I think this is code for all-star break...: "Mark Prior probably won't pitch until May because of inflammation in his right Achilles tendon and a stiff elbow.

Prior
'I'd say May 1 or the first week of May is optimistic,' Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said Tuesday. 'He's a guy that I don't think needs more than three or four weeks to get ready.'"

Add Garciaparra to my list of doom...: "Boston Red Sox (news) all-star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra (news) will begin the season on the disabled list because of a sore Achilles tendon, the team said on Wednesday.

Garciaparra is expected to miss the first three weeks of the season as he focuses on easing the tendonitis in his right Achilles that has limited him to just eight at bats during spring training games, said the Red Sox Web Site.
The shortstop will fly back from Boston's Fort Myers Spring training site on Thursday to begin his treatment program. "

Ok, so now both Piror and Garciaparra are gone. Friggin great.

It is going to be a very long FBL season.

In Britain, one in five pregnancies ends in abortion: "'It's tragically ironic that while 600 babies a day are aborted, only 300 a year are placed for adoption despite growing requests from would-be parents who cannot have children naturally."

McCain Feingold Comes Alive! "President Bush's campaign and the Republican National Committee are filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission.
They're accusing John Kerry and pro-Kerry groups of violating campaign-spending laws.
They claim Kerry's campaign has been illegally coordinating political ads and get-out-the-vote activities with independent groups.
Groups like MoveOn-dot-org have been running ads critical of Bush in several battleground states. Kerry has also been running ads in the key states, but on a much smaller scale."

I think this is a warning shot aimed at Theresa Heinz actually.

While I think that the Move-On ads help as much as hurt the Kerry campaign, I think that a truly independent environmental ad from Theresa Heinz would in fact help the Kerry campaign.

How the GOP goes about proving its case here will be telling.

In Washington D.C., no one can hear you speed: "The District's newest photo-radar camera in Northeast caught 788 speeding drivers in the first 48 hours of enforcement, generating at least $23,640 in fines, police said yesterday.
The camera on Sunday caught 504 cars speeding in the 600 block of Florida Avenue, where the speed limit is 25 mph. On Monday, it caught 284 cars traveling above the speed limit, police said"

The policius ex machina is right next to Gallaudet University, and coincidentally, on the exact route that I take to the grocery store.

Not surprisingly, I speed on this section of Florida all the time. it is a four lane road where only two are really needed most of the time. it is right near the farmers market so early in morning there is a lot of truck traffic.

I would say the minimum speed I used to drive on the street was around 40 mph. The street just begs for it.

well not anymore.

But if my ice cream melts on the way home then I am going to sue!

Hopefully this was just a coincidence...: "An explosion and fire rocked a BP oil refinery in Texas, the third-largest in the United States, on Tuesday, driving gasoline prices to an all-time high and unnerving currency markets worried about security threats.
BP (BP.L) said there was no sign of 'any outside influence' in the blast and fire, which came days after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation warned Texas oil refiners of possible terror attacks ahead of elections in November.
The cause of the fire, which began with an explosion in the gasoline-producing unit at the 447,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Texas City, Texas, was not known, but it did not appear to have been started intentionally, BP said.
'We have no indication of any outside influence on the incident,' said company spokeswoman Annie Smith.
BP has been maintaining high security at its Texas refinery after the FBI warning on March 25 of an unsubstantiated threat of an attack."

If this lineup does not shake you to your boots:

"President John Kerry
VP Max Cleland
National Security Advisor Wes Clark
Deputy to the National Security Advisor Rand Beers
Sec. of State Lt. General Claudia Kennedy
Chief of Staff Gary Hart
Sec. of Homeland Security Al Gore
Sec. of Defense Leon Fuerth
Deputy Secretary of Defense Joe Wilson
Co-Deputy Secretary of Defense Karen Kwiatkowski
Attorney General John Edwards
Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin
Surgeon General Howard Dean
EPA Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Fed Chair Paul Krugman
Media Liason Dick Gephardt"

then you have no soul.

The person who posted this was completely serious by the way.

I like the addition of the heroin addict though.

we need more heroin addicts in public life.

Brood X Returns to Roost...: "In a few weeks, probably in early to mid-May, the cicada nymphs will crawl out of the ground, shed their skins and unfurl their wings. The males will out-roar lawn mowers in their search for a mate. The females will lay their eggs in the branches of trees. Then, beginning in mid-June, the adults will all die.
Prepare to welcome Brood X (that's 10), as a federal bureaucrat named this batch of 17-year cicadas. Periodical cicadas last appeared in the Washington area in 1996, when Brood II came topside. That emergence, while sparser overall, affected Virginia more heavily than will X, which will largely sidestep the Old Dominion. "

Mark Prior, this blog's first draft pick in FBL, is out for a month...: "Time and simple mathematics are working against pitcher Mark Prior being ready for the Cubs' first homestand in mid-April.
Prior admitted as much Saturday when yet another bullpen session was put off because of lingering soreness in his right Achilles' tendon.
'It's probably out of the question,' Prior said of the Cubs' original target area of April 12-19 for his regular-season debut. 'We had tentative dates, but I think right now, with where we're at, I don't think we're putting a timetable on it because we don't want to set ourselves up, and something happens like this with a setback, and then we have to re-evaluate."

It is going to be a very long season.

Let there be life!: "More than 3.5 billion years after nature transformed non-living matter into living things, populating Earth with a cornucopia of animals and plants, scientists say they are finally ready to try their hand at creating life.

If they succeed, humanity will enter a new age of 'living technology,' where harnessing the power of life to spontaneously adapt to complex situations could solve problems that now defy modern engineering."

This is a fascinating article.

"The ability to make new forms of life from scratch--molecular living systems from chemicals we get from a chemical supply store--is going to have a profound impact on society, much of it positive, but some of it potentially negative," said Mark Bedau, professor of philosophy and humanities at Reed College in Portland, Ore., and editor-in-chief of the Artificial Life Journal."

RLUIPA NEWS!!: "U.S. District Judge Royal Ferguson has upheld RLUIPA's constitutionality in Castle Hills First Baptist Church v. City of Castle Hills. "

This is good news for Rluipa. Although not necessarily for the church.

Federal judge grants partial victory to Texas church - (BP):Ferguson, however, denied the church’s request for judgment against the city for its refusal to grant a permit for a parking lot. The city’s denial of the permit for additional parking did not substantially burden the church’s religious rights, he said.

"The court plainly split the baby, and were still deciding what were going to do about that, said Anthony Picarello, general counsel for the Washington-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which presented arguments on the churchs side in the case.

In a victory for attempts to protect religious liberty nationwide, Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of a federal law to protect religious freedom in zoning and prison cases. The city of Castle Hills had argued the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act violated the First Amendment prohibition on government establishment of religion."

How Appalling I love Howard, but this site is funny.

ScrappleFace hits another home run...: "Mr. Kerry made the remarks as he left Sunday Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Flexible Doctrine."

Difficult choices indeed.

Sometimes the cure is just as bad as the disease.

Although my wife has on several occassions invited me to participate in this treatment even when I was not ill. Interesting.

The smell of grass, the crack of the bat, the taste of ...sushi?:

Baseball season starts tomorrow and I cannot wait. There is no better time of year than the start of baseball season, even if you are, like me, a Pirate fan. I am currently putting the over/under for runs scored by the Pirates this year at 407. Which would be incompetence on a global scale. (392 is the record low) Of course when you have Raul freakin Mondesi hitting clean-up then you get hwat you pay for.

I long for happier times of Doug Drabek, John Smiley, Bob Walk, Andy Van Slyke, Bonds, Bonilla, Spanky Lavallier and even Sid Bream. Sitting in three rivers stadium, singing "For it's one two three strikes your out if your Jose Lind!" If I ran into Francisco Cabrera right now I might punch him in the throat.

But in these times of sorrow I always think, there will be another day...

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers; it has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again. Ohhhh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."

Kerry on the Mount!

Kerry took to quoting the scripture this weekend. "Kerry never mentioned Bush by name during his speech at New North Side Baptist Church, but aimed his criticism at 'our present national leadership.' Kerry cited Scripture in his appeal for the worshippers, including James 2:14, 'What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?'

'The Scriptures say, what does it profit, my brother, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?' Kerry said. 'When we look at what is happening in America today, where are the works of compassion?' "

So let me get this straight:

He is Catholic, but his religious beliefs will not inform his Presidency.

However, he thinks the voters should let their religious beliefs inform their votes.

Unless their religious beliefs invovle abortion, and then they should ignore their religious beliefs and vote for Kerry.

Ok. i just wanted to get that straight. It is so hard to tell where he is coming from sometimes.

4 for 4!

I picked all four final teams in my poools !!!!!

And if you don't belive me You can see for yourself below!!!

The sad thing is because i did so poorly in the early rounds I still may lose.

Judge Pickering accords himself well on 60 minutes...: "'Mississippi's made tremendous progress. And I feel like I've been a part of that progress. And I'm glad to have been a part of that progress. And I think it's extremely unfortunate any time anyone, black or white, uses race to divide us and polarize us.' "

Bashman thinks that the show portrayed the story fairly evenly. I think it was a great idea to have Mr. Evers on to defend him. Unfortunately, they did not ask Schumer the real reason as to why Judge Pickering was being denied his nomination to the bench.

Air America Radio launches tomorrow..

This website is pathetic. I hope their shows are not.

They have two huge problems:

1. Utter lack of startup capital. As their website and rollout stations suggests this group started to small too fast. (The website is simply pathetic.) They are, for the most part, simply buying time on these stations,as opposed to licensing the program. then they get to sell the advertising themselves. but it is all a loss leader, which means no new capital for quite some time. Streaming is very expensive and it is unlikely that it will continue for very long if a number of people choose to listen.

2. Howard Stern. Howard is now the flagship anti-Bush broadcaster. I am a huge stern fan and he has done more to stunt the growth of this network than any conservative voice.

I think Franken should do fine. He is just about everything Limbaugh is- pompous, reactionary, funny but liberal. (Oh and apparantly not addicted to drugs). The problem is that there have been two 2 successful ways to launch a radio network (1 statioan at a time like Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, Stern etc.. or licensing with a large established network like clear channel)

It simply stuns me that Viacom which carries Stern throughout the country did not sign on to this, considering they are the lynchpin of the liberal media conglomerates, but now they already have their liberal radio star so maybe they don't wnat anymmore....

I think these shows should stay on up until past the election but then...

More on the PBA Discovery Dilemma and Google.com

There are many fascinating aspects to the opinion but one of the more interesting ones is how Google.com seems to have lowered the bar for undue burden in discovery issues relating to the privacy concerns of plaintiffs and other individuals involved in lawsuits.

Judge Posner states:

"Some of these women will be afraid that when their redacted
records are made a part of the trial record in New York,
persons of their acquaintance, or skillful “Googlers,” sifting the
information contained in the medical records concerning each
patient’s medical and sex history,will put two and two together,
“out” the 45 women, and thereby expose them to
threats, humiliation, and obloquy."

Is this the first time that Google itself has been singled out as a otuside force on the law that changes the math when comparing the burden on an individual's privacy interest? Has technology changed the way these evidentiary issues should be weighed by
Judges and if so, should the Rules Committee look into it?
Should the "skillfull googlers" standard be the standard that Federal Judges apply when bancing privacy concerns?

I don't know right now, but in this dwning information age, I cannot imagine that any possible information releasedmight fall into this category. the "skillfull googlers" level is really quite high a level. Believe me. And as more and more organizations create extra/intranets to handle all of their data the level and type of information available could expand exponentially. (On the other hand, I still can't find out who atrios is despite heavy Googling. then again male substitute gym teachers are not a heavy web presence...) I think Judge Posner erred in this case based on the other safegaurds in place in terms of the handling of the material, which is detailed in the case.

By the way, this is not the first time that evolving technology has change aspects of the law, even as it applies to the dissenting judge, Daniel Manion, in this case. "In the Washington Post, July 30 1986, pg A-23, columnist James J.
Kilpatrick: discussed the nomination and confirmation of Daniel Manion as appellate judge. Manion had been taken to task by some in the Senate as not qualified to be an appellate Judge due to several errors that had been found in briefs that he had filed in court as a private practitioner. Kilpatrick stated:
"In sum, I fear not for the republic, or for the 7th Circuit, when
Manion joins the club. Give him an intelligent clerk and a good word processor, and the gentleman may look forward to many happy years on the bench."

Vatican official has "a problem" with John Kerry: "Just listen to a Vatican official, who is an American: 'People in Rome are becoming more and more aware that there's a problem with John Kerry, and a potential scandal with his apparent profession of his Catholic faith and some of his stances, particularly abortion.' "

So who is this American Vatican Official?

Well there are several.

Here is one, for example..Archbishop John Patrick Foley.

This settles it, the Televised Media are officially idiots.
All day stations have been reporting on the 5X speed of soud level set by the NASA rocket. Unfortunately that is not the story. Not really.

The story is that they used a scramjet and they achieved orbital velocity. Here is apicture of the engine designs. "The test, conducted off the southern California coast, marked the first time that a 'scramjet,' or supersonic-combustion ramjet, has powered a vehicle at such high speed. "

The reason it is so cool is that the jet used oxygen available in the atmosphere as an oxidizer for hydrogen fuel. By using oxygen available in the atmosphere, the weights of craft seeking to escape the bonds of earth can be dramatically reduced. Currently the space shuttle is approximately 2/3s oxidizer by weight. All this weight can be eliminated for a ramjet thereby significantly reducing the cost to send things into space.
the shuttle requires acceleration at around Mach 25 to escape earth.

Ramjets operate by using their own velocity to force air into thier "engines". The real problem with all Ramjets is the basic PV=nRT problem of seriously increased temperatures as the pressure of the incoming increases. Former ramjet aircaft, like the Blackbird only achieved Mach 2.5 or so.

Not true anymore...

The unpiloted X-43A made an 11-second powered flight Saturday and then went through some twists and turns during a six-minute glide before it plunged into the ocean.

"It was fun all the way to Mach 7," said Joel Sitz, project manager at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. "Today we were successful at separating not only the launch vehicle from the research vehicle, but the real from the imagined."

"Flight engineer Lawrence Huebner said preliminary data indicated the X-43A reached a maximum speed of "slightly over Mach 7," or about 5,000 mph. It had been boosted to about 3,500 mph by a rocket, but he said no "air-breathing" jets had ever before reached Mach 7, seven times the speed of sound."

And here is the description of the flight itself...

"The 12-foot, 2,800-pound X-43A was mounted on a Pegasus rocket booster, which was attached under the right wing of a B-52 bomber that took off from Edwards Air Force Base in the high desert.

A minute before 2 p.m., the craft was dropped from 40,000 feet. A few seconds later, the rocket flared, boosting the jet skyward on a streak of flame and light. At about 100,000 feet, the rocket was dropped away.

The scramjet then took over, using up about two pounds of gaseous hydrogen fuel before it glided and then plunged into the Pacific Ocean about 400 miles off the California coast.

The vehicle's performance prompted a round of applause at the Dryden control center."

Only 2 pounds of fuel... too cool.

For more information NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/

More on Kerry Surgery "Wade said the Massachusetts senator's shoulder didn't bother him when he was skiing and snowboarding last week during an Idaho vacation. Kerry felt pain when he picked up a baby while greeting voters recently, Wade said."

Ok, so the shoulder is not a problem for a long ski weekend, but it hurts him to much to press that aye button when it comes to funding the troops.

Kerry to go in for minor medical procedure...: "Kerry's spokesman David Wade said the Massachusetts senator tore the subscapularis, a muscle beneath the scapula in his right shoulder, when he braced himself during an abrupt stop on his Iowa campaign bus several weeks ago.

After the surgery, Kerry will use a sling for roughly a week, said campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. She said Kerry will return to work Thursday for administrative business and resume a public schedule next Sunday."

This should get him out of even more Senate votes.

Just on an aside. Celebrities sometimes use this gambit for other hidden cosmetic procedures at the same time.

Keep an eye on that face!

Seventh Circuit Upholds Discovery Denial in PBA Case

Form the prospectus of the case:
"The government appeals from an order by the district court quashing a subpoena commanding Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago to produce the medical records of certain patients on whom Dr. Cassing Hammond had performed late-term abortions at the hospital using the controversial method known variously as “D & X” (dilation and extraction) and “intact D & E” (dilation and evacuation). We accelerated briefing and argument, and now accelerate our decision, in view of the pressures of time discussed
later in the opinion."

Posner and Williams held for Northwestern, while Judge Manion dissented.

It s possible this might get a quick run up the ladder.....

More on Meija: "A soldier from North Miami who extended a brief leave into a five-month absence from the war in Iraq is a deserter who will face court-martial, the U.S. Army charges."

"If convicted, the maximum sentence Mejia could face: a year in confinement and a bad conduct discharge.

''The next step is for a military judge to docket the case,'' Kent said. ``Because they are so busy, it's hard to predict when the case will go to trial.''



Meija will very soon become the darling of the Press...

The Faculty and Areas of Specialization, West Chester University, PA, English Dept.: "Charles Bauerlein, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University Discourse on fields of eschatology; baseball history; popular music; the history of jazz; ethical issues in journalism."

I am not sure why I am posting this....

Tourney Weekend...

These are usually the best four games of the tourney this weekend.

The good news is tha all 4 of my final four teams are still alive: Georgia tech, Duke, UConn and Ok St.

The bad news is that of the final 8 those are the only 4 teams i have still alive.

Still though if I go 4 for 4 I should rise to the top in my pools....

If you loved me, you would buy me this...: "Pitfall' was one of the great games of the early computer age.

Released on the Atari 2600 in 1982, the crudely rendered, two-dimensional adventure let players control a figure named Pitfall Harry. The object was to swing along vines, avoid being eaten by pixillated crocodiles, vault over rolling logs, and climb stubby ladders to explore caves that looked more like sewer pipe conduits.
Activision has now released the latest game in the franchise -- 'Pitfall: The Lost Expedition' for Xbox (news - web sites), GameCube and PlayStation 2 (news - web sites). What a difference 22 years makes"

As someone who actually completed the first Pitfall game way back in 83, and took the picture, and sent in the picture and got a wicked cool Atari jacket for my trouble, i will be completing this game forthwith.

By the way, anything that says Atari on it is very popular in Kenya.

Atari means danger in Swahili.

Yahoo! Jacques Verges Says He Will Defend Saddam: " The French lawyer known for defending Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and guerrilla Carlos the Jackal said Saturday that Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s nephew had chosen him to represent the deposed Iraqi president. "

Initial reports are that he willl "Plan B" the prosecution and put all of the blame on George W. Bush.

His main witnesses will be Al Gore, the New York Times Editorial Board, and Howard Dean.

Playing Politics with the nations blood supply. :

Two student senators at Western Oregon University are trying to ban student-sponsored blood drives on the school’s campus because they say questions associated with the donor screening process are discriminatory against gays.

They have an issue with the disqualifying question “Are you a male who has had sex with another male since 1977, even once?”

"By continuing to allow the Red Cross on our campus, the university is telling all the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students that we don't care about you,"said Bates."

Unless of course they happen TO NEED BLOOD AT ANY TIME IN THE FUTURE!!!!!

This is especially incredible considering that there is a rise of HIV infection among college males.: "'Twenty years into the... HIV epidemic and we're seeing a re-emergence of HIV in a young male population -- that's disturbing,' Leone said. 'It's our best and brightest who are getting infected -- it will be felt for the next five, 10, 15 years.'
The increase was first noticed in late 2002, and officials now believe it began in mid-2001 and is still continuing. They worry that unwitting infected students will spread the virus across the country when they return to their hometowns during class breaks or after graduation."

Is there anything, anything at all, that trumps minor inequalities for the homosexual community. If the nation's blood supply is o.k. to play politics with then I don't think anything is off limits.

The bonus is that technology may obviate this question, and several others, altogether. There is a new HIV test that gives results in 20 minutes : "The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new oral test to detect the AIDS virus that is highly accurate and gives the results in 20 minutes without using a needle. "

I have given blood many times. But recently I have been prevented from doing so due to a recent trip to India. I will be able to donate again in a couple of months. In the process many questions, some involving Constitutionally protected activity, are asked that can disqualify people for any number of reasons. That process takes over 20 minutes (taking temperature, adn test iron levels etc.) and so a simple HIV test would be fantastic.

But it never ever once crossed my mind that they should shut down the sytem to accomodate those who could not donate.

WAPO Confirms that Clarke May Have Exaggerated in His Testimony: "But Clarke, who was counterterrorism director for both Clinton and Bush, has been much more critical of Bush. In testimony this week, he said al Qaeda and terrorism 'were an extraordinarily high priority' and there was 'certainly no higher a priority' under Clinton. On the other hand, he said, 'the Bush administration in the first eight months considered terrorism an important issue but not an urgent issue.'
In fact, Clarke was constantly agitating for a more aggressive response to terrorism from the Clinton administration, including more significant bombing of al Qaeda and Taliban targets. The commission staff described him as 'controversial' and 'abrasive' and included an observation that several Clinton colleagues wanted him fired.
'He was despised under Clinton,' said Ivo H. Daalder, who worked under Clarke in the Clinton National Security Council on issues other than terrorism. James M. Lindsay, who also worked under Clarke, concurred that people 'thought he was exaggerating the threat' and said he 'always wanted to do more' than higher-ups approved. "

the worst thing about the whole Clarke saga is that people who are critical of government processes and who know how to fix them need to be heard.

If Clarke did not decide that his message had to be "Clinton was great, Bush sucked." And instead was both Presidents underperformed then we may have gotten somewhere.

Shrimp Farming in Indiana..the wave of the future...: "By 2020, the four most popular seafoods "shrimp, salmon, tilapia and catfish " will likely come from the aquaculture industry, Johnson said.
Shrimp farmers such as Don Schumann are part of the reason. Faced with declining profits, Schumann converted his Vero Beach citrus grove to a shrimp farm in 1998. That change came after researchers in the early 1990s found that shrimp can be acclimated from saltwater to fresh water.

Farms for freshwater shrimp and prawns are now run across the country, particularly in warmer Midwestern and Southern states. "

I have actually seen several large prawn farms in Indiana, where former soybean fileds were convereted into large prawn beds.

It is pretty interesting.

I wonder if there is a significant taste difference like there is in farm raised vs. wild salmon.

By the way if you are considering buying salmon of any type, I highly suggest this sitre: Jerry's Meats and Seafoods: Smoked Alaska Salmon shipped right to your door!

Possibly the best smoked salmon I have ever had.

Daschle says screw the Constitution! I am in charge! : "Senate Democrats on Friday threatened to stop all of President Bush's judicial nominees until the White House agrees not to appoint any more judges while Congress is out of town.
Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said Democrats had decided to block all judicial nominees on the Senate floor until ``the White House gives us the assurance that they will no longer abuse the process.''"

Yeah that's a real good plan.

Forget your Constitutional mandate Daschle to advise and consent.

hey why we are it, let's forget the whole of Article 2.

It is just so much pablum anyway.

If he does that then the Republicans will have no choice but to go nuclear and change the rules for nominees to allow only a majority vote for confirmation.

Then all of the Bush appointeees will be nominated.

This is an extreme sign of weakness.

If he really believed that Kerry will win then this is completely unecessary as the recess appointed Judges will simply fade into the sunset.

i think this has not a little to do with a certain Seventh Circuit female nominee that the Democrats do not want to fillibuster.

But I thought it was Bush himself who did this?!?!: "We'd like to know how Clarke squares his contention that he was the only one in the Bush administration truly committed to thwarting terrorism before the Sept. 11 attacks with this: It was Clarke who personally authorized the evacuation by private plane of dozens of Saudi citizens, including many members of Osama bin Laden's own family, in the days immediately following Sept. 11. "

SignOnSanDiego.com > News >Jimmy Carter Calls for Political Elimination of Ralph Nader.

"Carter said he had advice for independent candidate Ralph Nader, who polls show is pulling votes from Kerry and giving Bush an edge.
'Don't risk costing the Democrats the White House this year as you did four years ago,' Carter said. 'I hope everyone here tonight will do your best to make sure Ralph Nader gets zero votes this year.' "

Wow.

Man do these guys hate Nader. Winnning is the only thing that is important to these guys, and that might come back to haunt them.

I pledge my allegiance to the Blog....


The NEw York Times has a nice recount of some of the arguments from the court yesterday.

Here are some of the more telling questions. Let's play guess the Justice!

1. "Do you think that the pledge has the same meaning today as when it was enacted - when the words, under God, were inserted into the prayer, into the pledge? "

A sort of "living pledge" analysis. A real "so where's your God now Moses?" question. Has to be Justice Stevens. I would have answered "Obviously not Justice Stevens, God died the day you were confirmed to the Court."

2. "Well, why not have it like oath or affirmation? That is, give people a choice, don't say it's got to be all one way or all the other, but say children who want to say under God can say it and children who don't, don't have to say it. "

Mmmm. That's an interesting question. It is at the same completely uninformed and at the same time searching for a fake way to protect "the children" over other considerations.

Must be Justice Ginsburg.

It must be nice to be a Supreme Court Justice and not feel the need to read any of the briefs.

3. "So do you think God is so generic in this context that it could be that inclusive? ... And if it is, then does your objection disappear? "

Ah, searching for a middle ground that does not exist. I wonder if you can get a generic God at Walmart and if so, would it have been made in China. A white can on the shelf with just the word God(tm) on it.

That must be Breyer. Who knows where he is coming from in these cases.

4. "What do you make of the argument that in actual practice the affirmation in the midst of this civic exercise as a religious affirmation is so tepid, so diluted then so far, let's say, from a compulsory prayer that in fact it should be, in effect, beneath the constitutional radar."

Ahhh the practical argument. Civic exercises and logical discussions. Definitely Souter territory. The souless moderation on the Court. I do like the guy though. Frustratingly smart and entertaining to watch.

5"So it's not perfect, it's not perfect, but it serves a purpose of unification at the price of offending a small number of people like you. So tell me from ground one why -- why the country cannot do that? "

Ahh, the ultimate softball question. A question that on its face appears Conservative but is ultimately very liberal. Must be Breyer! Breyer is with Newdow on this case and this question shows it.

Newdow completely screwed up this answer by the way. He should have referenced the plethora of cases where it is the Constitution that prevents a majority from pushing it's views on the minority.

Read the whole thing.

I think Newdow looks to have done fairly well.

I just hope that they don't go Spielburg on the Declaration and Gettysburg address and remove all references to God in those.

Too early for the Clarke effect...: "The latest Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll shows Senator John F. Kerry at 47%, President George W. Bush at 44%, and 'some other candidate' at 4%."

I think this is more likely a response to gas prices. OPEC has sort of announced a pro-Kerry position and it does not shock me at this point that they have decided not to increase production.

Higher gas prices are a massive drain on the economy. Eventhough we will two consecutive quarters with growth rates above 4%, that type of growth is needed if inflationary pressures of higher gas costs.

What is really disgusting is when Ted Kennedy chides Bush for the prices.: " Mr. Kennedy and other committee Democrats said they were outraged that the administration is not doing everything in its power to alleviate the strain on drivers, consumers and businesses."

Great Ted. Of course you want to impose a gasoline tax which would have the exact same effect. Nice.

Both parties have their own starve the beast proposals. Teh Republicans want to starve the government beast (purportedly) to reduce the size of the government and the Democrats want to starve the gasoline beast so that we will all return to riding horses. Or something like that.

Speaking of Ted Kennedy, I caught about 5 to 10 minutes of yet another special on the Kennedy's the other night. The special was focused on the next generation of Kennedy kids and their various successes and drug and alcohol relateed failures.

Two greatest moments in the special:

For no reason whatsoever they included a segment on Chappequiddick. The special had nothing to do with Ted but they included it anyway. Nice. Mary Jo Kopeckne, God Bless Her Soul, should be on currency.

When the interviewer mentioned to Bobby Jr, or Teddy Jr or one of em that the most successful thrid generation Kennedy was Arnold Schwarzenegger, ("Ha ha!") the Kennedy said, "Well we shall see if he can get his policies enacted." What a jerk. Nice brotherly love there buddy.

By the way if any network exec's happen to stumble across this lowly blog I would just like to add:

"CLIP SHOWS SUCK! Under God!"

CBC Bomb found buried under train tracks near Paris: "Bomb experts neutralized an explosive device found half-buried under a train line east of Paris Wednesday.
The bomb was found buried underneath train tracks in the village of Montieramey, on a railway line heading from Paris to Basel, Switzerland. "

The bomb does not appear to be islamo-fascist terrorism related but instead some sort of blackmail scheme.

We will see...

More Entertainers Who Give..
Of these varied entertainers, frome Madonna, the Babs Streisand to Nancy Sinatra to Wayne Newton, none of them seem to like kerry.

Seinfeld gave to Kerry, but changed his mind to Wesley Clark...

Except for unknown actor Andy MAdadian.

Here's another big list of actors.

Hey we found a Republican, sort of, Elmore Tom gave to McCain.

Did Condi Rice Know about Al-Qaeda before 2000?

Well lets compare how many times she mentioned it prior to inaugeration.

In the foreign Affairs article she does not mention them by name.

Update: John Kerry Really Bad in the Sack What about Michelle Phillips? She was another former paramour of John Kerry

Nope. She gave to Howard Dean too. She also gave to Barbara Boxer and Linda Sanchez.

And Patti Davis? Nohing.

Catherine Oxenberg? Nope. Her neither.

Nor Emma Gilbey, although in her defense I think she is British.

What about Roanne Sragow ? She appears to have dated him for the longest time. But she did not give anything. Except for Chester Greenough Atkins whoever that is.

Well dollars speak to truth. Not one of his former girlfriends has supported John Kerry.

He is either unfit to be President by those who know him best, or he is horrible in the sack.

JOHN KERRY: BAD IN THE SACK! So we know that John Kerry dated Morgan Fairchild in the past, so who did Morgan Fairchild support in the Democratic Primaries?

Well anybody but Kerry.

Dick Gephardt, John Edwards and Howard Dean all recieved money from the aging starlet.

But no money for John Kerry.

Somebody has got to interview this woman!

Does this mean Mike Myers is no longer Canadian? If he gives $2000 to Wesley Clark then does that mean he has renounced Canada?

Do the Canadians know this?

International News Article | Reuters.com: "About 1,000 Taiwan protesters contesting President Chen Shui-bian's election victory after a mysterious assassination bid and the discovery of many spoiled ballots vowed Monday to stay at his palace until a recount.
The protesters, facing ranks of helmeted police in full riot gear lined up in front of the presidential palace, showed no signs of dispersing, ignoring a police deadline that expired late Sunday as well as government appeals to leave. "

Boston.com / News / World / Conservative Takes Early Lead In Salvador Election: "Amid fears of mob violence and fraud, millions of Salvadorans turned out to vote yesterday in the hardest fought presidential elections since the end of the country's gruesome, 12-year civil war.
The contest, which pitted a former leftist guerrilla commander, 73-year-old Schafik Handal, against a sportscaster turned businessman, Elias Tony Saca, 39, showed the degree to which El Salvador remains polarized 12 years after the signing of the peace accords.
At 7:15 last night, with only 10 percent of the votes counted, Saca was leading with 57 percent, and Handal had 35 percent. Minutes later Saca declared victory, but Handal party officials were so far refusing to comment."

French Voters in Provinces Turn Sour on Chirac: " the first nationwide election since conservatives swept to power here two years ago, French voters on Sunday expressed dissatisfaction with President Jacques Chirac's center-right government by showing strong support for the opposition Socialist Party and endorsing the far rightist National Front as a vocal minority party."

International News Article | Reuters.com: "Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was due to be sworn in for a new term on Monday with recounts in several constituencies determining whether he had made a clean sweep of the Islamist opposition.
Abdullahs' multi-ethnic coalition extended its two-thirds control of the national parliament that allows it to pass laws uncontested, taking about 90 percent of seats, and won at least 12 of Malaysia's 13 states in an unexpectedly strong showing. "

Final Baseball List

Well we did our baseball draft today.

I am not sure how I did.

But here is the list I was working off of:

1 Rodriguez, Alex (SS)
2 Garciaparra, Nomar (SS)
3 Renteria, Edgar (SS)
4 Tejada, Miguel (SS)
5 Furcal, Rafael (SS)
6 Jeter, Derek (SS)
7 Cintron, Alex (SS)
8 Matsui, Kazuo (SS)
9 Berroa, Angel (SS)
10 Reyes, JoseDL (SS)
11 Cabrera, Orlando (SS)
12 Vizquel, OmarDL (SS)
13 Rollins, Jimmy (SS)
14 Uribe, Juan (SS)
15 Guzman, Cristian (SS)
16 Aurilia, Rich (SS)
17 Lugo, Julio (SS)
18 Valentin, Jose (SS)
19 Woodward, Chris (SS)
20 Everett, Adam (SS)


1 Prior, Mark (SP)
2 Schmidt, Jason (SP)
3 Halladay, Roy (SP)
4 Vazquez, Javier (SP)
5 Martinez, Pedro (SP)
6 Wood, Kerry (SP)
7 Santana, Johan (SP)
8 Mussina, Mike (SP)
9 Schilling, Curt (SP)
10 Pettitte, Andy (SP)
11 Oswalt, Roy (SP)
12 Brown, Kevin (SP)
13 Hudson, Tim (SP)
14 Beckett, Josh (SP)
15 Zito, Barry (SP)
16 Mulder, MarkDL (SP)
17 Colon, Bartolo (SP)
18 Morris, Matt (SP)
19 Millwood, Kevin (SP)
20 Moyer, Jamie (SP)
21 Miller, Wade (SP)
22 Ortiz, Russ (SP)
23 Johnson, Randy (SP)
24 Lima, Jose (SP)
25 Loaiza, Esteban (SP)
26 Nomo, Hideo (SP)
27 Contreras, Jose (SP)
28 Hampton, Mike (SP)
29 Hernandez, Livan (SP)
30 Milton, Eric (SP)
31 Willis, Dontrelle (SP)
32 Williams, Woody (SP)
33 Buehrle, Mark (SP)
34 Wolf, Randy (SP)
35 Padilla, Vicente (SP)
36 Pineiro, Joel (SP)
37 Maddux, Greg (SP)
38 Lowe, Derek (SP)
39 Meche, Gil (SP)
40 Harden, Rich (SP)
41 Ortiz, Ramon (SP)
42 Sabathia, C.C. (SP)
43 Leiter, Al (SP)
44 Williams, Jerome (SP)
45 Zambrano, Carlos (SP)
46 Penny, Brad (SP)
47 Escobar, Kelvim (SP)
48 Radke, Brad (SP)
49 Clement, Matt (SP)
50 Anderson, Brian (SP)
51 Lohse, Kyle (SP)
52 Garcia, Freddy (SP)
53 Lee, Cliff (SP)
54 Chacon, ShawnDL (SP)
55 Myers, Brett (SP)
56 Clemens, Roger (SP)
57 Webb, Brandon (SP)
58 Redman, Mark (SP)
59 Eaton, Adam (SP)
60 Peavy, Jake (SP)
61 Wells, Kip (SP)
62 Wakefield, Tim (SP)
63 May, Darrell (SP)
64 Hernandez, RunelvysDL (SP)
65 Shields, Scot (SP)
66 Lawrence, Brian (SP)
67 Ponson, Sidney (SP)
68 Robertson, Jeriome (SP)
69 Trachsel, Steve (SP)
70 Washburn, Jarrod (SP)
71 Perez, Odalis (SP)
72 Ramirez, Horacio (SP)
73 Lilly, Ted (SP)
74 Rueter, Kirk (SP)
75 Suppan, Jeff (SP)
76 Batista, Miguel (SP)
77 Franklin, Ryan (SP)
78 Schoeneweis, Scott (SP)
79 Torres, Salomon (SP)
80 Wilson, Kris (SP)
81 Hitchcock, Sterling (SP)
82 Rogers, Kenny (SP)
83 Wells, David (SP)
84 Zambrano, Victor (SP)
85 Van Poppel Todd (SP)
86 Benoit, Joaquin (SP)
87 Villone, Ron (SP)
88 Dreifort, DarrenDL (SP)
89 Rincon, Juan (SP)
90 Glavine, Tom (SP)
91 Ishii, Kazuhisa (SP)
92 Day, Zach (SP)
93 Linebrink, Scott (SP)
94 Pavano, Carl (SP)
95 Ainsworth, Kurt (SP)
96 Good, AndrewNA (SP)
97 Hermanson, Dustin (SP)
98 Mears, Chris (SP)
99 Fossum, Casey (SP)
100 Hentgen, Pat (SP)
101 Burkett, John (SP)
102 Phelps, Tommy (SP)
103 Simontacchi, Jason (SP)
104 Dickey, R.A. (SP)
105 Seo, Jae Woung (SP)
106 Garland, Jon (SP)
107 Oliver, Darren (SP)
108 Sheets, Ben (SP)
109 Eyre, Scott (SP)
110 Thomson, John (SP)
111 Redding, Tim (SP)
112 Meadows, Brian (SP)
113 Gobble, Jimmy (SP)
114 Burba, Dave (SP)
115 DuBose, Eric (SP)
116 Fogg, Josh (SP)
117 Vargas, Claudio (SP)
118 Harper, Travis (SP)
119 Tomko, Brett (SP)
120 Armas, TonyDL (SP)
121 Tejera, Michael (SP)
122 Ohka, Tomo (SP)
123 Saarloos, Kirk (SP)
124 Reynolds, Shane (SP)
125 Davis, Doug (SP)
126 Gonzalez, Jeremi (SP)
127 Johnson, Jason (SP)
128 Helling, Rick (SP)
129 Bell, Rob (SP)
130 Foppert, JesseDL (SP)
131 Glover, Gary (SP)
132 Davis, Jason (SP)
133 Appier, KevinDL (SP)
134 Asencio, MiguelDL (SP)
135 Harang, Aaron (SP)
136 Adams, Terry (SP)
137 Wilson, Paul (SP)
138 Westbrook, Jake (SP)
139 Stanford, Jason (SP)
140 Sturtze, Tanyon (SP)
141 Walker, Pete (SP)
142 George, ChrisNA (SP)
143 Stephenson, Garrett (SP)
144 Halama, John (SP)
145 Jennings, Jason (SP)
146 Dessens, Elmer (SP)
147 Lackey, John (SP)
148 Kinney, Matt (SP)
149 Tsao, Chin-hui (SP)
150 Tucker, T.J. (SP)
151 Lidle, Cory (SP)
152 Bale, John (SP)
153 Valdes, Ismael (SP)
154 Hendrickson, Mark (SP)
155 Hackman, Luther (SP)
156 Munro, PeteNA (SP)
157 Riedling, John (SP)
158 Moss, Damian (SP)
159 Franklin, Wayne (SP)
160 Mays, Joe (SP)
161 Telemaco, Amaury (SP)
162 D'Amico, Jeff (SP)
163 Marquis, Jason (SP)
164 Mulholland, Terry (SP)
165 Driskill, TravisNA (SP)
166 Traber, Billy (SP)
167 Duckworth, Brandon (SP)
168 Reed, Rick (SP)
169 Benson, KrisDL (SP)
170 Elarton, Scott (SP)
171 Stark, Denny (SP)
172 Lopez, Rodrigo (SP)
173 Sele, Aaron (SP)
174 Abbott, Paul (SP)
175 Sosa, Jorge (SP)
176 Lewis, Colby (SP)
177 Weaver, Jeff (SP)
178 Estes, Shawn (SP)
179 Haren, Danny (SP)
180 Sparks, Steve (SP)
181 Cornejo, Nate (SP)
182 Beimel, Joe (SP)
183 Cruz, NelsonNA (SP)
184 Snyder, KyleDL (SP)
185 Maroth, Mike (SP)
186 Jarvis, Kevin (SP)
187 Graves, Danny (SP)


1 Gagne, Eric (RP)
2 Foulke, Keith (RP)
3 Smoltz, John (RP)
4 Rivera, Mariano (RP)
5 Guardado, Eddie (RP)
6 Mantei, Matt (RP)
7 Wagner, Billy (RP)
8 Dotel, Octavio (RP)
9 Percival, Troy (RP)
10 Isringhausen, Jason (RP)
11 Borowski, Joe (RP)
12 Kolb, Danny (RP)
13 Nen Rob (RP)
14 Releiver Average (RP)
15 Hoffman Trevor (RP)
16 Rhodes, Arthur (RP)
17 Urbina, Ugueth (RP)
18 Biddle, Rocky (RP)
19 Julio, Jorge (RP)
20 Carter, Lance (RP)
21 Looper, Braden (RP)
22 MacDougal, Mike (RP)
23 Williamson, Scott (RP)
24 Nathan, Joe (RP)
25 Benitez, Armando (RP)
26 Mesa, Jose (RP)
27 Valverde, Jose (RP)
28 Ayala, Luis (RP)
29 Hasegawa, Shigetoshi (RP)
30 Marte, Damaso (RP)
31 Gordon, Tom (RP)
32 Baez, Danys (RP)
33 Williams, Mike (RP)
34 Cormier, Rheal (RP)
35 Hawkins, LaTroy (RP)
36 Reitsma, Chris (RP)
37 Leskanic, Curtis (RP)
38 Eldred, Cal (RP)
39 Nelson, Jeff (RP)
40 Rodriguez, Felix (RP)
41 Soriano, Rafael (RP)
42 Towers, Josh (RP)
43 Cordero, Francisco (RP)
44 Kim, Byung-Hyun (RP)
45 Rodriguez, Francisco (RP)
46 Koch, Billy (RP)
47 Riske, David (RP)
48 DeJean, Mike (RP)
49 Randolph, Stephen (RP)
50 Rincon, Ricardo (RP)
51 Lopez, Aquilino (RP)
52 White, Gabe (RP)
53 Sullivan, Scott (RP)
54 Speier, Justin (RP)
55 Tavarez, Julian (RP)
56 Bradford, Chad (RP)
57 Mota, Guillermo (RP)
58 Alvarez, Wilson (RP)
59 Estrella, Leo (RP)
60 Mateo, Julio (RP)
61 Villarreal, Oscar (RP)
62 Donnelly, Brendan (RP)
63 Timlin, Mike (RP)
64 Lyon, Brandon (RP)
65 Embree, Alan (RP)
66 Lopez, Javier (RP)
67 Shuey, Paul (RP)
68 Walker, Jamie (RP)
69 Gryboski, Kevin (RP)
70 Politte, Cliff (RP)
71 Ryan, B.J. (RP)
72 Lidge, Brad (RP)
73 Fox, Chad (RP)
74 Bong, Jung (RP)
75 Weber, Ben (RP)
76 Ligtenberg, Kerry (RP)


1 Beltran, Carlos (OF)
2 Guerrero, Vladimir (OF)
3 Ramirez, Manny (OF)
4 Sheffield, Gary (OF)
5 Bonds, Barry (OF)
6 Wells, Vernon (OF)
7 Berkman, Lance (OF)
8 Giles, Brian (OF)
9 Ordonez, Magglio (OF)
10 Anderson, Garret (OF)
11 Abreu, Bobby (OF)
12 Sosa, Sammy (OF)
13 Wilson, Preston (OF)
14 Stewart, Shannon (OF)
15 Suzuki, Ichiro (OF)
16 Griffey Ken (OF)
17 Lee, Carlos (OF)
18 Jones, Chipper (OF)
19 Conine, Jeff (OF)
20 Hidalgo, Richard (OF)
21 Kearns, Austin (OF)
22 Nixon, Trot (OF)
23 Bradley, Milton (OF)
24 Gonzalez, Luis (OF)
25 Walker, Larry (OF)
26 Gonzalez, Juan (OF)
27 Green, Shawn (OF)
28 Jones, Andruw (OF)
29 Burrell, Pat (OF)
30 Drew, J.D. (OF)
31 Patterson, CoreyDL (OF)
32 Pierre, Juan (OF)
33 Edmonds, Jim (OF)
34 Sanders, Reggie (OF)
35 Matsui, Hideki (OF)
36 Hunter, Torii (OF)
37 Salmon, Tim (OF)
38 Redman, Tike (OF)
39 Alou, Moises (OF)
40 Mora, Melvin (OF)
41 Lofton, Kenny (OF)
42 Lawton, MattDL (OF)
43 Everett, Carl (OF)
44 Damon, Johnny (OF)
45 Floyd, CliffDL (OF)
46 Podsednik, Scott (OF)
47 Payton, Jay (OF)
48 Mondesi, Raul (OF)
49 Williams, Bernie (OF)
50 Baldelli, Rocco (OF)
51 Guillen, Jose (OF)
52 Ibanez, Raul (OF)
53 Guiel, Aaron (OF)
54 Finley, Steve (OF)
55 Encarnacion, Juan (OF)
56 Jenkins, Geoff (OF)
57 Gerut, Jody (OF)
58 Gibbons, Jay (OF)
59 Winn, Randy (OF)
60 Matos, Luis (OF)
61 Young, Dmitri (OF)
62 Crawford, Carl (OF)
63 Burnitz, Jeromy (OF)
64 White, Rondell (OF)
65 Byrnes, Eric (OF)
66 Dunn, Adam (OF)
67 Jones, Jacque (OF)
68 Johnson, Reed (OF)
69 Wilkerson, Brad (OF)
70 Tucker, Michael (OF)
71 Biggio, Craig (OF)
72 Cameron, Mike (OF)
73 Byrd, Marlon (OF)
74 Cruz, Jose (OF)
1 Martinez, Edgar (DH)
2 Phelps, Josh (DH)


1 Lopez, Javy (C )
2 Posada, Jorge (C )
3 Piazza, Mike (C )
4 Lieberthal, Mike (C )
5 LeCroy, Matthew (C )
6 Phillips, Jason (C )
7 Varitek, Jason (C )
8 Rodriguez, Ivan (C )
9 Lo Duca Paul (C )
10 Myers, Greg (C )
11 Pierzynski, A.J. (C )
12 Hall, Toby (C )
13 Hernandez, Ramon (C )
14 Johnson, Charles (C )
15 Kendall, Jason (C )
16 Hammock, Robby (C )
17 Barrett, Michael (C )
18 Santiago, Benito (C )
19 Ross, Dave (C )
20 Molina, BengieDL (C )
21 Wilson, Craig (C )
22 LaRue, Jason (C )


1 Rolen, Scott (3B)
2 Lowell, Mike (3B)
3 Blalock, Hank (3B)
4 Chavez, Eric (3B)
5 Glaus, TroyDL (3B)
6 Hinske, Eric (3B)
7 Mueller, Bill (3B)
8 Teixeira, Mark (3B)
9 Crede, Joe (3B)
10 Burroughs, Sean (3B)
11 Randa, Joe (3B)
12 Koskie, Corey (3B)
13 Hillenbrand, Shea (3B)
14 Ensberg, Morgan (3B)
15 Ramirez, Aramis (3B)
16 Beltre, Adrian (3B)
17 Alfonzo, Edgardo (3B)
18 Guillen, Carlos (3B)
19 Spiezio, Scott (3B)
20 Stynes, Chris (3B)
21 Batista, Tony (3B)
22 Cabrera, Miguel (3B)
23 Castilla, Vinny (3B)
24 Blake, Casey (3B)
25 Wigginton, Ty (3B)
26 Bordick, Mike (3B)
27 Munson, EricDL (3B)
28 Helms, Wes (3B)
29 Counsell, Craig (3B)

1A Soriano, Alfonso (2B)
1 Boone, Bret (2B)
2 Polanco, Placido (2B)
3 Giles, Marcus (2B)
4 Kent, Jeff (2B)
5 Castillo, Luis (2B)
6 Walker, Todd (2B)
7 Vidro, Jose (2B)
8 Young, Michael (2B)
9 Durham, Ray (2B)
10 Alomar, Roberto (2B)
11 Spivey, Junior (2B)
12 Belliard, Ronnie (2B)
13 Roberts, Brian (2B)
14 Loretta, Mark (2B)
15 Catalanotto, Frank (2B)
16 Young, Eric (2B)
17 Vina, Fernando (2B)
18 Jimenez, D'Angelo (2B)
19 Grudzielanek, Mark (2B)
20 Hairston Jerry (2B)
21 Relaford, Desi (2B)
22 Anderson, Marlon (2B)
23 Kata, Matt (2B)
24 Kennedy, Adam (2B)
25 Hart, Bo (2B)
26 Ellis, Mark (2B)
27 Rivas, Luis (2B)


1 Pujols, Albert (1B)
2 Helton, Todd (1B)
3 Thome, Jim (1B)
4 Delgado, Carlos (1B)
5 Sexson, Richie (1B)
6 Huff, Aubrey (1B)
7 Lee, Derrek (1B)
8 Ortiz, David (1B)
9 Bagwell, Jeff (1B)
10 Palmeiro, Rafael (1B)
11 Thomas, Frank (1B)
12 Giambi, Jason (1B)
13 Sweeney, Mike (1B)
14 Johnson, Nick (1B)
15 Casey, Sean (1B)
16 Millar, Kevin (1B)
17 Fullmer, BradDL (1B)
18 Conine, Jeff (1B)
19 Fick, Robert (1B)
20 Durazo, Erubiel (1B)
21 Nevin, Phil (1B)
22 Mientkiewicz, Doug (1B)
23 Lee, Travis (1B)
24 Olerud, John (1B)
25 Simon, Randall (1B)
26 Klesko, RyanDL (1B)
27 McGriff, Fred (1B)
28 Konerko, Paul (1B)

The most feel good news of the year! Is the most depressing sentence uttered in about a decade for Braves fans: "He rattled them off in mere seconds: Ortiz, Hampton, Horacio Ramirez, John Thomson, Paul Byrd when he gets healthy and, tentatively, Jaret Wright in the current lead for the No. 5 spot over Bubba Nelson and Andy Pratt. Way to go, Tom."

What does that mean, and why is it emotioanally charged? Why that is the starting rotation for the vaunted Braves. Ortiz and Hampton are workmanlike but realy #3's, and Hampton could be really really bad. Thompson has upside maybe. Byrd is a junkballer if he even plays this year and Wright has issues.

Those Braves, thecould have as many as one 10 game winner this year.

Hah hah ha! Shadenfreunde is a wonderful thing.

(Now join in the tomahawk chop chant..
Your pitching

SUUUU UUUU UU CKS SUUUU UU UU UU UCKS

Ow, my rotator Cuff!

If you were loking to draft Rey Ordonez welll, your problems may be worse than his.....

Hobie, the cat on the Hill, helped pick numbers for the Fantasy Baseball League today. It was quite a detailed process. First each league member had a designated starting position based on the time they joined the league. Then 9 numbers were cut and shuffled in a completely random manner and placed face down on a flat surface, in a straight line but otherwise completely random fashion.

Then the cat came in.




It was the cats job to select the first number drawn, which would go to the first player who joined the leage. Each number to the right of that number would follow.

The cat picked number 4.



Which meant that I ended up selecting fourth.

Stupid cat.

Todays phrase that pays:"When you buy something off of eBay you are essentially saying that you are willing to pay more for this thing then anyone else in the entire world. "

Quick Update on Googling Atrios

He is not in fact foreign as I stated before. I was confused by this post
Eschaton: "You know what, I'm banned by the New York Times too! They STILL refuse to publish my piece on the dangers that British ex-pats pose to our national security..."

Where I thought he was being self referential. Instead he was talking about Andrew Sullivan. To whom he is very mean by the way.

He is most likely from the UniTed Staes but he travelled overseas alot as a youth. Considering theses two posts.
Eschaton: "My wife grew up in a country where they care about such things, so I've been following the whole thing a little bit (including staying up very late one night to watch a match)."

Eschaton: "I really can't believe this stuff. A judge has ordered a father not to speak to his child in Spanish.

..you know, I know the instant response of many Republicans will be 'good. the child should learn English.' As someone who has spent a bit of time being an ex-pat, and witnessing the massive American expat communities in other countries who send their kids to American schools, and never bother to learn the local language despite spending decades there..."

So we have a thirty something college type professor with a wife with an Asian name who is foreign living in Philadelphia who travelled around alot as a child and has at least one graduate degree.

That could be half of the Dean campaign.

IHT has some really bad news

"Officials said Ayman al-Zawahiri, the deputy Al Qaeda leader, might have narrowly escaped from the South Waziristan tribal village."

Don't we have predators with Hellfire missiles surrounding the area to cover this type of possibility.

The Australian reports further

" A LandCruiser at high speed bursting out of a tribal compound in Pakistan's South Waziristan region was just the latest infuriating setback in the US's quest to bring down the top of the al-Qa'ida tree.
The car, followed by two armoured vehicles and a phalanx of heavily armed militants able to wipe out dozens of crack troops sent to blast the terrorists from their nest, is believed to have contained Ayman al-Zawahiri, right-hand man to Osama bin Laden."

Let's hope this is not true.

This seems unworkable at best, and svery crazy at worst.The Ninth Circuit has held that "protesters also have a right to demonstrate where their voices can be heard." In finding that free speech zones must be a close as feasible, the Ninth Circuit may have altered the landscape of the conventions this fall.

Both the Democratic Convention and the Republican Convention had designed speech zones away from the actual convention itself. The Republican Zone was within sight of the Arena while the Democratic Zone was significantly farther off.

Neither of the conventions are occurring within the Ninth Circuit, but because the suit was against the Secret Service, which will be performing the same duty in the fall, it seems that the decision should be easily estopped into force.

By the way if you want to see the uphill battle the FCC Faces in its prosecution

Eschaton has posted a transcript of the Oprah Winfrey show from yeasterday where she states almost verbatim the exact same thing that Howard Stern got fined today for three years ago.

It is uncanny how close the two statements are.

Howard tried to replay the Oprah show today but his censors refused to play her comments. Which is incredible.

The FCC has enough on its plate in fighting the media deregulation issue with congress and dealing with the cell phone frequencies that it should really just drop all of this indecency mularkey.

Otherwise they should go after Oprah. And, I think the Meat Industry learned that when choice 1 is going after Oprah and Choice 2 is anything else, Choice 2 is always the correct answer.

You don't want to rile Oprah up or millions of housewives are going to be denying their husbands, umm, their marital rights so to speak, and from the sounds of the Oprah show those rights are legion, for weeks and months. Keep Oprah happy is really job 1.

I love these old Bartcop Forum Posts... This one from, March of 2002 is wierdly prescient: "Kerry/Edwards in 2004 with Carville running the campaign and Big Dog out there campaining for them as well is the best way to send Smirk packing with his bong and Game Boy in 2004."

Stern Gets His Fine..: "In another decision Thursday, the FCC proposed fining Infinity Broadcasting the maximum $27,500 for a Stern show broadcast July 26, 2001, on WKRK-FM in Detroit. The FCC received a complaint from a Detroit listener about a show that featured discussions about sexual practices and techniques. "

This is quite odd, considering that the same broadcast is sent all over the country, but it makes some sense. Broadcasts are usually gauged by "community standards." In this case the community standard was based on the City of Detroit, where the complaint came through. Which is why Stern did not recieve a much larger fine for all of the stations.

The show recaps are keep by MarksFriggin.com. Ironically, on the offending day, "Howard said that he has won the ''Syndicated Personality of the Year'' award from Radio and Record for the 10th time in a row. He didn't even realize it's been that many times. "

And, guess what, I actually remember listening that day. Not because of the offending material but instead due to the several of the outrageous stories discussed by Artie Lange on his show MAD TV.

Marksfriggin.com has a fairly descriptive discussion of the offending material. I will not relate it here but it invovled the graphic defining of several terms that they had been using on the show, including: a Blumpkin a Balloon knot an Angry Dragon.

He actually declined to define several other terms as he felt that would have been too naughty for radio.

I think this move was fairly lenient by the FCC and this may be the end of it. As you may know, Federal law bars radio stations and over-the-air television channels from airing obscene references to sexual and excretory functions between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children may be tuning in. The rules do not apply to cable and satellite channels or satellite radio.

I also think that alot of this regulation is ridiculous.

Googling Atrios

So who is the Unknown Blogger?

This is from the Philadelphia Enquirer:

"So here's what I can tell you about Atrios. He's a college-educated white man of average height and build. He looks about 30, maybe 35. He lives in Center City Philadelphia with his wife (no kids), and he works in the suburbs. Atrios describes his parents as "idiosyncratic socialists," and smiles. None of this is really surprising, given the smart chunklets of anti-GOP rhetoric that Atrios uploads to his site several times a day.

This is from his blog posts:

His wife has an asian sounding, but not Chinese, name.

He is an immigrant or at least fairly new to this country, possibly British. He has been: "to Cuba and legally."

He is a working professor or teacher as he refers to having to go teach a class.

He used to work in Orange County and now works in Philadelphia. He moved on Monday July 15th.

He attended graduate school at a school known for its Political Correctness tendencies.

In '96 he went to a campaign rally for the Bill Clinton.

On April 27, 2002 he played both guest and host of James Carville, to whom he referred to as the Rajun Cajun. I think he was going to Juliefest 2002 to meet Julie Hiatt Steele, the woman who killed the Kathleen Wiley story with her affadavit, and was later similarly moved upon for her tale. There is a donation entitled "mystery $ 35 from Atrios via Pancho " that seems to be his. And $35.00 would certainly indicate a teacher's pay. You could probably buy this video of the event to see him.

If you watch that video it is entirely possible you will see him drinking martini's and spilling them on himself.

He : "Went to the Dean Meetup in Philadelphia" in March of 2003. He states that is "Was a good turnout with some good energetic folks. Don't know if Dean's 'my guy' - whoever I decide can win will be that. But, Dean's in the running and I think he definitely has a decent chance."

There have been polls on the subject of his identity:but they are inconclusive.

He dislikes Libertarians. He states:
"I've always suspected that Ayn Rand devotees were largely people who were basically losers and blamed the fact that society failed to appreciate their genius because society was messed up...
If only we had a true meritocracy, then people who love and respect me..
or something like that."

He honed his teeth on the Bartcop Forum. It is unclear when he started posting but around March 2001 he bagan posting in earnest.

One of his first posts in that "time period was:: "The problem with these types of stories is that the conservatives are likely to respond that 'well, Chelsea was probably a drunken slut too but the media respected *her* privacy'.

The real issue of this story is not that a Bush daughter may be a drunken slut (good for her if she is), but that my tax dollars are being used to drive her friends home.

I pity her S.S. agents..."

He likes Yes. And purchased Magnification from amazon.co.uk just before the September 11th attacks.

But who is this mystery man, living in an apartment in Central Philly with two cats, commuting to work every morning?

Who knows?

Kerry Gets The Endorsement He was Seeking!

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday said the world might be safer if US President George W Bush loses to John Kerry in November’s US elections.

"The war in Iraq has worsened the terrorism problem," he said.
"I think Kerry would be much more willing to listen to the voices of people and of the rest of the world," Dr. Mahathir said.

Why that is quite nice. I knew Kerry would get the support he claimed. Let's see what else this Foreign Leader has said in the past.:

"'The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.'"

And this:

""For well over half a century we have fought over Palestine. What have we achieved? Nothing. We are worst off than before. If we had paused to think, then we could have devised a plan, a strategy that can win us final victory."

A 'final solution'? That sounds bad for Jewish people around the world. Could a Kerry presidency be a part of that?

Well how about this statement by Dr. Malathir:

"It cannot be that there is no other way. 1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews. There must be a way. And we can only find a way if we stop to think, to assess our weaknesses and our strength, to plan, to strategise and then to counter attack."

Mmm what way could that be? Through the power of ideas? Noooo.

"We are enjoined by our religion to prepare for the defence of the ummah. Unfortunately we stress not defence but the weapons of the time of the Prophet. Those weapons and horses cannot help to defend us any more. We need guns and rockets, bombs and warplanes, tanks and warships for our defence."

Great. That sounds nice and peaceful. Oh and in case you were curious as to the Arabic translation of the word Jew, it is enemy.

"The enemy will probably welcome these proposals and we will conclude that the promoters are working for the enemy. But think. We are up against a people who think. They survived 2000 years of pogroms not by hitting back, but by thinking. They invented and successfully promoted Socialism, Communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so they may enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have now gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power. We cannot fight them through brawn alone. We must use our brains also. "

To the ocean and beyond indeed.

Well now Kerry has the endorsement of a North Korean Dictator and a Muslim extremist. That is quite some campaign he is running.

I can't wait to see what Sadam says under interrogation.

Scalia: Refuse to Recuse

Justice Scalia has smartly refused to recuse himself in this present term, for vaious reasons. Here are the highlights:

"The only possibility is that it would suggest I am a friend of his. But while friendship is a ground for recusal of a Justice where the personal fortune or the personal freedom of the friend is at issue, it has traditionally not been a ground for recusal where official action is at issue, no matter how important the official action was to the ambitions or the reputation of the Government officer."

That is, this action will not break the legs nor the bank of Cheney, no matter what the outcome. why is that? Because the suit is against the office of the Vice President, not Cheney in his own stead. Scalia explains:

"That an officer is named has traditionally made no difference to the proposition that friend-ship is not considered to affect impartiality in official-action suits. Regardless of whom they name, such suits, when the officer is the plaintiff, seek relief not for him personally but for the Government; and, when the officer is the defendant, seek relief not against him personally, but against the Government. That is why federal law provides for automatic substitution of the new officer when the originally named officer has been replaced. See Fed-eral Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d)(1); Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 43(c)(2); this Court’s Rule 35.3."

And:

"Nothing this Court says on those subjects will have any bearing upon the reputation and integrity of Richard Cheney. Moreover, even if this Court affirms the decision below and allows discovery to proceed in the District Court, the issue that would ultimately present itself still would have no bearing upon the reputa-tion and integrity of Richard Cheney."

And finally, Scalia mayhaps says too much:

"To be sure, there could be political consequences from disclosure of the fact (if it be so) that the Vice President favored business interests, and especially a sector of business with which he was formerly connected. But political consequences are not my concern, and the possibility of them does not convert an official suit into a private one. That possibility exists to a greater or lesser degree in virtually all suits involving agency action."

Which immediately brings to mind Bush v. Gore. Scalia has already said that he and Cheney have been friends since the mid 1970's. So clearly he was friends with him 200 when he ruled in a case that gave him the Vice Presidency. I think that at this point he is addressing those who impugned his integrity in that case.

He continues:

"To expect judges to take account of political consequences—and to assess the high or low degree of them—is to ask judges to do precisely what they should not do. It seems to me quite wrong (and quite impossible) to make recusal depend upon what degree of political damage a particular case can be expected to inflict."

In other words, if I didn't recuse myself in Bush v. Gore, then there is no way I am recusing myself here.

And then this is the best part:

"The question, simply put, is whether someone who thought I could decide this case impartially despite my friendship with the Vice President would reasonably believe that I cannot decide it impartially because I went hunting with that friend and accepted an invitation to fly there with him on a Government plane. If it is reasonable to think that a Supreme Court Justice can be bought so cheap, the Nation is in deeper trouble than I had imagined."

As Scalia poitns out, recusal is a serious business, not to be taken lightly and by responding in this manner he has has shown that fact in spades.

The first hint was that she spelled Nietzsche correctly.
the second was that she used the name at all in the phrase "Nietzsche direct us to kill the Jews".It turns out the that the main suspect in a anti-semitic vandalism case at the Claremont Colleges is the professor herself.

"Kerri F. Dunn's car was vandalized and covered with racist, anti-Semitic and sexist epithets on March 9, leading faculty to cancel classes and students to stage rallies the following day."

Oops, as it happens, "two witnesses interviewed by police investigators allegedly saw Dunn, a visiting professor of psychology at Claremont McKenna College, commit the vandalism, police said in a statement. " Maybe she is just a self hating Jew. Although with a name like Kerri Dunn, I am not so sure.

Or maybe this was just an experiment in reverse pschology. I wasted an entire semster at school when I enrolled in both psychology and reverse psychology. I got an A in both classes but learned nothing in the sum total.

Well I am right on the money so far shockingly. i picked the one upset right and so far have gotten the other games right.

Now for the late games:
"16 TX San Antonio v. Stanford, 15 Vermont vs. 2 Connecticut, 10 Dayton vs. 7 DePaul, 16 Alabama St. vs.1 Duke, 14 Princeton vs. 3 Texas , 9 Arizona vs. 8 Seton Hall, 11 Air Force vs.
6 North Carolina"

Ok for the upsets here, I Like Arizona and Dayton.
For the losers that cover the spread, i like Air Force and Princeton.
For the Winners that Cover I like Stanford, UConn and Duke.

Will the undefeated streak continue?

Not bloody likely.

Toomey drawing closer: "In a survey of 399 across the state who say they are certain to vote, 47 percent said if the primary were held now, they'd vote for Senator Specter and 38 percent for Congressman Toomey. Fifteen percent are undecided. "

This will be a difficult test no matter who wins the primary. If Specter is not re-elected and the Republicans keep the Senate, I think Kyl would take over for Hatch as Senate Judiciary Chairman. (Assuming Grassley stays on at Finance) But I need to check on that.

So Who Is Ayman Al-Zawahiri?

CNN has confirmed that among the 200 extrememly well trained, well equipped and fortified fighters in the SW Pakistan area is Ayman Al-Zawahiri. It is the dead of night there now. And they are doing their best to prevent an escape as opposed to getting him now.

Air strikes start tomorrow.

So who is he?

Well if you take his picture:

And remove the head dress.

And the beard.

And the glasses.

And add a suit.




Freaky.

Microsoft still refusing to unbundle. "The European Commission claims it is striking a blow on behalf of consumers by forcing Microsoft to unbundle its media player from its Windows software. But Microsoft has blamed a concerted effort by rivals to undermine a product package that it says consumers like."

Microsoft is so stupid. All they would have to do is include a link in their installation package of an audio or video file that would ask users if they would like to use WinMedia to play it.

Most would and that would take care of many many users.

Next they would include it as a feature in all msn subscribers.

Next they could invite users to install WinMed with all Windows Software Upgrades.

This would fill the market quite nicely and for much cheaper than all this litigation.

i don't know why they are so obstinate over this one software package. There are so many different types of media files out there, and there always will be, you those creative types, that they should aim at staying with the game at this point instead of trying to buy the game.

Surrounded Al Qaeda leader may be Zawahri "A senior government official in Islamabad told Reuters that Zawahri, bin Laden's right-hand man among the Islamist al Qaeda network, may indeed be surrounded. "

Let's see if they get him. Dean makes the incredible claim that Bush himself let Bin Laden free at Tora Bora. Of course he will say anything. It is unclear now if any U.S. Special Forces are invovled, no word on that anyway. But the first direct attack by Pakistani Troops was rebuffed, and it is possible that U.S. special Forces joined the batle. There is a 25 million reward on the head of the leader of Egyptian Fundamentalist Jihad.

One note, several news sources have reported that their network reporters are going to be going to the border area in SW Pakistan. Brave guys. Crazy guys, but brave guys.

Drop Chavez a few Spots...
"Three-time Gold Glove winner Eric Chavez (news) has signed a six-year contract extension with the Oakland Athletics (news), the major league team said on Thursday. Media reports said the deal is worth $66 million, a record for the A's franchise."

This is bad news because Chavez, 26, would have been in the final year of a four-year contract this season, and would have become a free agent if Oakland had not secured his future. Which translates to career year.

Now, he has a cush ride and no need to try.

With Pujols and Arod at 3rd base, he was 3rd best at most anyway. Now I might consider Rolen before him.

So who is Al Qaeda Protecting in South Pakistan?

"Pakistani troops and paramilitary forces using artillery and helicopter gunships launched a new assault today against al-Qaida and Taliban suspects in a tribal region near Afghanistan, two days after a fierce assault that left dozens dead.
In a report from Islamabad, CNN said Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf told them Pakistani forces had surrounded a 'high-value target' that was being protected by al-Qaida fighters. CNN said the identity of the target was not known. "

This is simply by deduction considering the level of defense brought to bear by the resistance fighters. "Some 39 people -- including 15 troops and 26 militants, died in the raid on Tuesday, the military said today in a statement. Eighteen other suspects were captured. "

The Hollywood Left

"Actor George Clooney purchased the stunning 18th century mansion located in the Italian village of Laglio [50 miles north of Milan] from Kerry and his wife for $7,800,000. Clooney first learned about the listing from Brad Pitt, who had been holidaying with his wife Jennifer Aniston at Versace's compound nearby."

So what or who's house is the subject of this tale of decrepit Hollywood incestuous excess?

Why its Jean le Kerry! he and his wife sold this house on the eve of Kerry's election run.

Has his entire campaign been financed on John Heinz's estate?

Ugh.

Democratic Members of Congress Not endorsing Kerry

" Moore would not say whether he would formally endorse Sen. John Kerry, of Massachusetts, who has wrapped up the Democratic presidential nomination, and why Moore will keep his own re-election campaign distanced from Kerry's efforts in Kansas."

MARCH MADNESS HAS ARRIVED!:

I hope all of your pools are filled out. I am in 3 for no money because I flat out am the worst sports bettor in the history of the world. I am a mush. I will kill your action. Also I think gambling is an inherently destructive and addicting activity that serves no social good other than to put money in the pockets of organized crime and stumbling beuraucrats. Go out and buy a set of paints and a few canvases instead.

So with those happp ythoughts here are mythoughts on the early games: 12 Manhattan vs. 5 Florida & 9 Charlotte vs. 8 Texas Tech & 13 UTEP vs. 4 Maryland. .

I like Manhattan to open the tourney with a win and Texas Tech to hold nicely, Maryland should just squeak by. In terms of spreads, I would take Tech to cover, but Maryland will not.

For the next set of games: 13 VCU vs. 4 Wake Forest & 16 Liberty vs. 1 St. Joseph's & 9 Southern Ill. vs.8 Alabama & 12 BYU vs 5 Syracuse..

I like all of the favorites to win. Wake will cover, St. Joe's will not, Alabam should not and Syracuse should.

Remeber once again I am a monster mush.

Good luck.

For the entire tournament my final four is Duke, UCONN, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State. I like Georgia Tech to beat UConn in the final.

Another great post at the The Blue Shirt Intelligentsia about how Dodger fans have unknowingly entered "Clipperland".

Unfortunately it is true. Man are the Dodgers bad this year.
One thing he forgets though in his comparison with the Clippers.

As to point "# 2) You find yourself celebrating distractions and ignoring the important:

Nothing was more revealing of the Clippers' perpetual defeatist mentality than how they are and were marketed"

he neglects to mention the huslteboard. Nothing was more indicative of the Clippers failure at the L.A. Sports Arena than the installation of the Hustle Board. After watching themselves fail night after night to manage to outscore the opponents on the "score board" the management installed and prominently displayed an equally sized "hustle Board" that would total an odd assortment of different statistical categories that somehow equated to hustle, but in no way impacted the actual score.

In the Clippers defense they did actually win on the "Hustle board" fairly often. And because of that you could leave the sports Arena, always quickly and without making eye contact with anyone on the street of course, with a little less depression than you would otherwise have felt.

Now the Clippers never Hustle Boarded their way to a playoff berth mind you but they did hustle their way into my heart. Well maybe not my heart, but at least my spleen before I had it surgically removed.

Interesting story from Reuters: "BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier was killed and seven were wounded in a mortar attack at a logistics base north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the U.S. Army said Thursday.

Four of the injured soldiers were returned to duty within hours after the attack in Balad, about 45 miles north of Baghdad, the Army said in a statement. The other three wounded soldiers were evacuated to a combat support hospital.
The death brings to 390 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action since the start of the U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web sites) almost a year ago. "

It is interesting for the objective use of the numbers.

For example this story from last fall states:: "Since Bush declared major combat over on May 1, 185 U.S. soldiers have been killed in action."

And this story "Eighty-one U.S. soldiers have been killed in attacks since President Bush (news - web sites) declared major combat in Iraq over on May 1 following the war that ousted Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), according to official U.S. figures"

Which both use the nonsensical date of "major combat operations" as a marker.

And this story from this January,: "Since the invasion, at least 513 US soldiers have died in Iraq, 355 in combat. "

Which includes both numbers in a story that invovles only a combat death.

You might want to consider Curt in the first round...: "Curt Schilling is ready to start the season right now.
He allowed one run on two hits in six innings and the Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 3-1 Wednesday. The right-hander was on a 75-pitch limit and threw 74.
The season doesn't begin for more than two weeks, but Schilling said he would be ready if it opened with his next start."

Traditional leagues don't take pitching in the first round, but in points leagues its a tad different.

Schilling should lead all MLB players in points next year, so think about him in the first 5 picks with Arod, Pujols and Nomar.

Here is a nice speech, as we remember the Iraq War..

"....Now, I believe the facts that have brought us to this fateful vote are not in doubt. Saddam Hussein is a tyrant who has tortured and killed his own people, even his own family members, to maintain his iron grip on power. He used chemical weapons on Iraqi Kurds and on Iranians, killing over 20 thousand people. Unfortunately, during the 1980's, while he engaged in such horrific activity, he enjoyed the support of the American government, because he had oil and was seen as a counterweight to the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran.
In 1991, Saddam Hussein invaded and occupied Kuwait, losing the support of the United States. The first President Bush assembled a global coalition, including many Arab states, and threw Saddam out after forty-three days of bombing and a hundred hours of ground operations. The U.S.-led coalition then withdrew, leaving the Kurds and the Shiites, who had risen against Saddam Hussein at our urging, to Saddam's revenge.
As a condition for ending the conflict, the United Nations imposed a number of requirements on Iraq, among them disarmament of all weapons of mass destruction, stocks used to make such weapons, and laboratories necessary to do the work. Saddam Hussein agreed, and an inspection system was set up to ensure compliance. And though he repeatedly lied, delayed, and obstructed the inspections work, the inspectors found and destroyed far more weapons of mass destruction capability than were destroyed in the Gulf War, including thousands of chemical weapons, large volumes of chemical and biological stocks, a number of missiles and warheads, a major lab equipped to produce anthrax and other bio-weapons, as well as substantial nuclear facilities.

In 1998, Saddam Hussein pressured the United Nations to lift the sanctions by threatening to stop all cooperation with the inspectors. In an attempt to resolve the situation, the UN, unwisely in my view, agreed to put limits on inspections of designated "sovereign sites" including the so-called presidential palaces, which in reality were huge compounds well suited to hold weapons labs, stocks, and records which Saddam Hussein was required by UN resolution to turn over. When Saddam blocked the inspection process, the inspectors left. As a result, President Clinton, with the British and others, ordered an intensive four-day air assault, Operation Desert Fox, on known and suspected weapons of mass destruction sites and other military targets.

In 1998, the United States also changed its underlying policy toward Iraq from containment to regime change and began to examine options to effect such a change, including support for Iraqi opposition leaders within the country and abroad.

In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001.

It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security.

Now this much is undisputed. The open questions are: what should we do about it? How, when, and with whom?

Some people favor attacking Saddam Hussein now, with any allies we can muster, in the belief that one more round of weapons inspections would not produce the required disarmament, and that deposing Saddam would be a positive good for the Iraqi people and would create the possibility of a secular democratic state in the Middle East, one which could perhaps move the entire region toward democratic reform.

This view has appeal to some, because it would assure disarmament; because it would right old wrongs after our abandonment of the Shiites and Kurds in 1991, and our support for Saddam Hussein in the 1980's when he was using chemical weapons and terrorizing his people; and because it would give the Iraqi people a chance to build a future in freedom.

However, this course is fraught with danger. We and our NATO allies did not depose Mr. Milosevic, who was responsible for more than a quarter of a million people being killed in the 1990s. Instead, by stopping his aggression in Bosnia and Kosovo, and keeping on the tough sanctions, we created the conditions in which his own people threw him out and led to his being in the dock being tried for war crimes as we speak.

If we were to attack Iraq now, alone or with few allies, it would set a precedent that could come back to haunt us. In recent days, Russia has talked of an invasion of Georgia to attack Chechen rebels. India has mentioned the possibility of a pre-emptive strike on Pakistan. And what if China were to perceive a threat from Taiwan?

So Mr. President, for all its appeal, a unilateral attack, while it cannot be ruled out, on the present facts is not a good option.

Others argue that we should work through the United Nations and should only resort to force if and when the United Nations Security Council approves it. This too has great appeal for different reasons. The UN deserves our support. Whenever possible we should work through it and strengthen it, for it enables the world to share the risks and burdens of global security and when it acts, it confers a legitimacy that increases the likelihood of long-term success. The UN can help lead the world into a new era of global cooperation and the United States should support that goal.

But there are problems with this approach as well. The United Nations is an organization that is still growing and maturing. It often lacks the cohesion to enforce its own mandates. And when Security Council members use the veto, on occasion, for reasons of narrow-minded interests, it cannot act. In Kosovo, the Russians did not approve NATO military action because of political, ethnic, and religious ties to the Serbs. The United States therefore could not obtain a Security Council resolution in favor of the action necessary to stop the dislocation and ethnic cleansing of more than a million Kosovar Albanians. However, most of the world was with us because there was a genuine emergency with thousands dead and a million driven from their homes. As soon as the American-led conflict was over, Russia joined the peacekeeping effort that is still underway.

In the case of Iraq, recent comments indicate that one or two Security Council members might never approve force against Saddam Hussein until he has actually used chemical, biological, or God forbid, nuclear weapons.

So, Mr. President, the question is how do we do our best to both defuse the real threat that Saddam Hussein poses to his people, to the region, including Israel, to the United States, to the world, and at the same time, work to maximize our international support and strengthen the United Nations?

While there is no perfect approach to this thorny dilemma, and while people of good faith and high intelligence can reach diametrically opposed conclusions, I believe the best course is to go to the UN for a strong resolution that scraps the 1998 restrictions on inspections and calls for complete, unlimited inspections with cooperation expected and demanded from Iraq. I know that the Administration wants more, including an explicit authorization to use force, but we may not be able to secure that now, perhaps even later. But if we get a clear requirement for unfettered inspections, I believe the authority to use force to enforce that mandate is inherent in the original 1991 UN resolution, as President Clinton recognized when he launched Operation Desert Fox in 1998.

If we get the resolution that President Bush seeks, and if Saddam complies, disarmament can proceed and the threat can be eliminated. Regime change will, of course, take longer but we must still work for it, nurturing all reasonable forces of opposition.

If we get the resolution and Saddam does not comply, then we can attack him with far more support and legitimacy than we would have otherwise.

If we try and fail to get a resolution that simply, but forcefully, calls for Saddam's compliance with unlimited inspections, those who oppose even that will be in an indefensible position. And, we will still have more support and legitimacy than if we insist now on a resolution that includes authorizing military action and other requirements giving some nations superficially legitimate reasons to oppose any Security Council action. They will say we never wanted a resolution at all and that we only support the United Nations when it does exactly what we want.

....."

The speaker...why Hillary Rodham Clinton....

Nazi's still coming out of the Woodwork..: "An 86-year-old Nazi war crimes suspect has been charged with 164 counts of murder for his alleged role in killings of Slovak civilians in three villages in early 1945, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Ladislav Niznansky is accused of having headed the Slovak section of a Nazi unit code-named Edelweiss, which hunted resistance fighters and Jews after the Germans crushed an uprising against Slovakia's Nazi puppet government in 1944. "

Say GoodBye to 70 Home run Seasons.: "Major League Baseball has formally banned TGH and said Wednesday it had already begun testing for the designer steroid. "

There are going to be a whole lot of guys hitting very poorly this year.

Daily Kos Has a fantastic Senate Outlook Page

Which is very even handed in most its analysis. As it stands now it looks like a 5/50 Sneate next year in his analysis.

I need my trunk monkey!

Right now.

I would also like to order a monkey butler, monkey accountant, bathroom monkey, and sock monkey. In that order.

Ryan offically gets nod in Illinois..: "Taking the stage for his victory speech at the Chicago Hilton & Towers at 9:40 p.m. Tuesday, Ryan was surrounded by African-American faces, including some of his former students at Hales Franciscan High School. Ryan's ability to reach into predominantly Democratic areas lends hope to the Republicans for November.
'I've been talking about social justice issues and civil rights issues all across this state,' Ryan told his throng of cheering supporters. 'I've been going into communities the Democrats think they own, and [speaking] to the voters they take for granted, on the issues they think they own, on the themes they think they own.'"

Which looks good for Republican chances in the fall.

Remember Ryan is a millionaire turned schoolteacher . But more importantly this was his ex wife.

Free Speech?

the most shocking thing about this list is that there actually are people at the New York times who donated to Republican causes.

Granted they are outgunned almost 10-1.

But still. i have read the Times for years and I couldn't pick out a single Republican.

In case you were wondering how to help Bush Win Florida, Click here:

Nader for President - Ballot Access -- Florida - www.voteNader.org

In deference to the other side....

I hate posting this link but it is a killer video. Not Rummy's best performance. I would not be surprised to see the video in an actual commercial, although that might indicate CBS's approval.

I wonder if CBS gave Move-On the right to use that clip?

'I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it,'

John Kerry, once again proving that he can be simultaneuosly on every side of every issue.

Kerry claims "Canadian girl" he met at summer camp among foreign leaders who support him

Presidential candidate John Kerry today revealed, at least partially, one of the many foreign leaders whom he claims wants him to defeat George Bush this fall.

"You wouldn't know her," Kerry said in a campaign stop in washington D.C.," But it was a girl I met a Lake Gicheegummee summer camp, and she lives in Canada, and she definetely exists, and she was hot, and really into me."

Kerry refused to name the girl or give her exact location in Canada or her position in Canadian government, but stressed that she was not imaginary.

"Oh she exists alright, "Kerry added," we talked about Rush and hockey and how wicked cool I am. And she totally let me touch her bra." Kerry further insisted that she was not the only foreign leader who supported his candidacy, but doubted that anyone in the mainstreammedia would know their names, even if he mentioned them. "These are leaders who are in totally different circles than you operate," he told one member of the Press," these are not A/V club girls, but cheerleader types. You wouldn't know them."

When asked what it felt like to recieve the support of a foreign leader, Kerry responded, "It's like a warm apple pie."

Cheney Speaking at Reagan Library

He states:

"American policy must be clear and consistent in its purposes. And American leaders _ above all the commander in chief _ must be confident in our nation's cause, and unwavering until the danger to our people is fully and finally removed,"

Right on.

And once again this blog states its challenge. I highly recommend any and everyone go to the Reagan Library. it is a great place even if you hated the man as a President. it has lots of party neutral information on his background. If you were a Tip O'Neill fan you will be especially pleased.

But only the most observant of you will be able to find the one mention of Jane Wyman in the library proper. It is ther, but it takes some looking for.

Special Forces Ready to Unleash Secret Weapon In Saddam Hussein Interrogation

After weeks of interrogation without success, Special Forces Units and CIA operatives questioning Saddam Hussein have revealed they are ready to take the process to the next level.

The new interrogation procedure will begin on Thursday March 18th, when the CIA recieves its DVD copy of Dr. Seuss' The Cat In The Hat staring Mike Myers.

The CIA plans on running the movie on a constant loop in Saddam's cell until he admits to the presence of or location of his weapons of mass destruction programs.

This is by far the harshest psychological operation tactic yet employed by American forces since Barabra Streisand albums were played on a continuous loop outside of Manuel Noriega's compound in Panama.

Unnamed sources have confirmed that the "Streisand tactic" has been employed on Saddam but it has been unsuccessful to date. Sources attribute this failure to Hussein's extreme hearing deficiency. "He only other explanation is that he is a huge Streisand fan," stated one interrogator, "which isn't entirely out of the question."

His sight and comprhension have not been affected by his age and lifestyle, and the CIA hopes the the unbearable monotony and nonsensical dreariness of the Cat in the Hat will turn the deposed leader. The International Red Cross has been informed of the procedure and has cautioned the United States to measure its pace.

"While we see nothing inherently life threatening in repeated viewings of The Cat in the Hat, we do categorize this activity as pure torture. If the United States escalates this activity and decides to show Madonna's Swept Away, John Travolta's Battleship Earth, or , God forbid, Gigli, we will have to take immediate action"

Iraq Under Attack

"A powerful blast has ripped through a Baghdad hotel and several neighbouring buildings, killing several people and sending a plume of flames and smoke into the night sky in the centre of the city."

Other news:

The hotel's name is Lebannon Mountain Hotel. The hotel was located well outside the "Green Zone." near Firdos Square where the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled.An Iraqi Intelligence training camp was behind the hotel. It is thought that the attack may have been targetting the new intelligence service.

The hotel housed several business people and foreign contractors and press. The hotel was frequented by those doing business with foreign contractors.


It is thought the attack was done by likely a large missile at close range or a car bomb.

Al Jazeera broadcast headquarters are located next door to the hotel and have continued to broadcast despite ancillary damage to their building.

There are 10 confirmed deaths and many wounded,

No news yet on whether or not Spain is scheduling new elections to respond to this round of attacks.

The attacks interrupted an "important" national security speech from Senator Kerry. he was just praising Madeleine Albright and John Shashskvilillishilli when the networks cut away.

Would he have married Himmler or Goebbels?

On Tuesday April 20th, Cinemax will air a documentary entitled : ""The Hidden Fuhrer: Debating the Enigma of Hitler's Sexuality."

And I thought Gay Hitler was just a character on Saturday Night Live.

Outsourcing Embryonic Research

"The Pentagon has granted $240,000 to a Swedish team for embryonic stem-cell research linked to Parkinson's disease (news - web sites), the researchers said on Wednesday, despite U.S. government limits on stem-cell research."

Two notes:$240,000 is nothing. In a $330 billion annual budget i am surprised that the Pentagon even has $240,000 increments to dole out. I think if you picked up a Bradley Vehicle and shook it $240,00 might fall out.

Also, if we are going to do the research, we might as well do it here. Harvard is continuing to do research as are many private firms.

I am curious to see if this grant stays valid.

Bad News for Kerry

A recent Poll in Pennsylvania shows that Kerry's support there is weaker than Gores.

"Kerry had the backing of 45 percent of Pennsylvania voters and Bush 44 percent in the state narrowly (by 5 points) won by Democrat Al Gore in 2000. Pennsylvania has 21 electoral votes."

With the independent candidate Nader involved, Bush has 44 percent, Kerry has 40 percent and Nader has 5 percent in the poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Nader is not on the ballot yet, and even if he does get on the ballot I doubt he will get 5%, but it does demonstrate that Kerry may have to trend left to get those votes.

Al Qaeda Calls Its Shot, And hits a home run...

"We think the Spanish government will not stand more than two blows, or three at the most, before it will be forced to withdraw because of the public pressure on it,' the al Qaeda document says. 'If its forces remain after these blows, the victory of the Socialist Party will be almost guaranteed -- and the withdrawal of Spanish forces will be on its campaign manifesto.'"

And then.....

"Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Monday he wanted the 1,300 Spanish troops in Iraq to return home by June 30 if the United Nations "doesn't take control of Iraq."

Second Oregon County OKs Gay Marriage

"Benton County, home to Oregon State University, will become the state's second county to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. "

The marriages can begin next week: "Licenses will be available in Benton County starting March 24, County Commissioner Linda Modrell said Tuesday."

Obama Wins Illinois Primary

"State Sen. Barack Obama, a former civil rights lawyer seeking to become only the fifth black U.S. senator, won the Democratic primary Tuesday, crushing six opponents and setting up a major effort by his party to win control of the Senate. "

Jack Ryan, former naval intelligence writer, CIA employee, National Security Advisor and President of the United States, looks to have secured the republican nomination as well.

This looks to be a tough battle.

If I were Jack Ryan I would have this as my campaign poster:

VOTE JACK RYAN

HE EATS BORGS FOR BREAKFAST

(in case you were not aware Jack Ryan was formerly married to Jerri Ryan, and therefore has seen her naked. That in and of itself is enough to win my vote.)

Spanish PM-elect vows to pull troops out of Iraq, lashes Bush

Spain is being labelled as appeasers in light of the election. But
I have several Spanish friends and they spin a slightly different tale.

Granted they are from the Barcelona region and so they were voting Socialist no matter what, but it was not the attack per se that lead to the vote but the spinning of the attack afterwards by Aznar's government.

Because of the ETA vs. Al Qaeda conflict many Spaniards were concerned that the adminsitration immediately spun the attacks as ETA based as opposed to leaving open the Al qaeda possibility.

Now it seems apparent that an Islamo facist group was involved.

This is why Bush should have been much more forthright and open with the 9/11 commission. It's never the crime its the cover up that kills.

If there is another attack, the people in this country will not be so quick to support Bush because hehas dragged his feet on the commission.

On the other hand, this statement, "It is clear that using force is not the answer to resolving the conflict with terrorists," Prodi said. "Terrorism is infinitely more powerful than a year ago," and all of Europe now feels threatened, he told the paper." sounds alot like appeasement to me.

Did the terrorists win?

On the Corner on National Review Online, Jonah goldberg notes, "The socialist victory in Spain is very bad news if, as it seems, they wouldn't have won save for the terrorist attacks. If al Qaeda -- or any other terrorist groups -- conclude that such attacks will be rewarded at the polls then the war on terror is in real trouble and a lot of Western allies may be in jeopardy. Moreover, if this is really what's happened, John Kerry had better stop talking about how foreign leaders want him to win. The gist of Kerry's boasting is that if he's elected 'moderates' (i.e. accomodationists) will be ascendent. That's precisely the wrong message to send. "

I am not entirely sure that the "appeasement" angle is correct. it seems that alot of the vote possibly came from those persons who felt Aznar may have been politicizing the terrorism by pinning the crime on ETA. Had he come out instantly and said, maybe Al-Qaeda, he still may have won.

Bush and Kerry still even....
Election 2004 Presidential Tracking Poll

The Rasmusesn Report dispalys a daily tracking poll of Bush and Kerry.

Since Kerry began winning primaries the tow men have stayed even at around 45%. This is bad news for Kerry. Bush has the electoral advantage so if Kerry does not have a 5-6% lead going into election day, he will lose.

He might get as much as a 10% lead coming out of their convention, but more than that is unlikely considering all the good news he has had up to now has not helped him.

"Stern Getting Sirius?

Is Howard Stern getting serious, I mean, Sirius? I'm told that Stern visited the offices of Sirius, the satellite radio company, late last week and talked about moving his show onto their system. "

Sirius also broadcasts over the internet. One of Stern's beefs is that not enough people culd get the Staellite radios, but with internet radio avaible millions of people would have access to his show online, who did not have access before.

Too painful to watch

Larry David's season fianle of Curb your Enthusiams was on tonight. Unfortunately I just could not watch it, despit it being one of the top three shows on T.V. (South Park, Sopranos and the Daily Show also up there. Notice how they are all on Cable. Is broadcast T.V. dead? I cannot think of a single example of must see t.v. on broadcast television that is not a reality show.). The show just hits too close to home and is too painful. I will catch it in short blocks over the next week, in dibestible doses so to speak. But every time I watch I get this horrble anxiety knowing that in almost every situation he is in , I woulD make the same or close to same decisions with undoubtedly the same results.

If anyone has any reviews please fell free to comment.

Updates on the war on terror,

In the wake of the terror in Spain, there is alot of rethinking going on as to why we are fighting and how it is going.

Excellent Op Ed on the War on terror...: "Election-year spin and shrill name-calling won't change the reality that global terrorism still threatens America. Bush realizes that the threat cannot, as Sen. John Kerry suggests, chiefly be handled by 'intelligence and law enforcement.'"

Meanwhile, a Huge Car Bomb Found Near U.S. Consulate in Pakistan: "A van packed with explosives was found outside the U.S. consulate in the Pakistani city of Karachi on Monday, two days before Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) visits the country.
Mark Steyn notes that These guys want to kill us anyway : "'THE bombs dropped on Baghdad exploded in Madrid!' declared one 'peace' protester in Spain. Or as Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty put it, somewhat less vividly: 'If this turns out to be Islamic extremists . . . it is more likely to be linked to the position that Spain and other allies took on issues such as Iraq.'"

And in Iraq, : " Bombs in Baghdad killed four U.S. soldiers, the army said Sunday, bringing to nine the number of troops killed in Iraq (news - web sites) in the last four days by explosives planted by guerrillas to target American patrols. "

Let's Kill Some Embryo's!

"Research showing that bald mice can grow hair after being implanted with a type of stem cell could lead to a cure for baldness, a group of scientists says."

The truth is that these stem cells are not embryonic stem cells but "blank slate" stem cells from hair follicles themselves.

Spanish Al Qaeda Links continue to rise...: "One of the three Moroccans arrested in the Madrid train bombings is linked to a suspected al-Qaida member jailed in Spain for allegedly helping plan the Sept. 11 attack in the United States, according to court documents reviewed by The Associated Press. It was the latest suggestion that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist group may have been involved in the bombings."

Socialists Score Spectacular Spanish Election Win

Anti-US continues to be a popular platform in Europe...


"The ruling Popular Party (PP) conceded defeat to Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who will take over from outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, a staunch supporter of the U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web sites) that most Spaniards opposed.
'My most immediate priority is to beat all forms of terrorism,' said Zapatero, asking for a minute's silence in honor of the 200 people killed in the bombings on four packed commuter trains. "

"The Socialists have pledged to withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops from Iraq if the U.N. does not take control by June 30 when Washington plans to hand power back to Iraqis. Opinion polls showed as many as 90 percent of Spaniards opposed the Iraq war. "

The End of Communism?: "China's parliament on Sunday approved a historic amendment to its constitution to provide a legal guarantee and level-playing field to private entrepreneurs, once considered the enemy of Communism but now key player in generating wealth in the world's fastest growing economy."

"It is the first time in the history of new China that lawfully-obtained capital goods and invisible capital such as intellectual property right are put under the protection of the constitution, as is the same case with living materials and properties such as estate and ban deposits, the official Xinhua news agency commented."

But I was the high bidder! EBay Reports Attempt to Sell Women on Web: "Online marketplace eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY - news) on Friday said it had removed from its Web site a listing that offered three young Vietnamese women for auction and will report the person who posted it to local authorities"

Selling women on ebay? I wonder what category there were listed under?
I guess that would depend on their age. Antiques? Dolls & Bears? Specialty Services?

I wonder if they are going to arrest all of the bidders?

Are they even outsourcing terror now? Spain Announces Five Arrests in Bombings: "Spain's interior minister Saturday announced the arrest of five suspects in the Madrid bombings, including three Moroccans.

The other two suspects had Indian passports, a ministry spokesman said."

and this:

"ETA issued an apparently unprecedented denial Friday, saying it had nothing to do with the bombings. It has claimed responsibility for more than 800 deaths since 1968 in its fight for an independent state in the northern Basque region. "

I have talked to my frend who is married to a Spaniard and she had already voted. As a Catalan though i think she was already voting for the minority party.

"US special forces are hunting for Islamic militants linked to Al Qaeda: along Algeria's southern border with Mali in a little-known military operation aimed at destroying a key North African recruiting hub for Osama bin Laden's global terrorist network, according to US and Algerian officials."

"The joint effort marks another front in the war on terrorism and a watershed in US-Algerian relations. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Washington stepped up military assistance to Algiers in its 12-year civil war against Islamic extremist groups. The US military involvement is also part of a larger US antiterrorism campaign in the vast, desolate Sahel region of North Africa -- which touches the nations of Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Chad -- that US intelligence officials fear could become a primary training ground for radicals exporting terrorism around the world."


Hey, I thought that the U.S. was acting unilaterally, cutting off all of its ties to the foreign world, and ending its war on Al Quaeda to fight Iraq?

I guess not.

Millions Mourn in Spain as Bomb Mystery Deepens: "Spanish media estimated as many as 11 million people, more than a quarter of the population, took part in marches on Friday to reject the violence a day earlier, when nearly 200 people died in bombings of four packed Madrid-area commuter trains. "
The government said ETA continued to be the main object of its probe but it was not neglecting other possible lines of investigation.


The government revealed on Thursday that a van containing seven detonators and a tape in Arabic had been found near the Alcala de Henares railway station.

Scalia Channels Justice Black and Kicks the Feet Out from Under Constitutional Balancing: "By replacing categorical constitutional guarantees with open-ended balancing tests, we do violence to their design

read it all

" 'They did not ... distort, mislead, or misrepresent what the intelligence community said.' ":

Kyl comments on Senat pre war intelligence investigation. Something tells me rockefeller, Edwards and Kennedy will say something different.

JURIST reports that Oregon Attorney General rules same-sex marriages invalid under state law

I wonder why they don't have an attorney general in California. It seems like such a good idea.

Millions Take to the Streets in Spain: "More than a million demonstrators jammed the streets of Madrid on Friday night, huddling beneath umbrellas in a steady rain to protest the train bombings that killed 199 people in the country's worst terrorist attack.

Millions more turned out in Barcelona, Seville, Valencia and other cities -- including Spain's Canary Islands off the coast of West Africa."

MoveOn.Org Sues Senator John Kerry for Copyright Infringement

MoveOn.org, a liberal activist group has filed suit against presidential candidate John Kerry for his use of the phrase "crooked and lying group" in describing the Bush administration. MoveOn.org is seeking injunction relief to prevent the Senator from ever using the phrase again as well as monetary damages.

"Untrue and inflammatory slogans are really our bread and butter, " stated MoveOn founder Wes Boyd. "If the Kerry Campaign is going to take our slogans then our donors and volunteers will just bypass our organization and go directly to the Kerry campaign."

The complaint alleges that the group was calling President Bush and Vice President Cheney "crooks and liars" as early as August 2000, two months before the 2000 election, and has consistently slandered the administration with the charge ever since. The organization is also seeking a stay to prevent John Kerry from comparing President Bush to Nixon and from charging he was AWOL.

The Kerry campaign has not responded directly to the suit, but the candidate has refused to retract the statement. "This is a candidate who means what he says, and says what he means, " stated campaign spokesperson Steve Elmendorf, "unless it concerns his votes on the Defense of Marriage Act, the first Iraq War, the second Iraq War, NAFTA, No Child Left Behind, the Patriot Act or defense appropriations."

"We want Kerry to win the election, of course," Boyd stated "but when he appropriates our ridiculous assertions and claims them as his own, it really hits us right in the pocketbook. If he takes our schtick then we really have no reason to exist, other than to funnel large amount of illegal soft money into his campaign in violation of McCain Feingold, of course."

As a peremptory action, MoveOn.org has filed for copyright protection on the slogans "Bush is a Nazi", "Bush is Hitler", "Bush is Worse than Hitler" and "Bush will eat your babies." "If he takes those, we might as well turn out the lights and go home," stated Boyd.

One down, two to go.: "It was adopted 129-69 with the help of several known advocates of gay marriage, triggering speculation that they could withdraw their support on the critical final vote needed before this year's constitutional convention ends."

Andrew Card, Lindauer's Second Cousin, turned her in

"On Jan. 8, 2003, prosecutors said, Lindauer tried to influence U.S. foreign policy by delivering to the home of a U.S. government official a letter in which she conveyed her access to and contacts with members of Saddam's regime.

The indictment did not identify the official, but federal sources told NBC's Pete Williams that the official was Card, Lindauer�s second cousin. The sources said it was Card who alerted authorities to his relative's activities. "

News sources also indicate that she attempted to deliver a letter to Card's residence while he was not there. When Card found out about the letter he contacted authorities.

Hubble Death Not Certain: "Sean O'Keefe agreed to talk to officials at the academy, but later told reporters that safety rules approved by both Congress and NASA after the space shuttle Columbia accident make it virtually impossible to mount a space shuttle mission to repair the orbiting telescope.
'We're not likely to be able to do that,' O'Keefe said after his testimony before the Senate appropriations subcommittee on VA-HUD-Independent Agencies, the panel that provides oversight for NASA.

Canceling the final servicing mission for Hubble is major surgery. Any prudent person would get a second opinion," Mikulski said.

Mikulski represents Maryland, home of the Goddard Space Flight Center and the Space Telescope "

Al Qaeda involved?: "A group claiming to be acting in the name of al Qaeda says it was behind today's devastating Madrid train bombings, which killed at least 192 people.
An email to the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper said the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri was responsible for the worst terrorist attack on a European city since the second world war.
It also warned that a 'big attack' on the US was '90% ready'."

This is bad news all around. With news of the detonators found in the van and Quran tapes, it is possible. "The government said the bombs were probably set off by remote control at 4-5 minute intervals starting at 6.30am GMT. "

Spain has approximately 1/7 of the population of the United States so when you read about this tragedy keep that in mind.

California issues stay on Gay marriages

There will be more on this later but here is a preview....

Which Supreme Court Justice ruled on this issue but who should not even be in California?

Which Supreme Court Justice was deemed unqualified by gay rights actvists?

Which Sumpreme Court Justice was denied her change in occupation because of the fact that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals was too important?

Which is the most important court in the country right now, Human Rights Fund?

Which Supreme Court Justice would have been replaced by an appointee of Democrat Gray Davis had she been allowed to change her occupation?

Nice job Mr. Schumer. Thanks for the blockage.

For an example of how much the Democrats confuse race with party please read Daily Kos :: Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.

He states in post about the Georgia Senate Race: "Georgia's not that red, and the demographics are trending Democrat (Latino growth is high, and African-American growth is 3rd highest in the nation). "

So Latino and African American always equal Democrat. Ok. I sure hope he doesn't visit Herman Cain site for his United States Senate campaign. He might have a heart attack!

He continues:

"Some of the comments confuse Georgia election results, which are trending Republican (though not overwhelmingly), with Georgia demographics, which are trending Democrat. The latter is the clear case in Georgia, as seen from the 2000 census results:

GEORGIA: Blacks, 2,235,897, up 27.7 percent; Hispanics, 239,566, up 119.9 percent; Asian and Pacific Islanders, 160,566, up 109.0 percent; American Indian and Alaska Native, 18,717, up 36.5 percent; whites, 5,373,060, up 15.9 percent. "

Ok so let's forget that every recent statewide election has resulted in a Republican, outseating a popular Senator and a powerful Governor. Let's forget that even the most popular Democrat in the State endorses George Bush and has been uninvited from all of the Democratic Leadership meetings in the Senate. Then let's forget that this state had a Democratic Governor for 100 years before 2002. Now they have a Republican. If you forget all of that and look only at the race of the indvidual then it becomes clear that Georgia is trending Democrat.

There is no more important feature to Democrats than the color of your skin. Apparently, it tells you more about a person and who they will vote for than their current job, their religion OR EVEN WHO THEY ACTUALLY VOTED FOR!

H. R. 3717 To increase the penalties for violations by television and radio broadcasters of the prohibitions against transmission of obscene, indecent, and profane language.

has passed the house overwhelmingly. Democrats and Republicans voted en masse for this behemoth.

The only Republican Congressman to vote against it was Ron Paul: "Paul still calls himself a 'little `l' libertarian,' but decided to become a Republican again because 'it was a convenient vehicle for running for Congress'."

I wonder if Stern will have him on his radio show?

Tejada forced out of game with leg injury

Lindauer speaks she called out to reporters that she was an anti-war activist seeking to stop the war in Iraq. Her signature on this petition would seem to bear that out. The charges do not seem to indicate that she transferred any intelligence to Iraq but instead was trying to stop the war by trying to connect U.S. officials with insiders in Iraq.

Spying has a lot of definitions and at first glimpse Lindauer appears to be at the far end of the naive and harmless type of spying.

This type of speculation belongs only on consequence free blogs and the Fox News Network by the way. Its entirely possible that she did nothing wrong at all.

Here is the original complaints against the alleged spies alleged co-conspirators.

Two more Lindauer sites:

Lindauer message board links:
[mgj-discuss] US Troops Decide to Charge Money for Water to Penniless Iraqis in Um Qasr

Daily Egyptian: 4/11/96: Senator to speak at SIUC

Lindauer has a history of working with Middle Eastern Middlemen,
Here is a "Lockerbie Trial Document: Susan Lindauer Deposition" (4 December 1998)

Jihad Unspun : "JUS has learned the Lions of al-Mufridoon has claimed of responsibility for the attack. Previously unknown, the group is said to be made up of Morrocan, Algerian, and Tunisian operatives, with suspected links to Al-Qaida.

Spain has been warned of their involvement with the 'Crusader' army of George Bush and Tony Blair in previous Al-Qaida statements and more recently in both the last statements issued by Osama bin Laden and Dr. Aymen Al-Zawhari, which followed the attack on the Spanish embassy in Iraq."

Zimbabwe claims CIA coup plot : "THE Zimbabwe Government claimed yesterday that 64 suspected mercenaries detained here this week, were hired to help overthrow the Government in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, with the assistance of US, British and Spanish intelligence agencies."

Testing the Unversal Democratic Underground Thread

Over at IMAO: there is a Universal Democratic Underground Thread which generally and appropriately mocks the disgusting excesses of the message board. All of the examples note the caustic, innappropriate, debased. paranoid and group think tendencies of the board.

With today's incredible tradgedy in Spain, let's look at some of the examples from the Democratic Underground:

First is the blaming of the CIA:

"DenverDem (734 posts) Thu Mar-11-04 12:18 PM
Response to Original message
1. Yes, all the hallmarks of CIA training.
Those alqaida guys really listen in class.":

Then a tie back to the Iraq war:


Sagan (1000+ posts) Thu Mar-11-04 12:25 PM
Response to Original message

5. The world is safer since we got Saddam!
Just thought I'd point that out, since reality seems to be spoiling this awesome talking point of the misAdministration.":

The deleted message positing support for the administration:

"Name removed (0 posts) Thu Mar-11-04 12:34 PM
Response to Reply #8
10. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules."

then the incredible blaming of the government:
"rman (1000+ posts) Thu Mar-11-04 08:34 AM
Response to Original message
54. perfect timing
'131 dead, 400 wounded'
'...leader of the Basque movement Batasuna connected to ETA says the purpatrators must be sought in muslim circles..'
'... in recent years attacks by ETA have been directed primarily at officials...'
'... next sunday there are elections in Spain..'
(source: local teletext, Netherlands)
So there's a few hints this may not be the work of ETA.
Current Spanish govt is in favor of Bush's various wars, however millions of voters took to the streets in protest.
tinfoil: this is a false-flag operation to coherce Spanish voters to choose for a hard crackdown wrt 'the war on terror'; please hand over your civil rights etc."

I think IMAO may have hit it prety well on the nose...

Here is the text of the proposed amendment being voted on in Massachusetts today:

"It being the public policy of this Commonwealth to protect the unique relationship of marriage, only the union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Massachusetts. Two persons of the same sex shall have the right to form a civil union if they meet the requirements set forth by law for marriage. Civil Unions for same sex couples are established hereunder and shall provide entirely the same benefits, protections, rights and responsibilities that are afforded to couples married under Massachusetts law. All laws applicable to marriage shall also apply to civil unions. This Article is self-executing, but the General Court may enact laws not inconsistent with anything herein contained to carry out the purpose of this Article."

Basically it follows the directive of the Massassachusetts Supreme Court up to the point where the word marriage is only defined as a man and a woman. Otherwise there is absolutely no difference whatsoever in the rights and recognitions of a couple.

I suppose this means that those maried in other states and countries who are not a man and a woman are not married in Massachusetts but can apply for a civil union. Similarly, insofar as federal law is concerned, this will not raise DOMA concerns as those people are not married for federal benefits purposes. Because it is state border dependent, like the Vermont law, it effectively confines same sex couples to Massachusetts.

Moseley Braun Press Secretary allegedly Iraqi Spy

This secretary did a bad job at all of her jobs.

This blogs new slogan...Go Vegan!: "Pork products processed and distributed from the farm of accused Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton may have contained human remains, police and health officials said Wednesday."

Andrew Sullivan posts a quote from CS Lewis

In the quote Lewis makes the point that "There ought to be two distinct kinds of marriage: one governed by the State with rules enforced on all citizens, the other governed by the Church with rules enforced by her on her own members. "

I highly doub that when CS Lewis was discussing "all citizens" he intended that to include same sex partners. But the quote could apply.

I wonder what Brent over at Southern Appeal who have long stated their high regard for Lewis, a regard justly deserved by the way, would say about the quote.

I personally think the amendment is a really bad idea, more for structural, poliltical and historical reasons than any other, but Leis's comment in this context seems to weigh against as well.

The Empire Strikes Back

A freind had a brief encounter with the Vice President recently.

My friend's first comment "He just might be part robot."
Her freind's comment "He hasn't seen the sun in years."

Mmm a powerful part human-part robot who stays out of the sun and is second in command in an empire battling rebels on many fronts.


very strange....

Oh that liberal media...

This article by boston Globe writer Patrick Healy is truly remarkable in its panache to restate campaign mumbo jumbo as actual news. Kerry has proposed a series of monthly debates with the President in order to even out the money and prestige difference between the two men. However the Boston Globe reports it thusly:

"The debate proposal, coming on a day when Kerry closed in on the Democratic nomination with sweeping primary victories in Florida, Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, was not quite a gauntlet-throwing challenge but a "spontaneuous idea," a senior aide said, that the Massachusetts senator offered in response to an 11-year-old student reporter asking how the eight months till the general election might unfold. Yet it reflected Kerry's determination to engage Bush directly on issues such as jobs, prescription drug costs, and the war in Iraq, instead of the rival camp's tit for tat on narrower topics such as gay marriage and Kerry's individual votes during his 19-year Senate career.

So Kerry's actual record is off limits now? That's just tit for tat politics? Incredible. oh and I suppose it doesn't matter that the Massachusetts Legislature is debating all day today on a gay marriage ban amendment. but that doesn't make it an actual issue. Mind you this was not the campaign's statement this was the objective text of the article.

By the way the article also states that: Patrick Healy can be reached at phealy@globe.com.

More on tradesports

Maybe someone can explain this to me, because I am not entirely clear on it. The way I understand the odds at tradesports is that they are entirely set by user interaction. In other words the Bid and Ask prices are set by the lowest prices of the available contracts to sell, like the stock market. However there is a huge disparity on some of the odds. For example, on the VP race, the Bid price for Graham is at 1.6, but the ask is at 50.1. If I think that Graham will be the V.P. what does this mean?

Contract B Qty Bid Ask A Qty Last Vol Chge
DEM04.VP.EDWARDS 50 28.6 33.0 100 31.0 3917 0
DEM04.VP.CLARK 100 10.0 11.0 100 11.0 994 0
DEM04.VP.GRAHAM 1 1.6 50.1 1 3.0 698 0
DEM04.VP.CLINTON 93 4.7 5.9 1 6.0 813 0
DEM04.VP.GEPHARDT 110 8.0 13.0 35 10.1 931 0
DEM04.VP.RICHARDSON 40 10.0 13.0 100 12.0 968 0
DEM04.VP.BAYH 100 4.0 9.0 72 8.0 605 0
DEM04.VP.BIDEN 0 - 0.9 2 0.5 100 0
DEM04.VP.FEINSTEIN 100 0.1 0.9 3 0.5 5 0
DEM04.VP.GORE 100 1.5 1.9 2 1.5 525 0
DEM04.VP.DEAN 4 0.1 0.9 2 0.1 21 0
DEM04.VP.BREAUX 9 1.0 1.9 2 1.5 211 0
DEM04.VP.ROCKEFELLER 100 0.1 1.9 1 0.5 0 0
DEM04.VP.NELSON 20 2.5 4.4 2 3.0 435 0
DEM04.VP.FIELD 5 18.5 29.0 100 21.0 1304 0

TradeSports on the elections I have gotten some email suggesting that instead of the Ladbroke's exchange I use the tradesports odds.

The emailer makes excellent points on the services tradesports provides. The spread is much smaller on Tradesports and so your value is much higher. For example on the Bush election the odds are currently somewhat closer.

The betting spread at Ladbrokes is right at 66-33 Bush, while at tradesports it is closer at 60-40.

I do not actually bet on these things, nor do I support state regulated gambling as an activity, mostly because I am so bad at it. But also because it removes money from the economy and directly into the government coffers with no resulting economic benefit to the state that supports it. I think state sponsored lotteries are horrible for this reason.

I do however think that these statements on the election are much closer to reality than the polls or odds the pundits present. The vast majority of bettors, save those who bet on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, the Chicago Cubs or Boston Celtics, actually bet with their head instead of heart.

Gay-marriage debate returns to Massachusetts

The legislature debates gay marriage again today. However the same amednment that failed to garner enough support last time, that being an amedment that denied same sex marriage but allowed civil unions is up for debate again. I do not believe anything has changed, save for a failure to pass bans on smae sex marriage in Georgia and Michigan.

This was covered on CSPAN3 last time and it was very interesting. I enjoyed watching the interplay between the Massachusetts Legislators and Senators on the rules. The state Senators were all quite full of themselves.

Terrorism spreads to central Spain...

"Simultaneous explosions have killed at least 131 people and injured more than 400 on packed trains in Madrid in pre-election attacks in what could be the bloodiest day in three decades of violent Basque separatism."

The death toll is closer to 200 now. The woman on the hill and I stopped at the Atocha station on our trip through Spain. we actually had a long lay over there. it is quite similar to Union Station here in D.C. in that it has both connections to Metro rail lines and long distance rail lines.

ETA is the current suspect with elections 3 days away.

Dick Morris has some interesting statements on the Clintons ". The Clintons still control the Democratic Party. If Hillary wants to run for vice president, Kerry has to go along.
For him to spurn the former first lady would be to cause a schism in the party. He'll be pulling knives out of his back for the entire race."

I am not sure that this is necesarily correct. Of course it could never be verified.

In any event, there is no way Hillary will run for V.P..

I don't know what to think about this.

Is she a CIA agent on T.V. or in real life?

'God particle' may have been seen: "A scientist says one of the most sought after particles in physics - the Higgs boson - may have been found, but the evidence is still relatively weak. "

And in case you were in a pool, Dr Renton's assessment would place the elusive particle's mass at about 115 gigaelectronvolts.

Photo-Dude dissembles Howard Stern

Photo dude, a radio veteran and photgrapher extraordinaire, has a long and excellent post on Howard Stern entitled, Dead Man Talking, And Talking, And Talking

Here are some great bits:

"So you can either support the community standards protection the FCC has always provided, or you can support abolishing the FCC completely, and letting media sink to the lowest profane level that can find a niche audience.

There really is no middle ground."

I agree completely, and I would love to support the second option. It makes a lot of sense when applied to Howard Stern or NPR, both of which I listen to, very often. And both of which you know exactly what they will deliver before you even turn the radio to those channels. But what about the great divide in the middle, or the great unwashed masses of D.J. in between.

Maybe if the radio industry decided to police itself somehow and institute a ratings system that would be broadcast systematically throughout a program, then we could have number #2. Right now it is not workable for the majority of the industry.

And this:
"Infinity feels Howard’s controversial acts and FCC fines ... millions of dollars ... are a cost of doing business, with their “cash cow.” They profit from it.

Obviously, Clear Channel has made a different business decision, perhaps as a result of the sting from a $755,000 fine over another of their “talents.” "

they obviously do profit from it. Mel Karmazin is not standing up for Howard because he believes in the sanctity of playing anal ring toss. If money was an issue, Howard will be gone.

Read the whole thing.

When we release detainees from Gitmo, they are gone for good.

Britain is releasing the Gitmo detainees which were transferred to Britain. This does not change the necessity to go ahead with the proper adjudication of these individuals and release those who are not validly prisoners of war but it does underscore the problem that once these guys are released from our detention, they are freee to do whatever they want.

Monkeys may actually fly out of your butt.: "The baby, named Brenda, is the first primate born using an egg taken not from a working ovary but from parts of the ovary implanted elsewhere in the mother's body. This tissue contains cells that can develop into eggs, without needing a full ovary.
The egg was then removed, fertilized and the embryo was transplanted into a surrogate mother. "

The tissue can be implanted almost anywhere, possibly even the colon.

Before You Jump on the anti-527 Bandwagon

Keep in mind that both parties are using them to advantage.

White House Slumber Parties

I have to find this list.

"The list was broken down into six categories: Arkansas friends, 51 people, longtime friends, 102, friends and supporters, 86, officials and dignitaries, 77, arts and letters and sports, 45, and family and friends of Chelsea Clinton, 43. The White House omitted the names of Chelsea's pals. "

The best part of the list is the seperation between friends and longtime friends.

It looks like Udall v Salazar in the Democratic Primary in Colorado.

Musgrave is not running, thank goodness, but neither is Bill Owens. Does anyone know which qualified Republican will run? It is a red state.

Could a Moore Candidacy Help Bush?

Bush has many weaknesses in this election season, the ecnomy, Iraq, the deficit, etc. If the economy is still on the rebound in November and the troops are slowly being rotated out of Iraq and there is no further terrorist attack on the United States, then I think most moderate voters would give him a second term.

However, in my own conversations with swing voters, they seem most concerned with the religiosity of the current administration. They point to stem cell research bans and the amendment on gay marriage as the prime examples of the administration being guided first and foremost by religion. Similarly both of these voters were actually turned of specifically because of the many religious messages in the State of the Union.

I think a Moore candidacy would temper this significantly. Moore will not get that many votes but he will get a lot of press. A person running to the right of the President would only serve to make him look more moderate by comparison.

Another one bites the dust..: "Barry Bonds hurt his back during batting practice Wednesday and was taken out of the lineup for San Francisco Giants' game against Texas."

Ok, now I simply refuse to anonymously libel anyone by stating that because of illegal steroids they were able to stay healthy and recover quicker at the age of 40 in a sport where most players are in their 20's. I will not lump Barry Bonds in the same category as oft injured and slow healing Jim Edmonds, Geoff Jenkins, Phil Nevin, or the quickly bulky Sammy Sosa.

I would highly suggest taking a long hard look at the following players before I drafted them this year, for no particular reason:
Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Tim Salmon, Gary Sheffield, Jim Edmonds, Bret Boone, Jason Giambi, Phil Nevin, Ray Durham, Juan Gonzalez, Geoff Jenkins or Phil Nevin.

Not necessarily because they will lack a certain substance they may or may not have been using in the past, but because the new regime will suppress the use of legal substances like androstenetheron. These types of legal steroids significantly assist in quick healing times. Anytime one of these gus gets a tweak, twinge or pull they will be laid up for a significant period of time.

McCain will never be Vice-AnythingYahoo! News - Sen. McCain Open to Being Kerry's VP: "'It's impossible to imagine the Democratic Party seeking a pro-life, free-trading, non-protectionist, deficit hawk,' the Arizona senator told ABC's 'Good Morning America' during an interview about illegal steroid use. 'They'd have to be taking some steroids, I think, in order to let that happen.' "

So don't worry.

First McCain's postion on abortion disqualifies him completely from the big tent Cemocratic party. He wouldn't even be allowed to speak at the convention!

Second John McCain could never be Vice President as that would require him to take a back seat to John Kerry. Never gonna happen. That would mean that John McCain would have to talk about something other than John McCain.

But John McCain will tell you that on t.v. in the coming days. If you have a fil crew John McCain will talk to you about John McCain.

Yahoo! Powell Worried About Indecency Bills FCC Commissioner Powell, who was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1997, (not by President Bush as Howard Stern has stated so many times), has some concerns with the new indeceny laws which have passed through committee in the Senate:

"'There are a number of things that give me pause because I don't want to see enforcement remedies being captured by constitutional litigation,' Powell told reporters after speaking to a group of state regulators.
'Things like three strikes and you're out, I think is an understandable idea but when you think it through, I can imagine scenarios where it can be more problematic than not,' he said. "

John Kerry promises to be "Dr. Phil" to Bill Clinton's "Oprah"

Presidential candidate and Senator John Kerry has retracted a recent statement he made promising to be the second black president in the wake of crticism from civil rights leaders. Campaign spokesperson Jennifer Lahane issued a release late yesterday stating that the candidate no longer felt capable of achieving the status of "black" and instead was only seeking to be a figure that the black community could look up to.

Kerry clarified his position later in the day. "If Bill Clinton was your Oprah, let me be your Dr. Phil!" Kerry told a group of mostly African-American parishoners in Memphis, Tenn. Baptist church. Kerry was referring to Dr. Phil McGraw, a one time frequent guest of the Oprah show, who now has his own syndicated talk show. On his show, Dr. Phil attempts to solve relationship problems with his overbearing ego and simplistic common sense disguised as nuanced and nonsensical phrases.

The change of strategy from the campaign was based on several factors other than the criticism from civil rights leaders stated campaign insiders. For example, Donna Brazile, a former Gore campaign director stated that in order for Kerry to achieve the status of black he would have to "learn to dance and sway like Clinton." Unfortunately, according to the campaign, Kerry does not do the electric slide.

"We felt that Dr. Phil was a more achievable goal. Like the good doctor says, baby steps." Lehane stated. "Just today Senator Kerry told me that life is what happens while you are busy contemplating negative reciprocal tax incentives for depreciating manufacturing overhead. If that's not Dr. Phil, then I don't know what is!"

If Stern goes to Satellite Radio, here is the $99.00 Upgrade you will need. Portable Satellite Radio to Hit the Market "It's called Skyfi and it's a $99 portable satellite radio receiver from Delphi Electronics. It receives the $9-a-month XM satellite service, more than 100 channels of great music of all kinds, news and talk channels, comedy and talking books, even local traffic and weather all in a digital sound quality far better than fm and comparable to CD audio.
In a vehicle, you run a very thin wire out a window or around the door to a low-profile, rectangular antenna that magnetically sticks to the roof. A cigarette lighter power adapter and the cassette plug-in complete the setup, allowing your regular car entertainment system to also receive satellite broadcasts.
In the house, the Sykfi connects to the audio input jacks of the stereo amplifier. But this new all-in-one boom box unit makes it really portable and versatile. It even comes with a CD-player and AM-FM radio.
It will be available in stores by the end of March. "

Does this mean my wife will let me watch it? Judge Rules 'Girls Gone Wild' Is Not Porn: "A videotape of an underage girl exposing her breasts is not child pornography, a judge decided Tuesday in a criminal case against the producer of the 'Girls Gone Wild' video series.

Joe Francis, 30, and several of his employees were arrested at Panama City Beach while filming during spring break last April. Bay County sheriff's deputies charged Francis with racketeering related to prostitution and other crimes, based largely on videotapes of girls under 18.

Many of the 43 counts he faces hinge on what conduct is considered illegal or pornographic.

'This ruling shows that the entire fabric of that claim is wrong,' said defense lawyer Aaron Dyer of Los Angeles. Dyer said he expected the ruling to undermine at least 90 percent of the case.

Circuit Judge Michael C. Overstreet made his decision in ordering that defense lawyers be allowed to copy tape confiscated during a search of Francis' rented condominium last spring. "


Well she probably still won't let me buy it. I actually was afforded my first opportunity of seeing the Girls Gone Wild movie this past Sunday on the greatest show on television Curb Your Enthusiasm. It was a second hand viewing, granting, and only for around 15 seconds, but it was Girls Gone Wild none the less. I must admit it was a massive disappointment. For whatever reason the allure of the mystery created by the little bars covering the wild young girls is much more titillating than the uncovered girls themselves.

What is and what is not pornography will never be a objectively answerable question. But it seems to me that if an image of a woman becomes less titillating by removing more clothing, it simply cannot be porn.

Fight that Ticket! : "Pennsylvania state troopers have written thousands of speeding tickets with radar guns that a state police expert says are so defective they would clock a roadside rock at 70 mph"

In Pennsylvania alone, cops have 572 Genesis guns in use.

1700 Visitors...

One link from Instapundit. No wonder every article on blogging contains his name.

Stern free to go to satellite radio.: "By a narrow 12-11 vote, the committee defeated a provision that would have extended the FCC oversight provisions of indecency and violence to cable and satellite programming, except for pay-per-view channels such as HBO. "

In the interests of fairness..

Maxwell King, president of The Heinz Endowment, responded to similar allegations last fall. His response can be accessed at the above link.

He states quite clearly:"All of the funding provided by the endowments to the Tides Center and, more recently, to Tides of Western Pennsylvania, has been explicitly dedicated to supporting projects in or important to our region. None of those resources were used to support the national groups mentioned by Mr. Randall, despite his implication to the contrary. "

I would take issue with two statements he makes further in his staement however:"Neither the Tides Center nor Tides of Western Pennsylvania are grantmaking institutions that use funding from the endowments and other foundations to support activities of their own choosing. "

The Tides Center clearly funds projects of their choosing. By solicitng funds for certain projects, the Tides Center directs exactly where the money will go. And secondly, he states that "Tides promotes accountability by ensuring that projects are well managed and that foundation resources are used in keeping with their charitable purpose."

Charitable? Is Bushgreenwatch.org a charitable group? i had no idea that politcal campaigning was charity work. The IRS certainly does not think so.

There are so many layers between the Heinz Foundation and the eventual recipients of the money that illegal or maybe even unethical behaviour could never be proven. But man is that money ever flowing! And when there is that much money flowing, some of it can't help but flow into John Kerry's election campaign.

I wonder if anyone could draw a link between the Heinz Foundation and any anti-Kerry or pro-Administration activity?

If it is all on the up and up it stands to reason that it might.

Is Theresa Heinz Kerry using the Heinz Foundation to launder money for her husbands campaign?

I discussed this over a month ago but with today's revelations concerning the Tides founadtion over on InstaPundit.Com I though I would repost it. Glenn asks about the funding of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows from the Tides Foundation. He states: "Could this be a campaign-finance law violation? I don't know enough to tell, but it's certainly an end-run, legal or otherwise. But it's yet another reason to wonder why the finances of nonprofits don't get more scrutiny -- and why the press is so ready to take these sorts of groups at face value, instead of looking into where their money comes from."


This is what I wrote last month:

Theresa Heinz Kerry has said that she won't tap into her massive fortune left to her by her husband to fund her husband's campaign unless he is personally attacked. Of course campaign finance laws already prevent her from doing that. On the other hand, she has never said that she wouldn't use her position at the $1.2 billion Heinz Foundation Endowment, a job she inherited when her first husband, Republican Sen. John Heinz, passed away, to help advance John Kerry's candidacy.

It is beginning to appear that she might be using that philanthropical position for just such a purpose. Theresa Heinz-Kerry is currently the Chairman of the Howard Heinz foundation and serves on the board of directors of the Vira Heinz Foundation. The stated purpose of the foundations is stated as such:

"The Heinz Endowments comprise two private foundations, the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Vira I. Heinz Endowment. Our shared mission is to help southwestern Pennsylvania thrive as a whole community economically, ecologically, educationally, and culturally while advancing the state of knowledge and practice in the fields in which we work. "

Which is very honorable as a stated goal. As a former resident of southwestern Pennsylvania I can honestly attest that the area needs all the help it can get. But that goal seems to be quite at odds with some of the major gifts the Endowment has been giving out recently. For example the League of Conservation Voters' political director Mark Longabaugh said the group got $57,300 from the Heinz Family Foundation from 1993 to 2001, including a $2,500 personal contribution from her in 2000"

And how did they spend that money? Well in the 2004 Election Cycle the League of Conservation Voters purchased and aired an ad, called "One Candidate." The ad praises Sen. John Kerry's record, saying "there's only one candidate who can take on President Bush, with a record of fighting for clean water, clean air and making polluters pay." The ad ran in Arizona and New Mexico prior to the Democratic primaries in those states.

But that just appears to be the tip of the iceberg. Since the late nineties, Heinz Endowments have made some even more questionable donations.

Most disturbing among those is the association the Heinz Foundation has made with the Tides Foundation and Tides Center, an organization with no obvious roots to southwestern Pennsylvania, other than in the name of one of its offshoots, the Tides Center of Southwestern Pennsylvania. The Tides Center, established in 1979, has been legally separate from the Foundation since 1996. It helps manage the legal, accounting and other administrative aspects of start-up political advocacy "projects." In effect, it shelters activists and their fledgling organizations under the umbrella of its own nonprofit tax-exempt status.

The Tides organization was set up in 1976 by California activist Drummond Pike. Activistcash.com notes that "Tides does two things better than any other foundation or charity in the U.S. today: it routinely obscures the sources of its tax-exempt millions, and makes it difficult (if not impossible) to discern how the funds are actually being used. "

Since 1997, the Howard Heinz Endowment has become very close with the secretive Tides center, giving
over 3.2 million dollars in that time frame, not including last year. But how does the Tides spend that money. Its not entirely clear, as secrecy is imperative in hiding sources and expenditures of funding in today's era of strict FEC regulation of campaign activity. Drummond Pike has reinforced this view, telling The Chronicle of Philanthropy: "Anonymity is very important to most of the people we work with."

But not all of the activities of the Tides Center are so anonymous. For example the Tides organization sponsors the Environmental Media Services, which sponsors many liberal groups and activities. So how exactly do you follow the laundry list of money? Here we go:

Theresa Heinz directs the Heinz Foundation Endowment.

The Heinz Foundation Endowment gives to the Tides Center despite no direct link to the foundations stated purpose.

The Tides Center then funds the Environmental Media Services.

And the Environmental Media services funds various anti-administration, pro-Kerry causes likeBushgreenwatch.org

This is just one of many examples of the intricate funding measures for campaigns that have sprung up since McCain Feingold. It also raises many questions. Has Theresa Heinz been using her position at the Heinz Foundation to further her husbands campaign? If so then is this an appropriate use of the organization's money and resources?

More importantly, if Theresa Heinz can direct Heinz Foundation resources to causes that directly or indirectly support her husband's campaign then do those funds fall under the non-exempt tax status of campaign donations, thus threatening the status of the Heinz Foundation. Similarly, do these monies then fall under personal donations, thereby drawing the ire of the FEC. The activities of the League of Conservation Voters and Tides Center are likely just the tip of the iceberg in this laundry list of funding activities. As this campaign stretches into the summer, the money will continue to flow and these questions will continue to be asked.

Edited to add this:

Blake from American Footprint points to a list of nonpolitical charitable based organizations in his comment. As I note above, any work done by the foundation in supporting that region is laudable and needed and I by no means want to disparage their work. However, it is not entirely clear that all of the Heinz money goes to TCWPA. The problem arises when groups like the Tides Foundation are given access to large sources of funds with which to distribute amongst their various and sundry underlings. McCain Feingold just created a whole new box of worms.

Also note that American Footprint is one fantastic looking blog. I wish my blog was that cool, but alas, it likely never will be.

Getting very Ugly, Very quickly

The more I think about the Kerry comments the more I am amazed.

First some background.

The recent John Kerry remarks were inspired by theseremarks by the Vice President at a reception for John Thune
"In January, I visited one of our American military bases at Vicenza, in Italy, and had a chance to talk with some of the fine men and women of our armed forces who had recently returned from Iraq. One young soldier, part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade that jumped into Iraq at the beginning of the war, wanted me to know how much he appreciated the President's decisive leadership. 'Indecision kills, sir,' this young soldier said to me, 'indecision kills.'
These are not times for leaders who shift with the political winds, saying one thing one day and another the next. (Applause.) We need a Commander-in-Chief of clear vision and steady determination. And we need to give him the kind of support in the United States Senate that John Thune will provide. "

So is Cheney saying that Kerry's indecision in the past has lead to troop deaths. No clearly not. Were his remarks over the top? Well they were'ntknid that is for sure.

But this is how Kerry responds:
: "'Let me tell you something Mr. Cheney and let me tell you Mr. Bush: Bad rush decisions kill too,' Kerry told an evening rally in Tampa, Florida. 'And not giving American citizens health care kills too.'

'Going backwards on clean air and clean water kills too,' he continued. 'And not doing anything about AIDS in Africa for three and a half years ... kills people too.'"

So Bush kills citiznes. Not military personnel in times of war protecting the U.S. but citizens, living their daily lives. This seems incredibly over the top.

I didn't closely follow the Dean campaign but from what I gathered he was sometimes quite vociferous in his criticism of the President.

But did Dean ever say something this incendiary?.Did he ever come out and say that Bush's bad decisions on issues other than Iraq killed people? I mean that's pretty much calling Bush a maslaughterer. Or at least a negligent homicider.

And can anyone remember a similarly charged claim from 2000 or 2004 as in: Gore did X and people died. Or in 1996, Clinton did or did not do X and people died. I suppose Dole had the chance conisdering Oklahoma City and WTC1 happened under Clinton's watch but did he say Clinton's X policy kills?

8 more months...sheesh.

(By the way I just saw the new Bush ad and there was no image of the remains being taken out witht he flag. Just an image of the World Trade Center.)

Kerry Unhinged

This is not a good sign. The president says that Kerry is indecisive so Kerry calls him a murderer?

"Let me tell you something Mr. Cheney and let me tell you Mr. Bush: Bad rush decisions kill too," Kerry told an evening rally in Tampa, Florida. "And not giving American citizens health care kills too."

"Going backwards on clean air and clean water kills too," he continued. "And not doing anything about AIDS in Africa for three and a half years ... kills people too.""

That is a little rugged.

More information on Information for Laparoscopic Gallbladder Removal from SAGES

Attorney General Ashcroft is having this surgery right now. He may need further surgery depending on the state of his pancreas.

For some reason I think that this sentence:"Other canulas are inserted which allow your surgeon to delicately separate the gallbladder from its attachments and then remove it through one of the openings. " may understate the process somewhat.

The heart of the matter

There is no greater indication of the ability of a lineup to score runs than to examine the collective abilities of the 3-4-5 spots in an order. Typically, even if a lineup, like the Yankees, for example, has strength through out, that strength will be tempered if the 3-4-5 slots are not consistently strong. This is not always the rule, if a lineup like the 2001 Seattle Mariners has a number of near 400 OBP guys they can still score runs and lots of them. But from a pure points perspective in a points league you are looking for runs and RBI's. Those simply are not available without multiple hitters in the lineup. Individual performance is almost secondary.

Take David Ortiz for example. His OPS goes up modestly from .840 to .960. A 15% increase. But his other numbers skyrocket. His runs go up 50% and RBI's 33%. So team production is important and for team production you look to the 3-4-5's. These batters get proportionate more meaningful at bats than any other position in the line-up, and in fantasy terms, this stacks up over the course of a season. So let's rank them..

1. NY Yankees:
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Jason Giambi, 1B
Gary Sheffield, RF

This is a monster threesome. Arod was of course the first player walked to pitch the Griffey Jr. in the late 90's. Now pitchers will have to pitch around him to get to Giambi and then pitch around Giambi to get to Sheffield. This is dependent on Shef's thumb of course. But even if you replace Sheff with Posada or Bernie this is still a mammoth order and I would still put them #1. They should get 120 homers.

2. Red Sox:
Manny Ramirez, LF
Nomar Garciaparra, SS
David Ortiz, DH

Nomar actually had a better season than Arod did last year shockingly in terms of total points. Manny is Manny and always solid. Ortiz will not be playing full time and depending on who spells him this group should put the Sox in line for a ton of runs.

3. Angels:
Vladimir Guerrero, RF
Garret Anderson, CF
Tim Salmon, DH

Incredi-Vlad, steady Garret, and aging but powerful Tim. These guys are poised to pound the ball this year. Vlad swings at everything and with Garret and Salmon behind him he should have a lot to swing at.

4. Toronto Blue Jays:
Vernon Wells, CF
Carlos Delgado, 1B
Eric Hinske, 3B

Wells is fantastic and Delgado had quite a comeback last year. Hinske slumped and was injured invariably or these guys might be higher. Hinske also tended to hit a lot of doubles. But for his weakness these guys could be number 2.

5. St. Louis Cardinals
Albert Pujols, 1B
Jim Edmonds, CF
Scott Rolen, 3B

Pujols is the best offensive player in the game. Edmonds and Rolen tend to strike out too much though thereby giving pitchers some leeway in not pitching to him.

6. Colorado Rockies
Todd Helton, 1B
Larry Walker, RF
Preston Wilson, CF

If they played every game at Coors, this threesome would be number 1. Walker will miss 40 games and Wilson will strike out 160 times. Despite all that they produce like the brewery itself.

7. Philadelphia Phillies
Bobby Abreu, RF
Jim Thome, 1B
Pat Burrell, LF

Burrell dissappointed mightily last year. a preseason favorite for MVp he did nothing. If he comes back strong this could be a top 3 run producing squad.

8. Houston Astros
Jeff Bagwell, 1B
Lance Berkman, LF
Jeff Kent, 2B

Bagwell and Kent are getting old and Berkman is getting fat. Nice thing about him though is that there was never any hint of steroid use. You have to like there chances in that ball park though.

9. Chicago Cubs
Sammy Sosa, RF
Moises Alou, LF
Derrek Lee, 1B

I hate to say this, but I don't think Sammy is going to hit 30 home runs this season. Lee is on the rise and if alou stays healthy all season then they will hit. Alou won't hit in April, but stay patient.

10. Orioles:
Miguel Tejada, SS
Rafael Palmeiro, 1B
Javy Lopez, C

The new and improved Orioles! With Rafi returning to the middle of the line up of the O's and carrying his stiff wood, these guys should return some life to the inner harbor. Injuries could capsize this crew. but in front of Palmeiro and Lopez, Tejada could compete on even ground with Arod and Garciaparra for offensive numbers.

11. Cinncinnatti Reds
Ken Griffey, Jr., CF
Sean Casey, 1B
Austin Kearns, LF

Can Junior get off the schnide? Can Kearns continue to mash. Why is a singles hiiter batting cleanup?

12. Atlanta Braves
Chipper Jones, LF
Andruw Jones, CF
J.D. Drew, RF

J.D. is good for 120 games. Andruw strikes out too much. Still there is talent here and they will continue to produce runs.

13. Seattle Mariners:
Edgar Martinez, DH
Bret Boone, 2B
John Olerud, 1B

Edgar and Olerud are old and Booey is off the juice. In this last season for the trio things may end by august.

14. White Sox:
Frank Thomas, DH
Magglio Ordonez, LF
Carlos Lee, LF

This is all the Magglio vote. Thomas and Carlos simply cannot be counted on consistently.

15. Arizona Diamondbacks
Luis Gonzalez, LF
Richie Sexson, 1B
Alex Cintron, SS

Alex Cintron hitting 5th? Embarassing.

16. Kansas City:
Mike Sweeney, 1B
Juan Gonzalez, RF
Joe Randa, 3B

I think these guys are already on the DL. It has been so long since Juan Gone was good its hard to even remember any more what it was like.

17.San Diego Padres
Brian Giles, RF
Phil Nevin, 1B
Ryan Klesko, LF

Nevin has already hurt his shoulder.Giles should florish in the Southern California sun surfing with Ryan.

18. Oakland A's
Eric Chavez, 3B
Jermaine Dye, RF
Erubiel Durazo, DH

This is an entirely hit or miss threesome. These guys are such streak hitters that they could all go for weeks without getting a hit.Scary.

19.Texas Rangers:
Hank Blalock, 3B
Brad Fullmer, DH
Mark Teixeira, 1B

This one is a shot in the dark. By losing both Arod and Palmeiro the Rangers lost the heart of their order and none of these guys have ever played this important a role before. Blalock could go in the dumper again, as could Texiera. This placement has as much to do with the ballpark as the players themselves.

20.Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Rocco Baldelli, CF
Aubrey Huff, DH
Jose Cruz, Jr., RF

Huff had a great year last year, quietly. Baldelli and Cruz could combine for 350 K's and 30 walks.

21.New York Mets
Mike Piazza, C
Cliff Floyd, LF
Mike Cameron, CF

Can piazza come back? This might be your last chance to get Piazza at catcher.

22. Los Angeles Dodgers
Shawn Green, 1B
Juan Encarnacion, RF
Adrian Beltre, 3B

I don't think Beltre will ever be good. Beltre marks the 7th 3B to find a place in the heart of the lineup. There are only 3 shortstops with Arod moving out.. Juan Encarnacion has a nice variety of talents but nothing that would suit him for hitting cleanup in Dodger stadium. Look for another dismal offensive year from the men in blue.

23. San Francisco Giants
Barry Bonds, RF
Edgardo Alfonzo, 3B
Marquis Grissom, CF

8 3'bs. Although, I can't even remember the last time anyone had Alfonzo or Grissom in their fantasy line up for more than two weeks. Bonds could miss significant time this year because, well, you know, with the juice, and the flavin.

24. Florida Marlins
Miguel Cabrera, RF
Mike Lowell, 3B
Jeff Conine, LF

9 3B's. Where did all these offensive 3B's come from. And Lowell was the best statisically last year, except for Arod,? The real question is who is Miguel Cabrera? 20 year old kid who had a pretty good year last year. Wouldn't crack the Yankee or Red Sox Roster, but pretty good.

25. Detroit Tigers:
Bobby Higginson, RF
Ivan Rodriguez, C
Dmitri Young, DH

This one is completely bogus by the way. These guys will hit 3-4-5 probably about 10 games this season. One of them will be injured the other 152 games or crazy or moved. But if these guys are all hitting together, they are not the worst in the league. Close.

26. Cleveland Indians:
Jody Gerut, RF
Milton Bradley, CF
Travis Hafner, DH

Milton actually can mash. If he keeps his head screwed on he might be worth it as a fourth OF. these other guys...ugh.

27.Minnesota Twins:
Doug Mientkiewicz, 1B
Corey Koskie, 3B
Torii Hunter, CF

10 3B's hitting either 3-4-5! The lesson is this I think. There are lots of good third basemen in the league. If you don't get Arod, then get Lowell, or Rolen, or Chavez, then there is Hinske and Blalock, Randa, Coskie, Beltre or even Alfonzo. There is some quality throughout the draft, so focus on something else and pick up the guy who falls two rouns too far.

28. Milwaukee Brewers
Junior Spivey, 2B
Geoff Jenkins, LF
Lyle Overbay, 1B

This is probably a tad low for these guys who can play. They can also strike out. And pull hammies. But they can play.

29.Montreal Expos
Orlando Cabrera, SS
Carl Everett, CF
Nick Johnson, 1B

Is there anything sadder than anchoring your line up to Carl Everett? The poor guy is going to go psycho in Montreal.

30. Pittsburgh Pirates
Jason Kendall, C
Raul Mondesi, RF
Randall Simon, 1B

Wait we have an answer! The one thing more depressing than having to rely on Carl Everett as your cleanup hitter would be having to rely on Raul Mondesi. If I were you I would say as far away as possible from any offensive Pirate this year. They may not crack 500 runs.

Episcopal Church views religion as competition We are competing for people's attention with things like the 9/11 disaster and Kylie Minogue's rear end, so we are not going to get people in by running a jumble sale."

Maybe its this type of sentiment that is keeping people away from the church. Things like the 9/11 disaster and Kylie Minogue's butt should be drawing people to the church shouldn't they? I thought the Church was in the business of souls not butts in the seats.

Remember when Christianity was all about the message? Eh, me neither. I went to Catholic Mass during college because they served me beer despite my youth and let me gamble for actual money. The best part about was that becuase I was not an actual catholic i could neither take communion nor give confession after drinking and gambling and liking it. It was guilt free.

The Salt Lake Tribune -- Boy Scout decision disappoints LDS Church: "The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear an appeal by the Boy Scouts of America over the organization's exclusion from a Connecticut fund-raising program, a disappointment for the LDS Church, the nation's largest religious sponsor of Scouting.
The high court's action lets stand a ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the exclusion of the Scouts from sharing in program donations under a Connecticut law that prohibits discrimination or the sanctioning of discrimination by the state based on sexual orientation.
The Scouts bar homosexuals from being members, volunteer leaders or employees. "

State News - StatesmanJournal.com: "Multnomah County will continue issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, after a judge rejected an emergency request by critics Monday to halt the controversial practice.

Multnomah Circuit Court Judge Dale Koch denied a temporary restraining order by the newly formed Defense of Marriage Coalition."

IN-FORUM: "Five Cubans who were convicted in 2001 on charges of trying to infiltrate U.S. military bases and Cuban exile groups in South Florida have their appeal scheduled Wednesday.
The Havana-trained agents are challenging their convictions, sentences and even the location of the trial in Miami, the largest Cuban community outside Havana. They are serving sentences ranging from 15 years to life."

Buy Japanese, Made in America, Or Buy American, Made in Canada, But don't buy Eorupean! Newsday.com reports that : "Japanese models once again dominated Consumer Reports' annual rankings of new cars, but the prestigious magazine's auto editors said American Big Three models have outclassed European vehicles for the first time.

Releasing its annual April new-car issue, the magazine said the most reliable 2003 model, based on more than 600,000 responses to the magazine's annual reader survey, was the Lexus LS 300/430 series, with an average of four problems per 100 cars.

The worst of all models for which the magazine had reliability data was BMW's flagship 7-Series, which begins at $70,000 and has been controversial for its electronic complexity. The 7-Series averaged 42 problems per 100 vehicles. 'The 7-Series is probably one of the worst in our charts to date,' said David Champion, who is in charge of the magazine's auto testing."

I personally drive a BMW, which has given me electrical problems. but it is just too much fun not to drive it. And besides Chevy's suck.

Mmmmmmm wormy

Atkins approved snack manufactured by, who else, EATWORM.

Peter Angelos is a bastard "Virginia's legislation to fund part of the construction cost for a new ballpark expires this year, and the legislature opted not to extend it. Virginia officials say the law provides the framework for two-thirds public financing of a new ballpark, though the details are not complete.
'It's this year or never,' said Keith Frederick,chairman of the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority. 'Major league baseball has had plenty of chances to look at (northern Virginia), the best market available.'"

That's right. here's a customer right here who would go to a Senator's game.

Drop Nevin on lists "San Diego Padres first baseman Phil Nevin has a strained left shoulder and is expected to miss about four weeks.:

Nevin was hurt in a spring training game against Anaheim on Sunday night, a year to the day he dislocated the same shoulder, which kept him out until July 23 last season."

U.S. Replaces Halliburton Iraqi Fuel Contracts: "The U.S. military said on Monday it had awarded seven new contracts to deliver fuel to northern Iraq (news - web sites), replacing much-criticized work done by Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites)'s old firm Halliburton .

The biggest contract went to New Braunfels, Texas-based company Refinery Associates of Texas, Inc. which was given a $108.5 million deal to bring in diesel fuel and gasoline. The remaining six went to Turkish firms. "

The question now is what association Refinery Associates of Texas has to the administration. There is crazy little information on the company other than the fact thatey have lots of Defense contracts for fuel and are located in New Braunfels.

This blog bows to no one in its knowledge of gay culture.

"A gay couple were married in City Hall on Monday after being issued a license by city officials who claim New Jersey law does not explicitly ban such unions."

It was only 5 hours ago that it was predicted that a gay marriage would soon occur in New Jersey.

So now the official tally for actual same sex marriage performed is: New Jersey, California, Oregon, New York and New Mexico.

Pending in: Washington, Massachusetts.

By the time the Senate gets around to voting this might be a decided issue in a number of states.

Kerry makes nice first date.: "In the first national poll since the presidential campaign became a two-person race, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry leads President Bush, 52%-44%.
Kerry's 8-point lead with likely voters in the USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll comes after he effectively clinched the Democratic nomination on Tuesday and Bush followed with three speeches criticizing Kerry's record in the Senate and charging that the country would be less safe under his leadership. "

Is he polite enough to merit a second date? Or even, gasp, a long term relationship. is America the next grieving widow he steps into woo? he is effective at it.

We will see. At this point national polls are really meaningless. Besides I think the Republicans have already given up on winning the popular vote. The polls that matter are Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Arizona and Florida.

Finally, while the campaign on Kerry's flip flops are nice and clever, i don't know how effective they will be. For example, if Kerry is willing to change his vote to or policy based on political expediency doesn't that mean he will eventually support my point of view?

Drop Sheffield in your drafts: "New York Yankees (news) slugger Gary Sheffield (news) could be sidelined for up to three months with a thumb injury, the team's Web Site said on Monday. "

Last year he was arguably the best outfielder fro fantasy value. this year not so much. The move to Yankee stadium will hurt him, despite the vauted line up in front of him. Last year he had Chipper and Jones behind him and Furcal and Giles always on base infront of him. He is also a notoriously slow healer. It does not look like a break, but I would drop him out of the top 5 or 6 outfileder's now behind Vlad, Barry, Magglio, Manny, and maybe Carlos Beltran.

Who wants to be the President? (Interviews will occur in Washington THIS weekend: March 13 - 14.)

American Candidate will provide a forum for new and diverse ideas and a path to national prominence for people with the passion and talent to make a difference. Contestants will create their own platforms, organize their own campaigns, recruit key staff members, and garner the support of potential voters. By introducing a diverse group of potential leaders, each championing a different set of core issues and policy proposals, the show will provoke discussion and debate about what our nation is really looking for in a president. And by providing a forum for grassroots campaigns throughout the country, American Candidate will involve more people in the political process.

We are looking for:
* People who have a passion for creating change
* Leaders
* Diversity

The requirements and more information can be found at http://www.AmericanCandidate.com.
American Candidate is created and executive produced by R.J. Cutler, who produced the Oscar-nominated documentary The War Room, produced and directed the Emmy-nominated documentary A Perfect Candidate, and created, executive produced and directed the Emmy-winning television series, American High. Jay Roach (Meet the Parents, Austin Powers) and Tom Lassally are also executive producers. American Candidate will air on Showtime starting in the summer of 2004.

I think I might actually watch this show. The producers have a tough decision between going for legitimacy and craziness.

I think the fact that they have opened up the process to those ineligible to be President indicates that they may be going for craziness.

Wooooow, thanks Mean Joe. "Greene, who was the Steelers number one draft choice in 1969, will be involved in player personnel decisions, scouting activities and assist in evaluating players for the upcoming draft and trades.
The announcement was a homecoming for Greene, who was part of the famed 'Steel Curtain' that led Pittsburgh to four Super Bowl titles in a 13-year career spent in a Steelers uniform. "

Of course the most memorable vision of Mean Joe for fans around the world can be viewed here.

DRUDGE has some interesting notes on the interview with Chief Justice Rehnquist.

A retirement could only lead to crazy election year fun.

I think if Bush wins you would get a number of retirements in succession.

Notes on the new Iraqi Constitution..

It is available online now, and translated into english. It is a "transitional" document and The term “transitional period” refers to the period beginning on 30 June 2004 and lasting until the formation of an elected Iraqi government pursuant to a permanent constitution as set forth in this Law, which in any case shall be no later than 31 December 2005, unless the provisions of Article 61 are applied.


Here are some preliminary thoughts:
Art. 1 Sect C:The Preamble to this Law is an integral part of this Law.

I like this clause and wish we had it ourselves. Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, has always struck a resonant tone.


Article 4 states:The system of government in Iraq shall be republican, federal, democratic, and pluralistic, and powers shall be shared between the federal government and the regional governments, governorates, municipalities, and local administrations. The federal system shall be based upon geographic and historical realities and the separation of powers, and not upon origin, race, ethnicity, nationality, or confession.

Republican, Federal, Democratic and pluralistic? That's alot to ask for.

The controversial atrticle is article 7 which states:
"Islam is the official religion of the State and is to be considered a source of legislation. No law that contradicts the universally agreed tenets of Islam, the principles of democracy, or the rights cited in Chapter Two of this Law may be enacted during the transitional period. This Law respects the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people and guarantees the full religious rights of all individuals to freedom of religious belief and practice. "

Who gets to state the universally agrred tenets of Islam. My guess is the Koran. And there is alot in the Koran to be feared.

The equality clause:
"All Iraqis are equal in their rights without regard to gender, sect, opinion, belief, nationality, religion, or origin, and they are equal before the law. Discrimination against an Iraqi citizen on the basis of his gender, nationality, religion, or origin is prohibited. Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the security of his person. No one may be deprived of his life or liberty, except in accordance with legal procedures. All are equal before the courts."

It does not add age, sexual orientation or skin color(which our Constitution does). And all opinions are equal? That seems somewhat strange.

Two more and then done.

The individual freedoms are listed under Article 13.

"(A) Public and private freedoms shall be protected.

(B) The right of free expression shall be protected.

(C) The right of free peaceable assembly and the right to join associations freely, as well as the right to form and join unions and political parties freely, in accordance with the law, shall be guaranteed.

(D) Each Iraqi has the right of free movement in all parts of Iraq and the right to travel abroad and return freely.

(E) Each Iraqi has the right to demonstrate and strike peaceably in accordance with the law.

(F) Each Iraqi has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religious belief and practice. Coercion in such matters shall be prohibited.

(G) Slavery, the slave trade, forced labor, and involuntary servitude with or without pay, shall be forbidden.

(H) Each Iraqi has the right to privacy. "

"Shall be protected' is somewhat of a wishy washy term. Of course the phrase "Congress shall make no law" would seem to be strict, but as it turns out, that is wishy washy too. Nice to put the right to privacy right in there. i wonder exactly what that encompasses.

And finally they have a Ninth Amendment:

"Article 23.

The enumeration of the foregoing rights must not be interpreted to mean that they are the only rights enjoyed by the Iraqi people. They enjoy all the rights that befit a free people possessed of their human dignity, including the rights stipulated in international treaties and agreements, other instruments of international law that Iraq has signed and to which it has acceded, and others that are deemed binding upon it, and in the law of nations. Non-Iraqis within Iraq shall enjoy all human rights not inconsistent with their status as non-citizens."

How is this different from our own? Well first it is definitely a continuing right, changing with time. "All the rights that befit a free people possessed of their human dignity." That could mean almost anything, which i suppose, is not such a bad thing after all.

U.S. Troops fighting in Algeria..: "U.S. officials said a Special Operations Forces (SOF) unit was operating with Algerian troops in the southern part of the country. They said the U.S. military also planned to expand operations to other parts of Algeria.
This is the first time a U.S. military force was sent to battle insurgents in Algeria. Officials said the focus was on the Salafist Brigade for Combat and Call, which has been referred to as a subcontractor for Al Qaida and which has a significant presence along the southern border with Mali."

A subcontractor? Somewhat of a legalistic enterprise.

Top Iraqi nuclear scientist Jafar Dhia Jafar says inspectors knew Saddam had no nuke program.

This story is somewhat strange in that Jafar Dhia Jafar says U-N inspectors had "reached total conviction" that Iraq was free of nuclear weapons before the invasion, but they failed to convey that to the Security Council. Usually the blame falls directly on the United States instead of the U.N.

Maybe Jafar has been in hiding so long he hasn't checked hs anti-administration talking points.

Second World Leader Voices Support of Kerry: "President Hugo Chavez on Sunday vowed to freeze oil exports to the United States and wage a '100-year war' if Washington ever tried to invade Venezuela."

"On Saturday, at least 500,000 Venezuelans marched in Caracas to protest the National Elections Council's decision last week that an opposition petition for the recall vote lacked enough valid signatures. Opponents turned in more than 3 million signatures December 19 but the council ruled only 1.8 million were valid. The council ordered more than 1 million citizens to confirm they signed and rejected more than 140,000 signatures outright."

Now I don't really know if Chavez is supporting Kerry, but I would watch out.

In the short term, oil prices are remaining steady despite this news.

Odd story on Zimbabwean Plane.: "Zimbabwean security authorities have impounded a US-registered aircraft that landed at the country's main international airport with military equipment and 64 men aboard suspected to be mercenaries, Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi revealed."

How did they get the plane?
Why was it registered U.S.?
Are there bands of roving mercenaries with their own plane roaming the globe?
Why were they going to Zimbabwe?
Where did the plane come from?
Were they fleeing or just conventioneering?

The Senate Needs To Update its Flags


Georgia, which has replaced its flag permanently needs to send someone at the Senate a new one.



This is the flag that currently hangs in the passageway between the Capitol office buildings.

My Best time is 37

Kerry recognizes Kim Jong Il's support

Kerry recently stated: "'I've met foreign leaders who can't go out and say this publicly, but boy they look at you and say, 'You've got to win this, you've got to beat this guy, we need a new policy,' things like that,' "

Well of course they have. The Financial times recently reported: "The North Koreans believe a President Kerry " an avowed internationalist not known as a hard-liner on national security " would be easier to deal with on nuclear proliferation and other issues than the more hawkish Bush Administration. Kerry, moreover, has expressed a willingness to negotiate directly with the North Koreans on the arms empasse, while Bush has rightly insisted on multi-lateral talks involving regional powers."

"Seattle to Recognize Employees' Same-Sex Marriages, AP Reports "

First this is not that big of a story. Seattle has provided domestic-partnership benefits to all city workers since 1989, though the process requires substantial paperwork. Nickels's new order would allow married same- sex couples just to bypass that process. Apparently, equal protection rights applies to paperwork as well. Sort of like the Canadian border issue.

This train has left the station. Right now there are pockets of support for same sex marrriage in New York, California, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico and Massachusetts. By the time of the election, I wouldn't be surprised to see same sex marriages in Hawaii, Vermont, Connecticutt, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Delaware.

How Liberal is Calpundit?Calpundit discusses the Jeff Jenkins "liberalness" of John Kerry as compared to past Presidents and notes the ranking order:

John F. Kennedy (most liberal)
Bill Clinton
Jimmy Carter
John Kerry
Lyndon Johnson (most conservative)

So Kerry is well toward the middle compared to past Democratic presidents. How about George Bush?

Ronald Reagan (most conservative)
George W. Bush
George Bush Sr.
Richard Nixon
Dwight Eisenhower
Gerald Ford (most liberal)

Bush is the second most extreme Republican president since World War II."

Extreme? Why are the Democrats just Democrats but republicans are "extreme"? This study is obviously suspect, as the rankings themselves indicate. Clinton more liberal than Carter? But regardless odf the rankings themselves there is more information of interest in the article.

He also notes that based on the same methodology on this site, Kerry is only the 24th most liberal Senator.

I will note that John Kerry is the Number 1 most absent Senator. casting only 146 out of 379 possible votes. Even Edwards cast over 100 more votes!
If you want to see the voting history for Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts please visit this site.

Of particular note is the bill to amend the procedures that apply to consideration of interstate class actions to assure fairer outcomes for class members and defendants, and for other purposes. Kerry chose not to attend that vote. Instead he was campaigning in Iowa.

This was a pathetic missed vote done in order to placate his legal contributors. If he wants to keep getting that lawyer money, maybe he doesn't need John Edwards.

John Henry Williams gets a toungue lashing in hell.: "The son of baseball great Ted Williams, who had his father's body frozen two years ago, has died of leukemia at a Los Angeles hospital, according to a statement issued on Sunday by the Boston Red Sox (news), the star's former team. "

Passion Cracks 200 Million mark

Looks to stay even with other 400 million dollar films.

The Drudge Report Notes that John Kerry's Official Website is Riddled with Obscenity, however...

What is more important is what is not on his site. For example, what does John Kerry or any of his supporters think of Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani? Who knows? There is not one mention of Al-Sistani on the site. Al-Sistani is only the most powerful person in Iraq right now. But, I guess that doesn't matter for the Kerry campaign. Kerry does state he has plan for Iraq. I don't think the millions of Shi-ites would be too happy to find out that it does not invovle Al-Sistani.

What about Hezbollah? Surely the terror brokers in the Plastine/Isreal conflict deserve some mention don't they? After it was John Kerry himself who said that his book on international crime rings was actually about international terror organizations. Shouldn't his site actually mention this important and destructive group? I guess not.

A President Kerry would work to improve foreign relations in the fight against terror. Right now there would appear to be no more important strategic ally than President Pervez Musharraf. Well maybe not. Not a single mention. But, after all who needs Pakistan really? They could not possibly be as important as say France.

In Kerry's defense campaign websites can't be expected to detail everything a President would stand for. In addition to all of the profanity and trashing of the President the Kerry website also includes many important details like great spots for good chili and details on Kerry's past relationship with Morgan Fairchild.

It is also entirely possible that Kerry's plan for the middle east and global terrorism involves France, chili and Morgan Fairchild. If it does, I would love to hear it.

This Blog's New Slogan: I Love Pork!

Newsday.com rports that Maryland Officials Order Slaughter of Chickens: "The discovery of avian influenza in Maryland compelled the slaughter of 328,000 birds on a huge commercial chicken farm, nearly four times the number killed when two Delaware farms were infected last month. "

Ok, so we can't eat beef because of mad cow disease, chicken because of avian flu and fish because of mercury.

Is there anything wrong with pork? Well not from this blogger's perspective.

i want my baby back, baby back, baby back...

The New Yorker confirms this blogs many statements as to why we are going easy on Nuke Khan.

Remember these were Khan's offenses:
" “Khan was willing to sell blueprints, centrifuges, and the latest in weaponry. He was the worst nuclear-arms proliferator in the world and he’s pardoned—with not a squeak from the White House.”"

No squeak, but instead we have numerous troops no in Pakistan cutting off the al Qaeda's routes to the South and East.

Could he escape North into Russia?

ATRIOS BELIEVES IN THE BUSH ECONOMY!!!!

I suppose his idiocy sells, but he is taking Alan Greenspan to task for recommending to people to switch to variable "This is really scary. A lot of people have been concerned about a bursting housing bubble happening once interest rates start to rise. Even if that happens it wouldn't necessarily be such a big deal. But, if a large chunk of our population got suckered into getting variable rate mortgages so they could go from buying a house the couldn't afford to buying a house they REALLY REALLY couldn't afford, the impact of an interest rate rise could be, uh, bad"

The only way the interest rates are going to rise is if the economy begins chugging along at a fast clip, and hiring increases thereby spurring some infationary tendencies.

Atrios must really believe in the Bush economy. If he thought that Bush has doomed the economy, then interest rates should stay low longterm and a variable rate loan would be preferable.

There is a third option. Atrios is an idiot who tends to throw falmes without thinking.

I think that one is right.

Al Qaeda's desperate Acts to Prevent Progress: " At least 10 rockets exploded Sunday night in central Baghdad near the area housing the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition, officials said. Sirens blared for several minutes, and smoke and flames were visible. "

Desperate yes. Maybe Al Sistani realized that to delay signing the constitution any longer would promote further violence.

McCain, who is not one of the Co-Chairs of the Commission, Speaks Out
McCain Says WMD Commission Needs Subpoena Power

"Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, said on Sunday the commission created by President Bush (news - web sites) to investigate intelligence failures in the buildup to the Iraq (news - web sites) war needs subpoena power.

McCain, a member of the bipartisan panel, said such powers would give commission 'certain credibility,' and voiced hope an agreement would be reached to obtain it. "

McCain loves to speak to the press and has appointed himself the de facto spokesp[erson for the commission. Great.

Maybe he will ride the notoreity of the commission to his re-election in November.

Constitution will be signed on Monday in Iraq...The Iraq Shi'ites Strike Constitution Deal with Sistani: "'We will sign the interim constitution Monday as it stands,' Mohammed Hussein Bahr al-Uloum, the son and chief adviser to Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum, the current president of the Iraqi Governing Council, told Reuters.
'We told (Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani) our interest is in signing the constitution,' he added.
'We don't want the rest of the Council to fear that the Shi'ites want to demolish the whole process. We don't want them to fear that the Shi'ites are trying to control things.' "

Well we screwed it up the first time we tried things with the Articles of the Confederation. I don't know too many countries hit it out of the park on their first try.

FCC confirms Stern Fines: "The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is reportedly about to issue two dozen fines against radio stations from cases that were being investigated in 2003 well before Janet Jackson's breast ignited a political frenzy regarding broadcasting standards on Super Bowl Sunday.
FCC officials revealed to the Wall Street Journal this morning that the fines were imminent and that Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting would be among the targets of the fines. Howard Stern, the most popular deejay in the United States, was specifically mentioned. "

I guess the idea of having John Kerry, is actually better than having John Kerry.

Odds in the Presidential Race, which had drawn close to even are now back up to 1 to 2 against.

Tracking the Passion...

For more information on how the passion is doing compared to the other top grossing movies, Box Office Mojo is tracking the takes...

Let's Play Identify the Rotations!

In our have/have not leagues there is no greater indication of the pathetic state of teams when these ten rotations represent the best available talent affordable. They are truly pathetic representatives 1-5. 30 of these guys should not even be in the major leagues at all and the other 20 should be 4-5 starters.

Rotation #1:
Cory Lidle
Paul Wilson
Brandon Claussen
Jimmy Haynes
Jose Acevedo

Rotation #2
Jason Johnson
Mike Maroth
Jeremy Bonderman
Nate Cornejo
Nate Robertson

Rotation #3
Brian Anderson
Darrell May
Miguel Asencio
Kevin Appier
Jeremy Affeldt

Rotation #3
Victor Zambrano
Jeremi Gonzalez
Mark Hendrickson
Doug Waechter
Damian Moss

Rotation #4
Jason Jennings
Joe Kennedy
Scott Elarton
Denny Stark
Shawn Estes

Rotation #5
Ben Sheets
Matt Kinney
Wayne Franklin
Wes Obermueller
Doug Davis

Rotation #6
Brian Lawrence
David Wells
Adam Eaton
Jake Peavy
Sterling Hitchcock

Rotation #7
Sidney Ponson
Rodrigo Lopez
Kurt Ainsworth
Eric DuBose
Matt Riley

Rotation #8
C.C. Sabathia
Jason Davis
Cliff Lee
Jake Westbrook
Jason Stanford

Rotation #9
Kip Wells
Kris Benson
Josh Fogg
Oliver Perez
Rick Reed

Rotation #10
Livan Hernandez
Tomo Ohka
Tony Armas, Jr.
Zach Day
Claudio Vargas

Answers here..

If you can identify all 10 rotations you know waaaaaaaay too much about baseball. We desperately need to contract this league by at least six teams. I will start with suggesting Tampa, Milwaukee, Montreal, San Diego, Detroit and Cleveland.

It would be nice to have a premier league/ secondary league whereby the worst teams in the league would then compete in a playoff structure at the end of the year with other teams to play inot the league. that might be complicated but the quality of play would severely increase.

Drop Thome on your draft lists... "The Philadelphia Phillies (news)' Jim Thome (news) fractured a finger on Saturday but hoped to be fit for the start of the 2004 season. ":

Libya Gives Up Remaining Nuclear-Related Equipment: "In a major step toward completing its pledged disarmament, Libya on Saturday sent to the United States all the equipment believed to remain of its nuclear weapons program, along with its longer-range missiles and launchers, the White House said. As part of an agreement to rid Libya of weapons of mass destruction, a ship containing 500 metric tons of equipment left the North African country earlier on Saturday for an undisclosed destination in the United States, White House National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack said. "

Libya is really towing the line here. How is it possible that Libya accumulate so much nuclear, chemical and biological waepons and Iraq had none?

Florida, Florida, Florida

How did they find 24 people in Florida who said they would vote for Ralph Nader?

That number is flat wrong.

Right now a vote for Nader in any poll is like a vote for Dean in the polls before the Iowa Caucus, it sends a message.

If Nader gets over 1% of the actual vote I will be shocked.

Maybe all the chemical weapons were in Libya This sounds like alot of them..

"Libya acknowledged stockpiling 44,000 pounds of mustard gas and disclosed the location of a production plant in a declaration submitted Friday to the world's chemical weapons watchdog.
Libyan Col. Mohamed Abu Al Huda handed over 14 file cartons disclosing Libya's chemical weapons programs to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said general director Rogelio Pfirter.
...

Libya also declared thousands of tons of precursors that could be used to make sarin nerve gas, and two storage facilities, Pfirter said. The production and storage facilities were near Tripoli and in the south of the country, Pfirter said. "

Is it possible that Libya was doing this and not Iraq?

And if not in Iraq then why not?

Could the mantra "the inspections are working", possibly have been true?

The huge bonus for the country if Bush is voted out will be the ability of the country to have its cake and eat it too. We will have decimated the Al Qaeda leadership, taken out Saddam Hussein and established a sort a pseudo democracy in the middle east, cleansed Libya and opened them up to inspections, taken out the Taliban, established a U.S. military presence in Pakistan, thereby dramatically lowering tensions with India and removing another terrorist outpost, pressured North Korea to the table and have none of guilt of the actual Iraq war which led to these successes. Hey it was all Bush's fault, and he's gone!

Judge Bars Gay Marriages For A Month: "'The mayor in substance ignores the oath of office that he took to uphold the law,' state Supreme Court Justice Vincent Bradley of Ulster County said in granting a temporary restraining order"

The key to any TRO is irreparable harm. I am curious as to the facts laid out in this brief toward establishing that goal. Th e California Judges who deied the TRO's found no irreparable harm, and on the surface their is none, if you only consider the symbolic value of the marriage certificate as license.

However a viewing of just four to five minutes of coveraqge completely destroys that argument. Couples are coming from all over the country to have these marriages performed and returning their home states and promising to file for all sorts of benefits thereby throwing all sorts of states into turmoil.

I have seen the New Paltz mayor on T.V. on a few interviews and I genuinely like the guy. he is anunassuming 26 year old who really cares for his electorate. I hope he stops and lets the court system adjudicate the marriages he has already performed.

I wonder who Martha Stewart is going to vote for this fall...oh wait.

I may be wrong but I do believe there are campiagn finance laws as to convicted felons as well.

Rule #1 when talking to the Feds: Don't talk.
Rule #2 when talking to the Feds: If you do talk, don't lie.

The good news is that Rosie O'Donnell is really sticking up for her, so there is no way she is going to lose on appeal. Rosie says "Shame on the federal government." Because, you know, lying to the federal government is no big thing. Tax returns, eh. Insider trading, eh. Is there really anything that is truth?

Judge in Brazil celebrates Carnival by Allowing Same-Sex Unions : "A judge in southern Brazil has allowed same-sex unions to be officially registered in a groundbreaking ruling that gay activists on Friday hailed as a model for the rest of the country"

New China Amendment: "Lawful private property is not to be violated"

Is communism dead? This is not a bad amendment. I think as long as we are considering amending the constitution we should scratch the Fifth and add this one.

Wall Street vs. Main Street
By the way, because the jobs numbers were so low, the markets are all up.

I believe the thinking is that Greenspan will not raise interest rates.

Stern's Boss Mel Karmazin gets a Letter from Senator Brownback From MarksFriggin.com - Stern Show News

"He went on to say that this Senator from Kansas by the name of Brownback, wrote a letter to Mel Karmazin and asked him why he hasn't taken Howard off the air yet. This is a guy who Howard claims, lives with some other politicians in a million dollar townhouse that's paid for by a religious organization. Howard said that this is disturbing to him and anyone living in a place like that has to bow to the pressure of the group. Howard said that the name of the group is The Fellowship. He read an article and said that these guys are out of control. They are in congress and in the senate. He said that the house is valued at $1.1 million and the people living there pay just $600 a month for rent. Howard said that the religious organization is actually the C Street Center which is part of The Fellowship. "

Stern is right and wrong on some of his details. First, it is somewhat odd that a Senator would send a letter to a network head asking him what his policy is on broadcasting indecent material (sort of like asking have you stopped beating your wife). Strong arming is never a nice tactic.

However, his details on the Fellowship house are somewhat suspect. I live about two blocks away from the fellowship house and I walk by it every day. The house is not that great (even the crappiest house in this neighborhood is worth $500,000). Also these congressmen are each renting rooms in the house. The rooms do not have their own bathrooms, sperate office areas or kitchens. They are just rooms in a house. I understand that the rooms are not even that big. The house itself is a three floor brownstone which could not possibly even have large rooms..

I recently rented a one bedroom apartment in the neighborhood, with its own kitchen and bathroom and little backyard area just a block and a half away for $950 a month. So renting a 6 rooms in a house for a total of $3600.00 a month does not seem to far off. That should easily cover the mortgage payment and lead to a nice little profit for the center.

By the end of the broadcast he was stating that the housing was being given to the Congressmen for free.

By the way, this is not breaking news, Sixty Minutes had this story a long time ago, probably a year.

I understand his ire, if I was him I would be mad as well. He has turned his viuperative anger at President Bush, which is unfortunate, considering that it Congress which is the source of most of the pressure on the F.C.C..

I can think of about a thousand reasons why this is a bad idea... Microsoft Gadget Keeps Record of Your Life: " SenseCam, touted as a visual diary of sorts by Microsoft Corp., is designed to be worn around the neck and take up to 2,000 images a 12-hour day automatically. "

I am my own Grandpa! Or something like that(subscription req.)

I don't what to say about this but here we go:

"A Texas woman has given birth to twins -- her granddaughters.

When Traci Reid found out she couldn't bear children, her husband's mother volunteered to be a surrogate.

Marianne Thoms is 52-years-old.

She carried her son's twin girls to full term with out any major complications.


"It was a real selfish decision. I didn't want anybody else to carry my grandbabies, so I didn't want some stranger to do this," explains Thoms.

Shawn Reed, the proud father, says that his mother has given him the gift of life all over again. "

Senate Judiciary Memo Leak UpdateFrom the washingtonpost.com: "Pickle and his investigators said forensics analyses indicated that 4,670 files had been downloaded between November 2001 and spring 2003 by one of the aides -- 'the majority of which appeared to be from folders belonging to Democratic staff' on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) said at least 100 of his computer files were also accessed by the GOP aides.
The report identified the two former staffers as Jason Lundell, a nominations clerk who originally accessed the files, and Manuel Miranda, a more senior staff member and later the top aide to Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) on judicial nominations. Miranda, the report said, advised Lundell and was said by other aides to have been implicated in leaking the documents to friendly journalists or other parties outside the Senate. Miranda had previously denied leaking the materials. "

Another performer fired from the radio due to obscenity: "A popular Asian-American radio commentator has been thrown off a Los Angeles public radio station for using a four-letter word, becoming the latest casualty in the cultural war over obscenity on the airwaves. "

F.C.C. Targets Howard Stern....

Smartmoney.com: Breaking News: FCC Targets Shock Jocks: "About a dozen cases are being finalized, these officials said, and one target is Howard Stern, one of the nation's most popular and controversial radio hosts. The FCC is deciding on penalties against his employer, Viacom Inc.'s (VIA) Infinity Broadcasting. Also facing further scrutiny are Emmis Communications Inc. (EMMS) and Clear Channel Communications Inc. (CCU), the nation's largest radio owner,"

A severe case of gallstone pancreatitisYahoo! News - Ashcroft in Intensive Care, Pancreatic Problems: "Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites), the nation's top legal officer, has been admitted to intensive care at a local hospital because of problems with his pancreas, the Justice Department said on Friday. "

Jobless Recovery ContinuesFebruary Job Growth Surprisingly Weak: "U.S. employers added a paltry 21,000 workers to their payrolls last month, far fewer than expected, according to a government report on Friday that was likely to weigh on President Bush (news - web sites) as he seeks re-election. "

This is just killing me

What is J?

I would vote for a law that stated no one is Hitler Congressman Coles recently violated Godwni's Law: by stating that a vote against President Bush's re-election is like supporting Adolf Hitler during World War II, and that, "If George Bush loses the election, Osama bin Laden wins the election."

Pllanned Parenthood v. Casey almost went the other way.. "As lawyers and court: watchers have long suspected, the Supreme Court was ready to effectively overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade (news - web sites) ruling legalizing abortion in 1992, but Justice Anthony M. Kennedy got cold feet, and the vote went the other way. "

Jeff Jacoby brings the hammer on John KerryBoston.com For Bush it's a step closer to reelection: "Unlike Reagan, Bush isn't going to win a 49-state landslide -- the nation is too divided now. Indeed, Bush may not win at all, especially if the war takes a sudden bad turn. But he is likelier to win with an opponent like Kerry, who looks great only at first -- only until voters realize how much less there is to him than meets the eye."

Score one for the ludditesYahoo! News - Calif. County Votes to Ban Biotech Crops: " Voters in Mendocino County have approved the nation's first ban on the raising and keeping of genetically engineered crops or animals. "

D'oh. Another Senator Retires. DenverPost.com reports that "Campbell won't seek re-election."

I wonder if popular Gov. Bill Owens will seek the seat. I also wonder what impact the new campaign finance laws are influencing all of these decisions.

Here is how it stands:
DEMOCRATS REPUBLICANS
Bayh, Evan (Ind.) Bennet, Robert (Utah)
Boxer, Barbara (Calif.) Bond, Christopher (Mo.)
Breaux, John (La.) (open) Brownback, Sam (Kan.)
Daschle, Tom (S.D.) Bunning, Jim (Ky.)
Dodd, Christopher (Conn.) Campbell, Ben Nighthorse (Colo.) (open)
Dorgan, Byron (N.D.) Crapo, Mike (Idaho)
Edwards, John (N.C.) (open) Fitzgerald, Peter (Ill.)(open)
Feingold, Russell (Wis.) Grassley, Chuck (Iowa)
Graham, Bob (Fla.) (open) Gregg, Judd (N.H.)
Hollings, Ernest (S.C.)(open) McCain, John (Ariz.)
Inouye, Daniel (Hawaii) Murkowski, Lisa (Alaska)
Leahy, Patrick (Vt.) Nickles, Don (Okla.)(open)
Lincoln, Blanche (Ark.) Shelby, Richard (Ala.)
Mikulski, Barbara (Md.) Specter, Arlen (Pa.)
Miller, Zell (Ga.) (open) Voinovich, George (Ohio)
Murray, Patty (Wash.)
Reid, Harry (Nev.)
Schumer, Charles (N.Y.)
Wyden, Ron (Ore.)

So 34 total seats up for grabs. 5 Open Democratic Seats and 4 open Republican.
Assuming all of the incumbants win and that the Democrats take Illinois, Alaska and Oklahoma, then the Republicans would have to win Georgia, Florida and North Carolina to maintain the Senate.

More analysis on this later.

Yet another ridiculous patent.. Yahoo! News - Patent Issued for Breakable Plane "Canada has issued a patent for a futuristic commercial jet design that would protect passengers in an emergency by breaking apart and letting the sections parachute gently to the ground. "

what i am going to patent is the concept that if you are in a plummeting plane or elevator you should jump at the split second before you hit the ground, that way you won't crash to earth!

1013.3!!!!!

Beat that!

The key is to bash the penguin with the mace just so he hits the most land mines and keep exploding for distance.

I loved writing that sentence. Maybe we have become too violent as a society.

More explosions and accusations in Baghdad today.. "American forces have intelligence linking Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to a series of suicide bombings in Iraq against pilgrims, the U.S. military commander said Wednesday.":

Reuters.com adds the the U.S. military has claimed that: "'We also have intelligence that shows that there is some linkage between Zarqawi and former regime elements - specifically the Iraqi intelligence service. And we are concerned to see a terrorist group come into close coordination with former Iraqi intelligence people because that creates a opportunity for the enemy for cooperation that can have a lot of danger for the (coalition military) force,' Abizaid said.

U.S. forces have put a $10 million bounty on Zarqawi's head and say they intercepted a letter from him last month urging attacks on Shi'ites to ignite civil war. "

On the other hand, albawaba.com reports that: 'Al Qaeda'' says it was not not involved in Baghdad, Karbala attacks "A letter purporting to come from Al Qaeda firmly denied any role in Tuesday's attacks against Shiite shrines in Karbala and Baghdad, which killed nearly 200 people.

Instead, the letter blamed the attacks on the United States. Signed by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades with 'al Qaeda' in parenthesis, the letter was sent to the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi paper.

'US troops have committed a massacre against the innocent Shi'ite people to set sectarianism ablaze among Iraq's Muslims,' the letter said. "

Great. Just friggin great.

Meanwhile five loud (is there any other type) explosions were heard in central Baghdad tonight.

No word yet on casualties.

Is the the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

Still, though, if i had a choice between Port au Prince and Baghdad I would probably choose the latter. I would also seriously question the previous decisions I had made that would have placed me in such horrible position.

Next stop for the gay marriage train, Portland Oregon From The Olympian: " Multnomah County, Oregon's most populous county, will issue marriage licenses to gay couples today, joining San Francisco in sanctioning same-sex marriages.
Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn has directed the county to issue the licenses, after consulting with the county attorney -- but without an official vote from the four other county commissioners.
'She did it without a vote, but she doesn't need it. She has majority support,' said Commissioner Serena Cruz. "

This is the saddest part about the Martha stewart trial. She could be raking in the dough with all of these gay weddings.

By the way, now that San Francisco, New York and Portland have all joined the marriage fray, it becomes a little more difficult to place the blame on activist judges.

This ad is something special..

On Senator Arlen Specter's site, in the media vault there is an ad entitled "Brittany" that is so far below the belt that it actually shocks the conscious. The closing line is especially disgusting. He paid for the ad since it contains his endorsement.

I wonder why he would run such an incredibly negative ad, in light of the fact the he is leading in most polls.

It doesn't make me want to vote for Specter any more than I did before, but it sort of makes me want to send money to Toomey.

Both Parties Promptly Vanish in a Puff of Logic.

On the Volokh Conspiracy Professor Volokh asks "what happens when (1) the Supreme Court hears a case within its original, rather than appellate, jurisdiction, (2) one of the Justices is recused (yes, unlikely in an original jurisdiction case, but possible), and (3) the Justices split 4-4? In an appellate jurisdiction case where the Court is equally divided, the result is an affirmance of the decision below; but in original jurisdiction cases, there is no decision below."

Just as reference, Article II, Section 2 gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction in all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party. It is not so unlikely in our incestuous government that a Justice might have a close family member who is an Ambassador, public Minister or Consul which would require recusal.

The truth is that it is only my theory that both parties vanish in a puff of logic. I have no idea what actually happens, other than the logical fact that in all cases there is one party who initially files suit and therefore is not looking for a tie. In other words, in civil and criminal suits the tie goes to the defendant and the case just dissappears.

But here are the other suggested possibilities to determine the winner of the suit, when the court returns an evenly split verdict;

1. Feats of strength.
2. Total combined weight of all attorneys on the case.
3. Crazy scavenger hunt across the country where parties have to produce, among other things, a legal brief filed in Orange County including the words "That's how we do it in the O.C., bitch," and a copy of Slouching towards Gomorrah signed by Ted Kennedy and Barney Frank.
4. Each party presents a competitive shrubbery or two, with one only slightly higher than the other, so there is a nice two-level effect with a little path running down the middle. Nothing too expensive, of course.
5. Shortest brief.
6. Spelling bee.
7. Jenga!
8. In the case of a four/four Justice split each group of justices competes in a dance off to be judged by a group of 6 Hollywood's greatest C-level celebrities. If that contest also ends in a tie,then then each side picks one Justice to re-enact the final dance sequence from Flashdance.
9. Rock Paper Scissors, best of 5.
10. The Pentavaret (the secret society which secretly run the world and consists of the Vatican, the Queen, the Getty's, the Rothschilds and Colonel Saunders before he went tits up) steps in and declares a winner.

Wrong Again. Kerry Gets 687 Delegates
Well, Kerry got 687 delegates yesterday.

I predicted 612, which as usual was wrong. However, my completely inability to predict contests actually worked to my advantage. In my stupidity i said that it was both unlikely that Kerry would sweep and that Edwards would win a state. How could both consequences be unlikely? Well who knew that Dean would pull out a win!

Today's Comic:




Click here for full image.

The Budgeternator? The Propositionernator? Voters OK Schwarzenegger's Budget Plan: "Californians overwhelmingly approved a plan Tuesday to borrow a record $15 billion to bail out the state budget, handing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) a crucial victory Tuesday in his bid to turn around the world's sixth-largest economy.

A companion measure that would require a balanced budget also easily passed. Both measures had to be approved for either to take effect.
With 15 percent of precincts reporting, Schwarzenegger's borrowing plan � Proposition 57 � was favored by 61 percent of voters"

Hi, I'm Bob Graham, and I promise as Vice President I will keep copious notes of my bowel movements and deliver Florida's electoral votes

Other Mars Discovery of the Day
toledoblade.com reports that the lack of oxygen in the Martian Atmosphere is explainable.: "The culprit, researchers are reporting today, is hydrogen peroxide - the stuff familiar on Earth as an antiseptic for cuts.

Dr. R. Todd Clancy, who headed the research, in an interview described it as the first detection of hydrogen peroxide in the Martian atmosphere, and a landmark in understanding that thin shroud of gases.

'To a large degree, our measurement of hydrogen peroxide is a confirmation that we understand how the chemistry of the Mars atmosphere behaves,' he said. 'Unlike Venus, Mars is hospitable enough to be considered a possible human habitat in the future.'"

Howard Dean Announces: "I am now, once again, actively seeking the Presidency."

In the wake of winning the Vermont primary, Dean has announced that he is once again in the race for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. Howard Dean was the only candidate other than primary leader John Kerry, to win a primary on Super Tuesday. It is thought that contender, Senator John Edwards will drop out of the race very soon. "Finally, we have what we have been waiting for all year, a two person race," stated recently rehired Campaign Manager Joe Trippi, " John Kerry and Howard Dean." The Dean Campaign noted that as of now both Dean and Edwards have won the same number of primaries, and Dean has recieved the endorsement from more super-delelgates.

The campaign did note that the key to winning the rest of the primaries would be to have howard Dean stay completely away from all media establishments form now until the convention. "We noticed that as the Iowa Caucus approached, Dean recieved more and more media attention." Trippi stated, "That was really bad for us. Our new Slogan is 'Run Silent, Run Deep.'"

From now on Dean will remained locked away in house in Vermont and answer no phone calls or email. Similarly he will ask all of his supporters to refrain from expressing public support for his candidacy in any fashion or on any media outlet. "This is the strategy that won us Vermont," Trippi concluded, "and if we can convince a bunch of idiot yokels with rebel flags on their pick-up trucks to take time out of their busy cross burning schedule next Tuesday to come out and vote for us, we are going to win all of the southern states too!"

Did the Congressional Black Caucus get Paid for Its Endorsement of Aristide?Possibly. Haiti Democracy Project reports that Aristide Used State Money to Pay High-Priced Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Black Legislators.

Pranks vs. Crimes in Gay Marriage in New Paltz New York
I sure hope no one uses this website for pranks. Here is the New Paltz, New York, marriage waiting list form. Anyone could just fill it out with some unsuspecting Senators, or Presidents or friends info and next thing you know they would recieve information on thier upcoming nuptuals.

I wonder if they will get a number of partner names like Heywood Jablowme, Amanda Hugginkiss and the classic, Hugh G. Rection?

This blog however severely discourages this behaviour. It is innapropriate to use government resources in a time wasting and fraudulent manner.

Now you wouldn't likely get arrested for this behavior, unless of course you actually performed the ceremonies. The mayor of this village was criminally charged Tuesday for marrying gay couples who did not have a license. Jason West faces 19 separate counts of solemnizing a marriage without a license, a misdemeanor under the domestic relations law, according to Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams.

It's too bad that there isn't a county attorney or say, state attorney general, to enforce laws in California. They should really look into geting one of those.

Bythe way, I do want to add that Jason West deserves respect for actually performing the ceremonies himself, unlike publicity grabber Gavin Newsome.

No matter where you stand on the issue, by putting himself on the line he is honestly participating in civil disobedience. An action whereby you purposefully break what you percieve to be an unjust law, and face the consequences to prove your point. Newsome is all about the publicity but not about facing the consequences. If he truly belived his cause he would have personally performed a few ceremonies and then let the system take its course. Instead he is participating in and promoting consequence free anarchy.

Getting Rid of Bush Number 1 Issue for Primary Voters; Grammar places distant seventh

"Ousting Bush was the top priority for voters in nearly every Super Tuesday state,: according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and TV networks by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.

'Bush don't mean nothing to nobody but Bush,' said Kerry voter John Richburg, 66, of Cleveland. 'His lies done him out. He's got to go.'"

That last sentence almost makes sense if you say it with a cockney accent and add the word guv'nor to the end.

This is more bad news for Edwards. Maybe a sweep for Kerry?

Post-Voting Depression Hits Wall Street, Market Plunges
The stock market lost nearly all of its previous gains from recent days as Wall Street traders were faced with the decision of choosing between John Edwards and John Kerry in today's New York state Democratic primary. "The sense of depression was so palpably thick on the trading floor, you could cut it with a knife." Stated Bear Stearns trader Russ Swaygard. "

Many traders took advantage of the variety of polling places in lower Manhattan during their lunch breaks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had held steady in the morning, plunged nearly 100 points in an hour and half after lunch.

"You could hear the buy orders coming in, but none of the traders felt they could complete the trades in good conscience." said one trader speking on the condition of anonimity, "I mean, I had to go out there and vote for John friggin Kerry, and I felt guilty enough about that. There was no way I was going to compound that error by actually putting some poor innocents money into the market."

There were also reports that a number of traders simply did not return for the afternoon session, prefering instead completive walks in Battery Park or drinking.

Not all stocks were losers, however. Bucking the market's afternoon downward trend several stocks did improve. Antidepressant manufacturer Merck and liquor magnate Seagram's posted massive gains in the afternoon. There were similar gains in Halliburton and other defense stocks.

So what is a salt?a salt is a chemical compound (other than water) formed by a chemical reaction between an acid and a base (see acids and bases). as an example the most familiar salt is sodium chloride, the principal component of common table salt. Sodium chloride, NaCl, and water, H2O, are formed by neutralization of sodium hydroxide, NaOH, a base, with hydrogen chloride, HCl, an acid: HCl+NaOH, NaCl+H2O.

Electronic Voting Stories get worse and worse. InstaPundit.Com is blogging the story which does look like it is growing and not diminshing in importance.

The one silver lining for most of the country is that because this is only a primary, there are no irreversible impacts; i.e everyone can change their votes at the convention.

However in California they are voting on two very important bond measures. I hope the electronic voting machines are equally distributed between districts, but i doubt that they are.

Significant Findings on Mars? Benton Clark is currently giving comments on the "significant findings"announced by the Mars rover team.

The comments currently are focused on the Sulfur and Chlorine findings on the red Planet. The rocks samples that are being examing are compared to the surrounding soil. In one case the rover discover sulfates present in rock that are 4 to 5 times larger than the surrounding soil.

In other words the "rocks" they are looking at are highly concentrated "salt" formations, approximately 40%. the most likely makker to form these types of formations is through the presence of salt rich foamy material that evaporates out. the salts are occurring in a layered sequence in the outcropping, i.e. the heavier slats precipitated out first, then the lighter salts next.
Statements:
"There was significant liquid water at the time these outcroppings were formed."

They do not know how the water layered the rock or whether or not a lake was there.

Right now they are looking at an outcrop of rock that is just over a foot thick.

All of the scientists are saying that the next mission must be to bring a peice of Mars back home.

Well the attacks were partially successfullAljazeera.Net reports that the: "Constitution signing delayed following the explosions, members of the Iraqi Governing Council said they will delay signing an interim constitution, which they hammered out on Monday. The ceremony may take place on Friday.
The temporary constitution, which is aimed at seeing Iraq through a transitional period into next year, was due to be signed on Wednesday.
Under the law, Iraq will become a decentralised state with two official languages where Islam will be a source of legislation, but not the basis for it. "

This reaction seems appropriate:"Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa urged Iraqis to stay united "in order not to leave open the chance for those who want to tear apart Iraqi unity."

A prominent Saudi Sunni cleric also condemned the blasts, warning that they were aimed at fueling sectarian strife among Muslims.

"There might be infiltrators attacking the Shia to make it appear they are being targeted by Sunnis and the other way round. It is in the interest of both (Iraqi) Sunnis and Shia to agree on putting out this fire and not to react to such provocations," said Shaikh Salman al-Udah. "

Of course this poll on Al Jazeera seems wacko-nuts to me:

Who stands to benefit from civil unrest in Iraq?

Neighbouring Arab country :
13%
Neighbouring non-Arab country :
3%
Israel and the US :
38%
Internal Iraqi groups :
20%
Combination of the above :
12%
Unsure :
14%

Number of pollers : 2649

I simply cannot imagine a scaenario whereby civil unrest in Iraq benefits the United states or Israel.

Arrests already made in Karbala and Baghdad AttacksABCNEWS.com : Al Qaeda Attack Offer Clues About Sources: "Already, today in Iraq, authorities have 11 suspects in custody, stemming from the synchronized explosions that ripped through crowds of worshippers at Shiite Muslim shrines in Baghdad and Karbala today, killing more than 100 people. "

And these details about the attacks:
"The captured include one suicide bomber intercepted in the act at the Khadumia Mosque in Baghdad, and two terrorist teams in Basra, also caught in flagrante.

Two male suspects were arrested in Basra driving a bomb-laden truck, while two women were caught in that city, explosive belts still wrapped around their waists, while joining a line of Shiites marching in observance of Ashoura — the most important holy day on the Shiite Muslim calendar. No fewer than six suspects are under arrest in Karbala.

By now, interrogation of all 11 has likely begun, and investigations are underway, seeking the biographical backgrounds of each, their recent travels, their associates in Iraq and, in the case of one of them, his home country of Syria.

Also pure gold for investigators — the Basra truck bomb itself and the "suicide-belts" captured in Basra and Baghdad.

Both the materials from which they are made and the techniques used in their assembly will offer valuable clues that may help track today's vicious crimes in Karbala and Baghdad to their terrorist sources"

It looks like the attacks could have been much worse than they were.
Hopefully the Arab media will report the story honestly...

In case you were wondering if Bob Graham was going to be the Democratic Vice President, wonder no more...WFTV.com - News - Poll: Bush Has Slight Lead Over Kerry In Florida: "A new poll shows President Bush with a slight lead over Democratic front-runner John Kerry among voters in Florida, at least so far."

Assault Weapons Ban Extended by Senate, shockingly Kerry shows up.

Senate votes to extend assault weapons ban: "The Senate voted Tuesday to extend for another decade a ban on military-style assault weapons, giving Democrats a rare victory on gun legislation that would also deny crime victims the ability to sue gunmakers and dealers.
Democratic preysidential contenders John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina broke away from the Super Tuesday campaign trail to cast the decisive votes in the 52-47 roll call.
The White House had preferred the assault weapons ban be kept off the legislation immunizing the gun industry from liability suits, the National Rifle Association's top priority this year.
'The semiautomatic ban, the gun show loophole, a variety of other kinds of issuel could simply drag this bill down and deny us substantial tort reform,' said Republican Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho, the bill's main sponsor who plans to vote against both measures. "

Ten Republicans broke party ranks: Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Susan Collins of Maine, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, Richard Lugar of Indiana, Gordon Smith of Oregon, Olympia Snowe of Maine, George Voinovich of Ohio and John Warner of Virginia.

Of that list only Warner is a real surprise. Dewine, Chafee, Snowe and Smith are the prototypical RINO's in the Senate. Unfortunately the one DINO there, Georgia Senator Zell Miller, is retiring this year.

Are we ready for electronic voting? Maybe not.

According to KFMB-TV "Reports of problems with the new touch-screen voting machines began flooding the Registrar of Voter's office Tuesday within an hour of the polls opening, officials said.

Voters experienced problems with the cards used in the voting process, said Monique Roberts, an employee at the Registrar's office in Kearny Mesa."

It looks like user error and not machine error right now. Maybe the typical voter is not quite ready for electronic voting.

I wonder how Diebold and the Republicans are to blame for this.....

No way Jose'

It's too bad that Jose Canseco's work out with the Dodgers went so badly. Si reports that he better hope the book he claims to be writing is more successful than his performance .

The saddest thing about this is that the clip of the ball going off of Jose's head and over the fence won't be shown as much anymore He should be in the Hall of Fame based on that performance alone.

Prediction Time for Super Tuesday:

This Blog Predicts...Super Teusday will only be slightly more interesting than the Oscars.

Will Kerry pull a Lord of the Rings and go 10 for 10? Unlikely. Although he should easily win in the best make-up and best costume categories. Edwards is favored in the best original screenplay. That "two Americas" schtick is just great. Kerry, though, who has taken his best lines from both Dean and Edwards willl easily lay claim to best adapted screenplay.

at the end of the night I see Kerry picking up 612 delegates out of a possible 971 pledged delegates available.

Will Edwards win any states outright?

Unlikely. I think he could have if he had come out stronger on the gay marriage issue, on either side. Then he would have made himself part of last weeks story. Instead he mealy mouthed his way to page A17.

Is there a growing Kurdish/Shi'ite War? Or is it Al qaeda? Or is it Baath Loyalists? Or is it the Shia themselves?
AP reports on the attacks on Shi'ites "At least 143 people died in a wave of coordinated attacks on millions of Shi'ite worshippers in Baghdad and Kerbala Tuesday in the bloodiest day in Iraq Unsure who to blame, survivors in Baghdad hurled stones at U.S. troops who arrived on the scene.

In Kerbala, enraged Shi'ites turned on Iranian pilgrims after the blasts -- even though an Iranian Interior Ministry official said 40 to 50 Iranians were among the dead and wounded in the attacks on the two cities. "

I was watching the live coverage on CNN this morning and the amazing thing was the continued religious activity by those unaffected by the blast. I do not believe that anyone has taken responsibility for the blast as of yet.

Today's Comic:




Click here for full image.

'Memogate' report delayed as new witness steps forward=The Hill.com=: "

"But a former aide assigned to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Friday signed a sworn affadavit stating that between October 2001 and September 2002, Republican and Democratic staffers on the Judiciary Committee could easily access each other’s private documents on the committee’s shared computer server.

The aide’s testimony seems to corroborate the defense put forth by Manuel Miranda, who coordinated the GOP strategy on President Bush’s judicial nominees for Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) before being pressured to resign last month.

"

MGM Promises that Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London Could be the most Anti-Semitic Movie in History!

Spurred by the success of Mel Gibson's recent movie "The Passion of Christ" studios have begun to target the massive audience who apparently desire to see movies which are accused of being anti-semitic. Through six days in theatres Mel Gibson's "Passion of Christ" has grossed over $125 million. MGM has jumped on the band wagon first and completely re-edited and over-dubbed "Cody Banks II: Destination London".

"We have recut our movie to see just how anti-semitic we can get....allegedly." MGM President Larry Gleason stated, "The audience is there and we just have to give them what they want." In the original script, teen spy Cody Banks, was sent by the CIA to London to recover a stolen mind-control device. In the new ending, he goes to Jerusalem to take on the evil Knesset who are secretly controlling the United States government and subjugating innocent Palestinians to death and torture. The studio has also redubbed the movie so that Frankie Muniz's character has a codename of Adolph. And, in a final surprise twist, Agent Banks discovers that Israeli spies were actually the cause of September 11th. "Is it anti-semetic?" Gleason asked, "I think that's an answer only an audience of 40 million ticket buyers could decide."

Depending on the success of the movie the studio has already planned a sequel. MGM executive Hiram Moskowitz, stated that the studio is toying with the idea of "Cody Banks III: The Final Solution". "We will just have to keep our fingers crossed." said Moskowitz.

The studio plans to give sneak previews to the Anti-Defamation League, the League of Concerned Jewish Citizens and the Vatican. The studio has also booked dozens of appearances for its actors and executives on Harball, Bill O'Reilly, Crossfire, and Meet the Press. "Mel really invented a whole new way to market a movie," Gleason stated "and if the arguably anti-semitic Passion of Christ broke $100 million barrier in one weekend, then this story will pack 'em in like crazy!"

MGM was in a rush to get the movie out into theatres in order to compete with other purportedly anti-semitic fare from the major studios. Disney's Shrek II has been recently subtitled "The Truth about the so-called "Holocaust," opens on Memorial Day weekend. Similarly Paramount plans to re-release "Schindler's List" this summmer with an added laugh track and an entirely new "feel good" ending.

Buy this Book!

Amazon.com: Books: The Fabric of the Cosmos : Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality

"I believe the word is 'pendejo'"One of the bonuses of going to school in Mexico City for two years is you get to learn all the swear words. Yahoo! News - Venezuela Protests Go On, Referendum Prospects Fade: "Chavez, elected in 1998 on a promise to fight poverty, has promised to crack down on disturbances and says the United States is backing an attempt by the opposition to topple him.
Sunday, he called President Bush (news - web sites) an 'a--hole.'
He also threatened to cut off oil supplies to the United States if it tries to invade or blockade Venezuela, which is its fourth-largest oil supplier.
Chavez's comments and the violence helped push oil prices to their highest level since shortly before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq (news - web sites) last year. U.S. crude touched $36.45 a barrel. "

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away..


Yahoo! News - Astronomers Discover Most Distant Galaxy: "A team of Swiss and French astronomers said on Monday they had found the most distant galaxy yet, a cluster of stars from the dawn of the universe, 13.2 billion light years away from earth.

The new images reveal a galaxy at the point when the universe was only 470 million years old and will help scientists explore how it took shape. Up to now, the oldest galactic images were believed to be from 750 million years after the big bang. "

The Coming Culture Wars?

In rapid succession today there were three boradside hits in the CURRENT culture war occurring in this country.

First was was Maggie Gallagher's thoughts on Gay Marriage & Massachusetts on National Review Online She states: "Far from reversing Goodridge, constitutionalizing civil unions will ultimately hand over to a court deeply hostile to marriage control over the legal expression of its meaning in the public square. Expect most of the negative consequences of gay marriage to issue from it immediately: Public schools will be forced to teach in sex-ed, home-economics classes, and abstinence education that same-sex unions are the legal equivalent of marriage; religious organizations will be forced to either treat same-sex unions as marriages or get out of the public square.
In fact, the consequences of constitutionally affirming civil unions are likely to be even more destructive than simply letting Goodridge stand. Affirming gay relationships becomes not a legislative proposal to address a social need, nor a mere expression of formal equality, but a substantive governing, constitutional principle: It will be open season on the Catholic Church and other religious groups and organizations that sustain a different vision of human sexual ethics. Hate-speech codes, yanking of broadcasting licenses, and termination of the tax-exempt status of traditional organizations � just a few of the legal threats looming. Far-fetched? In Europe and Canada it is already happening."

Well this thought was ridiculous, according to Andrew Sullivan: who calls her thoughts on the end of the ability of the Catholic Church to maintain its teachings as "bogeymen":

"Puh-lease. There is something called the First Amendment in this country; and it protects freedom of speech and freedom of religious expression. If Fred Phelps' constitutional rights are protected, then the much milder public doctrines of the Catholic hierarchy will be as well. And that is only right and proper. I have no interest in persuading people to approve of my life and relationship. To be honest, I couldn't care less what others think about it. As long as I am treated equally under the law, I'm happy to be described as a pervert, an instrument of Satan, or even a Democrat. Bring it on! But don't confuse your constitutional right to condemn me with your constitutional right to deny me equal protection of the laws. "

Well no sooner had sullivan touted the power of the First Amendment to protect religious institutions than the California Supreme Court ruled that a Catholic Charities employee health plan must provide birth control:

The article states that:

"A Roman Catholic charitable organization must include birth control coverage in its health care plan for workers even though it is morally opposed to contraception, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday. "

"Justice Janice Rogers Brown dissented, writing that the Legislature's definition of a "religious employer" is too limiting if excludes faith-based nonprofit groups like Catholic Charities.

"Here we are dealing with an intentional, purposeful intrusion into a religious organization's expression of it religious tenets and sense of mission," Brown wrote. "The government is no accidentally or incidentally interfering with religious practice; it is doing so willfully by making a judgment about what is or is not a religion." "

And in case you were wondering:

"The 20 states that require private-sector insurance coverage for prescription contraceptives include Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont and Washington.
"

We are awsh in countervailing ideas centering around the freedom of religion. which is more important: Freedom of Religion or Health Care? Marriage Rights? Access to Courts?

There is a line somewhere, surely the fredom of religion and establishment clause do not trump all other ideas. But they must trump some no? Otherwise why did the Pilgrims come here anyway?