Boring Old News
Tuesday, August 10th, 2004Actually- quite a few interesting stories in addition to the standard ‘Bush is a twit’ announcements.
George W. Bush acknowledged that the war on terror has been “misnamed”; he said that it ought to be called “the struggle against ideological extremists who do not believe in free societies who happen to use terror as a weapon to try to shake the conscience of the free world.” [Whitehouse.gov]
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi signed an amnesty law for Iraqis who have committed minor crimes since the American occupation began, and he ordered the closure of the Baghdad office of Al-Jazeera for one month.
Britain banned toothy smiles from passport photos.
The United States announced that it will insist that the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, which would ban countries from making enriched uranium and plutonium for nuclear bombs, be stripped of any mechanism for enforcement, such as inspections. This position, which would render the treaty useless, apparently was reached because the Bush Administration does not wish to submit to inspections. [New York Times]
Prozac was found in Britain’s drinking water.
Missouri’s voters approved a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. [Reuters]
Several Nigerian sorcerers were arrested after skulls, body parts, and 50 corpses were found in shrines belonging to a cult called Alusi Okija; the chief priest of the cult was not arrested, however, because he’s an old man and police didn’t want him to die in custody. [Associated Press]