an eerie way to spend a morning

i woke up with a start at 8 a.m., as though the morning had burst through my window and begun jumping on my bed and singing showtunes. unable to fall back to sleep (literally fall, since i woke up sitting) i hopped over to the internet and have been reading stories of military abuse ever since.

in case you're interested, i have learned:

• the washington post has new, previously unpublished pictures of the atrocities. its highlighted picture is of what looks like a six-year-old girl holding a leash attached to a naked iraqi man. the "girl" of course is a soldier who has not yet been charged, only transferred to fort bragg, n.c. [because? and?] she's pregnant.
  
• limbaugh declares they're not atrocities at all, more like a fraternity prank. sure, rush. i'll bet he thinks it's about as funny as killing koi in california. {from wonkette and sf gate, respectively};
  
• salon, of course, is dripping with the story;
  
• cnn is oddly brief with it;
  
• usa today is oddly comprehensive;
  
• even the national review deals with it soberly, calling the abuse "familiar," although surrounding the article are flashing advertisements for W04!! and the reagan revolution!!, some horrible article by mark steyn about abortion and a promo for a book about how sex differences are REAL and IMPORTANT

and that, folks, is today's key take-away. sex differences: valid, and important.