My apologies to my blogmates; this weekend was much busier than I expected.

This hasn't been around too much:

From UPI:

The Azerbaijani media is rife with speculation that Harnish is being recalled because of a burgeoning human smuggling scandal which came to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Moscow newspaper Trud newspaper reported on Thursday that FBI agents began interviews with embassy officials about the smuggling of Azerbaijani prostitutes into the United States and the issuing of visas.

As the investigation proceeded, Zarifa Dzhabieva, a former translator for the American embassy was found knifed to death in her own home. Whoever killed Dzhabieva ransacked her dwelling looking for something, even though none of the victim's valuables had been touched. Dzhabieva was under investigation for aiding and abetting the issuing of visas and forged documents to girls destined for the U.S. sex trade.

As usual, I totally agree with BIO:

Having been scrubbed from the Republican lexicon, Osama Bin Forgottenabout popped his sun scorched face out again ranting and raving like Jerry Falwell on LSD. The man whom George W. Bush once said he wasn’t even concerned with anymore released another audio tape over the weekend, reminding Joe Q. Public that Bush has failed to follow through; again.

Does anyone, even a wingnut, take the OBL tapes seriously anymore? Rove must be sweatin' it, either that or his replacement is not his equal.

Gotta love the Good Dictators:

Former Indonesian president Suharto, who escaped trial for corruption on health grounds, appeared healthy on Monday as he attended the wedding of one of his granddaughters, a report said Sunday.

The 84-year-old former president, in a black suit and tie, arrived at the At-Tien mosque early for the wedding of Gendis Siti Hatmanti, the daughter of his second eldest son, Bambang Trihatmojo, ElShinta radio said.

Suharto, who walked with a cane, appeared healthy and cheerful, a reporter quoted by AFP as saying.

A happy grandpa at his grandaughter's wedding, how charming. Maybe I should apply for the job of dictator, it seems to have good benefits and improves the quality of the end of life.

This is what happens when you send an army full of creationists to the Middle East:

Col Coleman told the BBC that if the Iraqis wanted an apology for the destruction caused by his men he was willing to give one.

The 2,000 troops who were deployed there did immense damage as they set up camp amidst the ruins of old temples.

A helicopter pad was constructed at the site. The vibration from landings led the roof of one building to collapse.

The soldiers also filled their sandbags with archaeological artefacts, just because they were lying around and easy to pick up.

The head of the Iraqi State Board for Heritage and Antiquities, Donny George, is angry and says the mess will take decades to sort out.

Col Coleman argues that whatever his troops did, the alternative would have been far worse.

If they hadn't moved in, Babylon would have been left at the mercy of looters, he says.

Fuck you, Col. Coleman. You're an ignorant fool, and you deserve things I'm not going to say this morning, as I want to remain positive.

I bet you missed this:

By William L. Watts
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- President Bush on Wednesday circumvented a standoff with the Senate over his efforts to re-appoint two public trustees to the boards of the Social Security and Medicare programs.
The White House announced that Bush had "recess appointed" John Palmer and Thomas Saving to serve on the Social Security and Medicare board of trustees.
The constitution allows the president to make recess appointments to temporarily fill posts that otherwise require Senate confirmation when the upper chamber is not in session. Lawmakers return next week from a two-week Easter recess.
Palmer, a former dean of Syracuse University's Maxwell School, and Saving, an economist at Texas A&M University, had served as public trustees since 2000. Although their four-year terms had expired, the pair was able to remain in place to complete the annual trustees report on Social Security and Medicare that was released in 2005.

Was I talking about dictatorship? This is the Amurkin version. Bush doesn't need "advice and consent," he just needs people who take a lot of vacations and who get serious about unimportant things like the demise of democracy months too late.

Bringing the circle to fullness, a noteworthy (and very important, depending on the court and the honesty of the judge) court case:

Jeremy Scahill

It is one of the most infamous incidents of the war in Iraq: On March 31, 2004, four private American security contractors get lost and end up driving through the center of Falluja, a hotbed of Sunni resistance to the US occupation. Shortly after entering the city, they get stuck in traffic, and their small convoy is ambushed. Several armed men approach the two vehicles and open fire from behind, repeatedly shooting the men at point-blank range. Within moments, their bodies are dragged from the vehicles and a crowd descends on them, tearing them to pieces. Eventually, their corpses are chopped and burned. The remains of two of the men are strung up on a bridge over the Euphrates River and left to dangle. The gruesome image is soon beamed across the globe.
-snip-
The company swiftly rose to international prominence: Journalists were flooding Blackwater with calls, and military types were clamoring to sign up for work. "They're angry...they're saying, 'Let me go over,'" Blackwater spokesman Chris Bertelli told the Virginian-Pilot ten days after the killings, adding that applications to work for Blackwater had increased "considerably" in that time. "It's natural to assume that the visibility of the dangers could drive up salaries for the folks who have to stand in the path of the bullets," he said. A day after the killings, Prince enlisted the services of the Alexander Strategy Group, a now disgraced but once powerful Republican lobbying and PR firm. By the end of 2004 Blackwater's president, Gary Jackson, was bragging to the press of "staggering" 600 percent growth. "This is a billion-dollar industry," Jackson said in October 2004. "And Blackwater has only scratched the surface of it."

But today, Blackwater is facing a potentially devastating battle--this time not in Iraq but in court. The company has been slapped with a lawsuit that, if successful, will send shock waves through the world of private security firms, a world that has expanded significantly since Bush took office. Blackwater is being sued for the wrongful deaths of Stephen "Scott" Helvenston, Mike Teague, Jerko Zovko and Wesley Batalona by the families of the men slain in Falluja.

I've got too much work to do today, forgive the over-fluffed single post.