On The Road

President Bush hit the road, secretly, overnight.  Grabbing Air Force One for an unannounced jaunt to Iraq, toting a group of sworn-to-secrecy reporters with him. It's his right, as President, but it just seems a bit self-serving - with so little time left in his administration, and no real purpose for the visit.

Bush Does "Victory Lap" In Iraq

On a farewell trip to Iraq, President George W. Bush said Sunday the war has been hard, but was necessary to protect the U.S. and give Iraqis hope for a peaceful future.Bush visited the Iraqi capital just 37 days before he hands the war off to President-elect Barack Obama, who has pledged to end it. At the end of nearly two hours of meetings at an ornate, marble-floored palace along the shores of [...]

UPDATE: An Iraqi Journalist (that's what the TV is saying) tossed a shoe at Bush during the press conference!

Man throws shoes at Bush in Iraq

A man threw his shoes at President George W. Bush and was dragged away by security officials during the president's farewell trip to Iraq. The incident occurred as Bush was appearing Sunday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Bush ducked and wasn't [...]

We Did Good

Not.

Report Spotlights Iraq Rebuilding Blunders

An unpublished 513-page federal history of the American-led reconstruction of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country, and then molded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucracy [...]

Putting Words in His Mouth

John McCain’s handlers must be really having a rough evening.  He’s being called on the political carpet for not one, but SEVERAL things he said in a late afternoon interview on CNN.  I spent a good part of this afternoon getting my second Sirius unit hooked up to play through the stereo in the family room, so I was peaking signal readings and not watching TV!  Here’s what I missed (did you miss it, too?)

 

McCain On Maliki's Endorsement Of Obama's Pullout Timeline: He Didn't Mean It

Okay, John McCain just wrapped up his interview with CNN, and there were a couple of real live ones in there that should juice up your happy hour a bit. First, McCain dealt with Nouri al-Maliki's inconvenient endorsement of Obama's [...]

 

Technorati Tags: John McCain,Iraq War,Nouri al-Maliki

Friends In High Places

It’s only natural to take advantage of business and personal relationships. We all do it.  Still, it’s just not right when deals like this one come together.

Iraq, and Big Oil, and no-bid contracts … oh my

Dear Iraq, sorry the war hasn’t gone well. But now that the surge is wrapping up, we hope you won’t mind that we need several dozen permanent bases in your country. Oh, and did we mention that we’ll need you to approve some no-bid contracts for our oil companies, too? After all, what’s a few [...]

Technorati Tags: Iraq War,Big Oil,No-Bid Contracts

Monday's Random Thoughts

From a meandering mind:

We're all trying to save money.  I've stumbled on a couple of well-done internet sites that really do seem to help! First of all, check out www.thegrocerygame.com. Also, try www.couponmom.com. Both work on the same principle - you save all the coupons from the Sunday papers, etc and the sites help you use them when the stores already have the items on sale! Both are handy for stockpiling necessities. There's a small charge for thegrocerygame site, but couponmom is free. The first is a bit better organized and easier to use, but the latter incorporates more stores.  Try them both. I've been doing thegrocerygame for a couple of months and have hit savings as high as 57% on a trip to the local supermarket, shopping only for things I know we'll use or for things to stockpile (toothpaste, TP, etc). By the way, I get nothing for sending you to either site. Just trying to help.

Keep my friends in Iowa in your thoughts. The flood waters are going down, but things are still a real mess.  The crew at KCRG continues to do a marvelous job and their live coverage is still on the internet.

And, a bit of politics, as usual.

Buried In A Senate Report, New Revelations About Pre-War Deception

A previously undisclosed CIA report written in the summer of 2002 questioned the "credibility" and "truthfulness" of an Al Qaeda detainee who became a key source for the Bush administration's claims about links between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

Technorati Tags: Groceries,Coupons,CIA,Iowa Floods,Al Qaeda