Pat Robertson is a putz (part 101)

Link.

The Rev. Pat Robertson said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is being punished by God for dividing the Land of Israel. Robertson, speaking on the “700 Club” on Thursday, suggested Sharon, who is currently in an induced coma, and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, assassinated by an Israeli extremist in 1995, were being treated with enmity by God for dividing Israel.

Sharon

This correctly explains why Sharon's stroke is really bad news.

Just when an epic victory for his ambitious plan to remake the boundaries between Israel and the Palestinians was within his grasp, Ariel Sharon has been betrayed—not by any rival or ally, but by his aging body. The Israeli prime minister suffered what officials called "a significant stroke" on Wednesday, and underwent eight hours of surgery for a cerebral hemorrage overnight. . .

[I]t is striking how, in recent months, Sharon has managed to break the mold of Israeli politics and initiate a realignment based on politicians' abandoning traditional party loyalties and lining up behind the old general's vision. His unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, the security wall he has built to secure Israel and the West Bank possessions it claims, and the expectation that a similar unilateral withdrawal would eventually occur in the West Bank as well are not part of any political party's standing program, nor of any treaty or "road map." They reflect Sharon's own vision of a peace concluded without the participation of the Palestinians, based on his long-held premise that "there is no Palestinian partner," and that Israel's best interests are served by unilaterally—and occasionally in consultation with the U.S.—resolving the problem of the occupation on its own terms. When his own Likud Party balked, he simply formed a new party, Kadima, supremely confident in his personal standing with the electorate.

Sharon has long been viewed by friend, foe and mediator as uniquely positioned to achieve a disengagement with the Palestinians, on the basis of his unrivaled credentials as a warrior, a champion of the settler movement and a politician of the most hawkish stripe. . .

Picture of the day

Another chapter

Unfortunately, there have been many posts about death or impending death here lately. Today, a new chapter was written in the depressing 2005-06 chronology.

First, I learned this morning that the brother-in-law of a good friend was killed in a farm accident last weekend. The details were horrific.

Second, Ramius' external tumor (background info and other links here) has outgrown his skin and is bleeding at an ever increasing pace. If it were to burst, he could bleed to death in minutes. The vet is coming to our house in the morning to euthanize him here. I went to Home Depot tonight to buy the materials for, and later build, a stretcher for 115 pound dog. That was about as much fun as building a coffin.

In the end, I turn to my 6-year-old son for wisdom. As he tells me, "its the circle of life, Dad."

Flashback to 12/10/05: "At this point, I'm going to predict that Ramius' new little angel is going to help him get through the end of the year." She did.

More on eavesdropping

William Safire, staunch conservative, on the eavesdropping issue.

MR. SAFIRE: OK. I have a thing about wiretapping. . .

I was writing a speech on welfare reform, and the president looks at it and says, "OK, I'll go with it, but this is not going to get covered. Leak it as far an wide as you can beforehand. Maybe we'll get something in the paper." And so I go back to my office and I get a call from a reporter, and he wants to know about foreign affairs or something, and I said, "Hey, you want a leak? I'll tell you what the president will say tomorrow about welfare reform." And he took it down and wrote a little story about it. But the FBI was illegally tapping his phone at the time, and so they hear a White House speechwriter say, "Hey, you want a leak?" And so they tapped my phone, and for six months, every home phone call I got was tapped. I didn't like that. And when it finally broke--it did me a lot of good at the time, frankly, because then I was on the right side--but it told me how easy it was to just take somebody who is not really suspected of anything for any good reason and listen to every conversation in his home--you know, my wife talking to her doctor, my--everything.

So I have this thing about personal privacy. And I think what's happening now is that the--as a result of that scandal back in the '70s, we got this electronic eavesdropping act stopping it, or requiring the president to go before this court. Now, this court's a rubber-stamp court, let's face it. They give five noes and 20,000 yeses.

MR. RUSSERT: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, FISA.

MR. SAFIRE: Right. But the very fact that the FBI has to do a little paperwork beforehand slows them down and makes them think for a minute. It doesn't slow them down as much as the president has made out to believe, because there's a wrinkle in it saying that if it's a real emergency and you have to get this information, then you can get it and get the approval within 72 hours afterwards. So there's always this struggle in a war between liberty and security. . .

During wartime, we have this excess of security and afterwards we apologize. And that's why I offended a lot of my conservative and hard-line friends right after September 11th when they started putting these captured combatants in jail, and said the president can't seize dictatorial power. And a lot of my friends looked at me like I was going batty. But now we see this argument over excessive security, and I'm with the critics on that.

As I have said before, it is a slippery slope.

Language abuse

This is from an article on the Notre Dame/Ohio State game yesterday.

The high point of the game came on the opening drive, when Notre Dame came out hotter than a $20 Rolex. They took the opening kick and went the length of the field as easily as if Ohio State was the scout team.

But the Buckeyes struck back on a 56-yard touchdown pass to Ted Ginn, Jr., and for the rest of the first half, Notre Dame looked tighter than Presidential security. Their composure evaporated like spit in a blast furnace. . .

Defensively, Notre Dame was exposed as what some had been saying it was all along — slower than an illiterate in a spelling bee. . .

Their offense that was marked all year by high explosives had been reduced to a popgun, but they took what Ohio State gave them all the way to the end zone to pull within seven with plenty of time left on the game clock.

Apparently the editor had the day off.

Tone deaf

My gosh.

Some members of the governor's staff will return from the three-day holiday on Tuesday to newly renovated offices at the State Capitol.

Shortly after the two hurricanes, Gov. Kathleen Blanco decided to renovate some of her staff's offices. At the time of her decision, Blanco also was hinting at deep budget cuts to state programs and the possibility of laying off 20 percent of the state workforce.

The project cost $564,838.

Gov. Blanco has apparently decided on the George Costanza "do the opposite of what seems right" strategy.

Waitress : Tuna on toast, coleslaw, cup of coffee.

George : Yeah. No, no, no, wait a minute, I always have tuna on toast. Nothing's ever worked out for me with tuna on toast. I want the complete opposite of on toast. Chicken salad, on rye, untoasted ... and a cup of tea. . .

Elaine : Ah, George, you know, that woman just looked at you.

George : So what? What am I supposed to do?

Elaine : Go talk to her.

George : Elaine, bald men, with no jobs, and no money, who live with their parents, don't approach strange women.

Jerry : Well here's your chance to try the opposite. Instead of tuna salad and being intimidated by women, chicken salad and going right up to them.

George : Yeah, I should do the opposite, I should.

Jerry : If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.

George : Yes, I will do the opposite. I used to sit here and do nothing, and regret it for the rest of the day, so now I will do the opposite, and I will do something!

The Donald

Wouldn't this be interesting?

ALBANY — Megabuilder and late-blooming TV star Donald Trump yesterday flatly ruled out running for governor this year — but hinted he may go for president in 2008. . .

Trump, a Republican, said he had been "inundated with calls" from GOP leaders since state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Rensselaer) suggested last week that "The Apprentice" star might run for governor. . .

But while The Donald repeatedly ruled out a race for statewide office, he strongly suggested he was interested in entering the national political arena in 2008.

Trump, who considered an independent run for president in 2000, pointedly noted that his decision not to run governor this year "doesn't preclude me from doing something [political] in the future."

I don't think that there is any chance that Trump could be elected president as an independent, but his involvement would completely alter the dynamics of the race. And that would probably be a good thing.

Doug Flutie

Story.

The 43-year-old Patriots backup converted the NFL's first successful drop kick since 1941, making an extra point in the fourth quarter of the Miami Dolphins' mostly meaningless 28-26 victory over New England on Jan. 1. . .

According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame web site, the league's last drop kick for points was on Dec. 21, 1941 -- two weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor -- when Ray "Scooter" McLean converted for the Chicago Bears to beat the New York Giants 37-9 in the NFL championship game.

Not a bad final act of a remarkable career.

Nine lives

Ahmed Chalabi rises again.

BAGHDAD, Dec. 30 -- As a fuel crisis deepened in Iraq, the government replaced its oil minister with controversial Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi, whose poor performance in the Dec. 15 elections was a setback in his recent attempt at political rehabilitation.

He provides BS about WMD, he spies for Iran, and he can't get anyone to support him at the polls, yet he now takes one of the top 3 important jobs in the whole country. Astounding.

Bushisms of 2005

Here is a list of amusing statements from the not-always super articulate Mr. Bush. Number 1 on the list is an easy guess and will live forever. My favorite and one that I had not heard before--

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda," Bush said in explaining his communications strategy last May.

Tiger fact

Link.

Stat of the week: The points difference between Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh at Nos. 1 and 2 in the world ranking is equal to the difference of Singh and Peter Lonard at No. 46.

I hope people appreciate how amazing this guy is.

Political cartoon of the day

Year in review

I have always enjoyed "year in review" type news specials and articles. Here are a couple from today.

Noonan: "'05's Big Five"

Broder: "A look back at year's errors, misjudgments on all fronts"

Knee jerk libertarianism

I saw somewhere today (I can't find it now) an opinion that there was a "knee jerk libertarian" reaction by many to the domestic eavesdropping news. I won't object to that statement because it certainly describes my initial reaction.

My initial reaction has not changed significantly, but it has softened. Suffice to say that many opiners (with special mention to the authors of this column) caused me to rethink some issues. I will accept that this is a close call.

At this point, current policy is clear for the world: Bush is going to continue what he has been doing. If the policy is not a secret anymore anyway, I see no reason not to have a political debate about it and where to draw the very tricky line.

(For cross-post at Centerfield and comments posted there, click here.)

Eric Alterman is a putz

Link.

Daniel Dennett has some pretty smart and bold things to say here about why we need to make up God and religion and the like.

What an arrogant prick (I mean, putz).

Discrimination in China

Link.

A rule that women applying for government jobs in central Hunan province had to show they had symmetrically shaped breasts sparked a public uproar last year and calls for stronger legal protection against job discrimination.

Hunan scrapped its requirement, but China still does not have clear-cut laws ruling out such hiring prejudices.

Ah, yes, a Worker's Paradise indeed.

A long fall

1987 World Series.

October 25, 1987 at Hubert H Humphery Metrodome (Minnesota Twins)

In the deciding game, neither team gave an inch. Though St. Louis came out with a 2-1 lead in the 2nd inning, the Twins marched back with runs in the 5th, 6th and 8th innings, and Twins closer Jeff Reardon came out in the 9th to bring down the curtain on the Cardinals, and on the '87 Series.

Career stats: 367 saves, 6th most all-time.

Yesterday.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Former major league pitcher Jeff Reardon is charged with robbing a Palm Beach Gardens jewelry store.

Police said the 50 year old walked into Hamilton Jewelers at the Gardens Mall about 11:50 a.m Monday.

He's accused of handing an employee a note that said he had a gun and the store was being robbed.

Reardon fled the store with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police found him at a nearby restaurant, recovered the stolen money and charged him with armed robbery.

How sad.

Chutzpah

Story.

GAZA (Reuters) - The Palestinian mastermind of the Munich Olympics attack in which 11 Israeli athletes died said on Tuesday he had no regrets and that Steven Spielberg's new film about the incident would not deliver reconciliation. . .

Mohammed Daoud planned the Munich attack on behalf of PLO splinter group Black September, but did not take part and does not feature in the film.

He voiced outrage at not being consulted for the thriller and accused Spielberg of pandering to the Jewish state.

I must say that I am surprised that the Israelis did not take this guy out a long time ago.

Picture of the day

Merry Christmas

Fundraiser for cancer

If you are a regular visitor here, you know that Paula, my assistant, passed away last week from complications from lung cancer that was discovered only earlier this month. The tragedy was compounded by the fact that she was so young.

Paula was the happiest, most optimistic person around and she had a gift for causing her happiness and optimism to infect those around her.

In honor of Paula and in connection with my relatively last minute decision to participate in the Phoenix Marathon next month, I am going to raise funds for American Cancer Society. I have set a goal of raising $5,000.

If you are able and willing, please click here to make a donation.

Moving towards acceptance

Paula's funeral was today. It appropriately focusd on celebrating her life more than mourning her death. The personal statements were all unbelievably moving. And the crowd was big.

Good legal case, bad political case

Cheney.

He said he believes the American people support President Bush’s terror-fighting strategy. “If there’s a backlash pending,” because of reports of National Security Agency surveillance of calls originating within the United States, he said, “I think the backlash is going to be against those who are suggesting somehow that we shouldn’t take these steps to defend the country.”

Cheney talked about terrorism and national security amid a burgeoning controversy at home over President Bush’s acknowledgment of a four-year-old administration program to eavesdrop — without court-approved warrants — on international calls and e-mails of Americans and others inside the United States with suspected ties to the terrorist network al-Qaida.

Poll.

President Bush's approval rating has surged in recent weeks, reversing what had been an extended period of decline, with Americans now expressing renewed optimism about the future of democracy in Iraq, the campaign against terrorism and the U.S. economy, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News Poll.

Bush's overall approval rating rose to 47 percent, from 39 percent in early November, with 52 percent saying they disapprove of how he is handling his job. His approval rating on Iraq jumped 10 percentage points since early November, to 46 percent, while his rating on the economy rose 11 points, to 47 percent. A clear majority, 56 percent, said they approve of the way Bush is handling the fight against terrorism -- a traditional strong point in his reputation that nonetheless had flagged to 48 percent in the November poll.

My initial reaction has not changed and, in fact, I became even more skeptical of Bush's eavesdropping arguments than ever once I learned that the court approval could be sought retroactively if he were willing to follow the letter of the law. This is a debate worth having and an investigation and congressional hearings are warranted.

Still, most people seem to think (1) I'm not a bad guy so the government isn't listening to my conversations, and/or (2) I'm not doing anything wrong so I wouldn't care if the government did listen to my conversations. Add that general indifference to the Cheney drumbeat (“it’s not an accident that we haven’t been hit in four years”), and the good legal arguments against Bush are likely to be overwhelmed politically by the fact that a core segment of the American public does not take for granted that we haven't had a building, a bridge or an airplane blown up recently.

The Democrats should win the battle over the legal issue on the merits, but Bush seems unlikely to be punished politically as a result.

Intelligent design

Story.

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- A Pennsylvania school district cannot teach in science classes a concept that says some aspects of science were created by a supernatural being, a federal judge has ruled.

In an opinion issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John Jones ruled that teaching "intelligent design" would violate the Constitutional separation of church and state.

"We have concluded that it is not [science], and moreover that ID cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents," Jones writes in his 139-page opinion posted on the court's Web site. (Opinion, pdf)

"To be sure, Darwin's theory of evolution is imperfect. However, the fact that a scientific theory cannot yet render an explanation on every point should not be used as a pretext to thrust an untestable alternative hypothesis grounded in religion into the science classroom or to misrepresent well-established scientific propositions," Jones writes.

Another activist judge. Thank goodness.

Hearts and minds

Story.

Long a stronghold for Islamic extremists and the world's second-most populous Muslim nation, Pakistanis now hold a more favorable opinion of the U.S. than at any time since 9/11, while support for al Qaeda in its home base has dropped to its lowest level since then. The direct cause for this dramatic shift in Muslim opinion is clear: American humanitarian assistance for Pakistani victims of the Oct. 8 earthquake that killed 87,000. The U.S. pledged $510 million for earthquake relief in Pakistan and American soldiers are playing a prominent role in rescuing victims from remote mountainous villages.

Story.

In Tal Afar, according to the president, military success had been followed by the restoration of law and order and the implementation of reconstruction projects to give "hope" to its citizens. . .

More remarkably, the approach of an American military convoy brings people out to wave and even clap, something not seen since the invasion of spring 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Kick in the stomach (part 3)

A little over two weeks after my relatively young assistant was diagnosed with lung cancer, she passed away on Friday night. Not surprisingly, I am feeling more "ba humbug" than "Merry Christmas" at the moment.

I am going to be staging a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society in her honor in connection with my participation in the Phoenix Marathon next month. Please check back this week for more details if you would be willing to make a contribution.

UPDATE: The obituary is here.

Kristof

Many times in the past I have sung the praises of Nicholas Kristof. Here is another spot on piece from him (excerpt only is available unless you are willing to pay the NY Times for the privilege of access to the whole article).

Look, I put up a “Christmas tree,” rather than a “holiday tree,” and I’m sure Mr. O’Reilly is right that political correctness leads to absurd contortions this time of year. But when you’ve seen what real war does, you don’t lightly use the word to describe disagreements about Christmas greetings. And does it really make sense to offer 58 segments on political correctness and zero on genocide?

Perhaps I’m particularly sensitive to religious hypocrites because I’ve spent a chunk of time abroad watching Muslim versions of Mr. O’Reilly - demagogic table-thumpers who exploit public religiosity as a cynical ploy to gain attention and money. And I always tell moderate Muslims that they need to stand up to blustery blowhards - so today, I’m taking my own advice.

Like the fundamentalist Islamic preachers, Mr. O’Reilly is a talented showman, and my sense is that his ranting is a calculated performance. The couple of times I’ve been on his show, he was mild mannered and amiable until the camera light went on - and then he burst into aggrieved indignation, because he knew it made good theater.

Eavesdropping

My gut reaction is that this whole eavesdropping thing is no good. This is a slippery slope.

John Spencer - RIP

I liked John Spencer in L.A. Law, the Negotiator and, most recently, the West Wing. Last year he had a heart attack in his role as Leo McGarry. Yesterday he had a heart attack for real. Shame.

Meaningless poll

This poll is meaningless because of the timing, but the results are interesting nevertheless.

(CNN) -- If the results of a recent poll pan out, voters will see two big names from the Big Apple on the ballot in November 2008.

Those names are Sen. Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican.

The CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Thursday indicated Clinton and Giuliani were the early favorites to win their respective party's nomination.

But those polled said they believe the former first lady would have a smoother path to the nomination than her GOP counterpart. . .

Clinton snared the majority of the Democratic voters polled. And with more than two years before the primaries, she was ahead of her two nearest potential competitors by nearly 30 percentage points.

Giuliani, on the other hand, edged out Sen. John McCain of Arizona by only 8 percentage points, 30-22.

Another 18 percent of those polled selected Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, despite her repeated assertion that she has no plans to run.

Picture of the day

McCain and torture ban

McCain.

"We've sent a message to the world that the United States is not like the terrorists. We have no grief for them, but what we are is a nation that upholds values and standards of behavior and treatment of all people, no matter how evil or bad they are," McCain said. "I think that this will help us enormously in winning the war for the hearts and minds of people throughout the world in the war on terror."

This is good policy and important to shore up our international support. It also another amazing political feat by John McCain. He is the right man for "The Job" when it is open in 2008. I have never been involved in campaigning of any sort but, if* McCain runs, I may break that streak.

* I don't think that there is any doubt that he intends to run right now, but a lot of things can happen in 2-3 years, particularly when you are in your 70s.

Quote of the day

From Morgan Freeman.

NEW YORK - Morgan Freeman says the concept of a month dedicated to black history is "ridiculous."

"You're going to relegate my history to a month?" the 68-year-old actor says in an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" to air Sunday (7 p.m. EST). "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history." . . .

The actor says he believes the labels "black" and "white" are an obstacle to beating racism.

"I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man," Freeman says.

What is in the water in Massachusetts?

I guess there must be some rule that if you are elected Governor of or a Senator from Massachusetts, you are required to make a bid for President. The latest is here.

The day has arrived

Polls will open soon and I am optimistic that things are going to go well. It appears that Sunnis have made a collective decision to participate in the voting this time and, for reasons I don't really understand given their brutality and indiscriminate killing up to now, at least some of the Sunni insurgent groups have promised not to attack polling stations.

Anyway, this chart explains what Iraq's new government will look like on New Year's Eve.






















Source: MSNBC.com

Enough about that. I need to go find out more about how Bush lied about WMDs in Iraq so that he could start a war in which we would never find WMDs because he just assumed that no one would notice.

2005 in review

Here is Lileks' amusing review of 2005.

It ain't all bad

Howard Dean says.

The "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong."

But wait.

Dec. 12, 2005 — Surprising levels of optimism prevail in Iraq with living conditions improved, security more a national worry than a local one, and expectations for the future high. But views of the country's situation overall are far less positive, and there are vast differences in views among Iraqi groups — a study in contrasts between increasingly disaffected Sunni areas and vastly more positive Shiite and Kurdish provinces.

An ABC News poll in Iraq, conducted with Time magazine and other media partners, includes some remarkable results: Despite the daily violence there, most living conditions are rated positively, seven in 10 Iraqis say their own lives are going well, and nearly two-thirds expect things to improve in the year ahead.

Sounds to me like success may be more likely than ever right now, despite the gigantic screwups that have occurred along the way.

December 15 is going to be a very big day.

I guess I am an elitist . . .

. . . because I think that this guy, who purports to describe life on the farm in Georgia generally, is a Deliverance-style deviant.

Picture of the day

Ramius' angel

Last July, Thor got sick and we didn't know what was wrong for sure, but it seemed like he might die very quickly. He lasted 2 months. We soon started the search for a new puppy. My wife was very interested in a Whippet. My son wanted a Golden Retriever. In the end, there was no conflict because there was not a Whippet available within 500 miles, as far as we could tell. So we got Fenton, and he has been and will always be a great and obedient dog.

As I wrote here, our other dog, 10 year old Ramius, developed a lump on his chest just before Thanksgiving and was soon diagnosed with cancer. We were told that he would most likely live 1 to 2 weeks. The day after his diagnosis, a local Whippet breeder called and told us that a puppy had become available. He said the pick of his August litter, a dog he had selected specially for his aunt, had been returned because of a changed living circumstance for his aunt. Were we interested?

Feelings of fate overcame feelings of guilt of even considering a new dog just when Ramius needs more of our attention, and we went to see the puppy and her breeder on Thanksgiving morning. Named "Crimson" for her red coloring, she was so sweet and loving and, best of all, she went into a very calm mode within minutes of the arrival of 4 new people, including 2 children. She is just a few weeks younger than Fenton, and was born on the day before my daughter's birthday.

We decided that there was an element of fate that was too strong to ignore, but told the breeder that our major problem was that Ramius was sick and that we thought that he needed our attention right now. We thought that it might be unfair to Ramius to bring the second new center of attention in 2 months into the house just as he was going to start getting worse. He understood completely, and we agreed that we would wait 3 weeks to pick up the dog.

After Ramius made it through the first week of his death sentence in good shape, we decided to bring the Whippet home a week earlier than planned. We renamed her "Scarlett," and she immediately fit in perfectly. She plays rough with Fenton. She is generally very calm (when not playing with Fenton). She sits in the kids' laps. She is already sleeping through the night in my daughter's bed and they snuggle all night. And she loves Ramius.

As the pictures above indicate, Ramius has a new best friend. Rather than make his final days less pleasant (as we feared it might), it appears that the arrival of Scarlett was a very positive thing. Oh, and today marks the start of the fourth week since he was diagnosed. At this point, I'm going to predict that Ramius' new little angel is going to help him get through the end of the year.

Pat Oliphant is a putz

I used to appreciate Oliphant's cleverness, but he has unmistakeably moved from an interesting liberal cartoonist to a blind anti-Bush propagandist. How do we know that his transformation is complete? Click here. Hint: Bush = Hitler.

Holiday link

"It's a Wonderful Life" in 30 seconds reenacted by bunnies.

Picture of the day

December 7, 1941

Picture of the day

Jaywalking in D.C.

For whatever reason, I have a vivid memory of the warning I received during orientation at college in Washington, D.C. regarding how aggressively the D.C. police ticket for jaywalking. But I never believed that they would be this strict.

WASHINGTON - A 73-year-old man who received a $5 jaywalking ticket after he was struck by a car later died from his injuries, police said Monday. . .

Although witnesses said he was badly injured and unresponsive at the scene, police issued him the ticket. His family found it with his belongings when they went to the hospital.

Kick in the stomach (Part 2)

I finally was able to speak with my secretary today, and I had hoped to get some news that would allow for optimism. I didn't get it. She is in stage 4 of lung cancer. (See here for information on stages of lung cancer.) I can only imagine how scared she must be.

I suspect that light blogging will continue this week as my thoughts are mostly elsewhere right now.

Stupid criminal of the day (personal edition)

Last week, my wife was having lunch with a friend. During lunch the manager approached and asked the friend whether she still had her billfold. She checked and it was, in fact, gone. The manager called the police and the rest of the story turned into a column in the StarTribune. See here.

Kick in the stomach

My secretary has been sick for about 4 weeks. The original diagnosis was pneumonia. Then it switched to "we don't know." The word today: lung cancer.

Crap.

Headline of the day

Will Bush heed his call to (jury) service?

Light blogging

As you may have noticed, blogging has been lighter than usual this week. Work demands have kept me from spending much time this week exploring the wonders of the Internet. Next week should be better.

Picture of the day

Ted Rall is a putz (part 500)

Link.

An important message . . .

. . . from my favorite Democratic Senator. (Link)

I have just returned from my fourth trip to Iraq in the past 17 months and can report real progress there. More work needs to be done, of course, but the Iraqi people are in reach of a watershed transformation from the primitive, killing tyranny of Saddam to modern, self-governing, self-securing nationhood--unless the great American military that has given them and us this unexpected opportunity is prematurely withdrawn. . .

It is a war between 27 million and 10,000; 27 million Iraqis who want to live lives of freedom, opportunity and prosperity and roughly 10,000 terrorists who are either Saddam revanchists, Iraqi Islamic extremists or al Qaeda foreign fighters who know their wretched causes will be set back if Iraq becomes free and modern. The terrorists are intent on stopping this by instigating a civil war to produce the chaos that will allow Iraq to replace Afghanistan as the base for their fanatical war-making. We are fighting on the side of the 27 million because the outcome of this war is critically important to the security and freedom of America. If the terrorists win, they will be emboldened to strike us directly again and to further undermine the growing stability and progress in the Middle East, which has long been a major American national and economic security priority.

Second football thought of the day

Despite the general parity in the NFL in recent years, there have been many years in which a particular team has been dominant and seemed destined to win it all long before the playoffs began. E.g., '85-86 Bears, '86-87 Giants, numerous 49ers teams, and '99-00 Rams. (Of course, the '98-99 Vikings were the choke exception).

This year, the Colts look invincible. The offense is amazingly consistent, and the defense is well above average. At this point, I would take the Colts against the rest of the league in a Super Bowl bet.

Identifying the problem

This passage from an article reporting on Detroit Lions' GM Matt Millen's decision to fire Steve Mariucci as head coach makes me think that Millen must have pictures of the Lions' owner doing inappropriate things to little boys.

Millen hired both Mariucci and his predecessor, Marty Mornhinweg, and drafted or signed most of the players currently on the Lions -- and Detroit is an NFL-worst 20-55 since 2001. Millen, a former NFL linebacker and TV analyst was given a five-year extension before this season.

More legal woes

Another Republican is in deep legal trouble.

(CNN) -- Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham said Monday he is resigning from Congress after pleading guilty to taking more than $2 million in bribes in a criminal conspiracy involving at least three defense contractors. . .

Prosecutors said Cunningham had taken bribes from contractors, which enabled him to buy a mansion, a suburban Washington condominium, a yacht and a Rolls Royce.

The Republican party has a growing image problem. I'm with those who think 2006 is going to be a very good year for Democrats at the polls.

Congratulations

The Wayzata Trojans are state football champions for the first time. The team lost in the championship game last year, and played all year like they had something to prove. Well, they proved it.

Local news

I stopped watching local news many years ago. Still, every once in a while it comes on after a football game or something and I catch a minute or two before I reach for the remote. Such was the case today, and I saw part of the weather report. Since we got some snow today, I paid a little attention to find out if we can expect more. After about 2 minutes of telling me exactly how much snow every suburb got, the weather guy says "and stay tuned for the forecast, which I will be back with in about 10 minutes." Are you kidding me?

With the Internet, I find it unbelievable that enough people still watch the crap that is local news on any type of regular basis for it to remain viable.

Perfect record intact

Today I kept my perfect record alive of not going shopping on Black Friday. (The phrase "I'd rather light my hair on fire" comes to mind.) Nevertheless, as my contribution to the economy, I ordered a new notebook computer from Dell, and the price was better than anyI saw in the ads yesterday.

Mike Brown

I have spent very little time on the computer over the last couple of days, but I am going to go out on a limb and guess that this story is being ridiculed far and wide.

Happy Thanksgiving

Turkeys of the Year

The Vikings sex party made #4 on SI.com's Turkeys of the Year list, just surpassing the Vikings' Onterrio Smith, who (along with his Whizzinator) made #5 on the list. In a desperate attempt to distract attention from those (dis)honors, I will draw attention to #12 on the list and a story I had not previously heard.

In maybe this year's most outrageous example of bad sportsmanship, Downs, a tee ball coach from suburban Pittsburgh, allegedly offered one of his players $25 to bean an autistic teammate during warm-ups, just to keep the kid off the field.

Packer hater

Despite their recent resurgence, it seems clear that even if the Vikings make the playoffs they will be quickly eliminated. Nevertheless, a victory over the Packers is always special because of how much it gets to their players and their obnoxious fans. Quotes like this are extra nice.

"This one may be the worst because No. 1, it was Minnesota; No. 2, it was at home; and No. 3, it was Minnesota again," said Green Bay defensive end Aaron Kampman.

Heh.

I must be crazy

We have rescheduled our trip to Arizona for a week in January that includes the Martin Luther King holiday. It turns out that the Phoenix Marathon is that weekend so, in an act of craziness, I signed up.

I suspect that I am going to find this experience different from my experience at the Twin Cities Marathon in October for several reasons. First, I can be certain it won't be humid. Second, the atmosphere is likely to be quite different given that, with 30,000 participants, the field for the Phoenix Marathon will be 3 times the size as the field for the Twin Cities Marathon, and there will be 26 rock n' roll bands stationed throughout the course. Third, the course is flat. (The evil part of the Twin Cities Marathon is that miles 20-23 are steeply uphill.)

At least I can be reasonably assured that I won't gain weight this holiday season.

UPDATE: I was wrong about the number of participants in the Phoenix Marathon. Turns out the 30,000 number that I had seen was for both the marathon and 1/2 marathon. See here. The field for the marathon is going to be only slightly larger than the 10,500 field for the Twin Cities Marathon.

Deja vu

As far as I am concerned, the number one reason not to have pets (and a reason that is outweighed by everything else) is that pets die.

And that sucks.

In 2002, we had two cats and two dogs. We lost one of the cats that summer. Then the other cat had to be put down in 2003. And just 2 and 1/2 months ago, we lost our dog Thor to what we assume was cancer. See post here. Our dog Ramius (pictured here) was the last one standing.

Ramius has always been reclusive and timid. Despite his 114 pounds, he is scared of his own shadow and typically spends all of his time hiding out in the living room. Last week, he started coming into the family room and seeking out attention. The only other time he had done that consistently was right before Thor's sickness became apparent. Then, last Thursday, we noticed a baseball size lump on Ramius' chest that had developed since he had been to the groomer just a couple of weeks before. That could not be good.

Today the vet tests confirmed that he has cancer, and it has attached to his heart and lungs. There are no realistic treatment options. The vet says 1 to 2 weeks is her best guess regarding how much time he has left.

We have canceled our Thanksgiving trip to Arizona and will spend what quality time we can with him over the next (hopefully) several days. The weird part is that outwardly, he seems fine. But we know that won't last.

And that sucks.

Chris Matthews is a putz

Quote.

If we stop trying to figure out the other side, we've given up. The person on the other side is not evil. They just have a different perspective.

A different perspective? Remember this, Chris?

Political earthquake in Israel

Story.

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- In what some observers are calling a "huge political earthquake" for Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has resigned from the right-wing Likud party he helped found -- the next step in his plan to form a new center party. . .

After resigning, Sharon met with potential members of his new party, which would be called the National Responsibility Party.

Obviously, the successful establishment of a new party is much easier to accomplish in a parliamentary system, but I like the precedent as well as the new party's name.

(For cross-post at Centerfield and comments posted there, click here.)

Please, oh please, be true

Report: al-Zarqawi may have been killed in Mosul

UPDATE: Hmm. Is this just a coincidence?

AMMAN, Jordan - Family members of Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi renounced the terrorist leader Sunday after his al-Qaida in Iraq group claimed responsibility for the Nov. 9 suicide attacks on three Amman hotels that killed 59 people. . .

The statement is a serious blow to al-Zarqawi, who no longer will enjoy the protection of his tribe and whose family members may seek to kill him.

Makes one wonder about a tipoff.

Korea

Here is a thought provoking piece authored by a good friend's father. The conclusion:

Americans can be justly proud of their past relationship to a South Korea that has risen in half a century from a war-ravaged land to one that leads the world in stem cell research and high-speed Internet access. It also is "one of Asia's most successful democracies," as Bush declared this week.

The challenge now is to learn to live with it.

Letdown

Link.

The Gophers brought home the Little Brown Jug after its 19-year residency in Ann Arbor. They beat Purdue for the first time in 10 seasons. They won at Indiana for the first time since 1985.

Saturday in Iowa City, Minnesota has a chance to do something perhaps even more remarkable.

"We definitely have a lot on the line" . . .

If the Gophers want to be somewhere warmer [for a bowl game this year], they'd better beat Iowa.

So I decided to go to the gym and watch the first part of the game during my workout yesterday. Here is what I saw in that hour.

Minnesota . . . never recovered after falling behind 35-0 less than 25 minutes into the game.

Being a sports fan really sucks sometimes.

A useful political stunt

Story.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House late Friday overwhelmingly rejected calls for an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq, a vote engineered by the Republicans that was intended to fail.

Democrats derided the vote as a political stunt. . .

The House voted 403-3 to reject a nonbinding resolution calling for an immediate troop withdrawal.

Of course this was a political stunt by the Republicans in that the resolution offered was not what Rep. Murtha had proposed. But it nevertheless served a very useful purpose. It sent a clear message to our enemies that, although we fight like crazy amongst ourselves, they should not draw the wrong conclusions from those fights. The bottom line is that a withdrawal of troops ain't going to happen until we have concluded (accurately or not) that Iraq can stand on its own two feet.

Picture of the day

A rainbow in Canada.

John McCain: another home run

I would sure feel better if John McCain were in charge right now. Here is a taste from his most recent pronouncement.

Think about this for a moment. Imagine Iraqis, working for the new government, considering whether to join the police force, or debating whether or not to take up arms. What will they think when they read that the Senate is pressing for steps toward draw-down?

Are they more or less likely to side with a government whose No. 1 partner hints at leaving?

The Senate has responded to the millions who braved bombs and threats to vote, who put their faith and trust in America and their government, by suggesting that our No. 1 priority is to bring our people home.

We have told insurgents that their violence does grind us down, that their horrific acts might be successful. But these are precisely the wrong messages. Our exit strategy in Iraq is not the withdrawal of our troops, it is victory.

Honor me

Link.

The 2006 Labor-HHS-Education conference report names new CDC buildings after chairman Arlen Specter and ranking member Tom Harkin. The relevant text:

SEC. 221. (a) The Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center Building (Building 21) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is hereby renamed as the Arlen Specter Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center. (b) The Global Communications Center Building (Building 19) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is hereby renamed as the Thomas R. Harkin Global Communications Center.

I wish I was surprised, but I'm not.

Paying for good news reporting

Wow, this is embarrassing on multiple levels.

Newark Mayor Sharpe James and the city council have found a way to buy good news.

The council has hired a fledgling newspaper called Newark Weekly News to publish "positive news" about the city -- and will pay $100,000 over the next year for it.

Obviously, a city needs to promote itself and spend money doing so. But paying an independent publication to do nothing but write puff pieces is just sad.

NY Times on Alito

The NY Times has an hysterical editorial about Alito today that includes the following statement:

Judge Samuel Alito Jr.'s insistence that the Constitution does not protect abortion rights is not the only alarming aspect of a newly released memo he wrote in 1985. That statement strongly suggests that Judge Alito is far outside the legal mainstream . . .

That is just ridiculous. Many pro-choice people like myself find Roe v. Wade difficult to defend as a matter of constitutional law. For example --

Laurence Tribe — Harvard Law School. Lawyer for Al Gore in 2000.

“One of the most curious things about Roe is that, behind its own verbal smokescreen, the substantive judgment on which it rests is nowhere to be found.”

“The Supreme Court, 1972 Term—Foreword: Toward a Model of Roles in the Due Process of Life and Law,” 87 Harvard Law Review 1, 7 (1973).

---

Ruth Bader Ginsburg — Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

“Roe, I believe, would have been more acceptable as a judicial decision if it had not gone beyond a ruling on the extreme statute before the court. … Heavy-handed judicial intervention was difficult to justify and appears to have provoked, not resolved, conflict.”

North Carolina Law Review, 1985

---

Edward Lazarus — Former clerk to Harry Blackmun.

. . . .

“[A]s a matter of constitutional interpretation, even most liberal jurisprudes — if you administer truth serum — will tell you it is basically indefensible.”

“Liberals, Don’t Make Her an Icon” Washington Post July 10, 2003.

---

There may be good reasons to oppose Alito, but the NY Times editorial board offers only hyperbole.

It is like deja vu . . .

. . . all over again.

Stupid lawsuit of the day

Link.

STUART — A former First National Bank and Trust customer filed a lawsuit against the bank in Martin Circuit Court Wednesday, asking for $2 million to compensate for stress and pain he said he suffered over an overdraft charge on his account. . .

He asked for millions, saying a few hundred thousand dollars would be a slap on the wrist to the bank and it deserved to be "paddled."

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that this guy is pro se.

Stupid criminal of the day

Link.

Authorities on Monday said they have shut down a ring responsible for up to 10 percent of all counterfeit money in Arizona. . .

However, investigators did say an Avondale couple arrested in the scheme tripped up when they sent a printer, which was jammed with counterfeit bills, out for repair.

Baby step in China

We should applaud every step toward openness in China. In Gorbachev's Soviet Union, steps like this led to the eventual collapse of the system.

BEIJING, Nov. 14 - Despite strong internal opposition, China's Communist Party will officially restore later this week the reputation of a liberal-leaning party leader whose death in 1989 helped spark pro-democracy protests, according to people informed about the plans.

The party has not publicly honored the late leader, Hu Yaobang, since his death in April 1989 gave rise to student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. Those protests, targeting corruption, inflation and political repression, persisted until the Chinese army violently suppressed them on June 4 of that year.

Headline of the day

Thai Tourists Warned Of Sedative-Spitting Transvestites

Iraq, the Democrats and 2008

John Edwards has decided to stake first claim to the anti-war territory among legitmate Democratic contenders in 2008 who also voted to authorize the war.

I was wrong. . .

It was a mistake to vote for this war in 2002. I take responsibility for that mistake. It has been hard to say these words because those who didn't make a mistake -- the men and women of our armed forces and their families -- have performed heroically and paid a dear price.

As time passes, it will be interesting to watch how Clinton, Kerry, Bayh and Biden handle the issue of their votes to authorize the war.

Meanwhile, Feingold's vote against the war means he can run an "I told you so" campaign that will make it more difficult for the other candidates to make deep inroads with the growing anti-war portion of the electorate. In fact, George Will is already touting McCain vs. Feingold as an ideal matchup. I find it hard to disagree. It would look a lot like the seemingly impossible fictional campaign on the West Wing right now.

A close call

Although I'm not religious, sometimes I do feel like a higher power is watching over our family.

Today, my daughter was showing symptoms of pink eye so we took her to the office with us. I was ready to take her home again this morning when we decided that she was probably fine so we took her to day care. Day care called after about an hour and said that she was rubbing her eye constantly and we needed to get her. We brought her back to the office for a while (where she never once touched her eye and looked fine), after which I decided to bring her home and to work from here.

When I opened the front door to let the dog out immediately after we got home, there was a huge cloud of smoke and I looked down to see that the electrical cord from the transformer for our low-voltage yard lights, which rests against the side of the house, was smoldering. I quickly unplugged it and poured water on the cord.

I have no doubt in my mind that if I didn't come home early, the fire department would have been trying to save our house about this time. Yikes.

Battle looming

Until this morning, I would have guessed that the Alito hearings would be Roberts-esque and that he would be confirmed by a Roberts-esque type vote. I am now reconsidering.

Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., President Bush's Supreme Court nominee, wrote that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion" in a 1985 document obtained by The Washington Times.

"I personally believe very strongly" in this legal position, Mr. Alito wrote on his application to become deputy assistant to Attorney General Edwin I. Meese III.

The document, which is likely to inflame liberals who oppose Judge Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court, is among many that the White House will release today from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

The Democrats are going to go ballistic over this.

A Minnesota fall

You gotta love the unpredicatability of fall in Minnesota. Three days ago, it was 64 degrees and sunny. Now this.

The Twin Cities area is in the path of "significant snow," the National Weather Service said today - prompting a winter storm watch tonight into Tuesday evening.

Snow accumulations of 4 to 8 inches are possible in Minnesota by Wednesday morning, forecasters said. The snow will be accompanied by gusty northwest winds increasing to around 30 miles per hour by Tuesday night.

I guess it is time to put the golf clubs away.

Pat Robertson is a putz

I can't keep up with all of the stupid things that Pat Robertson says. Here is one from last week that I had missed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson told citizens of a Pennsylvania town that they had rejected God by voting their school board out of office for supporting "intelligent design" and warned them Thursday not to be surprised if disaster struck. . .

"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city," Robertson said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, "The 700 Club."

"And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because he might not be there," he said.

Ugly victory

The Vikings just won against the Giants on a last second field goal. It was the first time the offense scored all day, as the teams' 3 touchdowns all came from special teams and the defense. But it was still nice given that the Giants have had the Vikings' number for many years.

There has been little from which to take pleasure this season for a Vikings fan. Today was a little something.

Headline of the day

1,100 Lawyers Leave Saddam Defense Team

He had 1,100 lawyers?

5 questions

These are all good questions for Muslims.

A strange strategy

Link.

Veterans Day

In case you didn't know the history, here is some background.

World War I officially ended on June 28, 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The actual fighting between the Allies and Germany, however, had ended seven months earlier with the armistice, which went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. Armistice Day, as November 11 became known, officially became a holiday in the United States in 1926, and a national holiday 12 years later. On June 1, 1954, the name was changed to Veterans Day to honor all U.S. veterans.

In 1968, new legislation changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. It soon became apparent, however, that November 11 was a date of historic significance to many Americans. Therefore, in 1978 Congress returned the observance to its traditional date.

Getting rid of stuff

We are lucky in that our city has an annual "take (almost) anything" trash pickup day in the spring. It really encourages major spring cleaning efforts. We also have a recycling center in Hennepin County that will take everything else. But there is always a bunch of stuff for which it would seem a shame to send to a landfill just because we don't use it anymore. In fact, in the last couple of months we have stockpiled in the garage old vacuums, computer equipment, and other electronics with the hope that we might find someone who might be able to use them.

Leaving City Hall on Tuesday after voting I picked up a brochure for www.twincitiesfreemarket.org, which has this mission statement: "The Free Market is a listing service for residents who want to give or get free reusable goods for the home, garage and garden. It is part of an effort to reduce the amount of reusable goods being thrown away."

Last night, I listed everything we had in the garage and within 2 hours I had to de-list every single item because I was overwhelmed with emails. By the weekend, everything should be out of my garage and in the hands of people who have indicated that they can really use the stuff. I feel good about that, and recommend this approach as both painless and guilt-reducing for my fellow environmentalists.

What took so long?

al-Zarqawi's slaughters have been focused on Arabs for months. Finally, organized pushback.

AMMAN, Jordan (CNN) -- Three terror bombings that killed at least 56 people in Jordan's capital sparked furious protests against al Qaeda on Thursday after a Web site carried a claim that the group was behind the attacks.

Jordanians flooded Amman blaring car horns and waving the nation's flag to protest the suicide attacks at three hotels with Western connections.

Hundreds of angry Jordanians rallied, shouting, "Burn in hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!" after the claim of responsibility was posted.

Maybe Arabs will finally start to realize in significant numbers that the sooner that al-Zarqawi is defeated, the sooner the U.S. will leave Iraq.

Secret pay raise

Politics can be so entertaining. Link.

The mayor and council that repeatedly insist City Hall is far more transparent under their watch voted themselves a 12.25% wage hike in secret six weeks ago.

What's as scandalous is that many councillors say they don't remember voting for their own wage hikes. They contend the motion was buried in a confidential report on salary increases for non-union staff adopted at the September council meeting -- after being rubber-stamped in secret at the executive committee a week earlier.

Update

Referring to my post below, some days are both good days and bad days.

Deadly explosions rock hotels in Jordan

Good days

There are good days and bad days in the WOT. Today has been a good day.

JAKARTA, Indonesia - One of Asia's most wanted terrorists, accused of plotting a series of deadly bombings in Bali, is believed to have blown himself up Wednesday to escape capture by a U.S.-trained elite police unit who attacked his Indonesian hideout, the national police chief said. Two other suspected militants also died in the blast.

If Azahari bin Husin's death is confirmed, it would be another major blow to the al-Qaida-linked network Jemaah Islamiyah, already weakened by a region-wide crackdown that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Scores of militants have been arrested and thrown in jail.

That news follows up on the good news from yesterday.

Australian police say they have foiled a terrorist attack in the final stages of its preparation, after 16 people were arrested in Sydney and Melbourne.

New South Wales police chief Ken Moroney said a "potentially catastrophic attack" had been averted.

Setting aside Iraq for the moment, everyone should be able to recognize that the international counter-terrorism cooperation efforts are reaping rewards and saving lives.

Fiscal sanity

The trends with the annual deficit and aggregate national debt have to be reversed or we are in for some serious problems. Consider this.

WASHINGTON D.C.- President George W. Bush and the current administration have now borrowed more money from foreign governments and banks than the previous 42 U.S. presidents combined.

Throughout the first 224 years (1776-2000) of our nation’s history, 42 U.S. presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions according to the U.S. Treasury Department. In the past four years alone (2001-2005), the Bush Administration has borrowed a staggering $1.05 trillion.

This is just another reason to root for McCain, who is a deficit hawk, in 2008.

Say it ain't so

This had better not be true.

Powerful new evidence emerged yesterday that the United States dropped massive quantities of white phosphorus on the Iraqi city of Fallujah during the attack on the city in November 2004, killing insurgents and civilians with the appalling burns that are the signature of this weapon.

Ever since the assault, which went unreported by any Western journalists, rumours have swirled that the Americans used chemical weapons on the city.

On 10 November last year, the Islam Online website wrote: "US troops are reportedly using chemical weapons and poisonous gas in its large-scale offensive on the Iraqi resistance bastion of Fallujah, a grim reminder of Saddam Hussein's alleged gassing of the Kurds in 1988."

The website quoted insurgent sources as saying: "The US occupation troops are gassing resistance fighters and confronting them with internationally banned chemical weapons."

In December the US government formally denied the reports, describing them as "widespread myths".

This falls into my "nobody would be that stupid" category. But if it turns out to be true, the consequences to our long-term mission in Iraq could be devastating.

Idiot

This guy is dumber than the lady who put a finger in her chili from Wendy's. If you are going to humilate yourself in this fashion in order to try to extort some money from a deep pocket, it is best not to have pulled the same stunt before.