IT’S SPRING IN HOUSTON:doom symbian download
You can see full-size images here, here and here.doom symbian download
In case you’re interested, I took these pictures with a Kodak EasyShare CX7330. For the price, you may equal it, but you won’t beat it.doom symbian download
SCENARIO: YOU’RE A 19 YEAR-OLD ASS CLOWN driving on a suspended license. You’re doing 73 in a 55. The police clock you, drop in behind and hit the blue lights. What do you do?doom symbian download
Why, hit the gas, of course. (You’re an ass clown, remember?) You’ll reach speeds in excess of 85 mph while crossing the double yellow line on a two-lane road. doom symbian download
The police are fearful for the safety of others, and eventually they tire of your shit. One officer in particular, Deputy Timothy Scott, decides to ram you with his push bumper. You’ll lose control of your vehicle, leave the road, run down an embankment, overturn and crash. You’re now a quadriplegic who lives in a nursing home. doom symbian download
Question: May you sue Deputy Scott for violation of your constitutional rights, while claiming that he should have terminated the chase and allowed you to go on your ass clown way? doom symbian download
Answer: Uh … no. Or, to put it more precisely, you can sue, but not successfully — at least not once Nino Scalia gets the case:doom symbian download
… we lay down a more sensible rule: A police officer’s attempt to terminate a dangerous high-speed car chase that threatens the lives of innocent by-standers does not violate the Fourth Amendment, even when it places the fleeing motorist at risk of serious injury or death.
The car chase that respondent initiated in this case posed a substantial and immediate risk of serious physical injury to others; no reasonable jury could conclude otherwise. Scott’s attempt to terminate the chase by forcing respondent off the road was reasonable, and Scott is entitled to summary judgment. The Court of Appeals’ decision to the contrary is reversed.
The Court posted dashboard video of the chase along side its 8-1 opinion. Watch. (Look for Scott v. Harris. Video requires Real Player.)doom symbian download
Tags: Supreme Court, constitutional law, high-speed chases, ass clownsdoom symbian download
“DID JUSTICES’ CATHOLICISM PLAY PART IN ABORTION RULING?” That’s the question put to us by WaPo’s Robert Barnes. Fair enough, I suppose. But shouldn’t we also be asked the corollary: Did the dissenting justices’ Protestantism or Judaism play a part in their opinion?doom symbian download
CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER RICK MORAN HAS A SOBER, THOUGHTFUL POST on the war in Iraq. We are, he says correctly, running out of time:doom symbian download
I have come to the conclusion over the last few days that, due to domestic conditions here in the US and the inability of the Iraqi government and society to deal in a timely manner with the political problems that must be solved if Iraq is to have a viable, multi-sectarian society the United States is on the verge of suffering a humiliating defeat in Iraq. A perfect storm of almost non-existent public support for our war aims coupled with US pressure on the Iraqis to shoehorn radical changes in their society, their constitution, and their politics into an unrealistic and inevitably, an impossible time frame will ultimately doom our efforts to take any military success achieved via the surge and turn it into progress on the political front.
If we had 3 or 4 years and the political will to maintain troop levels where they are now, then we would have a real chance to make the difference. But our commitment to the military aspects of the surge will be measured in months, not years.
That’s right, isn’t it? Either because Congress will presently compel our withdrawal, or because we will elect a new president who commands it, our remaining time in Iraq can now be measured in months. (Meanwhile, as Mark Steyn observes, mischief-makers everywhere are noting well the limits of American resolve.)doom symbian download
But before the genocide begins — and with it, a regional conflagration that will have catastrophic implications for our national security — I have a question: Have we made any plans to evacuate the thousands of Iraqis who were publicly supportive of our effort to bring freedom and democracy to their country? I’m thinking of those who hitched their hopes to our wagon and lent their names to our enterprise. I’m thinking of people like Omar. doom symbian download
Do we have plans to get them and their families out? Or will we compound our surrender with betrayal and again prove Bernard Lewis right: “America is harmless as an enemy and treacherous as a friend.”doom symbian download
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April 29, 1975: With the North Vietnamese advancing, throngs scale the wall of the American embassy in Saigon.doom symbian download |
FEEDDEMON: THE BEST GETS BETTER. As I wrote Wednesday, a beta release of FeedDemon 2.5 is out. I’m using it, and I can tell you that Nick Bradbury has a made the best product of its kind even better. doom symbian download
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Feed icondoom symbian download |
Among other things, the new version allows you to capture news items or blog entries and expose them in your own customized RSS feed. If you click the feed icon pictured at right, your browser will show you what I’m talking about.doom symbian download
The items in that feed came from four sources: NewsBusters, QandO, CBS News and Fox News. (I subscribe to the feeds of those four sites and to the feeds of roughly one hundred fifty other sites as well.) In other words, I captured content from several feeds and then turned it into a single, amalgamated feed to share with you. I did it using FeedDemon, and it was quick and easy. Nifty, huh?doom symbian download
To subscribe** to feeds, you need a reader. Some readers are Web-based, like NewsGator. And some are desktop applications, like FeedDemon. Some are free, and some you pay for. You can also subscribe to feeds using the latest versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer. doom symbian download
If you’d like to learn more about feeds and feed readers, Six Apart offers an excellent explanation.doom symbian download
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A screenshot of my FeedDemon installation. Click to see a full-size image.doom symbian download |
Everyday I go through my subscriptions in FeedDemon looking for things to read or blog about. Often I find stories that are interesting or entertaining, i.e. worth reading, but I don’t blog on them. Maybe I don’t know enough about the topic to blog on it. Maybe the topic is outside the narrow range of subjects I usually cover. Or maybe I just don’t have anything to say. (That doesn’t happen often, but it does happen.) doom symbian download
But now, using this new feature in FeedDemon, I’m going to collect those stories and “dump” them into a feed that I’ll share with you. If you’d like to subscribe to that feed, which I’ve dubbed “Right Side of the Rainbow/Link Dump,” you’ll find the URL by clicking the feed icon pictured above. And if you’d rather not subscribe, you’ll still be able to read the link dump feed. Whenever I update the feed, I’ll repost the icon pictured above. Click on it and your up-to-date browser will show you what you’re missing.doom symbian download
[**—Feed publishers often encourage you to “subscribe” to their feeds. Don’t let that word mislead you. Almost all feeds are free.]doom symbian download
“WHEN I ASKED FOR YOUR HELP, YOU GAVE US MORE THAN A HELPING HAND. YOU CARED. YOU GAVE A DAMN ABOUT A BUNCH OF EGYPTIANS WHO HAD A DREAM TO BE FREE.” An Egyptian blogger, now fearful of arrest, is signing off:doom symbian download
One of the chief reasons is the fact that there has been too much heat around me lately. I no longer believe that my anonymity is kept, especially with State Security agents lurking around my street and asking questions about me …
LOVE LIBERTY? SUPPORT FREE MINDS AND FREE MARKETS? ROOT FOR A SOCIALIST VICTORY IN FRANCE: doom symbian download
And next weekend all true market liberals should be rooting for Ségolène Royal. France, before it turns to embrace the free market, must first despair utterly of the alternative. France must have no lingering doubt, no hankering to go back. It must with all its being reject its half-century affair with the all-protecting State. France must know in its heart as well as its head that there is no exception française.
France is on the road to that knowledge, rejection and despair, but it is not there yet. Ms Royal, still passionate for l’exception française, is the leader to take France all the way. Onward, Ségo, I say: onward to the presidency. And after that, onward to the buffers. And hit them good and hard.
RUDY STEPS IN THE MACACA (AGAIN!) Only two days ago, His Honor was back on message. Now he’s off anew. doom symbian download
First he offends Republicans of almost every ideological flavor with his support for publicly funded abortions (and then drops eleven points in the WaPa/ABC News poll). Now he offends the GOP’s social libertarians — his most likely supporters — with his flip-flopping and obvious pandering on civil unions.doom symbian download
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His flip is a flop.doom symbian download |
What’s worse, it’s stupid pandering. Rudy now says that while he opposes civil unions, he favors domestic partnerships.** Does he think this change in nomenclature will win points with religious conservatives? The religious conservatives don’t give a damn what you call it: marriage, civil union, domestic partnership, sacred sacrament of the sodomite. If you acknowledge the very existence of gay couples, you’re up the religious cons’ craw.doom symbian download
All Rudy has done today is come across as fainthearted to his supporters and as unpersuasive to his detractors. Where’s the payoff in that?doom symbian download
[**—In fairness, Rudy has often spoken of his support for domestic partnerships. But he’s also spoken of his support for civil unions. And while this might be a distinction without a difference, depending on how you write the law, it looks like he’s attempting a climb down. That’s certainly how it’s being taken.]doom symbian download
Tags: Giuliani, civil unions, Republicans, 2008 electiondoom symbian download
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, whose book “God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything” I bought yesterday, speaks here, in a debate at the University of Toronto, in opposition to the criminalization of hate speech. In the process, he has some, uh, provocative things to say:doom symbian download
[RSS and e-mail subscribers: Video appears here. Click to watch.]doom symbian download
YEAH, WELL: All I’ll say to this is, molon labe.doom symbian download
Relatedly, the San Antonio Express-News has a cartoon you’ll enjoy.doom symbian download
EIGHT DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES gathered Thursday night at South Carolina State University for the first “debate” of their campaign, the Associated Press reports.doom symbian download
Don Surber has the “transcript.” Here’s a taste:doom symbian download
Hillary Clinton: “When I voted for the war in 2002, everyone should have known I was being insincere and just going through the motions so I could present myself as a credible presidential candidate in 2008.”
[…]
Mike Gravel: “I opposed the war in 1969 when I was still alive.”
[…]
Obama: “I would withdraw all of our troops by the end of the night.”
Kucinich: “I would build a Time Machine and then go back in time and never send our troops in.”
DO AS WE SAY, NOT AS WE DO: doom symbian download
A flock of small jets took flight from Washington Thursday, each carrying a Democratic presidential candidate to South Carolina for the first debate of the political season.
[…]
No one jet pooled, no one took commercial flights to save money, fuel or emissions.
None of the Democratic candidates has gone so far as to suggest that we all wipe our butts with a single square of toilet paper. So we need not explore their hygiene habits. But isn’t it fair to ask how these candidates reconcile their use of private jets with their grandiloquent concern for global warming?doom symbian download
QUOTABLE: doom symbian download
The problem with the Houston Police Department and with the Department of Public Safety is they have to hire employees out of the human race.
— Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, on news that twenty-one guns are missing from HPD’s property roomdoom symbian download
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN: “TO ME, THERE IS ONLY ONE CHOICE THAT PROTECTS AMERICA’S SECURITY — AND THAT IS TO STAND, AND FIGHT, AND WIN.”doom symbian download
But the leader of the party with which Lieberman caucuses says the fight is lost and we must surrender. This is why some wonder whether Lieberman will fire Harry Reid.doom symbian download
ADDED —doom symbian download
Relatedly, David Broder of WaPo says Reid is the Democrats’ Gonzales:doom symbian download
Here’s a Washington political riddle where you fill in the blanks: As Alberto Gonzales is to the Republicans, Blank Blank is to the Democrats — a continuing embarrassment thanks to his amateurish performance.
If you answered “Harry Reid,” give yourself an A. And join the long list of senators of both parties who are ready for these two springtime exhibitions of ineptitude to end.
Tags: Joe Lieberman, Harry Reid, Democrats, war in Iraqdoom symbian download
INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: “Democratic presidential candidates think Rudolph Giuliani has some nerve saying the U.S. will suffer another 9/11 if one of them is elected. In reality, he touched a nerve by merely stating a fact.”doom symbian download
Tags: Democrats, homeland security, Rudy Giulianidoom symbian download
DUDES, LET IT GO ALREADY: doom symbian download
[Law enforcement officials] said they have read reams of e-mail and cellphone records and interviewed hundreds of witnesses but have found no explanation for [Seung Hui] Cho’s actions. In fact, they said, they may never know why Cho started at the dorm, waited more than two hours and then killed 30 more people at Norris Hall.
Get out your pen and write this in the file: “The bastard was nuts.” That’s why. Now let it go.doom symbian download
IF YOU USE FEEDDEMON, a beta release of version 2.5 is out.doom symbian download
GOOD NEWS FOR FREE SPEECH: Every press account I’ve read says the U.S. Supreme Court took a dim view today of the federal ban on issue ads. This report from AP is typical:doom symbian download
Supreme Court justices seem skeptical of a key provision of the landmark campaign finance law, and that could lead to a bigger role for corporations, unions and other interest groups in the 2008 presidential elections.
The provision in question prohibits interest groups from running corporate-funded radio and TV ads that mention a candidate’s name within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election.
The case before the court Wednesday involved advertisements that Wisconsin Right to Life, an anti-abortion group, was prevented from broadcasting during the 2004 campaign.
And from Lyle Denniston at the indispensable SCOTUSblog: “‘Blackout’ on campaign ads in doubt.”doom symbian download
Backstory.doom symbian download
ADDED —doom symbian download
Dahlia Lithwick, who was present for oral argument today, writes sadly: “When it comes to curbing corruption versus curbing political speech, it looks like speech is the winner today.”doom symbian download
Of course, it was never about curbing corruption. It was, and is, about protecting incumbents. Congress makes a law that bars voters from corporately advocating the defeat of its members in the days preceding an election, and we’re supposed to think that is about preventing corruption? If it walks like a duck, Dahlia …doom symbian download
Tags: Supreme Court, law, politics, McCain-Feingold, campaign finance reformdoom symbian download
“THOSE BIRDS WERE SINGING JUST AS LOUDLY AND JUST AS SWEETLY WHEN THE BULLETS WERE FINDING THEIR TARGETS.” Christopher Hitchens on the “mawkishness, sloppiness, and false sentiment” of our reaction to the shootings at Virginia Tech:doom symbian download
Almost everybody in the country seems to have taken this non-event as permission to talk the starkest nonsense. And why not? Since the slaughter raised no real issues, it was a blank slate on which anyone could doodle.
“THE DEMOCRATS DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE FULL NATURE AND SCOPE OF THE TERRORIST WAR AGAINST US:” Rudy is back on message.doom symbian download
Notice that Giuliani doesn’t refer to the “war on terror.” He refers to the “terrorist war against us.” He’s argued repeatedly that “war on terror” misstates the nature of the conflict.doom symbian download
ADDED —doom symbian download
Relatedly, Tony Blankley writes about the clash “between those, such as me, who believe that the rise of radical Islam poses an existential threat to Western Civilization; and those who believe it is a nuisance, if, episodically, a very dangerous nuisance.”doom symbian download
That difference in perception — our lives and way of life are under direct threat v. we are merely suffering hassle and annoyance at the hands of nut jobs — underlies the debate over Iraq, among other things. Count me among those who say we must resist or die.doom symbian download
How you view the nature of our conflict with radical Islam will determine how you vote in 2008. If you believe everything we stand for is at risk, you’ll want a candidate who shares that view. (Hence my support for Giuliani, his other policy positions notwithstanding.) My fear is that Americans are suffering from battle fatigue, and will therefore elect a president who takes a less meanacing, more retiring view of the world.doom symbian download
TOM AT STUDENTS FOR SENSIBLE DRUG POLICY sends e-mail to say, “This week the Senate committee that handles education is considering repealing or scaling back the law that strips financial aid from college students with drug convictions.”doom symbian download
You can help:doom symbian download
Since 1998, nearly 200,000 aspiring college students have been stripped of their financial aid just because they have drug convictions, usually for small-time marijuana possession. Meanwhile, convicted murderers and rapists are eligible to continue receiving federal student loans and grants.
Thankfully, Congress is currently considering getting rid of this harmful and unfair aid elimination penalty. But legislators won’t act unless they hear from you!
THE MENDACIOUS HARRY REID: It’s useless to rail against it, I know. By nature, politicians prevaricate. But still, doesn’t this doublespeak make you want to hurl?doom symbian download
When the Supreme Court Wednesday upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act passed by Congress in 2003, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told a press conference: “I would only say that this isn’t the only decision that a lot of us wish that [Justice Samuel] Alito weren’t there and [former Justice Sandra Day] O’Connor were there.” Does that mean Reid was repudiating his Senate vote for the bill restricting abortions? No, he told me Thursday, he was talking about other decisions by Alito.
[…]
Recalling his many votes against partial birth abortion, he indicated he supported the court’s abortion decision. “I just don’t like what Alito has done on other cases,” he said. What other cases? “I can’t recall,” Reid replied …
NO TO FRED THOMPSON: John Dickerson reviews Thompson’s record. It’s McCainish.doom symbian download
I bought a new toy today. doom symbian download
The air conditioning had just kicked on in the background, the lighting was bad, and I’m unwashed, unshaved, and in little more than a t-shirt. In short, here’s thirty seconds of me ass clowning.doom symbian download
[RSS and e-mail subscribers: Video appears here. Click to watch.]doom symbian download
“TO PROMOTE VULNERABILITY AS A MORAL VIRTUE IS NOT MERELY FOOLISH:” doom symbian download
Had the Second Amendment not been in effect repealed by VT, someone might have been able to do as two students did five years ago at the Appalachian Law School: When a would-be mass murderer showed up, they rushed for their vehicles, grabbed their guns and pinned him down until the cops arrived.
But you can’t do that at Virginia Tech. Instead, the administration has created a “Gun-Free School Zone.” Or, to be more accurate, they’ve created a sign that says “Gun-Free School Zone.” And, like a loopy medieval sultan, they thought that simply declaring it to be so would make it so. The “gun-free zone” turned out to be a fraud — not just because there were at least two guns on the campus last Monday, but in the more important sense that the college was promoting to its students a profoundly deluded view of the world.
[…]
The “gun-free zone” fraud isn’t just about banning firearms or even a symptom of academia’s distaste for an entire sensibility of which the Second Amendment is part and parcel but part of a deeper reluctance of critical segments of our culture to engage with reality.
“A CHALLENGE BY WISCONSIN’S LARGEST ANTI-ABORTION GROUP TO THE MCCAIN-FEINGOLD CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM LAW could end up overturning the most significant effort in decades to drive big money out of national politics,” the Capital Times reports:doom symbian download
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in the lawsuit filed by Wisconsin Right to Life against the Federal Elections Commission.
The lawsuit challenges a key provision in the McCain-Feingold law, officially known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which makes it illegal for groups like Wisconsin Right to Life to use corporate money or union funds to broadcast so-called “issue ads” that mention a federal candidate within 60 days of an election.
[…]
The case stems from the group’s attempt in 2004 to run ads calling on the state’s two Democratic U.S. Senators — Russ Feingold, who was up for re-election that year, and Herb Kohl, who was not — to end a Senate filibuster of President Bush’s judicial appointees.
Here’s the ad Wisconsin Right to Life didn’t air for fear of violating federal law:doom symbian download
Proponents of McCain-Feingold say the ad is a “sham.” They say Wisconsin Right to Life wasn’t really interested in ending a filibuster against the president’s judicial nominees, but was instead interested in drawing public attention to Sen. Feingold’s support for abortion rights:doom symbian download
Supporters of the law, including both the FEC and the law’s authors, argue that the Right to Life ads are exactly the sort of “sham issue ads” that the law was intended to prevent: political ads masquerading as a discussion of pending issues.
The supporters note that Right to Life opposed Feingold’s re-election in 2004 and endorsed all three of his would-be Republican opponents that year. The group also listed Feingold’s defeat as one of its top political priorities for 2004.
Moreover, the law’s supporters argue, the ads gave viewers no meaningful way to contact Feingold or Kohl directly, such as by providing their Washington addresses or phone numbers.
Instead, the ads referred viewers to a Web site that discussed the senators’ record on the issue and their positions on abortion, which, supporters of the law contend, was a back-door way of reminding voters of Feingold’s stance on a hot-button election issue.
“It’s a very strange kind of lobbying when the ad does not tell you how you can contact Senator Kohl or Senator Feingold,” [Washington lawyer Fred] Wertheimer says.
Perhaps. But it’s also a very strange kind of democracy when you can’t draw public attention, even obliquely, to a politician’s record.doom symbian download
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SUPREME COURT’S DECISION IN THE PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION CASE IS OVERBLOWN: I argued Wednesday that the Supreme Court’s 5-to-4 decision in Gonzales v. Carhart was so narrow — as is the underlying federal statute — as to be almost meaningless. If you’d like corroboration of my analysis, you’ll find it today in the pages of the New York Times.doom symbian download
SIDEBAR: I can’t say doing it otherwise is wrong. But I submit that commas and periods belong inside quotation marks. This memo to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy™ illustrates what I view as malformed punctuation:doom symbian download
It has come to our attention that most of you are still referring to Democratic presidential contender John Edwards as “Silky Pony”. As excellent and chuckleworthy as that may be, time moves on, new scandals emerge, and new sobriquets must be bestowed. Besides, “Silky Pony” has been criticized as both misogynist and homophobic.
So, for reasons explained by our capable co-conspirator Mr. Barnett, “Silky Pony” shall henceforth be referred to as “Pink Sapphire”.
Your compliance in this matter will be greatly appreciated.
The memo should read, “It has come to our attention that most of you are still referring to Democratic presidential contender John Edwards as “Silky Pony.” And, “So, for reasons explained by our capable co-conspirator Mr. Barnett, “Silky Pony” shall henceforth be referred to as “Pink Sapphire.”doom symbian download
Punctuation aside, the memo comes from High Command. Please take note.doom symbian download
“AMERICA HAD BEST WAKE UP REAL FAST THAT THE BRAIN-DEAD CELEBRATION OF UNARMED HELPLESSNESS WILL GET YOU KILLED EVERY TIME:” Ted Nugent unloads on the gun grabbers.doom symbian download
SIDEBAR: Can we please dispatch as to, a debilitating prolixity? What’s wrong with about? doom symbian download
• I don’t have an opinion as to the president’s policy.doom symbian download
• I don’t have an opinion about the president’s policy.doom symbian download
Do I sound like a schoolmarm? Sorry. But I heard as to one too many times today, and I could stand it no longer.doom symbian download
“NEW HAMPSHIRE’S GOVERNOR said on Thursday he will sign a bill that would make the state the fourth in the nation to allow same-sex civil unions,” Reuters reports:doom symbian download
New Hampshire’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted overwhelming this month to give gay couples nearly the same rights as married couples. The bill was expected to reach the state Senate next Thursday.
RUDY SLIPS: According to the Washington Post/ABC News poll, Giuliani’s support among Republicans has dropped eleven points since February. Maybe it’s a blip, or maybe the poll is faulty. But you have to wonder …doom symbian download
“THE SUPREME COURT NARROWLY UPHELD A FEDERAL LAW TODAY BANNING A CONTROVERSIAL ABORTION PROCEDURE, giving the anti-abortion movement one of its biggest legal victories in years,” the New York Times reports:doom symbian download
The justices ruled, 5 to 4, that a law passed by Congress in 2003 and signed by President Bush does not violate the Constitution by imposing an undue burden on a woman’s right to end a pregnancy. The majority said its ruling reflects the government’s “legitimate, substantial interest in preserving and promoting fetal life.”
[…]
The majority upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, whose very name can set off heated debate. The procedure addressed is known medically as “intact dilation and evacuation” or “D and X,” short for dilation and extraction. It involves partly removing an intact fetus, then destroying the skull to complete the abortion.
Swingin’ Tony wrote the Court’s opinion [pdf]. Maybe there was something in his Cheerios. Who knows? doom symbian download
The ruling is narrow. In brief, the Court sustained the Act against a facial challenge; the Act remains vulnerable to as-applied challenges. And the Act itself, at least as construed by Swingin’ Tony, bans almost nothing: “… the Act does not restrict abortions involving delivery of an expired fetus or those not involving vaginal delivery,” pdf p. 3. doom symbian download
In other words, you can take the baby by c-section and then crush its skull. Or, if you prefer, you can first inject the baby with poison, kill it, and then pull it out of the vagina: “… if intact D&E is truly necessary in some circumstances, a prior injection to kill the fetus allows a doctor to perform the procedure, given that the Act’s prohibition only applies to the delivery of ‘a living fetus,’” pdf p. 6. See how that works? Here’s your algorithm:doom symbian download
• Do you want to crush the baby’s skull? If yes, take by c-section.doom symbian download
• Do you want to deliver a dead baby vaginally? If yes, poison first. And then crush, or not, the dead baby’s skull, as you prefer.doom symbian download
Call it the Ginsburg Rule: Take what you like and leave the rest.doom symbian download
What you cannot do is deliver a live baby vaginally and then crush its skull. Or at least you can’t in theory. In practice, if you can show Swingin’ Tony a set of circumstances where there was just nothing else for you to do, or if he gets a new a box Cheerios, well … we’ll see.
And that, in a nutshell, is an accurate, if not highfalutin, explanation of Gonzales v. Carhart. The New York Times say this decision is a victory for pro-life advocates. If so, it’s a strange one.doom symbian download
Now to the fun part. doom symbian download
You just have to read Justice Ruth Ginsburg’s dissent. She is pissed. P-I-S-S-E-D! Why, I don’t know, except that the Court didn’t genuflect before the Sacred Altar of Surgical Instruments in the Vagina. (See pdf p. 1, “In the usual second-trimester procedure, ‘dilation and evacuation’ (D&E), the doctor dilates the cervix and then insert surgical instruments into the uterus and maneuvers them to grab the fetus and pull it back through the cervix and vagina. The fetus is usually ripped apart as it is removed, and the doctor may take 10 to 15 passes to remove it in its entirety.” For Ginsburg, it’s all about making those passes, I guess.)doom symbian download
The dissent begins at pdf p. 49. It’s a riot, mostly because it’s a study in outrageous pretense: doom symbian download
Though today’s opinion does not go so far as to discard Roe or Casey, the Court, differently composed than it was when we last considered a restrictive abortion regulation, is hardly faithful to our earlier invocations of ‘the rule of law’ and the ‘principles of stare decisis.’”
Stare decisis?! As in respect for precedent? Oh, I couldn’t stop laughing when I read that. Surely, she can’t expect to be taken seriously. Justice Ginsburg was in the majority in Lawrence (the pro-sodomy case), which expressly overruled the precedent in Bowers (the anti-sodomy case). Call it the Ginsburg Rule: Take what you like and leave the rest.doom symbian download
It always cracks me up when members of the Court pretend there’s some high method to these shenanigans. In hot-button cases, only one (low) thing is going on. Five justices decide what they want, and then they get it. They make a (policy) decision and write an opinion justifying it. If the “rules” support their opinion, fine; if not, the “rules” are dispatched. (Indeed, Justice Ginsburg pleads for a future Court to ignore the precedent of the instant case: “A decision so at odds with our jurisprudence should not have staying power,” pdf at p. 72.)doom symbian download
The general public may believe the work of the Court is serious, complex and scholarly. But when the Internets came online, everybody got a law library. Consequently, some of us have been reading this shit long enough to know the truth. And the truth is, it’s all about five people getting what they want.doom symbian download
You may also wish to read Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion. It’s very short and begins at pdf p. 47. He volunteers this:doom symbian download
I also note that whether the Act constitutes a permissible exercise of Congress’ power under the Commerce Clause is not before the Court. The parties did not raise or brief that issue; it is outside the question presented; and the lower courts did not address it.
Justice Thomas takes a narrow view of Congress’ power under the Commerce Clause. Hint, hint.doom symbian download
ADDED —doom symbian download
For those who oppose even this modest restriction on abortion, there is a ready way to get it lifted, one that doesn’t involve the courts. See Pelosi, Nancy et al. Of course, you’ll also need to see a few Democratic senators, including Harry Reid, the majority leader, who voted “aye” on the Act’s passage. These “out of the mainstream” sons of bitches are everywhere, aren’t they?doom symbian download
WORTHY READS —doom symbian download
• Glenn Reynolds, “People don’t stop killers. People with guns do:”doom symbian download
Police can’t be everywhere, and as incidents from Columbine to Virginia Tech demonstrate, by the time they show up at a mass shooting, it’s usually too late. On the other hand, one group of people is, by definition, always on the scene: the victims. Only if they’re armed, they may wind up not being victims at all.
“Gun-free zones” are premised on a fantasy: That murderers will follow rules …
• David Kopel, “Gun-free zones:”doom symbian download
The founder of the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, understood the harms resulting from the type of [gun-free] policy created at Virginia Tech. In his “Commonplace Book,” Jefferson copied a passage from Cesare Beccaria, the founder of criminology, which was as true on Monday as it always has been:
“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms … disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes … Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”
• Michelle Malkin, “Wanted: a culture of self-defense:”doom symbian download
Enough is enough, indeed. Enough of intellectual disarmament. Enough of physical disarmament. You want a safer campus? It begins with renewing a culture of self-defense — mind, spirit and body. It begins with two words: Fight back.
THE MASSACRE AT VIRGINIA TECH: Until more facts come out, I don’t have anything to say about this tragedy that hasn’t already been said elsewhere. doom symbian download
I’ll point up only one thing. Charles Steger, the university’s president, continues to say he’s uncertain whether the gunman at Norris was the one who fatally shot two people in a dorm two hours earlier, CNN reports:doom symbian download
Steger on Tuesday defended the university response to the dorm shooting, saying police believed it to be “a domestic fight, perhaps a murder-suicide” that was contained to one dorm room.
[…]
“I don’t think anyone could have predicted that another event was going to take place two hours later,” Steger said …
Is Steger just covering his butt? Or were there coincidentally two tragedies yesterday at Virginia Tech? And if so, what motivated the second, larger one?doom symbian download
UPDATE —doom symbian download
Same gun, probably same shooter:doom symbian download
University officials said they were still trying to determine if Cho was responsible for an earlier shooting at a dormitory that left two dead.
However, Flinchum said ballistics tests show that one of the two guns recovered at Norris Hall was used at Norris and at the dorm.
Question: Why did police think the dorm shooting was a “murder-suicide,” as Steger says? Based on what we’re being told now, the police would have found two bodies at the scene but no gun. Wouldn’t that be an unusual finding for a murder-suicide by firearm?doom symbian download
UPDATE II —doom symbian download
This, via ABC News, is (somewhat) clarifying: doom symbian download
According to President Charles Steger, the administration locked down West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory after the first shooting. But he said classes weren’t canceled because the shooting was believed to be tied to a domestic dispute and campus police believed the shooter had left the campus. [Emphasis added.]
Okay. The killer and his gun were gone, or so the police thought. But with two dead victims on the scene and the shooter on the lam, you don’t have a murder-suicide. You have two murders.doom symbian download
WORTHY READS —doom symbian download
• Michael Barone, “Of victims and virtue:”doom symbian download
This urge to see the victim class as virtuous and the oppressor class as villainous leads people in countries like the United States and Britain to sympathize more with our enemies than our defenders. This is not new.
• Cathy Young, “A rush to injustice in the Duke ‘rape’ case:”doom symbian download
… many people wouldn’t let the facts get in the way of a good crusade.
Meanwhile …doom symbian download
• John Kerry has reportedly “reopened the door to a possible 2008 presidential campaign …” doom symbian download
JOHN MCCAIN WANTED TO TAKE MONEY OUT OF POLITICS. He’s got his wish.doom symbian download
HILLARY CLINTON IS LYING (BADLY): I follow Democratic politics only peripherally. So maybe Hillary Clinton has been dissembling for a while and I’ve just missed it:doom symbian download
After fielding many questions ranging from mental health care to veteran affairs at a Town Hall Meeting in Hampton, NH, Senator Hillary Clinton received a heated question about Iraq. A woman who had traveled from New York asked Sen. Clinton if she had read the report given to her in 2002 on intelligence and the Iraq war.
Clinton said she had been briefed on the report, and the woman screamed back, “Did you read it?!” Notably uncomfortable, the Senator repeated that she had been briefed. This exchange went back and forth about three times.
The woman sat down and Clinton explained, “If I had known then what I know now, I never would have voted to give this President the authority.” Clinton also said she believed she was giving the President the authority to send U.N. inspectors to Iraq. [Emphasis added.]
Oh, for crying out loud! That is most emphatically not what she believed**, as five seconds of Googling demonstrates:doom symbian download
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said she is not sorry she voted for a resolution authorizing President Bush to take military action in Iraq despite the recent problems there but she does regret “the way the president used the authority.”
“How could they have been so poorly prepared for the aftermath of the toppling of Saddam Hussein?” the New York Democrat asked Tuesday night on CNN’s “Larry King Live.” [Emphasis added.]
Did she think the U.N. inspectors were going to topple Saddam?! doom symbian download
What’s more, Clinton says she didn’t read the key report on pre-war intelligence but was instead “briefed” on it. Compare and contrast:doom symbian download
The lack of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq contradicts years of intelligence indicating Saddam had such weapons, which also was the conclusion of officials in the Clinton administration.
“The consensus was the same, from the Clinton administration to the Bush administration,” she said. “It was the same intelligence belief that our allies and friends around the world shared.”
“But I think that in the case of the [Bush] administration, they really believed it. They really thought they were right, but they didn’t let enough sunlight into their thinking process to really have the kind of debate that needs to take place when a serious decision occurs like that.”
She conceded that making such decisions is “very tough” for the occupant of the Oval Office.
“That’s one of the reasons why I think it’s important to have a president who asks a lot of questions, who is intellectually curious, who seeks out contrary points of view, who doesn’t just surround himself with people who see the world the same way,” she said.
“You have to have a decision-making process that pushes a lot of information up and asks a lot of hard questions. You don’t get that sense from this White House.” [Emphasis added.]
Senator, shouldn’t one’s “decision-making process” and intellectual curiosity about matters of war and peace extend to reading the paperwork?!doom symbian download
No wonder the woman in New Hampshire was screaming.doom symbian download
[**—Indeed, she could not have believed that; both title and text of the resolution for which she voted “authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq.” Will she now tell us she didn’t read the resolution either?doom symbian download
P.S. Now I understand why some of my Democratic friends say Hillary isn’t as formidable as many Republicans fear. Her claims here are risible and will allow the GOP to “swift boat” her everyday of the campaign and twice on Sundays.doom symbian download
ADDED —doom symbian download
More from Rob at Say Anything.doom symbian download
CRAZY ENOUGH TO KILL, NOT CRAZY ENOUGH TO DIE. Here’s my prediction. A death row inmate in Texas will prove that if you act a fool, you can avoid the executioner:doom symbian download
The [U.S. Supreme Court] already has banned execution of inmates found to be mentally retarded** and those who committed their crimes when they were younger than 18.
Crazy’s next. All you need to know is found in the question for which the Court granted certiorari:doom symbian download
Does the Eighth Amendment permit the execution of a death row inmate who has a factual awareness of the reason for his execution but who, because of severe mental illness, has a delusional belief as to why the state is executing him, and thus does not appreciate that his execution is intended to seek retribution for his capital crime?
Got that? The man knows he’s set to die, and he knows why. But he doesn’t “appreciate” the nature of the state’s interest in his execution. Yeah, sure, that’s in the Eighth Amendment. doom symbian download
Attention all wannabe loons, scale up. It’s almost show time:doom symbian download
Court-appointed medical experts for the state have determined Panetti knows he faces execution and has the ability to understand why he is being executed. They suspect his bizarre behavior is contrived.
Ya think?doom symbian download
[**—Found to be depends on who’s looking: “A defendant may be spared the death penalty because he is mentally deficient in one area, even if his IQ score falls in the normal range, the California Supreme Court decided Thursday.”]doom symbian download
SIDEBAR: I DONE DID IT!: Remember me telling you that I had got my CSS to validate? And that I was working on getting my XHTML to validate, too? Well …doom symbian download
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. Every Web page you’ve ever visited is written in some form of HTML. The page you’re on now is written in (valid!) XHTML 1.0 Transitional, which is a syntactically strict form of HTML. doom symbian download
Here’s an example, which I lifted from Wikipedia, of what HTML looks like:doom symbian download
As you can see, it’s not pretty. But as you can also see, HTML is just text. And every computer in the world can read text. When you visit a Web page, your browser — you are using Firefox, yes? — takes the HTML and turns it into something worth looking at. So I write this …doom symbian download
… but you see something nicer.doom symbian download
This isn’t to say that all Web pages look the same on every computer. They don’t. A page’s appearance is determined by, among other things, the platform you’re on (Windows or Macintosh) and the browser you’re using (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera).doom symbian download
When you use valid code, your Web page is said to be interoperable. In other words, most visitors to your page should see it the way you want them to see it, regardless of their platform or browser. (Wikipedia has more on the “browser wars.”)doom symbian download
So who decides what constitutes valid code? The World Wide Web Consortium does. The Consortium is commonly known as W3C.doom symbian download
Although writing XHTML is easy — if you want try it, do it! trust me: it ain’t constitutional law — I had trouble getting my code to validate and had to “rig” portions of it. I like to use a lot of video, which means I take code from other sites (e.g., YouTube, Motionbox, etc). Some of these other sites apparently don’t care whether their code validates. For example, YouTube uses the <embed> element as part of the code it gives you for putting video on your site. <embed> usually works — most browsers support it — but it’s not proper XHTML! And if you use it, your page won’t validate.doom symbian download
What to do?doom symbian download
As it turns out, I found an ingenious workaround for YouTube’s code. (See p. 306 of Elizabeth Castro’s excellent book.) That’s why you can still play this YouTube video directly off my site. But I couldn’t find a workaround for the code from Motionbox or Comedy Central, both of which also use <embed>. doom symbian download
So I removed these videos, put screen shots in their place and turned the screen shots into hyperlinks. Now, instead of playing a Motionbox video directly off my site, you’ll have to follow a link and play it at the source. It’s a minor inconvenience, I think, but still. I hate having to ask you to do that. I just couldn’t find any other way to make some use of the video and remain standards-compliant.doom symbian download
Writing valid code is easy but tedious. You must dot every i, cross every t. Some say it’s just not worth the effort. (My best friend, himself a Web master, grimaced disapprovingly when I told him what I was up to.) And lots of sites, including many of the biggest, don’t use valid code. I can only refer you to W3C’s case for doing it right. doom symbian download
COMEDY CENTRAL’S JON STEWART ON NANCY GRACE AND THE LACROSSE THREE: Enjoy.doom symbian download
“THEY’RE TERRORISTS. THEY GO AROUND THIS COUNTRY STARTING FIRES AND THEY NEED TO BE STOPPED.” doom symbian download
Wow. You have to see this:doom symbian download
Backfill: “… Jason Whitlock may be on his way to national stardom not as a sportswriter but as a pundit and political commentator.”doom symbian download
Whitlock’s column is here.doom symbian download
HT: Hot Airdoom symbian download
ADDED —doom symbian download
Karen Hanretty weighs in to say that perhaps “Sharpton and Jackson are running out of fights to pick. After all, at the heart of this discussion is a group of college-educated African American women. A valedictorian. A musical prodigy. A budding young lawyer.doom symbian download
Fight the power? Honey, those women are the power.”doom symbian download
IN SUPPORT OF A FELLOW BLOGGER: The Nashville law firm of King & Ballow, which represents JL Kirk Associates, has sent a demand letter to this blogger, threatening to sue.doom symbian download
• Here’s the post that has JL Kirk Associates all atwitter. doom symbian download
• Here, in case it gets deleted elsewhere, is the text of that post.doom symbian download
• Bill Hobbs explains why this is a dumb move by JL Kirk Associates.doom symbian download
• QandOBlog also has relevant commentary.doom symbian download
Technorati tags: JL Kirk Associatesdoom symbian download
WASHINGTON STATE TO OFFER DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS: House and Senate have passed. Governor expected to sign.doom symbian download
It isn’t happening everywhere (yet), and it isn’t happening all at once. But from coast to coast, gays and lesbians are making progress. And they’re doing it the old fashioned way. They’re doing it legislatively. Who would have thunk it?doom symbian download
“THANK YOU, DON IMUS. YOU’VE GIVE US (BLACK PEOPLE) AN EXCUSE TO AVOID OUR REAL PROBLEM:”doom symbian download
You’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.
[…]
You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.
[…]
While we’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.
I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.
It is us.
JUSTICE FOR THE DUKE THREE: “The office of North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper will announce that he is dismissing all charges against three Duke Lacrosse players, ABC News has learned from sources close to the case.”doom symbian download
Now, let the civil litigation begin.doom symbian download
ADDED —doom symbian download
… it turned out that Nifong knew about the exculpatory DNA results but conspired with the lab to keep the results from the defendants — an act that likely violated the law and the civil rights of the defendants, and certainly violated any sense of legal ethics.
The North Carolina Bar already has Nifong under investigation for his many questionable acts in this case. Nifong wanted to ride the Duke players all the way to re-election, and he managed to do that. The state Bar should make sure that Nifong does not profit from his unethical and potentially illegal misconduct. Disbarring him would force Nifong to resign his office, the least punishment he should receive for his actions in a year-long nightmare for three falsely-accused students.
In fighting off Nifong, the three Duke boys — Reade Seligmann, David Evans and Collin Finnerty — have accrued approximately $3 million in legal bills. You can help them. doom symbian download
AN OPEN LETTER TO AMERICA’S MAYOR:doom symbian download
Dear Rudy Giuliani,
I’m writing this open letter to you because I’m worried you’re blowing it.
I still think you stand the best chance among the candidates in the Republican field of winning the general election in 2008, and I think you have it in you to be a great president.
But something strange is going on with your candidacy — something that doesn’t reflect the conduct and behavior of the Mayor Giuliani whose ferocious competence and clarity are what have led me to advocate your nomination for more than a year now.
[…]
For example, the answer to your pro-choice difficulty with social conservatives on the matter of abortion isn’t to blather about how much you “hate it” and then ruminate on whether the government should be responsible for helping pay for one. That’s what you did last week, and you must never, ever do anything like it again — if, that is, you actually want to become president.
[…]
You’ve been speaking to adoring audiences for five years now and they hang on your every word. But, as a presidential candidate, the situation is very nearly the opposite: Your words can hang you, and many of those in the audience are hoping to serve as the executioner.
You can beat back such foes any time with the power of your intellect and your peerless ability to master and synthesize ideas — if you’re willing to get cracking.
So get cracking.
I’ll add this, Your Honor, to John Podhoretz’s open letter. Last week you exhausted an enormous amount of political capital. An enormous amount. Even amateur pundits like myself were stunned by the magnitude of your error. You said things even your most ardent supporters will not defend.doom symbian download
What are the odds of the Republican Party nominating a presidential candidate who favors publicly subsidized abortions? I will tell you the odds, sir. They are precisely zero. But you know that, don’t you? So why did you say what you said? Why? It makes no sense. Now your supporters worry about your competence or intentions or both.doom symbian download
Do you even want to be president, sir? Do you want to a Republican president? Decide and make your answer clear. We who have backed you want to know whether you proceed in good faith.doom symbian download
ADDED —doom symbian download
According to Gallup, Rudy maintains his lead among Republicans. But the poll, conducted April 2-5, was nearly complete when Rudy made his unfortunate remarks. Let’s see what the next round brings. Fingers crossed.doom symbian download
Meanwhile, take a look at the numbers for McCain and Romney. Talk about your quagmires!doom symbian download
SIDEBAR: MY CSS VALIDATESdoom symbian download
Yippie! Good geek fun: I’ve finally tweaked my CSS until it validates!doom symbian download
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheet. It’s the code that governs presentation of a Web site’s content. (HTML, or XHTML, governs structure.) For example, a style sheet determines the color of a hyperlink and whether it’s underlined. The CSS for Right Side of the Rainbow is here. Although I’ve edited the sheet to suit myself, Carrie Petri wrote it. She was one of several designers who participated in the Movable Type style contest.doom symbian download
If you’d like to learn more about CSS, this is probably a good place to start. And if have a Web site of your own, or think you might want to get one, you really should learn CSS. It ain’t hard.doom symbian download
Now, trying to get my XHTML to validate — this site is XHTML 1.0 Transitional — is another story. W3C’s validator shows this page with 115 errors. But I’m working on it. I want crisp, clean code! It ain’t hard to write, or correct, XHTML code either. It just takes time. (If you want to know more, start here.)doom symbian download
Relatedly, if you’re looking for a combination XHTML/CSS editor, I recommend HTMLPad. I investigated several editors, including Dreamweaver, which is wildly popular but also wildly expensive. The new version, due out later this month, is $399. That’s fine if you’re a professional who makes a living writing code. But if you just want to maintain your Web site or blog, HTMLPad will do the job. And it’ll only set you back $29.85.doom symbian download
DEMOCRATS WILL FUND THE WAR, SENATOR SAYS: Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says Congress won’t cut off funding for the war in Iraq:doom symbian download
“We’re not going to vote to cut funding, period,” Levin said. “But what we should do, and we’re going to do, is continue to press this president to put some pressure on the Iraqi leaders to reach a political settlement.”
[…]
“We can keep the benchmarks part of the bill without saying that the troops must begin to come back within four months,” Levin said. “If that doesn’t work and the president vetoes because of that, and he will, then that part of it is removed, because we’re going to fund the troops.” [Emphasis added.]
AP’s full report is here.doom symbian download
From the transcript of Levin’s appearance on This Week:doom symbian download
Stephanopoulos: Senator Levin, you’ve been very clear today. You said that Democrats are not going to cut off funding. Are you sure you can get all of your caucus behind this or enough of your caucus behind this idea? A lot of liberals in the caucus say, “No, we must draw the line here and now.”
Levin: No, what we’re going to try to do, a majority, I believe, of Democrats and most of the Republicans, is to vote for a bill that funds the troops, period. We’re going to fund the troops. We always have.
ADDED —doom symbian download
Here’s the video, via Gateway Pundit, who surmises, “Their internal polling data must not have looked very good.”doom symbian download
ADDED II —doom symbian download
While asserting that “[c]ertain Democrats are going to pay,” liberal blogger “Booman” nevertheless concedes that the president has won this fight:doom symbian download
If Levin says this is what is going to happen, then this is what is going to happen. This is either Levin’s sincere desire, or it is his honest appraisal of where things are going. Either way, there is no hope of winning this showdown with the President if the Armed Services chairman is taking this position.
“THEY’RE SHUTTING UP SO AS NOT TO DISTURB A WORLD VIEW BASED ON LIES”:doom symbian download
A report by the U.K. Department for Education and Skills says that schools in England are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils.
Relatedly, this:doom symbian download
Tony Blair was at pains to point out that the hostages were released ”without any deal, without any negotiation, without any side agreement of any nature.” But he’s missing (or artfully sidestepping) the point: Tehran didn’t want a deal. It wanted the humbling of the Great Satan’s principal ally. And it got it. Very easily. And it paid no price for it.
“A TOP HURRICANE FORECASTER CALLED AL GORE ‘A GROSS ALARMIST’ Friday for making an Oscar-winning documentary about global warming,” AP reports:doom symbian download
“He’s one of these guys that preaches the end of the world type of things. I think he’s doing a great disservice and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Dr. William Gray said in an interview with The Associated Press at the National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans, where he delivered the closing speech.
ADDED —doom symbian download
Houston Chronicle:doom symbian download
The calendar may say April, but it feels more like February. And it may not be over this weekend.
Light rain will continue over much of Southeast Texas this afternoon and the temperatures will stay in the lower 40s, or lower, with wind-chill values in the mid- to upper 30s, according to National Weather Service forecasters.
[…]
Forecasters expect more seasonable temperatures beginning Monday …
 |
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DOWNTOWN HOUSTON TODAY, where it’s wet, gray and a searing 43°. The normal temperature in Houston on April 7 is 77°. Yes, I know this doesn’t prove anything. I’m just saying Houston could do with a little warmth today. We’re not use to this, and these temperatures make our bones ache. Maybe Al Gore could circle the city in his Gulf Stream jet and trap some gases …doom symbian download |
DID NANCY PELOSI COMMIT A CRIME? Robert Turner, a former chairman of the ABA’s committee on law and national security and an assistant secretary of state in the Reagan years, suggests she did:doom symbian download
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may well have committed a felony in traveling to Damascus this week, against the wishes of the president, to communicate on foreign-policy issues with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
[…]
The Logan Act makes it a felony and provides for a prison sentence of up to three years for any American, “without authority of the United States,” to communicate with a foreign government in an effort to influence that government’s behavior on any “disputes or controversies with the United States.”
The Bush Administration will not act on Turner’s recommendation and appoint special counsel to investigate Pelosi’s conduct. But Turner’s essay should serve as a warning to the Democrats. Once we criminalize our policy differences, as we did in Scooter Libby’s case, we set a precedent by which any of us may be ensnared.doom symbian download
ADDED —doom symbian download
No need for Pelosi to search for eggs in her back yard this Easter weekend; they’re mostly dripping from her face.
“IMMIGRATION REFORMS THAT INCREASE THE NUMBER OF LOW-SKILLED WORKERS entering the United States threaten to impose a high cost on taxpayers,” according to a study released Wednesday:doom symbian download
The Heritage Foundation report calculates that for every $1 unskilled workers pay in taxes they receive about $3 in government benefits, including Medicaid, food stamps, public housing and other welfare programs.
The report, “The Fiscal Cost of Low-Skill Households to the U.S. Taxpayer,” is here.doom symbian download
NATIONAL REVIEW ON RUDY AND ABORTION FUNDING: “Mayor Giuliani has tied himself in knots. His position makes neither logical, moral, nor political sense. Many conservatives are disappointed, and hope that their disappointment is not going to grow as the campaign wears on.”doom symbian download
As I think ya’ll know, I’ve been all about Rudy for a long time now. But his reiteration of support for abortion subsidies has given me pause — not only about his views, but also about his political viability.doom symbian download
 |
|
Flag on the play.doom symbian download |
As a pro-choice candidate, Rudy was already handicapped in seeking the nomination of a pro-life party. Why make the matter worse? There’s simply no constituency among Republicans, even pro-choice ones, for the public funding of abortion. In fact, subsidized abortion elicits nothing from Republicans except hostility.doom symbian download
I thought it was smart for Rudy to stand fast and ask the GOP to look beyond the single issue of abortion and nominate him for other reasons. By refusing to flip-flop, he showed a commitment to principle and proved himself trustworthy. doom symbian download
But now Rudy’s done more than just stick to his guns; he’s squeezed off a few rounds. If there’s some grand stratagem in that, it’s lost on me.doom symbian download
ADDED —doom symbian download
I like Rudy. A lot. I hope he’s our nominee. I hope he stops making gaffes. But the guy’s starting to make me nervous. How can someone who won two tough-as-nails elections in tough New York make such bizarre missteps?
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HAS PASSED A “SPOUSAL UNIONS” BILL, “giving same-sex couples the same recognition now afforded married couples,” the Eagle-Tribune reports.doom symbian download
FURTHER PROOF, as if any were needed, that Fox News — save for Special Report with Brit Hume — is a venue for “entertainment,” not enlightenment:doom symbian download
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: doom symbian download
What exactly has the new multilateralism brought us? North Korea tested a nuclear device. Iran has accelerated its march to developing the bomb. The pro-Western government in Beirut hangs by a thread. The Darfur genocide continues unabated.
The capture and release of the 15 British hostages illustrate once again the fatuousness of the “international community” and its great institutions. You want your people back? Go to the EU and get stiffed. Go to the Security Council and get a statement that refuses even to “deplore” this act of piracy. (You settle for a humiliating expression of “grave concern”). Then turn to the despised Americans. They’ll deal some cards and bail you out.
 |
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AP: “Iran emerged with a measure of strength from its standoff with Britain over the captured sailors — deflecting attention from its disputed nuclear program and proving it can cause trouble in the Middle East when it chooses.” |
“WHAT THESE POLITICIANS AND MANY OTHER AMERICANS FAIL TO UNDERSTAND is that there’s a big difference between universal coverage and actual access to medical care:”doom symbian download
Simply saying that people have health insurance is meaningless. Many countries provide universal insurance but deny critical procedures to patients who need them. Britain’s Department of Health reported in 2006 that at any given time, nearly 900,000 Britons are waiting for admission to National Health Service hospitals, and shortages force the cancellation of more than 50,000 operations each year. In Sweden, the wait for heart surgery can be as long as 25 weeks, and the average wait for hip replacement surgery is more than a year. Many of these individuals suffer chronic pain, and judging by the numbers, some will probably die awaiting treatment. In a 2005 ruling of the Canadian Supreme Court, Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin wrote that “access to a waiting list is not access to healthcare.”
[..]
The real danger is that our national obsession with universal coverage will lead us to neglect reforms — such as enacting a standard health insurance deduction, expanding health savings accounts and deregulating insurance markets — that could truly expand coverage, improve quality and make care more affordable.
But here, as with other things, it isn’t about what works; it’s about what makes us feel good.doom symbian download
THE NEW YORK TIMES reports on an unusual alliance between the Texas Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.doom symbian download
In Texas, even our liberals fight for gun rights.doom symbian download
RUDY STUMBLES: I don’t share Captain Ed’s dire assessment, but I agree this is problematic:doom symbian download
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told CNN Wednesday he supports public funding for some abortions, a position he advocated as mayor and one that will likely put the GOP presidential candidate at odds with social conservatives in his party.
It will also put him at odds with the party’s social libertarians. I’m mildly pro-choice. But I don’t think the Government has any business paying for abortions. Even if we assume arguendo that abortion is a constitutional right, it doesn’t follow that the Government should pay for it. You have a constitutional right to freedom of the press, too. But don’t expect the Government to buy you a printing press.doom symbian download
Also, this is baffling:doom symbian download
“Unlike what some of my opponents have said, I’m not in favor of gay marriage,” [Giuliani] said. “I have consistently said marriage should be between a man and a woman. I do think that people who have a sexual orientation one kind or another should not be discriminated against.”
The GOP presidential candidate also said it’s not his place to judge whether homosexuality is immoral.
“It isn’t my role to determine what is a sin, what isn’t a sin,” he said. “What my role is, what is legal, what is illegal, I have been really clear on that role throughout my life.”
As it relates to homosexuals and homosexuality, what should the law say?Here the mayor inappropriately conflates sin with immorality. Something can be a sin without being immoral. I grew up in the Church of Christ, which is quite fundamentalist. We believed that the use of musical instruments during worship was a sin, i.e. contrary to the teachings of the New Testament. But I don’t think any of us would have said that musical instruments were immoral.doom symbian download
The law might not be properly informed by notions of sin. But it is properly — and unavoidably — informed by notions of morality. After all, what is the case against murder if not a moral one?doom symbian download
As president, Giuliani would not just say what the law is; he would say what the law should be. In fact, that’s the whole reason you run for president: you want to decide what the law should say.doom symbian download
Now answer the question, Your Honor: As it relates to homosexuals and homosexuality, what should the law say? You indicated that people shouldn’t be discriminated against because of sexual orientation. As a matter of law, what should that mean?doom symbian download
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COVERING MORE THAN HIS MOUTH: “[Fitzgerald’s pursuit of two reporters] is all the more puzzling in retrospect because we now know that Mr. Fitzgerald already knew—at the time he was demanding that the reporters betray their sources—that the real leaker was Richard Armitage, not Mr. Libby.”doom symbian download |
WHAT IS PATRICK FITZGERALD HIDING? Dow Jones and the Associated Press are trying to find out.doom symbian download
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS …doom symbian download
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YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.doom symbian download |
IS THIS STORY TRUE? Who knows? But you think it could be true, don’t you? Me, too — you, me and every other Republican in the country. And therein lies John McCain’s problem.doom symbian download
HAVE PELOSI AND THE DEMOCRATS GIVEN ANY THOUGHT to the precedents they’re setting? doom symbian download
… whatever passing damage is being done to George W. Bush is a relatively minor concern compared to the lasting damage that is being done to the presidency as an institution that will still be here when George W. Bush is gone.
HIGH COURT RIDES HIGH; BUSH ADMINISTRATION LOSES TWO BIG CASES: According to media reports, the Administration won this case. But it’s not so:doom symbian download
The Supreme Court today rejected appeals by detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, declining to hear their cases challenging the validity of a military commissions law passed last year and the legality of their confinement for more than five years without charge or trial.
The decision not to hear the appeals represented a victory for the Bush administration in its efforts to keep terrorism suspects captured abroad out of U.S. civilian courts. But the Supreme Court cautioned that it could reconsider its jurisdiction over such cases if other remedies prove inadequate. [Emphasis added.]
If you read the tea leaves, i.e. the unusual policy “statement
” issued by Justices Stevens and Kennedy, two things are clear: doom symbian download
Centrism at the High Court: “Massachusetts cannot invade Rhode Island …”But that comes later. Today, the Court made a show of deference to the … uh … what do you call those? — yes, the elected branches of Government. (Keyword: show.) He-he.doom symbian download
In another case decided today, our Robed Masters were too impatient to even feign deference:doom symbian download
In a stinging defeat for the Bush administration, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that U.S. environmental officials have the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that spur global warming.
By a 5-4 vote, the nation’s highest court told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its refusal to regulate carbon dioxide and other emissions from new cars and trucks that contribute to climate change.
In its opinion, the Court acknowledges that it has no business telling the EPA what to do:doom symbian download
The scope of our review of the merits of the statutory issues is narrow. As we have repeated time and again, an agency has broad discretion to choose how best to marshal its limited resources and personnel to carry out its delegated responsibilities. That discretion is at its height when the agency decides not to bring an enforcement action. [Emphasis added; citations omitted.]
To overcome the height of the EPA’s discretion, the Court announces a new rule of statutory adjudication: “special solicitude” for Massachusetts.doom symbian download
No, I’m not making that up. Read it for yourself. (Presumably, the Court will also show “solicitude” to the other forty-nine states — although who knows? — or at least it will when the others bring litigation agreeable to the Court’s liberal majority.)doom symbian download
The justices make clear, however, that there are limits to their fondness for Massachusetts: “Massachusetts cannot invade Rhode Island to force reductions in greenhouse gas emissions …” [PDF, p. 16] Well, thank God for that!doom symbian download
Technically, the EPA still has the option, under the terms of today’s opinion, to decline to regulate carbon dioxide emissions and then return to the Court to explain itself. But, as in the case of the Gitmo detainees, it’s clear from the tone of their opinion what our Robed Masters expect the Government to do.doom symbian download
Myself, I’d rather the Court just dropped the pretense and put it out there:doom symbian download
We want what we want. We don’t care what you want. You don’t decide; we decide. Do what we fucking tell you to do. If you don’t like it, eat shit and die.
True, that would be vulgar. But it would also be much more intellectually honest than what the Court did today.doom symbian download
(By the way, if you’re interested in an actual statement of the law, see the dissent by Chief Justice Roberts.)doom symbian download
“A LITTLE WAR WITH IRAN IS THE KEY TO ACHIEVING PEACE:”doom symbian download
I hope that by the time you read this, the cruise missiles have already impacted; the stealth bombers have taken out radar and missiles sites; the land and sea blockade is in place … nothing moving in or out of an Iranian port and any road traffic that doesn’t risk death from above. I hope, by the time you read this, the destruction of Iran’s military infrastructure is underway.
Alas, the AP reports that “Iran appears to be digging in for a prolonged standoff over its capture of 15 British sailors and marines.” And why not? The Iranians are enfeebling and humiliating the United States and her chief ally, both of whom are either too weak-willed or myopic to react appropriately.doom symbian download
This is boundary testing. Ahmadinejad wants to find out what he can get away with. The answer is, he can get away with an act of war.doom symbian download
WOMAN CRIES RAPE, GETS INDICTED FOR MANSLAUGHTER:doom symbian download
Darrell Roberson came home from a card game late one night to find his wife rolling around with another man in a pickup in the driveway.
Caught in the act with her lover, Tracy Denise Roberson — thinking quickly, if not clearly — cried rape, authorities say. Her husband pulled a gun and killed the other man with a shot to the head.
On Thursday, a grand jury handed up a manslaughter indictment — against the wife, not the husband.
In a case likely to reinforce the state’s reputation for don’t-mess-with-Texas justice, the grand jury declined to charge the husband with murder, the charge on which he was arrested by police.
The dead man is Devin LaSalle, 32. And Mr. Roberson didn’t actually shoot him on the spot:doom symbian download
When Tracy Roberson cried that she was being raped, LaSalle tried to drive away and her husband drew the gun he happened to be carrying and fired several shots at the truck, authorities said.
One of those shots struck LaSalle in the head, killing him.doom symbian download
Under Texas law, the use of deadly force is justified to protect yourself or a third person from the “imminent commission” of certain felonies, including sexual assault. (See TEX. PENAL CODE §§ 9.32-.33.)doom symbian download
Here, the grand jury certainly could have indicted Darrell Roberson. LaSalle was in his truck, attempting to flee. The “sexual assault” was over, not imminent. But the grand jurors probably took this view:doom symbian download
“If I found somebody with my wife or with my kids in my house, there’s no telling what I might do,” said Juan Muniz, 33, who was having lunch Friday with one of his two small children at a restaurant in the middle-class suburban Dallas neighborhood where the Robersons lived. “I probably would have done the same thing.”
Banging another man’s wife or companion is an inherently hazardous act. You might lose your head. But if you’re the wife or companion who’s getting banged, it’s just chicken shit to cry rape if you get caught. Tracy Roberson’s alleged lie got a man killed. If the story’s true, the manslaughter charge against her is a good rap.doom symbian download
