This Day In History

Jul 3 1971
Jim Morrison is found dead of an apparent heart attack in his Paris apartment bathtub. That's what he wants us to think, anyway.

Jul 3 1988
Mistaking it for a F-14 fighter plane, the American warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air flight 655, killing all 290 people aboard. Despite his country's having recklessly downed a passenger airliner while operating inside Iran's territorial waters, Vice President George Bush declares a month later: "I will never apologize for the United States of America, ever. I don't care what the facts are."

Jul 3 1989
Television actor Jim Backus, known to millions as Thurston Howell III from Gilligan's Island, dies in Los Angeles of Parkinson's disease.

CNN Telling It Like It Is

I'm shying away from coverage of the very major and current troubles involving Iran,

but I will take a moment to point out the fact CNN has been crazy lately in their semi-graphic (but eye-catching) coverage:

But what graphic stuff am I really talking about? This.

Clinton Warns of ME Arms Race if Iran Gets Nukes

I usually stay away from politically-charged articles...
But Nukes are an important issue, ya'll..

VOA News-- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told senators Wednesday that if Iran obtains a nuclear weapons capability, it would trigger an arms race in the Middle East and beyond.

She said the Obama administration is pursuing a diplomatic track on the issue with Iran but within a specific time-frame.
Clinton said the specter of a nuclear-armed Iran has created what amounts to an "alliance" among Israel and many Arab states, and she is hoping the shared interests will give impetus not only to diplomacy with Iran but also a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In testimony before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee nominally devoted to the foreign affairs budget, she said the Obama administration - which promises diplomatic outreach with Iran - hopes to persuade the Tehran government that it will actually be less secure if it succeeds in what U.S. officials believe is an effort to acquire a nuclear weapons capability.

"A nuclear-armed Iran with a deliverable weapons system is going to spark an arms race in the Middle East and the greater region. That is not going to be in the interests of Iranian security and we believe that we have a very strong case to make for that," she said.

Clinton spoke in response to questioning from Republican Senator Judd Gregg, who called Iran a terrorist state, and noted Washington comments earlier this week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that preventing a nuclear Iran should take precedence over Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

The Secretary of State, echoing remarks by President Obama to the Israeli leader, said diplomacy on both issues can proceed at the same time.

"The president made it clear that he is committed to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons with all of the consequences that that would entail. But at the same time we cannot wait on the Palestinian-Israeli efforts regarding peace. So we think they have to proceed simultaneously," she added. (rest of article)

OOo, We Should Do This For Casey Anthony.

No, But Seriously. This isn't nice:
"The latest punishment for homosexuality in Baghdad, glue the anus shut and induce diarrhea, apparently fatal. Quaint Google-translate on Al Arabiya article:


'The [substance] called gum-Amiri, an Iranian lead to gum paste intercommunication so that the skin can not be opened only with a surgery, and post-closure rule is given to facilitating and get diarrhea, drink, and there is no outlet, and this may lead to death, these things were distributed in short clips on mobile phones in the Baghdad.' "