TOONCES LOOK OUT!

• First up, the must-see of the day is a documentary by a Guardian embedded photographer named Sean Smith who follows a group of American soldiers. It’s short, graphic, and a tiny glimpse into the challenges facing our troops (and really, any troops in a war). If you’ve read the quote about challenging the President and members of Congress to sit with a company of soldiers for 15 months, it comes from this video. Every American should watch this video, then look at the now-faded “Support Our Troops” ribbon on the back of their cars, and then think about what that phrase even means.

• Pakistan, our most important ‘ally’ in the War on Terror, seems to be well on its way to hell-in-a-handbasket (BTW, my spell check informs me that “handbasket” is not a word). If Musharraf no longer has control of the military and intelligence services, he’s not going to have control of his country much longer. The suicide attacks and the recent Red Mosque shootout dovetail with this story on the ‘disappeared’ under the Musharraf regime, and demonstrate the bizarre dynamics of a war as poorly conceived as the ‘War on Terror.’ Who exactly are we fighting? Who should we be fighting?

• Tasers: now in pink! Quote from one of the makers: ‘The brothers, inspired by “Star Wars” and “Star Trek,” thought to themselves, “Why can’t we make a phaser,” Mr. Smith said.’ Great.

• Eating beef is less green than driving. Eat a steak, raise earth’s temperature. It’s notable how the global warming problem is changing our ethical worldview. Really though, it’s not that different than traditional morality: we have to give up some personal pleasure in order to promote a greater good. Yet, in the climate of selfishness imbued by the roots of capitalism (I’m not going all proletarian here, just stating the fact of the matter), it’s tough to convince people to give up their hard-earned monetary and material gains (like a tasty Big Kahuna burger) for something as abstract as ‘the planet.’

• If the White House thinks that you have “a significant risk of committing an act of violence” (whatever “significant” means), they can take away your stuff. I don’t think it’s nearly as dire as redditors are making it seem, but it is just another example of Bush overreaching to expand his own executive power. What seems like a judicial tool to freeze assets is actually a dangerous move that suggests that anyone who tries to “destabilize” the world doesn’t deserve to hold property.

• Firefox 3 preview. Bag o’ dimes.

• I think Petraeus is a fine soldier, but when you appear on Hugh Hewitt’s show for a big interview, I think your words lose credibility. If he had given this interview on, say, 60 Minutes or 20/20, this would be front-page news. As it stands now, he’s just another puppet of the right-wing propaganda machine.

• So Trix is too sugary to market to kids any more, but Lucky Charms and Cocoa Puffs... that's still cool. Seriously, could this be any more disingenuous? If you're making a cereal with a cartoon rabbit as its mascot and a motto like "Trix are for kids!" I don't think stopping a few commercials is going to change your target audience.

• Hah, Leahy sends his questions to Gonzales beforehand so he can’t forget the answers. I’ll bet he still refuses to answer, can’t remember, doesn’t know, and keeps his job.

• A visual representation of every girl this guy’s hooked up with for the last 27 years. The best part is the cryptic little graphic in the stop sign that indicates why they broke up.

• 40 Years of Eric Carle: Watch the audio slideshow. If you don’t like Eric Carle, go sit in the corner.

Today's video selection is an oldie-but-goodie from the SNL archives. Actually, did I say goodie? I meant terrible. Still, Toonces makes me laugh every time.