• Who is Muhammed Shahwani, how has he kept his job as head of Iraqi intelligence despite 2 changes of government? Maybe because the CIA funded his agency. [The Plank]

• Iraq and Afganistan Veterans ask Rep. Curt Weldon to stop pissing on the troops. [Eschaton]
• Andrew Sullivan looks ahead to this week’s anniversary of the hangings of two gay Iranian teens. Asks human rights groups to remind us “of the remaining evil of Islamist tyranny, and the daily toll it takes on so many, especially women and gay men.” [Andrew Sullivan]
• HuffPo disses WashPo’s Editorials on net neutrality, Iraq: “If there is credible evidence that al-Zarqawi personally masterminded the UN bombing and the massacre of Shi’ite worshippers, the Post should cite it. Otherwise, it should have learned its lesson about repeating Administration talking points without verification.” [HuffPo]

“No, Dominic, I said gold. I want a gold frame. Yeah, with a sort of blue-gray matte. Can we draw a penis on his forehead with a Sharpie? All right, that one’s just for us.” MORE »

Tested by viral video. MORE »

• Oh yeah, we heard you patting yourself on the back for not being a dumb ol’ AT&T customer. “The NSA can’t find me! Ha ha ha!” Well, if you’re reading this, they can. [Rox Populi]

• Once we croak, it’s first-come, first-serve for the inevitable lawsuits. Start buttering us up now. You could start by buying us a carton or two. [Hit & Run]
• The Corner: “Things turned around when folks decided that Dan Quayle was right.” Do you really want context? [The Corner]
• Just in case you missed it: New School student Jean Rohe defies noted cockblocker Bob Kerrey, gives speech mocking John McCain right before his commencement speech, posts it on HuffPo (natch). McCain’s Chief of Staff, Mark Salter, responds angrily in the comments, calls her a commie or something, it’s sorta long. Rohe says, stop being mean to me. She’s a music major, lay off! [HuffPo]

When Mike McCurry posted his “Telecommunication companies have paid me to tell you that they should own the internets” thing, everyone else on HuffPo just got mad and wrote mean things about him, they didn’t demand that he take it outside. That’s why we like Cenk Uygur. MORE »

* Happy anniversary, Arianna! We hope HuffPo lives longer than Dick Cheney. [HuffPo] MORE »

* The Washington Wire’s sense of humor isn’t dead after all; it’s just very badly burned. [WSJ] MORE »

* We definitely think the fact that it was a grenade and some weed is the funniest part. [The Boston Channel] MORE »

When a child is acting up, demanding attention, often the best strategy to correct their behavior is to ignore them — deprive them of the attention they crave, to demonstrate that it’s best won with good behavior. We have tried that, o’er these last few weeks, with playwright/satirist/critic/author/blogger David Mamet. But today, well, we’re giving in. We never said we were good with kids. And, really, can you blame us?

It is difficult to express in text the sound we made when we saw this cartoon. But it was something very close to “AAAAARRGH,” actually. Your keen ear for casual speech hasn’t failed you this time, Dave! Though that doesn’t really make up for the fact that this is the stupidest thing we’ve seen all week, and we watched The Situation Room on Tuesday. MORE »

* McCain disses his crew to hang with head Heather, Falwell. Blogger ‘Eternal Hope’ won’t idly tolerate all their intolerance. [Political Cortex]
* Jay Tea laments Condi’s decision to retract her Thousands Mistakes Made statement. You’re allowed to say [thousands of] silly things when you’re cute and popular. [Wizbang]
* Research indicates: We all hate that annoying guy who quotes from The Will to Power. [Volokh Conspiracy]
* Deepak Chopra offers relaxation techniques to handle the stresses of a world run by menacing politicans and scoundrelly terrorists. [HuffPo]
* Dems prove you’re only as cool as your least cool friend. [Q and O]

This just in, fresh off the AP wire: MORE »