I never thought I’d see the day, but it’s apparently come and passed me.

Jacksonville Daily News.

The efforts of those involved in TAP have paid off. One of their top programs, smoke-free dining, has grown from just 13 restaurants to more than 60. The group presented its first “Smoke-Free Dining Award” this week to Piesano’s, an Italian restaurant located on Henderson Drive. The presentation coincided with the release of the group’s fourth Smoke-Free Dining Guide.

Sixty smoke-free restaurants in Onslow County? Who knew? I certainly didn’t.

Too bad that the Onslow County Tobacco Awareness Program doesn’t have a website so that I might know the other 59 smoke-free eateries.

In an interesting and (in my mind) stunning revelation, Congressman John Conyers has admitted to violating ethics rules in the management of his government-paid staff. It seems that he had them participate in campaign efforts, which is a no-no.

The Hill has more.

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) has “accepted responsibility” for possibly violating House rules by requiring his official staff to perform campaign-related work, according to a statement quietly released by the House ethics committee late Friday evening.

What’s the punishment?

The top Republican and Democratic members on the ethics panel, Reps. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.), said in a statement that Conyers acknowledged a “lack of clarity” in communicating what was expected of his official staff and that he accepted responsibility for his actions.

“[Conyers] agreed to take a number of additional, significant steps to ensure that his office complies with all rules and standards regarding campaign and personal work by congressional staff,” they stated. “We have concluded that this matter should be resolved through the issuance of this public statement.”

Yeah. He admits to breaking ethics rules in a year that Democrats won control of Congress in no small way mostly thanks to the ethics violations of the Republicans and his punishment is the “issuance of this public statement.”

We weren’t kidding when we told you guys “Do not bullshit us.”

MSNBC.

The milestone was crossed on the final day of 2006 and at the end of the deadliest month for the American military in Iraq in the past 12 months.

President Bush says…

In the New Year, we will remain on the offensive against the enemies of freedom, advance the security of our country, and work toward a free and unified Iraq.

“…We will remain on the offensive…” I think that’s a warning for Iran and North Korea.

Oh. Happy New Year.

I had hoped that the death toll would be as low as possible after Saddam Hussein’s execution.

It’s still relatively low after 4 car bombs and 72 deaths.  

There’s no guarantee that these attacks are in response to Hussein’s death. Car bombs have been nearly a daily occurrence in Iraq and the people exploding themselves in order to kill others really don’t need a reason to do so…

Remember the detention of two Iranian diplomats by American military forces?

According to the BBC and the Washington Post (by way of Laura Rozen’s War and Piece), the Iraqi government has released them.

Says Ms. Rozen:

The BBC is reporting that “US forces in Iraq have released two Iranian diplomats detained in a raid in Baghdad last week. . . The diplomats were handed over to the Iranian embassy in the city on Friday, the IRNA agency said. … US officials, who announced earlier this week they were holding the men, have made no comment on their release.”

She adds the following Washington Post update:

The decision to free the men was made by the Iraqi government and has angered U.S. military officials who say the operatives were seeking to foment instability here.

Indeed. The more Iraq begins to use it’s authority as a sovereign government, the more angry the American leadership in Iraq will become. I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing…The biggest threat to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s authority is his subservience to American interests. As long as he’s seen as President Bush’s puppet, he will not have legitimacy in Iraq.

Al-Maliki is in a bad position: He desperately needs the support of the U.S. and, yet, also (some may say even moreso)desperately needs the support of Iran. Iran can provide many things that the U.S. can’t. The highest item on that list is security and training for military and police forces. The U.S. isn’t having such good luck with those at the moment.

Iraq and Iran are going to work together. Fighting that is a pointless exercise. American diplomats should use Iraq as a stepping point to develop relationships with Iranians. This is the ice-breaker, friends. Iraq is the common denominator and we can use the successful development of Iraq as a democratic nation in the Middle East to springboard into further talks with the other Middle Eastern nations.

As long as the Bush administration refuses to acknowledge the Iranian government, the harder everything will be.

for good or ill, the death sentence is carried out.

CNN.

Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator who spent his last years in captivity after his ruthless regime was toppled by the U.S.-led coalition in 2003, was hanged before dawn Saturday for crimes committed in a brutal crackdown during his reign.

 So far, there’s been only one car bombing in Iraq. It claimed an estimated 30 souls and injured 45.

It’s been an interesting day on the Death Watch for deposed Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein.

The New York Times says that Hussein’s lawyers have said that the American military has turned Hussein over to the Iraqi authorities. That would be evidence that his death is imminent.

“The American side has notified us that they have handed over the president to the Iraqi authorities,” Khalil al-Dulaimi, head of Saddam’s defense team, told Reuters.

ABC News has a different report, though.

But an official in Baghdad — who reports that Iraq’s prime minister has signed Saddam’s death sentence — also says Iraqi authorities are not yet in control of Saddam.

That’s interesting.

On CNN, it was said that the execution shouldn’t take place during the coming religious holiday which begins on Saturday. It’s just after 10pm in Baghdad. Will Hussein die in the coming hours? Will he be executed in secrecy? Will Iraq erupt into violence upon hearing of his death?

There are many questions that will be answered upon the news of his death. I hope, for Iraq’s sake, an intelligent choice is made…

TPM Muckraker by way of The Moderate Voice.

HENRY: You know, going back to September 2001, the president said, dead or alive, we’re going to get him. Still don’t have him. I know you are saying there’s successes on the war on terror, and there have been. That’s a failure.

TOWNSEND: Well, I’m not sure — it’s a success that hasn’t occurred yet. I don’t know that I view that as a failure.

Holy crap! That’s a heckuva stretch even for this Administration…

ABC News.

Britney’s Top Fan Web Site to Close

Britney Spears, who was famously photographed going without underwear last month, will now have to go without her No. 1 fan site.

The frustrated webmaster of WorldofBritney.com has decided to shut down the site permanently on Jan. 31, saying the pop star is “done.”

Millions of teenage girls everywhere will be disappointed to learn that they shouldn’t become worn out skanks.

More from Ruben Garay, Ms. Spears’ formerly biggest. Fan. Evah.

“As Britney keeps losing her identity and credibility [with] fans and industry people, so is World of Britney…”

I’m sure that Mr. Garay (can you believe THAT?!) was teary has he spoke with ABC News.

What was it that Mr. Garay (still, can you believe that?!) feels has broken the camel’s back?

• The increasingly skankiness of her videos and concerts?
• The accidental marriage and do-over?
• The 2-year marriage to Kevin Federline (K-Fed) and failed television series (which, F.Y.I. documented the skank and white-trashiness of Ms. Spears for the world)?
• The unsafe driving while holding her child?
• Going commando with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan?

No. It was even worse than all of those…

Garay cites a recent incident in which Spears “blatantly stood up two winners who had won a meet-and-greet with her” through his Web site.

The audacity!

Word of the Day

acuity \uh-KYOO-uh-tee\, noun:
Acuteness of perception or vision; sharpness.

Quote of the Day

Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd.

Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964)

Comic of the Day

F Minus by Tony Carrillo