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Bush does the hokey pokey

Clearly, Bush is looking for a way to provoke a military confrontation with Iran. Now he has 5 Iranian hostages at his disposal to help him achieve that goal. Will the Mullahs overreact or will they show restraint and try to prevent a larger conflict?  Story here.

Washington intelligence, military and foreign policy circles are abuzz today with speculation that the President, yesterday or in recent days, sent a secret Executive Order to the Secretary of Defense and to the Director of the CIA to launch military operations against Syria and Iran.

The President may have started a new secret, informal war against Syria and Iran without the consent of Congress or any broad discussion with the country. (More - The Washington Note)

On Salon - Did the U.S. just provoke Iran?

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Something to think about - What if the hokey pokey is what it's all about?

Marry me?

Funny? You want funny?!

Taking a risk for art

The Art Room

Michael Moore writes the President

Dear Mr. President,

Thanks for your address to the nation. It's good to know you still want to talk to us after how we behaved in November.

Listen, can I be frank? Sending in 20,000 more troops just ain't gonna do the job. That will only bring the troop level back up to what it was last year. And we were losing the war last year! We've already had over a million troops serve some time in Iraq since 2003. Another few thousand is simply not enough to find those weapons of mass destruction! Er, I mean... bringing those responsible for 9/11 to justice! Um, scratch that. Try this -- BRING DEMOCRACY TO THE MIDDLE EAST! YES!!!

The whole enchillada

Whatever happened to Ask Jeeves for Kids?

Transmogrification, maybe?

Profit Moon prognosticates

"The year ahead... bloody and violent." - President Bush

Media reaction to last night's speech

In 2007 - The U.S. provokes Iran into doing something stupid as a pretext for invasion. Israel bombs Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities. A nuclear device is detonated on American soil. President Bush declares a national emergency, suspending indefinitely some Constitutional rights. Violence and upheaval spreads to neighboring Middle Eastern countries. The U.S. uses at least one nuclear weapon in the Middle East. Chaos and madness descend upon the earth.

Or... Political stability is restored in Iraq. Our troops come home to a huge ticker-tape parade in New York City. Neighboring countries begin to seriously consider American democracy as a viable form of government. The Palestinians and Israel reach a peace accord. The nations of the world begin working together to combat global warming. A cure for cancer is found. Peace and prosperity descend upon the earth.

Or... The earth is invaded by aliens.

A tree and its fruits - Matthew 7:20

Runaway train

Downward spiral

You will know them by their fruits.

The next few weeks are going to be very very interesting

What is President Bush up to in the Middle East?

Who'd like dessert?

Need some clipart?

Try Awesome Clipart for educators.

harbinger of things to come?

"There's a new way to study for the SATs. Rather than a cursory glance at a vocabulary list, this study guide sets SAT words to music."

SAT: Why Memorize What You Can Rock?

Monday morning madness

Henry David Thoreau refused to pay the poll tax put in to support the immoral American-Mexican War, and was sentenced to a night in jail. His friend Ralph Waldo Emerson came to visit him and asked him "David, what are you doing in there?" Thoreau replied, "What are you doing out there?" If intellectuals aren't misbehaving in the sense of dissenting and critiquing the collective grounds of our political being, then they aren't doing their jobs.

Note - This is a New York "TimesSelect" editorial, which requires your hard-earned money to view. Truthout is free, hence the link to Truthout.

"This time the people do not rule. Two months after Americans spoke decisively on Election Day, the president is determined to overrule them. Our long national nightmare in Iraq, far from being over, is about to get a second wind."

The Timely Death of Gerald Ford