Of course, polls this far out aren't worth much, but it's nice to see just the same.
A survey of likely Republican voters in Alabama found that U.S. Sen. John McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani are about even at the top of a crowded GOP field of presidential candidates.
In a Press-Register and University of South Alabama telephone poll of 402 people planning to vote in February's Republican presidential primary, McCain was favored by 23 percent, while Giuliani was the choice of 22 percent of those responding to the survey.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney received 12 percent, followed by actor and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, with 10 percent, and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, with 7 percent. Thompson and Gingrich are considering runs for the GOP nomination, but have not officially entered the race.
Meanwhile, Cliff Kincaid hyperventilates over a proposal by Fox News to limit their debate to candidates with a chance of winning. His point would be valid if Fox weren't setting the bar quite low:
Reports indicate that the candidates will have to register at one percent in various polls before being invited to the debate. But as the AP story noted, “In a variety of national and state polls, seven of the 10 candidates hover around one percent or less.” Four candidates—Hunter, Tancredo, Paul, and Brownback—are at one percent in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. But it’s not clear this poll will be used to select the debate participants. The three top GOP candidates in the poll who stand to benefit the most from the Fox News decision are Giuliani (at 39 percent in the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll), McCain (24 percent) and Romney (12 percent).
But certainly registering 1% should not be an insurmountable hurdle, and Fox is quite right to insist on at least that kind of support, otherwise we'd have a debate with 1,500 candidates. I suspect that Hunter, Tancredo, Paul and Brownback will be in the debate, but some even more marginal candidates like Mike Huckabee and Jim Gilmore may be left out.
Turns out they may not be the best thing for the environment, after all:
As each CFL contains five milligrams of mercury, at the Maine "safety" standard of 300 nanograms per cubic meter, it would take 16,667 cubic meters of soil to "safely" contain all the mercury in a single CFL. While CFL vendors and environmentalists tout the energy cost savings of CFLs, they conveniently omit the personal and societal costs of CFL disposal.
Not only are CFLs much more expensive than incandescent bulbs and emit light that many regard as inferior to incandescent bulbs, they pose a nightmare if they break and require special disposal procedures. Yet governments (egged on by environmentalists and the Wal-Marts of the world) are imposing on us such higher costs, denial of lighting choice, disposal hassles and breakage risks in the name of saving a few dollars every year on the electric bill?
These things have the potential to be another MTBE nightmare
The teams learn their next major destination: Guam. Three of the teams make the early flight to Tokyo, but Young Gay miss barely. However, they can still make the connecting flight from Tokyo if they hurry. Sure enough, they make it just barely and the flight looks to be almost solely TAR contestants.
At Guam they first go to an Air Force Base, and climb a tower. Another problem for Charla. Detour: Care Package or Engine Care. In Care Package, they pack up 300 pounds of food and drop it off using a cargo plane. In Engine Care, teams have to wash off a bomber. It's pretty clear that the latter task will be shorter, but Charla and Mirna decide to do Care Package. Looks like fun although they do end up leaving behind the other teams.
Next stop: A naval base. Roadblock: Search for a downed pilot using a GPS system, then take the pilot to a landing zone where they will be picked up by a helicopter. Charla seems to have trouble understanding that she's not to touch the buttons or the screen on the GPS and keeps getting lost. The Beauty Queens ace through this and again are in the lead, with the Pit Stop ahead. Danielle seemingly finds the pilot fairly easily but the Landing Zone sems to elude her. Finally she locates it.
Charla and Young Gay complete at about the same time. Meanwhile, the Beauty Queens have already finished, indicating that Danny and Oswald will have a time penalty awaiting them at the mat. Danny does get off one good crack about Charla searching--"The teletubbies join the army!" Sure enough Danielle and Eric finish second, One and a Half Women come in third completing the finalists. Danny and Oswald are Phil-Liminated. They mention that they hope Charla and Mirna win.
One thing that's kind of annoying; Phil keeps mentioning that the Beauty Queens have the chance to be the first all-female team to win TAR, without ever apparently realizing that Charla and Mirna also could achieve that as well.
Viking Pundit has his usual excellent recap up. Like him I am nearing exhaustion with this season.
On this, environmentalists aren’t neutral, and they don’t agree. Some believe it helps build support, but others argue that these purchases don’t accomplish anything meaningful — other than giving someone a slightly better feeling (or greener reputation) after buying a 6,000-square-foot house or passing the million-mile mark in a frequent-flier program. In fact, to many environmentalists, the carbon-neutral campaign is a sign of the times — easy on the sacrifice and big on the consumerism.
As long as the use of fossil fuels keeps climbing — which is happening relentlessly around the world — the emission of greenhouse gases will keep rising. The average American, by several estimates, generates more than 20 tons of carbon dioxide or related gases a year; the average resident of the planet about 4.5 tons.
At this rate, environmentalists say, buying someone else’s squelched emissions is all but insignificant.
“The worst of the carbon-offset programs resemble the Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences back before the Reformation,” said Denis Hayes, the president of the Bullitt Foundation, an environmental grant-making group. “Instead of reducing their carbon footprints, people take private jets and stretch limos, and then think they can buy an indulgence to forgive their sins.”
“This whole game is badly in need of a modern Martin Luther,” Mr. Hayes added.
Exactly. The idea that these self-centered celebrities can excuse their opulent lifestyle for a few bucks paid to an eco-kook firm, while simultaneously hectoring us to hang our clothes on a clothesline is hilarious.
Gotta love this story about a Vanity Fair issue devoted entirely to the environment. The columnist is sympathetic to the cause, but get this detail on the cover shot:
It shows movie heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio on an iceberg with a very cute little polar bear cub.
Said Vanity Fair: "Polar bears are imperiled by the melting of the Arctic ice. The Bush administration, which has yet to decide whether to list the polar bear as a threatened species, understands the power of symbols, and has warned government scientists not to speak publicly about polar bears or climate change at international meetings. Knut, the cub on our cover, was born in the Berlin Zoo. We brought him together with Leonardo DiCaprio the only way we could, in a photomontage. Knut was photographed by Annie Leibovitz in Berlin. DiCaprio, no stranger to icebergs, was photographed by Leibovitz at Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon in Iceland. Yes, we know, there are no polar bears in Iceland. If trends continue there won't be any in Canada either."
Yep, global warming is real and so important that Vanity Fair flew its photographer to Berlin and Iceland just to create a dramatic cover.
This time I wasn't late for the conference call, and I actually managed to get a chance to ask a question!
There were a fair number of bloggers on the conference call, and questions were asked by John Hinderaker, Lorie Byrd, Ann Althouse and others.
The first question was on the news I reported just below this post, about Romney's statement that indicated catching Bin Laden was not a priority. Senator McCain said that he did not want to get into criticizing the other candidates, but that he absolutely felt that capturing Osama bin Laden was one of the top goals for any administration in battling the terrorists.
Lorie Byrd asked how Senator McCain would improve the communications problem that President Bush has had at times. He noted that the President had given an excellent and detailed briefing on the war just last week. He also said that he wasn't going to get into the media bashing game, that he's quite accustomed to dealing with the media.
Another blogger asked about hybrid vehicles and what we could do to encourage their use. McCain said that as a country we need to do more but that he was reluctant for government to take a lead role in that with mandates and restrictions.
John Hinderaker asked about Social Security and Medicare and how we can get those on solid footings. McCain suggested it would take a bipartisan approach.
Ann Althouse asked about the Supreme Court and whether McCain would be open to maintaining a moderate balance on the court. McCain said that while he was not in favor of litmus tests on issues like abortion, he did feel that he wanted strict constructionalists. He also indicated that he would like to see some people with real world experience in there, not people whose sole qualifications were being lawyers and judges (although obviously they need to have some experience there as well).
I got on near the end and noted that everybody had covered specific issues quite well, so I wondered if I could ask an "inside baseball" question. Looking at the electoral college map, were there any blue states in 2004 that he felt he could flip to the Republican column?
He complimented me on the question and noted that we were all political junkies so he liked a little inside baseball. He felt that California was a state that the Republicans need to at least make competitive, and that as a Westerner, he would have a chance in the Golden State. I note that President Bush won 44% of the vote there in 2004. He also liked his chances in Pennsylvania, which of course is certainly in play. He also thought that New York was possible, which seems unlikely especially if Hillary is the Democratic nominee, and that he'd like to make a good showing in New England, while recognizing that time and money pressures would make that less likely.
One big thrill came when Senator McCain noted that his fellow POW, Colonel Bud Day had introduced him to the crowd in Sioux City, Iowa. Those who've been reading this blog know that Colonel Day is a big hero to me, as he should be to all Americans.
[Romney] said the country would be safer by only "a small percentage" and would see "a very insignificant increase in safety" if al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was caught because another terrorist would rise to power. "It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person," Romney said. Instead, he said he supports a broader strategy to defeat the Islamic jihad movement.
I agree with York's take on this; it is absolutely worth spending billions of dollars to get Osama. Note as well that if we either capture or kill Osama, the odds are very high that we will be doing the same to a bunch of other Al Qaeda higher-ups.
And Osama isn't just 9-11, although that is obviously his worst exploit. He's also responsible for the embassy bombings, the USS Cole, and just recently admitted to being behind an attempt on the life of Vice President Cheney.
"The September 11th Commission reported that al-Qaeda had been trying to acquire or build nuclear weapons for well over a decade. Former CIA Director George Tenet said that Osama bin Laden sees the acquisition of WMD as a 'religious obligation.' Jihadist clerics have issued fatwas authorizing the use of nuclear weapons to... 'defeat the infidels.'
Here's the claim, regarding Curt Schilling's famed performance in the 2004 World Series:
The great story we were talking about the other night was that famous red stocking that he wore when they finally won, the blood on his stocking. Nah. It was painted. Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it after. It was all for PR.
Schilling's one of my favorite players in baseball, and not solely because of his conservative politics and support for President Bush. It's because he works hard to be successful:
He reviews pitches he's thrown to opposing hitters on his laptop computer. He has 90 CDs loaded with 20,000 pitches dating back to 1995. "I'm a computer nerd," said Schilling.
He also has a detailed book on the tendencies of every major league umpire.
"You get a feel for them," he said.
Even when he's not pitching, Schilling is in the dugout watching and taking notes.
I suspect strongly that this is not about Game 2 of the 2004 World Series. Indeed, this transcript indicates that Thorne has other issues with Schilling:
If you look at history, you can see that there is essentially a blueprint for turning an open society into a dictatorship. That blueprint has been used again and again in more and less bloody, more and less terrifying ways. But it is always effective. It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy - but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps.
Ah, I've been meaning to get into a 10-step program for awhile now; let's see what they entail:
1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
After we were hit on September 11 2001, we were in a state of national shock. Less than six weeks later, on October 26 2001, the USA Patriot Act was passed by a Congress that had little chance to debate it; many said that they scarcely had time to read it. We were told we were now on a "war footing"; we were in a "global war" against a "global caliphate" intending to "wipe out civilisation". There have been other times of crisis in which the US accepted limits on civil liberties, such as during the civil war, when Lincoln declared martial law, and the second world war, when thousands of Japanese-American citizens were interned. But this situation, as Bruce Fein of the American Freedom Agenda notes, is unprecedented: all our other wars had an endpoint, so the pendulum was able to swing back toward freedom; this war is defined as open-ended in time and without national boundaries in space - the globe itself is the battlefield. "This time," Fein says, "there will be no defined end."
Okay, so your rule should be "Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy with no defined end?" You can tell that Wolf is going off the deep end already if her Rule #1 doesn't really quite fit. And Wolf does not even pretend that Bush has created an "internal" enemy.
2. Create a gulag
Of course, Wolf is referring to Camp X-Ray, but the Russians did not create a gulag for outsiders, they created a gulag for their own people. Ditto with the Nazis and their concentration camps.
3. Develop a thug caste
Here Wolf has in mind the Brownshirts, the Blackshirts and those terrifying security company thugs here in the US. Seriously.
It goes on, but you get the point. As I've said many times in the past, the idiots who claim America is turning into the Third Reich are not minimizing the evils of Nazi Germany, or overblowing the supposed evils of the Bush Administration. They are fancying themselves the noble heroes who resisted Hitler.
Our buddy Gaius at Blue Crab Boulevard notes that Wolf's article could apply just as well to the Global Warming zealots.
As I've observed before, although she's a terrific serious commenter, she's got a real knack for the humor. Remember her hilarious bit on Cindy Sheehan's liquid diet?
A reporter from the Cleveland Plain Dealer encouraged USS Kucinich to contact planet Earth. "But Nancy Pelosi says this is not going anywhere," she pointed out.
"Have you talked to her today?" Kucinich shot back.
"Yes, I did," she replied.
Kucinich had not expected that answer. "Then I would say I have not talked to her," he acknowledged.
Read it all; it's quite a romp. Milbank goes after Kucinich for his height, for his rug, and for his kooky belief that the American public wants Cheney impeached. Of course, this is all really aimed at the Democratic primary voters for 2008, not at Dick Cheney.
From Mark Burnett Productions and MySpace, INDEPENDENT is an interactive television series that will engage and empower young Americans to participate in the political process at an unprecedented level. The show is a reality-based competition where America will select a candidate whom they feel will best reflect the voice of young Americans.
By combining reality-competition television with the Internet, INDEPENDENT will help reshape the face of American politics, including the next Presidential election.
It's got the typical prize: One million bucks, but with an atypical string:
In INDEPENDENT, the winner will receive an award of one million dollars that they cannot keep. What they do with that million dollars is subject to a list of options, all political in nature, but the choice the winner makes will be greatly influenced by the MySpace community and the viewers of the network television show.
Will the winner choose to donate the money to a political action group (e.g. global warming or education reform)? Will they provide the initial donation to form a third political party that better represents the voices of young Americans? Will they make their own run for the White House in 2008? All of these decisions will be shaped by viewers who watch the show, and influence our winner.
I'll make a prediction right here and now; the winner donates the money to Hillary's campaign.
Allah may have been influenced by our posts over at Screw Loose Change, which he linked. I'll admit that there's an argument to be made that Kerry had to know what the questioners were really implying, but from our standpoint at SLC we don't want to chide Democrats and liberals for dodging the Truthers as long as they don't really encourage them. We try to be non-partisan at that site (although both of us are Republicans).
If Kerry replies about this stuff being crackpottery, the questioner may start on about "free fall speeds" and "NORAD stand-downs" that a) Kerry's not equipped to answer and b) that doesn't sell copies of his book. And in fairness to Kerry, the questions were oblique enough that they didn't require a forceful refutation.
If a Democrat wants to dodge the Truthers, I'm willing to cut them a break, just as I would cut Republicans a break who dodge the North American Union nonsense, and all politicians dodged that "notch-baby" crap. I don't like Kerry; I've got pretty good credentials in that regard.
I've commented in the past that I don't particularly like O'Reilly's bombastic style, but he's right on the money with his criticism of George Soros and Media Matters, a kook outfit that harasses any media outlets that aren't comfortably to the left of Fidel Castro.
Here's a graphic used on the program:
The Tides Foundation has attracted attention in the past. In 2004 it was disclosed that John Kerry's wife, Teh-RAY-za Heinz Kerry, had financed Tides to the tune of $4 million. Among other groups, Tides donated $150,000 to the Ruckus Society, a bunch of nutty anarchists who caused $3 million in damage to Seattle during the WTO riots in 1999. The Ruckus group also planned major disruptions of the Republican National Convention in 2004, although they were largely unsuccessful:
Although they threatened a ruckus disruptive enough to force the evacuation of the Big Apple’s Madison Square Garden, protester activists left last week’s GOP convention with their proverbial tails tucked between their legs. For all of their big talk, tall tales, pink panties and traffic-stopping tactics, the Republican convention went off without a glitch.
Needless to say, all this talk about Soros cash and the Media Matters creeps has the Lefty blogs up in arms:
Here is how it works: You see, George Soros gives million dollar bills to someone (probably Hillary Clinton) at the mysteriously named Open Society Institute who then goes to the check cashing place and gets them broken down into thousand dollar bills (out of sequence of course) which are then placed in those Hallmark envelopes (with the oval for the dead president face to show through) that grandmothers use to give out five dollar bills on birthdays and mitzvahs.
But there he is, night after night, Bill O'Reillying it up like the modern day McCarthy he is. At a certain point crazy becomes performance art. Here's to you, Bill O.
Of course this "non-denial denial" is a little undercut by the disclaimer:
The views on this site are mine and mine alone, they do not reflect the views of my employer, Media Matters for America.
This is pretty amusing. Apparently Maureen Dowd took a break from her routine of bashing Bush to give John Edwards a helping of criticism for his $400 pompadour. And the Lefty blogs are tearing into each other and her and him:
What I don't understand is John Edwards. A presidential campaign demands so many sacrifices. It rips you from your family, forces a ceaseless travel schedule, demands constant kowtowing to parochial primary voters, demands endless humiliating fundraising calls, and imposes a thousand indignities and inconveniences, some major, some minor. So why, in all that he is giving up, did he not eschew the big house or the costly cut?
ezra klein's an idiot about maureen dowd at least. and we say that with deep regret since we read him regularly and normally we find him thoughtful and informative. plus he writes well. but about l'affair du haircut, he's an idiot. and worse, he's a battered democrat, hoping the abusive press won't hit our candidates if they behave well.
I know several female on-air television personalities who spend considerably less than this on haircuts, though Japanese straightening treatments can take them into the over $500 range. I can’t imagine Edwards spent $400 for just a haircut. That seems excessive, even for a top salon, given how short his hair is, how basic his style is, and given that men’s cuts generally run less than women’s.
We are currently suffering through the last two years of a President who is manifestly unqualified for the job, and has no discernible interest in most of the issues that affect ordinary Americans. Thank heavens, then, that Maureen Dowd has decided to use her column not to score cheap points, but to focus our attention on an issue of immense national significance: John Edwards' haircut.
But of course if La Dowd had written a column on Bush's haircut, they would not be talking about how this was a distraction from issues that affect ordinary Americans.
I propose a limitation be put on how many sqares [sic] of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don't want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required. When presenting this idea to my younger brother, who's (sic) judgement [sic] I trust implicitly, he proposed taking it one step further. I believe his quote was, "how bout just washing the one square out."
I suspect Sheryl's greener, because her brother's probably brown by now.
The Amazing Race: All the Best Macao Boys Have Chinese Eyes
Or, the show that never ends. I'm a little ticked off at the producers for today's episode. Teams take a ferry to Macao, where they must find the tallest structure, the Macao Tower. Caution: Yield ahead. Young gay is low on funds, so they make a deal with the Beauty Queens to yield Eric and Danielle. The BQs reason that this protects them, and puts a tough team on the ropes, since they're already marked for elimination. Charla and Mirna arrive shortly thereafter and offer the Young Gays money. Ah, the irony! For the Roadblock, one player must walk around the top of the tower, then skydive off:
Miss New York does it for the Beauty Queens and makes a comment about how she almost crapped her pants. Not an image we need! Meanwhile, Eric and Danielle are stunned to be yielded again and furious at Young Gay.
Next stop: Go to a Chinese garden, where the cluebox has a Detour: Noodle or Dragon. In Noodle, teams must make Chinese noodles using a see-saw like device to flatten the raw materials. The key here appears to be cutting the noodles fine enough, as both the Beauty Queens and One and a Half Women end up having to redo the task. The BQs leave first followed by Eric and Danielle.
Meanwhile Young Gay have gotten lost on the way to do the Dragon task, which requires them to bring a Dragon's head and a drum down to the boat docks. At first their cabbie takes them to the docks, so they have to go back to the start. Then they get lost on the way back to the docks (Dudes, you didn't pay attention?). When Charla and Mirna finish the noodle task they are ahead.
Next task: Drive Mini-Mokes (which look like golf carts to the Pitstop on the Island of Taipa. The Beauty Queens finish first and win Wave-Runners (I assume some sort of Jet-Ski) Eric and Danielle arrive next, but must wait out the half-hour penalty. Charla & Mirna arrive about halfway through, and things are looking a little grim for the Frat Boy and his girlfriend.
Meanwhile, the BQs flat out lie to Eric and Danielle, claiming they gave the money to Young Gay to not yield them. That's a bunch of baloney; they specified they wanted Eric & Danielle yielded.
But the Young Gays get lost yet again (ditch that taxi driver) and it appears that the Yield Karma has come back to bite them on the rear. Finally Phil checks in Eric & Danielle and when the Young Gays arrive Phil tells them that they are the last team to arrive... and... and... oh, for Pete's sake, another non-elimination leg? Aaarrrggghhhh!
The Power Line guys have an excellent post up about the heroism of Admiral James Stockdale:
Years after being freed, Stockdale presented himself for vice president on Ross Perot's ticket. He began his campaign by asking, "Who am I? Why am I here?" - only to be mocked by the press as a bumbler who was out of his depth. But his family can take comfort in the fact that generations, even centuries from now, when the individuals who belittled those words are forgotten in the dusts of history, Americans will know exactly who James Stockdale was and exactly why he was here.
As I have remarked in the past, I realized this guy Dennis Miller was something special when he blasted the media and the American public for the initial reaction to Stockdale's performance in the debate:
The reason he had to turn his hearing aid on at that debate is because those f*cking animals knocked his eardrums out when he wouldn't spill his guts. He teaches philosophy at Stanford University, he's a brilliant, sensitive, courageous man. And yet he committed the one unpardonable sin in our culture: he was bad on television. Somewhere out there Paddy Chayefsky must be laughing his ass off.
Indeed, if you look at the men who were held as POWs by the North Vietnamese, their heroism is quite amazing:
"The Navy Cross is presented to Jeremiah A. Denton, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, for extraordinary heroism while serving as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam from February 1966 to May 1966. Under constant pressure from North Vietnamese interrogators and guards, Rear Admiral Denton (then Commander) experienced harassment, intimidation and ruthless treatment in their attempt to gain military information and cooperative participation for propaganda purposes. During this prolonged period of physical and mental agony, he heroically resisted cruelties and continued to promulgate resistance policy and detailed instructions. Forced to attend a press conference with a Japanese correspondent, he blinked out a distress message in Morse Code at the television camera and was understood by United States Naval Intelligence. Displaying extraordinary skill, fearless dedication to duty, and resourcefulness, he reflected great credit upon himself, and upheld the highest traditions of the Naval Service and the United States Armed Forces."
Colonel Bud Day, the most decorated living American:
On 26 August 1967, Col. Day was forced to eject from his aircraft over North Vietnam when it was hit by ground fire. His right arm was broken in 3 places, and his left knee was badly sprained. He was immediately captured by hostile forces and taken to a prison camp where he was interrogated and severely tortured. After causing the guards to relax their vigilance, Col. Day escaped into the jungle and began the trek toward South Vietnam. Despite injuries inflicted by fragments of a bomb or rocket, he continued southward surviving only on a few berries and uncooked frogs. He successfully evaded enemy patrols and reached the Ben Hai River, where he encountered U.S. artillery barrages. With the aid of a bamboo log float, Col. Day swam across the river and entered the demilitarized zone. Due to delirium, he lost his sense of direction and wandered aimlessly for several days. After several unsuccessful attempts to signal U.S. aircraft, he was ambushed and recaptured by the Viet Cong, sustaining gunshot wounds to his left hand and thigh. He was returned to the prison from which he had escaped and later was moved to Hanoi after giving his captors false information to questions put before him.
In addition to the physical tortures, Commander Galanti was subjected to an agonizing session after "violating the prison regulations." Having received two letters and a package from Phyllis, he assumed it was a special deal to make him look bad in the eyes of his fellow POW's. In order to show that such was not the case, he threw a package of Lifesavers to one of the other cells in the bath-house. A guard saw and reported it. For this he was made to sit on a small stool in an interrogation room during the coldest part of the year. He sat there for ten days and nights, drugged and deprived of sleep, before being forced to apologize to the camp commander.
It wasn't over yet. Again low on fuel, Thorsness headed for a tanker just as one of the strike force pilots, lost and almost out of fuel, called him for help. Thorsness knew he couldn't make Takhli without refueling. Rapidly calculating that he could stretch it to Udorn, some 200 miles closer, without taking on fuel, he directed the tanker toward the lost pilot. Once across the Mekong, he throttled back to idle and "glided" toward Udorn, touching down as his tanks went dry. That four-hour mission had been, as Johnson said, "a full day's work."
Eleven days later, while Thorsness was on his 93rd mission, a MiG popped up from behind a mountain and put a missile up the tailpipe of his F-105. He and Johnson ejected at 600 knots, Thorsness suffering severe injuries. Both men spent almost the next six years in North Vietnam's prisons. Because of his "uncooperative attitude," Thorsness was denied medical attention, spent a year in solitary, and suffered severe back injuries under torture. On March 4, 1973, both men walked away from prison, Thorsness on crutches. No one could ever say that Leo Thorsness hadn't paid his dues in full.
There are many more stories like these about our incredibly brave POWs. Look into the stories of Kenneth W. Cordier, Kevin McManus, Carlyle S. "Smitty" Harris, John McCain and many others.
Turns out that Her Royal Pantsuit is not so much bothered when the person throwing around the comments about "nappy-headed hos" is a fundraiser.
Mrs. Clinton, you may recall, took umbrage at Imus's remarks, branding them "small-minded bigotry and coarse sexism." His words, she said in an e-mail to supporters, "showed a disregard for basic decency and were disrespectful and degrading to African Americans and women everywhere."
Good for her, I say, except it must be asked why she was down in Florida making nice to -- and pocketing big bucks from -- a rapper whose obscenity-laced lyrics praise violence, perpetuate racist stereotypes and demean black women.
Some (redacted) examples of the obscenity-laced lyrics at the site. I suspect that if Hillary decides not to accept contributions from hip-hop artists whose lyrics perpetuate racist stereotypies and demean black women, she's not going to be taking in much money from the recording industry.
Our longtime blog-buddy Pam Meister will be on Neil Cavuto this afternoon at 4:00 Eastern to discuss school security and how it should be funded. Kudos to Pam; I've been on the radio many times but haven't yet made the jump to TV. Of course, everybody tells me I've got a face made for radio (and a voice made for mime). ;)
I had heard about the John Edwards $400 haircut (jeez, Clinton's $200 cut looks like a bargain), but I didn't realize that he had the gall to have his campaign pay!
His campaign spending reports, required by the Federal Election Commission, revealed that he has been paying $400 for haircuts by a Beverly Hills cutter named Joseph Torrenueva. The guy must be good, because Edwards' hair sure looks good. So does the rest of him, helped along by a $250 shaping at the Designworks Salon in Dubuque, Iowa, and $225 at the Pink Sapphire spa in Manchester, N.H.
The best way to reduce drunk driving would be to have more people live in high-density areas well-served by taxis and mass transit, though we're presumably not going to implement such a scheme in the short-term.
Why do I get the feeling that Matt thinks the solution to all of life's woes is more mass transit?
GIULIANI: Partial-birth abortion, I think that's going to be upheld. I think that ban is going to be upheld. I think it should be. And I think, as long as there's provision for the life of the mother, then that's something that should be done.
HANNITY: There's a misconception that you supported partial-birth abortion.
GIULIANI: Yes, well, if it doesn't have a provision for the life of the mother, then I wouldn't support the legislation. If it has provision for the life of the mother, then I would support it.
TIM RUSSERT (host): A banning of late-term abortions, so-called partial-birth abortions -- you're against that?
GIULIANI: I'm against it in New York, because in New York --
RUSSERT: Well, if you were a senator, would you vote with the president or against the president?
GIULIANI: I would vote to preserve the option for women. I think that choice is a very difficult one. It's a very, very -- it's one in which people of conscience have very, very different opinions. I think the better thing for America to do is to leave that choice to the woman, because it affects her probably more than anyone else.
The only problem here? The bill that was proposed in 2000, specifically contained a provision allowing the procedure for the life of the woman:
Clinton has vetoed similar proposals twice. The bill allows for the procedure only if a woman's life is endangered.
This is hilarious. Eric Boehlert tries one last time to resuscitate the "discredited Swift Boat Vets" claim. But in doing so, Boehlert makes two fatal mistakes: He ignores the places where the Swiftees were right and Kerry was plainly wrong, and he attributes any conflict between stories to the Swiftees lying.
Here's an example of the second:
The fourth person to appear in the first Swift Boat ad, Letson announced, "I know John Kerry is lying about his first Purple Heart, because I treated him for that injury." In another affidavit, Letson claimed Kerry's wound was too small to justify a medal.
First, Navy guidelines during the Vietnam War for Purple Hearts did not take into account the size of the wound when awarding the honor, which meant Letson's claim was irrelevant. Second, Kerry's medical records indicate Letson did not sign off as the "person administering treatment" on December 3, 1968, which raised doubts about whether Letson ever even treated Kerry. (Why, if Kerry's wounds were so minor, was Letson able to recall the incident so vividly 35 years later?)
First, regardless of whether the size of the wound matters technically, I am sure that no grunt who scratched himself while crawling through the underbrush would claim this entitled him to a Purple Heart. And second, Letson explained that the orderly signed the treatment form. The bottom line is that we don't know what happened; there is a conflict between stories. Maybe we say that given there's a conflict we'll give Kerry the benefit of the doubt. But to jump from that to saying that Letson's discredited is ridiculous.
But the major point here is that Boehlert completely ignores the places where Kerry was found to have lied, or where his supporters among the Swiftees were found to have lied, and there are several instances of this:
Christmas in Cambodia. Kerry reportedly told this story on many, many occasions, including on the floor of the Senate. But his own biographer, faced with conclusive evidence that Kerry did not spend Christmas (actually Christmas Eve) 1968 in Cambodia, did not include this story in an otherwise fairly exhaustive account of Kerry's second tour of duty in Vietnam. The Swiftees highlighted this:
Somehow Boehlert completely forgets about this story. Wonder why? Maybe because it discredits John Kerry and shows that the Swiftees hit their target?
Third, we come to David Alston, a crewmember briefly on Kerry's second Swift Boat. Alston famously mentioned two incidents where John Kerry showed heroism under fire:
"Manning the deck guns, most of us got wounded sooner or later, including Lieutenant Kerry. It would have been easiest, in an ambush, to simply rake the shore with return fire and roar on down the river to safety. But Lieutenant Kerry was known for taking the fight straight to the enemy. I can still see him now, standing in the doorway of the pilothouse, firing his M-16, shouting orders through the smoke and chaos.
Once, he even directed the helmsman to beach the boat, right into the teeth of an ambush, and pursued our attackers on foot, into the jungle. In the toughest of situations, Lieutenant Kerry showed judgment, loyalty and courage. Even wounded, or confronting sights no man should ever have to see, he never lost his cool."
Now the funny thing about those two events is that Kerry was not present at the first, and Alston was not present at the second. Kerry claimed the first incident as his own in 2002, but the actual man in the door of the pilothouse was Tedd Peck, as even Brinkley admitted (Page 264-265):
... suddenly there was a booming explosion that literally lifted PCF-94 right out of the water. Peck was standing in the pilothouse doorway with an M-16 at the ready to start strafing the jungle. Just as he pulled the trigger he was hit by two machine-gun bullets, one in his arm and one in his chest... [a]lthough bleeding profusely, Peck managed to continue firing back...
Alston himself was wounded in that engagement, and was not present for Kerry's beach the boat incident.
Another Kerry supporter among the Swift Boat vets was also found to have lied. From a Washington Post account of the Bay Hap River incident:
In his book, Brinkley writes that a skipper who remains friendly to Kerry, Skip Barker, took part in the March 13 raid. But there is no documentary evidence of Barker's participation. Barker could not be reached for comment.
So maybe that's what Boehlert means by "discredited Swift Boat vets"?
An inconsistency in campaign-finance rules places former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) in an advantageous position should he decide to subsidize his White House run with his own fortune.
Romney’s personal assets reportedly exceed $500 million, and he has shown willingness to self-finance. He already has loaned himself more than $2 million to help kick-start his campaign. His top opponents for the GOP nomination, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, are not nearly as wealthy.
It's not a loophole. It's a constitutional right for people to spend their wealth. It does reveal the foolishness of much of the rest of campaign finance reform. Remember, the independently wealthy candidates who have self-financed a presidential run in the recent past have not fared all that well; Ross Perot's millions got him exactly zero electoral college votes; Steve Forbes won 2 primaries in 1996 as I recall (Delaware and Arizona) and none in 2000.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), the most liberal of the Democratic presidential candidates in the primary field, declared in a letter sent to his Democratic House colleagues this morning that he plans to file articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney.
There is some real world analysis:
But Kucinich shouldn't hold his breath on getting anywhere with his impeachment plan. "We'll see a Kucinich Administration before we'll see a Cheney impeachment," quipped one Democratic aide.
Our longtime blog-buddy Lorie Byrd has a superb article on the Bush-Haters:
Another criticism from Democrats involves troop levels in Iraq. We learned how to pronounce Shinseki when the Army chief of staff became the member of the military most often quoted by Democrats who charged the president did not send enough troops to Iraq. Later, when Bush proposed sending additional troops, the Democrats decided less troops were needed and that it was time to pull the plug on the mission in Iraq altogether.
For several years, most Democrats’ “policy” on Iraq consisted of hatred for whatever policy George Bush supported. Over the past couple of years, though, that “policy” has evolved from hatred of Bush and any policy he suggested to a call for withdrawal before the mission is complete. Most recently, Democrats passed a bill that would only fund the troops if a deadline for withdrawal from Iraq was included.
Is this the McCain Moment? Ramesh Ponnuru predicted this in a cover story in National Review, and now we're seeing a sudden flood of pro-McCain stories:
A lesser man than John McCain might be backing away from his previous support for the war-gone-bad in Iraq. What we're seeing instead is the very opposite of political expediency -- a Churchillian call to endure and prevail in an admittedly unpopular war but still a fight that McCain believes America cannot afford to lose.
McCain's Virginia Military Institute speech April 11 stands as his most compelling case yet for persevering in Iraq. Moreover, McCain's steadfast demonstration of principle over polls shows more courage and character than any other presidential aspirant in either party.
Giuliani, the former New York mayor, had a healthy 16-point lead over the Arizona senator last month, but that has dwindled to six points -- that is, if either Thompson or Gingrich enters the race.
Should they both toss their hats in the ring, Giuliani's lead over McCain drops to three points, 27 percent to 24 percent.
The odd thing is that I suspect McCain will do best in a head-to-head matchup with Giuliani long term. Mitt Romney continues to slide:
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who led Republican hopefuls in first-quarter fundraising with $23 million, slid into the No. 4 spot -- between Thompson and Gingrich -- with 10 percent of the vote.
Teams must first make their way to Hong Kong. I checked the starting times, and the Beauty Queens were almost an hour ahead of everybody starting this race. Of course, since they start at 12:30 AM, that doesn't do much good. All the teams arrive at the airport. The first counter to open will be Malaysia Air, but they have the second flight. Young Gay manages to find the Malaysia Air office and get the first standby slot while the Beauty Queens are waiting up by the counter. Then Young Gay and One and a Half Women get the first two slots on Hong Kong Air, which leaves earlier. As it works out, only the one team can get on the first flight. The BQs make a stink about having been first on the standby list for the second flight, which actually was not right. But it doesn't matter as they and One and a Half Women get on the plane, leaving Eric and Dannielle to catch a (much) later flight.
Teams must make their way to a dry cleaners where there is a Fast Forward. Young Gay grab it. They participate in a car doing a stunt routine for a movie. I'm thinking that's a pretty easy bit for the Fast Forward. Then the car launches, falls onto its side, skids about 20 feet and ends up back on its wheels again. Pretty cool! They head to the Pit Stop, which is at the Jockey Club.
The other teams are faced with a Detour: Kung Fu or Sign Fu. In Kung Fu, teams must climb a ladder up an 11-story building while fending off Kung Fu fighters. In Sign Fu, teams must find a particular sign at a crowded intersection. Everybody takes Kung Fu, and I'm a little concerned about Charla, but she handles it like a champ. And Mirna actually shows some humor for a change.
Next task: Take a ferry to Hong Kong Island. Amazingly, Charla and Mirna's cab driver drives them to Hong Kong Island, where they board the ferry heading back to the mainland. Doh! Fortunately they can just take the turnaround trip, but Eric and Danielle are catching up (apparently). The next task is to bust down doors like a cop and find the room with the clue. Charla surprises again for the second time tonight, doing a credible job of kicking open doors. But the Beauty Queens are well ahead by this point, so it looks like the order of finish for the evening is pretty easy.
Teams now head to a park, where they have to ferry a roaming gnome across a pond. The key here is to do it slowly so the gnome does not fall off the boat; nobody has that problem. By this point I'm thinking there's not much drama tonight. Eric and Danielle get lost on the way to the Jockey Club, and Eric refuses to follow a cab. So we don't get the usual, "Which team is it?", which makes me very suspicious. Sure enough, it turns out tonight is a non-elimination leg, so we're stuck with Colege Boy for another evening.
I suspect this advice wasn't necessary back in the days of the Soviet Union, but perhaps we need to remind folks that things have not improved. The Jawa Report:
Oh. My. God. I hope this is a joke, but a Whois search does put the website in MoscowOh. My. God. I hope this is a joke, but a Whois search does put the website in Moscow....
Read the whole article....it's the Pravda we all knew and loved back in the day
They're talking about this article, in which it is claimed that Don Imus was fired not for denigrating the Rutger's women's basketball team, but because he was about to blow the whistle on 9-11:
According to European reports of the events surrounding Don Imus that have gripped the United States this past week, it was during an interview with another American media personality, Tim Russert, who is the host of a television programme frequently used by US War Leaders, wherein while decrying the state of care being given to American War wounded stated, "So those bastards want to keep these boys [in reference to US Soldiers] secret? Let's see how they like it if I start talking about their [in reference to US War Leaders] secrets, starting with 9/11."
In the span of less than 3 months: Gasoline prices will rise 500%. The prices of both food and shelter rise over 300%. Unemployment levels reach over 30% and are still climbing. The savings of millions evaporate overnight due to currency devaluation and bank failures. Unrest will begin in the larger cities first, then spreading out into the countryside. Strong and repressive laws are newly enacted as Police and Military forces spread throughout the country to counter all signs of growing rebellion.
If you are an American reading these words you must understand two things: 1.) This is what is soon to happen to you, and 2.) The description written above applies equally to the United States of 2005, The United States of 1929, The former Soviet Union of 1989, The German Republic of 1924, The Cuba of 1960, Argentina of 1986, Iran of 1979 and the Czarist Russian Empire of 1917, to just name a few.
Of course, this gloom-mongering tone (written in 2005, so the apocalyptic scenario seems a little tardy) is in support of an effort to sell a book:
This book begins with the most basic rule of survival, LEAVE before it gets worse. Prior knowledge about events soon to occur have saved millions over the past Century allowing them to flee the most dangerous areas ahead of time, and when they still could.
What countries are available to Americans now to immigrate to should they choose to flee? What are the ramifications in becoming an International refugee? How can ones property and wealth be converted into allowing them leave their countries of origin? These are important questions, this book provides those answers.
And the inevitable, "Act now, before it's too late!"
Do not believe foolishly either that your governments will allow much longer this book, or those by other groups seeking to assist Americans, to be available much longer into the future.
Our buddy John Ruberry has been covering this story for a long time (you might say it's been a marathon). I am pleased to hear that Professor Klocek will finally get his day in court. DePaul University, the defendant in this case, is also considering tenure for a Holocaust Denier.
Obviously the polls are not significant right now, but any notion that McCain is melting down seems quite a bit premature.
Building on yesterday's post about Romney's support for a "secret" timetable, there's some pretty bad news for him in this poll:
89% of likely Republican primary voters voting for John McCain, 63% of those voting for Rudy Giuliani, and 62% of those voting for Mitt Romney say they oppose setting a deadline for the withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq.
Even Romney's own supporters don't agree with him!
Women might soon be able to produce sperm in a development that could allow lesbian couples to have their own biological daughters, according to a pioneering study published today.
Scientists are seeking ethical permission to produce synthetic sperm cells from a woman's bone marrow tissue after showing that it possible to produce rudimentary sperm cells from male bone-marrow tissue.
Rudimentary? Would you want your child to be conceived with rudimentary sperm cells? And this part positively gives me the chills:
But the results also raise the prospect of being able to take bone-marrow tissue from women and coaxing the stem cells within the female tissue to develop into sperm cells, said Professor Karim Nayernia of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Creating sperm from women would mean they would only be able to produce daughters because the Y chromosome of male sperm would still be needed to produce sons. The latest research brings the prospect of female-only conception a step closer.
Mitt Romney Supports Secret Timetable for Withdrawal?
ABC News didn't miss this little scoop and tied it to a Democratic proposal:
Gov. Mitt Romney's, R-Mass., call this morning for a set of timetables for withdrawal from Iraq -- private timetables unknown to the public -- bears some striking similarities to an idea hatched and endorsed by Democratic Senator Mark Pryor, D-Arkansas.
Pryor has been alone in his calls for a classified timetable and has drawn skepticism from the reporters who wrote about them, as well as his Democratic and Republican colleagues who would not support them.
"Romney is absolutely wrong in recommending a secret timetable," Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., tells ABC News in a telephone interview while campaigning in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "Secret timetables are bad because in the end they all become public and the enemy uses them to estimate the limit on America’s endurance."
Let me suggest a not-so-secret timetable for withdrawal of my own: When the job is done.
I will be on the radio today with my good friend Andrea Shea-King for her eponymous show on the Space Coast of Florida. The show starts at 3:00 PM Eastern time and my segment will be on at about 3:30. We will be talking about the blogger conference call with Senator John McCain that I participated in yesterday morning. Andrea's a great interviewer and I highly recommend tuning in over the internet at the link. Her show also features a chatroom (fill in your name and city/state and click submit query at the upper right) to participate in the show.
I will also be on the radio Friday morning with MANCOW to discuss Rosie O'Donnell and her recent "Joe Friday" routine regarding 9-11 and WTC-7. MANCOW is a nationally syndicated morning drive time show that airs in Chicago and 30 other markets around the country. My segment is scheduled to begin at 8:05 Central Time, but it may appear at different times elsewhere due to tape delay. Click here for details on the show; I am not sure if you can listen live over the internet, but I will check on this. Note: I am expecting only a 5-10 minute segment, and we will not be taking calls.
MANCOW had a memorable smackdown with Alex Jones, Dylan Avery and others. This guy goes on Alex Jones and spanks him like a red-headed stepchild.
I participated in the blogger conference call with John McCain this morning. I won't try to describe the entire conference call, but it was extremely interesting. Senator McCain was on top of the facts, sharp and detailed and not vague. I definitely got the impression that he was engaged and determined. Anybody concerned that he's too old for the job would have their fears alleviated.
"On my trip, I traveled to Baghdad, Ramadi, and Tikrit, met with Iraqi cabinet officers, our top military leadership, including Generals Petraeus and Odierno, and with embassy officials, including our new ambassador, Ryan Crocker. I also had the privilege of spending time with our soldiers, from generals to privates. Their courage and resolve in this frustrating war is an inspiration, and serves as a reminder of our obligations to avoid the expediency of easy, but empty answers or the allure of political advantage to choose the path in Iraq that best honors their sacrifices.
"We're going to need their courage more than ever. The divisions in Iraqi society are deep, and the need for greater security critical. Innocent Iraqis are still being murdered, and our soldiers are braving dangers no less threatening than in the past. Every day we read about or watch on television the latest car bombing, IED explosion or sniper attack. But something else is happening, too. There are the first glimmers of progress under General Petraeus' political-military strategy. While these glimmers are no guarantee of success, and though they come early in the implementation of the new strategy, I believe they are cause for very cautious optimism.
This caution was something that Senator McCain stressed in his responses to questions from bloggers like Captain Ed and Powerline's John Hinderaker, and he did not flinch from criticizing the president over premature optimism.
All in all a great conference call by McCain. You can tell he really believes that success in Iraq is necessary but is under no delusions about how hard it will be.
One other thing also struck me - McCain is very comfortable with bloggers. None of the questions are pre-screened, and McCain is definitely a straight-shooter whether you agree with him or not.
Even those on the right who may not agree with him on everything certainly have to respect him - at least the mature people will for doing things like this and not talking in “sound bites”. This kind of thing will pay off for him should he win the nomination, especially with right-wing bloggers who may have supported someone else.
Maryland Agrees to End Run Around the Constitution
Jeez, I have despised this proposal for a long time, but it looks like it's liable to happen:
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley signed into law yesterday a measure that would circumvent the Electoral College by awarding the state's electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the most votes nationwide.
The bill, one of 105 signed by the Democratic governor the day after the General Assembly adjourned, makes Maryland the first in the nation to agree to let the national popular vote trump statewide preference. It would not take effect until states that cumulatively hold 270 electoral votes -- the number needed to win a presidential election -- agree to do the same.
Will it be constitutional? That's a very tricky question. There's no doubt that the plan is, at its essence, an attempt to amend the constitution without actually jumping over the hurdles required to accomplish that. At the same time, it's true that the constitution does not say how states must allocate their electoral college votes.
My distaste for the proposal stems from the fact that a small number of states could enact this change by themselves. For example, if California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, New Jersey and North Carolina all pass this change, then the other 38 states effectively have no say in the matter. Worse still, it's in the interests of those big states listed to do so. If South Dakota's three electoral college votes don't matter (and they wouldn't under this proposal), then why would presidential candidates campaign there? Answer: They wouldn't. So what is the result? More power to the big states, more TV ads for the stations in the big states.
It's an annoying habit, but conservatives should consider their other options. By any measure, Rudy Giuliani is the more liberal candidate — indeed, the most liberal serious candidate Republicans have fielded in decades. But because Giuliani made the right enemies — chief among them those vexatious New York Times editors — conservatives respect him, even though they disagree with him on almost everything. And they give the cold shoulder to McCain, who agrees with them on most of the important things.
McCain's been a consistent pro-lifer (which distinguishes him from pretty much everyone else in the race so far). Until recently, Giuliani argued passionately for partial-birth abortion as a constitutional right. McCain has voted to confirm every conservative Supreme Court nominee, including Robert Bork. He voted "guilty" in Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. He campaigned for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, even after Bush beat him. Giuliani says he was ideologically simpatico with Clinton, and he endorsed Democrat Mario Cuomo for governor of New York.
My point isn't merely to make invidious comparisons between McCain and Giuliani (heck, to liberals they're not invidious at all). I'm actually a fan of Giuliani, and I think the GOP and the country could do worse in a president and Republican standard-bearer. But the double standard on the right seems more than a little self-indulgent.
Giuliani's chief selling point seems to be that he'll have "what it takes" to be tough in the war on terror. That may well be the case. But Giuliani's foreign policy experience is, at best, limited. Meanwhile, McCain's experience is deeper than the rest of the field's combined. There's no evidence that Giuliani is more of a hawk than McCain, who has spent the last four years arguing that Bush needs to be more aggressive in Iraq and who argued for a troop "surge" years before anyone used the word.
I observed that our delegation "stopped at a local market, where we spent well over an hour, shopping and talking with the local people, getting their views and ideas about different issues of the day." Markets in Baghdad have faced devastating terrorist attacks. A car bombing at Shorja in February, for example, killed 137 people. Today the market still faces occasional sniper attacks, but it is safer than it used to be. One innovation of the new strategy is closing markets to vehicles, thereby precluding car bombs that kill so many and garner so much media attention. Petraeus understandably wanted us to see this development.
I went to Iraq to gain a firsthand view of the progress in this difficult war, not to celebrate any victories. No one has been more critical of sunny progress reports that defied realities in Iraq. In 2003, after my first visit, I argued for more troops to provide the security necessary for political development. I disagreed with statements characterizing the insurgency as a "few dead-enders" or being in its "last throes." I repeatedly criticized the previous search-and-destroy strategy and argued for a counterinsurgency approach: separating the reconcilable population from the irreconcilable and creating enough security to facilitate the political and economic solutions that are the only way to defeat insurgents. This is exactly the course that Petraeus and the brave men and women of the American military are pursuing.
McCain took a lot of flak for wearing body armor during his visit to the market, but let's face it; his visit was not going to be typical for many reasons. He's a high-value target to the insurgents: a famed war supporter, longtime Senator and candidate for the presidency. Of course they're going to protect him more than an average person walking around in a market!
Teams are required to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Charla and Mirna get on some hotel computers and refuse to give one of them up for Eric and Danielle. The latter grumble, but really there was no reason for them to cede. Uchenna & Joyce decide to risk a flight that gives them only an hour layover in Franfurt; since there is a 45-minutes ahead of time requirement this leaves them with only 15 minutes to play with.
One and a Half Women get by far the best flight, arriving several hours ahead of the other teams. Uchenna and Joyce get hosed, as they just miss their connection in Frankfurt and must wait until the following day. This is effectively the last we see of them in this episode.
The teams must go to the Batu Caves, where the cluebox sends them to a mosque. Caution, Yield Ahead! One and a Half Women decide not to yield anybody, but the Beauty Queens yield Eric and Danielle. Eric, furious, calls them "dirty hookers".
The cluebox contains a Detour: Artistic Expression or Cookie Confection. In the first, they must make a batik print; in the second they must bite into cookies in 600 boxes to find the one cookie which has a licorice center.
Now, I'm thinking right off the bat that's a heck of a lot of cookies, but several teams choose that option. The batik print does not look difficult, and sure enough the Beauty Queens zip through it while Charla & Mirna are chomping away. Finally One and a Half Women decide to bail on the task.
Young Gay has an argument. Is the task to find the one box with cookies with licorice centers, or to find just one single cookie? It certainly appears to me from the way the clue reads that it's the latter and at about 50 cookies per box, that's 30,000 cookies.
After much back and forth, they decide to bail on that option as well. But they screw up their first effort at the batik, by making 16 horizontal prints instead of 15 and they must start all over again. Meanwhile, Eric and Danielle, after waiting out their yield, have gotten lucky and found the lone cookie.
Next up: Roadblock! One player must cycle around a neighborhood looking for old newspapers to recycle. You know I love the bicycle challenges and bicycles and newspapers are old hat for me. Like Miss California, I had a paper route as my first job.
The BQs finish up and the clue is to head to the Pit Stop. By this time, much of the drama has gone out of the evening despite the best efforts to make us forget that Joyce & Uchenna are still in Germany. The blondes arrive first, followed by One and a Half Women, Eric and Danielle and Young Gay. When Joyce & Uchenna finally arrive in Kuala Lumpur the producers don't even make them face the challenges; instead they are instructed to head to the Pit Stop, where they are Phil-Liminated.
We have come to the conclusion that the crisis Michigan faces is not a shortage of revenue, but an excess of idiocy. Facing a budget deficit that has passed the $1 billion mark, House Democrats Thursday offered a spending plan that would buy a MP3 player or iPod for every school child in Michigan.
It's for the educational value, though! Since so many kids load up their iPods with books on CD, this will no doubt result in higher SAT scores for Michigan students. Now, some might say that spending like this in the midst of a budget crisis is frivolous, but you've gotta spend a little to make a lot. I foresee a lot of people moving to Michigan just so their kids can have a free iPod. This will lead to a recovery in the housing and job markets.
Over at Stop Rosie, there are 25,600 signatures on the petition pledging not to watch The View. Over at Defend Rosie, Alex Jones and crew try to con people into believing there are 8,000 signatures and counting:
But when you click on the signature page, there are only 2,600 signatures as of about ten minutes ago:
If you were a football fan in the 1970s you remember him. He was a wide receiver for the New England Patriots, paralyzed after taking a hit from Jack Tatum in a preseason game in 1978.
An autopsy revealed contributing factors were bronchial pneumonia, quadriplegia, spinal cord injury and coronary atherosclerosis, the medical examiner's office said.
"I am deeply saddened by the death of Darryl Stingley," Tatum said in a statement released by the Raiders. "Darryl will be forever remembered for his strength and courage. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family."
Amen. Tatum took a lot of criticism over the event, but it was just a good, solid NFL hit.
This is a telephone survey of [Republican Primary Voters] conducted by Zogby International. The target sample is [502] interviews with approximately [26] questions asked. Samples are randomly drawn from telephone cd’s of national listed sample.
However, as political pros know, New Hampshire's registered independent voters can vote in either primary (but not both), so figuring out who Republican primary voters are can get a tad tricky. Of course, typically one primary or the other features a non-competitive race, something that may not happen this election, making figuring out who will be voting in which primary even tougher than usual.
Actually this was resolved on several occasions (Hiss' perjury conviction, the Venona transcripts), but the Left can't let go of their fantasy that Hiss was persecuted by the evil Richard Nixon.
A Russian researcher, delving anew into once-secret Soviet files from the Cold War, says she has found no evidence that Alger Hiss spied or that Soviet intelligence had any particular interest in him.
In a speech to be delivered at a New York University symposium Thursday, Svetlana A. Chervonnaya says neither Hiss' name nor his alleged spy moniker, Ales, appears in any of dozens of documents from Soviet archives that she has reviewed since the early 1990s.
A copy of the speech was made available to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Calling her efforts "proving the negative," Chervonnaya says "a thorough combing of all the said archives combined has not produced a shred of evidence that Alger Hiss had ever been a member of the (American) Communist Party and was engaged in any behind-the-scenes interactions with the Soviets."
This proves nothing except that she did not find his name or moniker in the documents she looked at. The idea that this proves Hiss did not spy for the Russians is ridiculous. As always look at the motivations of the people putting this out:
Chervonnaya was one of several scholars, writers and historians scheduled to speak Thursday at a daylong symposium, "Alger Hiss and History," inaugurating New York University's new Center for the United States and the Cold War.
Others on the program included Hiss' son, Tony Hiss, and stepson, Timothy Hobson, who were expected to recall their family life with the man whose name became a synonym for Cold War espionage. Both have always maintained Hiss was innocent.
To hear Mitt Romney talk on the campaign trail, you might think the Republican presidential candidate had a gun rack in the back of his pickup truck.
"I purchased a gun when I was a young man. I've been a hunter pretty much all my life," he said this week in Keene, N.H., to a man sporting a National Rifle Association cap.
Yet the former Massachusetts governor's hunting experience is limited to two trips at the bookends of his 60 years: as a 15-year-old, when he hunted rabbits with his cousins on a ranch in Idaho, and last year, when he shot quail on a fenced game preserve in Georgia.
You know, Mitt, it's no shame that you've not hunted a lot; I think my last trip was after birds with a friend's BB gun around age 12. I am a good shot at the range, but you don't go hunting with a pistol and I certainly wouldn't go claiming to be any kind of hunter. Don't pretend to be a NASCAR fan or a golf nut if it isn't you. Show us what you really do. Even Kerry did that with his bicycling and that weird kite-surfing thing.
I hate to keep bagging on this guy, because I really do like him and find his resume incredibly compelling. But he doesn't seem to realize that you have to be honest with the people to get their vote.
