Obama on Tony Rezko:

“I’m saddened by today’s verdict. This isn’t the Tony Rezko I knew, but now he has been convicted by a jury on multiple charges that once again shine a spotlight on the need for reform. I encourage the General Assembly to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent these kinds of abuses in the future.”

Obama on Rev. Wright:

"I've known Rev. Wright for almost 20 years. The person that I saw yesterday was not the person I met 20 years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate, and I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church."

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:48 PM | Comments (180)
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Cleared on all charges.

That's six of eight, Congressasshole Jack Murtha.

Also I want to punch Tim McGirk in the nuts.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 07:45 PM | Comments (33)
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Our long national nightmare is over entering a different, scarier phase.

Posted by: Ace at 03:22 PM | Comments (57)
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Maxi Mounds, current holder of the Guinness title for world's biggest breast-like appendages, is barred from seeking operation to make them even larger over petty concerns of "safety" and "health" and "sanity."

Maxi Mounds, Rhode Island (for purposes of scale)

Have we learned nothing since the time of Galileo?

Thanks to CAD Daddy.

Posted by: Ace at 02:07 PM | Comments (80)
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Brrr! This global warming burns like ice!

Wow, look at that clear trend-line.

But even more impressive is the change since the last big peak in global temperature in January 2007 at 0.594°C, giving a 16 month ∆T of -0.774°C which is equal in magnitude to the generally agreed upon “global warming signal” of the last 100 years.

As a reader here brilliantly snarked, "If only there were some sort of natural factor that could explain global temperature variations... It would have to be massive, though. Approximately on the magnitude of our own Sun."

Posted by: Ace at 01:37 PM | Comments (84)
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Update: J. wrote me yesterday to let me know that in just one day you guys (mostly; I don't know who else was publicizing this) turned the 8-page list of wants at Walter Reed into a 6-page list.

Congratulations. You made life somewhat more bearable for wounded heroes and their families.

Don't bother checking now; Amazon is down for some reason. When it comes back up, who knows, that 8 page list may have been reduced to 5.

Back Up! Yup, 5 pages now.

...

Here's the Amazon Wish list for the men and women recovering at the Walter Reed Medical Center.

Enchanted?

Ah well, there are wounded women too.

The movies and games are part of a larger effort by CAUSE, a group founded in 2003 by 4 West Point grads who had served together in Vietnam. The idea behind CAUSE is that morale among active and recovering soldiers and Marines can be dramatically improved through R&R activities. At Walter Reed, CAUSE has facilities at the Mologne House, which is an outpatient dormitory for personnel and their families. The CAUSE library carries DVDs, as well as video games and equipment and is open to anyone at Walter Reed, free of charge.

My goal this summer is to try and fulfill the wish list...

And please feel free to pass this link on for others to contribute and for those of you with blogs (you know who you are), please consider publicizing this effort.

Thanks to my bud J... not sure if he's actually responsible for this or just forwarding the list.

Posted by: Ace at 11:08 AM | Comments (70)
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I missed this huge flip flop at the AIPAC summit. I missed it among all the other flip-flops.

How the fuck is Obama going to hold his own against a terrorist like Ahmadinejad when he backs down so quickly to a room full of chiropractors and estate attorneys?

We don't need Obama to talk to Iran. We need fuckin' AIPAC to talk to Iran. That's what the fuck we need.

Posted by: Ace at 01:23 PM | Comments (21)
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Michelle Malkin's liveblogging it.

Thanks to DPUD for the tip.

Heh: JWF's Headline:

Rezko Found Guilty of Hope, Change, and 16 Other Counts

Hmmm... Only found guilty on 2 of 6 counts of "corrupt solicitation," which I assume is bribery of a public official.

Wonder if they found him innocent of any charge that would bring him closer to Obama here.

Previous post:

Any guesses? I'm a-guessin' it's an OJ Jury and he'll be acquitted.

Spruiell at the Corner just posted that AP says "guilty," though doesn't say of which charges.

Oh, I just got the email myself.

Posted by: Ace at 12:41 PM | Comments (35)
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Victory over whom? The Bush Administration?

More evolution -- well, this one of a purely rhetorical sort -- at the AIPAC conference.

Barack Obama picked up fresh support Wednesday from fellow Democrats eager for party unity after a bruising battle for the presidential nomination, at the same time he accused Republican rival John McCain of supporting a "plan for staying, not a plan for victory" in Iraq.

"I think he has exercised very bad judgment on national security issues and others," said McCain, one day after welcoming Obama to the general election campaign with sharp criticism.

The victor in an enervating primary campaign, Obama courted Jewish voters in a speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. "Keeping all of our troops tied down indefinitely in Iraq is not the way to weaken Iran, it is precisely what strengthened it," the Illinois senator said in a speech in which he said the security of the Jewish state was sacrosanct.

...

In his speech at AIPAC, Obama urged his audience to reject what he said were false e-mails circulating about him, stressed his support for Israel and depicted the war in Iraq as a threat to Israel's security.

"Israel's security is sacrosanct. It is nonnegotiable," he said. He backed a Palestinian state that is "contiguous and cohesive," but also said any agreement must "preserve Israel's identity as a Jewish state, with secure, recognized and defensible borders. Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided," he said.

Obama said Bush's decision to invade Iraq had enabled the hard-liners in Iran to tighten their grip on power. "And the United States and Israel are less secure," he added.

He said McCain "offers a false choice: stay the course in Iraq or cede the region to Iran. ... It is a policy for staying, not a policy for victory," adding he favors a phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

And turning tail and ceding Iraq to become Iran's puppet will sure teach them a lesson, I guess.

And: Laura Ingraham grades the speeches. I agree.

Hugh Hewitt gamely attempts to put the focus on substance (and by that criterion declares McCain the winner), but come on. McCain was dreadful last night, Obama was commanding and energetic.

Anyone who thinks that fire and charisma don't count in elections -- indeed, anyone who doubts they count more than anything else -- is fooling themselves.

All of the Republicans have this cycle, with the exception of the cranky Fred Thompson, fallen over themselves to appear nice and quiet and nonthreatening and calm and so forth. Rudy did it, Mitt made himself even blander and nicer, and now McCain wants to seem like your wood-whittling grand-dad.

Look, if this election is as serious as everyone says it is, then seriousness is called for. And sometimes the only way people understand seriousness is with an elevated tone of voice and a bit of bite and anger. Obama seems proud to sell his product, McCain, like all the rivals he barely beat, seems apologetic about selling whatever it is he's selling. McCainism, whatever that is.

First maybe he has to figure out what he is selling in the first place, apart from his military bio.

More: Circa (insert year here) notes--

He backed a Palestinian state that is "contiguous and cohesive"...

Can anyone tell me how to accomplish this without cutting off a substantial piece of Israel?

Anyone know what he's talking about? Is it just some kind of cross-Israel highway the Palestinians will have jurisdiction over, or what?

Posted by: Ace at 11:43 AM | Comments (38)
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Hey, how you doing? I'm in Heaven. It's pretty cool I guess. Believe it or not, you can actually get the NFL Sunday Ticket here without the freakin' Dish Network. Say hi to Beast of the Apocalypse for me, LOL.

Is this for real? The owners of the site maintain it's real, but then, they would say that, wouldn't they? Seems more likely to be a prank against Christians.

If millions of Christians suddenly disappear from the face of the Earth as the opening act for Armageddon, Threat Level thinks most nonbelievers will be too busy freaking the hell out to check their e-mail. But if they do log in, now they can be treated to some post-Rapture needling from their missing friends and loved ones, courtesy of web startup YouveBeenLeftBehind.com.

For just $40 a year, believers can arrange for up to 62 people to get a final message exactly six days after the Rapture, that day when -- according to Christian end times dogma -- Christians will be swept up to heaven, while doubters are left behind to suffer seven years of Tribulation under a global government headed by the Antichrist.

"You've Been Left Behind gives you one last opportunity to reach your lost family and friends for Christ," reads the website, which is purportedly run "by Christians, for Christians." The domain name is registered through an anonymous proxy service, presumably to protect the proprietors from the Forces of Darkness, and not because they're up to anything shady.

The e-mails will be triggered when three of the site's five Christian staffers "scattered around the U.S." fail to log in for six days in a row -- a system that incorporates a nice margin of safety, should two of the proprietors turn out to be unrepentant sinners or atheists.

Seriously, that website name? "You've Been Left Behind dot com?" Could it be any more baiting? It plays directly to the Church Lady lampoon of Christians as being primarily interested in Hell as part of a metaphysical revenge fantasy. Seems more likely it's an anti-Christian company spoofing their idea of Christians.

A response from the site's proprietor insists it's all on-the-level, but, again, a prank doesn't work if you tell people it's a prank. He doesn't offer up his religious/spiritual bona fides.

Posted by: Ace at 10:51 AM | Comments (38)
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