We'll talk to you after you've done everything we demand of you

And then there'll be nothing to talk about:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday the United States remains open to negotiations with Iran and Syria if both these countries change what she characterized as confrontational policies in the Middle East.
Iran has been frequently criticized by U.S. officials for supplying weapons to insurgent forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and for pressing ahead with a nuclear weapons program.
Rice said the U.S. would not meet with the top Iranian leaders until they suspend their uranium enrichment program, a stance she said is supported by the U.N. Security Council. Even a short suspension of Tehran's enrichment program, which could lead to the fissile material needed for an atomic weapon, would be welcome, she said.
«As long as the Iranians are talking and practicing enrichment, we're not getting anywhere,» Rice said.
Rice just returned from a trip to Iraq where she said progress has been made reducing violence since a surge of U.S. forces earlier this year, adding 30,000 troops for a total of more than 160,000 now.

And she finishes with this cheerful note:

«Iraq today is a different country than it was a year ago,» she said. But she also called the security gains fragile and said long-term success hinges on the Iraqis settling their political differences.

It sure is a different country from four years ago, too.

We're getting just a bit sloppy with our nukes

And if one of them goes off accidentally, by the time it's sorted out, Cheney and Bush will have attacked Iran.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 The chair of a key U.S. congressional panel Wednesday characterized as "deeply disturbing" the flight of a B-52 bomber loaded with five nuclear warheads.

"There is no more serious issue than the security and proper handling of nuclear weapons," Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.

The bomber mistakenly loaded with five warheads flew from Minot Air Force Base, N.D, to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., Aug. 30, prompting an Air Force-wide investigation.

And via Hipparchia of Over The Cliff, Onto The Rocks, an article about nuclear accidents in Tennessee:

Some 35 liters, or just over 9 gallons, of highly enriched uranium solution leaked from a transfer line into a protected glovebox and spilled onto the floor. The leak was discovered when a supervisor saw a yellow liquid ``running into a hallway'' from under a door, according to one document.

The commission said there were two areas, the glovebox and an old elevator shaft, where the solution potentially could have collected in such a way to cause an uncontrolled nuclear reaction.

``It is likely that at least one worker would have received an exposure high enough to cause acute health effects or death,'' the agency wrote.

Even International Atomic Energy chief ElBaradei thinks Lieberman is nuts

Well... he didn't really say that:

Vienna, Austria (AHN) - International Atomic Energy chief Mohamed ElBaradei said that an attack on Iran because of its nuclear program would be "madness" that would not solve the problem. His comments came at the end of an International Atomic Energy Agency meeting with the 35 member nations on Thursday. While warning against attacking Iran, ElBaradei also urged Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment and ease what has become a standoff with world powers.

Maybe more bonkers than nuts....