On the one hand, I am supposed to hate Scandis (and God knows I do) but on the on the other hand, I have to admire politicians that get too drunk to actually get any work done.

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - A teetotal group of Swedish lawmakers said Wednesday alcohol-free drinks should be served at official parliamentary functions because alcohol prevents some MPs from fulfilling their duties.

"We want (official functions in parliament) to be alcohol-free by default," Egon Frid, a member of the opposition Left Party and the head of a group of 14 teetotal MPs, told AFP.

He said those who wanted an alcoholic drink could have one, but they should have to ask.
According to Egon, alcoholic beverages are so readily available at work functions that some of his colleagues have a hard time "abstaining".

Clearly the bad guys are the whiners who want to get rid of the booze but what about the drunk parliamentarians? Is it possible thereÂ’s such a thing as a good Scandi?

Posted by: DrewM at 10:06 AM | Comments (27)
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Well, there you have it -- top spot or nothing.

...Well, you know, I think itÂ’s premature. You wonÂ’t see me as a vice presidential candidate -- you know, IÂ’m running for president...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 06:56 AM | Comments (38)
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I had thought Rezko merely sold Obama a strip of an adjoining lot at a cheap price.

Not at all. Rezko bought the entirety of the adjoining lot to allow Obama to have it free -- or, let us say, not free but no money changed hands -- and Obama simply bought a piece of it to disguise the sham nature of the deal. As MyDD points out (four words I have never written in succession before), it's clear from the pictures that the whole of "Rezko's adjacent lot" was indeed simply given to Obama, in all but title, and meant for Barack and Michelle's use.

That lot's worth over $600,000. Given to Obama -- everything except the legal title at least -- for nothing.

Or, again: for no cash, anyway.

Check it out, and watch the Lisa Myers piece on it.

Thankd to David.

Posted by: Ace at 08:24 PM | Comments (64)
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I used to bring a can of soda or a Snickers bar into the last few college exams because I knew that a little sugar hit would help me through when I was already running on no sleep.

Teachers, be aware. A new flush of exam cheaters have exploited this niche.

I'm really kind of pissed off because that little sugar hit was so helpful for getting through the whole thing honestly.

And now it's rooned. The bad guys ruin every little thing. Like hobo-hunting, or finding a rat head in your food, for real.

Posted by: LauraW at 05:35 PM | Comments (43)
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Supposedly these are teh gheyest songs of all time.

A lot of worthies on the list, but they missed teh absolute gheyest.

You know what that is, don't you?

Strong Content Warning for, um, "What-What in the Butt." more...

Posted by: Ace at 05:28 PM | Comments (49)
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Hobo. Hunting. Robot.

Or at least a Hobo Hassling Robot. Close enough. We're halfway down the slippery slope.

God, it looks just like a Dalek version of me. Shaved down.

Well, I guess that's just about time for me to check out. The world has passed me by.

When they cut me down from the garage, don't let anyone claim it was auto-erotic asphyxia. I'm taking care of that before. I'm not weird.

Thanks to Ill Tempered Cur.

Posted by: Ace at 03:39 PM | Comments (62)
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Oh, now you care about global poverty, huh?

Posted by: Ace at 01:46 PM | Comments (57)
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A TSA Security Checkpoint Playset!

A commenter on Amazon complains that the shoes do not come off.

I know I always dreamed of being an airport security screener as a kid... hassling people who plainly are not terrorists in the interests of "equality," manhandling laptop computers, spending a suspiciously long time patting down a dude's joint... Ah, to relive those dreams with an action playset.

Thanks to Conservative Belle.

And What Every Adult Needs: A hundred fucking thousand dollar shower, with eighteen big bastard shower heads and the ability to water-blast six layers of skin right off your body.

It's an absolute must if you're either a clean-freak or a circus bear. Or both, for that matter.

Jen.

Posted by: Ace at 12:05 PM | Comments (45)
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I am frantically gathering my stuff to dash off to the airport. I will be in the D.C. area (Falls Church, actually) for the next week. Any D.C. and NoVa-area morons who want to get together for a beer should email me at "gabriel.malor@ that gmail place", we'll see what we can work out.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 12:04 PM | Comments (8)
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Who does this benefit?

John McCain.

Hillary's ad has focused attention on the question, and most Americans say they want John McCain answering that phone call.

Looks like this one backfired on Hillary in the long run. Pundits gave credit for her win in Texas to the “3 AM” ad, but its beneficial effects for Hillary have been short-lived. She only has a nine-point advantage among Democrats on the phone-call-in-the-middle-of-the-night question, but she has put both herself and Barack Obama at a serious disadvantage with regards to John McCain. The question appears to have awakened the electorate to the fact that Presidents do more than talk about hope, change, and handshaking.

The crosstabs are absolutely hilarious. John McCain beats both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama among women, but he creams them among men — 51% for McCain, 19% for Hillary, and 21% for Obama. He wins in every age category except 18-29 year olds, and tops both in unaffiliated voters and self-described moderates, which both Democrats need. It’s as if Hillary decided to start campaigning for John McCain.

And I realize this is a bit of a double-edged blade for us conservatives, but McCain is beating the Obamessiah in attracting cross-over votes from the other party.

And yet the media just keeps talking up "Obama Republicans." Doesn't matter what the actual facts or metrics are; they want what they want, and they're not going to talk about downer stuff like this:

[C]ontrary to conventional wisdom, numbers emerging from polls and primary results show that Sen. John McCain — who has alienated conservatives as he courts independents and moderate Democrats — holds an advantage over Sen. Barack Obama in the race for crossover votes.

There are now more McCainocrats than Obamacans — about 14 percent of Democrats say they would vote for Mr. McCain today instead of Mr. Obama, but just 8 percent of Republicans say they would vote for the Illinois Democrat, according to a Pew Research Center survey on Feb. 28.

Additionally, 20 percent of white Democratic voters say they would defect to Mr. McCain if Mr. Obama is the Democratic Party's nominee — twice the number who would cross over if Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wins the nomination, Pew found.

"McCain poses a clear and present danger to Obama in that he draws Democrat base support in historic numbers," said Republican strategist Scott Reed.

While Mrs. Clinton would draw far fewer Republican crossover voters and is making little effort to do so, Mr. Obama — who leads in the delegate race for the nomination — is making no bones about courting members of the other party. He tells a story at nearly every campaign event about Republicans quietly supporting him, which always draws guffaws from his partisan crowd.

"They whisper to me. They say, 'Barack, I'm a Republican, but I support you,' " he said in an exaggerated stage whisper last month after winning primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District.

"And I say, 'Thank you. Why are we whispering?' " Pointing into the crowd with a broad smile, he said: "There's one right there, an 'Obamacan,' that's what we call them." Raucous laughter erupted from his supporters.

Cute anecdote, Barack. But the actual data are less helpful to you.

Posted by: Ace at 11:28 AM | Comments (50)
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