And The Beauty Of It Is, Now Saddam Will Never Tell Anyone About Who Supplied Him With The WMDs In The First Place

(Sky News) Arab Anger Over Eid Execution

(Information Clearinghouse) ‘Illegal’ Execution Enrages Arabs

“Illegal Execution?” Yup, according to Iraqi law, no verdicts may be carried out on a Muslim holy day. And Eid al-Adha is a very holy day. Not only does it mark a period in the Hajj pilgrimage, but it celebrates the substitution of the ram for Ibraham’s son Ismael, when he was prepared to sacrifice him to obey Allah’s command. Sound familiar? The celebration is marked by the sacrifice of an innocent lamb. Now, just consider the symbolism of the “sacrifice” of Saddam. The timing of Saddam’s execution by the U.S. puppet Iraqi government has to be the stupidest since the Roman puppet state of Judaea executed what was considered at the time a minor Galilean prophet just before the Pasch. We’ve not only made Saddam a martyr to the Iraqi Sunnis, but we’ve offended every Muslim in the world, Sunni and Shia alike. I don’t care IF the Iraqi government claims responsibility for it. THEY should have known better. One wonders if this was a deliberate attempt to make sectarian conflict explode.

Another Day, Another Corner, Another Turning Point, Another Bombing…

(AP WashPost) Bush Praises Political Progress in Iraq

(AP WashPost) Iraqi Vows ‘Maximum Force’ to End Attacks

And on a more personal note, as my regulars have noted, I’ve had a drastic loss of traffic in the last few months. I’ve been tearing my hair out trying to figure out what I’ve been doing wrong, when Fred’n’Bert suggested I look at Google image search with SafeSearch ON to see how many of my cartoons show up. Imagine my surprise to discover that 89% of my cartoons are ELIMINATED by the SafeSearch engine. Now, I’ll be the first to admit I don’t target my work at children. I assume a mature readership, mature adolescents interested in politics and adults of voting age. There are a handful of cartoons that are what I would call “edgy” but which are in no way pornographic, no more than 20, and I’ve occasionally indulged in “ahem” profane language. Yet even with the SafeSearch “moderate” setting, the default setting, 88% of my cartoons are still CENSORED. Obviously, it has crossed my mind that perhaps some rightwing individuals have complained to Google about my content, using my edgier ‘toons to mischaracterize my political commentary. I’ve written Google and am hoping for a reply this week…more to follow…

Oh, yes, and congratulations to Barry Bonds, I guess, for tying Babe Ruth’s record … we’d have liked it better if you’d done it on hot dogs and beer…

And Bush finally said it: (AP) Bush: Iraq Slowly Reaching Turning Point