Highlights

This feature is written by Cedric, Betty, Wally, Elaine, Rebecca and Mike and we picked the highlights as well unless otherwise noted.

"Thomas Friedman's immoral non-authority"' -- Betty's latest. She calls it a "stop-gap measure" because it doesn't really advance the plot of her continuous online novel. We call it funny. Backstory, Thomas Friedman's last column was again screaming, "Why won't they issue press statements decrying violence!" So Betty -- using Friedman's logic that if you're not issuing press statements for every act of violence, you must be supporting the violence -- turns Friedman on his pin head.

"The unmentionable?" -- Apparently, stress and strain in women's lives never occur. At least that's what the idiot Kat's responding to thinks. The idiot 'read' "Kat's Korner: The death of Ani DiFranco?" and wrote Kat a blistering e-mail about how Ani's Reprieve was a great CD and how dare Kat say it wasn't and how dare . . . Uh, dumb ass, Kat praised the CD. Learn to read, learn to read. It is, after all, fundamental.

"Egg and Onion Soup in the Kitchen" -- Mike says this is a great soup. We haven't had time yet to try to make it. However, we can vouch for Trina's commentary on Kyle Snyder and war resisters. It's always worth visiting her kitchen.

"Dem's new strategy -- no brainer!" & "THIS JUST IN! CAVIN' & CRAVEN HARRY REID!" -- Cedric and Wally's joint-post takes a look at the do nothing Dem Harry Reid who doesn't see Iraq as a pressing issue. We'll note it's a sad day when Kent Conrad shows more fire and courage than the party's nominal Senate leader -- and we'll note there have been many sad days since Reid took over that post.

"End of story says the military and look who rushes to agree" -- Mike's favorite professor asked that we note this post by C.I. He had discussed, in class, the bombing that killed 18 Iraqis when the press was reported it. The day this ran, he started the discussion noting the press reports that it never happened. (The US military said it never happened.) And then the students were discussing how things can be misreported. Then he passed around this by C.I. and the reaction was completely different. Students started talking about how the press didn't verify anything, they just said "NOT TRUE!" and used a statement by the US military to do so. "This is reporting?" asked one angry student.

"THIS JUST IN! MEAN GIRL IN CHIEF SAYS 'BRING IT!'"& "Everything he knows he learned in cheerleading camp" -- Wally & Cedric's joint-post that was funny when it ran and is only more valid as a week passed with the Dems doing little to nothing on Iraq. But don't give up hope, a debate's in the offing . . . if they can ever get around to it.

"It's a democracy, not a junta" -- Elaine's post. Backstory, many times C.I. gets stuck on a snapshot. Jess will tell you he never mentions the e-mails to C.I. before the snapshot now because if there's a big issue for the community, C.I. may end up trying to address that in the "Iraq snapshot" and there's really not room for it. With this entry, Elaine got a call from C.I. saying, "I've got to squash four paragraphs into three sentences." Elaine listened and then suggested that it just be the opening and the closing sentences and she'd address the topic at her site. Which she did. Beautifully. This is why we're not that fond of e-activism and further proof that we were all right to step back as peace resisters suddenly jumped on an easy fad to pretend that they were anti-war.

"women and owning power while you have it" -- Building on "TV: Aftermath leaves an aftertaste" and "The Weeping Rapist" (both articles ran here last week), Rebecca addresses the dark scenario for women in the case of a war or attack in this country. Must reading. And for more on the topic, see Elaine's "Scary realities."

"sara rich, suzanne swift, jane fonda" & "Iraq snapshot" -- Rebecca and C.I. both address the issue of Suzanne Swift and how the military betrayed her and continues to do so.

"Third, Ralph Nader" -- Beau picked this post by Mike. He e-mailed The Third Estate Sunday Review to note that he'd ragged on Mike for (his words) "suggesting Ralph Nader might not be Satan" and done so repeatedly. This post, he wrote, he finally got it. Beau says the class president analogy did the trick.

"Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts 'Talking Dick'" -- apologies to Isaiah, whom we forgot last week as we rushed. (No rushing this week, in fact, Ty and Dona were so tired, we all got in a long nap this morning.) Here he's showing you Dick Cheney's true nature.