I can't say it's wrong to suspect jihadist terrorists when a terroristic-seeming outrage occurs, but it's important to point out when those suspicions turn out to have been baseless.

An upstair neighbor of the butchered family -- named MacDonald -- and an accused accomplice -- named Sanchez -- have been arrested for the murders and are being held on $10 million bail.

The motive was robbery, not religious or political fanaticism.

Or Maybe It's Not So Cut-and-Dried After All Update: Teri tips to this post at Jihadwatch.org, noting:

While incarcerated in the federal system, he reportedly associated with a group of inmates who were actively involved in Islamic counseling - receiving radical fundamentalist Islamic literature during his incarceration. The prison source told Northeast Intelligence Network director Douglas Hagmann that there is indeed a religious component to the murders, although McDonald is not alone. Investigators from this agency are continuing the investigation to determine the veracity of those claims.

I'm troubled by the very sketchy sourcing here-- "reportedly"? Reported by whom? A "prison source"?

Still, many readers seem unconvinced, so I thought I would post this.

I tend to think the cops usually get these things right. And I don't believe that a detective would roll over to hide the true motive (or, worse yet, the actual culprits).

Even if there were some political pressure to have this "go away quietly," I think most detectives would want to actually solve the crime. And I think any detective would also know that this is a career-making sort of case, were there a terrorist connection.

We're talking book deal. National publicity tour. Money, and real money, not the phatasmal blog-money sort. The possibility of a later run for elective office.

Look at what Vincent Bulgosi got out of the Manson case.

I accept that there is some possibility that there is more going on here than a simple theft of an ATM card. But, until I see some stronger evidence of that, I'm going to assume, provisionally, that the cops are right and that this is a robbery/murder.

Posted by: Ace at 02:46 PM | Comments (18)
Post contains 369 words, total size 2 kb.

The interview with Insight Magazine's Paul Rodriguez (no, not that one) can be found at the top of their home page.

He's discussing the potential coming FEC crackdown on bloggers. He asks, why does the Washington Post on-line site get an exemption, but bloggers don't? And if the purpose of this law is to limit the ability of large corporations to influence elections, how does it make sense to give the enormous NYT or WP exemptions while slamming down on individual "pajama-wearing" bloggers?

PS: The link appears to be a rebroadcast, but you will probably join it in progress. It seems to just keep streaming over and over; so, if you just listen long enough, you'll get to the beginning again. It's about twenty minutes long or so.

Kinda Scary: Smith points out this problem: How does one evaluate the value of an in-kind contribution? And does one value it as to how much it costs to provide, or according to the benefit that accrues to the "donee"?

He illustrates that linking to a web-site or starting out a mass-emailing campaign might cost a blogger no more than two or three bucks for server space, but that it might be the case that that link is valued according to how much it is worth to the campaign, and he tosses out the figure "twenty or thirty thousand dollars."

Which would be a major violation. Which would subject you to major litigation and investiagation and headache and hassle and possibly big ass fines.

Now, that figure sounds pretty high, given my own paltry charges for ad-space. Still, you never know when you're going to get linked by a bunch of big bloggers, and suddenly a little post is getting read by 25,000 people (as happened to me during Rathergate... ah, memories).

So we might have a situation where getting linked by Instapundit or Powerline or LGF winds up landing you in a world of shit.

And, even worse.... lately I've gotten some hits off some very left-wing blogs, for the Jeff Gannon interview (which matter, of course, they're all still in a very big tizzy about).

Imagine getting in trouble because the Daily Kos links to your link to the RNC website, and a sudden influx of 100,000 readers means you just "contributed" over fifteen grand -- "illegally" -- to a political party.

Won't. That. Be Fun.

How to Avoid All This: Says we need Congressmen to stand up and say they didn't intend the law to be interpreted this way. And perhaps the law needs to be rewritten.

Eventually the FEC (at www.fec.gov) will put up a draft notice for proposed rule-making for comment. Those who care should offer their opposition to restrictive rules. But Smith comments that emails that just say "Keep your bleepin'-bleepin' hands off my Internet" will not be looked at and won't be helpful.

And Another Interview: This time on the Cam Edwards show; has the first half of the transcript, and promises the second half's soon.

Whoops! Disclosure Needed: Yeahp, TalkRight is one of my advertisers, as I've mentioned before. And, disclosing further, I met some of these folks down at CPAC, and we had fun talking.

And, disclosing still further, yeahp, one of these nice folks tipped me to the interview.

That said: I posted on the subject before there was any TalkRight involvement. It's interesting to me, and I'm genuinely annoyed by the whole deal. And the interview itself is interesting. So, TalkRight advertising or no TalkRight advertising, I would have linked the interview.

Or at least I think I would have. A man really loses control of himself when the prospect of crazy blog-money is dangled in front of him.

Then again, a man loses control of himself when a meatball parm sandwich is dangled in front of him, too.

Jeff Goldstein has more, and it was his post that reminded me: "Oh yeah. Disclosure. What a drag."

And I guess I should also disclose... Sarah? The original Dusty model?

My sister. Damn it all.

You have no idea of how much psychotherapy I've needed to deal with that.

Posted by: Ace at 01:44 PM | Comments (9)
Post contains 701 words, total size 4 kb.

I think all of the quotes have been identified (except one or two), so, in case you want a convenient list of answers, see below. more...

Posted by: Ace at 01:00 PM | Comments (11)
Post contains 1017 words, total size 6 kb.

Apparently he got the notion to crusade against cable television when he was offended by a cartoon playing on that little-known pay-for-play "cable channel" known as NBC.

The cynic in me says he's playing dumb now in order to claim he didn't actually mean, you know, cable.

Maybe he's just preparing a shift to feigned-ignorance defense of, "Of course I meant broadcast TV; I just said cable because I get my broadcast TV over cable, and I became confused."

Sort of like Unfrozen Cave-Man Lawyer. "I don't know whether the talking spirits in my magic viewing box come there by flying through the air or crawling through a cable; I'm just a simple Unfrozen Cave-Man Senator. But I do know this: we have got to crack down on obscenity on the public airwaves, lest the very foundations of our civilization sink into the swamp of licentiousness and all manners of depravity and wickedness."

Update/Retraction: See-Dubya wants me to admit that this was Ted Stevens' notion, and that it was unfair and pre-mature to blame this, as I previously did, on the religious right.

I suppose that's right. I guess the religious right gets blamed for enough without me making assumptions.

The previous post, I guess, should just be read as a general admonition of caution to those inclined along Ted Stevens' way of thinking.

This is not the time for this sort of thing. In fact, I don't think it will ever be the time for it.

Posted by: Ace at 11:54 AM | Comments (9)
Post contains 271 words, total size 2 kb.

By the way, I've seen nothing in the major papers, and only a few mentions on cable, of Robert Byrd appearing to liken GOP tactics to Hitler, which he now denies, even though Jewish groups have demanded an apology ("Hideous" and "outrageous," says the ADL.) Why is the press giving Byrd a pass? -- Howie Kurtz

I'm not a blog triumphalist, and I frankly laugh when liberals talk about all the scary-huge power of the "conservative media" -- you know, talk radio, the New York Post, FoxNews. All second or third preferences, as far as media outlets.

Still, the alternative media does occasionally force the legacy media to at least mention, if only in passing, stories they'd be otherwise inclined to embargo completely.

They know they're being watched. Well, they always knew they were being watched; now they're also being talked back to.

That's something. Not much, but it's something.

This post thanks to what is most likely illegal, in-kind "campaign coordination" with KKKarl Rove plant Instapundit.

Update: Ankle-Biting Pundits have more on this miscreant, including a nice photoshop of this senile old bastard in full Kleagle regalia.

And Joe Scarborough rounds up this Klansman's history in a video capture. Mostly stuff you know, but it's good to be reminded, and it's good to know it's actually being broadcast on television.

If you count MSNBC as television.

I sort of think of it as a fairly costly puppet-theater.

Posted by: Ace at 11:25 AM | Comments (4)
Post contains 266 words, total size 2 kb.

Just wanted everyone to know that, gee willickers, a couple of connected partisans sent me an article I find interesting and that I think you'd enjoy too, but, alas, I'm not allowed to "coordinate" with anyone so I guess I just won't post it.

The McCain-Feingold Act

Because the Constitution really doesn't say much about freedom of political speech, anyhow.

This bitter joke brought to you courtesy of The Unabrewer.

Posted by: Ace at 10:33 AM | Comments (4)
Post contains 86 words, total size 1 kb.

Productivity's all the way up from an initial estimate of a paltry 0.8% to a sweet 2.1%.

Meanwhile, employment's up big too:

U.S. payrolls grew strongly in February

Employers added 262,000 jobs, more than expected

The Associated Press

America’s employers added a sizable 262,000 jobs in February — the most in four months. The new hiring, however, wasn’t sufficiently brisk to accommodate a wave of job seekers, and the overall unemployment rate rose to 5.4 percent.

This sort of double-whammy in revision and employment report can only mean the boys at the Labor Department got visits from both Vinny Falcone and Bruce Dickinson-- yes, the Bruce Dickinson.

Thanks to Phil for the productivity tip. Thanks to Slublog for the employment news.

Posted by: Ace at 10:10 AM | Comments (8)
Post contains 139 words, total size 1 kb.

My Pet Jawa has been predicting she'd be released unharmed for quite a while.

He speculates as to the reasons why. He doesn't "question the timing" so much as he questions the motives here.

Posted by: Ace at 10:01 AM | Comments (4)
Post contains 42 words, total size 1 kb.

An IED didn't kill an American EOD specialist because... well, click on the link and check out the picture.

Thanks to NickS.

Posted by: Ace at 09:49 AM | Comments (3)
Post contains 36 words, total size 1 kb.

No funniness here, it's just weird and horrible:

A couple's plans for a birthday party for their former pet chimpanzee turned tragic when two other chimps at an animal sanctuary escaped from their cage and attacked. The man was critically injured with massive wounds to his face, body and limbs, and the attacking animals were shot dead.

Not St. James and LaDonna Davis were at the Animal Haven Ranch in Caliente to celebrate the birthday of Moe, a 39-year-old chimpanzee who was taken from their suburban Los Angeles home in 1999 after biting off part of a woman's finger.

Moe was not involved in Thursday's attack, said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game.

I would't rule him out so quickly. Follow the money.

...

St. James Davis had severe facial injuries and would require extensive surgery in an attempt to reattach his nose, Dr. Maureen Martin of Kern Medical Center told KGET-TV of Bakersfield. His testicles and a foot also were severed, Kern County Sheriff's Cmdr. Hal Chealander told The Bakersfield Californian.

Davis was transported to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where he was undergoing surgery late Thursday, Martarano said.

Buddy, a 16-year-old male chimp, initiated the attack and after he was shot, Ollie, a 13-year-old male, grabbed the gravely injured man and dragged him down the road, authorities said.

"Everybody was trying to get the chimp off," Chealander said.

Thanks to Hondo.

Posted by: Ace at 09:15 AM | Comments (12)
Post contains 249 words, total size 2 kb.