Quick Bites

Since we'll all be filling up tomorrow with a Turkey Day repast, here are some quick tidbits that won't leave you bloated before the holiday:

~ Gateway Pundit has a major roundup of news related to the appalling assassination of Lebanese leader Pierre Gemayel, who dared to raise his voice against Syria.

~ A deadly no-knock search in Atlanta - three cops shot, and a 92 year-old woman dead. As the Instapundit says, no-knock raids "should only occur when there's reason to believe that lives are in immediate jeopardy".

~ The US Embassy in Turkey warns of the "potential for violence" related to an upcoming visit to Turkey by Pope Benedict XVI. Radical Muslims are still hot about the Pope making a statement that obliquely related Islam to violence, so it looks like Turks are planning to riot in the streets during the visit - that'll show the Pope that Muslims aren't violent!

~ A Marine who disgraced his uniform is brought to justice. That's the difference between us and the Jihadists - when one of ours illegally kills an Iraqi civilian, he's thrown in prison. When one of theirs kills an Iraqi civilian, its videotaped and used as propaganda.

~ You Stargate geeks out there know that an evil alien named Apophis tried to destroy the earth. Now NASA is worried about an asteroid of the same name that could pose an existential threat to our planet in 2029 or 2036. Somebody call Jack O'Neill!

~ The major media appear to have lost interest in the bird flu, but H5N1 doesn't seem to care. Recently there have been new outbreaks of the virus in Egypt, Somalia, Indonesia, and Sudan, and a low path strain of H5N1 is now showing up in wild fowl across parts of the United States. Hope that doesn't spoil anyone's appetite for turkey on Thursday...