Merry Christmas!
— Ace

The real clip, with Linus' explanation of Christmas:

And the whole last third of the special:

A Christmas Blog-Carol... from Neo-Neocon.

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Italian Nuke Expert Scaramella Arrested For... Arms Trafficking And Slander
— Ace

The NYT headlines it, misleadingly, Italy Makes Arrest in SpyÂ’s Poisoning, but damned if I can find a charge, or even a suggestion, he was Litvenenko's poisoner.

NYT link, but worth it, sort of, if you really care about this story. Even parts of the story that don't seem to have any bearing on the story.

n Italian who met with an ex-KGB agent the day the Russian fell fatally ill from radiation poisoning was arrested on Sunday, the man's father said.

The accusations against Mario Scaramella -- international arms trafficking and slander -- were not believed to be directly related to the investigation into the poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko.

Scaramella, who is the first person connected to the poisoning case to be arrested, met Litvinenko at a London sushi bar on Nov. 1, the day the former KGB agent fell ill. Litvinenko died of poisoning from radioactive polonium-210 on Nov. 23.

The Italian's father, Amedeo Scaramella, said his son was arrested in Naples after returning from London. Rome prosecutors have accused him of international arms trafficking and slander, and he was being taken to Rome, according to his father.

Scaramella said he showed Litvinenko e-mails at the Nov. 1 meeting from a confidential source identifying the possible killers of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya and listing other potential targets for assassination -- including himself and Litvinenko.

...

Scaramella has been gathering information for Italian Sen. Paolo Guzzanti -- the former chair of a parliamentary commission that examined cases of past KGB infiltration in Italy. Guzzanti said the Italian accusations against Scaramella appeared unrelated to the poisoning.

Guzzanti said Scaramella told him Saturday that he was likely to be arrested upon his return to Italy.

''I told him to stay there for Christmas, but he said to me, 'no, I have no intention of appearing like a fugitive,' '' Guzzanti said.

Patsy?

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Merry Christmas, Mr. Osmami: US Claims Airstrike Kills Top Taliban Military Commander
— Ace

They're letting practically anyone into Hell these days. There goes the neighborhood.

Posted by: Ace at 02:16 PM | Comments (43)
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Merry Christmas, Mr. Nifong: Duke "Sexual Offense" Lawyer To Seek "Specific Legal Steps" To Sanction Or Remove DA From Case
— Ace

Must-reed round-up from JOM if you're interested in this. Nifong's making noises that he may drop the charges, saying he'll go where the evidence may take him.

Well, there's always a first time.

And the Duke players' lawyers are switching to offense -- an acquittal is virtually in the bag. Now it's time to put Nifong, and his lying whore "victim," on trial.

Question for practicing attorneys: From this point out, it's nothing but bad news for Nifong. Maguire speculates -- probably correctly -- that Nifong would like this case to just sort of go away before a judge can begin ruling on his behavior, such as the improper photo array identification.

So Nifong, if he had his druthers, would like to dismiss the charges -- without prejudice, so that he could conceivably bring the charges again at a later date if, um, the evidence should warrant. This would just be a way to try to coerce the Duke players and their attorneys and families into dropping further action against him -- a way to tell them "let it lie, or else I just may put you on trial."

But I'm not sure if this is possible at so late a date. Does anyone know when a DA is barred from this action? When he's committed to either going to trial or dismissing charges with prejudice?

An interesting question: Is it in the Duke players' interests to have the criminal procedings stop at this point, or to continue? A dismissal of charges, without a formal declaration by the DA that his witness is a lying shakedown whore, is not full vindication. Sure, most will see it that way, but merely not being convicted of rape is hardly getting your reputation back.

How much pain do the Duke players need to inflict on Nifong, not as vengeance (though that will feel awfully good) but simply to fully clear their names?

An Answer... Sort Of. In Iowa, at least, Fierce Scorpion says a DA can do this.

I've been a practicing lawyer for 20 years. At least in Iowa the prosecutor has absolute, no questions asked discretion to decide not to proceed. But Nifong has the political calculation to deal with. He's nothing but a disgusting politician anyway.

I thought there was a point at which double jeopardy considerations attach. Is that actually at the trial? At some point in the trial? Never, at least not until a verdict?

If that's the case I Boldly Predict (as Maguire did) that that's what Nifong will attempt -- trying to coerce the defendants-turned-prosecutors into dropping any further action by offering them a dismissal... with the possibility of resuscitating the charges later.

I truly hope the defendants don't take the deal. Sure, they have their futures to consider. But this is important, and they won't be fully vindicated until Nifong is disbarred.

So: Next question. If the DA attempts to dismiss the charges without prejudice (i.e., preserving the option of bringing them later), can the defendants object to this motion and force an actual trial or dismissal with prejudice?

Posted by: Ace at 02:12 PM | Comments (47)
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Man Sets Himself On Fire To Protest School Board's Decision To Call Spring And Winter Breaks Easter And Christmas Vacations
— Ace

The reality based community strikes again.

Check out Allah's pictures of the guy after the burning. No, they're not grisly. They're surprisingly ungrisly. He looks like he just got a mud bath.

Posted by: Ace at 01:38 PM | Comments (41)
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Ethiopia Attacks
— LauraW.

They used fighter jets to bomb towns in Somalia held by Islamists.

"After too much patience, the Ethiopian government has taken a self-defensive measure and has begun counterattacking the aggressive extremist forces of the (Islamic council) and foreign terrorist groups," said Ethiopia's foreign affairs spokesman, Solomon Abebe.

Yeah. Patience is a really bad way to deal with people who spread their religion by the sword.

The Ethiopian airstrikes were the first against Somalia's Islamic movement. Ethiopia and Somalia have fought two wars over their disputed border in the past 45 years. Islamic court leaders have repeatedly said they want to incorporate ethnic Somalis living in eastern Ethiopia, northeastern Kenya and Djibouti into a Greater Somalia.

Emphasis mine.

Here's a good nugget to come away with; When you give Ethiopians a deadline, they really deliver.

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Man Fights To Keep Bullet In His Head That Links Him To Shooting
— Ace

While police seek to have it removed, to be used as evidence.

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SCA Hobbyist Discriminated Against
— LauraW.

According to the AOSHQ bylaws which declare AOSHQ a Safe Haven for nerds, and which specifically forbid shark-fishing with live nerds, we're supposed to object to this.

Patrick Agin, a high school senior in Portsmouth, R.I., was surprised by his schoolÂ’s refusal this fall to use a yearbook photograph of him dressed in medieval chain mail, with a broadsword over his shoulder.

“I didn’t think it would be that big a deal,” said Mr. Agin, a 17-year-old who attends Portsmouth High School. “I just really like the picture, and it’s one of the first good photos I’ve taken in a long time.”

Good or not, the school said, the picture ran afoul of its zero-tolerance weapons policy.

OK, the administrators are being ninnies.
But ninnies or not, they do have the right to control the content of their publications.
It's too bad. Because this handsome young nerdling deserves to be seen.

I will rock your world.

The ACLU has filed suit on his behalf.

(Because they really have nothing better to do, and municipal governments are glutted with accursed money which for the benefit of all should be drained off to a commie parasite entity the very instant some school official has the temerity to say the word 'no' to a student.)

Thanks to Eddiebear.

AWAKE! FEAR! FIRE! FOES! UPDATE: From Redhand (and similar sentiment from others):

Oh, pleeaze! What conceivable public purpose is upheld by banning this photo? Sorry Laura W., but that's bullshit. The ACLU is right on this one.

The school is under no constraint to uphold a 'public purpose' other than the creation of the yearbook that they have been paid to produce. They get to say what gets published and what does not. I personally disagree with their decision, but I am not paying the cost to be the boss. They are.

The ACLU is still a bunch of commie busybodies, regardless of whether I agree with their case or not.
I believe they are doing more to harm freedom of expression than to help it.

If individual schools can't publish the kind of freakin' yearbook they want without getting bullied with ACLU lawsuits, how far can that go?

And as others have noted (some must still be bitter), yes, the educational system is loaded with total dicks that like to stifle fun. So?

Dicks' rights to control their publications should be protected even when you disagree with them.

Posted by: LauraW. at 05:24 PM | Comments (137)
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Daniel Craig Wants Full-Frontal-Nudity Gay Scene In Next James Bond
— Ace

A bit stale, but I missed this the first time around:

Daniel Craig is urging movie bosses to revolutionise the James Bond franchise by including a gay scene involving the superspy in the follow-up to Casino Royale.

The heart-throb actor has also reportedly told studio chiefs he is prepared to film a full frontal nude scene to please both his male and female admirers.

Idiot.

Thanks to rcl.

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Stupid Truther Tricks
— Ace

This blog reports on a jagoff named "Spook" who builds crappy models of the WTC, kicks them with his foot, and then conclusively, scientifically deduces that airplane impacts couldn't have cause the Towers to fall.

Cause, you know, he precisely calibrated his kick and all.

These genii think that the WTC buildings were brought down with "Star Wars Beam Weapons," and say they can prove it.

They are especially hilarious when they present "proof" of the laser theory by noting that torched cars were found half a mile away on the FDR highway, finding it highly suspicious that these "toasted cars" (as they call them) seem to have been towed to the FDR highway and neatly parked along the shoulder. When people point out the cars were in fact towed from the WTC site and parked there (to allow emergency vehicles to get in), these Mensa Chapter Presidents then say no, that's implausible, it's much more likely they were collateral damage from a space laser.

Truther Moron: "Doesn't appear almost as if these toasted cars were towed and neatly parked on the FDR?"

Normal Person: "Umm, yeah, it does appear that way. Because they were towed and parked on the FDR."

Truther Moron: "No, that's just crazy-talk. They were toasted by a space laser precisely where they are."

Normal Person: "You just said it looked like they'd been towed and parked."

Truther Moron: "Only to the untrained eye."

Normal Person: "No, to any eye."

Truther Moron: "Space laser."

Normal Person: "Tow truck."

Truther Moron: "Space laser."

Normal Person: "Look, what's more technologically plausible? A super-advanced ultra-powerful Death Star space laser, or a fucking $30,000 tow truck?"

Truther Moron: "A space laser. There is no evidence of these 'tow-trucks' you speak so knowingly of."

Collected up from a WuzzaDem slam of these stupid,fucking bugfuck-crazy sub-cretinous maniacal drooling retards.

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