On Sunday, two U.S. Marines were killed in Anbar and two Army soldiers died from roadside bombs in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, and near Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of the capital. Another soldier was killed Monday by a roadside bomb.

"STRALSUND, Germany - With the world's most perplexing problems weighing on him, President Bush has sought comic relief in a certain pig.

This is the wild game boar that German chef Olaf Micheel bagged for Bush and served Thursday evening at a barbecue in Trinwillershagen, a tiny town on the Baltic Sea where the boar chef also serves as second deputy mayor.

"I understand I may have the honor of slicing the pig," Bush said at a news conference earlier in the day punctuated with questions about spreading violence in the Middle East and an intensifying standoff with Iran over nuclear power.

The president's host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, started a serious ball rolling at this news conference in the 13th century town hall on the cobblestone square of Stralsund. But Bush seemed more focused on "the feast" promised later.

"Thanks for having me," Bush told the chancellor. "I'm looking forward to that pig tonight."

More examples of presidential grace below the fold.

Arabic Linguists needed in Iraq!!!

A leading government contractor is now hiring Arabic /English Linguists to support the U.S. Government and U.S. Military in the rebuilding of Iraq. Linguists should be able to provide general linguistic support for military operations and interpret during interviews, meeting, and conferences. Also, they should have the ability to interpret and translate written and spoken communications as well as transcribe and analyze verbal communications.

Doesn't Iraq have people that speak Arabic? Maybe people that might need a job, who'll work for an honest wage?

Why can't our government contractors find local Iraqi's willing to work with them? I wonder why...

More below.

On Monday night, the president's top political strategist, Karl Rove, told supporters in New Hampshire that if the Democrats had their way, Iraq would fall to terrorists and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would not have been killed.

This aggression cannot stand, man. If there has ever been a more naked display of raw partisanship bullhorned through the media, well...I guess I'd have to begin citing every time Bush and co. have spoken on the record in the past 5 years. Nevermind...forget that. But this moneyquote really foreshadows how cartoonish this election period is about to become.

The full-brunt of ridiculousness after the jump.

Most American young people can't find Iraq on a map, even though U.S. troops have been there for more than three years, according to a new geographic literacy study released on Tuesday.

The Bush administration on Friday proposed selling as many as 85,465 acres of national forest land in California, prompting harsh reactions from lawmakers across the political spectrum.

Excuse me while I go return, yet again, to my well-worn Bush dart board to relieve some stress for the millionth consecutive news cycle.

After getting off a tense phone call with my credit card company, the thrust of this diary concerns anybody that can only afford to pay their minimum payments.

Brace yourselves...

The fucking tip of the spear for the pre-invasion misinformation campaign.  It was nothing but a staff of politicos and ideologues that rifled through shoddy, defunct intel to cherrypick the most plainly dubious and incredible to support invasion.  Nobody was trained.  It was a goon committee, designed to construct a house of cards.  The hollow intel was then washed, primped, and composited into neat reports for Congress to see, and subsequently voted on.  

Frist Sold Hospital Shares Before Drop

On The Huffington Post, author Randall Robinson writes about reports of cannibalism beginning in New Orleans. He provides no attribution, and bloggers and online birdcage liners have swiftly moved to cast scrutiny upon his unattributed assertion. Rightly so, in my mind. However, it appears Randall Robinson's credentials are more than well established. This guy's opinion is respected.

Well, it was until his article got freep'd and the seedy underbelly of the wingnut scourge reveals where it wants to take this Great American Crisis. It does not bode well for the immediate future of race relations in this country.

Quotes from the mouth of madness below the fold.

My heart aches for those poor souls trapped in and around New Orleans.

So I'm listening to today's Jim Lehrer interview with Chevron's favorite retired oil tanker, and out popped that doozer that I suspect will be the latest smarmy catch phrase the White House uses to deflect any and all legitimate criticism of the insane Bush Doctrine.

I got quotes down below.

I think the story of a local soldier killed in Baghdad on June 22 illustrates this point.

With the will of the American masses already being shaken, I wonder what those same masses would think if this best case scenario were saturating their Magic Picture Boxes that tell them what and how to think.

I've had my Tivo for about three months now, and oddly enough, I just realized I watch significantly less TV than I used to. I know lots of people who said it would change my TV experience drastically - maybe even my life, likening it to a rebirth of sorts. Inside, I casually dismissed the seriousness of their supposition but I laughed all the same at the idea. I'm an accommodating kind of guy.

Three months later, I realize what they meant.