Sometimes curious synergies present themselves from disparate news sources. I was going to blog a congressional report about Haliburton overcharges from projects in Iraq when while searching for supporting material I stumbled across this gem:
Beetle boost for Bush and friends
After checking the date to make sure I hadn't slipped back in time to April 1 (or indeed that it wasn't some obscure Finnish japster holiday; tickleherringjharl or something) I read with increasing irrational glee that:
"Two US scientists have paid tribute to their favourite politicians by naming three species of beetle after them. President George Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were all honoured....The three beetles who now bear their names are among 65 newly discovered species which feed on mould. "
The article continues:
"Others were named after the scientists' wives, the Star Wars villain Darth Vader and the Greek words for 'ugly' and 'having prominent teeth'*. But Mr Wheeler, who is now head of entomology at London's Natural History Museum, said the decision to name three beetles after politicians had nothing to do with physical features.
'One has to be creative with names,' he told the BBC news website. 'We are two of the only politically conservative scientists around, and we decided to stick our necks out.'"
Of course, as conservative scientists they believe that these beetles sprang forth from the loins of God within the last 5000 years. Rock of ages my friends, not the ages of rocks.
This all neatly segues into my original found story of the morning, courtesy of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, concerning the parasitic nature of Dick Cheney's company Haliburton:
DOD Audits: Halliburton Overcharges Top $212 Million
"Last month, Rep. Waxman disclosed that Defense Department auditors found $108 million in fuel-related overcharges by Halliburton for work in Iraq under Task Order 5, one of several Halliburton task orders for the importation of fuel into Iraq. Rep. Waxman also revealed that although Halliburton was paid in significant part from Iraqi oil proceeds in the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), the Administration — acting at Halliburton’s request — concealed these overcharges from the international auditors charged by the United Nations with monitoring the expenditures from the DFI."
Those slugs. Sorry, beetles.
(*The Tony Blair beetle!)
2 comments:
It awesome (not least because they thought so little of us they didn't field a 'mighty' side to begin with). I'm annoyed that you drew Liverpool in Europe; sort of halves the patriotic cheering pool. Still, good luck against t' northern bastards.
What has happened to India's one day team, mockers?
I know; I watched us go 3-1 up and then blow it: still, I think Shackell was hard done by: refs need to penalise diving. The draw: story of our season (we really haven't lost that many).
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