Wednesday edition - May 17, 2006

• Iraq Body Count

• 36 killed as violence rises in Iraq Boston Globe 

• Driver of kidnapped diplomat dies in Iraq Reuters.uk

• Gunmen Seize UAE Diplomat in Baghdad AP

• Iraq Sunnis accuse US of "atrocity" over raids Reuters

• Rumsfeld Seeks Extra Funds for War Bills AP  

• Saudi Arabia Casts Wary Eye at Iraq, Iran Voice of America

• Gas pipeline blown up in Pakistan, three killed Reuters

"Last night was the season finale of 'West Wing.' 'West Wing' is gone. And ABC has cancelled 'Commander In Chief.' So, now the only fictional president is Bush." --David Letterman

The Bush administration said Tuesday it had broken off negotiations on a free trade agreement with Ecuador following the South American government's decision to annul an operating contract with Occidental Petroleum Corp.

Cuts in funding and staff at the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are threatening job security for millions of Americans, a federal workers' union claims in a new ad campaign.

Just two weeks after the House passed a reform bill requiring lawmakers to attach their names to pet projects, GOP leaders are advancing spending bills containing billions of dollars in such parochial "earmarks" whose sponsors remain anonymous.

...last Thursday the country experienced an uncomfortable moment when the President of the United States reassured us that the government was not "trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans." Apparently W's speech writing staff doesn't know that trolling is slang for an older gay man cruising for anonymous sex with younger men....

So, Mr. President, don't laugh at yourself, because breaking the law is not cute. Having Americans torture people isn't adorable. Leaving poor people to drown wasn't enchanting. And WMD's wasn't a shaggy dog story. So, I'll make a deal with you. We won't impeach you if you just stay on your estate — I mean "ranch" — and fish on your man-made lake. For perch. Maybe you'll beat your own record. -- Bill Maher

Snow said, "I don't want to hug the tarbaby of trying to comment on the program, the alleged program, the existence of which I can neither confirm nor deny."

The expression, which refers to a character in the most famous of the fictional Uncle Remus stories, is sometimes used to portray an inextricable situation. But, as the word also has been used as a derogatory term for blacks, it raised eyebrows when spoken from the White House podium.

Later in the briefing, Snow was asked what he meant. "Well, I believe 'hug the tarbaby,' we could trace that back to American lore," he said.
 

Airplane black boxes must now be made out of Keith Richards. The man, who has taken more drugs than Whitney Houston, Rush Limbaugh and Robert Downey, Jr., combined, recently fell out of a tree, and then crashed a jet ski. And yet, somehow, that cigarette never fell out of his mouth. What is this guy still running on? I've got to know. Because I'm beginning to think the future of medicine isn't injecting stem cells, it's injecting heroin. -- Bill Maher
 

Australian spin bowler Shane Warne undergoes laser hair treatment at the Advanced Hair Studio in London, to halt his hair loss, in 2005. A hair-loss treatment advertisement featuring Warne was found in breach of British advertising industry rules. Photo by Advanced Hair Studio

Hair peace.