The euro's stunning collapse
— Purple Avenger

Ooofff, the bottom is dropping out with no end in sight. more...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 08:59 AM | Comments (63)
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Palin Scandal of the Hour
— Slublog

The campaign is still playing "Barracuda" at McCain/Palin rallies.

LEBANON, Ohio (CNN) – The rock band "Heart" may have asked John McCain and Sarah Palin stop playing their song "Barracuda" at their rallies, but the campaign is apparently paying no heed.

Oh, those heartless bastards! How dare they not honor the wishes of these sensitive artistes. Oh, the humanity!

But wait...

But the McCain camp said last week that it had paid for and obtained all necessary licenses before using the song.

Oh, never mind then. Ladies, take the money and run. This has got to be better than watching American Idol wannabees massacre "Alone" again and again, right?

Do conservative celebrities whine this much when their art is used by the other side? I don't recall a lot of complaining by Ronnie Dunn (a Thompson supporter) when Barack Obama used the Brooks & Dunn tune "Only in America" as the benediction last song of his rally. more...

Posted by: Slublog at 08:48 AM | Comments (57)
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"War for oil" finally pays off
— Purple Avenger

Shell just got the first Iraqi contract signed with a western company.

Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to a gas joint venture with Iraq worth up to four billion dollars, the Iraqi oil ministry said Tuesday, becoming the first Western oil major to gain access to the violence-wracked country's vast energy reserves...

Oh, wait, I've just been informed that Shell isn't an American oil company. Sorry about that. My bad. "War for oil" paydays will remain pending.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 08:35 AM | Comments (21)
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Once Again Justice System Not Up to Prosecuting War on Terror
— Gabriel Malor

This time, the British justice system. In the trans-Atlantic bomb plot trial, jurors convicted only three of the seven defendants. And not on terrorism-related charges. Only the lesser charge of conspiracy to commit murder. On the charges of conspiracy to commit terrorism, the jury deadlocked. The plot's ringleader, Mohammed Gulzar, was one of the four not convicted.

Jurors found that Ali, Sarwar and Hussain conspired to bomb "unknown" targets, apparently based on evidence that they scouted refineries and other sites around London in addition to flights bound for the United States and Canada.

"Not to get a conviction on plotting to murder on airplanes is a bit hard to swallow," said a British official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly. "There were timetables, suicide videos, the known preference for Al Qaeda to focus on airplanes.

"Apparently juries need stronger evidence than they are getting. But when you are physically watching young Muslims known to be extremists recording suicide videos, there comes a point in a plot when you have to interfere, and run with what evidence you can get," the official said.

The problem is that evidence acquired from intelligence agencies is rarely admissible in court. Some is barred by procedural rules intended to protect criminal defendants from unfair prosecution. For example, domestic wiretap evidence is entirely barred in British courts. Much of this evidence is kept out of terror trials because it would reveal ongoing intelligence operations or the methods used to obtain it.

Paradoxically, this trial also suffered because the authorities acted too quickly to foil the plot. That's what the unnamed official is alluding to above: "there comes a point in a plot when you have to interfere, and run with what evidence you can get." This is a feature of the criminal law. You cannot convict a person of conspiracy until you can prove the agreement to a conspiracy and the objective of that conspiracy.

The intelligence work here, which largely wasn't admissible in court, far outpaced the police work. When the police stepped in they had very little to go on except what the intelligence agencies were telling them. Result: acquittal for all but three.

If we must persist in treating terrorism like crime, we would be better off creating a National Security Court as suggested by Andy McCarthy. Otherwise, we had better get used to terrorists walking.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:03 AM | Comments (30)
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Your Daily Dose Of Anti-Palin Hysteria
— DrewM

With St. Andi taking 'a few days off' (wink, wink) the Washington Posts steps up to the plate and promptly swings and misses at three straight pitches.

The ostensible hook for the story is Palin's per diem and travel expenses, especially for her family and her trips home to Wasilla from her official residence in Juneau.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife

...The governor's daughters and husband charged the state $43,490 to travel, and many of the trips were between their house in Wasilla and Juneau, the capital city 600 miles away, the documents show.

I guess the idea being chick governors are more expensive then dudes because they have families or something. Except they aren't. At least Palin isn't. According the Post story itself all of this is legal and oh yeah, she spent far less than her predecessors.

Gov. Palin has spent far less on her personal travel than her predecessor: $93,000 on airfare in 2007, compared with $463,000 spent the year before by her predecessor, Frank Murkowski. He traveled often in an executive jet that Palin called an extravagance during her campaign. She sold it after she was sworn into office.

"She flies coach and encourages her cabinet to fly coach as well," said Garnero, whose job is equivalent to state controller. "Some do, some don't".

So let me sum up, a governor bills the state for legal reimbursements and oh yeah spends a lot less than her predecessors on personal travel and that rates a front page story under the headline: Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home?

I'm starting to feel bad for the MSM. I mean, they are now reduced to debunking their own 'scoops' in their own stories.

Perhaps when St. Andrew returns from his double-secret probation few days off, he'll be able to do better.

Posted by: DrewM at 08:00 AM | Comments (39)
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Top Headline Comments 09-09-08
— Gabriel Malor

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:24 AM | Comments (46)
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NFL Picks - Week 1
— Dave in Texas

1 Maybe Next Year 13
1 Phat 13
1 Newman 13
4 notropis04 12
4 DaveSObscenelyNamedPicks 12
4 Murph 12

and a bunch of morons lumped together tied for 7th with 11 pts: Torque_820, D-Cup, Lewis, DoucheNozzles, Elevensfolly, AliceH, chinpoko-mon, Bmeuppls, Don Carne, mesablue, DrZin, buzzion, Azresident, Dave in Texas, Nodakdrunkhobos, Helmet picks, Hazy Dave, CAD Daddy

Q: WHY am I in 4th place and not second?

A: Shut up, that's why.

That's how Yahoo does it. Assume we're locked in a riveting 25 foot sprint, and 3 of you cross the finish hobo in front of me, all tied. I ain't second, I'm 4th. Because I see three assholes in front of me (does that make you uncomfortable? Would it help if I said I have a knife?).

Incidentally that's just AoSHQI and II; Stashiu 3 did a 3rd group. When he emails me the results I'll post them if I don't get kicked out of eleventy-seventh place.

YOU Know what sucks more than having to leave home for a week because of a hurricane?

Having to do it again a week later*.

More hurricane tracking stuff here with extra graphics and stuff.

*I don't mean me, I was commiserating with everyone else who is affected again.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 05:18 AM | Comments (38)
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Brutal Assessment of Barack Obama's Tenure as Campaign Executive
— Slublog

Barack Obama and his followers supporters have tried to make the case that running a national campaign for president is a form of executive experience. If that's the case, then recent events show a marked deficiency in crisis management skills, diplomacy and now...budgeting.

Pushing a fund-raiser later this month, a finance staff member sent a sharply worded note last week to Illinois members of its national finance committee, calling their recent efforts "extremely anemic."

At a convention-week meeting in Denver of the campaign's top fund-raisers, buttons with the image of a money tree were distributed to those who had already contributed the maximum $2,300 to the general election, a subtle reminder to those who had failed to ante up.

The signs of concern have become evident in recent weeks as early fund-raising totals have suggested that Obama's decision to bypass public financing may not necessarily afford him the commanding financing advantage over Senator John McCain that many had originally predicted.

There's no question that Obama has been a formidable fundraiser. Any advantage he has on that front, though, has been blunted by the bloat in his campaign. This guy really likes spending other people's money.

The Obama campaign does not have to report its August fund-raising totals until next week, so it is difficult to tally what it has in the bank at this point. A spokesman said that August was its best fund-raising month yet and that the campaign's fund-raising was on track. But the campaign finished July with slightly less cash on hand with the Democratic National Committee compared with McCain and the R.N.C. The Obama campaign has also been spending heavily, including several million more than the McCain campaign in advertising in August.

And then of course there was the $3 million the campaign spent gratifying Obama's ego with a stadium rental and Greek temple. You've got to wonder how these donors who are now being pressured feel about the campaign's completely out of control spending. According to the Weekly Standard, Obama spends nearly 10 times as much on event staging and two and a half times as much on lodging, to start.

The financial situation makes the recent poll activity even more troublesome for Obama. Although some fundraisers will stick with the campaign to the end, some will be very reluctant to open their deep pockets to support a flailing operation.

Posted by: Slublog at 05:02 AM | Comments (51)
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Brutal Assessment of Sarah Palin's Tenure as Governor
— Ace

Brutal for them, I mean. Sheesh, cool out. You guys are so jumpy.

As with most poor, distant places that suddenly receive great natural-resource wealth, the first generation of politicians were mesmerised by the magnificence of the crumbs falling from the table. Palin was the first of the next generation to realise that Alaska should have a place at that table.

Her first target was an absurd bureaucratic tangle that for 30 years had kept the state from exporting its gas to the other 48 states. She set an agenda that centred on three mutually supportive objectives: cleaning up state politics, building a new gas pipeline, and increasing the state's share of energy revenues.

This agenda, pursued throughout Palin's commission tenure, culminated in her run for governor in 2006. By this time, she had already begun rooting out corruption and making enemies, but also establishing her bona fides as a reformer.

With this base, she surprised many by steamrollering first the Republican incumbent governor, and second, the Democratic former governor, in the election.

Far from being a reprise of Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Palin was a clear-eyed politician who, from the day she took office, knew exactly what she had to do and whose toes she would step on to do it.

The surprise is not that she has been in office for such a short time but that she has succeeded in each of her objectives. She has exposed corruption; given the state a bigger share in Alaska's energy wealth; and negotiated a deal involving big corporate players, the US and Canadian governments, Canadian provincial governments, and native tribes - the result of which was a £13 billion deal to launch the pipeline and increase the amount of domestic energy available to consumers. This deal makes the charge of having "no international experience" particularly absurd.

In short, far from being a small-town mayor concerned with little more than traffic signs, she has been a major player in state politics for a decade, one who formulated an ambitious agenda and deftly implemented it against great odds.

The whole thing should you read, as YodaPundit says.

Posted by: Ace at 12:58 AM | Comments (33)
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Welcome to post-modern athletics [krakatoa]
— Open Blog

Rumors are flying that Lance Armstrong may race in the Tour de France again.

If nobody has been paying attention, Armstrong recently competed for the first time in the Leadville 100, finishing a close second. It's a 100 mile mountain bike race in Colorado whose course starts @ 10,000 feet, and climbs up over 14,000 feet. Obviously he is still in tremendous shape.

Now there are rumors that Lance may be interested in a ride for next year's Tour de France, and the effete competition takes a collective shit.

Despite being the most thoroughly tested athlete in the Tour's history until his retirement, there are legions of "fans" and officials of the sport who either hint or outright proclaim that Lance was doping. They use these allegations to claim his return would negatively affect the sport.

Reaction in the cycling world was cautious. The sport has been engaged in a concerted and desperate effort to rehabilitate its troubled image by ratcheting up testing.

Others take a more metrosexual view of the prospect.

"It really just depends on what this is about," said Team Columbia owner Bob Stapleton, whose riders have won 74 races this year. "He's a potentially divisive force for sure -- a hero to millions, and others question him. I'd like to hear more about his goals and mission. If it's more about Lance winning the Tour, personally that doesn't excite me. He has the power to make a positive impact, but I don't know if any of this is anything other than fodder for another book."

So basically, if it is about Lance actually entering a competition to win it, they just aren't on board.

Marcel Marceau, when reached for comment, had this to say.

(PITD is worth browsing... some excellent DPs in there.)

Posted by: Open Blog at 11:37 PM | Comments (23)
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