Essential Reading

Senate Armed Forces Committee report on torture. Blame for this hideous violation of decency and, not coincidentally, massive blow to US national interests, goes all the way to the top. Yes, I'm looking at you, W and Rummy. Oh, and the usual suspects in the neocon cabal - Feith, Wolfowitz et al. It's not a long read, and is an important one.

In other news, capitalism is eating itself, in the form of rapacious financial operators running around looking for people to blame for their own collective and individual failings. Farce.

Rebel yell?

The scene: Friendly's in Gettysburg, PA
The perp: dude in a baseball cap decorated with a Confederate flag and the word 'Rebel' across the front
The crime: he probably gets to vote, despite his manifest disdain for the national flag, and for the republic and constitution for which it stands

In Gettysburg, of all places. The re-enactors and fans in Confederate grey (or their Union blue) don't bother me at all. Perhaps they should, but it seems, well, historical. Ugly dude in the diner, though, not so much. I don't get to vote, since I'm a non-citizen. Fair enough. But I probably have more respect for the United States as a polity and an idea than he does. So if he wants to be a rebel, strip him of his rights as a citizen, and let him be a noisy bystander like me.

By the way, the chocolate mudslide ice cream is back, and it's tasty - particularly with hot fudge sauce.