More evidence for my theory that people are fundamentally stupid:

"He wanted the phone and she wouldn't give it to him, so she attempted to swallow it," Detective Sgt. Steve Decker of the Blue Springs Police Department. "She just put the entire phone in her mouth so he couldn't get it."

Turns out it got lodged in her throat and blocked her breathing. But what were the odds of that happening?

Posted by: Ace at 08:52 AM | Comments (31)
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Not because he just likes 'em big and from Texas. The Solicitor General will be making a technical point to protect the supremacy of federal rulings.

Posted by: Ace at 08:46 AM | Comments (2)
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Don't question their patriotism:

It is a far cry from the days following the September 11 2001 attacks, when some of the biggest names in show business, from Jennifer Lopez to Brad Pitt, rallied to the cause. "After 9/11 we couldn't have had enough airplanes for the people who were volunteering to go," Wayne Newton, the Las Vegas crooner who succeeded Bob Hope as head of USO's talent recruiting effort, told USA Today. "Now with 9/11 being as far removed as it is, the war being up one day and down the next, it becomes increasingly difficult to get people to go."

Newton said many celebrities have been wary of going because they think it might be seen that they are endorsing the war. "And I say it's not. I tell them these men and women are over there because our country sent them, and we have the absolute necessity to try to bring them as much happiness as we can."

Fear is also a factor. "They're scared," country singer Craig Morton, who is in Iraq on the USO's Hope and Freedom Tour 2005, told USA Today. "It's understandable. It's not a safe and fun place and a lot of people don't want to take the chance."

Yep. They support our troops all right.

Thanks to Slublog.

Posted by: Ace at 08:42 AM | Comments (13)
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At the New Editor, from the San Diego Union-Tribune:

But then why would environmentalists care that locals think their ANWR claims are ridiculous? All that matters is taking a stand against the excesses of capitalism. That's because the ANWR fight isn't really about proper stewardship of nature. Instead, it is a proxy issue for environmentalists who believe that America is a rapacious, corporate-dominated menace which must be starved of any new natural resources.

This belief is fed by the endless sky-is-falling rhetoric that environmental groups use to goose their fund-raising and thus maintain their clout with Democrats.

Meanwhile, these same groups duck much more important oil-related fights, such as seeking higher miles-per-gallon requirements for new U.S. cars. Gregg Easterbook of the liberal New Republic magazine nailed this hypocrisy in a 2002 essay:

"ANWR drilling is both a pleasantly symbolic ideological issue and, since 99 percent of donors to environmental groups don't live in Alaska, can be defeated without personally affecting most environmentalists in any way. On the other hand, there are plenty of environmentalists and enviro donors who drive big SUVs. ... Had a higher MPG standard been enacted, some environmental donors might have had to make a lifestyle change rather than just demanding change from others."

Bingo!

The Washington Post and New York Times used to themselves battle against this nature-as-god silliness in the eighties, arguing in favor of oil exploration of ANWR. It's sad that smart, reasonable liberalism is no longer the fashion, at least as regards environmental issues. (For the NYT, of course, it's no longer the fashion as regards any issue.)

Meanwhile... Japan's population bomb starts its slow-motion implosion, sooner than expected.

Posted by: Ace at 08:35 AM | Comments (10)
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I don't think there needs to be any "monitoring" of what professors say in class. They have the right to be as obnoxious and partisan as they like, so long as they do not punish those who dare to disagree with them.

But given college administrators' winking at viewpoint-based discrimination against Republicans, or actual discrimination by themselves, there should be some sort of legislatively-created right to sue.

As David Horwitz notes, colleges and universities have proven they cannot, or will not, protect conservatives against discrimination.

I'm not usually in favor of such remedies. Then again, those in the academic world generally are, except suddenly when it's proposed to fight their own excesses. So there's a bit of principle-swapping here.

Posted by: Ace at 08:12 AM | Comments (8)
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Pope Benedict XVI dons a red velvet Christmas hat with white ermine trim for his weekly general audience.

And then he used his Eye-Lasers of Divine Fury to vaporize an unbeliever who was hiding in the crowd.

I like this new scary Pope. I like him a lot.
Let us all heap praise upon the rat-bastard photographer for capturing the essence of the man.

Posted by: LauraW. at 04:44 PM | Comments (24)
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Too bad... just when I was getting okay at it, all the fish leave:

[A]s this holiday season nears an end, the industry's luck seems to be running out as boxed sets of cards and chips are discounted, ratings fade for some poker-themed television shows and shares of a poker-linked stock slump.

In very sad news from the blogosphere, Karol just hanged herself. She left a note reading only "Bad beat."

Posted by: Ace at 12:54 PM | Comments (21)
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The headline actually says he supports the eavesdropping, but he's more ambiguous than that:

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday supported government eavesdropping to prevent terrorism but said a major controversy over presidential powers could have been avoided by obtaining court warrants.

...

Appearing on ABC's "This Week" Powell said he sees "absolutely nothing wrong with the president authorizing these kinds of actions" to protect the nation.

But he added, "My own judgment is that it didn't seem to me, anyway, that it would have been that hard to go get the warrants. And even in the case of an emergency, you go and do it."

But Powell protects his reputation for never taking a clear position on anything, while continuing to court his media admirers, by also supporting the decision he just faulted:

...

Powell, who also is a former chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff, had no reservations when asked whether eavesdropping should continue.

"Of course it should continue," he said. "And nobody is suggesting that the president shouldn't do this."

Ummm, except you, Colin.

The key to being perceived in official Washington, I guess, is to never actually say anything. Just like in Being There.

Posted by: Ace at 12:45 PM | Comments (29)
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Remember the reason for the season.

Barbra Streisand's cover of Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree.

Really, though, Merry Christmas to you and all those dear to you.

(my lame Charlie Brown-esque tree)

Oh, And... Fred informs:

Today isn't just the birthday of Jesus and Sir Isaac Newton. It's also the 55th birthday of Karl Rove, Prince of Darkness.

Let us be glad and rejoice!

Season's Greetings From the NSA: Kadnine has their Christmas card.

Merry Christmas From the DCCC: Because Christmas is all about unceasing partisanship!

Posted by: Ace at 08:01 AM | Comments (47)
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The above quote is taken from an interesting chat dialogue with Judge Richard Posner hosted by the WaPo, allowing the public to query him in relation to his Wednesday Op-Ed examining the recent N.S.A revelations.

I think it’s worth of a read because, well, it’s Posner, and he brings his usual bruising ‘brain in a box’ Spock mentality to the issue, refusing, as you might expect, to treat civil liberties as some sacrosanct marshland preserve where human rights must be allowed frolic and reproduce lest they go extinct.

The full thing's here, but, because its Chrismas and all, IÂ’ll give you a taste:

Richard Posner:Â…Are you worried about having a conversation of yours [Â…] recorded in a government database? Suppose that unbeknownst to you your neighbor is a terrorist, and you happen to mention his name in the conversation. A government computer picks up the name and learning from your conversation where he lives, arrests him.
Would such an episode bother you? If so, why?
Â…

Annandale, Va.: ...[Y]es, it would bother me.

It greatly bothers me that my communication is searched without authority, no matter who it captures. If the government is on the lookout for someone, they can choose to broadcast that (like the FBI lists at my local post office), and I, as a citizen, can choose whether or not to cooperate in the government's investigation.

In your hypothesis, everyone becomes an agent of the government, whether they approve or not. I am not as learned as you, but from my public school education, it was instilled in me the notion that the government is an agent of the people, not the other way around. If we choose not to help the government in its investigations, we may do so.

Richard Posner: If it would bother you, that is certainly a reason not to permit the kind of data mining that I described. But it is not a conclusive reason--even for you. You have to consider what might be lost by forbidding that kind of data mining. What might be lost might be an opportunity to prevent a repetition of the 9/11 attacks, or indeed something far worse. What weight would you give to such a possibility?

Whether or not you agree Posner would achieve the proper balance, you gotta credit him for recognizing there are two sides.

Also, itÂ’s an interesting read for the way Posner carries himself. As usual when I read the guy, I get the impression of a powerful drill bit, relentlessly boring his way through the hardened, accepted group-think thatÂ’s built up around an issue, slowly making his way to its very center.

Here, heÂ’s debating a crowd constitutionally incapable of using the words public safety without scare quotes and keeps making calm, reasoned insights in the face of near hysteria.

Again, you can disagree with him, but this guy pulls off “public intellectual” better than anyone walking that stage today.

(h/t BetsyÂ’s Page )

Posted by: Dr. Reo Symes at 02:57 PM | Comments (34)
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