NEWSFLASHING: We've just this minute got this through (thanks, all new BBC breaking news service): Al-Jazeera television broadcasts what it says is an audio tape of al-Qaeda's second-in-command calling on Muslims to carry out more suicide attacks.
Eh? They've got a second in command? Who he? Is this the equivalent of John Prescott announcing government policy?
And issuing the instructions after the US has switched the Alert status from 'worry' to 'panic.' We always knwew Al-Qaeda were opportunists, but they've gotten so bandwagony lately.

 
SAVING PRIVATE LYING SOME MORE: Interesting to see the flap caused by the demolition of the Myth of Jessica Lynch's Rescue. A typical angle of response can be seen on Wilbur's Blog. There's an awful lot of stuff about whether the Marines were firing blanks or not and some sweet stuff about how the bits they use to fire blanks are coloured different for practice. Now, I don't know if they were firing blanks or not, but all this huffing and puffing is ridiculous - "why would they have taken the risk of going in armed only with blanks - what would have happened if they'd been fired on?"
Well, see - since part of the point is that the sceptics believe that the marines only went in because they knew it was safe, then, erm, that would be your answer. And maybe the bits on the guns weren't coloured like the ones they'd have used in training - perhaps they wouldn't have wanted to draw attention to them using blanks, and maybe they re-coloured it? A lot is made of how it takes several minutes to change the bit you add in to let a gun fire blanks, but for an army who spent millions on the media handling of the war, getting a bloke to fiddle about for a little while with some pliers isn't a major stumbling block.
And this is meant to be the clincher:"Furthermore, fired blank shell casings look very different to live ones. Blank shell casings have a crimped end to them that is still clearly visible after the round is fired and discarded. So if the BBC wants to prove its story, it can visit the scene of the rescue and produce some discarded blank shell casings. Unless, it wants us to believe that the American troops picked them all up. In the dark. Behind enemy lines. In a war zone. "
Hmmm. If I wanted to be flip, I'd rustle out that John Reid quote about how not being able to discover weapons of mass destruction doesn't prove that the Great Train Robbers were innocent or whatever it was. But I shan't, of course. I shan't.
See, the whole thing about this is: It doesn't matter. Maybe the BBC report has a flaw in that it relies on a doctor's judgement on whether or not the troops were firing blanks or live rounds doesn't really alter the meat of the story, and that - that the 'saving' of the soldier was, in fact, a trot into a hospital with no troops to pick up a person who had already been tried to get discharged anyway - doesn't alter however much you might know about the colours of guns. It's like suggesting that Bush's handling of the economy is a crock of shit because you can point out flaws in his grammar.

 
BREMNER, BIRD AND FORTUNE: They're takina bit of time getting the transcripts of the sequel to Iraq and a Hard Place up on line, but we're keeping an eye on the site to let you know. It was, as ever, an accomplished show - although we thought the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Fraud/ Project For A New American Century sketch lasted a bit longer than it needed to make its point, that's juts quibbling. It's a pity that Channel 4 does stuff like this, while the moronic verbal bitch slap that is Your Face or Mine wins the awards.

 
NATION BUILDING CAN BE TRICKY: Iraqi groups accuse US of reneging on promises made to them before the war - they'd been offered a free-ish hand in post-Saddam Iraq, now it seems the US are a spot more reluctant to keep to the bargain. Hey, you don't suppose the US could have been lying just so they could keep some of the Iraqi opposition in the coalition of the willing, do you?

 
HEADLINES THEY DIDN'T THINK LONG ENOUGH ABOUT: Bush gives Phillipine head royal treatment

 
MUST TRY HARDER: Slightly disappointed we didn't make it anywhere near the NewsMax deck of Weasels - maybe next time...