The slope at the end of the graph!:

Yesterday, One week before 'Stay the Course':

106 Iraqis, 1 Marine and 1 US MP Killed; 119 Iraqis Injured ...

U.S. October death toll in Iraq rises to 103 ...

quietly rooting?

Before North Korea announced it had detonated a nuclear device, some senior officials even said they were quietly rooting for a test, believing that would finally clarify the debate within the administration. ...

Staying the Course:

The U.S. military announced the deaths of seven soldiers and a Marine over the weekend, bringing the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq this month to at least 86 -- the fifth-highest total in any single month since the war began. ...

New GOP Buzzword: Tactics:

"We are constantly adjusting our tactics so we can achieve the objectives and right now, it's tough," the president said. "It's tough on the families who've lost a loved one. It's tough for our citizens who look at it on TV. It's hard on the Iraqis. They've lost a lot of life." Bush ...


"The situation there is one that needs adjustments, that needs changes in tactics. We need to adapt to the situation on the ground," Allen said ...

"But it is something that we anticipated going into Ramadan, but it is not something that we want to have continue forever. What we want to do is to continue to have -- to build military tactics that go after the bad guys, and at the same time, work on the political strategy." Snow ...

commanders in Iraq are constantly adjusting their tactics, techniques and procedures to counter changes the enemy makes. "They are always reviewing the situation," Rumsfeld said ...

Bush Will Send a Stern Message to North Korea About Exploding Nuclear Bombs by Attacking Iran

Well, the speculation has been that if there is going to be any October surprise – outside of sentencing Saddam to die for killing fewer Iraqis in 20 years than Bush’s war has killed in four (and, of course, some Osama videotape sure to pop up the Friday before the election) – it will be a surgical bombing of Iran nuclear facilities.

This, of course, will be done to send a stern message to North Korea, since Bush doesn’t want to bomb North Korea and initiate the destruction of Seoul, which is just a short distance from the demilitarized zone with its Communist neighbor. Condi has bent over backwards to assure the world that the U.S. has no intention of attacking North Korea, so in Bush logic, that means you have to bomb a country several thousand miles away. ...

Bush Will Send a Stern Message to North Korea About Exploding Nuclear Bombs by Attacking Iran

Well, the speculation has been that if there is going to be any October surprise – outside of sentencing Saddam to die for killing fewer Iraqis in 20 years than Bush’s war has killed in four (and, of course, some Osama videotape sure to pop up the Friday before the election) – it will be a surgical bombing of Iran nuclear facilities.

This, of course, will be done to send a stern message to North Korea, since Bush doesn’t want to bomb North Korea and initiate the destruction of Seoul, which is just a short distance from the demilitarized zone with its Communist neighbor. Condi has bent over backwards to assure the world that the U.S. has no intention of attacking North Korea, so in Bush logic, that means you have to bomb a country several thousand miles away. ...

Who's this Johns Hopkins guy?

Would it surprise you to learn that if the Johns Hopkins estimates of 400,000 to 800,000 deaths are correct -- and many experts in the survey field seem to suggest they probably are -- that the supposedly not-yet-civil-war in Iraq has already cost more lives, per capita, than our own Civil War (one in 40 of all Iraqis alive in 2003)? And that these losses are comparable to what some European nations suffered in World War II? You'd never know it from mainstream press coverage in the U.S. ...

Stay the Course!?

Tuesday:

Ten US soldiers killed in attacks around Iraq ...

Support Our Troops?

Monday:

Attacks Kill 160 Iraqis; 15 US Troops Die in Three Days ...

Bush pledges to keep U.S. troops in Iraq ...

Let them eat cake ...

WWJD?

Cost of Libery:

A controversial new study contends nearly 655,000 Iraqis have died because of the war, suggesting a far higher death toll than other estimates. ...

23,416 US Casualties in Iraq War

21 GIs killed since Saturday

...

Rush to judgement?

The Democratic Party's handwringing over the unfolding scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley is part of a carefully coordinated attack designed to help the Democrats this coming election.

That's the verdict of the nation's top talker, Rush Limbaugh.

Is it a minority view for stong feelings AGAINST pedophilia?

Bloody Day in Iraq Leaves 263 Dead

17 US Soldiers Killed in Iraq Since Saturday

...

Hail Mary?

But here is one prediction that I offer nonetheless: if, come September or early October, Bush's political advisors think it likely that the Democrats will take over the House and/or the Senate, and if they seriously fear the investigations that the Democrats might pursue, I think it very likely that an attack on Iran will occur before the election. It may be preceded by a phony international "incident" of some kind involving an attack on U.S. forces or U.S. "interests" more generally, and responsibility will quickly be laid at Iran's door. Or, it might be another terrorist attack here in the U.S. itself.

Will our servile media or any prominent politician challenge the propaganda in the atmosphere of hysteria and phony "patriotism" that will be immediately unleashed? Of course not. The Bush administration has been laying the groundwork, carefully, repeatedly, and without interruption, for almost a year, and they have been met with no significant opposition at all. ...

Staying the Course:

Despite repeated warning signs going back at least five years, almost nothing was done in Congress to stop Foley's suspect behavior with pages.

Looking for Cover?

no comment , there's an investigation going on

Simply naughty emails? ... Tony Snow