Gabriel lost control of his vehicle in the rain and crashed. He suffered cuts to the face and bruising all over his chest and a partial severing of the ear, but the latter has been sutured back into place. He's a bit worried about scarring.

He wrote to warn me his posting would be light. All that and he's worried about letting me know he won't be able to blog.

I just thought I'd let you guys know about this; maybe send him some well-wishes.

He says at some point he may do a PSA about driving at normal highway speeds (that is, too fast) in the rain.

Heal quickly, Gabriel. Not just for yourself. For the truth.

UPDATE [Gabe]: That's right, morons! Dedication. Attention. Obsession.

Really, I'm fine. I'm sore, I'm pretty grouchy about losing my car, but I'm very thankful that no one else was hurt.

Lots of cuts to my head, face, and neck. My right ear had to be partially reattached. Probably a concussion, but I wouldn't let them do a CT scan and my head feels fine now. Broken rib and more aches and bruises than I can count. Lost control in the rain at about 55 miles an hour (to the disappointment of the CHP officer, no alcohol was involved). It's a miracle that my Explorer didn't roll (although the airbag did NOT deploy, hmmm) and I didn't hit anyone else when I crossed the lanes.

I'll be blogging and commenting as the mood strikes me, like it did this morning. On the one hand, I'm still groggy and so sore. On the other hand, I can't sleep much and so have plenty of time for internet.

Thanks for the well-wishes. I'm not goin' anywhere.

Posted by: Ace at 07:59 PM | Comments (139)
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Thanks to tmi3rd.

Posted by: Ace at 07:28 PM | Comments (17)
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It doesn't sound like there'll be anything especially notable about Bush's swan song. Read between the bias:

President George W. Bush will try to reassure nervous Americans on Monday he is doing everything possible to keep the economy from sliding into recession, as he struggles to stay relevant in the twilight of his term.

With the stumbling U.S. economy supplanting the unpopular Iraq war as the public's top concern, Bush, in his final State of the Union address, will acknowledge the United States is "undergoing a period of economic uncertainty" but will sound an optimistic note.

"In the long run, Americans can be confident about our economic growth," Bush will say, according to excerpts of his speech released by the White House.

Bush will tout security gains in Iraq he credits to a troop buildup he ordered last January and will renew his call for Iran to stop enriching uranium and to "come clean" about its nuclear intentions.

"Our message to the leaders of Iran is also clear: verifiably suspend your nuclear enrichment, so negotiations can begin," Bush will say.

Politically weakened by the war in Iraq and eclipsed by the race to choose his successor, Bush will be more intent on recycling some of his old ideas than offering any bold new proposals.

In his annual speech to the U.S. Congress, broadcast live at 9 p.m. EST (0200 GMT) he has the chance to set the tone for his waning months in the White House and try to salvage his frayed legacy.

Hopefully there'll be a lot of red meat about the progress in Iraq -- and the Democrats who tried to stop that from occurring. But I doubt we'll get the latter, and, as usual, not enough of the former.

PS, the Terminator pilot is being re-aired at 8 on the East Coast (later, I guess, in other time zones) on Fox. I hear it's okay but pretty much don't believe that.

Posted by: Ace at 04:18 PM | Comments (211)
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But McCain leads by a bigger margin with moderates, who are fortunately fewer in number.

Posted by: Ace at 03:53 PM | Comments (15)
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Damn. That's the one that always breaks the bank.

Thanks to RobG.

Posted by: Ace at 02:40 PM | Comments (14)
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I predict, boredom.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Cable television upstart Current Media Inc. plans to go public later this year, giving investors a chance to assess the entrepreneurial skills of its co-founder, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

In documents filed Monday, the San Francisco-based owner of the Current TV cable channel set a preliminary fundraising target of $100 million for the initial public offering of stock. The final amount will probably change after Current Media's investment bankers gauge the demand for shares in the company.

I'll bet it will.

The business plan seems to be an Air America trainwreck with a smaller burn rate. To date they've lost $31.9MM, over 17MM of that last year.

Only 16% of their revenue is based on advertising though, the rest from cable and satellite fees.

You can get in on the ground floor with this one baby.

Posted by: Dave In Texas at 02:20 PM | Comments (23)
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He doesn't seem to be hedging anymore with calling Florida merely an "important" win. He's just said that anyone who loses Florida has no real reason to soldier on to Mega Tuesday.

Jeeze.

Powerline notes the end of the Giuliani campaign, with some sadness. Which I share: The best choice the Republicans could face would be a Romney-Giuliani showdown; it's not quite win-win, but whoever won would be a good candidate.

As it stands, it's going to be McCain versus Romney, with McCain favored, and almost overwhelmingly so if he manages a Florida upset.

More Rumblings: This is hard to believe. The rumblings of a drop-out are reported by the Washington Post.

Why on earth would the team ponder this -- and, worse yet, ponder it within hearsay distance of reporters -- right before a make-or-break primary?

Not enough fire in the belly, as some disappointed Fred supporters have snarked.

Posted by: Ace at 02:18 PM | Comments (20)
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See, because Islam = Peace, ergo any violence is anti-Islamic.

Usually we've called targeted violence against the actual victims of the crime -- anti-gay, anti-Christian, anti-Jew, anti-black -- but now we'll apparently be terming it according to the ideological victim (supposedly) of mass murder.

Mark Steyn:

My favorite headline of the year so far comes from The Daily Mail in Britain: "Government Renames Islamic Terrorism As 'Anti-Islamic Activity' To Woo Muslims."

Her Majesty's Government is not alone in feeling it's not always helpful to link Islam and the, ah, various unpleasantnesses with suicide bombers and whatnot. Even in his cowboy Crusader heyday, President Bush liked to cool down the crowd with a lot of religion-of-peace stuff. But the British have now decided that kind of mealy-mouthed "respect" is no longer sufficient. So, henceforth, any terrorism perpetrated by persons of an Islamic persuasion will be designated "anti-Islamic activity." Britain's Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, unveiled the new brand name in a speech a few days ago. "There is nothing Islamic about the wish to terrorize, nothing Islamic about plotting murder, pain and grief," she told her audience. "Indeed, if anything, these actions are anti-Islamic."

Well, yes, one sort of sees what she means. Killing thousands of people in Manhattan skyscrapers in the name of Islam does, among a certain narrow-minded type of person, give Islam a bad name, and thus could be said to be "anti-Islamic" — in the same way that the Luftwaffe raining down death and destruction on Londoners during the Blitz was an "anti-German activity." But I don't recall even Neville Chamberlain explaining, as if to a five-year old, that there is nothing German about the wish to terrorize and invade, and that this is entirely at odds with the core German values of sitting around eating huge sausages in beer gardens while wearing lederhosen.

Still, it should add a certain surreal quality to BBC news bulletins: "The Prime Minister today condemned the latest anti-Islamic activity as he picked through the rubble of Downing Street looking for his 2008 Wahhabi Community Outreach Award. In a related incident, the anti-Islamic activists who blew up Buckingham Palace have unfortunately caused the postponement of the Queen's annual Ramadan banquet."

This isn't exactly new. We hear a lot about anti-black and anti-gay crimes, but when whites are the specifically targeted victims of crimes, the crime is termed merely "senseless," to the extent it's noticed at all.

Thanks to CJ.

In related news, by the way, McCain's anti-Romney smears have been renamed "anti-McCain smears," as they undermine the Straight Talk we've all come to know and love.

Posted by: Ace at 02:08 PM | Comments (15)
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See update.

Whew! At least a Kennedy is only accused of a psychological rape this time.

In related news, Mary Jo Kopechne died of psychological vehicular manslaughter.

Posted by: Ace at 01:54 PM | Comments (38)
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He'll sign an executive order instructing agencies to disregard future earmarks.

Future.

Posted by: Ace at 01:47 PM | Comments (2)
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