This is an update to a story I wrote about on Saturday. You can click there for background, but the short version is that a judge ordered the boy to go forward with chemo as instructed by his doctors, but left him in his parents' custody.

No longer.

Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg also is ordering that Daniel Hauser be placed in protective custody so he can get proper medical treatment for Hodgkins lymphoma.

Daniel and his parents, Colleen and Anthony Hauser, were due in court Tuesday to tell the judge results of a chest X-ray. But only Anthony Hauser appeared in court.

He told Rodenberg that he last saw Colleen Hauser on Monday evening, and she told him she was leaving. He said that was all he knew.

The arrest warrant is for Daniel's mother, who is expected to have the boy. This case raises difficult questions about parental rights, religious rights, and whether alternative medicine meets laws requiring parents to provide medical care for their children.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 11:10 AM | Comments (60)
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This whole mess should be entitled: "How Not to Win Elections." Now, faced with GOP insiders attempting to limit Steele's authority, the GOP chairman has announced that he will step aside if they manage to shift funding authorization to the party comptroller-general.

Steele aides insist the chairman was not threatening to quit, but merely to fight over retaining his authority. But his comments reflect the persistent tension within the Republican National Committee over his chairmanship.

On Wednesday, RNC state chairmen will vote on the funding issue, among others -- such as whether to label the Democratic Party "Socialist."

A couple things here.

First, the committee members seeking to kneecap our most visible representative are absolutely and entirely wrong. Either he's our leader or he's not. But "adjusting" the rules to try and force out a properly elected chairman you don't like is sour-grapes bullshit. I suppose the plan is to "adjust" the rules back when you get a party chairman you do like.

Second, Steele, you had your chance. Obviously this isn't working out. No, it's not you...it's me. Of course we'll call. Of course we can still be friends. Goodbye.

Third, this thing is a demonstration of why fresh blood (e.g. Governor Palin) is an excellent thing for the party. All these insiders are looking to protect their own power and interests. I think they have very little to do with advancing my interests or the interests of the average Republican.

Related: And I do mean related as in I'm questioning the timing. The Washington Times ran an article today calling into question the salary of Steele's longtime personal assistant. This story apparently started with an unnamed "high-ranking RNC official" though it was confirmed in FEC filings.

Hmmm.

I renew my tongue-in-cheek suggestion of a few weeks ago (and in a different context) but I'm not sure it wouldn't be a bad idea to lock them all in the building and set the place on fire. I'm not entirely convinced our chances wouldn't improve for 2010.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 11:01 AM | Comments (68)
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The Democratic financier was convicted on four counts of campaign finance fraud for funneling more than $98,000 to Democratic politicians, including Hillary Clinton and Harold Ford.

Prosecutors said Hsu used campaign donations to win accolades from prominent politicians, which he used to lure new investors into his Ponzi scheme. They offered evidence that he made illegal reimbursements to six of his investors who contributed funds to politicians including then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York and then-U.S. Representative Harold Ford of Tennessee.

“Norman Hsu is directing where donations are going to go,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Willscher told jurors in closing arguments yesterday.

Prosecutors are seeking more than 30 years imprisonment for this and his guilty pleas last week to a Ponzi scheme. Hsu's attorney says he will appeal.

Some AOSHQ Hsu Coverage from 2007:
WSJ: Hsu Got Money By Stealing From Investors
Clinton Campaign: Don't Blame Us, We're Incompetent
Hsu Bought Clinton Staffers With Vegas Trips

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 09:06 AM | Comments (62)
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Via my friend Dave, Steve Milloy suggests that Obama's new automobile standards will result in thousands of American deaths each year.

Obama’s standards will require automakers to meet a 35 miles-per-gallon standard by 2016 — four years earlier than the same standard imposed by the Energy Security and Independence Act of 2007.

As discussed in my new book Green Hell, the only way for carmakers to meet these standard is to make smaller, lighter and deadlier cars.

The National Academy of Sciences has linked mileage standards with about 2,000 deaths per year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that every 100-pound reduction in the weight of small cars increases annual traffic fatalities by as much as 715.

In contrast in the more than six years since the Iraq war began, there have been 4,296 deaths among American military personnel.

Read the whole thing.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:42 AM | Comments (254)
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The numbers are meaningless, beyond, the "Huh. That sucks" value. Still it's interesting to see how things have changed. Coleman came out of the election ahead and in December 67% of Minnesota voters expected that he would be the ultimate winner. 88% now say that Franken will win. Also:

Fifty-four percent (54%) of Minnesota voters say Republican incumbent Norm Coleman should concede the race after months of legal challenges and let Al Franken be seated in the U.S. Senate. But 41% disagree.

Predictably, the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Minnesota voters shows that 87% of Democrats want Coleman to quit, while 77% of Republicans want him to stay in the fight. Most (53%) of those not affiliated with either major party say that Coleman should concede.

The case right now is pending at the Minnesota Supreme Court where Franken is trying to force Governor Pawlenty to certify his election. Coleman has suggested that he might take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Exit question: Whether the benefit to keeping Senate Democrats from reaching the magic number outweighs the likelihood they will shoot themselves in the foot (or head) once they've got their filibuster-proof majority.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:32 AM | Comments (72)
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Here we are again.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 04:12 AM | Comments (139)
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Guy Ritche's Sherlock Holmes trailer, with Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, and Rachel McAdams.

Pretty cool. Not sure if it's a dream sequence or what, but they seem to be pushing Holmes towards the supernatural thriller deal, which is a natural fit... except it's technically not a fit of all. Holmes' world was stubbornly non-magical, despite the occasional hint to the contrary.

Eh. If this is an attempt at a Victorian Age Indiana Jones, I'll buy into it.

Thanks to Jiggity.

Background... Interesting, and not too much by way of spoilers, though you will find Holmes is up against some kind of cult. But then, that was obvious from the Pentagram seen in the first three seconds of the clip.

One good choice is to make Holmes seem modern, instead of a stuffy Victorian type, which not only will make him more accessible to audiences, it makes sense -- Holmes had a number of traditional personality impulses (patriotism, reverence for the monarchy, chivalry, chauvanism, etc.) but was in most other ways a man out of time, and a man ahead of his time. I think it makes sense to depict him as more twentieth-century than nineteenth.

Posted by: Ace at 10:06 PM | Comments (73)
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I guess genghis isn't around, so here's a belated open thread for the night owls. That's a dumb phrase isn't it? Anybody ever refer to day owls? I think not.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:45 PM | Comments (294)
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Hmmm. For the first time since 2005.

I think there are two parts comprising party preference: ideology and the estimate of how effective that party is at actual governance. The two are interrelated and bleed into each other -- partisans always think their guy is doin' great; and someone good at management and governance will attract some independents to his party's flag -- but are mostly separate.

The GOP lost big-time the last two cycles on the governance question. Obama was not elected due to his ideology (which he obscured in favor of gauzy rhetoric) but mostly due to the public's dissatisfaction with GOP governance.

Obama currently still enjoys the public's estimation of a good manager, although mostly that is due to their just giving him a fair chance, and to the comparison with Bush and the GOP Congresses until 2006.

So I think people are starting to move back towards identifying themselves as Republican as they realize 1) ideology really does matter; skill at governance is nice and all, but not if that skill is used towards driving American economics into ruinous socialism; and 2) Obama and the Democrats really aren't covering themselves with glory on the "effective management" front, either.

In the past they could always postulate that they would be better stewards if only they had the chance. Well, they have the chance now, and they're not doing so well. The public still might not be enthusiastic about a GOP return to power, but they seem to have wised up that the guys they tossed out of office in 1994 are the same idiots they've just installed as leaders of Congress in 2006 and 2008.

It will take a bit more to fully erase the Democrats' reputation as the "at least they can make the trains run on time" party. Indeed, in the past, that was not their reputation at all. They only enjoy this advantage due to GOP fecklessness.

But give them time. They are doing everything in their power to make Republicans look good.

Posted by: Ace at 03:36 PM | Comments (704)
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In another reality, Sykes was kinda funny.

Moderate content/taste warning. A lot of on the edge jokes, which are standard fare for roasts, but which will be branded racist/homophobic/etc. by many. So, maybe for after work.

Thanks to EdwardR.

Posted by: Ace at 12:37 PM | Comments (52)
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