Blame Bush, of course. He relied on the statement of a Democratic governor. Shouldn't he have realized Blanco was incompetent?

Posted by: Ace at 05:36 PM | Comments (64)
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At my old Ace-o-Spades blogspot site.

Posted by: Ace at 12:19 PM | Comments (85)
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Yes, I know. It's the monthly mu.nu comment flu. They're down all around mu.nuville.

I'm sorry. Once again, the infrastructure of this site -- comments, server, etc. -- aren't controlled by me.

Pixy Misa, who runs things here, is usually fairly prompt about fixing problems. But then again, he's on Australian time... so sometimes it does take a while, if it occurs during his late-night hours.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

If anyone has any suggestions as to how to get around this, let me know. I might just start an open-comments thread on my old Blogspot site, so at least you can comment on stuff going on.

Posted by: Ace at 11:40 AM | Comments (9)
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I think I'm using the word right. You're an assassin whether you succeed in killing your target or not.

Semantics aside... WOW:

An Italian parliamentary commission concluded "beyond any reasonable doubt" that the Soviet Union was behind the 1981 attempt to kill Pope John Paul II _ a theory long alleged but never proved, according to a draft report made available Thursday.

The commission held that the pope was a danger to the Soviet bloc because of his support for the Solidarity labor movement in his native Poland. Solidarity was the first free trade union in communist eastern Europe.

"This commission believes, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the leaders of the Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate the pope Karol Wojtyla," said a draft of the commission's report obtained by The Associated Press. Wojtyla was John Paul's Polish name.

The draft has no bearing on any judicial investigations, which have long been closed. If the commission approves the report in its final form, that would mark the first time an official body had blamed the Soviet Union for shooting John Paul.

The Italian report said Soviet military intelligence _ and not the KGB _ was responsible. In Russia, Foreign Intelligence Service spokesman Boris Labusov called the accusation "absurd."

How naive and childish Reagan was to call the Soviet Union an "Empire of Evil."

Posted by: Ace at 11:37 AM | Comments (10)
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Mild bias. Not overwhelming, but notice how "understanding" the reporter is of Ginsberg's nap-time:

The subject matter was extremely technical, and near the end of the argument Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dozed in her chair. Justices David Souter and Samuel Alito, who flank the 72-year-old, looked at her but did not give her a nudge.

Awwww... she's a girl. Abstract technical and mathematical concepts just aren't her thing. And her fellow male jurists didn't even nudge her, so they obviously understood that "Math is hard."

It's not serious bias. But it is mild bias-- attempting to suggest it's understandable for a Justice to doze during oral arguments. I really do not think that AP would be quite so understanding if Clarence Thomas dozed off during, say, a boring equality argument in a gay marriage case.

Thanks to Bill, second-hand, via Chris.

By the way, the rest of the article is good. It's about the Texas redistricting suit.

The court has struggled in the past to define how much politics is acceptable when states draw new boundaries to reflect population shifts.

"The only reason it was considered, let alone passed, was to help one political party get more seats than another," the justices were told by Paul M. Smith, a Washington lawyer who represents several groups challenging the plan.

"That's a surprise," Justice Antonin Scalia joked. "Legislatures redraw the map all the time for political reasons."

Chief Justice John Roberts also aggressively challenged critics of the boundaries to explain what was wrong with Republican lawmakers drawing districts that benefit Republicans.

Nina Perales, representing a Hispanic civil rights group, said that "race was used gratuitously and cynically" by Republicans, who split up Hispanic neighborhoods to dilute their voting strength.

Kennedy said the result was an odd-looking map that mixed voters of very different backgrounds.

Two years ago, justices split 5-4, in leaving a narrow opening for challenges claiming party politics overly influenced election maps. Kennedy was the key swing voter in that case.

Six Hispanics and three blacks represent Texas in the House of Representatives — an increase of one more black congressman from before the 2003 map was put in place.

Questions:

What is wrong with an odd-looking map? Odd-looking maps have long been the result of (perfectly legal) gerrymandering-- especially since the Supreme Court gave its blessing to creating "majority-minority" districts in order to increase minority representation in the House of Representatives.

This new map created MORE minority Represenatives than the old map.

Is the argument you can create more minority districts so long as the Democrats are given a gerrymander advantage, but that it's unconsitutional to do so if increasing minority districts has the effect of giving the Republicans a gerrymander advantage?

Does the Constitution give a privileged position to the Democratic Party, I wonder?

I also find Justice Kennedy's comment strange.

Kennedy said the result was an odd-looking map that mixed voters of very different backgrounds.

And? Is it not good to have a district containing a wide representation of races and social classes? Or are we determined that every district will be as uniform and nondiverse as possible?

The whole problem is that Democrats pushed for a long time for minority-majority districts. They wanted more such districts, imagining those would help them. And for a time, Republicans resisted this, believing, as the Democrats did, that such districts would hurt Republicans.

But that's not how it's turned out. Putting as many minorities in one district as possible -- guaranteeing, almost, a minority Representative -- does increase minority representation. But it also decreases Democratic representation, as those reliable Democratic voters are all bunched up into a few districts, taking them out of other districts, leaving them very white, and usually quite Republican-leaning.

So both parties have somewhat reversed their previous positions on this issue. Democrats still pretend they're in favor of such districts -- they pay lip service to the practice -- but in actuality they want to undo the system because it hurts them overall. And Republicans, meanwhile, are grinning like maniacs because the practice has backfired on Democrats.

But the inconsistency here is not quite equal-- because a neutral arbiter, the Supreme Court, has blessed the practice.

Posted by: Ace at 11:28 AM | Comments (20)
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The story.

The audio. Must listen. It's not just his unhinged leftist cant, it's his fire and brimstone street-preacher tone. He's yelling at his students.

On Bush's State of the Union: "It's a lot like what Adolf Hitler used to say... I'm not saying they're exactly alike. Obviously they're not. But there are alot of similarities in the tones."

It's pretty damn good.

When I think back on all the crap I've learned in high school
It's a wonder I can think at all
Though my lack of education hasn't hurt me much
I can read the writings on the walls

-- From Paul Simon's Kodachrome. One of the few songs of his I can tolerate.

Just don't want to get the rep of a Simon & Garfunkel fan. It's one thing if half of you think I'm gay. It's quite another for anyone to think I dig on The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)>

Thanks to Dave in Texas.

Posted by: Ace at 11:08 AM | Comments (51)
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Drip, drip, drip, as Ogre Gunner writes:

It has been confirmed across the board that 18-wheelers were seen going into Syria before the war, crossing the border soon after Iraqi intelligence replaced the border guards and cleared nearby areas for their passage. There are also eyewitness reports of the trucks going into Syria, and eyewitness reports of their burial in Lebanon.

The trucks with the weapons were tracked to three locations in Syria and Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, currently controlled by the Syrians, Iranians and Hezbollah. Sources I've spoken with that have seen satellite photos of the movements confirm that the WMD in Syria are at military bases, while the ones in Lebanon are buried. A fourth site in Syria, the al-Safir WMD and missile site, should also be looked at. From spring to summer 2002, there was a lot of construction here involving the expansion of underground complexes.

...

My immediate suspicions that the Russians were involved in cleansing operations began back in early 2003, after I learned about how two Soviet generals had arrived in Iraq and been awarded with medals. Igor Maltsev, known as a leading expert in air-defense, and Vladislav Achalov, an expert in rapid-reaction forces, were accompanied by Yevgeny Primakov, a long-time friend of Saddam Hussein from his days as the head of the Soviet foreign intelligence service and later, prime minister. This occurred as I simultaneously received the first reports of WMD going to Syria, leading me to speculate on such a connection. I became convinced when Ion Mihai Pacepa, the former chief of Communist Romania’s intelligence service, and highest ranking Communist intelligence officer to ever defect, wrote about a plan the Soviet Union had entitled “Sarindar,” or “Operation Emergency Exit.”

...

At the Intelligence Summit, Shaw revealed even more detail I was unaware of. Shaw discussed how two Russian ships left the Umm Qasr port in the months before the war and went to the Indian Ocean, carrying materials that he believes included WMD from southern Iraq. He also said his contacts told him of barrels containing hazardous materials being moved to a hospital basement in Beirut, Lebanon.

It's a fairly long interview, and every paragraph contains tangible evidence of a WMD exodus.

Posted by: Ace at 10:47 AM | Comments (9)
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Wow. Talk about a competitive dad:

PARIS -- Just how far parents might go to help children reach the sporting elite has become shockingly evident in France with the arrest of a man on suspicion he spiked the drinks of his 16-year-old son's tennis rivals with a prescription drug.

One player died in a car wreck after apparently falling asleep while driving, and another was hospitalized for two days, investigators say. Police are trying to determine whether there were other victims.

Christophe Fauviau, 43, a retired soldier from Tercis-les-Bains in southwestern France, was arrested Saturday and placed under judicial investigation to determine whether he should be formally charged with unintentionally causing a death by administering toxic substances.

He is suspected of giving the anti-anxiety drug Temesta, which can cause drowsiness, to several opponents of his son, Maxime.

...

Suspicions about Christophe Fauviau arose at a tennis tournament June 28 when a player reported seeing Fauviau tamper with the player's water bottle just before his semifinal match with Maxime, police say. The player turned the bottle over to police, who say it tested positive for Temesta.

The next day, Maxime defeated another player in the tournament's final match. That player fell ill shortly after the match and required a two-day hospital stay, Capt. Christian Flagella, a police investigator in the town of Dax, said Thursday.

In another tournament July 3, Maxime defeated 25-year-old Alexandre Lagardere, a school teacher. Lagardere complained of fatigue after the match and took a nap at a friend's house near the stadium. He slept for two hours, then was driving home when he crashed his car and died.

Police believe Lagardere fell asleep at the wheel. Toxicology tests showed traces of Temesta in his system, which investigators suspect was administered by Fauviau.

After reading this, I have only one question:

Dad, why didn't you love me this much?

Posted by: Ace at 09:50 AM | Comments (7)
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Video here. I link, you decide.

Later in the day he angrily questioned WH spokesman Scott McClellan, asking "You think you're better than me, you shhon of a bitch?" and "Anssher the question, or do a shhhot with me." After this initial unpleasantness, he attempted to hug McClellan, telling him "I love you man. No, I don't think you undershhtand. I really love you man. Let'ssh have some Jager and drink to that."

Posted by: Ace at 09:42 AM | Comments (7)
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Not sure what to think of this:

A teen who pinched and twisted another boy's nipple while standing in line at a deli has been sentenced to four days in juvenile detention because he refused to write a letter that explained his actions.

The 16-year-old, was convicted of offensive physical touching in July 2005, after the victim's parents complained to Gold Hill police. The Crater High School student paid a $67 fine and served three days of community service.

"I emptied trash cans, mowed lawns and shoveled gravel," the teen said.

But the teen's refusal to comply with the final piece of his sentence will cost him four days in detention. He was required to write the letter during four classes put on by Mediation Works, which operates the victim-offender program for Jackson County Community Justice.

...

The offender is required to describe the act in detail, explain "thinking errors," "express empathy" and describe any resultant life changes.

..

The teen said he presented a rough draft of his letter in the third session. He said he balked when told he must also describe his "criminal thought processes."

He said that would imply malicious or criminal intent, and "none of that applied to my feelings or actions."

The teen said he had no criminal intent because he considered the victim to be a friend at the time of the incident — which he deemed horseplay. Including the language sought by Mediation Works, he said, would turn his prior court statements into lies.

"It was a matter of conscience," the teen said. "I figure the worst is already over."

Odd. I'm not sure if the kid is on the level -- if the other kid really was a friend, how did it all get this far? -- but I guess it's good he's sticking by his guns.

I guess one could call the attempt at forced contrition Orwellian, but then, expressing remorse is almost always part of the deal in getting a reduced sentence. If you're not remorseful, or won't admit the wrongness of the deed, you have to serve the full sentence.

It's just strange that all this is unfolding because of a purple nerple. I hated them myself, and really didn't understand the whole weird thing of another dude wanting to grab my nipple and twist, but it is, alas, part of what young boys do.

Thanks to RLW.

Posted by: Ace at 09:40 AM | Comments (34)
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