I would have loved to be in the newsroom when they passed this paragraph around.

Police searched the home in the 600 block of York Avenue on July 28, looking for a list of items including blood, medical instruments, fingerprints, documents discussing medical procedures, computers, and testicles. Court documents show they seized three specimen jars, medical supplies, a camera, a computer CPU, and other items.

There is a real story attached to this, involving some serious crimes. Let's just say that at least one individual in this story is nuts -- and now doesn't have any.

H/T Captain Ed

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I'd agree with the point, but point my finger at Al Gore, carbon bigfoot, and his merry band of jet-setting lib-ocrites who are doing the manipulation.

Former Vice President Al Gore said Tuesday that some of the world's largest energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., are funding research aimed at disputing the scientific consensus on global warming as part of a campaign to mislead the public.

Sorry, but the misleading is being done by those who have a vested interest in making the cyclical increase in planetary temperature appear to be a crisis -- folks like carbon indulgense salesman Al Gore. As we continue to move out of an era known as "the little ice age", of course temperatures are going to rise.

And besides -- I can't help but remember the last time there was a consensus on a climatological crisis.

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Frankly, I don't see this as much of a story.

There's one vote that Rudy Giuliani definitely can't count on in his 2008 presidential bid: his own daughter's. According to the 17-year-old Caroline Giuliani's Facebook profile, she's supporting Barack Obama.

On her profile, she designates her political views as "liberal" and—until this morning—proclaimed her membership in the Facebook group "Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack)." According to her profile, she withdrew from the Obama group at 6 a.m. Monday, after Slate sent her an inquiry about it.

In what may be an effort to avoid public connection to her famous father, the future Harvard freshman and recent graduate of Trinity School in Manhattan uses a slight variation of her name on the Facebook site. But she didn't lock her profile, allowing any Facebook user with access to the Harvard or Trinity School networks (more than 42,000 people) to view her detailed profile. (As a Harvard student, I was able to see it.)

It's not news that Rudy and his two children, Caroline and her 21-year-old brother Andrew, have a rocky relationship. Caroline and Andrew are the children of Donna Hanover, Rudy's second wife. In March, Andrew, who is a junior at Duke, told the New York Times that he and his father had been estranged for some time, and he has spoken candidly about his objections to Giuliani's marriage to Judith Nathan. And after the wedding, the Times reported, Giuliani also stopped attending Caroline's high-school events. Though he went to her high-school graduation, he left without speaking to her and did not join in the post-graduation family celebration, according to the New York Daily News.

Caroline's Facebook profile does not reveal why she doesn't want her father to win the White House. She has not responded to e-mail questions from Slate.

You know, a 17-year-old's political views are really not something a put a lot of stock in, especially given that at 16 I was willing to support either Ronald Reagan or Ted Kennedy for President. At that age, most kids operate more on emotion and image than on intellect.

But I have two really simple questions.

1) Why is this being treated as a significant story by media outlets?

2) Given the acrimonious ending to her parents' marriage and Rudy's boorish behavior at the time and since, why would we expect her to support him?

Malkin agrees.

Posted by: Greg at 04:10 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Seth Stevenson of Slate offers some choices.

Have you seen the advertisement for the new chocolate-flavored Altoids that features an explosion—presumably, a symbolic explosion of flavor—in the shape of a mushroom cloud? Of course I'm biased here, having been born and raised in Japan, but I find this advertisement extremely offensive and callous to the millions affected by the bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in WWII, which I perceive as something akin to genocide, two times over. What do you think? Am I wrong in thinking these ads should be withdrawn?
—K.O.

You don't have to look very far to find ads exploiting various tragedies. Last year's Chevy "This Is Our Country" spot was a twofer, with both 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina references. (By the way, I despised that ad.)

I understand how this Altoids spot could be offensive to some, but personally I don't have a huge problem with it. There's no specificity to the reference. I've actually visited Hiroshima and the Peace Memorial Museum, and I'm a little bit sensitized to the horrors that occurred there. But I've also seen lots of footage of random test detonations (like the ones at the end of Dr. Strangelove), so I don't necessarily connect an image of a mushroom cloud directly to the devastation that afflicted Japan.

Now, if the ad had shown people's eyeballs melting out, and the skin sloughing off their arms as they shrieked in ecstasy at the chocolate-y Altoids flavor ... that might have been offensive.

Personally, I've got a two-ad campaign that just annoys the crap out of me. Jack in the Box. Angus. 'Nuff said.

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The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are NEA Also Confused About SCOTUS Decision Regarding Race & Schooling by The Colossus of Rhodey, and Baghdad Raid Night by Michael J. Totten. 

Here are the full tallies of all votes cast:

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When a coach believes that his athletic program should set admissions standards for a university, he either does not belong at the institution or the institution has no academic credibility.

An embarrassed and angry Steve Spurrier blasted South Carolina's admissions process Sunday, apologizing to two recruits who signed with the Gamecocks last winter and were denied academic entry this summer.

"In my opinion, I still believe we made a mistake in doing this," Spurrier said Sunday.

Spurrier had spoken with university president Andrew Sorensen and the two agreed, the coach said, that things needed to change.

Spurrier was angered that receiver Michael Bowman of Wadesboro, N.C., and Arkee Smith of Jacksonville, Fla., were cleared by the NCAA to enroll, yet were turned down by the university. The rest of the Gamecocks football team officially reported Friday for preseason camp.

"Hopefully, I truly believe this is the last year this is going to happen, because I can't operate like that," Spurrier said. "I can't operate misleading young men."

Spurrier signed a contract extension, which included a raise of nearly a half-million dollars, that ties him to South Carolina through 2012. However, he said if things didn't change on admissions "then I have to go somewhere else, because I can't tell the young man that he's coming to school here," then not have him admitted.

University spokesman Russ McKinney said Spurrier has been involved in talks with Sorensen and other administrators about refining the process of athletic admissions.

"I think the university administration understands his frustration," McKinney said.

McKinney said the goal would be to let all South Carolina coaches know as early as possible whether a prospect would meet the university's admission standards.

The problem is not th school's standards. the problem is that Spurrier is recruiting academically sub-par athletes for his teams. He does both the University of South Carolina and the young men no favors with that practice, for the students will ultimately be unable to perform academically and leave the school without a degree. In the mean time, South Carolina will have degraded its standards, for meeting Spurrier's requirements will ultimately lead to the degradation of admission requirements for all students.

Spurrier was a failure as an NFL coach. It seems to me that he is a failure as an educator as well -- after all, a college coach is, first and foremost, a teacher. Indeed, his arrogant effort to blackmail the administration leads me to conclude that he is a failure as a man. He needs to go.

Posted by: Greg at 06:09 AM | Comments (23) | Add Comment
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This looks bad -- for both Spitzer and Cuomo.

INVESTIGATORS for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the state inspector general weren't given potentially crucial evidence - private e-mails from top aides to Gov. Spitzer - related to the explosive Troopergate probe, The Post has learned.

"It's a huge gap in the investigation," conceded a source close to both investigations.

Cuomo's probers, who eventually produced an explosive report showing top Spitzer aides used the State Police in a plot to destroy the career of Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer), allowed the governor's legal counsels to decide what "relevant" e-mails would be turned over as part of the investigation.

Those lawyers - who instructed top Spitzer aides, including the governor's chief of staff, Richard Baum, and communications director, Darren Dopp, not to cooperate with Cuomo's investigators - turned over a small number of scandal-related e-mails from official state e-mail addresses, not personal ones, sources said.

However, Baum, linked to the scandal by e-mails sent to his official state address, has repeatedly used at least one private e-mail address to communicate with other administration officials in recent months, sources with ties to the administration told The Post. One source provided The Post with a private e-mail address containing Baum's name, saying it was the address Baum often used for official communications.

An e-mail sent by The Post to the address went unanswered.

Dopp, who was suspended after the Cuomo report put him at the center of the scandal, also regularly communicated with other senior members of the Spitzer administration by private e-mail, sources said.

Letting those who are being investigated decide what evidence to turn over -- and making no effort to get relevant evidence -- looks like Cuomo's office intentionally did a half-assed job to destroy Spitzer's credibility while not giving the GOP an advantage. At the same time, the failure to turn over these emails makes it clear that the Spitzer regime has something to hide. Could the whole Democrat establishment in New York be heading for a fall?

Posted by: Greg at 03:15 AM | Comments (236) | Add Comment
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Dead terrorists sure do make me happy.

Coalition troops killed the al Qaeda terrorist who masterminded the February 2006 attack on Samarra's al-Askariya mosque and set off continuing violence and reprisal killings between Sunnis and Shiites, the U.S. military said Sunday.

Haitham Sabah al-Badri, the al Qaeda emir of greater Samarra, was killed by an airstrike Thursday east of Samarra, said Rear Adm. Mark Fox during a news conference.

"Eliminating al-Badri is another step in breaking the cycle of violence instigated by the attack on the holy shrine in Samarra," Fox said. "We will continue to hunt down the brutal terrorists who are intent on creating a Taliban-like state in Iraq."

Coalition forces Thursday raided four buildings outside Samarra that were associated with al-Badri, according to a U.S. military news release. During the raid, at least four armed men were seen leaving the buildings and setting up tactical fighting positions in an effort to ambush coalition forces, the release said.

The coalition forces called in close air support, killing al-Badri and the three others, the release said.

One of those killed was identified as a foreigner; al-Badri was identified by his close associates and relatives, the military said.

A successful Surge and dead terrorist leaders -- I'm sure that the Democrats in Washington are wailing and gnashing their teeth.

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Posted by: Greg at 01:18 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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But then again, what else is new?

The current editorial laments alleged political prosecutions of Democrats.

Individual Democrats may be paying a personal price. Don Siegelman, a former Alabama governor, was the stateÂ’s most prominent Democrat and had a decent chance of retaking the governorship from the Republican incumbent. He was aggressively prosecuted by both the Birmingham and Montgomery United States attorneyÂ’s offices. Birmingham prosecutors dropped their case after a judge harshly questioned it. When the Montgomery office prosecuted, a jury acquitted Mr. Siegelman of 25 counts, but convicted him of 7, which appear to be disturbingly weak.

The mere fact that he was found guilty of at least some of the charges seems to be irrelevant to the New York Times. The Times deems the case weak due to the acquittals, despite the fact that there was substantial evidence of Siegelman's guilt on even those charges. It seems that the editors believe that Siegelman should not have been prosecuted because it harmed the chance of a Democrat electoral victory -- corruption doesn't matter when your name is followed by a D.

And then there is this little example.

Georgia Thompson is a Wisconsin state employee wrongly put in jail on corruption charges by the Milwaukee United States attorney. Despite strong evidence that she was innocent, Steven Biskupic prosecuted Ms. Thompson for corruption and got a conviction. The news hit shortly before a bitterly fought governorÂ’s race, and opponents of James Doyle, the stateÂ’s Democratic governor, used the conviction to attack Mr. Doyle as corrupt. An appeals court later freed Ms. Thompson, but only after she had spent months in jail.

Excuse me, but now the overturning of a conviction is proof that the prosecution was improper in the first place? I'm curious -- will that be the standard now in all cases in which evidence of official corruption is alleged? In all cases?

Frankly, I'm surprised that the paper hasn't taken a stand agaisnt the William jefferson investigation.

And they fail to note that the same Bush Administration Justice Department has been aggressive in prosecuting GOP politicians. Acknowledging that would completely undermine the dastardly conspiracy theory that the Times spins.

But I like this conclusion.

If Americans are being put in jail for political reasons, Congress must put a stop to it.

Hey, New York Times -- we'll be able to take this editorial much more seriously when you call for the dropping of all charges against Tom DeLay, and the disbarment of rogue partisan prosecutor Ronnie Earle, whose actions reek of partisanship even more than the cases you point to.

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Iranian President Mahmoud the Mad demands that Israel move so that the Terrorstinians can have their own state.

I don't know about you, but this strikes me as a great idea.

Iran's outspoken President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Israel to "go find somewhere else" for its state and leave its territory for the creation of a Palestinian state, according to an interview published Saturday.

"Our support (for the Palestinian people) is unconditional. As for the Israelis, let them go find somewhere else," Ahmadinejad told several Algerian newspapers ahead of an visit to Algiers that starts Monday.

Iran consistently refuses to recognise Israel's right to exist in the Middle East, and Ahmadinejad sparked outrage abroad by stating after coming to power in 2005 that Israel should be "wiped from the map."

He also provoked a storm in June by saying a "countdown" had begun that would end with Lebanese and Palestinian militants destroying Israel, and his government last year hosted a conference on the Holocaust questioning the German Nazis genocide of the Jews during World War II.

My proposal looks something like this.

Do I hear any objections?

ADDENDUM -- Anybody want to propose an alternate map? I'll be glad to post it if you do.

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The new legislation granting expanded wiretapping powers for national security purposes has passed after Democratic delaying tactics -- but it is only a temporary fix to a bigger issue.

The House late Saturday night approved the Republican version of a measure amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by a vote of 227-183, with most Republicans and conservative Democrats supporting the bill.

The White-House backed legislation closes what the Bush administration has called critical gaps in U.S. intelligence capability by expanding the government's abilities to eavesdrop without warrants on foreign suspects whose communications pass through the United States.

Lawmakers have been scrambling to pass a bill acceptable to the White House before they leave for a monthlong summer recess.

President Bush had threatened to veto any bill that Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said did not meet his needs.

The Senate approved its Republican-sponsored bill Friday night. Immediately after that vote, a Democratic-sponsored bill failed to reach the 60-vote majority.

Saturday night's vote followed fireworks in the House, where an angry group of Republicans accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of delaying a vote on the bill, the president's legislative priority.

"Last night, the Senate passed this bill at about 9:30. Now it's almost 1 o'clock. We should have had the FISA bill on the floor the first thing this morning," Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan told reporters in the early afternoon.

"We could have passed a rule and passed this bill by 11 o'clock this morning, and it could have been on its way, and the president could have signed it," said Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee.

Now this legislation expires in six months -- enough time to allow for Congress to re-write the FISA law to meet with today's technological realities. This comes on the heels of a ruling by a FISA judge that the law forbids the interception of any call that passes through equipment based in the US, even if it is between two individuals located outside of the United States. Under that ruling, a call that originated in Canada and ended in Pakistan would be considered a domestic call under the previous FISA regulations if it passed through a server or transmitting station located in San Francisco -- or one that began in the Philippines and ended in Malaysia would be a domestic call if it passed through the US territory of Guam. I won't even get into the question of emails communications that are hosted by a US server like those of Yahoo, AOL, or Gmail. Simply put, telecommunications technology has outstripped the old law.

Personally, I believe that the precedent in the Truong case needs to be followed here -- national security and foreign intelligence surveillance does not need a warrant, but such information cannot be used for criminal prosecutions.

Posted by: Greg at 01:51 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Remember -- a tax on oil companies translates to a tax on you, because such costs of doing business are factored into the price of products.

Declaring a new direction in energy policy, the House on Saturday approved $16 billion in taxes on oil companies, while providing billions of dollars in tax breaks and incentives for renewable energy and conservation efforts.

Republican opponents said the legislation ignored the need to produce more domestic oil, natural gas and coal. One GOP lawmaker bemoaned "the pure venom ... against the oil and gas industry."

The House passed the tax provisions by a vote of 221-189. Earlier it had approved, 241-172, a companion energy package aimed at boosting energy efficiency and expanding use of biofuels, wind power and other renewable energy sources.

"We are turning to the future," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

And the future is higher taxes, higher spending, and higher prices. Sounds like a return to the failed Democrat policies of the past.

Posted by: Greg at 12:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've written about Jack McClellan. He's an admitted pedophile who maintains a website about "girl love" that discusses watching -- but not touching -- little girls. McClellan has, as far as anyone can prove, never engaged in illegal behavior with a child. Now that is critical for what is to follow, for as disgusting as this guy is, he appears to have conformed his activities to within the restrictions of the laws. Indeed, the police even admit as much.

But Capt. Joe Gutierrez, commanding officer of the Special Victims Bureau of the L.A. County Sheriff's Office, told FOX News that complaints against McClellan were evaluated and he has not committed any crimes.

"Several citizens contacted us about his Web site," Gutierrez said. "There's no current criminal investigation."

Now a group of parents have gotten a judge to issue a restraining order against Jack McClellan -- one that, among other things, forbids him from being in a public place were there are likely to be children, forbids him to come within 10 feet of a child, and publishing material that is legal under California and federal law.

Indeed, noted conservative legal scholar Eugene Volokh (and blogger)finds this situation very troubling.

However, the breadth of the order raised some questions for 1st Amendment expert Eugene Volokh, who called it "more or less house arrest." Volokh, a UCLA law professor, said that restricting McClellan to 10 yards away from any child in California means "you can't go to the store, you can't walk down the street Â…. He can't go to court to challenge this. How can you be sure you can stay away from anyone 17 and younger?"

McClellan has no criminal record but he has spoken publicly about enjoying watching little girls. On his website — which is down — he had posted photographs he had taken of children and had rated venues for spotting little girls.

"They have an understandable worry this guy is going to do something bad," said Volokh. "But that's not enough. You need at least probable cause to believe some crime has been committed."

I happen to agree with that analysis. This order effectively strips McClellan of certain fundamental liberties guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

After all, the following activities are, in fact, legal.

1) Being in a public place where there are children present.
2) Advocating a change in social or political mores, no matter how unpopular that advocacy.
3) Photographing individuals in public places where no expectation of privacy applies.
4) Making non-commercial use of such photographs if one holds the copyright to them.

Indeed, as this restraining order is formulated, McClellan is effectively barred from leaving his home, and probably the only public place he is permitted to be is a bar.

This places grave and serious restrictions on his First Amendment rights.

1) His ability to speak is implicated (all you have to do to require him to stop speaking is bring a kid into his presence).

2) His freedom of the press is implicated (look at the limits placed upon his legal words and activities when it comes to publishing his thoughts and beliefs).

3) His freedom of religion is implicated (his attendance at any house of worship is effectively barred by this injunction).

4) His right to peaceably assemble is implicated (virtually every public place — including courtrooms, legislative chambers and government offices — are effectively closed to him because of the likelihood of children being present).

5) His right to petition the government for a redress of grievances is likewise restricted (see my point above).

Now there is a hearing on August 24 regarding whether or not to make this order permanent. However, as I point out above, Jack McClellan appears to be prohibited by this order from attending because of the likelihood that there will be children present at the courthouse or along his path there. This also means that his due process rights under the US Constitution are abrogated by the restraining order as well.

Why am I defending the Constitutional rights of this sick excuse of a man? Because the reality is that whatever restrictions are placed upon him will also be used to limit some of us.

I've written harshly about illegal immigration and jihadi Islam. Could someone make the argument that my statements show that I constitute a threat to Hispanics, and therefore get me barred from any public place where there might be Hispanics or Muslims? Could they get my liberty to write and publish my thoughts and beliefs on this website restricted? Under this precedent, yes they could. Indeed, if so-called hate-crime laws currently under consideration are passed, it is quite likely that some judge will act on behalf of some liberal interest group's attorney and declare that the beliefs I've expressed are illegal under those laws and subject to criminal sanction. I therefore take threats to the First Amendment rights of ANY American very seriously -- even those who I believe to be scum.

You see, my rights -- and the rights of every American -- are subject to exactly the same limits as are placed upon Jack McClellan. It is the same principle that I apply when I support the rights of Kluxers, Commies, and Nazis to speak freely -- absent criminal activity, they have a right to espouse beliefs and engage in activities that I abhor. The same is true of McClellan -- though I despise him and what he believes even more than I do those other evil folks. My rights, your rights, and his rights are identical in their extent -- and their limits.

Interestingly enough, over at Fascist Fred's Echo Chamber, we've got a goose-stepper and his vigilante mob arguing for a good old-fashioned lynching just on the general principle that McClellan says things that they find repugnant based upon their faux-patriotic, pseudo-Christian sense of outrage. What they do not recognize is this -- their expressed desire to murder the man makes them no different than Jack McClellan himself. Indeed, Fascist Fred and his lynch mob are worse.

Vigilante justice can be as wrong as wrong can get, innocent men and women have died in the name of vigilante justice, and as with anything else, mistakes can and have been made, but in the case of a SELF PROFESSED pedofreak that has empowered his kind and encouraged them and guided them in their quest to molest children, NO form of vigilante justice is too strong, too violent or too out of line to administer against this scumÂ…

I hope the authorities in Fascist Fred's area are monitoring his blog, and are taking appropriate actions to limit Fascist Fred's Second Amendment rights in the same fashion he is willing to abolish McClellan's First Amendment rights. After all, Fascist Fred is clearly a much more immediate danger to society than McClellan -- McClellan professes that he has and will continue to follow societies laws, despite his perverse desires, while Fascist Fred has indicated his intent to murder those who think and speak contrary to what he believes is proper AND likely broken the law by attempting to incite McClellan's murder.

Now, what can decent people do about Jack McClellan? They can do is be informed as to who this sick freak is, monitor his movements and make damn sure that he does not have the opportunity to harm a child. They can urge local businesses to ban him from the premises, and urge his landlord to break his lease. They can insist that the local cops keep Jack McClellan under observation. They can insist upon his arrest and prosecution in the event of ANY illegal activity, whether it relates to a child or not. And they can press for laws that more severely penalize real child sex abuse (not two teenagers having sex, like in Georgia, but sick freaks like McClellan). All of those actions are proper -- but those that imperil the Constitutional freedoms of ALL Americans are not, nor are acts of cold-blooded, premeditated murder.

Posted by: Greg at 05:01 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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I love kids -- but I can't understand why anyone would want 17. I can't even understand my cousin, who has 9 (and not a multiple birth among them). That said, I respect the right of this couple her to make this decision -- and respect the commitment they have to life and family.

It's a girl — again — for the Duggars. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar welcomed their 17th child, and seventh daughter, into the world Thursday.

Jennifer Danielle was born at 10:01 a.m. at Saint Mary's Hospital in Rogers, Ark., the Duggars said in an interview. Jennifer weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and arrived five days after Michelle's due date.

Less than 30 minutes after giving birth, the Duggars already were talking of having more.

"We'd love to have more," Michelle said, adding that the girls are outnumbered seven to 10 in the family. "We love the ruffles and lace."

Jennifer joins the fast-growing Duggar brood, who live in Tontitown in a 7,000-square-foot home. All the children — whose names start with the letter J — are home-schooled.

The oldest is 19 and the youngest, before Jennifer, is almost 2 years old.

"We are just so grateful to God for another gift from him," said Jim Bob Duggar, 42, a former state representative. "We are just so thankful to him that everything went just very well."

Jennifer joins siblings Joshua, 19; John David, 17; Janna, 17; Jill, 16; Jessa, 14; Jinger, 13; Joseph, 12; Josiah, 11; Joy-Anna, 9; Jedidiah, 8; Jeremiah, 8; Jason 7; James 6; Justin, 4; Jackson, 3; Johannah, almost 2.

Congratulations and best wishes.

I wonder, though, if this cretin is going to comment again on the situation.

Posted by: Greg at 04:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've been remiss in responding to this one.

Jason A. Clark from Inner88 tagged me to be part of this meme a few weeks back, and I've simply not gotten around to it. Now I'll take a few minutes to paly the game.

Here's how it works.

In the 8 facts about [name], you share 8 things that your readers donÂ’t know about you. Then at the end you tag 8 other bloggers to keep the fun going.

• Each blogger must post these rules first.


• Each blogger starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
• Bloggers that are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.


• At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.


• DonÂ’t forget to leave them a comment telling them theyÂ’re tagged, and to read your blog.

8 Random Facts About Greg:

1. I never had pizza until I was 14 -- and now it is among my favorite foods.


2. At 16 I was so politically naive that I couldn't decide whether I wanted to volunteer for the Reagan or Kennedy presidential campaign.


3. I don't own an iPod, and probably never will.


4. I'm a big science fiction fan -- and my favorite sub-genre is alternate history.


5. Almost every woman I ever dated -- including the one I married -- has been a Democrat.


6. When I do karaoke, I put on a falsetto voice and mimic Grace Slick singing "White Rabbit".


7. I once got seasick in the watching the dolphin show at Seaworld in San Diego -- from the rocking of the bleachers when there was a heavy surf.


8. I once managed to buy a new car between the end of school at 3:00 and the start of my school's Parent Night at 7:00 -- and made it back to school on time.

You Have been Tagged!

1. Hube at Colossus of Rhodey


2. Darren at Right on the Left Coast


3. Van Helsing at Moonbattery


4. Debbie at Right Truth


5. WZip at Weasel Zippers


6. Terry at Webblogin


7. Anna at Anna Venger


8. Steve at Pencil Nub

Okay, folks -- you are up!

Posted by: Greg at 03:05 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 I appreciate the tag very much and I always play these memes.  But I've already done this one.  So sorry.  Maybe the next one that comes along.



Posted by: Debbie at Sat Aug 4 10:46:04 2007 (qWpGo)

2 I'm looking forward to your entry!


Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Sat Aug 4 16:19:34 2007 (7LgSj)

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He's planning a purge of the Democrats, forcing out anyone who does not hold to the "progressive" philosophy found on his site and among the nut-roots.

And as Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, AKA “Kos,” made crystal clear at a press conference this afternoon, the battle will not only be against Republicans, but also against Democrats who need to be “cleansed” from the party. Kos didn’t name any names, saying we will find out “soon enough” which Democrats would be targeted for defeat in the primaries. But his message was clear; on issues near and dear to the hearts of the progressive on line community, Democrats will adapt or they will face the wrath of this new force in politics.

In effect, Kos has promised to remake the Democratic Party in the image of the netroots. And while many observers think that this would pull the Democratic Party too far to the left, Markos disagrees.

“There is no Jesse Jackson wing of the Democratic party anymore. We are the center,” he said.

Got that -- if you don't fit in with the views I outlined in my piece on Rick Noriega, you will not be welcome among the new "progressive" Democrats. I guess we can define this as a vision of the Democrats as a "Small Tent".

Posted by: Greg at 03:13 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Michael Gerson makes an excellent point in the Washington Post on what is significant about Mitt Romney's Mormonism -- and how it should unite him with, rather than divide him from, religious conservatives.

Many Christians have serious problems with Mormon theology on personal salvation and the nature of history -- disputes that go much deeper than those between, say, Baptists and Presbyterians. These disagreements are theologically important. But they are not politically important, because they are unrelated to governing.

Romney, however, should not make Kennedy's mistake and assert that all religious beliefs are unrelated to politics. What Mormonism shares with other religious traditions is a strong commitment to the value and dignity of human beings, including the unborn, the disabled and the poor. This conviction is unavoidably political, because it leads men and women to act in the cause of justice, not in order to impose their religion, but to protect the weak.

Given this common ground, evangelicals and other religious conservatives should not disqualify Romney from the outset. There may be other reasons to oppose him for president, but his belief about the destiny of the soul is not one of them.

Indeed, that point is critical -- and it is important to avoid the Kennedy trap of trivializing the importance of religious beliefs in the lives of religious believers.

Posted by: Greg at 02:52 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Now he is willing to give the people what they want, not insist on giving the immigration criminals citizenship.

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain on Thursday backed a scaled-down proposal that imposes strict rules to end illegal immigration but doesn't include a path to citizenship.

The move away from a comprehensive measure is an about-face for the Arizona senator, who had been a leading GOP champion of a bill that included a guest worker program and would have legalized many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. It failed earlier this year.

"We can still show the American people that we are serious about securing our nation's border," McCain said in a statement, adding that the new bill would "provide an essential step toward achieving comprehensive reform in the future."

McCain's immigration position has been a campaign liability among Republican voters and hurt his efforts to raise money. Other GOP presidential candidates, fellow Arizona Republicans and immigration opponents throughout the country have loudly decried his position.

Observers said McCain's switch was political. "He recognizes his position on the issue is killing him," said Steven Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors vigorous immigration enforcement.

This bill might bring meaningful reform and enforcement -- but won't change McCain's chances of getting the nomination.

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"Jihadis roasting on an open fire..."

A man critically burned after allegedly crashing an explosive-laden Jeep into Glasgow Airport died of his injuries Thursday, Strathclyde Police said.

Kafeel Ahmed, 27, had been in the hospital for a month with burns from the alleged attack on June 30, which followed a day after two failed car bombings in London. The other man in the car, Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdullah, has been charged with conspiring to set off explosions.

"We can confirm that the man seriously injured during the course of the incident at Glasgow Airport on Saturday June 30 has died in Glasgow Royal Infirmary," said a spokesman for Strathclyde Police, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with force policy.

Here's hoping that upon reaching Hell he discovered that his 72 virgins are horny gay males who are all "ready for action".

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And if they won't give to him, no Democrat should take money from them.

John Edwards criticized Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday for taking more than $20,000 in donations from News Corp. officials, arguing that the company's Fox News Channel has a right-wing bias and Democrats should avoid the company.

Edwards led the Democratic candidates' boycott of Fox's plans to host a Democratic presidential debate. Now he is objecting to News Corp.'s purchase of Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. and highlighting the relationships that Clinton and other rivals have with the company's executives.

"The time has come for Democrats to stop pretending to be friends with the very people who demonize the Democratic Party," Edwards said in a statement.

He challenged his rivals to refuse contributions from executives of News Corp., and return any they had already received. The Edwards campaign said it would return less than $1,000 in donations from three Fox employees — a worker at a local Fox station in Florida and two staffers from Fox Cable Networks — even though they are not executives.

Gee -- if FoxNews is so anti-Democrat, why are they executives giving to Democrats in the first place? If FoxNews is so hostile to Democrats, why haven't the Democrat contributers been fired? But John Edwards will show mean old FoxNews -- he won't take any money from any of their employees at all!

Proving once again that John Edwards considers Foxnews a greater threat to America than Osama bin Ladin. After all, he considers the war on terrorism to be a bumper sticker, but he's making the war on FoxNews a centerpiece of his campaign.

UPDATE: Well, maybe not all money coming from Rupert Murdoch's media empire is bad.

"John Edwards will never ask Rupert Murdoch for money -- he won't accept his money," said a statement e-mailed to supporters.

Not so fast, Murdoch's people say. His publishing unit, HarperCollins, paid Edwards a $500,000 advance -- and $300,000 in expenses -- for his 2006 book "Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives."

"We assume the senator is going to give back the money from his advance," News Corp. spokesman Brian Lewis said.

Of course not -- he spent the expense money and took a tax write-off for donating the advance money to charity. What a hypocrite -- taking money from what he claims is a corrupt source AND using it to lower the burden of taxes he says are not high enough.

H/T Malkin, Captains Quarters

Posted by: Greg at 02:03 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Conservative blogger and columnist John Hawkins today points out some of the extremist rhetoric coming out of the founder of Daily Kos and his fellow bloggers there -- and pulls quotes that anyone who has ever visited the site should recognize as pretty mainstream there. I'm curious what Rick Noriega, newly-minted Kos blogger and honored guest at the Yearly Kos convention, thinks about this stuff.

Most notoriously, the founder of the Daily Kos, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, wrote this about American contractors who were murdered in Iraq and had their bodies desecrated,

"...I feel nothing over the death of merceneries. They aren't in Iraq because of orders, or because they are there trying to help the people make Iraq a better place. They are there to wage war for profit. Screw them."

When you see that sort of hostility towards people risking their lives in Iraq from the man running the Daily Kos, is it any surprise that other diarists on that blog have penned commentary like this,

"Our sons and daughters need to realize that choosing to be a soldier means a decision to place themselves among "the damned," since no matter what they end up doing while on the field of battle, they will eventually be damned.. damned if they do and damned if they do not. Realizing that compliance with a superior's order to shoot and kill the enemy may well lead to the damnation (the self-extirpation) of one's soul. On the other hand, noncompliance will lead to that of being court-martialed." -- Populist Party

"But do I still support the individual men and women who have given so much to serve their country? No. I think theyÂ’re a bunch of idiots. I also think theyÂ’re morally retarded. Because they sign a contract that says they will kill whoever you tell me to kill. And that is morally retarded." -- AWhitneyBrown

"We need to lose this war and not start the next one so that we can remain a free people. Diminished on the world stage? Perhaps, like Great Britain was diminished when it surrendered its colonial empire. But free." -- bluedogtxn

Why is Rick Noriega seeking the support of those whose response to the murder of Americans by terrorists is to say of the dead "Screw them"?

Does Rick Noriega believe that Texans share the believe that members of the military are among "the damned"?

Does Rick Noreiga support the notion that members of the US military are "a bunch of idiots" and "morally retarded"?

And most importantly for a man seeking to become a member of the US Senate (and a commissioned officer in the National Guard), does Noriega believe that the US needs to be militarily defeated by terrorists and diminished in stature as a world power?

These are important questions to be answered by the presumptive candidate -- at least some of which raise questions not only about his fitness to be a US Senator, but even his fitness to retain his commission in the National Guard.

And while we are at it, maybe Rick Noriega can answer some questions about these other fine members of the online community he has chosen to join, and who he traveled out of state to court in an effort to garner support from non-Texans.

Along those same lines, here's the sort of bizarre paranoia that regular readers of the Daily Kos are exposed to on a regular basis,

"If we do not wake up now and flood Congress to impeach the President and Vice President, one year from now, Daily Kos may be banned and Markos himself may be disappeared, in a federal prison somewhere.

Even as I write these words I feel like a wild-eyed nutcase. If it were not for the OH SO REAL danger this country faces in the next 15 months or so as the people in power see their own doom and are determined to prevent their expulsion from power by suspending next year's elections and declaring martial law WHEN the next 9/11 comes or events that can be construed as a national emergency to "justify" such actions, I would be holding my tongue and crossing my fingers." -- slw0606

"...Bush let North Korea get nukes in order to start an arms race in Asia. He did it so American weapons manufacturers will make money, like we do with Israel.

We need to start talking straight, people. We need to start being up front about what this is all about. We can't wait until Bush walks up and blows our brains out to call this what it is." -- Kosmo

"Was Pat Tillman killed on Cheney's or Rumsfeld's orders?

We must be ever vigilantly cynical regarding the bloodthirsty, money-hungry cut-throats in the White House because they never disappoint the rudest and crudest analysis of their active and ongoing conspiracies. The vilest imaginings of Stephen King is where these deceitful serpents dwell. Never make the mistake that you are being too cold in your analysis of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, and Rice." -- 3CCD

Now let's move from conspiracy theories to hateful extremism,

"Because filing briefs don't stop bullets, and when the ballot box fails us, we are not above seeing what's in the ammo box." -- pinche tejano

"And anyone -- Liebercrat or Republican -- who stands to oppose impeachment, conviction and removal should be tried for their role as accomplice in the sedition and treason against the United States." -- GreyHawk

"If the Democrats fail (to end the war), the only option left is revolution and foreign intervention. Tyranny is but assured because Congress cannot and will not exercise it's Constitutional power to end this fascist Coup d'etat." -- wolverine 06

Now as you read these quotes from the diarists -- again, not the commenters -- at the Daily Kos, it should bring up a number of important questions that never seem to get answered.

So how about some answers, Rick -- do you find yourself in agreement with these sentiments that find common acceptance at Daily Kos? Are the President and Vice President -- both men with strong ties to Texas who were overwhelmingly supported by Texans in two elections -- fascists who have engaged in a coup and are planning to imprison and/or murder dissenters? Do you believe that "revolution and foreign intervention" are necessary? Do you believe that the Bush Administration has ordered the murder of individual Americans? Do you believe that those who do not support such the bilge spewed by your Kos Kolleagues are traitors who need to suffer the punishment prescribed for that offense (which includes the death penalty)?

Again, I think these questions are important for you to answer before you stand before Texas voters -- after all, you have chosen to join this fever swamp of left-wing extremism and are actively courting their support. Do you believe such views are representative of those held by the people of Texas -- or that such views are even acceptable to the people of Texas?

But maybe more importantly, do you think that those who embrace such views by joining and seeking the support of those who express them are really fit for service in the highest elective offices in the United States? I'd argue that they are unfit for any position of public trust.

UPDATE: How sick are these people?

But hey, this is a tough crowd. Later in the evening, they booed Mother Theresa.

UPDATE II: Gee -- Rick Noriega really does embrace Kos!

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Posted by: Greg at 01:47 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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We all know about affiliate programs offered by businesses. In return for placing some sort of link or badge on your site, you get a fixed fee or percentage of sales for everyone referred from your site. It is a very common form of Web Marketing.

Well now there is another entrant in the affiliate program world -- Website Pros, a leader in the website design and development market that creates some 250 new websites every day. They want YOU to become one of their affiliates.

Now let's look at their web design affiliate program. When you refer even a single client, you can find yourself earning $250 or more over the course of the next 24 months as a Website Pros customer. Yeah, that is right -- your referral keeps on earning for you over time and doesn't just give you a pittance right now. You actually get up to 20% of what they spend with Website Pros. That surely isn't bad -- and imagine the revenue stream if you refer several individuals.

Now think about that -- good money coming to you over an extended period of time simply for referring folks to services that will increase their business. They win. Website Pros wins. And YOU win. Sounds like a great deal to me, no matter how you slice it.

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Hey, I'm willing to let it slide that the Rick Noriega is too scared to answer a simple email from me about attempts by his supporters to turn his National Guard change of command into a political event.

I'm willing to excuse his staff adding my email address to their spam-ad list because they harvested it from the email Noriega is dodging.

I'm even willing to concede Noriega has no culpability when one of his supporters potentially violates the Hatch Act by operating a political blog supporting him (note that 2:37 PM time stamp on a Monday) on government time (and soliciting funds for him and other candidates) .

However, this is all we need to see to determine that Rick Noriega is unfit for any office -- Rick Noriega has kow-towed to the KOSsacks.

UPDATE: He also blogged on DailyKos -- meaning he is willing to associate himself with all the hate-mongers and conspiracy theorists there.

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Why this jihadi pig is angry.

Nuradin Abdi smiled and laughed with his attorney before admitting in a federal court yesterday that he had worked with terrorists to help plot against the United States.

Abdi, who wanted to blow up a mall in the Columbus area, is expected to serve 10 years in prison and be deported to his native Somalia.

His conviction, though, could be a sign that there are others still to be named as members of the same terrorist cell.

Details brought to light yesterday show that the terror cell was bigger than a trio of local men possibly involved in it -- Abdi, convicted terrorist Iyman Faris and Worthington native Christopher Paul -- previously reported.

Great! We got three who won't be killing Americans -- though I regret that they are not being disposed of with a single bullet to the back of the head (shot through a piece of bacon, of course).

But you have to love the comments from this Islamist dog's lawyer.

"It's better to minimize his losses," defense attorney Mahir Sherif said. A fair trial here would not be possible because Americans "have no or limited understanding" of why Muslims are angry, Sherif said.

Frankly, I don't give a rat's ass why this would-be killer is angry -- personally I think it is because of a particularly small... -- well be that as it may, I find it irrelevant. I don't care about his political gripes, his intolerant religious faith, or the fact that his mama didn't put mint on his pillow before bed each night. He was conspiring to kill Americans because of that anger, and there is no legitimate justification under American law (which is not sharia, for which I praise Jesus), so it does not matter why he or any other Muslim is angry.

And his lawyer sounds like a terrorist sympathizer, too.

After the plea, Sherif said the case should prompt people to ask: Why do Muslims hate Americans?

"I'm angry. If 1 million Americans were being slaughtered, that would be a different issue," Sherif said, of Iraqis killed in the war.

Yeah, I bet you would be out dancing in the streets, just like many Muslims around the world did on 9/11.

H/T Purple Wombats

Posted by: Greg at 08:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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No, I'm not making it up or being disrespectful of victims of terrorism -- and screw the jihadis (may pigs piss upon them).

That is the name of a new production going on this year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.

Here's a sample.

This is surely a five fatwa production!

Hopefully I'll be able to see it when a touring company comes to Houston.

Posted by: Greg at 07:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin doesn't care how successful the Surge is, nor how much political progress is made in Iraq. He's demanding that the war end now, no matter how well things are going in Iraq.

Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan)

Even if Iraqi leaders return from a recess this month and make political progress before a report to Congress in September, it won't be enough to change Sen. Carl Levin's feelings about withdrawing U.S. troops.

Levin told reporters Wednesday that it is possible that President George W. Bush would use any political progress the Iraqis might make -- not to mention reports that violence was down in the month of July -- as cover for continuing a policy that saw him order tens of thousands more troops to Iraq.

For Levin, the Detroit Democrat who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, it would be too little, too late, even if the Iraqis returned from their August recess with "a different attitude" and began working toward benchmarks including regional elections, disbanding militias and other actions.

"That's not enough for me," he said.

It must suck to have your political future depend upon American defeat, Carl. Why don't you resign now, and let someone who loves America take your place?

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Posted by: Greg at 03:30 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I love the Harry Potter books since I picked up the first one several years ago, just to understand what had my students so excited. I certainly noted some Christian symbolism -- but not anywhere near as much as this column explains.

Next I tried the more recognizable Christian material. In Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, Harry confronts Voldemort (whose name means “will to death”) by traveling down into a great cavern where he slays a serpent to win an (eventual) bride. He fatally wounds the serpent in the head. He’s rescued by a bird who descends upon him and the bride, a kind of bird whose “tears have healing powers, and who are able to bear immense loads.” The bird bears them up out of the cavern. “There, how’s that?” I thought. The problem is that very few Christians seem to be aware of descendit ad infernum, the descent into hell. Don’t the schools teach Dante? Don’t the Churches teach the Apostle’s Creed? Well, as a matter of fact, no, they generally do not. The Proto Evangelium, the first gospel in which God told Adam and Eve that He would send Someone who would rescue their descendents by crushing the head of the serpent doesn’t seem to get a lot of play either.

I could go on for page after page: snippets from ancient hymns and creeds for instance. The most powerful spell in Harry’s world is the Patronus, in which the wizard forcefully says “Expecto Patronum”. That’s Christian Latin for “I look for the Savior”. Expecto is used in the Nicene Creed, and Patronum is used in the medieval Dies Irae as the Savior that we look for in the day of judgment. Harry uses the spell when ghastly evil spiritual beings called DEMENtors (caps mine) attack him and another innocent man near a lake. A stag (which just happens to function as a common Christ figure in medieval art) walks across the water dispelling the vile soul-destroying creatures. What’s it take, a 2 by 4 across the forehead? This is Christian stuff!

I have only one word for this column -- FASCINATING!

Posted by: Greg at 02:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In 1992, one of the things that Bill Clinton had going for him was a wife who, by all accounts, was a competent professional woman. Democrats seemed intent on creating a virtual co-presidency, with Hillary presumably to have a leading role in the administration.

Why is it that today there are those so frightened by Jeri Kehn Thompson, and who seek to minimize her accomplishments with epithets like "trophy wife" and "child bride" or other insults? Could it be a bit of misogyny? A concern that a grassroots candidate like Thompson appears able to upset the best laid plans of GOP contenders for the nomination? Or is it a left-wing fear that this young, intelligent, competent woman who also happens to be quite attractive might be an asset to a candidate who can beat anyone the Democrats nominate?

Bob Novak takes on this subtle (and not-so-subtle) misogyny in his current column.

Murmuring about Jeri Thompson hit a peak July 22 on "Fox News Sunday," when the program's roundtable engaged in whimsical contemplation of debate between spouses of Democratic presidential candidates. "Well, first," said Juan Williams of National Public Radio, ". . . I think you should get Jeri Thompson in here, the trophy wife, right?" William Kristol of the Weekly Standard interjected: "That's unfair." Williams: "Unfair, unfair, I know, but --" Kristol: "It is unfair."

That ended the discussion. I asked Williams, a respected journalist, whether he regretted the comment. He did not, but he explained that he got the idea from a July 8 New York Times article by Susan Saulny. "Is America ready for a president with a trophy wife?" she asked in the paper's Style section. "Subsequent to that," Williams told me, "I heard the same thing in conversation with people in other campaigns -- about her being so young, so attractive and so powerful."

The archetypal "trophy wife" (a phrase coined by Fortune magazine 18 years ago) conjures up the image of a rich corporate executive who tires of the woman he married when they both were young, whom he has grown old with, and turns to a young, chic new wife, usually seen as a home wrecker. Mrs. Thompson does not fit that mold. Thompson had been divorced for 17 years and was on friendly terms with his first wife when he married Jeri Kehn in 2002. They also have two small children -- not the trophy wife caricature either.

Nor does Jeri Thompson's background fit the caricature. After working for the Senate Republican Conference and the Republican National Committee, she became a big-time political media consultant in Washington. She has been intimately involved in the planning of her husband's campaign, including last week's staff shakeup. When Tom Collamore left as Thompson's campaign manager, he told CNN that he was "very respectful of the desire of Fred and Jeri to make some changes as they move to the next level." Those comments generated whispers in the political community that whoever ran this campaign would have to answer to the candidate's wife.

Competent, experienced, and beautiful -- that certainly puts her ahead of a certain Democrat seeking the presidency. And what's more, it leaves open the possibility that, following a successful Thompson presidency, we might see another Thompson seeking elected office -- and being a powerful figure in the GOP for decades to come.

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Posted by: Greg at 02:07 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I'll be the first to concede that stealing from another is wrong. But when someone is engaged in illegal activity for money, it is pretty hard for me to get overly outraged when they get ripped off by the other party to the illegal transaction.

Now an ongoing epidemic of wage theft from immigrant laborers reflects the many ways that a dysfunctional immigration system robs us all.

According to a recent Chronicle story, reports of Houston-area employers refusing to pay immigrants for their work doubled from 2006 to 2007. The U.S. Department of Labor's office here received 842 complaints of businesses stealing back pay in 2006, compared to 371 in 2005. There were 172 in 2004. The department does not investigate complaints against individual employers. Nationally, almost half of all day labors reported being robbed by employers in a two-month period, according to a 2006 survey.

Reports of stolen wages probably account for only a small portion of wage thefts. As about 75 percent of day laborers are undocumented, many shy from complaining to authorities. Because they are low-income workers supporting impoverished families, they often cannot afford to lose precious work hours trying to file charges.

Even so, for those immigrant laborers who came forward last year, the Labor Department recovered $475,000 owed to 453 workers.

I have mixed emotions here. I think employers who rip off workers are scum -- especially having been in such a situation early in my working career. But at the same time, we are talking about folks who are in the country illegally and not working legally -- the transactions they are involved in are illegal from start to finish. Isn't getting ripped off just a part of the price you pay for being a part of a criminal enterprise?

Are those who file such complaints also turned over to immigration authorities for deportation? I think we all know the answer there. Any change in immigration law needs to require that they are.

Or are the feds going to now help folks recover stolen drugs and drug money, and not prosecute the underlying crime?

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Posted by: Greg at 01:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Incredible!

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb expressed support for Michael Vick during an interview here Tuesday.

"I'm a supporter of Vick," McNabb said. "That's because I'm a good friend of his and also we're guys that obviously compete to win the Super Bowl. We push each other. Now, I don't know exactly what happened in that situation, and I think for all of us that have read over the stuff that was over the Internet, the report, you look at it as kind of like, 'Wow, you've got your so-called friends and family members turning their back on you now to make their situation better.' They're throwing you under the bus so that they can clean their name. That's unfortunate. That goes to show, I always have a saying that I've always lived by: If you can't trust family, who can you trust? It's an unfortunate situation, and I just hope everything works out well for him where he can get back out on the field."

Actually, trusting family is a big part of why Vick is in trouble in the first place.

McNabb also advocates lighter punishments for NFL criminals

"As a football fraternity member, you just want those guys to have that opportunity to get back out there and maybe put that stuff behind them and change their life," McNabb said. "I think for some of the guys that have made the mistake and now that their season is taken away from them, the question goes out of what happens next? Because when some people get things like that taken away from them, they just continue to go down. You hope nothing but the best, that they've learned from their mistakes to move on where they can get back out on the field and play. Being suspended for a year? That's tough. That's tough.... You just want everything to kind of work out well for everybody, work out well for us as well as work out well for those guys."

Never thought he had any class, and this pretty well confirms it.

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I'll be honest -- this sort of massive failure of a major bridge on an interstate highway left me assuming that we had seen a successful terrorist attack. However, the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis appears to be something else -- though exactly what is still not clear, even as the casualty report stands at 9 dead, 60 injured, and 20 missing.

The entire span of an interstate bridge broke into sections and collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening bumper-to-bumper traffic Wednesday, sending vehicles, concrete and twisted metal crashing into the water.

Hometown newspaper The Star-Tribune reported that nine people had been confirmed dead, 60 had been taken to hospitals and at least 20 remained missing early Thursday. The Associated Press put the number dead at seven so far.

Authorities said the death toll was expected to climb.

Asked about the possibility of finding more survivors, Fire Chief Jim Clack said, “The likelihood is fairly slim.”

"This will be a very tragic night when this is over," Mayor R.T. Rybak said.

Perhaps the most chilling part of the report for me is the statement that, after searching 50 cars, authorities assume that there are still more under water. I am quite thankful that the school bus that was on the bridge made it across in relative safety.

As one who used to regularly cross the Mississippi at St. Louis and who daily crosses the Houston Ship Channel, such a situation is among my worst nightmares.

To the people of the Minneapolis area, I send my prayers and best wishes. And to Stewart, Eric, and Michelle, old friends from grad school, I send my hopes that you and those you love are all right.

UPDATE: The death toll has been revised down to 4.

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I love flowers, and always have. Indeed, back during my high school and college dating days I used to regularly show up with flowers because I worked at the base PX and was friends with the women who ran the flower shop there -- they'd always fix me up with something nice.

I don't buy flowers as often anymore -- at least partly because of a request from my wife -- but I do from time to time. And I've been looking at some flowers for my wife, since her birthday and our anniversary are very close. I particularly like this arrangement of eighteen fresh-cut assorted roses in a beautiful oversize vase. They would certainly add a beautiful splash of color to any room, and they positively shout love for the one you adore.

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Well, thanks to some Longhorns with too much time on their hands (no jokes, please), we now know there are at least 237 reasons.

Scholars in antiquity began counting the ways that humans have sex, but they weren’t so diligent in cataloging the reasons humans wanted to get into all those positions. Darwin and his successors offered a few explanations of mating strategies — to find better genes, to gain status and resources — but they neglected to produce a Kama Sutra of sexual motivations.

Perhaps you didnÂ’t lament this omission. Perhaps you thought that the motivations for sex were pretty obvious. Or maybe you never really wanted to know what was going on inside other peopleÂ’s minds, in which case you should stop reading immediately.

For now, thanks to psychologists at the University of Texas at Austin, we can at last count the whys. After asking nearly 2,000 people why they’d had sex, the researchers have assembled and categorized a total of 237 reasons — everything from “I wanted to feel closer to God” to “I was drunk.” They even found a few people who claimed to have been motivated by the desire to have a child.

The researchers, Cindy M. Meston and David M. Buss, believe their list, published in the August issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior, is the most thorough taxonomy of sexual motivation ever compiled. This seems entirely plausible.

But seriously, folks, is every bit or research really necessary? And how much taxpayer money went into this study?

I hear that the Aggies are going to get in the act next, doing a similar study that involves sheep....

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For a variety of reasons that do not need to be discussed, the Founders included in the Constitution the Electoral College. Usually unimportant, the Electoral College system does create the possibility (and has in more than one election) of the nation being governed by a president with fewer popular votes (but geographically wider support) than hid opponent. This is because of the custom of states awarding all electoral votes to the candidate with the most popular votes within their borders.

Two states, Maine and Nebraska, currently do not follow this practice, but instead award some of their electoral votes based upon the results of presidential voting within congressional districts. Such a proposal is now being considered in California.

A Republican-backed ballot proposal could split left-leaning California between the Democratic and GOP nominees, tilting the 2008 presidential election in favor of the Republicans.

California awards its cache of 55 electoral votes to the statewide winner in presidential elections — the largest single prize in the nation. But a prominent Republican lawyer wants to put a proposal on the ballot that would award the statewide winner only two electoral votes.

The rest would be distributed to the winning candidate in each of the state's congressional districts. In effect, that would create 53 races, each with one electoral vote up for grabs.

California has voted Democratic in the last four presidential elections. But the change — if it qualifies for one of two primary ballots next year and is approved by voters — would mean that a Republican would be positioned the following November to snatch 20 or more electoral votes in GOP-leaning districts.

That's a number equal to winning Ohio.

Frankly, I'm opposed to the idea, based upon a reality of American politics -- the gerrymander.

Let's be honest here, both parties seek to maximize their political power in legislative bodies by drawing congressional district lines to partisan advantage. This could, in fact, make the likelihood of an Electoral College victory for the popular vote loser even greater than it is now -- because a majority of a state's electoral votes could go to the candidate with fewer popular votes.

For example, not too many years ago the congressional map here in Texas was drawn so that the Democrats needed only 44% of the votes cast to win 57% of the Congressional seats. Presuming that the presidential vote had mirrored the that outcome, the Republican candidate for president in that year would have received only 16 of 34 electoral votes. Multiply this effect across the 50 states and you can see the potential havoc this could cause -- and the incentive for even greater redistricting shenanigans.

Now I'm not one of those who supports the abolition of the Electoral College. In the past, it has served to legitimize candidates with a minority of the popular vote (Abraham Lincoln once and Bill Clinton twice) by giving them a clear mandate for office. It is, on balance, a good thing as it currently operates -- and tampering with it in this manner strikes me as unwise.

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