"Ear--rock," she says. "Eye--rack," comes the reply. She rolls her eyes and tries again. Why it's none other than Christiane Amanpour, intrepid reporter for CNN International, attempting to give an American a pronuciation lesson. Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfour, on an on--name any 3rd world shithole, and she's been there sporting a hunting vest, a vaguely British (pan-European?) accent and a no-bullshit attitude.

Guess where she is today? You got it--New Awluns, tooling around in a big ... read more

White House spokesman Scott McClellan, when pressed yesterday for an answer as to why the US government had not been better prepared for a cataclysmic hurricane event in New Orleans, was quoted as saying "The middle of a crisis is not the time to point fingers."

Maybe not. When, then, is the proper time? Security experts had long warned that our airlines were wide open, and that a major hijacking event was an "accident" waiting to happen. When was the situation addressed? In the middle of... read more

It all depends on your perspective.

A small, loosely organized, vastly outnumbered force with woefully inferior technological capabilities and (by comparision, anyway) pitifully small financial resources unilaterally announces its presence on the world stage, and wages openly declared war in an attempt to rid itself of the influence of an empire that spans almost the entire globe. Underequipped and unable to confront the imperial army head-on, it resorts to dirty tricks, sabotage, surpr... read more

...that "giant sucking sound?" It's a flush, and the eddy is eddy-fying. While we await the inevitable plunge into the potage of cig butts, bio-bouillabaisse, used...well, u name it, the odd baby alligator, late goldfish, late hamsters, and Scrubbing Bubbles? flushables, we can at least enjoy a panoramic (if ill-focused) view of the "chosen ones," minions of the Trickster (who's been cleverly masquerading as God since the spring of 3 A.D.) peering over the bowl rim and reciting dogmatic devot... read more