BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents launched fresh attacks, killing 21 Iraqis and two U.S. soldiers, while Iraqi militant group Army of Ansar al-Sunna said it shot dead seven abducted Iraqi National Guards and posted an Internet video of the killings on Saturday.

Meantime, partial returns from the historic elections showed a Shiite alliance with ties to Iran rolling up a strong lead over pro-U.S. Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

function vid_placeholder(placeholder_target, vid_link) { placeholder_target.innerHTML = ''; }

Click here for WMP---it's big file

ED CONE ON WARD CHURCHILL:

I loved my friends like brothers. They died at the hands of terrorists. Their memory is insulted by this guy. They were not imperialists, or even imperialist dupes. But you know what? The slandering bastard should be allowed to speak.

Here's his first public interview. Make of it what you will. Is he a nut? Does he explain his point of view? Will he get fired? Does he deserve to get fired?(update) After watching it again, Zahn did a pretty lousy job but it is his first public appearance so we wanted it to be seen. Catch the Bill O'Reilly dig.

From Ed Cone

"No time to watch TV? Don't worry, Crooks and Liars is watching it for you. I run into some problems with some of the videos, but this is already an indispensable site."

Thanks Ed. We are working on the technical issues that arise. Your blog has many insightful observations. I believe we discovered your site through the Dauo Report and we check it daily.

Via Kos Damn, I'm glad Juan Cole is on our side.

function vid_placeholder(placeholder_target, vid_link) { placeholder_target.innerHTML = ''; }

Click here to watch also

It doesn't make sense to ban the Bud Light commercial and allow this one to air. Why is sexuality so offensive to right wing religious zealots?

Video Update tomorrow: Jeff Jarvis battles against censorship!

Only Right wingers and their blogs can take a really cute 10-year-old girl's idea and turn it into a PR stunt on national T.V.; once again proving that they are willing to do or say anything. Crosswalk complains that Janeane Garofalo is invoking the Nazi salute to attack this little girl. I mean did they actually see the interview in question? Garafalo was stunned that Republican's would shamefully try to exploit courageous Iraqi voters with such a transparent gesture, so in their infinite silliness they try to make connections that do not exit. One's like WMD's and Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Here is the segment in question:
function vid_placeholder(placeholder_target, vid_link) { placeholder_target.innerHTML = ''; }

Click here to view also

Pentagon sites: Journalism or propaganda?

From Barbara Starr and Larry Shaughnessy
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Department of Defense plans to add more sites on the Internet to provide information to a global audience -- but critics question whether the Pentagon is violating President Bush's pledge not to pay journalists to promote his policies.

Will Tony Blankely call CNN traitor's?

BY KAREN OLSSON

(hat tip APFN)

According to Gary Ott, who was then a reporter for the Plainview Daily Herald, Bush stopped by the paper’s little office "maybe five or six times. He’d sit down at my desk; he was a fun guy. He was very outgoing, very friendly, and we would argue politics since I was a liberal. We’d argue over Carter policies." Bush criticized energy policy, federal land use policy, subsidized housing, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("a misuse of power," he said), and he warned that Social Security would go bust in ten years unless people were given a chance to invest the money themselves....

I guess the mantra will continue...

via Talk Left

At least she's honest -- The Wall Street Journal's Mary Anastasia O'Grady is bragging about Bush's plan to end Social Security as we know it: "George Bush's plan to create personal retirement accounts is not simply an actuarial adjustment designed to boost old-age financial security. It is a lunge for the jugular vein of the welfare state." (emphasis added) (subscription only)