Spain’s leader: Iraq ocupation a ‘fiasco’

The Bushies have been yapping at Kerry to produce the names of foreign leaders who would back him. Well, of course the Bushies were lying about that too, because Kerry never actually said that.

But as it turns out, the Bushies got their wish.

In an extraordinary turn of events, the new leader of Spain just point-blank attacked the Iraq war calling it a “fiasco”, and aligned himself with Kerry.

Spain’s new leader intensified his criticism of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq on Wednesday, saying it was “turning into a fiasco.”

Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero also refused to reconsider his pledge to pull his 1,300 troops out of Iraq by June 30, in a sharp break with the Bush administration.

Zapatero had signaled his dislike of President Bush’s policies during the Spanish election campaign when he said he hoped Democratic challenger John Kerry would win in November.

The International Herald Tribune recently quoted Zapatero as saying, “We’re aligning ourselves with Kerry. Our allegiance will be for peace, against war, no more deaths for oil, and for a dialogue between the government of Spain and the new Kerry administration.”

In the hourlong interview Wednesday on Onda Cero radio, Zapatero said that “fighting terrorism with bombs … with Tomahawk missiles, isn’t the way to defeat terrorism. …

“Terrorism is combatted by the state of law. … That’s what I think Europe and the international community have to debate,” he said.

Zapatero said the Iraq occupation “is turning into a fiasco,” noting that “there have been almost more deaths since the end of the war” than during last year’s U.S.-led invasion, and the United Nations still is not in control.

This could be a watershed moment.

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I should have listened to Slashdot.

AT&T wireless phone “upgrades” aren’t, says Slashdot.

AT&T Wireless is requiring customers in parts of California and New York and elsewhere to “upgrade” their phones and offering free replacements. The catch? In most cases the upgrades have worse features than the phones they’re replacing.

Slashdot is completely correct. The replacement phones are inferior. 

I recently swapped my Nokia 3650 cell phone for a newer, supposed next generation cell phone, the Nokia 3200. As it turned out, compared to the Nokia 3650, the 3200 has a smaller screen, poorer audio, worse reception, and the photos are much poorer quality - a mere 10k vs. 40k for the Nokia 3650.

What’s more, and here’s where it gets completely absurd, the phone does not appear capable of actually emailing a photo! Oh yes, after going through the (highly convoluted) process of attaching a photo to the email and sending it, it acts like it sent the email. Yet the email is never seen again, certainly not by the recipient.

I spent over an hour on the phone with AT&T tech support on two calls, no one had a clue why it couldn’t send photos. Rather than waste more time with this phone, I returned it and got my old phone back. The clerk wasn’t even slightly surprised, I suspect they’re getting many, many such returns.

Do not take the AT&T offer. Wait. They’ll be forced to offer better phones. Or I and many others will go elsewhere.

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Spain bombings

Were the Spain train bombings a deliberate, calculated attempt to depose the ruling party, or was the upset win by the Socialists an unexpected outcome of the bombings?

Given that the bombings were directly before the election and were apparently done by al-Qaida, I’m leaning towards believing it was deliberate. If so, then other conclusions can be drawn. Those responsible are brilliant tacticians and strategists. They are bold, committed, and execute plans with remarkable skill.

I see nothing in the blundering, arrogant US “strategy” that comprehends any of this. Quite the contrary, rather than form coalitions to work together, the Bushies have instead alienated the planet with their ignorant yokel “We have the biggest guns” macho strutting - which rather clearly isn’t working.

Mistrust of U.S. abroad rising fast

Mistrust of the United States, particularly U.S. President George W. Bush has grown steadily in western Europe over the ten months, while anti-American sentiment in the Arab world remains pervasive, according to a major new public-opinion poll of nine countries.

Bush’s war on terrorism really has been quite a flop, hasn’t it? It’s not stopping terrorism and it’s losing the US valuable friends and allies… It’s one thing to yap about gittin’ the evildoers, it’s another to have produced actual results.

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Politics makes strange bedfellows

Things may be shaping up nicely for Ralph Nader, who could very soon receive an unlikely endorsement from the Ross Perot founded Texas Reform Party.

This may prove to be a huge victory for Nader’s solo candidacy, as the support from the conservative Reformers could help him gain ballot access for the upcoming November election.

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How much does gas cost in Los Angeles?

This much (via my camblog). And prices are rising.

But wait, there’s more!

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