Odds and Ends

Here's important news that has almost nothing to do with the ongoing election battle...

The shitty news from Myanmar (Burma) gets even shittier: "The cyclone death toll soared above 22,000 on Tuesday and more than 41,000 others were missing as foreign countries mobilized to rush in aid after the country's deadliest storm on record, state radio reported."

The AP reports that major Arctic sea ice melt is expected this summer.

John and Elizabeth Edwards aren't planning to endorse anyone, having likes and dislike about Obama and Clinton.

Meanwhile, please stop talking smack about our infallible free-market economy: "As home prices continue their free fall and banks shy away from lending, Washington officials have increasingly relied on two giant mortgage companies — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — to keep the housing market afloat. But with mortgage defaults and foreclosures rising, Bush administration officials, regulators and lawmakers are nervously asking whether these two companies, would-be saviors of the housing market, will soon need saving themselves."

The crappy jobs sector of the economy, however, continues to be robust.

File this story in the no-shit column: "U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq would make it difficult to mount any attack on Iran, the Pentagon's top officer said in remarks broadcast on Monday, adding that he would prefer to avoid a new regional war."

And administration rhetoric about putting more troops into Afghanistan run into the obvious roadblock... that whole pesky war in Iraq thing.

More related Bush war on terror news: "[N]ot one of the approximately 775 terrorism suspects who have been held on this island has faced a jury trial inside the new complex, and U.S. officials think it is highly unlikely that any of the Sept. 11 suspects will before the Bush administration ends." This is probably for the best.

Suicide notes shed more light on the recent death of the 'DC Madam'.

Finally, negotiation talks may continue between Yahoo and Microsoft.