BBC NEWS | Europe | Russians losing propaganda war

The Bush administration appears to be trying to turn a failed military operation by Georgia into a successful diplomatic operation against Russia.

It is doing so by presenting the Russian actions as aggression and playing down the Georgian attack into South Ossetia on 7 August, which triggered the Russian operation.

Yet the evidence from South Ossetia about that attack indicates that it was extensive and damaging.

Actually, it's been beautiful every day in Paris too since we moved. Which isn't normal.

Must've brought the good weather with us...

"C'est un scandale !"

(more merciless mockery behind link)

Cynicism is intellectual treason.

Jackson Browne sues McCain over song use | Entertainment | Reuters

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne is suing Republican presidential nominee John McCain and the Republican party for using his song "Running on Empty" in a recent TV commercial.

In the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Browne claims McCain and the party did not obtain permission to use the song for an ad in which "Senator McCain and the Republicans mock Democratic candidate for president Barack Obama ...

"Not only have Senator McCain and his agents plainly infringed Mr. Browne's copyright in 'Running on Empty,' but the federal courts have long held that the unauthorized use of a famous singer's voice in a commercial constitutes a false endorsement and a violation of the singer's right of publicity," Lawrence Iser, Browne lawyer, said.

"Ideas or the lack of them can cause disease." - Kurt Vonnegut

Going to meet Helen and Nanne in the Golden Tiger for more beer.  Hope you are all keeping well.

Ad astra per aspera

President Bush Wednesday promised that U.S. naval forces would deliver humanitarian aid to war-torn Georgia before his administration had received approval from Turkey, which controls naval access to the Black Sea, or the Pentagon had planned a seaborne operation, U.S. officials said Thursday.

As of late Thursday, Ankara, a NATO ally, hadn't cleared any U.S. naval vessels to steam to Georgia through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, the narrow straits that connect the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, the officials said. Under the 1936 Montreaux Convention, countries must notify Turkey before sending warships through the straits.

Pentagon officials told McClatchy that they were increasingly dubious that any U.S. Navy vessels would join the aid operation, in large part because the U.S.-based hospital ships likely to go, the USNS Comfort and the USNS Mercy, would take weeks to arrive.

"The president was writing checks to the Georgians without knowing what he had in the bank," said a senior administration official.

"The president got out in front of the planning when he talked publicly about using naval forces," said a second senior administration official. "At that point we need to look at treaty obligations, our bilateral relations with the Turks and others, waterway restrictions and what kind of ships might be appropriate and usable -- something like the Comfort or something already in the Med (Mediterranean)."

I got sucked into the women's gymnastics last night and didn't get to sleep until very late.  But it was awesome.  I was rooting for Nastia Liukin mostly because everyone is obsessed with Shaun Johnson, and I like to root for the underdog.  But she really was amazing, and very beautiful.  Plus, I absolutely don't believe those Chinese girls are 16.  One of them isn't much bigger than my 7 year old niece.  So I am glad they didn't sweep everything.  Anyway, Nastia Liukin has to have the most charming family in the universe.  It was wonderful to watch her and her dad.  

I could go the rest of my life without ever hearing about Michael Phelps though.  

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

Sorry if this has been posted here already.  Haven't kepr track of where I see what.

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

The Colbert Report: The 1952 Helsinki Games - The Reindeer Roars

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

Sorry, nanne, I gave you a 3 by mistake and I´ve tried to change it 4 times....

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. --Charu Saxena.

Salud!

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. --Charu Saxena.