Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Bush on the record. He lied about efforts to avoid Iraq invasion. War was the only goal.

Josh Marshall at his Talking Points Memo provides links to the report published in the Spanish newspaper "El Pais" of leaked transcripts between Bush and then Spanish Prime Minister Aznar just before the outbreak of the Iraq War.

Josh reports:

The gist seems to be that Bush was rather candid about the fact that the efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis were a sham and that the war was a done deal.

Remember, this is from a transcript of what Bush himself told Spanish PM Aznar four weeks before the invasion started.

The fact of this isn't a surprise to many of us, though the frank admission by Bush that his peace efforts were a sham have not been previously precisely documented as sourced to Bush himself.

This transcript adds greatly to and is stronger than what Richard Dearlove (then head of British foreign intelligence service MI6) said in the Downing Street Memo. This Spanish transcript is from four weeks before the Invasion of Iraq, while the downing Street Memo was reported in July 2003, well after the invasion of Iraq was over, and comes from the head of a foreign Intelligence organization rather than directly from the lips of Bush himself.

When Bush bloviates on how he will look better in 50 years when the historians have the chance to dig into what he did during his Presidency, he once again proves that he is a fool.

Yes, the report is in Spanish, and no, I don't read Spanish all that well yet. Here is the link Josh presents:

Link to "El Pais."

Babelfish only translates parts, so I need to dig out my dictionary and list of Spanish verbs.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Voles plague central Spain

A plague of voles is attacking agriculture in north central Spain. Voles are small, mouse-sized rodents which resemble lemmings. There has been a sudden unexplained massive surge in the number of voles in central Spain. They are eating the crops, and do not stop until they eat the roots. Grapes, beets and potatoes are all threatened.

The problem is so bad that the European Union has approved the rarely-permitted tactic of burning the fields. Burning has begun in the Valladolid area of Castilla-Leon region and is expected to begin soon in Avila, Palencia and Segovia.

In spite of the similarity in the name, the plague of voles is not known to be related to the recently well publicized battles with Voldemort. Besides, Voldemort was reptile, not rodent. Still, one needs to ask the real question today on a cat-blogging Friday - where in Hell are Spain's cats?

A massive increase in mouse-sized rodents would appear to be a major picnic for cats in any country. So where are the Spanish cats?

Those of us with a house cat at home know that cats consider themselves to be aristoc[r]ats, but have they gone Republican on us and quit working for a living? Are they all indoors laying around waiting for the next refilling of the cat-food bowl? Purring for their kibble and stroking instead of doing honest work?

I know that good mousers have to be trained as kittens by the mother cat. Is there a shortage of mother cats training kittens? Does the European Union need to declare total war on voles, then draft some mother-cat mousers as drill sergeants and send Europe's draftable kittens to them for basic training on a mass basis?

Where in Hell are Spain's cats when their country and their farmers really need them? It would be more than just patriotism. More than just every cat at the service of his or her country in its time of need. It would also be cat-appropriate fast food.

Or should we just give up on cats? Are they useless as anything except fat purring status objects for households with bloggers and cat-lovers?

If the latter is the case, then my suggestion is that we draft terriers. My White West Highland Terrier (Westie) didn't even need to be trained to 'remove' the mouse he trapped on our kitchen floor. Two-steps, a quick muzzle-snap-and-a-shake and he presented a limp, dead mouse. No blood. No bait needed, either.

And pleased? That terrier was so proud of himself that for nearly two weeks he would present his head for petting if you even looked at him. Why bother a bunch of aloof, lazy fat cats? Terriers were bred for the job and they love it.

Spain needs to quickly raise and organize an army of terriers.