And here's the BAD news...

The Republicans were routed last night. And today, we learn that Judy Miller and the NYT are parting ways. (Check out that photo of Judy! She's doing her best Oliver-Reed-as-Bill-Sykes impression. GRRRRRRR!!)

"Not fair," cries a friend to this site. "I come here for bad news."

You want to hear depressing things? I am your obedient servant. Let's make the topic misanthropic...

Terror. First and foremost, of course, is the terror attack in Jordan. I should have much more to say about this outrage at a later time; right now, the story is fresh, and bloggers are searching for those little-known-but-telling details.

American war crimes. The U.S. Army admits that it uses white phosphorus as a weapon, according to this Daily Kos diarist. Remember: This stuff rained down on women and children. Innocents burned in an unquenchable fire. Under the terms of the convention we signed, "any toxic chemical, regardless of its origin, is considered as a chemical weapon unless it is used for purposes that are not prohibited." You can see the ultra-gruesome visual evidence here. (You prefer to avert your eyes? Rest assured that everyone in the Arab world is looking at these horrors.)

Disaster. In Pakistan, the earthquake created three million homeless people, and a large percentage of them don't even have tents. Winters can be miserable in that part of the world. You'd think that aiding Pakistan would help the U.S. win those proverbial hearts and minds, but our leaders prefer to let 'em freeze.

You owe more than you know. The deficits run up by George W. Bush are now equal to the debts incurred by every previous administration combined. W has run up a $1.5 TRILLION bill.

Torture. The Bushies say they don't do it and would never do it -- and that's why they must be allowed to do it. For some reason, this double-talk still makes sense to millions of Americans...

Achmed Chalabi is being rehabilitated. He's in America, we are told, to see Treasury Secretary John Snow. One problem: Snow's in India. And he'll be there for a while.

Lying about history. Disinformationists are making yet another effort to peddle the KGB-shot-JFK theory. The article even references Michael Eddowes' old book, which alleged that Oswald disappeared in Russia and was replaced by a double. He must have been an awfully convincing double, since he seems to have fooled Marina -- not to mention Oswald's mother and brother. I guess Ruby, Bannister and Ferrie were all commies. Puh-leeze -- how many times do we have to stake this vampire?

Bird flu: This article argues that the threat to humans is real -- in fact, we may be in for a repeat of the 1918 pandemic.

Speaking of the 1918 pandemic: Vials filled with that old-but-deadly disease are being shipped around the country. Shipped how, you ask? Heh heh. They're going out via Fed-Ex and DHL. Do you have any idea how easy it would be for a terrorist to knock over a Fed-Ex delivery truck?

Ohio. An election reform measure failed in this state, despite the anti-conservative mood in the rest of the nation. In other words, the powers-that-be put a "clean elections" measure on the ballot -- so people could vote on it. Can you see the flaw? Think about it verrrrrry carefully...

Bye-bye civil liberties. W has created a private army of FBI agents under his personal control. (Careful, George: That trick can backfire. Remember the Janissaries? No, I guess you wouldn't have read about them...) Not only that: Within a couple of years, your driver's license will contain a microchip which will allow the feds to track you down wherever you go. Imagine what the righties would say if Clinton tried that shit...

On a lighter note: Congressman Brad Sherman -- who counts yours truly among his constituents -- tried to meet someone via an online dating service. The lady who attracted his interest decided to blast (slightly) embarrassing details of his correspondence across the media. Her behavior was not at all cricket. Sherman's a decent Democrat who deserves better.

And finally: According to our old pal Artie Schopenhauer -- Schope, as I call him -- reality consists of the blind will to live, even though the essential characteristic of human existence is pain. Love is a hallucination; progress is a hoax. Only suicide can alleviate our daily misery.

There. Unhappy now?

Accuse me of optimism again and I'll hit you with more.