Pretty much a foregone conclusion.

The only drama is will a Republican bail? Did history call?

They just wheeled Byrd in.

Sounds like all the Republicans stuck together (Collins and Snow stuck with the team), though I don't think Voinivich voted one way or the other. They are holding the vote because I don't think everyone got there.

It was a straight party line vote. Voinivich didn't vote but it didn't matter either way.

Just to be clear what this vote is...there's a motion to proceed on the floor. Under Senate rules the debate on that could go on forever. This is cloture motion allowing a vote on the motion to proceed.

While it's a cloture vote, it's not the one we normally think of. That one is to end debate and vote on the bill itself. That will be the next vote. It will come in a couple of weeks after debate and amendments.

Look, this is not good but there are at least 2 more 60 vote votes on this. The next will be on the cloture motion to end debate. That's when most of these things get killed (if they are going to) after that it will go to conference with the House, that will be another 60 vote opportunity.

This isn't good news but it's not the end by a long shot.

Posted by: DrewM at 03:56 PM | Comments (364)
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She hasn't said it outright yet but She just says she's in for tonight but it's not a guarantee for the future. She's talking about working to improve the bill, so I'd say that's a done deal. Now she's playing the Profile in Courage card and says the attacks have come from out of state interest groups.

Says she's willing to vote no on cloture vote if public option is still in the bill when amendment process is done. She says she made this known to Reid.

Assuming they can wheel Bobby Byrd in tonight, Reid has his 60 to move on.

Vote is still on for 8 tonight, then they go on Thanksgiving break and the fight begins again in a little more than a week.

Uh oh, History just emailed...

Does anyone know Olympia Snowe's phone number?

Posted by: DrewM at 10:26 AM | Comments (568)
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Amazingly, they didn't think it was something the Army needed to know.

In the months before the deadly shootings at Fort Hood, Army Maj. Nidal M. Hasan intensified his communications with a radical Yemeni American cleric and began to discuss surreptitious financial transfers and other steps that could translate his thoughts into action, according to two sources briefed on a collection of secret e-mails between the two.

The e-mails were obtained by an FBI-led task force in San Diego between late last year and June but were not forwarded to the military, according to government and congressional sources. Some were sent to the FBI's Washington field office, triggering an assessment into whether they raised national security concerns, but those intercepted later were not, the sources said.

..."It became very clear toward the end of those e-mails he was interested in taking action."

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) said Friday that he would investigate the handling of the e-mails -- 18 or 19 in all -- and why military officials were not aware of them before the deadly attack. Levin told reporters after a briefing from Pentagon staff members that "there are some who are reluctant to call it terrorism, but there is significant evidence that it is."

If even an ostrich like Levin is realizing this is a terror attack, it's going to be harder for Obama and Army leaders to continue to pretend otherwise.

As for the failure to connect the proverbial dots...memo to the FBI-There is NO reason for a serving member of the United States Army (or any American) to be chatting up a spiritual adviser to al Qaeda. None. Zero. Zip.

I hope this clear things up for you guys.

Posted by: DrewM at 10:06 AM | Comments (92)
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Mary Landrieu just finished her speech announcing she will vote yes to begin the debate. She did address the 100 million bribe to vote yes. She wanted to correct the record on that. She did not sell her vote for $100 million in aid for Louisiana...it's was 300 million dollars.

This reminds me of the old joke often attributed to Winston Churchill...

Churchill: Madam, would you sleep with me for five million pounds?

Socialite: My goodness, Mr. Churchill... Well, I suppose... we would have to discuss terms, of course...

Churchill: Would you sleep with me for five pounds?

Socialite: Mr. Churchill, what kind of woman do you think I am?!

Churchill: Madam, we've already established that. Now we are haggling about the price.

Now 300 million dollars in the scope of the bill isn't much but Mary wants you to know she ain't that cheap.

Glad we got that cleared up.

This is what American democracy has come to, bribing voters with tax money in order to get them to pay more in taxes and give up freedom.

Come on guys, 233 years is a good run by any yardstick. Alas, all good things....

With Ben Nelson and Landrieu out of the picture, the only Democrat we haven't heard from is Blanche Lincoln but I can't imagine she's going to be the lone hold out. Plus there's always the possibility History will decide to give Olympia Snowe a call today. And when History calls....

The vote is scheduled for 8 tonight but that's likely to slip.

Posted by: DrewM at 09:17 AM | Comments (144)
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From: Phil Jones

To: ray bradley ,mann@[snipped], mhughes@
[snipped]

Subject: Diagram for WMO Statement

Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 13:31:15 +0000

Cc: k.briffa@[snipped],t.osborn@[snipped]

Dear Ray, Mike and Malcolm,

Once TimÂ’s got a diagram here weÂ’ll send that either later today or first thing tomorrow. IÂ’ve just completed MikeÂ’s Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd [sic] from1961 for KeithÂ’s to hide the decline. MikeÂ’s series got the annual land and marine values while the other two got April-Sept for NH land N of 20N. The latter two are real for 1999, while the estimate for 1999 for NH combined is +0.44C wrt 61-90. The Global estimate for 1999 with data through Oct is +0.35C cf. 0.57 for 1998.

Thanks for the comments, Ray.

Cheers, Phil

Prof. Phil Jones

Climatic Research Unit

Emphases added. Please read the whole thing.

This seems Rosetta Stone-ish to me.

On the level of human psychology, scientific arguments aren't really exciting. To scientists they are. To political hawks they are. (When such science is hyperpoliticized, as it is here.)

But most people don't find this interesting.

What they do find interesting -- and by "interesting" I mean provoking an elemental human emotional response -- is deception, conspiracy, arrogance, and other forms of bad human behavior.

Which is why Michael Crichton didn't write a dry scientific book about the cult of global warming. He wrote a fictive thriller, filled with... deception, conspiracy, arrogance, and other forms of bad human behavior.

This, I think, will have legs.

Not a Repost... A reassertion.

Damn. I'm just so used to being late I always assume the site is late, and I never consider the possibility that, say, Gabe already covered this.

I'm not embarrassed about this one at all. Well... not that embarrassed. I'm glad Gabe got to it early. I don't care if this is the third post on this. This is frickin' huge, man.

I want these emails, man. I need this file.

More: andycanuck tells me to check Adnrew Bolt and Tim Blair.

I've been reading Going Rogue to review it but now I'm thinking I need to read emails.

Nah, I'll get to Palin's book, too. But damn. This is awesome.

From Blair:

UPDATE VIII. The BBC reports on the scandal. It’s all about the hacking. Incidentally, the correct name of this place is “University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit” or “CRU”. Nothing to do with Hadley. (Via reader Thin & British)

As I have pointed out ad nauseam: When a leak hurts the right, the story is about the content of the leak.

When a leak hurts the left, the content of the leak is ignored, and the story is about the nefarious and criminal evil-doing that produced the leak, and how awful that is, and oh, look, here's an important story about how tough large-breasted women have it when they attempt jogging or gymnastics. Let's talk about that.

Not this time, boys. Not this time.

The File: At MegaUpload, thanks to Peaches.

This is the most bonerific file I've ever downloaded from MegaUpload, and if you've used MegaUpload for purposes other than downloading hacked climate-warming fraud emails, you know that's saying something.

Conspiracy: Scan down to Update 3 and further.

The problem isn't merely that they're manipulating data -- they also seem to be colluding and conspiring to destroy emails which would reveal this fact.

And those emails are themselves discoverable through FOIA requests.

Is this illegal? It would seem it has to be illegal -- or else FOIA has no purpose.

Great Comment:DaveS. recaps. This is deadly stuff.

Posted by: Ace at 10:00 PM | Comments (702)
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Welcome to Friday all. Just a few more days until we enter the holiday zone. Oh and don't forget that tomorrow is International Talk Like a Hobo Day

Why You Should Never Talk to the Police
Here's a fascinating talk by a law professor and a police detective where they explain why you should never talk to the police. Even if you're innocent and/or completely uninvolved. And they make a very good case against it. Fair warning - it is a longish legal lecture but don't let that scare you - it really is interesting and worth your time.

Now I had always heard this advice and understood the general reasoning behind it, but here the speakers actually give specific examples of how an innocent person could easily incriminate themselves by accident when questioned by a skilled detective. And yet if everyone followed their advice, many if not most crimes would go unsolved and we'd be a worse, more lawless society for it. So it's a trade off between the personal and common good. The best outcome is that you follow this advice and everyone else doesn't. And yeah that's kind of unsatisfying but at least now you're a more knowledgeable moron when it comes to this issue.

Posted by: Open Blog at 06:15 PM | Comments (808)
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Late again this week. Somehow I seem to be getting stuck in fairly demanding legal discussions with judges just as the clock hits 5pm. That's gotta stop.

No time to look for an SGU photo, so how about a re-do from happier times?

more...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:34 PM | Comments (63)
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Lincoln is our last hope.

Thanks to AHFF Geoff.

Posted by: Ace at 04:44 PM | Comments (107)
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I feel very bad for whatever miscreant is standing in 15 degree arc directly in front of this weapon. more...

Posted by: Ace at 04:41 PM | Comments (44)
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The trick here is a little subtle and hard to see from a distance.

What happens is that the quarterback turns back and to the right, as if he's pitching or rolling out in that direction. But he then tosses the ball over his head, backwards and to the left.
more...

Posted by: Ace at 03:17 PM | Comments (42)
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