For the first time, Patriot Missive brings you the complete randomness that is “The Wrap-Up” (working title). A smattering of news to keep you informed and entertained for the weekend. Enjoy.

World News: Blackwater’s out… well… eventually? Read the full story

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The letter signed by 41 Democratic senators (including Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and Barack Obama) and sent to Rush Limbaugh for his “phony soldier” smear, sold on Ebay today for $2.1 MILLION.

Cha-friggin’-ching!

Can you guess who put the letter on the auction block? None other than Limbaugh himself. He’s vowed to donate all proceeds to the children of the Marines and soldiers who have died serving their country.

I’m not sure how long the Ebay auction link will stay posted so go check it out while it lasts:

That’s an Ebay record, by the way.

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Guitarist for Death Cab for Cutie, Chris Walla, has found himself under the scrutiny of American border patrol agents. The original master tracks to his upcoming solo album were being transported on a computer hard drive across the Canadian border to his record label, Barsuk. They were confiscated and held for nearly 1 month (Sept 19th - Oct 17th) to undergo forensic analysis.

Walla has stated that he feels the Department of Homeland Securities search was random but:

Barsuk and some music publications hinted it may have been more than a coincidence that such a political album - it includes songs criticizing the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina, the Iraq war and the firings of U.S. attorneys by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales - was seized.

Of all the massive anti-Bush, anti-war, and anti-administration rhetoric making waves across the country, THIS is what finally made the Department of Homeland Security snap? Please. It’s another random annoyance that we all have to endure when entering or leaving our borders. Either way, it’s certainly bringing a lot of attention to Walla’s first solo album due to release January, 2008.

Was the confiscation truly an attempt at squashing outcry towards American policy or a lucky break for an album destined for mediocrity?

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It would seem the army is having trouble sticking to it’s policies on openly homosexual individuals serving within it’s ranks.

The Army, Navy and Air Force unwittingly advertised for recruits on a website for gays, who are barred from military service if they are open about their sexual orientation.

When informed Tuesday by USA TODAY that they were advertising on GLEE.com, a networking website for gay professionals, recruiters expressed surprise and said they would remove the job listings.

“This is the first I’ve heard about it,” said Maj. Michael Baptista, advertising branch chief for the Army National Guard, which will spend $6.5 million on Internet recruiting this year. “We didn’t knowingly advertise on that particular website,” which he said does not “meet the moral standards” of the military.

This is the same moral standard they’re holding the steadily increasing number of criminals recruited each year to… right? Read the full story

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Religion has pretty much always had at least some small part to play in comic books. In the Marvel comic book/movie Daredevil, the title character’s alias Matt Murdoch is seen going to confession regularly, and is a devout Irish-Catholic. Another Marvel Comics mainstay, Thor, is himself a Norse god. Kitty Pryde of the X-Men (another comic gone Hollywood) was rarely seen in the comics without her Star of David necklace.

But trying to find a recognizable Muslim superhero is like trying to find a diamond in your toilet tank. Not bloody likely to happen.

Until recently that is. Read the full story

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Years down the line when financial analysts look at where it all went wrong…

…well, ok, they probably won’t say that yesterday was the moment it all went wrong. That’s been set up for quite some time now. But it’s definitely going to be a day with a few frowny faces drawn on the calender.

Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, a retired Maryland teacher who was born at 12:00:01 a.m. on Jan. 1, 1946, applied this afternoon for early retirement benefits. She’ll become eligible to receive them in January when she turns 62.

Ok, so what, people apply for social security everyday. What makes this one so important? Read the full story

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Or at least, that’s what certain Democrats think.

It started last month, when an official with the House Committee on Homeland Security suggested that staff aides get immunizations before visiting health facilities at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway and North Carolina’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway, where the Bank of America 500 was run Saturday.

In an e-mail, a staffer who works for committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) noted an ”unusual need for whomever attending to be vaccinated against hepatitis A and B,” as well as ”the more normal things — tetanus, diphtheria, and of course, seasonal influenza.”

Wow, that’s interesting. Having been to a few NASCAR events in the past (hey look! they’re turning left again!!!) I’ve not really seen a lot of diphtheria in bloom, in fact- the only thing I would recommend everyone bringing with them is a roll of Antacids for the greasy food, and maybe a pocket breathalyser. Read the full story

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America’s proud soldiers are shown in commercial after commercial promoting their values and strength in the “Army Strong”recruiting campaign. Prior to this was the “Army of One” and of course we all recall singing along with “Be All You Can Be”. But perhaps rather than just going to television commercials which are fastforwarded straight through thanks to the advent of Tivoand the like viral internet marketting would be more productive. After all- it seems to be working for our adversaries.

When Osama bin Laden issued his videotaped message to the American people last month, a young jihad enthusiast went online to help spread the word.

“America needs to listen to Shaykh Usaamah very carefully and take his message with great seriousness,” he wrote on his blog. “America is known to be a people of arrogance.”

Unlike Mr. bin Laden, the blogger was not operating from a remote location. It turns out he is a 21-year-old American named Samir Khan who produces his blog from his parents’ home in North Carolina, where he serves as a kind of Western relay station for the multimedia productions of violent Islamic groups.

Wait a second. North Carolina? Weren’t we fighting them there so… never mind. Read the full story

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“The Army has loosened its standards to enlist a record number of new recruits with criminal histories as the service struggles to meet its growing manpower goals.” According to the Baltimore Sun. A sentiment that is echoed by a report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 18 percent of recruits needed waivers for problems with the law — up from 15 percent the previous year, Maj. Gen. Thomas Bostick, commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, told a Pentagon news conference. He said 87 percent of those were for misdemeanors such as joy riding or violating curfew.

12,057 wavers have been issued in 2007, the highest of the past 5 years. Read the full story

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To my joyful delight Stephen Colbert is making his rounds onto several of America’s most trafficked media outlets, The Larry King Show and NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

While his recent media blitz is designed to pump his new book, “I Am America (And So Can You!)“, it’s also been an enlightening trip into the mind of a man who (like his predecessor, Jon Stewart) has rekindled a generations interest in politics and world news. And while the show may technically be a news spoof on those of a more serious nature, watching Stewart and Colbert’s shows has been proven to significantly increase their audiences awareness of the world over other more traditional media outlets.

In last nights interview with CNN’s Larry King, Colbert quickly explained his duo personalities, or as King says, “The ‘play’ Stephen Colbert and the ‘real’ Stephen Colbert”. It’s interesting to catch him fading in and out of his very different “faces”. Read the full story

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A tradition to light the Empire State building for Jewish and Christian holidays is including the Muslim holiday, Eid, as well.

Normally only reserved to shine its light for Hanukkah and Christmas, the glowing green light signifying the end of Ramadan will radiate over New York this weekend.

I’m trying not to place my personal opinion over the City of New York’s decision as I’m quite aware that a vast number of honorable Americans are Muslim, but with recent “skirmishes” (ah hem… OIF) and disturbing photos such as this , you can understand my wariness.

Someone, please, enlighten me with some sort of positive reasoning for this decision.

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Turkey, U.S. ally and part of a key supply route for the military has withdrawn their ambassador, and is warning of “serious repercussions” if congress votes to recognize the Armenian genocide 1915-1917.

Ordered after a House committee endorsed the genocide measure, the summons of the ambassador for consultations was a further sign of the deteriorating relations between two longtime allies and the potential for new turmoil in an already troubled region.

Egeman Bagis, an aide to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told Turkish media that Turkey — a conduit for many of the supplies shipped to American bases in both Iraq and Afghanistan — might have to “cut logistical support to the U.S.”

Analysts also have speculated the resolution could make Turkey more inclined to send troops into northern Iraq to hunt Turkish Kurd rebels, a move opposed by the U.S. because it would disrupt one of the few relatively stable and peaceful Iraqi areas.

“There are steps that we will take,” Turkey’s prime minister told reporters, but without elaboration. It also wasn’t clear if he meant his government would act immediately or wait to see what happens to the resolution in Congress.

He declined to answer questions about whether Turkey might shut down Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, a major cargo hub for U.S. and allied military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Iskenderun is also used to ferry goods to American troops.

“You don’t talk about such things, you just do them,” Erdogan said.

The route through Turkey accounts for 70% of U.S. air cargo, and about 1/3 of the fuel used by the military. So now our leaders are forced to make a decision- acknowledge a (widely recognized by the rest of the world) mass killing, or make sure we still have a route to keep getting supplies to our troops.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 27-21 to acknowledge the killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire.

”Nations of the world have periods in their history that they can’t overlook; we acknowledge and we confront them,” said Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif. “My Armenian friends believe this was a genocide, and so do I.”

The resolution would call for President George W. Bush to use the word “genocide” when giving his annual Armenian message in April.

Like Presidents Clinton and George H.W. Bush before him, the president considers the phrase ”Armenian genocide” historically questionable and diplomatically harmful. White House and Turkish officials warn U.S.-Turkey relations will suffer if the full House approves the resolution.

”Its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror,” Bush told reporters several hours before the committee acted.

So what’s going to be the final word?

”We cannot provide genocide denial as one of the perks of friendship with the United States,” said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif.

”I just don’t understand why we would shoot ourselves in the foot,” said Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind. “The whole [Mideast] is a tinderbox, and our strongest ally in the area is Turkey.”

I guess time will decide this one.

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