research also found that biodiversity loss is tightly linked to declining water quality, harmful algal blooms, ocean dead zones, fish kills, and coastal flooding.

"Biodiversity is a finite resource, and we are going to end up with nothing left … if nothing changes," said Boris Worm, an assistant professor of marine conservation biology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada."

Give him "the bird" in the voting booth: A school bus driver in Seattle has been fired after she made an obscene gesture at George Bush when his motorcade was passing the bus. The driver has lodged a complaint of wrongful termination with the employee’s union. A spokesperson for the school district has said the firing was not politically motivated.

"A school bus driver fired after she reportedly made an obscene gesture at President Bush has filed a union grievance in an attempt to get her job back.

The 43-year-old driver, whose name was not released, was driving middle school children back to school after a zoo visit on June 16 when the president and Republican Rep. Dave Reichert drove slowly by in a motorcade.

From the bus, the children waved; with the windows down in their car, Bush and Reichert waved back. That’s when the driver gave the president the finger, according to Reichert and Issaquah superintendent Janet Barry.

"The congressman hadn’t seen it, but the president turned to him and said, ‘That one’s not a fan,’" said Reichert spokeswoman Kimberly Cadena.