5 minute notice

Amerikan Honcho storms in

It is said the Ape Emporer does not like to travel. He'd rather hunker down in Texas or its Washington colony. A journey beyond the homeland must be risky - into a war zone even more so. As someone who has successfully screwed up most of the planet, this paranoia would now be justified. So who had the bright idea of dispatching him to Iraq?

Much has been made of the secrecy surrounding his trip - after all, most thought he was holidaying in Camp David unde the auspices of discussing (?) Iraq "policy" with his advisors. Yet some advisor or other decided this excursion was necessary. We are told that only a few favoured individuals knew of the plan - yet a full complement of the press corps were assurred places on Air Force One. The mission was said to be in support of Iraq's new Prime Minister, but it looked far more like a PR stunt to combat falling ratings. Summoned to the meeting at 5 minutes notice, Iraq's new leader looked decidedly uncomfortable. Not surprising really - the image of solidarity created by the photo-call will not have helped his standing with the electorate and the whole exercise seemed designed to make a folly of the notion of an independent sovereign government.

No leader flies into the country of another without announcing themselves. You certainly don't then barge in for an uninvited audience, taking over the show and then refusing to actually conduct any serious conversation off-camera. Any pretence that Iraq is now in charge of its own destiny will have now been dispelled by this display of Amerikan arrogance and imperial assumption. Nice one, Dubya!

In Palestine, Israel's attempt to get itself off the hook over the beach slaughter has been upset by evidence pointing to their guilt. Human rights Watch are demanding an investigation.

In Britain, the Home office is in more trouble. This time for spending more money trying to recover criminals' proceeds than actually doing so. Plus, Home Secreary John Reid is himself accused of hypocrisy.

New York Times have a piece revealing Google's new data centre. One nice touch, all the huge processing power required is actually supplied by a local water source.

Later.