Oh, boy, check this one out. The Independent has published a list of alleged facts and statistics (making up the entire front page of the dead tree edition) that they claim depicts the "real state of the Union", with obvious reference to this evening's presidential address. Here's a Reader's Challenge: Let's see how many of these alleged facts and statistics you can debunk or whose spin you can reverse. First prize winner gets to share a falafel with Baghdad Bob Fisk at the Beirut Hilton. Second prize winner gets to spend a weekend with Bob in his palatial Beirut home. Third prize winner gets to...no, no, there are some things too vile for even Iberian Notes to contemplate. My personal fantasy, though, would require a very tight leather harness. And some nipple clamps.

And here's Pilger the Pimp in the Mirror, throwing one of the most deluded anti-American tantrums you've ever seen. This is probably the longest article the Mirror has ever published, and it apparently contains at least seven words of more than two syllables. The Mirror must be going upscale or something. Seriously, it is very disturbing that there are so many people out there, especially in Britain, willing to believe this patently false and absurd crap. Any beginners out there who want to take a shot at Fisking this stinking pile of journalistic offal are welcome to give it all they've got and I'll publish it. I consider Pilger to be too simplistic for my own efforts, but if you've never given it a try before, Fisking can be fun!