Quick Hits

Because I really want to let you know about all these stories:

-At least they're consistent: Iran wanted Western newspapers shut down for the Mohammed cartoons, and now they've shut down one of their own official newspapers for publishing cartoons that slander their Azeri minority. They sent the cartoonist and the editor-in-chief to prison. Hey, maybe we DO have something in common with Iran: jailing journalists!

Actually, this article notes a rise in protests and dissent, particularly by students. How would that change if Tehran is suddenly bombed? For better or for worse? It's an open question.

-ABC News reports that the Kentucky coal mine where 5 died over the weekend has been cited 41 times over 5 years for various violations. The spin on this is that 41 citations is "a normal number." Meanwhile Bush's nominee to lead the Office of Surface Mining has a lot of problems, including rolling back mine safety protections and firing a whistleblower. Another regulatory official who comes out of the industry he is charged with regulating.

-Look at this, a report finds no collusion or price gouging by the oil companies during the post-Katrina period. Of course, the chair of the FTC (who wrote the report) is a former lawyer for Chevron. See above.

-It's great that the FDA's advisory board has approved a vaccine for HPV, a virus that causes cervical cancer. The true test is if the FDA takes the advice of the panel and approves the drug for use. Christian conservatives don't want it approved becuase they think it would encourage young people to have sex (HPV is transmitted sexually). In other words, they would rather let millions contract cervical cancer as long as it promoted abstinence. There's the true colors of that movement.

-We're not going to win in Iraq, or anywhere in the Middle East, at least according to the Administration, who is setting a new standard on victory: a "non-bloodbath." They're now going to try to get out by the skin of their teeth. The next Democratic President is going to have a hell of a time cleaning up this mess. He/she should hire a Secretary of Sanitation.