Events

First, the local story: Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich will face Judy Baar Topinka in the November election. Former Chicago alterman Edwin Eisendrath, for whom I voted, polled 32% to Blagojevich's 68%; Topinka got 38% of the Republican vote to dairy owner Jim Oberweis' 32%. No one appears surprised by the results, nor will anyone be surprised when Blagojevich is re-elected. Now, the international story: The Basque separatist group ETA has declared a permanent cease-fire, as the Irish Republican Army...

Anne has started her new blog, Vegan Fashion Scout: Veganism is commonly considered a dietary choice, but it goes far beyond that; vegans abstain (to the extent possible) from consuming animals in any respect, which affects every shopping choice from cosmetics to cars to carpets to clothing. We don't want to be able to answer the question "who are you wearing?", and that decision eliminates from wardrobe consideration not just fur and leather but also shearling, wool, silk, cashmere, angora, mohair...

The general who headed the effort to train the Iraqi military says Rumsfeld should resign: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is not competent to lead our armed forces. First, his failure to build coalitions with our allies from what he dismissively called "old Europe" has imposed far greater demands and risks on our soldiers in Iraq than necessary. Second, he alienated his allies in our own military, ignoring the advice of seasoned officers and denying subordinates any chance for input. In sum, he has...

Very funny, but possibly offensive 3rd Annual Nigerian Email Conference website.

Anne and I just completed the 18-hour drive from Chicago to Nashua, N.H.. I will resume my normal blog posting frequency tomorrow.

You've got to hand it to USMC Chief Warrant Officer James Averhart: he's doing his part in the war on terrorism by tracking down Vietnam-era deserters: A man was being held in a US military prison yesterday for deserting from the marines 38 years ago after being caught on the American-Canadian border amid a new drive to track down Vietnam-era deserters. Since he took over the marine corps Absentee Collection Centre in 2004, Averhart has reopened cold cases and claims to have tracked down 33 deserters....

The President's job approval is at 33% today, according to Pew. And Garrison Keillor has a scathing op-ed as well. Ouch.

Larry Johnson over at Talking Points Memo Cafe posited what Sunday's activity in Baghdad might look like if it were in New York instead. I have changed the numbers to reflect the relative sizes of Iraq and the U.S.: 03/12/06 AP: A roadside bomb hit a police convoy in White Plains, New York, 35 miles northeast of New York City, killing 8 patrolmen and wounding 32 others, police said 03/12/06 AP: U.S. forces also clashed with gunmen Sunday afternoon in New York City's upper West side, Interior Ministry...

Yesterday the President apparently blamed Iran for supplying some of the explosives that are being used in the ongoing Iraqi civil war: "Iraqis have shown the world that they want a future of peace," Bush said. Bush also accused Iran of providing material support to the insurgency in Iraq and vowed to continue to pressure Iraq's neighbor. "Such actions, along with Iran's support for terrorism and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, are increasingly isolating Iran, and America will continue to rally the...

The Census Bureau estimates that as of the last week of February, world population exceeded 6.5 billion. They estimate also that the U.S. population will hit 300 million around November 25th. (Actually, they have a current estimate and a rate, which I used to compute a date. So check back in October to see how close this is.)