Thurstagmorgenfliegezeitung

First, the news.

Violence hits Iranian refugee camp in Iraq (CNN, BBC, BBC, Press TV - I've written on the People's Mujahideen of Iran/Mujahideen-E-Khalq Organization (PMO, MKO, MEK) before. Their primary base is in Iraq, in a compound north of Baghdad that they've occupied since shortly after the Iranian Revolution. Apparently, Iraqi troops went in and busted some heads. This is very, very bad mojo.

BBC: 'Organic has no health benefits' - Ha! Take that, hippies!

Guardian: The defeat siren is sounding for Blair's vainglorious jihad in Afghanistan

Times: Germans shoot first, shout later at Taleban

Times: We underrated the Taleban, says general

Times: Holbrooke declares war on Taleban bankrollers - Weren't they supposed to have been doing that for the last eight years?

UPI: Outside View: Counterinsurgency Challenges

AFP: Chinese envoy briefs Algerians on Xinjiang violence

Loldogs: Why Dogs are Wonderful #5: Your own family may not give you the time of day, but your dog will give his life for you without thinking twice - Everyone should look at this picture. It's fantastic.

Just for Fun: Don't Even Reply - Along the line of Letters at Large, this is one of the funniest websites I've seen in ages. I about soiled myself laughing at High-rise Fridge Delivery. Fantastic.

I had very high hopes for this week. After Monday, a lousy week was essentially a foregone conclusion. A lot of it revolves around events and requirements at work that are neither within my control, nor necessarily discussed here. I've tried to make the most of it, and Wednesday was marginally better than Tuesday, and Tuesday was substantially better than Monday, but the week is more than half over and the momentum was ruined early.

One of the few saving graces of this week has been a series of E-mails that I've exchanged with Father Time, who thinks that I should try to accomplish less, abandon my exercise regimen, buy more material possessions, and score with some superficial dames. I'm not opposed to the last part, but I'm stewing on the rest. The best part, though, is our continuing discussion of these items, in addition to a discussion of politics that's enraging and envigorating, as all of my political discussions with him wind up being. Even though he adeptly orchestrated the cancellation of my Wednesday swim workout (I'm sure he was partly responsible for the lightning, too), our discussion has been one of the highlights of my week.

I have a handful of items that I've been stalling on. They're going to wind up waiting until next week. I may be able to throw something entertaining in for Arbeit Macht Freitag, but that will have to wait for tomorrow. In the mean time, I have a few things that I may be able to accomplish today, so I need to get a move on - let's hope that Thursday and Friday help me to pick up the pace from the aborted operations that were supposed to begin this week.

UPDATE: Brilliant! Confused Matthew is reviewing Armageddon!