News Jog 8/22/07

The Jog is often found cynically lamenting the loss of true heroes to look up to in this country. But they do exist. They are rarely found on sports fields, fashion runways, or shopping on Rodeo Drive. But people of character and purpose are still around and Yang Jianli is one of those people. Jailed for five years by the Chinese government he has now returned to his family in Boston. Without a trace of bitterness over his ordeal he is predicting a widespread democracy movement will sweep the communist party out of power in the near future. The Jog hopes he's correct. A democratic China would almost certainly become a strong ally to The United States and Geo-politics would change for the better immediately.

Former director of the CIA, George Tenet, is taking it on the chin in a new report just made public by the agency he used to direct. The Jog opines that Tenet deserves some blame for the sucker-punch that was 9/11, but we smell the faint odor of scapegoat emanating from this high-level grilling.

Another helicopter has gone down in Iraq and another 14 soldiers have been lost as a result.

Since everybody else is doing it, why not the prez? Bush Compares Iraq & Vietnam

Hurricane Dean is now a paltry Category One storm. But don't relax it could rebuild into a monster once again as it heads for its second Mexican landfall. The Jog couldn't help but notice the distress in the voices of the 24 hour news anchors when they were forced to announce that no one had been killed by its first Mexican landfall.

Bush wrapped up his summit with Mexican and Canadian leaders yesterday. Not much of substance got done. They did however agree to work together to keep harmful toys out of North America. Way to take a stand fellas!

Surprise, surprise- The US accuses Iran of lying about their nuclear intentions.

The Pentagon is ending one of those bugaboo programs civil libertarians hate so much. The military says they're retiring the Talon system because it was ineffective, not because of pressure from the ACLU. But the Jog suspects it was a little of both.

Is there anything scarier in terms of the US economy than these words? -["...a public relations blitz to shore up investor confidence."]- Well you can find those scary words and others in this article documenting the latest in the sub-prime debacle. The Jog says let the bad loans flush out of the system. Why reward bad speculation with government tinkering and bail outs?

The Space Shuttle has returned and everybody lived.

America's growing supply of fat kids has been found to house a growing supply of fat kids with hypertension!

If Michael Vick was thinking about going to Canada after incarceration he'd better think again. The CFL doesn't want him.

If you've uploaded your resume to monster.com you may be vulnerable to hackers who have stolen your info and are looking to blackmail you to keep that info safe.

Did you know Wal-Mart has a music download service that competes with iTunes? Well, they do and now they're making music available DRM-free.

MTV is ditching the Zune and climbing in bed with Real Player. The Zune? Hello? Anyone? Is thing on?

Just as we stopped laughing at Beyonce falling onstage. She ups the giggle factor with a Janet Jackson moment.

Amy Winehouse is backing out of her US tour due to exhaustion. For the uninitiated in pop star parlance- 'exhausted' means 'addicted.' Good luck on the rehab Amy.

A gun that went missing from Elvis' collection a few days ago was found in the toilet. Just like Elvis was.

The end is near! A ventriloquist has captured the heart of the nation and won the million dollars on America's Got Talent. The Jog is quick to point out that we may not have much talent after all if a ventriloquist is walking away with the big prize.

Those injured extras are threatening to sue Tom Cruise's Nazi movie.

This will throw the right-wing into a tizzy: Janeane Garofalo Joins The Cast of 24!

If you're looking for that book where O.J. sort of confesses to the murders of Ron and Nicole you won't find it at Barnes & Noble. But cheer up- it will be available at Borders.

And finally:
That old slut Barbie is suing a porn site for advertising their own slut named Barbie.

There's plenty more News,
but no more News Jog.
We're done.