According to the Rubio people:

Charlie Crist has halted all its TV advertising in the Orlando and Tampa Bay markets where the anti-Rubio spots were airing. That's presumably a sign that Crist has decided to marshal his resources for later or perhaps drop out altogether.

Crist is finally giving up on a campaign that was effectively dead on January 19. Talk of an independent bid is still being passed around, but no one seems to know what Crist is up to.

If the election were held this week, with Crist running as an independent, he and Rubio end up in a statistical tie, ahead of Democrat Kendrick Meek.

Crist.......32
Rubio......30
Meek.......24

Of course, three-way races tend to go bonkers, making the outcome hard to predict. (Think Scozzawhatever fiasco.)

More: Rich Lowry over at NRO gives Five Reasons Crist Shouldn't Go Independent. Most cutting: "He'd be Arlen Specter, except without a party." Eeesh.

Still More: John Cornyn, apparently trying to correct his mistake, called Crist on Friday to urge him not run as an independent. Crist didn't answer and he hasn't called back.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:08 AM | Comments (72)
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Today is the fifteenth anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. I marked it last year by describing my confusion that morning.

This year I'm just grateful for first-responders, thankful for the work of law enforcement, and hopeful that atrocities like the Murrah building bombing continue to be rare.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:56 AM | Comments (111)
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It's a great time to own a hotel. It's an awful time to own a piece of an airline.

The ash cloud still has much of European airspace closed to civilian flights, including the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy. Airspace is open again in Ireland, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, Sweden, Finland, and Norway. Iceland is sending flights to the U.S., but not to Europe.

Airports in Newfoundland were briefly closed yesterday and this morning, but flights have resumed. There is some expectation that more ash could arrive on the Canadian east coast.

So, who's in trouble? Obviously airlines. Depending on how long this goes on, Europe might lose a large portion of its air capacity as airlines start going under. European airports also may see a decline as international airlines shift hubs to unaffected countries. Also businesses that rely on air cargo to deliver perishable goods, including fruits, vegetables, and flowers are hurting all along the supply chain. There's no way to get the goods to markets, so they're rotting in warehouses.

Anybody come out of this better than when they started? Hotels are enjoying the high demand at the moment. Telecommuting is also booming. Rail travel in Europe is at capacity for the first time ever. Oddly enough, Greece might come out of this in better shape, as trapped travelers head southeast to use the working airport at Athens.

The economic impact will extend further than the ash cloud. At some point, governments are going to reexamine the factors that led to closing the airports. Is there a danger? Is it outweighed by the looming economic catastrophe? At the moment, no one can say how long the volcano is going to erupt.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:20 AM | Comments (120)
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Just breaking, so with the caveat that these dudes sometimes have to be staked through the heart to keep them down. Al-Masri had been erroneously reported killed in a U.S. airstrike in October 2006, before that report was retracted.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki says an intelligence team has killed the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, reports say.

Abu Ayyub al-Masri is also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.

Good job, Nouri.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:49 AM | Comments (37)
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Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:30 AM | Comments (42)
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But that whole Tea-Party thing, it's really just a marginal movement, doesn't reflect anything like a large number of Americans.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 80 percent of Americans say they do not trust the U.S. government to do what is right, expressing the highest level of distrust in Washington in half a century, according to a public opinion survey.

Only 22 percent of Americans say they trust the government "just about always" or "most of the time," according to the Pew Research Center survey released on Sunday.

The statists resent the hell of of this sentiment, which is kind of amusing since a few years ago you couldn't get through the day without hearing screechy complaints about "abuse of power" by the last administration.

I find this refreshing, it reflects of one of the foundational elements of our government as established by the founders, who sought while creating a government and establishing its power, to also constrain the power of that government and hold it accountable to the governed. Madison described this balance in Federalist 51: "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself."

I don't mean to suggest that the latest frustrations expressed by Americans in government aren't also a result of our experiences. We see widespread incompetence, inability to foresee unintended consequences, and sloppy spending with little accountability and unimpressive results.

But Americans also have a sense of wariness about government that is part of our heritage, and it's a good thing to hold onto regardless of which party or President happens to be in power at any given moment.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 05:19 AM | Comments (82)
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Hey hey it's Sunday. So let's make the weekend count for something.

The Wizard of Dogz
The doggeh version of the movie. And yes always be on the look out for evil flying kittehs.
more...

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:43 PM | Comments (787)
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I had intended to be around for more blogging today; that obviously didn't work out. If you're wondering when we'll have more content, I'll be blogging up a storm tomorrow.

For now, I saw something at the Dodgers game yesterday that simply cannot go unremarked. And that's the "Top Ten Comic Book Super Villain" list they put up during one of the commercial breaks. I'm not gonna spoil my own poll by telling you what they'd selected as the Number 1 villain, but it was all wrong...I think. Now I want to know what you think.

I couldn't remember all ten from their list, but these at least were on it.

This is an open thread.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:56 PM | Comments (313)
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Here's a pretty cool animation of it.

SÃ¥dan har askeskyen bredt sig, bitch.

Scroll down to the first image and get yourself some f'n knowledge.

Meanwhile, airlines begin to try to determine whether the concerns are warranted with test flights through the Gaiasmog.

Flight danger or aircraft damage from volcanic ash: Unclear, but tests seem to show nada.
Revenue damage from indefinitely suspended flight schedules: Very clear.

That'd make me put a couple of aircraft up to see if this was real or bullshit. And I'd take a look at the maintenance records for planes flying in and out of LA myself.

via Cuffy

ALSO: my point is not to encourage travel danger or aircraft damage, but rather to suggest airlines know how to mitigate that already, being in the business of flying that they are. You don't have to fly through the shit, and it isn't floating around Heathrow at minimums. One wonders, about this whole "shut down airports" stuff. Anyone who flys or fixes planes for a living can put me some knowledge.

MONDAY ALSO: Airlines are gettin cranky (WaPo link).

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 11:35 AM | Comments (333)
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Col. Allen West opens his campaign in Broward County by encouraging his supporters to hold the line.

Florida's 22nd voted Democrat in the last three Presidential elections, Obama 52-48, Kerry 51-49, and Gore 51-46, but had a Republican Congressman from 1993 to 2007 when Ron Klein won in 06.

Personally I'd love to see West greet Pelosi the way he says he could.

video via Andy

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 09:23 AM | Comments (262)
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