Is the Iraqi government really set to crack down on al-Sadr and the religious militias?  It may be too soon to tell, but there are at least some indications that the Maliki government has finally reached that critical decision point—and my best guess is, this is not a ruse to cover Shia loyalties, but rather a pragmatic decision, the result (ironically) of the unpopularity of the war here in the

me: “No offense, honey.  But I would have much preferred, say, an IPod.”

—Sorry, but it ain’t gonna happen today.  Seems the little guy got drunk on Amaretto sours and somehow pinched the key to my office, where he snuck himself one too many hits off my Colorado River licking toad. And believe me—nothing is less likely to dance than an armadillo so zoomed on tryptamines and Di Saronno that he’s somehow managed to cram six whole bottles of Maraschino cherries into his