Yeah, I know. Old. I hadn't seen it though.

Happy Halloween everybody. I'm really sad I can't be home tonight to deal with a howling goddamn beagle every time the doorbell rings.

I always want to let him loose and lick em to death. But the parents might freak a bit over that.

Posted by: Dave In Texas at 11:18 AM | Comments (7)
Post contains 59 words, total size 1 kb.

Hm. Priorities.

Posted by: Ace at 11:07 AM | Comments (6)
Post contains 16 words, total size 1 kb.

It sort of sounds like he'd support in-state tuition for illegals, too, though he does not say that. But that's where the logic leads, doesn't it?

Okay, I've just about had it with the Huckabee Balloon. Apart from his religion, what precisely makes this man a worthy Republican standard-bearer? I'm not very pleased about crap like this:

I criticized Huckabee, when he was governor of Arkansas, for refusing to sign a bill that described natural disasters like tornadoes and floods as "acts of God." He said signing the legislation would have violated his conscience.

Give me a break.

The liberals love him, because they see him as the agent as the divorce between economic conservatives and social conservatives -- If Kansas finally embraces a neopopulist semi-liberal preacher, they think, they won't have to ask "What's the matter with Kansas anymore?" People will finally be voting according to their economic interests, supposedly.

"We called him a pro-life, pro-gun liberal, when I was in the state legislature and he was governor," said Randy Minton, chairman of the Arkansas chapter of Phyllis Schlafly's national Eagle Forum.

Mr. Minton voices the concerns of many conservatives that while Mr. Huckabee governed as a social conservative in opposing abortion and same-sex "marriage," he was a treacherous liberal on taxes, social welfare spending and illegal immigration.

As a national security conservative and law and order conservative, I'm not thrilled by him either.

I've got to say, I agree with Naomi Watts:

Nice guy. Soft spoken, tells a nice joke. Lost a lot of weight. I know a few people like that. I'm not voting for them to be President either.

More: Byron York on the various raps against Huckabee; Tony Blankley cautions social and economic cons to stop bashing each other's candidates.

Posted by: Ace at 10:45 AM | Comments (24)
Post contains 313 words, total size 3 kb.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 17-4 to refer the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (or LOST) to the Senate floor for ratification.

I've written in opposition to LOST here and here.

I oppose the treaty because it is superfluous; we already have the advantage of its substantive provisions. Moreover, we have those advantages without having to sign on to dubious prospects like a new international tribunal.

The senator from my home state has been leading the opposition to LOST. His latest remarks on it are here. Read it, then call your senator.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 10:19 AM | Comments (14)
Post contains 112 words, total size 1 kb.

Taking a page from the Washington Post, I'll bury this on Page A14.

I don't really have a Page A14, so instead I've inserted the post back in the archives, sticking it where no one will see it, on Sept. 17.

Because I don't know if this is a trend yet, and therefore am obliged, my MSM betters inform me, to downplay important information until I myself can certify it as a bona fide "trend" that should be noted.

Posted by: Ace at 09:48 AM | Comments (13)
Post contains 107 words, total size 1 kb.

Is anything more awesomely awesome than this?

The King of Saudi Arabia visits Buckingham Place and the Queen's military band plays a tune to herald his arrival.

The tune? Darth Vader's Imperial March.

I find the Wahhabist faith disturbing.

Good on ya, mates.

H/T: The Corner.

Posted by: Jack M. at 09:40 AM | Comments (17)
Post contains 54 words, total size 1 kb.

A boy, unnamed for now, has been referred to prosecutors for starting the Agua Dulce fire which destroyed 21 homes and burned 38,000 acres. He says he was playing with matches and the fire was an accident.

So what should happen to him in terms of criminal liability? I'm not familiar enough with juvenile criminal law to know whether he must be tried as a minor (and we may be missing crucial information such as his age). So I'm asking what should be done, rather than what could be done to him.

On the one hand, I'm sympathetic. Accidents happen, although we should draw a line between an accident and negligence. When I was in junior high a friend of mine was striking matches and flicking them still-burning over his shoulder as we walked through an area of dry scrub-grass and cedar trees near our parents' homes. Before you could blink everything was on fire.

This was not accidental, in the sense that we were not doing something legitimate and the fire just got away from us. We were walking from my parents' house to his parents' house and he was simply being "Mr. Cool," flicking burning matches to either side of the path. (And we were complete pyros).

In the case of the Agua Dulce boy, it sounds like they're using the word "accidental" to mean that he didn't intend to set off a wildfire. That shouldn't save him from prosecution, even if he is a child. However, I'd prefer that this one mistake, though costly, didn't follow him into adulthood.

What do you think?

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 09:36 AM | Comments (49)
Post contains 278 words, total size 2 kb.

"Does not have the proper temperament." Judge Pearson had been on a 2-year term as an administrative judge; for continued employment (a 10-year term) he had to be approved by the judicial committee.

A source familiar with the committee's meetings said Pearson's lawsuit played little role in the decision not to reappoint him.

Instead, the committee said it had reviewed Pearson's judicial decisions and audiotapes of proceedings over which he had presided and found he did not demonstrate "appropriate judgment and judicial temperament," according a source who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case.

Who could have guessed that this guy, who sued his drycleaner for $54 million, had problems in judgment?

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:51 AM | Comments (16)
Post contains 130 words, total size 1 kb.

ghengis was surprised to see MSNBC giving this big play with a home-page banner headline. They've corrected their error by now, though. Not on the home page, not on the US News page, just on the business page, because of course this news is only of interest to corporate types and day traders, right?

The economy picked up speed in the summer, growing at a brisk 3.9 percent pace, the fastest in 1½ years and an impressive performance even as a credit crunch plunged the housing market deeper into turmoil.

The latest snapshot of the countryÂ’s economic health, released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, suggested that the economy is demonstrating much resilience and thus far holding up well to the strains in the housing and credit markets, which had intensified during the third quarter and rocked Wall Street.

A second report from the department showed construction spending rose 0.3 percent in September, the best showing in four months. All-time high spending in both commercial construction by private builders and government projects more than offset weakness in home building.

...

The third quarterÂ’s growth rate was up slightly from a 3.8 percent pace logged in the second quarter. It marked the strongest showing since the first quarter of last year.

The increase in gross domestic product exceeded analystsÂ’ forecasts for a 3.1 percent growth rate for third quarter. Gross domestic product is the value of all goods and services produced within the United States and is considered the best barometer of the countryÂ’s economic fitness.

The White House seized the news, scheduling a briefing for reporters with Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Ed Lazear, the chairman of BushÂ’s Council of Economic Advisers. Lazear said he was particularly pleased to see that the growth was balanced across sectors and that a worsening housing slump did not appear to leak into other areas of the economy as feared.

“This is an extremely resilient economy,” [the chair of Bush's Council of Economic Advisors] said. “It is really quite remarkable.”

Back to back quarters of 3.8% and 3.9% GDP growth, after five years of steady growth. Obviously, we're in a recession... if some people "feel" like we are.

Jennifer Connelly Cowbell? I think it's warranted.

That's from Career Opportunities. See what I did there?

Had nothing to do with the sinuous, rhythmic grinding on the horse. Nothing at all.

Posted by: Ace at 08:42 AM | Comments (33)
Post contains 397 words, total size 3 kb.

Ralph Nader is still angry about the election in 2004. One would think that he'd be happy to have actually convinced 400,000 people to chose him for president. That seems like a real accomplishment to me.

Nader, however, is suing the Democratic Party.

Nader's lawsuit, filed in District of Columbia Superior Court, also named as co-defendants Kerry's campaign, the Service Employees International Union and several so-called 527 organizations such as America Coming Together, which were created to promote voter turnout on behalf of the Democratic ticket.

The lawsuit also alleges that the Democratic National Committee conspired to force Nader off the ballot in several states.

Nader's lawyer crows that the DNC should be "terrified" of the suit making it to court, which to me sounds like he and Nader are most interested in a settlement for damages. In other words, Nader is fishing.

The DNC shoots back: "Terrified? What lawsuit?"

DNC spokesman Luis Miranda said the party headquarters was unaware of the suit, but in any case, "We do not comment on pending litigation."

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:35 AM | Comments (14)
Post contains 184 words, total size 1 kb.