What's a Senator who just sold what passes for his soul to pass a bill people hate do when he's down over 30 points to a possible challenger do just under 3 years out from an election? Run an ad! Because people just love political ads.

Nelson will air a new TV ad in which he attempts to debunk opposition claims that the Senate legislation represents a government takeover, and he makes the case for health care reform.

"With all the distortions about health care reform, I want you to hear directly from me," the Democratic senator says in the ad.

Nelson, dressed in an open-necked shirt and sweater, speaks directly into the camera during the 30-second ad.

..."I listened to you and took a common-sense approach to improve the bill.

"Now it lowers costs for families and small business, protects Medicare, finally guarantees coverage for pre-existing conditions and reduces the defici

"And it's not run by the government.

"I'm convinced this is right for Nebraska," Nelson says.

From the same Rassumussen Poll linked above.

Just 17% of Nebraska voters approve of the deal their senator made on Medicaid in exchange for his vote in support of the plan. Overall, 64% oppose the health care legislation, including 53% who are Strongly Opposed. In Nebraska, opposition is even stronger than it is nationally.

I'm not a big fan of legislating or governing by polls but Nelson may want to take another listen to what his constituents are actually saying.

Related Enough: The Republican running for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat has a clever ad.

It's so clever that he may only get his ass kicked by 39% instead of 40%.

Via The Corner.

Posted by: DrewM at 11:05 AM | Comments (216)
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If true, this is scary, very scary, and will cost billions to resolve.

A German hacker claims to have cracked the encryption that protects most cellphone calls, potentially paving the way for others to eavesdrop on conversations.

The claim, if true, could pose a threat to many wireless carriers who have used essentially the same security on their networks for years...

That's one of the constant worries with embedded encryption tech -- if its easy for YOU to upgrade/change, then its also easier for someone else to do the same. A cheap mask programmed ROM is physically incapable of being altered remotely...which is a good thing...until the time comes that the code it contained exhibits a weakness. Now you gotta physically go out into the field and start swapping ROM's in gear...unless the ROM has been soldered down, in which case, now you're swapping whole boards out...which means you have to make new boards...distribute those boards, etc, etc.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It may just be BS and the German is hoaxing, but if he's not, telecom companies and their customers are going to get hit with some pretty big one-time expenses fairly soon.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 10:05 AM | Comments (109)
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Not a US-bound plane. But shouldn't this have sparked new urgency in screening?

A man tried to board a commercial airliner in Mogadishu last month carrying powdered chemicals, liquid and a syringe that could have caused an explosion in a case bearing chilling similarities to the terrorist plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The Somali man — whose name has not yet been released — was arrested by African Union peacekeeping troops before the Nov. 13 Daallo Airlines flight took off. It had been scheduled to travel from Mogadishu to the northern Somali city of Hargeisa, then to Djibouti and Dubai. A Somali police spokesman, Abdulahi Hassan Barise, said the suspect is in Somali custody.

"We don't know whether he's linked with al-Qaida or other foreign organizations, but his actions were the acts of a terrorist. We caught him red-handed," said Barise.

A Nairobi-based diplomat said the incident in Somalia is similar to the attempted attack on the Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day in that the Somali man had a syringe, a bag of powdered chemicals and liquid — tools similar to those used in the Detroit attack. The diplomat spoke on condition he not be identified because he isn't authorized to release the information.

Barigye Bahoku, the spokesman for the African Union military force in Mogadishu, said the chemicals from the Somali suspect could have caused an explosion that would have caused air decompression inside the plane. However, Bahoku said he doesn't believe an explosion would have brought the plane down.

A second international official familiar with the incident, also speaking on condition of anonymity because he isn't authorized to discuss the case, confirmed that the substances carried by the Somali passenger could have been used as an explosive device.

In the Detroit case, alleged attacker Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab hid explosive PETN in a condom or condom-like bag just below his torso when he traveled from Amsterdam to Detroit. Like the captured Somali, Abdulmutallab also had a syringe filled with liquid. The substances seized from the Somali passenger are being tested.

They're being tested now, a month later?

The November incident garnered little attention before the Dec. 25 attack aboard a flight on final approach to Detroit. U.S. officials have now learned of the Somali case and are hastening to investigate any possible links between it and the Detroit attack, though no officials would speak on the record about the probe.

I suppose it's possible this was kept from American intelligence, though I doubt it. When they say "U.S. officials have now learned" of this case, I am presuming they really mean "U.S. officials learned of this a month ago, but only now are they taking it seriously."

Thanks to Brother Bewapitis.

Hey...! Where the Hell Was I? For purposes of schtick, I was sleeping off a 24 hour Val-U-Rite bender on a bed of stuffed and sewn hobo bodies.

For real, I had a bad day and then got a bit sick.

Thanks for the birthday wishes! Has it been six years? Damn this blog is old and tired and busted.

Oh well, as they say, six is the new four.

Posted by: Ace at 09:00 AM | Comments (119)
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That impish prankster global warming is already crushing state budgets with whopping bills for snow removal.

...Maryland's State Highway Administration has spent more than $27 million this year on snow removal, the bulk of that clearing away a massive pre-Christmas storm. But the agency's annual snow-removal budget is just $26 million...

...Stacey Stegman, a spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation, said it costs Colorado $4.85 to send one snowplow one mile down one lane of highway. "It adds up," Ms. Stegman said. "We're tightening the belt."...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 08:51 AM | Comments (32)
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58% are opposed, with only 39% supporting the President's attempt to cripple America's healthcare system.

While several individual components of the plan are popular, reminding voters of whatÂ’s included in the plan has virtually no impact on support for the overall legislation. This suggests that there are not major surprises in the legislation that will cause people to change their opinion of it.

[...]

The new figures include 19% who Strongly Favor the plan and 46% who Strongly Oppose it.

This poll is particularly useful as a snapshot of who these crazy folks are who want a healthcare bill no matter what's in it:

It is interesting to note that attitudes towards the plan vary sharply based upon what people see as the primary problem with health care today. Fifty-three percent (53%) say cost is the biggest problem while 23% cite the lack of universal coverage and 13% name the quality of care.

Among those who see the lack of universal coverage as the biggest problem, 86% favor the legislation.

However, among the majority who see cost as the biggest issue, 68% are opposed.

As for those who see the quality of care as the top issue, 87% are opposed to the plan before Congress.

The universal coverage folks are kidding themselves if they think an individual mandate will result in healthcare for every American. Many will continue to go without and there's little difference between foregoing treatment because you have no insurance and foregoing treatment because a government deathpanel won't let your insurer cover it.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:46 AM | Comments (30)
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Above the post update:

Lots of unprotected cops standing next to the van now, so it seems like nothing dangerous.

Original Post:
On FNC right now.

There's a van that has been parked there for a day or two.

NASDAQ and other buildings evacuated.

FNC source says the van has fake plates that made it look like an official vehicle attached to a non-existent law enforcement agency, no other plates.

Posted by: DrewM at 08:39 AM | Comments (84)
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"One more week and my long nightmare is over"

-- Wade Phillips

Truman the Greek 136
buzzion 136
Nam Grunt 132
Superfly TNT 132
Peoples Republic of Baltimore 132
Monkey Sleeping 131
Svenster61 130
Michael in MI 130
Aewl 129
moflicky 129
Paranoid Polly 129

The rest of us are duking it out somewhere between mediocre and total suckage.

I want to take a moment to thank Ben for pulling all these together each week, it's a total pain in the ass (I know), and it was darned decent of him to volunteer and do it. So thanks Ben!

I shall kill you last.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 08:02 AM | Comments (15)
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These are the things we saw on live television during the past decade that made us stop and stare. They’re not all good things and they’re not all bad. They’re mostly things that made everyone watching think a collective “WTF?” and everyone who missed them race to YouTube to catch up.

One caveat: there are no deaths on this list. We all know the single most jaw-dropping television of the decade (and it’s a strong contender for most jaw-dropping television of all time), whether we consider the events of that morning to be one protracted “moment” or fill a list of moments from that day. I don’t want it on my list. Similar moments I am omitting include events from the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War, the 2001 fatal crash of Dale Earnhardt in the Daytona 500, and Hurricane Katrina.

The magic of television is that many of us can experience the same thing at the same time. This feature is also the thing many “highbrow” misanthropes curmudgeonly curse about the platform. But that shared connection is an indelible part of our culture and you’d have to have lived under a rock for the past ten years to have missed the things on my list.

10. Super Bowl XXXVIII Wardrobe Malfunction (2004)
This was a stupid event in a stupid half-time show, but a million mothers had to lunge to cover the eyes of their impressionable babies at the same moment. Whatever that thing Janet Jackson had on her funbag was, it was not fit for the most-watched television programming of the year. FOX got slammed with a $550,000 fine and all the networks trod lightly for a few years, lest the FCC decide to use a heavier hand. And if you doubt the impact this event had on America, NY Times wanker Frank Rich eventually blamed Jackson and Timberlake for the re-election of President Bush. Really.

9. Ms. South Carolina Answers a Question (2007)
I know she was under a lot of pressure, but the Miss Teen USA was not her first pageant. The question was why she thought a fifth of Americans are unable to locate the United States on a world map. Her answer made even dumb blondes cringe.

8. Red Sox break the Curse of the Bambino (2004)
Eighty-six years after the team traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees, the Red Sox came back from three games down to win the American League Championship (against the Yankees!) and then to sweep the Cardinals in the 100th World Series. It made Boston the first city to win the Super Bowl and the World Series in the same year since Pittsburgh in 1979.

7. Governor Mark Sanford and the Argentine Mistress (2009)
Sanford’s June 24, 2009, press conference was his attempt to come clean after his Father’s Day abandonment of his wife and kids to see his South American honey. The problem is that he didn’t just come clean, he decided to share his emotional journey from “innocent friend” to “soul mate.” If you listened real hard you could hear every political consultant in the country—and every person with a healthy interest in their sanity—yell “STOP TALKING” at their televisions. Slu memorialized Sanford’s TMI moment here.

6. Phelps Wins and Wins (2008 )
Michael Phelps qualified to swim in three team and five individual races in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. He won gold in all eight events, breaking the world record for gold medals won in a single Olympics. In his seventh race, he beat Serbian swimmer Milorad Čavić by 1/100 of a second, when Čavić apparently failed to press the wall forcefully enough to trigger the clock. This was jump-out-of-your seat television, especially the final race, a medley relay in which Phelps pulled the team up from behind to give them a half-second edge in the final split.

5. Whoopi Goldberg Knows it WasnÂ’t Rape-Rape (2009)
Here is an FYI for any far-future alien archeologists who dig through the ruins of our civilization: with the exception of one very confused idiot we kept on television solely for the opportunity to laugh at her, Americans believed that having sex with a 14 year-old who has been drugged into unconsciousness is rape. We also believed that there is something seriously wrong with Whoopi GoldbergÂ’s mind-mind.

4. Giants Beat Patriots (2008 )
ItÂ’s funny, the names are the same: Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Bill Belichick, but I seemed to care more almost two years ago. The Pats were ahead 14-10 when Manning moved the Giants 83 yards in under two minutes. He threw the game-winning pass with 35 seconds left on the clock. After the Patriots got the ball back, Brady went for the Hail Mary with 20 seconds to go, but it fell short. Belichick left the field before the clock hit zero.

3. The “I Have a Scream” Speech (2004)
It ended a presidential campaign and sent dogs racing to shield their abused ears. Howard Dean never was able to explain what possessed him to yell like a maniac while delivering his Iowa caucus concession speech on January 19, 2004. A third place finish shouldnÂ’t have ended his bid (McCain finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses in 2008 ), but the combination of the bulging vein in his forehead, his gritted teeth, and that scream snuffed his aspirations for the White House. YEEEAARGH!

2. Northeast Blackout (2003)
I realize that this selection suffers because a great many people actually involved in the event never got to see it on television. But I have never been as astounded at anything as I was by the sight of thousands of New Yorkers walking out of Manhattan. Many of those that stayed took part in what was probably the biggest block party ever. Indigo Girls went on to perform in Central Park, despite the power failure. As usual, most of the other affected areas were largely ignored on national television.

And the most jaw-dropping (non death-related) live television of the decade: more...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:56 AM | Comments (104)
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WeÂ’re Hoping he Changes his mind and tells about his training and any other plots he might know about.

Abdulmutallab remains in a Detroit area prison and, after initial debriefings by the FBI, has restricted his cooperation since securing a defense attorney, according to federal officials. Authorities are holding out hope that he will change his mind and cooperate with the probe, the officials said.

To our friends on the left who think this law enforcement model is the Awesome!Â…when the next hit comes, the blood is on your hands too.

Yesterday CBS reported that the CIA had information on Abdulmutallab. The agency quickly fired back that they didnÂ’t really know all that much about him.

A U.S. intelligence official defended the agency’s handling of the elliptical information, telling POLITICO: “Abdulmutallab’s father didn’t say his son was a terrorist, let alone planning an attack. Not at all. I’m not aware of some magic piece of intelligence that suddenly would have flagged this guy — whose name nobody even had until November — as a killer en route to America, let alone something that anybody withheld.”

“Magic piece of intelligence”? What the hell do they need? A signed confession from the guy 6-8 weeks prior to his attempt to kill almost 300 people?

They had the father’s concerns, they knew he had gone to that terrorist hot spot of Yemen. He was also “a former president of the Islamic Society at University College London”. The alumni list of that position includes 3 others who have been arrested for terrorist activities. The Brits by the way had him on their Do Not Enter list. Do we not share this kind of information with our cousins across the pond? And if not, why not?

This seems like, I donÂ’t know, a whole hell of a lot of dots that draw a pretty clear picture.

I’m not saying these dots are easy to connect but isn’t that why these guys get the big bucks? Seriously, what has to happen to get the big scary CIA to say, “hey, this chap isn’t quite right”?

8+ years after 9/11 and we still arenÂ’t serious about this crap.

Posted by: DrewM at 07:24 AM | Comments (132)
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[DrewM.] This is the first post I ever read here at the HQ. I found the place through Allah's old site which, while I love the HQ, was the funniest thing ever on the internet back in 04/05 and maybe since.

It took me weeks, maybe months before I screwed up the courage to comment here, so if you are new to the site (and given the growth in the last year many are), don't be shy. Jump in. Hell, you might even become a co-blogger someday. That's when you'll know your life is a total waste.

[Gabe] Wait, you read posts here at the HQ? Really?

[Russ] Yeah, what Drew said. I've only been a coblogger here for about 30 months, and you can see why Ace gave me a set of keys here.

Natural talent for the written word? Not really necessary when you've got polaroids of Ace with a motel room full of goats in lingere. Not that the aforementioned pictures EXIST, mind you. At least not as far as you know.

[Dave] Lace wigs!!

Posted by: LauraW at 06:51 AM | Comments (150)
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