Newsvember:

President Bush denied that his political operatives had been responsible for the erection of the “Mission Accomplished” banner that flew behind him on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln on May 1, when he dressed up like a fighter pilot and declared victory in Iraq. He said that his advance men “weren’t that ingenious” and that the banner was put up by crew members, “saying that their mission was accomplished.” Scott McClellan, the president’s press secretary, later admitted that the banner was in fact created by the White House. American scientists deliberately engineered a new extra-deadly form of mousepox; much the same thing has been done with cowpox and rabbitpox. Historians were upset that the Smithsonian Institution’s new exhibit of the Enola Gay bomber fails to mention that the B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The CIA celebrated the 40th anniversary of its Directorate of Science and Technology by exhibiting such devices as a mechanical dragonfly listening device and a 24-inch-long artificial catfish; the exhibit was not open to the public. The French government unveiled a plan to make the French more European. A gang of Catholic schoolgirls chased down and pummeled a flasher in Philadelphia. A clown robbed a bank in Virginia. A new study from the Center for Public Integrity revealed that the 70 companies that have benefited the most from $8 billion in government contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan collectively contributed more than $500,000 to President Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign. The Food and Drug Administration issued a preliminary conclusion that clones are safe to eat; it was noted that some companies plan to use clones’ milk to manufacture pharmaceuticals. The Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop. Neuroscientists determined that motherhood makes female rats smarter, calmer, and more courageous.

I’ve added new links to the left. Chris and Nicole are Green Ronin Publishing. They pay my rent. They are the unapologetic shit-disturbing consciences of the RPG world, and I love them dearly. I don’t see them often enough. Nicole’s kid is cute when I’m not making her cry.