The Dish

A reader finds some poetic back-up:

The cyclops Polyphemous to his beloved, Galatea:

Abundant hair hangs over my fierce face
and shoulders, shading me, just like a grove;
but don’t think me unsightly just because
I am completely covered in dense bristles:
unsightly is the tree that has no leaves,
the horse without a mane; birds have their plumage
and sheep are most attractive in their wool,
so facial hair and a full body beard
are really most becoming in a man.

Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book XIII (trans. Charles Martin)

Extracts from Obama’s speech today on the war in Clinton – yes, Clinton – Iowa. He was introduced by Zbigniew Brzezinski:

"My plan for ending the war would turn the page in Iraq by removing our combat troops from Iraq’s civil war; by taking a new approach to press for a new accord on reconciliation within Iraq; by talking to all of Iraq’s neighbors to press for a compact in the region; and by confronting the human costs of this war."

The stated purpose of the surge was to enable Iraq’s political leaders to reconcile. They have not done so… Our troops fight and die in the 120 degree heat to give Iraq’s leaders space to agree, but they are not filling it… The bar for success is so low that it is almost buried in the sand."

Our troops have performed brilliantly. . . . The excellence of our military is unmatched. But as a result of this war, our forces are under pressure as never before… our troop presence cannot be sustained without crippling our military’s ability to respond to other contingencies. "

"Removing our troops is part of applying real pressure on Iraq’s leaders to end their civil war… The problems in Iraq are bigger than one man. Iraq needs a new constitutional convention that would include representatives from all levels of Iraqi society – in and out of government."

A reader emailed them about their appallingly naive and anti-American take on al Qaeda in their children’s guide to current events, Newsround. I posted about it here. He got this response from the Beeb:

Thank you for your email to Newsround. The article you are referring to is an old guide that we thought had been purged from our system. It is my understanding that it was written on the day of the attacks back in 2001. I agree that it is inappropriate and it is now being taken off the site.

In addition to this, I have asked staff to do a thorough search to ensure the guides that remain online are accurate and objective.

I am genuinely sorry that this article has appeared and that it has caused offence.

"The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is," – Winston Churchill.

Some companies start targeting over-weight employees in health insurance plans.

Did she really have to show the world?

Kathy Griffin just won an Emmy for her intermittently funny reality show, which has often featured, I might add, her classically Catholic parents and family. But she made a silly remark at the ceremony, the kind that keeps Bill Donahue’s direct mail racket alive. Her unfunny, but obviously ironic remark:

"A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus," an exultant Griffin said, holding up her statuette. "Suck it, Jesus. This award is my god now."

Donahue’s response:

"It is a sure bet that if Griffin had said, ‘Suck it, Muhammad,’ there would have been a very different reaction," Catholic league president Bill Donohue said in a statement posted on the group’s Web site. He called on TV academy president Dick Askin to denounce Griffin’s "hate speech" and on Griffin to apologize.

What’s interesting to me about this is that the Islamists really have succeeded in setting the new standards for public discourse. "Blasphemy" is now not allowed on network TV. Osama wins one, thanks to Bill.

Oil hits $80 a barrel. Higher, please.

How do you encourage home-owners to conserve energy? You send up spy-planes to record heat loss from rooftops and post the map – with identifiable homes on it – on the web. A lesson from London in innovative environmental policy.