Bee Gees ruin music history again

• The late Johnny Cash's old house burned to the ground (pictures on right). The house was bought in early 2006 by Barry Gibb, of BeeGees fame, to be used as a summer home. On the one hand, it's unfortunate that such an essential piece of music history (where Cash wrote many of his songs) has been lost forever. On the other, it's probably for the better that Barry Gibb didn't write any songs in that fabled house.
  
• How to rule Iraq? Divide and conquer, essentially blocking off Baghdad into smaller, more manageable pieces with checkpoints and whatnot. Perhaps it will work, but I don't see what makes this fundamentally different from the clear-and-hold plan for Baghdad. The mythical counter-insurgents who can work like surgeons have failed to materialize, and as Petraeus himself must know, a successful counterinsurgency takes a hell of a lot longer than six months.
• Speaking of Iraq, Bush wants a "war czar." Is this guy serious? I mean, really? Unless I'm mistaken, we already have a war czar. Already has a pretty good title, too: "Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy." Oh, that's THE PRESIDENT. We already have a war czar, and he's been passing the buck since things in Iraq stopped looking absolutely perfect. Who's fault is it that Iraq hasn't gone well? Is it Defeat-o-crats? Or the Iraqi people? Or the incompetent generals? Or the Iranians? Wrong, jackass, the buck stops on your desk. Yeesh, do we really have to keep this schmuck for two more years?
• Man, this college loans scandal looks shady as hell. What's surprising is that the "preferred lender" charade was performed at so brazenly for so long at so many schools. I guess it was an acceptable form of graft, since it made money for everyone and only screwed poor students. Although, as universities become more like businesses, we can't exactly be surprised when they take cash over their obligation to their students.
• President Bush: soft on crime. Take that one to the bank. His Justice Department systematically defunded the divisions of the FBI that go after fraud and civil rights violations, as well as white-collar crime in general, to convert the place into counterterror mode (which mostly means... a violating civil rights mode). A lengthy but important article, if you have the time.
• Winner of Best Headline of the Day: "Birds Do It. Bees Do It. People Seek the Keys to It." Heh. Neat article, too.
• Come on, people let's buy the Cubs! Contribute your pocket change! They'll be hella cheap after they implode this season!