Genius

Bush is cutting funding for condoms in Africa. That's a great idea:

The US government is cutting its funding for the supply of contraceptives to family planning clinics run by Marie Stopes International in Africa, alleging that it condones forced abortions in China.

MSI has categorically denied that it supports forced abortions or coercive sterilisation in China or anywhere else in the world, and says that the actions of the Bush government will result in more abortions in Africa, as women will be unable to get contraceptives and will end up with unwanted pregnancies.

...

According to MSI, the inevitable consequence will be more abortions. It estimates that it will lose $1.5m worth of supplies in the next year, resulting in 325,000 extra unwanted pregnancies in the six African countries and 65,000 abortions.

"At a time when governments have pledged to increase their commitment to improving the health of women, only the Bush administration could find logic in the idea that they can reduce abortion and promote choice for women in China by causing more abortion," said Hovig.

More Desperation

And, of course, more lies:

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Saturday accused Democrat Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists" because of an association with a former '60s radical, stepping up an effort to portray Obama as unacceptable to American voters.
...

While it is known that Obama and Ayers live in the same Chicago neighborhood, served on a charity board together and had a fleeting political connection, it's a stretch of any reading of the public record to say the pair ever palled around. And it's simply wrong to suggest that they were associated while Ayers was committing terrorist acts.

Falling behind Obama in polls, the Republican campaign plans to make attacks on Obama's character a centerpiece of candidate John McCain's message in the final weeks of the presidential race. Coming late in the campaign, Palin's remark could be particularly incendiary, however, and could knock Obama off his focus on the troubled economy.

Palin told a group of donors at a private airport, "Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country." She also said, "This is not a man who sees America as you see America and as I see America."

The Obama campaign called Palin's remarks offensive but not surprising in light of news stories detailing the campaign's come-from-behind offensive.

Northern Hatred

And here, I thought Canadians were supposed to be all polite:

A Northern Ontario candidate running for a seat in Canada’s parliament could find himself sitting in jail instead, after telling high school students that gays should be executed.

Palin Lies Again

What a surprise:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fought to protest atrocities in Sudan by dropping assets tied to the country's brutal regime from the state's multi-billion-dollar investment fund, she claimed during Thursday's vice presidential debate.

Not quite, according to a review of the public record – and according to the recollections of a legislator and others who pushed a measure to divest Alaskan holdings in Sudan-linked investments.

"The [Palin] administration killed our bill," said Alaska state representative Les Gara, D-Anchorage. Gara and state Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, co-sponsored a resolution early this year to force the Alaska Permanent Fund – a $40 billion investment fund, a portion of whose dividends are distributed annually to state residents – to divest millions of dollars in holdings tied to the Sudanese government.

Another One Down

Is it okay to forget Poland now?

Poland ended its military presence in Iraq Saturday with a ceremony for its approximately 900 troops at Camp Echo, Qadasiyah Province.

That's My Homestate

Sweet Jeebus:

Arkansas City Mayor Mell Kuhn on Thursday issued an apology for his actions during a fundraising event in Winfield that some residents found insulting and racially offensive.

Kuhn met with the area NAACP president in Wichita Wednesday evening in response to mounting controversy about his decision to portray a black woman with a derogatory name for the Men In Tights fundraiser.
,,,
The apology is a reversal from statements Kuhn made to the Traveler yesterday, in which he defended naming his character"Smellishis Poon" and painting his face dark for the event.

He said he originally intended to portray an over-the-top black women, but the performance ended up being more of a general "exotic, ethnic" character. In fact the judges awarded him Mr. CASA, and most creative talent, and the audience liked his performance, he said.

Why Yes, I Am Very Poofy



















What? You want more proof-of-poof?



















Poof close-up, right here.

Hurray!

Our debt is huge!

There were no fireworks so a lot of people probably missed it. We even forgot to mention it here on The Swamp when it happened though we saw the reports. Anyway, on the last day of September, the national debt hit $10 trillion plus.

President Bush signed legislation in July that raised the debt ceiling to $10.615 trillion. Meanwhile, the financial bailout legislation passed by the Senate last night would raise the debt ceiling further to $11.315 trillion.

Error?

No. This is a bald-faced lie and should be called for what it is.

The McCain campaign is desperate and willing to lie to shore up Palin's credibility:

Sarah Palin has committed yet another political blunder after claiming she had held talks with a British ambassador - talks that never actually took place.

In an answer to questions about her foreign policy experience ahead of tonight's make-or-break vice presidential TV debate, her aides listed numerous contacts with foreign officials - including Britain's ambassador to Washington, Sir Nigel Sheinwald.

However the meeting never occurred. Officials at the embassy swiftly contacted the McCain-Palin campaign to inform them of the discrepancy.

A British Embassy spokesman said the error arose after Sir Nigel's name was listed among those who had attended a US Governor's meeting in July.

Mrs Palin was at the meeting in her role as Governor of Alaska. However Sir Nigel pulled out at the last minute, leaving his name on the guest list.

The embarrassing mishap comes as Mrs Palin faces the biggest challenge of her political life tonight in a head-to-head vice-presidential debate with Democratic candidate Joe Biden.

The End of the American Century?

That's what some people, not terribly friendly toward the US, are saying:

"The time of domination by one economy and one currency has been consigned to the past once and for all," Mr Medvedev said in an address to a Russian-German development forum, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at his side.

"We must work together towards building a new and more just financial-economic system in the world based on the principles of multipolarity, supremacy of the law and taking account of mutual interests."

The current crisis proved that even with its vast economic resources the United States was not in a position to play the role of "mega-regulator" and that a new system based on collective management was needed, he said.

McCain Turns to Inexperience

This just keeps getting more and more surreal. McCain attacks Obama's inexperience, chooses an extremely inexperienced running mate, and then claims to have turned to her to foreign policy advice?

I wonder if he can specifically name as many instances of having done this as she can name newspapers:

John McCain told NPR's Steve Inskeep that he has turned to his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, for foreign policy advice "many times" and wouldn't trust Sens. Obama and Biden because "they've been wrong."

McCain's State Is Fighting Gay Rights

No surprise there.

Fortunately, the good guys are fighting back:

A proposed amendment to the Arizona state constitution to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples is facing a fierce battle and opponents of the measure say they are confident it will be defeated.

Sounding Desperate

Looking bad in Afghanistan:

The top American military commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday that he needs more troops and other aid "as quickly as possible" in a counterinsurgency battle that could get worse before it gets better.

Bush Is Pathetic

And all the world knows it:

There are days when all it takes is a single speech to illustrate the decline of a world power. A face can speak volumes, as can the speaker's tone of voice, the speech itself or the audience's reaction. Kings and queens have clung to the past before and humiliated themselves in public, but this time it was merely a United States president.

Or what is left of him.

George W. Bush has grown old, erratic and rosy in the eight years of his presidency. Little remains of his combativeness or his enthusiasm for physical fitness. On this sunny Tuesday morning in New York, even his hair seemed messy and unkempt, his blue suit a little baggy around the shoulders, as Bush stepped onto the stage, for the eighth time, at the United Nations General Assembly.

He talked about terrorism and terrorist regimes, and about governments that allegedly support terror. He failed to notice that the delegates sitting in front of and below him were shaking their heads, smiling and whispering, or if he did notice, he was no longer capable of reacting. The US president gave a speech similar to the ones he gave in 2004 and 2007, mentioning the word "terror" 32 times in 22 minutes. At the 63rd General Assembly of the United Nations, George W. Bush was the only one still talking about terror and not about the topic that currently has the rest of the world's attention.

"Absurd, absurd, absurd," said one German diplomat. A French woman called him "yesterday's man" over coffee on the East River. There is another way to put it, too: Bush was a laughing stock in the gray corridors of the UN.

Scary Gays!

They killed Wall Street!

Christian fundamentalists are suggesting gays and lesbians are to blame for Wall Street's woes, a frequently made charge in the wake of national calamities.

In a September 25th blog post titled 'The Nation Will Right Itself If It Fixes Sex', Christian Civil League of Maine Executive Director Michael Heath writes that the financial crisis facing Wall Street is a symptom of America's sinful sexual culture, including the acceptance of gay unions.

All Kinds of Wrong

And, where did he get them?

Tenants of a Brooklyn building say their landlord came up with a new idea for how to kick them out: Let the smell of the cats out of the bag. Dead cats, that is.

The stench from the carcasses did catch the tenants' attention -- but they stayed and sued.

One tenant, Daisy Terry, told a City Hall news conference on Sunday it was so bad she had to hold her nose coming down the stairs.

Tailspin

Epic fail:

Stocks on Wall Street wallowed in a blood bath Monday after the House of Representatives voted to reject the Treasury Department's proposed aid package for the financial sector.

The surprise vote tally stunned traders on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 777.68 points, or 7%, to 10,365.45. The S&P 500 sank 106.59 points, or 8.8%, to 1106.42. The Nasdaq lost 199.61 points, or 9.1%, to 1983.73.

At the end of the day, the Dow suffered its worst single-day point drop ever and its worst single-day percentage decline since Sept. 17, 2001.

Catblogging: Competitive Couchdiving Edition
Tista demonstrates perfect form as he tucks into a dive:
























He demonstrates his creative side in the freestyle event:



















In slow motion replay, we can see that, as he finishes his program, Tista gives us the yawn of victory.



















(I'm working on my first-year review file, and so there is just a slight possibility that I am a bit slap-happy.)