Leading the Pack

There's you in "U.S.," but there is "us:"

Washington rejected stiff 2020 targets for greenhouse gas cuts by rich nations at U.N. talks in Bali on Monday as part of a "roadmap" to work out a new global pact to fight climate change by 2009.

"It's prejudging what the outcome should be," chief negotiator Harlan Watson said of a draft suggesting that rich nations should aim to axe emissions of heat-trapping gases by between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

Prejudging... heh. This is really the fault of all those scientists who have prejudged the future.

Can somebody remind me when we became the most backward industrialized nation in the world?

Things That Will Never Happen

Reuters:

The United Nations called on the United States government on Thursday to ensure that any U.S. private contractors committing offences in Iraq are prosecuted.

The killing of 17 Iraqis in a shooting involving U.S. security firm Blackwater last month has created tensions between Baghdad and Washington and sparked calls for tighter controls on private contractors, who are immune from prosecution in Iraq.

In a new human rights report, the U.N. mission in Iraq urged "U.S. authorities to investigate reports of deaths caused by privately hired contractors and establish effective mechanisms for holding them accountable for where the circumstances surrounding the killings show no justifiable cause".

I wonder why...

Wasn't That...

Anyone remember how the right wing was calling for death by execution squad for both Saddam and the UN for the "corrupt" food-for-oil program where Saddam was skimming proceeds to build WMD sexbots or something? Well,

Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one of five charges against him for his role in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal.

Wyatt was accused of paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's government to win oil contracts from Iraq. Pending his sentencing on November 27, he remains free on bail, but is not allowed to leave the country. Under the terms of the plea agreement, he could face 18 to 24 months in prison.

Being a Republican means never having to say you're sorry and government only gets in the way of you making money, so it's best to get rid of it. These people need to be kept as far away from the public interest as possible. They don't believe in it.