Astrogate and Afrikakorps

Jeez. That astronaut's going to be charged with attempted murder. Even NASA's not immune to the culture of corruption and criminality that has beset the American government. Maybe with the shuttle program winding down, the woman figured she had nothing to lose. It's a weird story, for sure, but definitely not what NASA needed.

Also, it looks like Bush is creating an Afrikakorps, adding a Pentagon command covering Africa. Apparently it's going to be using the Pentagon for humanitarian aid functions, which'll further lead to the atrophying of the State Department. Here's the new symbol they're using for it (just kidding). But it really bugs me how the Bush League increasingly rely on the Pentagon to cover all phases of government action abroad. Small government? Not hardly. It's just another extension of the Fortress America conception the Bushies have created, largely through their own inept actions and their willfully wrongheaded warmongering.