The Daily Grill

If The USA Were A Sitcom...

"Hello, Zahit!"

The Turkish broadcasting board has approved Kurdish language programming to begin next month in Turkey. At long last, Kurdish viewers will be able to revel in shows in their own tongue, including such hits as "That 90's Show", Ahmed Trump's "The Henchman", and "Kurdish Idol".

Tapping: It's Not Just For Phones Any More

The National Security Agency said they made a "mistake" in using software on their website that placed files ("cookies") on visitors' computers which then could track wherever those people surfed online later. The NSA disabled the software Tuesday, although the tracking files already in place on affected computers won't expire until 2035. Those are going to be some stale cookies...

Pinochet A Loaf

Chilean police took mug shots and fingerprinted former ruler Augusto Pinochet, 90, on Wednesday over his indictment related to the murder and disappearance of leftist opponents under his dictatorship. Proving once again that crime does not pay -- although you might be real frickin' old by the time the bill comes due.

Buzz Killing

I noticed that on the Yahoo "Buzz Log" today, they devoted a lot of space to how people might spend the spare "leap second" that's being officially tacked onto the tail end of 2005. It's a weird little bean counter thing to try to even out our human clocks to sync up with a universe that really doesn't care what we think. Rather than ruminate on the matter further, however, I think we missed our chance to spend it ourselves, as Yahoo used the second up for us in writing about it in the first place.

Can't Get Over It

I guess I'm a little obsessed by this whole clandestine wiretapping thing President Bush so heartily justifies. The only positive thing I can take away from it is that, in the war on terrorism, we must be winning if the weapon of choice IS terror tactics. Unfortunately, it's like running the ball back into your own end zone to score a touchdown.

Back To Normalish

The people in the areas hardest hit a few months ago by Hurricane Katrina are discovering that cleanup and reconstruction is proceeding quickly where private contractors are hard at work. Where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are concerned, however -- not so much. It's good to see that, in an age of so much upheaval and unrest that the general slackery of government workers marches on.

If We'd Only Known Then...

Considering the narrow margin by which President Bush won the last election, do you think his victory would have been assured if, instead of the complete lack of a campaign slogan, he'd run with a banner that proclaimed: "A tap on every phone and no exit strategy for Iraq"?

Coal In My Stocking For Sure

So I'm vacationing this Christmas season and, for the first time, stayed in a swanky hotel with turndown service. I know this because when I asked the maid for sex she turned me down...

It's So Simple

Nothing funny here, but the fact that President Bush claims to have the authority to secretly tap phones and other communication is absolutely true. What most people don't realize is that it's thanks to something called the Emergency War Powers Act, which has been in effect continually since 1917 and has given every US President since Wilson broad sweeping powers as it effectively suspends the authority of the Constitution. Most of our lawmakers don't even know about this one, as the Presidents have, wisely, kept a lid on it. Until now. Check it out if you don't believe me -- although you may need to do a little digging, since the news has pretty much given up trying to find out what's really going on.