it is so clear today

that I can not only see the mountain in the distance, I can see the clouds *beyond* the mountains.

Being inside today is simply criminal. Damn my leave balance for being so low! I only have (looks) 12.5 hours.

You know, this is one of those times you just have to say "Screw it!" I'm leaving at 12.30; I can spare half a day to enjoy this weather.

Bush Using Drugs to Control Depression, Erratic Behavior

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4921.shtml

I am unable to discern whether this site is reliable or not. But this allegation is so grave that I have to hope they're just total nutjobs. Otherwise we should be looking at the 25th Amendment *right now*.

lesson learned

Yes, if a piece of hardware is not working, check its connection.

Note to self: Check the connection at *both* ends of the cable, not just one end. If you have already noticed that someone is fossicking around with their PC tower when they don't need to, check that end *first*.

US anti-drug campaign 'failing'

US drugs tsar John Walters has admitted that Washington's anti-narcotics policy in Latin America has so far failed.

Mr Walters said in Mexico that billions of dollars of investment over many years have failed to dent the flow of Latin American cocaine onto US streets.

"We have not yet seen in all these efforts what we're hoping for on the supply side, which is a reduction in availability," he said in Mexico City.

But he predicted positive results would be seen within a year.

Mr Walters was speaking just after he had visited Colombia, where US-backed efforts to wipe out drug-smuggling gangs and eradicate coca crops have turned the country into the world's third-largest recipient of US military aid.

However, in an interview with the Associated Press news agency, he defended the Plan Colombia aid package and insisted that it should continue.

full story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3540686.stm

The Drug War has failed and three decades of arms and money haven't put a dent in the cocaine trade, but we should expect changes within 12 months with no chinge in policy. Right.

the Forrest Gump presidency

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3541706.stm

According to Jacob Weisberg, who has made it his job to catalogue the gaffes commonly known as "Bushisms", even when Mr Bush trips over his words he does not always fall flat on his face.

"I don't think it does him any harm, because people who are appalled by the way he speaks tend not to like him for other reasons," he told the BBC's World Today programme.

Indeed, he says, his flawed public performances should not be misunderstimated - to borrow a "Bushism" - as they actually strengthen his bond with ordinary people.

"I think his inarticulacy is part of it, people identify with his problem. You know, its hard to speak in public - one makes mistakes, it can be embarrassing. And this bonds him to people."