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Saturday, December 03, 2005
 

The International Man of Hunting

(Picture suggested by Kitty in the comments)

That's John Kerry:

Well, sources tell us that Kerry is an avid bird and deer hunter, and a good shot to boot. The proof: Early last week, he traveled to Nebraska for a waterfowl hunt. The senator and some friends, including old Swift Boat pal Jim Wasser, bagged 10 mallards, some smaller widgeons, and two Canada geese. We hear "J.K." and Wasser met near Decatur, Neb., by the Missouri River, huddled in a bunkhouse, grilled some steaks, popped a few beers, and watched the Colts-Steelers Monday-night football game on a 14-inch TV. They were out by 4:45 a.m. Tuesday. Temperature: 19 degrees. Wind: 30 mph. Kerry, armed with a Benelli shotgun; Wasser, and six others set the decoys on a pond and jumped into two blinds. At sunup, three ducks screamed in and the crew nailed 'em with their 12-gauges. Nearly a dozen more fell by lunchtime, all retrieved by the host's black lab, Bo. "Not bad for a few hours' hunting," said a Kerry buddy, who added that the birds will probably be served for Christmas dinner.

Color me skeptical. Kerry recounted last year his experience deer hunting, where you crawl through the underbrush with your shotgun....
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Check Out Lifelike Pundits

Let me recommend the group blog I post on, called Lifelike Pundits. There's always something interesting over there.
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Moo-On Adopts the Fake But Accurate Standard

On the ad about US soldiers which features British soldiers instead:

Blinq called a MoveOn spokesman, who acknowledged that the soldiers in the photo were British. Said the advertising firm grabbed a picture that didn't specify the soldiers' nationality. Wouldn't comment about the addition of long pants.

"We totally stand by the message of that ad," he said. "There are 150,000 American soldiers who weren't home for Thanskgiving."
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Blanco's Staff Played Politics While New Orleans Drowned

Check out this story:

E-mails turned over by the state to the congressional committees investigating the hurricane response show that the governor's senior staff was deeply involved in trying to preserve the governor's political standing and make sure that the White House was blamed for the slow pace of the initial response.

"We need to keep working to get our national surrogates to explain the facts -- that the federal response was anemic and had been shortchanged by budget cuts and avoiding responsibilities like protecting Louisiana levees and wetlands," Chief of Staff Andy Kopplin wrote to senior staff on the morning of Sept. 4, six days after Katrina made landfall.

At the same time, however, the governor's staff was sensitive to any notion that the federal government was taking control of the response from state officials.

"(Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael) Chertoff is now saying that the federal government 'is in control of New Orleans,' " Blanco Communications Director Bob Mann wrote in response to Kopplin. "(Brig.) Gen. (Mike) Fleming (of the Florida National Guard) is ready to say at the 11 a.m. briefing that that is not correct. The LA Natl Guard is in charge."

The exchange came two days after a private meeting aboard Air Force One in which President Bush asked Blanco to cede control over the National Guard forces in Louisiana to the federal government. Blanco refused.

After New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin had been quoted in news reports as saying Blanco responded to Bush's request by asking for 24 hours to make a decision, assistant chief of staff Johnny Anderson sent a Sept. 4 e-mail to Kopplin advising that, "We have to get this in check."

Kopplin's response did not dispute Nagin's claim, but again implied that the Bush administration was to blame for the slow response.
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Robert McCartney Update

I covered this story back in the spring, but I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't kept up with it. Quick recap: Robert McCartney and a friend were at a pub in Northern Ireland when a fight broke out between an IRA man and McCartney's friend. The IRA man reportedly ordered the pair killed. McCartney was stabbed and died of his wounds, while the friend survived. An IRA forensics crew reportedly wiped the scene clean of evidence. There the story might have ended but for the bravery of his five sisters and his fiancee, who demanded justice for their brothers.

Here are some updates:

The McCartney sisters and his fiancee have all moved from the Short Strand, where they had lived for many years. They snubbed Maggie Thatcher at a Women of the Year function, but the Guardian indicates that was calculated to keep the heat on the IRA.

A friend of McCartney's was beaten savagely in September:

Samuel Edward Caskey, 43, from Seaforde Court in the Short Strand area, denied causing grevious bodily harm to Jeff Commander on 12 September.

He also denied possessing an offensive weapon. The High Court heard that Mr Commander was attacked by seven men using sewer rods and iron bars.


A 43-year-old man doing that? Is it any wonder that the IRA is called the "RAfia"? As usual, checking the blogs is the way to go--Slugger indicates that some of the men involved may have been in on McCartney's murder as well.

This is the most recent update I can find on the court case of the two men accused of killing McCartney. It appears that the trial has not yet started.
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Michael Moore: In Favor of Invasions, Just Not This Invasion



Here's an oddball column by Moore-On.

In addition, many of us anti-Iraq war people believe we should not be isolationists and that America and the United Nations should go into countries where the populous (sic) is at deadly risk under "leaders" like Idi Amin of Uganda, General Franco of Spain, the Khmer Rouge, a communist guerrilla group led by Pol Pot in Cambodia, American made dictators like Augusto Pinochet of Chile, Anastasio Somoza Debayle and his father in Nicaragua, Papa Doc Duvalier and his son in Haiti, former dictator and President Juan Batista of Cuba before the 1959 revolution, and so on.

Notice anything about those folks? Yep, all their regimes are gone. Got any regimes you'd like to see overthrown now? I'd say the populace of North Korea is at deadly risk, but somehow they get no sympathy from Dhimmi Moore.
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Friday, December 02, 2005
 
Innocent or Just Not Proven Guilty?

As a followup to the post earlier today on the death penalty, John, a commenter on that post pointed us to this site on 100 cases where people were sentenced to death, but later found innocent.

But the criteria used for innocence is a little loose:

Criteria for inclusion on the list:
The definition of innocence that DPIC uses in placing defendants on the list is that they had been convicted and sentenced to death, and subsequently either a) their conviction was overturned and they were acquitted at a re-trial, or all charges were dropped; or b) they were given an absolute pardon by the governor based on new evidence of innocence.


To give an obvious example, is OJ innocent? No, clearly he's not. He was found not guilty, but as we all remember from Civics 101, not guilty does not mean he didn't do it. It just means that the state didn't prove he did it.

Let's take a look at some of the cases:

2. Samuel A. Poole North Carolina Conviction 1973 Charges Dismissed 1974
After being convicted of first degree burglary and given a mandatory death sentence, Poole had his conviction overturned by the N.C. Supreme Court because the case lacked substantial evidence that Poole was the person who broke into the home. (State v. Poole, 203 S.E.2d 786 (N.C. 1974)).


3. Wilbert Lee Florida Conviction 1963 Pardoned 1975
4. Freddie Pitts Florida Conviction 1963 Pardoned 1975
Although no physical evidence linked them to the deaths of two white men, Lee and Pitts' guilty pleas, the testimony of an alleged eyewitness, and incompetent defense counsel led to their convictions. The men were sentenced to death but maintained their innocence. After their convictions, another man confessed to the crime, the eyewitness recanted her accusations, and the state Attorney General admitted that the state had unlawfully suppressed evidence. The men were granted a new trial (Pitts v. State 247 So.2d 53 (Fla. 1971)) but were again convicted and sentenced to death. They were released in 1975 when they received a full pardon from Governor Askew, who stated he was "sufficiently convinced that they were innocent." (Florida Times-Union, 4/23/98).


Gee, they were convicted again, even after the eyewitness recanted her accusations and another man confessed to the crime? I'd hope Askew was right, but even he admits being only "sufficiently convinced".

23. Larry Fisher Mississippi Conviction 1984 Acquitted 1985

Larry Fisher was charged with the rape and murder of an 18-year-old high school student in Meridian Mississippi in 1983. A series of similar crimes had occurred in the same area and the pre-trial media coverage of the case was extensive. Fisher asked for a change of venue but was denied. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 1984. The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed his conviction and sentence because the saturation media coverage required a change of venue: "In a very real sense Fisher’s guilt was announced by the news media of Meridian, Mississippi, loudly and long before a Lauderdale County jury was ever impaneled to hear the case. By this he was denied his right to a fair trial before the trial began." (Fisher v. Mississippi, 481 So.2d 203, 206 (1985)). Fisher was re-tried two months later in a different county and was acquitted of all charges. (See Fisher v. Mississippi, 532 So.2d 992, 994 (1988) (upholding his conviction in a different case)). Fisher remained incarcerated because of a separate rape conviction.


Definitely stretching the concept of innocence to new limits. I am sure that given that Fisher had been convicted of another rape, or would be, that he's probably the guy. That he was acquitted on "all charges" is obviously false; that he was acquitted on the specific charges involving the 18-year-old high school student appears to be true.

BTW, one thing that amuses me. When you read the summaries, compare and contrast #6 and #17. When a jury takes only 15 minutes to acquit a man, it's evidence of innocence. When a jury takes only 15 minutes to convict a man, it's evidence of innocence.

There are some compelling stories in there that do seem obviously wrongful cases of imprisonment on death row, where the blood type was wrong, or where DNA evidence subsequently exonerated the accused. Great, and the better news is that there will be almost none of those types of convictions in the future, because now the DNA evidence will be recorded and preserved. The net result will be more and better convictions.

If you stake your case against the death penalty on innocence, what about cases where there is an abundance of conclusive evidence--DNA, videotape, etc? Because there will be more and more of those as time goes by given current trends.
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If Only Polling Could Make It So

John Kerry no doubt agrees with this rather oddball poll result of Arab sentiment:

When asked which country was the biggest threat to them, most chose Israel or the United States, while France was nominated as the country most respondents would like to be a superpower.
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You Won't See Libs Highlighting This Poll

Rasmussen Reports:

December 2, 2005--Confidence in the War on Terror is up sharply compared to a month ago. Forty-eight percent (48%) Americans now believe the U.S. and its Allies are winning. That's up nine points from 39% a month ago and represents the highest level of confidence measured in 2005.

Just 28% now believe the terrorists are winning, down six points from 34% a month ago. The survey was conducted on Wednesday and Thursday night following the President's speech outlining his strategy in Iraq.
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Newly Noted

Was just clicking around the TTLB ecosystem and spotted a nice, new blog by the wife of a Navy reservist. Sue's got an intelligent writing style, smart attitudes and varied topics. About the only gripe I have is that she hasn't gotten the "blog with every meal" part down yet; although that may have something to do with her two young daughters keeping her busy. She's got a terrific post on Cindy Sheehan's ridiculous letter to Barbara Bush.
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It's Not Every Day You See One of These



That is, unless your boyfriend is the Jolly Green Giant.

Hat Tip: Drudge
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Amen

Here's a terrific poem, sent to me by the Conservative Voice

'Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone, in a one-bedroom house made of plaster and stone. I had come down the chimney with presents to give, and to see just who in this home did live.

I looked all about, a strange sight I did see, no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.

No stocking by mantle, just boots filled with sand, on the wall hung pictures of far distant lands.

With medals and badges, awards of all kinds, a sober thought came through my mind.

For this house was different, it was dark and dreary; I found the home of a soldier, once I could see clearly.

The soldier lay sleeping, silent, alone, curled up on the floor in this one bedroom home.


The rest of this inspiring poem can be read at the Conservative Voice.

The title (which I didn't give up front so as not to spoil the surprise):

Marines 'Twas the night before Christmas
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Why I Support the Death Penalty

Pat Hynes (aka H-Bomb) and his writing partner, Bulldog Pundit, are debating the death penalty over at Ankle-Biters. Pat's one of those rare anti-death penalty conservatives.

To me the most compelling argument against the death penalty is the libertarian one; do we really want to grant the power of life and death to the state? But I've overcome that in my own mind due to concern that life in prison isn't always life in prison.

We had a guy here in Arizona who displayed the classic symptoms of a serial killer--started out with cats and dogs. When he was 17 he killed his best friend's mom, and had sex with the corpse. Fortunately, he wasn't sophisticated enough to get away with it yet. Sentenced to death, he got off with everybody else when the death penalty was declared unconstitutional. And sure enough, by about 30 years later, he was a trusty, getting out on weekends. Parole came up and the board voted to grant it. But then the victim's son complained to the newspapers that he hadn't been contacted by the parole board, as is required under Arizona's victims' rights law.

So they had to have another hearing, where the son emphatically requested that the guy not be given parole. But the parole board still voted 2-1 (the prior vote had been 3-0) to grant parole.

And then a funny thing happened. Because of all the news about the parole board's decision, a clerk at a local gun store recognized the convict, who had attempted to purchase a weapon, but stopped when he realized he'd have to submit Brady Bill paperwork. It turned out that the attempted purchase came the day that the son's complaint about not being notified of the parole board hearing appeared in the newspapers, so his motivation for acquiring a weapon was at least suspicious.

Third parole board hearing now on the weapons violation. Guy claims he was just buying it for his wife's (he'd gotten married while in prison) son whose birthday was coming up. Believe it or not, the parole board vote this time is 1-2, with one of the parole board members still voting to let the guy out. Fortunately he was overruled.

No, thank you. Capital punishment may not be a deterrent. But it sure keeps idiot parole boards from turning loose monsters.

Captain Ed also opposes the death penalty (apparently Pat Hynes isn't as lonely as he thinks), but he tackles the subject a little differently. He points to a Eugene Robinson article in the WaPo and wonders why the celebrities and glitterati only swoon over celebrity murderers like Tookie Williams.

The answer is pretty easy. It's the thin end of the wedge. When you oppose the death penalty, yes, to be logically consistent you should oppose it for monsters like Saddam and Timothy McVeigh the same as you oppose it for Tookie Williams and Carla Faye Tucker.

But suppose you look at ending the death penalty as a crusade, a battle to be won. Well, then you start using tactics. And one tactic that generals always use is they try to choose the ground on which to fight. You don't want to be charging up a hill at the enemy. So you pick and choose your battles. You don't put the same effort into opposing Timothy McVeigh that you do into Tookie, because you won't win any converts among those wavering. Indeed, people are willing to endorse capital punishment in some limited cases--Roger L. Simon in the case of Saddam, for example.

And this is not entirely a cynical process. Remember, that to liberals, the purpose of incarceration is rehabilitation, not punishment. Once the person is no longer a threat to society, he or she should be freed. The same applies to any crime, from robbery to murder. So adopting Tookie as a cause makes perfect sense. He's repented his criminal past (conveniently without admitting his guilt in the four murders for which he's facing death).

Update: The Pink Flamingo has a good take on this issue, as does Crazy Politico.
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More Smart Democrats

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley:

"Were people wrong when they fought Hitler?" he asked. "He didn't do anything against us. He didn't invade the United States."

So Daley, whose son, Patrick, is in the U.S. Army, supports the war in Iraq?

"I didn't say that," the mayor responded. "I support the men and women in the military."

But then he added, "We can't just leave the Middle East. If we leave the Middle East, just let's just forget about the Middle East and just walk away from the Middle East. I don't think anybody wants that."


Hillary Clinton comes in for some respect from Rick Moran:

In fact, there’s a decided chill in the air in hell these days. I say this because Hillary Clinton’s recent comments about Iraq actually make some sense and are worthy of serious consideration.

Now before many of my right-leaning friends stage an intervention and try to get me to voluntarily commit myself for 6 months of aromatherapy, let me make matters worse by saying I don’t believe that what Hillary is trying to accomplish is necessarily a poll-driven exercise in moderation. In fact, while her continued support for the war has more qualifiers than a pill bottle’s warning label, I would like to point out that she is opposed to a rigid timetable for withdrawal and in support of pretty much the same formula for victory that President Bush has recently outlined.

If this is a calculated move on her part to make herself more acceptable to the broad middle in American politics, I should remind you that she is agreeing with a President with a 42% approval rating, a man who demonstrably is in trouble with those same middle of the road Americans that are absolutely necessary to achieve victory in any race for the White House.


An analogy to Texas Holdem seems in order. In Texas Holdem, which has become extremely popular in local bars, there are always the flashy, "I'm all in!" types. And then there are the slow and steady players. The final table usually works out to a mix of the two, but if you pay attention, there were a lot more of the all-in players at the beginning of the night.

The politicians trying to score points on Iraq are pushing their chips towards the middle of the table. Hillary's sitting back, knowing she doesn't need to win this particular pot, not with three years to go till the election.
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Thursday, December 01, 2005
 
Survivor Update: Kill Or Be Killed

The reward challenge is an old standbye; the auction. Jeff offers a bowl of beef jerky, which Danni gets for $20. He offers her a chance to switch, but she wisely declines and is delighted when the switch bait turns out to be raw kernels of corn. The second item is offered hidden; when it's won it turns out to be two Philly Cheese steaks with french fries. The third item is mosquito netting, which Lydia gets.

Next comes something a little different; an unknown advantage in the upcoming immunity challenge. Obviously on the chopping block, Danni bids the most for that. I seem to remember something else afterwards, followed by the big one. Relatives come out--Judd's wife, Steph's boyfriend, a twin sister for Cindy (named Mindy), etc. Judd gets some money from Cindy, while Steph gathers in the cash from Rafe. The reward is to take their relative back to camp with them for an evening.

Judd ends up with the most money so he wins. But then Jeff springs the surprise. Judd can pick two more of the relatives to come back for the night, but those who don't get their relatives will go back to the old Yaxha campsite for the night. He picks Cindy and Steph, although there's a little more reluctance to help out Steph this time; clearly Judd's remembering her surprising move against Jamie. Rafe is obviously heartbroken at not getting to stay with his mother.

The next day the losers come back to camp and exchange some pleasantries with the relatives before it's time to go. Then it's on to the immunity challenge. Which resembles nothing so much as the old video game, Q-Bert. The game consists of a bunch of tiles, which start out on the white side. The players turn over the tiles to reveal the red sides, and step onto them. Whoever gets trapped surrounded by red tiles loses. Danni's advantage is revealed. At any time, she can switch positions with another player.

Which clearly means what, class? That she should play the game normally, wait until she's trapped, and then switch positions with whoever has the best position in the game. But she doesn't do that, she switches with Steph fairly early. But she still wins immunity, which means that Lydia seems like the obvious person on the chopping block. But Danni and Lydia have been doing some talking to Judd and then Steph, and seem to be building a wedge between them. Of course, that leaves Rafe as the wild card, but it appears that he's quite ready to vote Judd off.

Of course, this is a Mark Burnett production, so we now get scenes where Judd presses Lydia for her not to vote against him, and we can see pained expressions and a refusal to look him in the face.

It's set up as a Judd vs Lydia decision, and not surprisingly, Judd and Lydia split the first four votes. The next one is really decisive, and Judd takes it like a punch in the gut. Then comes the fourth one, and he strides angrily over to Jeff, saying something about how he hopes they get eaten by a crocodile, and how they're scumbags. Definitely one of the most bitter moments in the show so far.

And then there were five. My take on the remainder:

Steph: In trouble no matter what. If she wins immunity, immunity, final challenge, she's got two votes guaranteed against her (Judd and Jamie). Arguably Gary as well. She's probably got Bobby Jon's vote.

Lydia: Not in bad shape. She's not a threat and the old alliance has largely fractured. She can point to her friendly demeanor and hard work during the entire show. No guaranteed pro votes that I can see, but also not guaranteed antis. And nobody's going to see her as a threat to win competitions.

Danni: Things are definitely looking up. She needs to get a wedge in between Steph, Cindy and Rafe, and Cindy's the person in the supposed alliance who didn't get told that there was a change in the plan. If Danni can peel her off by pointing out that Steph and Rafes are the physical threats, then we could see Danni, Cindy and Lydia in the endurance challenge.

Rafe: In some trouble unless he moves agressively. He has to realize that the dynamics have changed drastically; he's the lone man with four women. They're definitely going to want to level the playing field by kicking him off. He needs to approach Lydia and Danni and propose alliance, because it's obvious now that whoever does that has the best chance of surviving.

Cindy: Most likely to be adopted by Danni and Lydia as their buddy, for the simple reason that they see her as less of a physical threat, and she sees them the same way.
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Moron MoveOn

Pam Meister has a moving response to the phony Thanksgiving ad MoveOn produced (which used British soldiers and claimed they were Americans).

Meanwhile the Man at GOP & the City wonders, where have all the photoshops gone? Fortunately I took a screen capture of MoveOn's page (linked at GOP & the City) so they can't deny they did it.
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NFL Power Ratings as of Week 12

Been awhile since I posted these, for which I apologize.

How to read the ratings: All teams are rated based on points above or below an average team, which would be rated at 100.0. Thus Indianapolis' rating of 111.8 means that it is considered to be 11.8 points above an average team.

Ind 111.8
SD 109.8
Cin 109.0
Den 108.9
NYG 107.1
Pit 104.4
Sea 104.0
Car 104.0
Dal 104.0
Jax 103.6
Chi 103.4
Atl 102.0
Phi 101.4
Was 101.4
KC 101.4
NE 101.4
TB 100.8
GB 100.6
Oak 98.5
Cle 98.4
Mia 97.2
StL 96.7
Min 96.1
Bal 95.5
Det 95.1
AZ 94.8
Ten 93.8
Buf 93.2
NO 91.8
NYJ 91.2
Hou 90.0
SF 88.4

Comments: Green Bay's rating is a fluke, but they have still scored more points than they've allowed in the season. Their record includes losses by 2,1,3,3,3 and 5 points, and some of those were on the road against good teams.
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The Most Fascinating People in the Blogosphere

John Hawkins has the list, and I concur with his selections, even Andrew Sullivan.
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Merry Week Before New Year's Day

Mr Right takes a look at politicially correct carols from the Democrats and their supporters. This one is really, really funny! Highly recommended.
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You Think You're Having a Bad Day?

Not as bad as this guy.

A Chicago Water Department masonry inspector was on the clock when he tried to warn drug dealers on a West Side block about a nearby police sting, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

But Roberto Colin, 45, was actually shouting out his car window to two undercover cops. Seconds later, he crashed into an unmarked squad car, got four tickets and later called a department boss to cover for him, police and City Hall sources said.


Of course, it's Chicago, and he's a Democrat, so he'll probably get a raise.
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Why The Levees Broke

Wizbang points us to this article on a story I've been covering for awhile.

The floodwall on the 17th Street Canal levee was destined to fail long before it reached its maximum design load of 14 feet of water because the Army Corps of Engineers underestimated the weak soil layers 10 to 25 feet below the levee, the state's forensic levee investigation team concluded in a report to be released this week.

That miscalculation was so obvious and fundamental, investigators said, they "could not fathom" how the design team of engineers from the corps, local firm Eustis Engineering and the national firm Modjeski and Masters could have missed what is being termed the costliest engineering mistake in American history.

The failure of the wall and other breaches in the city's levee system flooded much of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore Aug. 29, prompting investigations that have raised questions about the basic design and construction of the floodwalls.

"It's simply beyond me," said Billy Prochaska, a consulting engineer in the forensic group known as Team Louisiana. "This wasn't a complicated problem. This is something the corps, Eustis, and Modjeski and Masters do all the time. Yet everyone missed it -- everyone from the local offices all the way up to Washington."


As Wizbang notes, the national media seem uninterested in this part of the story, despite the clear blame that accrues apparently to the federal government. The problem, from the media's standpoint, is probably that there's no good "blame it on Bush" hook. The article does not make it clear when the mistakes were made, but I'd suspect it was a long time before President Bush took office.
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Case That Emptied Illinois' Death Row Starting to Unravel

This is a little complicated, but former Illinois governor Jack (Doh! George) Ryan decided to commute the sentences of all of Illinois' death row inmates a couple years ago, after a private investigator came forward with a tape recording of a confession by a man to a murder for which another man had been sentenced to death (but had not been executed).

Now that confession is under attack by the man's attorneys as coerced and false.

Ryan's decision was a horrible mistake. But then, he never showed good judgment, as when he decided that a private sex life with this woman (his now ex-wife, Jeri Ryan) was not enough:



(Actually, as my Illinois-based buddies inform me in the comments section, I've got my Ryans confused. Jack Ryan was a candidate for the US Senate and his sexcapades with his wife resulted in him dropping out of the race, setting the stage for the Alan Keyes fiasco.)
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Michael Moore Does the Civil War

This is hilarious.

Hat Tip: Aaron at Lifelike

The December 1 post over at My Take on Things has a similar flavor.
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Wednesday, November 30, 2005
 
Boy Does This Bring Back Memories

Soxblogger Dean Barnett:

It’s at times like this that I just can’t resist the urge to say “I told you so” to my liberal friends. Since Kerry has taken his sorry act national, haven’t I been telling you all that everyone who knows him dislikes him? The stories concerning the senator around Boston that end with Kerry intoning, “Do you know who I am?”, are legion.

So legion, in fact, that one of his many nicknames last year was DYKWIA. And we absolutely documented that to know, know, know Kerry was to hate, hate, hate him.
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DC Comics Characters to Be Featured on Stamps in 2006

Story here.

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Honesty from the Environmentalists?

Or just engaging in a little Mao-style self-criticism over tactics?

"We keep crying wolf and we keep overstating the doomsday scenario," said Ong Keng Yong, the Secretary General of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).

"It will not serve the cause of protecting the environment."


I remember years ago, an environmental reporter on an NPR show made a rather unintentionally telling observation. He said that it was tough being an environmental reporter because the editors' response to a pitch was "Another "end of the world" story? We just did that last week!"

Of course, one would think that the fact that the world has not ended would tell them that they're just blowing smoke.
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Al Franken's Book

I borrowed a copy from the library today; I'd like to think that I was depriving a liberal of the opportunity to read it, but there was another copy right next to it on the shelf. Amazing how that works with a New York Times Bestseller, eh?

It's called The Truth (With Jokes). Obviously that presents a little bit of a problem for any critique of the book, because anywhere the book is found to be less than truthful, Franken can claim that he was just joking.

But I thought I'd just check to see how long it takes Franken to lie in a book called the Truth. The answer, if we ignore the foreword, which is intended to be a joke, is three paragraphs.

Our hard work had paid off. In the preceding seven months we had built an explosively popular radio network....


The first chapter of the book is sheer schadenfraude, as Franken recounts the giddiness of the liberals on election day as the election polls came streaming in. His show was over early, and so they started planning the next day's show, complete with Queen singing "We are the champions!"
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Lorie Byrd on the Need to Fight Back

One of my favorite bloggers has a column in the newly-redesigned Town Hall:

One lesson learned over the past three years is that intelligence collected and interpreted by humans always contains an element of subjectivity and even what might appear a “slam dunk” can be found to be wrong.

In light of this, voters have to ask on which side of the decision-making equation they want their leaders to err in this post-9/11 world.


Nothing but net!

Lorie is best known for her work at Polipundit, but she also has a personal blog.
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The Taxman Cometh

And his name is Kofi Annan. Claudia Rosett has the details.

And what is that plan? The UN’s 1945 founding mandate was to promote peace. Sometime during the past six decades of dictator-packed voting blocks, diplomatic privileges, immunities and institutional secrecy, the UN instead got into the business of promoting mainly itself. At today’s UN, that involves the self-interest of two basic groups, and neither bodes well for the internet.
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Is That An X On Your Pants Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

Kitty pointed out this photo:



My guess is that the photographer meant to crop the picture so Big Willie's Little Willie was missing.
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Blogs for Heather



Our buddy Chris at Lucky Dawg is looking for more blogs to support Republican Heather Wilson in her campaign for reelection. If you want to know why I support Congresswoman Wilson, look no further than this article in the Albuquerque Tribune.

On Dec. 13 of last year, Ben was driving a 23-ton vehicle known as a Stryker with members of his 25th Infantry Division outside of Mosul in Iraq, when a green Ford Explorer entered his peripheral vision.

"It came out of nowhere," he recalls. "And it did not register as normal."

Seconds later, the Explorer hit Ben's vehicle. The resulting explosion blew the helmet off his head and shattered his left elbow. The ensuing flames caused second- and third-degree burns to his arms and face. Eight other soldiers in the vehicle escaped with minor injuries.

Ben and three other veterans were honored this morning at a ceremony at Veteran's Memorial Park by Congresswoman Heather Wilson. Wilson, an Albuquerque Republican, took a personal interest in Ben and the Rosecrans' family after they contacted her to help them through some snafus in Ben's medical treatment, most of which took place at Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.

"I was struck by Ben's humility and the whole family's commitment to service," Wilson says. "He was very humble. He did what he was trained to do and saved the lives of the rest of his convoy because of it. That's something that really strikes you."

Today, after many medical treatments, Ben's face is as clear and smooth as a baby's. The ear they told him he might lose, he jokes, is "as big as normal."

"I didn't get any prettier, unfortunately," he says, laughing. "That was my hope."


While you're over at Lucky Dawg, be sure to check out his moving and dramatic video of the week on the men who didn't cut and run.
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Not Antiwar, Just on the Other Side

That's how I'd sum up this terrific article at the American Thinker.

For reasons we need not go into here, some people in capitalism develop an aversion toward it. Needless to say, it can be seen and felt in many places – at anti-establishment rallies, globalization protests, in the ranks of our cultural and intellectual elites, among radical activists, and the movies of Michael Moore to mention just a few – where capitalism is spoken of as evil, exploitative, alienating, dehumanizing and such.

I tend to view the anti-capitalist outlook as an expression of laziness more than anything else. It takes hard work to get anything in a capitalist society; the communists promise us deliverance from effort. As an aside, has anybody else noticed that the youth "movements" of the last 50 years have all had a lazy core? The beatniks in the 1950s, the counterculture in the 1960s and early 1970s were both profoundly lazy. The slackers of the 1980s-1990 advertized their sloth in the name.
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Saddam's Other Complaints

Our buddy Buckley F. Williams has compiled the list. #2 definitely cracked me up.
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Robert Shane Pugh, Hero



You Big Mouth, You has the details.
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The Bush Economy

Is doing quite well, despite the doom and gloom crowd in the media.

U.S. economic growth rose at a 4.3 percent annual rate from July through September, the quickest since the first quarter of last year and evidence of the economy's resilience in the face of record energy costs.

The revised figure for gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced in the U.S., was higher than forecast and compares with a 3.8 percent pace initially estimated, the Commerce Department's figures showed today. Growth was 3.3 percent in the prior three months.


Yep, and with gas prices receding we can expect to see Bush's poll numbers climbing in the near future.
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Crescent Dropped from Flight 93 Memorial--Updated

Congrats and thanks to Michelle Malkin, who made this a cause celebre.

Update: Chris from Lucky Dawg pointed me to this marvelous photo essay of the Flight 93 Memorial as it exists now. Get out the hankies, and be absolutely sure to read down to the end.
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The Amazing Race: Old Faceful--Updated!

I had to tape TAR to get other things accomplished elsewhere. And, to be honest, it's an episode I could have skipped without missing a thing. The segment starts out with a drive to a balloon race, which, as anybody could have predicted, ends up with all the teams in the same order that they started, despite some balloon-bumping drama, and a hillside rendezvous. Then everybody has to drive to Park City, Utah. No skiing events this time, instead it's a railroad detour, where teams have to choose between shoveling coal or laying a railroad for 20 yards.

It was clearly a time for shoveling coal, but the first three teams chose laying down the rail. The Weavers, in last place, made me cheer when they decided to be the different team (usually the only way you catch up, when you're behind). Sure enough, they finished third, while the Linzes and the Bransons (with Wally finally showing what a man can do that his daughters can't), pounded the rails into submission. The Desperate Housewives finished this task last.

The next challenge is nothing--drive to Bonneville Salt Flats and find a very weird-looking artificial tree. Same order--Linzes, Bransons, Weavers and Godlewskis.

Next is to get thee to a campground. Apparently a simple task, but as we watch in astonishment, the Bransons, Weavers and Godlewskis arrive before the Linzes. It is explained in a quick voiceover that due to a production error involving the camera, the battery on the Linzes vehicle had conked out. This was the same production error we saw earlier this season and it ruins the drama of the episode. The Linzes are in last place and yet there is no drama because we all understand that they got hosed by the show, so there must be a spot where they are guaranteed to catch up, right?

Roadblock at the next cluebox. Teams must find two players to ride horses and take a small group of cattle to a corral. The Bransons do well, and the Weavers (who have three horses on their property, we are told) do better.

The next task is to drive to Old Faithful. The Bransons get there first, but the show only happens every 92 minutes so they must wait. Sure enough the Weavers arrive in time to see the eruption. But the other teams just miss and so we know they will finish at least an hour and a half behind.

So now the Linzes are safe because of the production error and the Godlewskis are in trouble. Meanwhile the Weavers and the Bransons are looking at a mad dash to the mat. Rollie says he is going to tackle Wally and for the rest of the family to dash ahead. Of course, they don't really allow that kind of behavior, and so the Bransons finish seconds ahead of the Weavers.

But... cue the dramatic music! The leg isn't over. The teams are still racing.

Which means that next week there will be some sort of bunching mechanism, so that the Linz's problem with the camera draining their battery doesn't matter. Which means we really have four families in a mad dash for the money.

I still say it's the Weavers. They're the only team we've really gotten to know. The Linzes are ciphers, the Branson gals are three peas in a pod. The Godlewskis we've gotten to know a little more; they will definitely be contenders.

Update: As always, if you want a better rundown of the episode, check out Viking Pundit's summary. Sorry for forgetting to put this in the original post; it was late at night when I finally finished it.
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Tuesday, November 29, 2005
 
Move-On Photoshopping Brits to Yanks?

Our buddy the Man at GOP & the City notes that George Soros' favorite charity is guilty of doing a little creative work to make their point. Be sure to click on the bottom picture, it gives you a great look.

Great job!
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New And Notable

Let me suggest that you check out the American Scratchpad, a new (started in November) blog that's well-written and intelligent. I agree with his rave about what the #1 right in America should be.
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LA Times Cans Ramirez

Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist gets the axe in cost-cutting measure. Now, you know I'm not usually impressed with the P-U-Litzers, but Ramirez is deserving as this example shows:



Now, I could suggest that those of you still subscribing to the LA Times consider threatening to cancel your subscription, but let's face it; nobody's subscribing anymore to the dog trainer. I am hopeful that Ramirez will go on to bigger and better things.
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Bolton Gets Results

The UN actually condemns Hizbullah:

This condemnation - slamming Hizbullah by name for "acts of hatred" - marked the first time the Security Council has ever reprimanded Hizbullah for cross-border attacks on Israel. The condemnation followed by two days a failed attempt to get a condemnation issued on Monday, the day of the attack, when Algeria came out against any mention of Hizbullah in the statement.

When asked what changed from Monday to Wednesday, one diplomatic official replied: "John Bolton," a reference to the US ambassador to the UN. Bolton lobbied vigorously for the passage of the statement.


George Voinovich was heard sobbing as the condemnation was read.
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The Usual Gang of Idiots

Supporting clemency for Tookie Williams:

Entertainers including Foxx, Elliott Gould, Danny Glover, Laurence Fishburne, Ted Danson, William Baldwin, Mike Farrell, Harry Belafonte, Edward Asner, Jackson Browne, Russell Crowe, Richard Dreyfuss, Gabriel Byrne, Snoop Dogg, Bianca Jagger, and politicians such as former state Sen. Tom Hayden, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl support clemency for Williams.

Who the heck did Bianca Jagger ever entertain (besides Mick)?
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Regarding Ted Rall

I heard quite a bit of discussion on the Laura Ingraham show about this execrable cartoon by Ted Rall. Laura noted that Ted's cartoon was syndicated to over 140 newspapers, including the New York Times.

I did a little endeavor called the Ted Rall Unemployment Project last year after Rall's notorious Pat Tillman cartoon, and what I quickly discovered is that Rall appears in a LOT fewer than 140 newspapers. The New York Times and a couple other newspapers wrote back saying that they hadn't carried him in years. We did get MSNBC to stop carrying him, so it wasn't a total waste.

I suspect that most of the newspapers carrying Rall are "alternative" weeklies and that there's not much use writing to those papers.
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Superman Radio Show Helped Defeat the Klan?

Ah, I just love this little tidbit:

In their insightful and offbeat Freakonomics Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner tell the remarkable story of Stetson Kennedy’s important role in preventing a substantial national revival of the Ku Klux Klan following World War II. Kennedy first infiltrated the Klan on his own and learned its secret structure, terminology, and passwords and then, in a stroke of genius, provided these to . . . The Adventures of Superman radio show. The script writers made great sport of the Klan’s goofy terminology (“Exalted Cyclopses,” “Kleagles,” “Klaverns,” etc.) as Superman battled against them. Very soon all over the country children were playing Superman vs. The Klan and mocking the Klan’s bizarre and murderous thuggery. Members began to leave in droves.

I have talked in the past about the Superman radio show's post-WWII effort to promote racial harmony.
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It's a Good Thing I Live In a Conservative Area

Where the libraries don't censor my access to conservative books. Beautiful Atrocities notes that Berkeley's library system doesn't yet have any copies of Michelle Malkin's Unhinged.

But of course, conservative or not, Phoenix's library books get bought by librarians, who tend to be just a tad left of center. As I write this, Phoenix has one copy of Unhinged, on order. They have 18 copies of Al Franken's new book, The Truth (With Jokes).

Scottsdale? They have zero copies of Unhinged, and zero copies of In Defense of Internment. They do have a couple of copies of Invasion, Michelle's 2002 book. They also have a mere 22 copies of Al Franken's The Truth (With Jokes)
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Moron Cindy Sheehan's Book Signing--Updated

John at My Take on Things has some amusing reflections.

Updated: Cindy claims the book signing was a big success.
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The Michelle Malkin Interview

Our buddy John Hawkins is the best interviewer in the blogging business, and he interviews one of the top names in punditry.
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Brit Peacenik Kidnapped in Iraq

Let's hope the jihadists get tired of listening to how he sympathizes with their cause and set him free.

The organisation, which has had a permanent presence of up to seven members in Iraq since before the war, refused to comment. A man standing at the door of Mr Kember's home in Pinner, north-west London, refused to give his name but read a statement on behalf of the family.

"Norman feels very strongly that the occupation in Iraq is a mistake," he said. "He has been a pacifist all his life, working in hospitals rather than doing national service at the age of 18.

"He was in Iraq for a short time to join a peace group that is talking and listening to people of all persuasions, believing that dialogue, not confrontation, should help to bring about conciliation."


I'm with Mrs G on this one; if he can be rescued without hurting any of our soldiers let's do it. But if it's risky at all, let Michael Moore lead the raid.

Update: The kidnappers have released video.
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Monday, November 28, 2005
 
Latest Tactic of the Left

I heard a couple of the local Air America idiots trying out this meme, and sure enough, Randi Rhodes was blathering on about it this evening. The notion is that the War Powers Resolution was not an authorization to go to war. As best I can figure it, this is an attempt by the chattering classes to come up with an excuse for all the Democrats who voted in favor of it. Rhodes was saying that there were all sorts of conditions attached to it, including a requirement that Bush go back to the UN, which he didn't do.

Funny thing, looks like Bush duped them again. Here's the text of the War Powers Resolution, and somehow that part got edited out. Here's what I see as the res of the affair, leaving out all the whereases:

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE.

This joint resolution may be cited as the "Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq".

SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS

The Congress of the United States supports the efforts by the President to--

(a) strictly enforce through the United Nations Security Council all relevant Security Council resolutions applicable to Iraq and encourages him in those efforts; and

(b) obtain prompt and decisive action by the Security Council to ensure that Iraq abandons its strategy of delay, evasion and noncompliance and promptly and strictly complies with all relevant Security Council resolutions.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

(a) AUTHORIZATION. The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to

(1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and

(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions regarding Iraq.

(b) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION.

In connection with the exercise of the authority granted in subsection (a) to use force the President shall, prior to such exercise or as soon there after as may be feasible, but no later than 48 hours after exercising such authority, make available to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate his determination that

(1) reliance by the United States on further diplomatic or other peaceful means alone either (A) will not adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq or (B) is not likely to lead to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq, and

(2) acting pursuant to this resolution is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorists attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.

(c) WAR POWERS RESOLUTION REQUIREMENTS. --

(1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION. -- Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution.

(2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS. -- Nothing in this resolution supersedes any requirement of the War Powers Resolution.

SEC. 4. REPORTS TO CONGRESS

(a) The President shall, at least once every 60 days, submit to the Congress a report on matters relevant to this joint resolution, including actions taken pursuant to the exercise of authority granted in section 2 and the status of planning for efforts that are expected to be required after such actions are completed, including those actions described in section 7 of Public Law 105-338 (the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998).

(b) To the extent that the submission of any report described in subsection (a) coincides with the submission of any other report on matters relevant to this joint resolution otherwise required to be submitted to Congress pursuant to the reporting requirements of Public Law 93-148 (the War Powers Resolution), all such reports may be submitted as a single consolidated report to the Congress.

(c) To the extent that the information required by section 3 of Public Law 102-1 is included in the report required by this section, such report shall be considered as meeting the requirements of section 3 of Public Law 102-1.


It's a funny thing, but I see an authorization to use force. I see some requirements as to reporting. And I see zero, zilch, nada, about the president having to go back to the UN and get authorization from Kofi and the boys.
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Second Thoughts on the Colts

Now that was a pasting. The Colts' D made Roethlisberger look like a rookie back there. Madden was talking about how Ben had to throw it deeper, but every time he did it came close to getting picked off.

I still have some doubts, but at this point it's time to acknowledge the obvious; the Colts are the best team in the league.
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Carnival of the Clueless is Up

Rick Moran has more links than I have puns about links.
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Pete Rose's Chance for Hall Slim and None

His eligibility to be elected by the writers has passed. And that has always been his best chance, as the sportswriters loved Rose. Now he goes to the Veteran's Committee, which has a fair number of Rose detractors.

Something of a lightweight ballot this year:

Rick Aguilera, Albert Belle, Bert Blyleven, Will Clark, Dave Concepcion, Andre Dawson, Gary DiSarcina, Alex Fernandez, Gary Gaetti, Steve Garvey, Dwight Gooden, Rich Gossage, Ozzie Guillen, Orel Hershiser, Gregg Jefferies, Tommy John, Doug Jones, Don Mattingly, Willie McGee, Hal Morris, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Jim Rice, Lee Smith, Bruce Sutter, Alan Trammell, Walt Weiss, John Wetteland.

Hmmm. Given those choices I'd vote for Blyleven (most wins by a player born in the 1950s), Jack Morris (2nd most) and Alan Trammell, with Rice, Gossage and John as probably the next best group. Hershiser was a fine player, but 204 wins strikes me as just a little short of the HOF standard. Ditto with Mattingly and Murphy, guys who had great seasons, but just not enough of them. Mattingly from 1983-85 was probably the best hitter in the game.
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Killing Two Frogs With One Stone

Our buddy Bulldog Pundit must like the French, because he's come up with a solution to two of their current problems.
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Lost At C

Kitty has a contest! She's been referring to Hillary Rodham Clinton as "Her Royal C", which at one point got her into trouble with Lucianne's staff watchdogs, who thought that perhaps the "C" was an abbreviation for a forbidden word. So she's come up with a contest to give the "C" an official meaning.

Keep it clean!
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The 16th Minute of Fame

In case you needed further confirmation that Cindy Sheehan's star has faded.

Mrs Media Matters has more thoughts.
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Who's the Republican Frontrunner?

Josh Gerstein says it's John McCain.

Intensifying public concern about the war in Iraq, the prospect of protracted corruption trials in Washington, and renewed qualms among Republicans about federal spending are all putting wind into Mr. McCain's sails while setting back most of the senator's rivals for the nomination.

"If Iraq and foreign policy and national security and deficit spending are important issues, that will benefit people like McCain," the publisher of a leading political newsletter, Stuart Rothenberg, said.


And indeed, if we look at Tradesports' contract on the Republican Presidential Nominee, we see that McCain has been rising quite a bit lately (although still not where he was last year):



(Note: Tradesports uses the European convention for dates; 27/10 is October 27, 2004.)

Hugh Hewitt says Frist has pretty much blown it, unless he really gets the job done in 2006:

The Senate's GOP's go-along-to-get-along attitude explains Senator Frist's calamitous political situation, and should also dictate his moves when the Senate gets back from its very, very long Thanskgiving recess in mid-December: Get nominee Boyle a vote. Get nominee Kavanaugh a hearing and a schedule for a floor vote. Get a schedule worked out for all current and future judicial nominees for 2006. If Chairman Specter balks, convene the party caucus and remove him from the committee. Get the Patriot Act through the Senate.

In other words, Senator Frist cannot afford to waste December, not if he wants to be a serious contender for the GOP nomination in '08. He'll be out of the Senate in a year and running for president on exactly what? Having made Senator Reid happy, or having kept Senator Specter pleased?


And again, Tradesports agrees:



A word of caution. A lot of people think these markets have good predictive powers. This is not the case. In 2000, for example, the Iowa Electronic Markets predicted that then-Governor Bush would win the election for most of October and early November. On election day, the market whipsawed back and forth as it looked like Gore would win, then Bush. (The same thing happened in 2004, with the exit polling fiasco). In the ultimate irony, the IEM paid out on the Gore contracts, as their pre-existing determining factor was the popular vote.

What markets like the IEM and Tradesports are good at is distilling the conventional wisdom, which is why they have gyrated wildly on the day of the last two presidential elections.
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Frank Rich Takes a Pounding

Thanks to the New York Times, we can't read his original article unless we want to shell out $50. Judging from this editorial by the NY Sun, that would be wasted money.

Mr. Rich's New York Times column yesterday refers to Mr. Bush's 2003 State of the Union address with the "bogus 16 words about Saddam's fictitious African uranium." Those words were, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." But those 16 words are neither bogus nor fictitious. They were and are true. A July 2004 report of the bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Intelligence reported that an Iraqi delegation visited Niger in June of 1999 and met with Niger's then-prime minister, Ibrahim Mayaki. The committee relayed that Mr. Mayaki said the meeting was about "expanding commercial relations" between the two countries, which Mr. Mayaki interpreted to mean "that the delegation wanted to discuss uranium yellowcake sales."

A July 2004 report by the British government's Butler Commission found that Mr. Bush's State of the Union comment was "well-founded." As the Commission put it, "It is accepted by all parties that Iraqi officials visited Niger in 1999.The British Government had intelligence from several different sources indicating that this visit was for the purpose of acquiring uranium. Since uranium constitutes almost three-quarters of Niger's exports, the intelligence was credible. ... The forged documents were not available to the British Government at the time its assessment was made, and so the fact of the forgery does not undermine it."


Indeed, I went through the Senate Intelligence Commission's report a few months ago, and it clearly exhonerated President Bush and castigated serial liar Joe Wilson. But Joe Wilson got back in the news the last couple of months and the media are determined not to tell the truth about him. It's as if they believe the old maxim that if you tell a lie often enough, people will think it's the truth.

Mr. Rich's New York Times column yesterday accuses Messrs. Bush and Cheney of "falsely claiming they've been exonerated by two commissions that looked into prewar intelligence - neither of which addressed possible White House misuse and mischaracterization of that intelligence." Yet two major reports that looked into the matter of the administration and intelligence did exonerate the president. Here is a quote from the report of the bipartisan Robb-Silberman commission: "The Commission found no evidence of political pressure to influence the Intelligence Community's pre-war assessments of Iraq's weapons programs. As we discuss in detail in the body of our report, analysts universally asserted that in no instance did political pressure cause them to skew or alter any of their analytical judgments."

Here is a quote from the report of the bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Intelligence: "The Committee did not find any evidence that Administration officials attempted to coerce, influence, or pressure analysts to change their judgments related to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities." Yet, in contravention of those conclusions - reached by groups that included Democrats such as Senators Edwards, Levin, Wyden, and Durbin and Clinton administration officials Lloyd Cutler, William Studeman, and Walter Slocombe - Mr. Rich speaks of "the administration's deliberate efforts to suppress or ignore intelligence that contradicted its Iraq crusade."


Yes, when you argue about this with the libs, they claim that the pressure was subtle; that the administration kept sending back the reports until they got the results they wanted.

Terrific editorial by the Sun. Hat tip to Lucianne for pointing it out.
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Sunday, November 27, 2005
 
If You're Thinking Toys for Christmas...

Think Hasbro.

Just a nice little story about a good corporate citizen.
0 comments
 
The Feingold Express is Coming

The antiwar types will no doubt be thrilled by this news:

The time has come for a "cheesehead" in the White House, although Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., doesn't know if he's the one to take that mantle.

He put his chances of seeking for the nomination in 2008 at "probably higher" than one in 100 while saying it was too early to commit to the race.

"But I do think one thing we can all agree on is that this country is overdue for a cheesehead president. We've never had one," he told ABC's "This Week."
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What Are These Numbers?

28, 20, 21, 17, 37.

Answer: The number of points the undefeated Indianapolis Colts have given up in their last five games.

I just don't see them as Super Bowl winners.

This could be one of those years when a surprise team takes home the Lombardi trophy. The Bears look to have the league's best defense, but I'm far from sold on their quarterback's ability to win a game from behind. Seattle looks good but they also have a question mark at QB, and let's face it they haven't won a playoff game since Doug Flutie graduated from college. In fact, the only proven playoff winner in the NFC hunt is Jake Delhomme.
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Just Being Nominated is the Honor

Thanks to our buddy Mr Right for nominating Brainster's for the 2005 Weblog Awards at Wizbang. I can't quite find the post where he nominated us, but I saw it in a referring link list last night. I don't expect to win anything; it would be a thrill to even reach the finalist group for blogs from 1000-1750 in the TTLB.
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Hollyweird Diet a Little Rich in Vitamin PC

Mark Steyn on the box office slump:

The average multiplex is surely not long for this world. Already, 85 percent of Hollywood's business comes from home entertainment -- DVDs and the like. Suits me. Or so I thought until, on the way home from the hell of Harry Potter, I stopped to buy the third boxed set in the ''Looney Tunes Golden Collection.'' Loved the first two: Daffy, Bugs, Porky, beautifully restored, tons of special features. But, for some reason, this new set begins with a special announcement by Whoopi Goldberg explaining what it is we're not meant to find funny: ''Unfortunately at that time racial and ethnic differences were caricatured in ways that may have embarrassed and even hurt people of color, women and ethnic groups,'' she tells us sternly. ''These jokes were wrong then and they're wrong today'' -- unlike, say, Whoopi Goldberg's most memorable joke of recent years, the one at that 2004 all-star Democratic Party gala in New York where she compared President Bush to her, um, private parts. There's a gag for the ages.

No apologies to white men for Elmer Fudd.
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  Endorsements: "11 Most Underrated Blogs"--Right Wing News

"Brainster is the Best"--Allman in the Morning FM 97.1 Talk (St. Louis)

"This is blogging like it oughta be"--Tom Maguire (Just One Minute)

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Contact Me: pcurley (at) cdwebs (dot) com

Brainster in the Media

Howard Kurtz's Media Notes: May 27, 2005

Slate Today's Blogs:

March 16, 2005

May 9, 2005

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Cited for Breaking the Christmas in Cambodia story (at Kerry Haters):

Hugh Hewitt: KerryHaters was on this story a long time ago. How could the elite media not have asked these questions before now?

Ankle-Biting Pundits: Our friends Pat and Kitty at Kerry Haters deserve the blog equivalent of a Pulitzer for their coverage of Kerry's intricate web of lies regarding Vietnam.

The Weekly Standard

Les Kinsolving

Greatest Hits

What If the Rest of the Fantastic Four Were Peaceniks?

Lefty Bloggers on Gay Witchhunt (linked by 16 blogs including Instapundit)

Kitty Myers Breaks Christmas in Cambodia

Brainster Shows Brinkley Says No Christmas in Cambodia

Explanation of the Blog's Name

Power Ratings Explained



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