For those who aren’t insane with hatred of Amerikkka and George Bush, at least the moral case for removing Saddam is apparently compelling.

Assos Hardi, the editor of Hawalati, the liberal newspaper in Sulaimania, was more mathematical in his appraisal. He said: “How many people do you think will die if America attacks Saddam? It will probably be less than the number of people he kills in a single month.”

As the drums of war beat ever louder, I am still unsure of the strategic wisdom of opening a second front in the war against terror. But of the moral rectitude of such a course, there can be no doubt.

Andrew Sullivan points to this picture over at Rush Limbaugh’s site, ostensibly of the north Atlantic, Europe and Africa, as the terminator crosses them, taken from the Columbia on its last mission.

I thought it looked a little suspicious. The altitude seems much too high, and it would be amazing to see this much of the earth at once with absolutely no cloud cover. Also note that you can see the mid-Atlantic ridge, which shouldn’t be viewable through thousands of feet of water.

Keith Cowing over at NASA Watch confirms my suspicions. Both Andrew and Rush were taken in. It’s a computer simulation. You can find it at this cool site (they do it for the Moon as well), and the particular view on Rush’s site can be generated here, with real-time lighting conditions.

Rush needs to verify his sources a little more carefully.

[Update at 3 PM PST]

Snopes has it wrong, too.

Glenn points to a couple links to discussions as to whether our latest war trophy should be tortured to garner requisite information from him, both to gather up members or terrorist cells and, more immediately, to prevent attacks that may be planned and imminent.

I don’t have any firm opinions on the subject, at least at this late hour, but I do wonder–once we’ve squeezed all the information out of him, and he’s a dessicated lemon, what then? What punishment should be in store for him?

I’m not into Biblical, or Hammurabian justice myself, but if you’re an “eye for an eye” type, it seems to me that an appropriate retribution might be to take him up to the observation floor (86th) of the Empire State Building, and face him south, toward downtown, so he could view the site of his atrocity. Confront him with a flamethrower, and offer him a choice, just as his victims had…

No, really.

Harry Belafonte paddles ever further around the bend, declaring that US leaders are “possessed of evil.”

I guess the word “evil” hasn’t gone completely out of vogue on the left–it’s OK to employ it, as long as one only applies it to Amerikkkka, and not to people who drive airplanes into skyscrapers, or torture babies in front of their parents.

Here’s a golden oldie. On the fiftieth anniversary of his death, some unrepentant Soviets want to clone Stalin.

I can’t tell whether this is a real story or a gag. The URL isn’t helpful in that regard…

Now this isn’t just wrong, it’s really weird.

A woman wielding a marital aid chased three kids, and bonked one of them in the noggin with it.

Words fail me.

Now this isn’t just wrong, it’s really weird.

A woman wielding a marital aid chased three kids, and bonked one of them in the noggin with it.

Words fail me.

Now this isn’t just wrong, it’s really weird.

A woman wielding a marital aid chased three kids, and bonked one of them in the noggin with it.

Words fail me.

I haven’t mentioned this previously, but I should have. The “Safe Explosives Act” part of the Homeland Security Act, will essentially ban model rockets, or make it so difficult to get and use the engines, because it will require getting an ATF permit, that it might as well.

In addition to being fun and educational, model rocketry is one of the paths that many took to becoming aerospace engineers. There’s a movement afoot to get an exemption for model rocketry from the bill. The details can be found here. Write, fax or phone your Senators.

[Update at 2:10 PM PST]

There’s an article in today’s Washington Times about it.

Model-rocket hobbyists are lobbying Capitol Hill lawmakers for the exemption through faxes, e-mail messages and phone calls. They include Jay Apt, who has flown four space shuttle missions.

“It makes no more sense to restrict aerospace modeling than it would have to ban rental trucks after they were misused in Oklahoma and New York,” Mr. Apt told Space.com.

Actually, it makes a lot less sense. At least the rental truck was actually used for a terrorist act. No one has ever committed terrorism with a model rocket engine.