Why are we building an embassy in Iraq the size of the Vatican?

The fortress-like compound rising beside the Tigris River here will be the largest of its kind in the world, the size of Vatican City, with the population of a small town, its own defense force, self-contained power and water, and a precarious perch at the heart of Iraq's turbulent future.

The new U.S. Embassy also seems as cloaked in secrecy as the ministate in Rome.

"We can't talk about it. Security reasons," Roberta Rossi, a spokeswoman at the current embassy, said when asked for information about the project.

A British tabloid even told readers the location was being kept secret — news that would surprise Baghdadis who for months have watched the forest of construction cranes at work across the winding Tigris, at the very center of their city and within easy mortar range of anti-U.S. forces in the capital, though fewer explode there these days.

The embassy complex — 21 buildings on 104 acres, according to a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations report — is taking shape on riverside parkland in the fortified "Green Zone," just east of al-Samoud, a former palace of Saddam Hussein's, and across the road from the building where the ex-dictator is now on trial.

Bold emphasis above is mine. So how much is this costing? Is Halliburton involved?

"Embassy Baghdad" will dwarf new U.S. embassies elsewhere, projects that typically cover 10 acres. The embassy's 104 acres is six times larger than the United Nations compound in New York, and two-thirds the acreage of Washington's National Mall.

Original cost estimates ranged over $1 billion, but Congress appropriated only $592 million in the emergency Iraq budget adopted last year. Most has gone to a Kuwait builder, First Kuwaiti Trading & Contracting, with the rest awarded to six contractors working on the project's "classified" portion — the actual embassy offices.

Higgins declined to identify those builders, citing security reasons, but said five were American companies.

Who still thinks we're going to pull troops out of Iraq in our lifetime?

Christ vs. Christians

Two excellent pieces to celebrate Easter. First from Tom in Lake Jackson, commenting on this news from Houston:

If you think Jesus will be lurking up in the rafters of Minute Maid Park for this appalling display of extratheological fluff, I would make you a small bet that, instead, he will be out in some park with the kids looking for the eggs the bunny left for them.

He may even help hide the eggs.

The Christian church that has gone bats over abortion and homosexuality while turning a blind eye to war and poverty still manages to have a good time worshipping entertainers and celebrity. I find it nauseating.

And "If I were a Christian":

If I were Christian, I'd have to guess that Christ doesn't care what the heck you call yourself, Republican, Democrat, Boy Scout, Muslim, Hindu or even atheist; it's your deeds that count, your actions that matter, and your character that defines you. Good people are identified as good by the good deeds they do, while evil people are identified by doing evil deeds. I'd point out clearly that arguing for the cult like worship of any human being, in any nation, as an inerrant God like leader, praising warfare or terrorism, the repression and bombing of innocent civilians, arguing that torture or murder or genocide is a good thing, and defending the wealthy and powerful, is completely at odds with what Christ clearly taught.

...

If I were Christian I would be filled with pride and wonder that my blood, organs, skin, and hair, are made from the elements cooked inside of ancient stellar furnaces. That the mortal coils we each inhabit were bequethed to us via countless generations of living things and exquisite constructs, from primate to bacteria, from organic protien to cosmic proton. And I would weep with the glorious knowledge that I am made of star-dust.

...

If I were Christian, I'd have to guess that Christ, who was after all beaten to a bloody pulp and then nailed to a cross to die a horrible, lingering, death, for our sins, wouldn't think very highly of a (political) party, a faction, a group, a pharaoh, a Caesar, or a President, that thinks they should be able to legally whisk people off to torture chambers to foreign shit-holes run by despots, with no trial or charges ever held for them! And were I a Christian, I'd have to guess that any beliver would and absolutely should be very nervous about being associated with torture in any way, shape, or form.

...

But I'd also have to guess there is one huge difference between Christ and me: I have little patience for folks that use religion as a tool of manipulation. And for the mad bombers and their enablers, whether they justify their killing sprees with passage's or sura's, I wouldn't mind if they spent the rest of their days in prison mumbling holy hatred to themselves while strapped to a gurney in a straitjacket. Christ was an inspiring example, and that's true regardless if the underlying theology is accurate or not. But I'd have a hard time living up to His standard. It would be challenging for me to forgive some of those people, including I'm sad to say those that are destroying this nation from within and without. But I'd pray for the strength to do so, if I were Christian.

Read the entire post here.

Senator Kay Bailey Hypocrite

Anna and Vince have done the research; just go read them.

Eric reminds us how Senator Perjury Technicality managed to avoid Ronnie Earle's long arm not so long ago.

We CAN get rid of this kind of crap without sending it to D.C., you know.

Starting in November, at the top of the ballot.

Anybody else missing Jeff Bagwell?

I'm enjoying the opening month of baseball season as much as always. Just seems to be a void.

When Baggy trotted out to receive his ring last week, the first thing I noticed was how small he had gotten -- his arms and shoulders were, well, shriveled compared to years past.

My wife was quick to point out that his ass hadn't gone down any.

Anyway, here's a pretty good article from former Astro reliever and current Tiger DL resident Todd Jones on closers, hitters, and their intro music:

Mariano Rivera has one. Billy Wagner does, too. The same one, in fact. Chipper Jones has one. Trevor Hoffman has the best one. I'm talking about intro songs. Music is everywhere in the big leagues, and why not? It gets the fans going, and the players dig it.

Don't think that heavy-metal song you hear when Chipper Jones comes to bat was just pulled out of a hat, either. Guys give their intro music more thought than I'd like to admit. Kevin Millar has been known to change songs -- quickly -- if he goes a series without any hits. Some guys get to know guys in bands, and they come out to their buddies' band's song. That's why Johnny Damon rocks to Sevendust when he comes to the plate.

Music also is a good way for old players to keep up with the young guys. The most popular music in big-league clubhouses has got to be rap. After a win, most teams have a set CD that's played in the clubhouse. As a rule, if you lose, no music.

For batting practice, the resident computer geek often is the one who burns CDs that combine several guys' favorites. Those CDs can get old quick, and when they're not changed from day to day, guys can come to know what time it is by what song is playing. If the lineup doesn't change and the B.P. groups stay the same, the same guy will end up hitting with the same song playing. It can get monotonous.

Few guys keep the same songs for their whole careers. If you play long enough, the song gets played out and you get sick of it. But there are some staples. Luis Gonzalez is a Collective Soul man. Todd Helton likes to hit to Disturbed. Chipper hits to Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train." Rivera and Wagner enter to "Enter Sandman" by Metallica.

Hoffman sets the gold standard for intro music with AC/DC's "Hells Bells." It's worth a trip to Petco to hear. It's not just the song, either -- it's the scene. They take all the graphics off the video board until Trevor hits the door coming out of the bullpen. When he begins his slow jog to the mound, it's exclusively Trevor Time. Everyone in the park seems to be singing, and Trevor is oblivious to it.

What makes it so cool is that Trevor hardly ever blows a save. Let me assure you, that atmosphere provides a big advantage for him. Hitters are out before they get into the box. Matter of fact, Trevor is so recognized by "Hells Bells" that if it ever is played in another park, guys will say, "I didn't know Hoffman got traded."

Finally, when Adam Dunn is slumping, he has been known to come out to the chorus from a Toby Keith song that goes, "I Ain't As Good as I Once Was." Guys can be pretty creative.

Russ Feingold, Cindy Sheehan, Jim Hightower and David Van Os are all in Austin next week

Austin is the epicenter for Democratic and progressive activists next week.

David Van Os' "Citizens' Filibuster for a Fair and Constitutional Education" begins Monday April 17 at high noon for 24 hours straight on the Capitol grounds -- the same day that the Lege goes back into session for the fifth time (or is it the sixth?) in order to solve the pressing dilemma of funding public education in Texas.

You can catch Cindy Sheehan at the UT east mall (near the statue of MLK) between 11 and 12:15 on Monday the 17th for a rally with the Cameo anti-war folks.

And Senator Russ Feingold will have a listening session with CD-21 candidate John Courage at the UT Student Union Quadrangle on Tuesday, April 18 at 12:30 pm, and a rally beginning at 7:30 pm for Courage supporters at Jovita's, 1619 S. First Street, where Jim Hightower as well as Feingold and Courage will speak.

All these are open to the public and free of charge. I'll see you at all three events next week. Stop by and say hi to me.

Update: A correction to the "free" notice above... The evening rally with Feingold, Courage, and Hightower is a fundraiser, includes musical entertainment South Austin Jug Band, The Grassy Knoll Boys and Texas Youth Word Collective and costs $25.

Update II (4/13/06) : sonia in the comments notes Senator Barack Obama's event on Tuesday the 18th as well.

Victory is sweet.

Just returned from the parties for Barbara Radnofsky and Borris Miles, and I have to tell you, as sweet as March 7 was, tonight was even better.

Lyn and I were on the BAR live webcast tonight again, joined this time by Mrs. Diddie (it will be archived tomorrow for viewing; I'll update this post then) and even before it began, the AP had called the race for Barbara. So it's on to November, and some reckoning with Senator Perjury Technicality. Kay Bailey Rubberstamp hasn't had much in the way of a respectable challenger in her time in the Senate, but all that changes now.

As the webcast continued and Lyn got some returns fed into her Treo, we rushed over to the Sheraton by the Astrodome to party with the Miles crew and the rest of District 146's elated constituents. Borris had pulled ahead as the returns closed on the finish line, and within the ten o'clock hour Rep. Edwards conceded. When the Representative-elect finally made an appearance, he was something I haven't seen before: humbled. And a little bit awed by the incredible dedication and hard work of his supporters.

A special shout-out to my blog podnah Greg Wythe, who poured everything he had into this race and looked as worn out and happy as Borris' mother did. And there's a thousand others, and I hope their enthusiasm can carry over to all the other races we must win in November, from Chris Bell to BAR to my man David, and Hank Gilbert and Fred Head and Maria Luisa Alvarado (congratulations to her on her victory today as well) and Ellen Cohen and Kristi Thibaut and Hubert Vo and all the rest.

I salute Rep. Al Edwards for his 28 years of service to the district and the state of Texas. But I am thrilled that I will have a real Democrat representing me in Austin.