Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:49 AM | Comments (126)
Post contains 8 words, total size 1 kb.

AhÂ…for once, a unifying theme, I suppose.

Item #1: From CNN, a story on the demise of the Pontiac brand. Much sadness. I saw some stats the other day about sales figures within the GM family and am pretty sure the Pontiac line was outselling the Buick line. In addition, Pontiac was pretty well identified as their “sporty” division so this doesn’t seem to make much sense. Buick sorta’ bridged the gap between Oldsmobile and the more plain jane Chevys (though since Olds is no more, maybe GM’s re-positioning the Buick line to now bridge the gap between Chevy and Cadillac.) I suppose they’ve still got the ‘Vette and redesigned Camaro for the time being. But so much for any future editions of the Firebird or Trans-Am.

Item #2: Over at “Phil the News Junkie’s” place is another sad tale about a pack of road racers being hassled by The Man for daring to actually exceed the speed limit in their exotic sports cars. It just seems cruel to have to keep your Lamborghini or Ferrari under 60 mph. Anyway, there’s a nice/disturbing pic of a flock of exotics pulled over on the side of the road.

Item #3: Might as well wrap it up with IowahawkÂ’s annual Earthweek Virtual Cruise-In. HeÂ’s had it up for a few days and has declared a "winner," but he may be willing to accept more entries just for display purposes. Basically you submit a pic of your awesome ride (and he doesnÂ’t just limit it to cars and trucks; boats, planes, motocycles etc. All seem to be welcome as long as they produce a significant carbon footprint.)

TonightÂ’s overnight thread is sponsored by the Pygmy Marmoset.

Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to xgenghisx@gmail.com. Otherwise send tips to Ace.

Posted by: Open Blog at 06:02 PM | Comments (265)
Post contains 334 words, total size 2 kb.

Like last week, from Shorpy (click for the large version):

The caption is: "City Point, Virginia. Wharf, Federal artillery, and anchored schooners." City Point was General Grant's headquarters during the siege of Petersburg. The photo shows schooners, brigantines, a steamer, and a barge, as well as cannons and big ol' pile of coal.

Given the lengthy exposure, most of the people are blurred out. Similarly, the water, because it was in motion, has its own ghostly radiance. This was probably winter (look at the trees) of 1865.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 10:08 AM | Comments (136)
Post contains 97 words, total size 1 kb.

By returning gunfire.

Six men in a small, white Zodiac-type boat approached the Msc Melody at about 1730 GMT Saturday and opened fire with automatic weapons, Msc Cruises director Domenico Pellegrino said. They retreated after the security officers returned fire and sprayed them with water hoses. The ship continued its journey with its windows darkened.

Pistols for "emergencies". Who'da thunk?

How ya like them apples?

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 08:34 AM | Comments (125)
Post contains 83 words, total size 1 kb.

There have been several developments in Iowa over the past few weeks. The Iowa Supreme Court's marriage decision will go into effect on Monday and both sides of the vigorously ongoing debate are ready for more drama.

Two Wednesdays ago, an assistant for a Republican state representative called a county recorder and asked her not to issue marriage licenses to gays because the Iowa Supreme Court decision is "just an opinion." The representative, Kent Sorenson, says he didn't ask his assistant to make the call. It touched off a new, more contentious phase to preparations.

The next day, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Public Health sent an email to Iowa's 99 country recorders telling them they are required to comply with the decision, no exceptions.

The same day, state Senator Merlin Bartz and other Republicans attempted to insert language into a bill which would have provided a "right to conscience" exception for county recorders who don't want to issue marriage licenses to gays. He was blocked by the Democratic leadership on procedural grounds.

On Monday, Bartz and the Iowa Family Policy Center began circulating petitions encouraging Iowa's 99 county recorders to refuse to issue marriage certificates to gay couples.

On Wednesday, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller issued a statement that has been construed as threatening to county recorders (classy headline, BTW):

"We expect duly-elected county recorders to comply with the Iowa Constitution as interpreted unanimously by the Iowa Supreme Court, the highest court in Iowa," Miller said in a statement to the Iowa Independent. "Our country lives by and thrives by the rule of law, and the rule of law means we all follow the law as interpreted by our courts — not by ourselves. We don't each get to decide what the law is; that would lead to chaos. We must live by and follow what the courts decide."

"Recorders do not have discretion or power to ignore the Iowa Supreme CourtÂ’s ruling," Miller said, adding: "If necessary, we will explore legal actions to enforce and implement the CourtÂ’s ruling, working with the Iowa Department of Public Health and county attorneys."

Also on Wednesday, the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal organization that I have bad-mouthed before, announced it will provide legal services for any recorder who refuses to provide marriage certificates as an exercise of conscience.

The other side of the marriage coin is state judges who are empowered to perform marriages. One judge has announced that he will simply perform no marriages at all, partially as a result of the decision. He notes that he didn't know until recently that it was a discretionary function and he has had reservations about providing some straight marriages. The AG confirms that if a judge wishes not to perform marriages, she does not have to; however, she cannot choose to perform only straight marriages.

Monday will be the first day gay couples can apply for marriage licenses. Generally, there is a three day waiting period between application and grant of a license. However, that delay can be waived by judges. So sometime next week the first gay marriages in Iowa will occur.

Finally, there's one other wrinkle. I can't decide which side this is going to annoy more, but it's going to be difficult to tell how many gay couples are getting married in Iowa because some county recorders do not make marriage applications available as public records.

Conscience exceptions have been gaining steam for the past year. Vermont included some in its recently passed marriage law. Connecticut, which passed a marriage law this week as the result of a court order, also included protections for churches and some other groups. In fact, because Connecticut was required by its Supreme Court to make marriage available to gay couples, the debate over the law largely focussed on how broad to make the conscience exception. more...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:07 AM | Comments (329)
Post contains 682 words, total size 5 kb.

The "Cash for Keys" program:

...Some banks are doing something called cash for keys. It's an incentive for people facing foreclosure to leave their house move-in ready, and if they do, the bank will pay them - sometimes up to $3,000.

...That's when Annalisa Xioutas gets to work. Hired by banks or Realtors, she will go into the foreclosed home, clean it up, and make the necessary repairs. One Lehigh Acres house cost the bank almost $30,000 to fix...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 10:57 PM | Comments (116)
Post contains 143 words, total size 1 kb.

Great. Just great. I take one night off and what do you people do? Revert into an almost civilized state. How utterly embarrassing, and now itÂ’s going to take years to undo the damage. Slow news day, so hereÂ’s some randomness for you to play with. Or d.i.y. and conjure up your own.

Item #1: MSNBC, despite their suckitude in practically everything, still usually manages to put together good coverage of the NFL draft.

Item #2: Over at Dori Monson’s blog he posts a story about one of the contestants vying to be the Miss Universe representative from Australia being declared malnourished by doctors. Pic and link to the original story there. Mild content warning for the pic: Not due to nudity but rather the “ickiness” factor. The girl’s got issues so it’s hard not to feel sorry for her. Her family and friends have obviously let her down by not intervening.

Item #3: Finally, sickinmass puts us some creepiness by sending along a link to a page at “PXLshots” regarding 100 Extremely Detailed Macro Insect Photos. I’m still trying to work through the menagerie of weird animals he sent last week. Speaking of which:

TonightÂ’s overnight thread is sponsored by the Angora Rabbit.

Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to xgenghisx@gmail.com. Otherwise send tips to Ace.

Posted by: Open Blog at 07:22 PM | Comments (187)
Post contains 243 words, total size 2 kb.

Governor Palin makes an appearance at number 17. Joe Scarborough at 22. Dana Perino at 51. And Glenn Beck at 97.

It's long.

Thanks to ol_dirty_/b/tard and deidra.

Also, you may consider this an early evening open thread. Anything else you want to vent about? I'm all ventilated after my last two posts, but you guys feel free to start throwing produce.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 03:12 PM | Comments (113)
Post contains 74 words, total size 1 kb.

This is why I don't like state politics, particularly from my own state. Anyone with a lick of sense does something more practical than run for state legislative office.

Oklahoma lawmakers who voted against making a Flaming Lips tune the official state rock song represent a minority of "small-minded religious wackos," the band's lead singer says.

Most state House members voted for a resolution recognizing 2002's "Do You Realize??," but conservatives who said they were offended by the band's clothing and language mustered enough votes to keep it from being adopted. [...]

"Me, I just say look, it's a little minority of some small-minded religious wackos who think they can tell people what kind of T-shirts and what kind of music they can listen to, and the smart, rational, reasonable people of Oklahoma are never going to buy into that," frontman Wayne Coyne told Tulsa World in an interview Friday.

Gov. Brad Henry resolved the issue by announcing he would sign an executive order proclaiming "Do You Realize??" the official rock song of Oklahoma. The song earned more than half of the 21,000 votes cast in an online contest. [...]

Rep. Corey Holland, R-Marlow, was offended when band member Michael Ivins wore a red T-shirt with a yellow hammer-and-sickle emblem, a traditional symbol of the Communist Party, during a visit to the Capitol last month.

Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, also denounced Coyne for using an expletive at an event.

A stupid contest about picking an "official" state rock song turns into a bunch of grown men acting like fools. I really shouldn't be so surprised. They didn't have anything more important to worry about? A little too much free time on their hands?

Mike Reynolds doesn't like that rock singers use expletives? Mike Reynolds is a fucking idiot. (Yes, I apparently just disqualified the HQ from ever being Oklahoma's "official" blog. I'll put another dollar in the coblogger swear jar.) Perhaps he would like to suggest an "official" state rock song by a rock singer who has never cussed? Twenty bucks says that back in the day he equated rock music with teh Devil.

Hey, now he can go back to his district and tell people that he's for "family values" because he took a stand against a (stupid) symbolic act which a majority of Oklahomans had approved. Ar-tard.

Related: JC Watts is weighing a run for governor. I'm officially taking credit for this since I badgered him about it in the OKC airport over Christmas.

Updated and relayed without comment: PowerLineBlogger John on the new Simpsons stamps.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:33 PM | Comments (91)
Post contains 459 words, total size 3 kb.

Alright, alright, now, let's not get hysterical (yet). The flu variant that has folks worried responds to two common treatments and there isn't enough data yet to tell how widespread it is or how severe it will be (so far the fatality rate has varied widely based on location).

On the other hand, there's no reason not to be prepared. Do the obvious:

(1) Wash your hands frequently when you're out and about. Try not to touch your face. Stop coughing into your hand and cough into your elbow or a tissue.

(2) I know a lot of folks, including in my workplace, use hand sanitizers frequently. Don't forget to sanitize your workspace; you're probably not the only person in there.

(3) Avoid shaking hands, hugging, or kissing friends and neighbors and prostitutes.

(4) Avoid crowded places. For example, I'm giving serious consideration to driving my own car to work next week instead of taking the metro, especially given the large Mexico-US transit population among the folks that ride the subway here in L.A.

(5) This is not the right time to share drink glasses or water bottles or half a candy bar with your coworker or your BFF. Use your brain, dingus.

Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, here's the latest news:

On Saturday, two new cases of swine flu were confirmed in Kansas — the first U.S. cases outside of California or Texas. And New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden announced that tests showed that eight New York schoolchildren had a type A influenza virus that was "probable" swine flu.

Samples have been sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for further testing for confirmation. The students showed only mild flu symptoms.

Keep in mind, anyone with even the mildest flu-like symptoms will be trumpeted by the media as another case (for example). It might fizzle; it might not. Let's wait and see.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 12:20 PM | Comments (335)
Post contains 334 words, total size 2 kb.