The Essence of Democracy

Musharraf swears in caretaker government - 16 Nov 2007 at 7:34am - President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Friday swore in a caretaker administration and declared he had "introduced the essence of democracy in Pakistan" as a a senior U.S. envoy traveled to the country to urge Musharraf to end the state of emergency.

"Essence of democracy"... nice. Bet Dick Cheney wishes he'd dreamt up that phraseology. Pakistan is a little late arriving here: the U.S. has been enjoying the "essence" of civil liberties for the last six years.

Army desertion rate highest since 1980 - 16 Nov 2007 at 11:47am - WASHINGTON -- Soldiers strained by six years at war are deserting their posts at the highest rate since 1980, with the number of Army deserters this year showing an 80 percent increase since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.

Senate Blocks Iraq War Money - 16 Nov 2007 at 11:44am - The Senate on Friday blocked a Democratic proposal that would have paid for the Iraq war but required that troops start coming home. The 53-45 vote was seven votes short of the 60 needed to advance. It came minutes after the Senate rejected a Republican proposal to pay for the Iraq war with no strings attached.

Court deals blow to wiretapping case - 16 Nov 2007 at 1:59pm - SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court dealt a near-fatal blow Friday to an Islamic charity's lawsuit alleging it was illegally wiretapped by federal investigators, saying that a key piece of evidence the charity planned to use is a protected state secret.

Thought for the day:
War is a cowardly escape from the problems of peace. -Thomas Mann (1875 - 1955)