Ever Wonder Why There's No Bathroom in the Board Game Clue...

...when lot's of notable people in history died in the loo?

• Eglon, King of Moab BCE, Old Testament, murdered by Ehud (stabbed in the bowels) while relieving himself in his private chamber. Judges 3:1-31
• Elagabalus, Emperor of Rome (203 - 222), murdered by the Praetorian Guard, along with his mother, Julia Soaemias, in the Emperor's latrine, where the pair had gone to hide
• Arius, founder of Arianism (256 - 336), died of a flux of his bowels, possibly as the result of poisoning
• Edmund Ironside, King of England (989 - 1016), allegedly stabbed in the bowels while using the toilet
• James I, King of Scotland (1394 - 1437), murdered while trying to flee through his bathroom into the sewers. A lady-in-waiting, Lady Catherine Douglas, attempted to keep the door closed to protect the King, but the killers smashed down the door and broke her arm.

Treehouse of Horrors

RINO-Style.

Red Gold

The Hog Wild Three from Alaska have succeeded in pulling yet another huge coup in pork barrel martial arts. It looks like it's a rebuke to the Coburn Amendment, and one hell of one:

The Budget Reconciliation package (PDF) contains $71.4 billion in new savings but it also spends $32.4 billion. Portions of that new spending were intended to be Katrina relief funds, but it seems Alaskan interests have once again succeeded in redirecting funds (PDF) to the state which has become famous for its "Bridge to Nowhere."

In addition to providing money for Katrina states, the provision also changes the way Alaska receives federal assistance for its Medicaid services. By changing the federal funding matching percentage for Medicaid in Alaska, the provision will provide an additional $130 million in federal Medicaid funding for Alaska. This additional $130 million is a direct result of tampering with federal matching percentages that results in Alaska being relieved of Medicaid related fiscal burdens that all the other 50 states face.

So, even though dozens of other states will face the same fiscal pressures as Alaska over the next few years, only Alaska is set to receive additional money.

These fools are certainly great at mining the deficit for more money to their already over-subsidized state. It baffles me that anyone can refer to Democrats as the big spenders when examples like this exist in the Republican party. Every Democrat should carry around a pokcet-sized picture of Ted Stevens and whip it out every time someone accuses them of it. The fact that this is done over Alaska, and diverting Hurricane Katrina relief TO ALASKA is all the more disgusting. Strip-mining aid money and stealing it away from those who need it when you're already building a 100 million dollar plus bridge to benefit 50 people who don't really want it is flabbergasting. It is truly Red Gold: or what I shall call pork barrel money pulled while we're in deficit. Ted Stevens and Don Young are masters of it.

Look To the Conspiracy?

Already everyone is jumping at the Casey decision and how that defines Alito. . .but what about the Farmer decision? In Farmer Alito concurred that banning partial-birth abortions was unconstitutional. Volokh Conspiracy has the details.

A Thin Line

There is a thin line between genius and insanity. After Braveheart, most thought Mel Gibson was a genius. But when he directed and bankrolled Passion, many thought he had crossed the line. After Passion turned into a major success (although a controversial one), he seemed still to be in the genius category, although dangerously close to the edge. With the announcement of his new movie Apocalypto (another one done entirely in an ancient language), I will be very interested to find out if he has finally lost it, or if he thrills us again with something controversial and provoking.

Who Saved Us From Militant Islam?

France. With all the analogies to Crusades, the Middle Ages, and Colonialism, sometimes you have to actually look at what really happened in history.

Hat tip, Jawa Report.

Not So Cold War

Amongst all the news about Fitzmas, Miers, and now Alito, a lot of stuff is slipping through the cracks. One of the big ones is Iran, and the escalation of rhetoric and hostilities. When Ahmadinejad was "elected" President in Iran's most recent elections, Senor C was on the case immediately with the astute comment that this guy was one of the original Islamist terrorist. He had a reputation for being a hawkish anti-American thug, and he's living up to it well.

Ahmadinejad's comments that Israel should be "wiped off the map" set an international furor. Britain is calling on the EU to do something about it, but that's unlikely. In addition, Iran is continuing its obviously threatening nuclear program, and Al Qaeda roams free. But, more troubling, is an examination of the whole speech Ahmadinejad made, which is shown in all of its psychotic glory here. Let's remember, this is the President of a Foreign Power making these remarks, a Foreign Power that has a history of exporting terrorism and is now nearing the development of nuclear weapons.

We are in the process of an historical war between the World of Arrogance [i.e. the West] and the Islamic world, and this war has been going on for hundreds of years. ...

The issue of this [World without Zionism] conference is very valuable. In this very grave war, many people are trying to scatter grains of desperation and hopelessness regarding the struggle between the Islamic world and the front of the infidels ...

Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism? But you had best know that this slogan and this goal are attainable, and surely can be achieved...

If you think that's scary, read on and see what his Chief Strategist's plan is for making this happen. Make no mistake about it, everything Bush may have said/exaggerated/fabricated (depending on your political persuasion) in the run up to the war with Iraq is true of Iran right now.

It's a Boy!!

Congrats, Mr. & Mrs. Conservative Right!

A Great Lesson to Teach the Kids

Politicians and community activists are at it again: saving kids from those soulless money-grubbers in Hollywood who peddle violence, death, and foul-mouthed rap lyrics. Only this time, the activists are of a decidedly more left-leaning bent in a heavily Democratic city.

Yes, billboard advertisements for Get Rich or Die Trying, a 50 Cent movie of all things, have gotten activist panties in a collective wad. The posters, showing 50 holding a gun in his left hand and a mic in his right, say the activists, promote violence and gang affiliation.

Understandably, this has my boxers all up in a wad, and it's not because of "censorship" issues. No censorship occurred here because private entities replied to public and market pressure, not to a government crackdown per se. No, what my beef is with is preachy liberal goons who claim to act in the interests of children but act precisely against their interests by the example they set.

You can keep these posters, heck, you can keep the movie itself out of violent neighborhoods all you want, but in doing so you only help to exalt the "glorified" violence you hope to keep kids from emulating by making it forbidden fruit to go ballistic over. And we're assuming, for a moment, that the film glorifies violence rather than portrays its damaging and irreversible consequences.

It's more persuasive to avoid insulting a teenager's intelligence by instead engaging his/her mind into critical thinking about social problems like gang violence and about the power of media to glorify violence at the expense of our conscience and the advantage of their pocketbooks. At the end of the day you can keep a few eyes from seeing a poster or you can choose instead to use that poster and others like it to help young minds examine the world around them and make better educated choices. The former is a cheap fix which makes headlines, the latter is too common sensical for activists with narrow agendas to seriously pursue.

Backyard Brawl II

Proving that great newspaper copy usually does NOT come with experience, VA House of Delegate candidate Chris Craddock made some inflammatory statements about gays and Africans to a high school classroom down the street from where I used to reside. For those of you not in the know, Craddock was the only Republican candidate to defeat an incumbent member of his own party in this year's primaries. This was the ONLY loss by a sitting Republican delegate from Northern Virginia who voted in FAVOR of the $1.5 Billion tax increase in 2004 (the tax increase pushed by Democratic Governor Mark Warner to shore up state finances and bond ratings). It looks like western Fairfax County may end up with a bigot instead of a penny-pincher.

UPDATE: In Craddock's defense:

Craddock said he was "outraged" by the student comments and emphasized that, last year, his father-in-law donated his kidney "to a black woman in our church who's like family to us. And my wife's best friend married a Nigerian and is now living in South Africa with him. So to say I'm racist is ridiculous. I have black kids volunteering for me."

Didn't black people "volunteer" for the Confederate Army too? (I'm sorry, I can't help myself.)

Libby Indicted

Vice President Cheney's chief of staff Scooter Libby has been indicted on one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of giving a false statement, and two counts of perjury. I can't help but take a little satisfaction in this. For so long the current administration has acted with an arrogance that suggested that they were above the law and that ethics don't matter. In fact, we witnessed this during the primaries when the Bush team smeared Senator McCain. And we have been seeing it ever since. Finally they must face up to their sins.

But I also want to caution fellow Democrats from reveling in this and other Republican mishaps too much. Some of the problems are inherent to this administration. But some are common to groups in power. Whether or not it was about something important or whether it was worth an impeachment proceeding, President Clinton showed the same contempt for the law during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

This type of behavior should be denounced by both parties. I hope Democrats can realize it can happen to anyone (next time it might be someone in their party), and I hope Republicans can realize that it did happen to them and so they shouldn't rush to defend or dismiss the actions of those under indictment.

More Oil-for-Food Revelations

An atypical volume of news on a Friday only prevents this story from receiving the spotlight that it deserves. Talk about clogging the courts:

More than 2,400 businesses, including scores of international shell companies and major blue-chip European firms such as Siemens and DaimlerChrysler, paid nearly $1.8 billion in illegal kickbacks to the former Iraqi government through the U.N. oil-for-food program, according to a report by a U.N. committee investigating misconduct.

The 623-page report, which was presented Thursday by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul A. Volcker, the head of the Independent Inquiry Committee, is the most detailed account of how Iraq persuaded almost half of its 4,500 trading partners in more than 60 countries to circumvent U.N. sanctions by secretly channeling kickbacks into Baghdad-controlled Jordanian banks.

The report also shows how French and Russian diplomats, business executives, U.N. officials and anti-sanctions advocates, including a former Vatican official, either solicited oil trade from Iraqi officials on behalf of companies or benefited financially from the program.

[snip]

Iraq used its oil wealth to influence some countries' policies at the United Nations, rewarding Russia $19 billion in oil contracts and France $4.4 billion in deals, according to the report. The report notes that numerous U.S. companies, prevented from directly entering the trade, established subsidiaries in France to do business in Iraq.

[snip]

The report challenges assumptions that most of the kickbacks involved illegal oil surcharges. It asserts that the vast majority of kickbacks were obtained through the sale of food, medicine and other humanitarian goods to Iraq. To illustrate the scheme, the report cites case studies showing how Iraq disguised its kickbacks through inflated "transportation fees" and "after sales services charges."

Illinois Cares For Its Kids

The State of Illinois is making history, folks! The Democratic-controlled Senate today approved Governor Blagojevich's plan to create a state-run, HMO-style insurance program for all uninsured Illinois children. The Democratic-controlled House is expected to approve the measure as well. In Blagojevich's "All Kids" plan, the insurance co-pays and premiums will be based on the participants' income, with the State contributing $45 million in the first year to the program.

My favorite part of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article covering this monumental leap forward in the American welfare was this:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich's ambitious plan to provide medical insurance to all Illinois children won Senate approval Wednesday, over fervent opposition by Republicans who warned that it could make Illinois a magnet to uninsured families from throughout the Midwest.

Gosh, I see their point... I guess we'll just have to provide insurance for uninsured children in all 50 states!!!

And you thought Republicans were heartless...

Backyard Brawl

There's a developing brawl here in the DC area that's sucking Senatorial and Gubernatorial candidates as well as bloggers into its wake. We all know, to Prince of Perksia's great delight, that Lt. Gov. Steele has thrown his hat in the ring for an 06 Maryland Senate Seat. In an effort to attack him, some local cutesy lefty who's big enough to have people run campaign ads on their site posted this, which is undoubtedly racist as hell, and just about one of the most despicable smears I've ever seen. It makes the Swift Boat Vets look like political Honor Guard. This NYC blogger called it as he saw it, and attacked the guy. The attack got picked up by Michelle Malkin.

Naturally, given this disgusting act, Tim Kaine pulled campaign ads from the wretched site. Which provoked all kinds of furor from these racist lefties, causing them to smear Kaine (their ally) as a coward. (What's that I smell? Desperation? No, it's a childish pissing contest, that's what!) The whistleblower retorted a simple response, picked up by Sullivan (who gets the hat tip and where I found out about this nonsense). Repeat after me folks: THIS IS WHY LIBERALS AND DEMOCRATS LOSE ELECTIONS. I can't express in words even why this sort of tactic is stupid, because it just comes the closest of any political message of giving me a reaction that transcends anger, grief, and depression and approaches what can only be called pure negativity.

I Wonder if Arec Bardwin and the FAGs Will Show Up

North Korea cordially invites you to a propaganda festival.

PYONGYANG, North Korea -- The lights dimmed at the May Day stadium and a rapt crowd of 150,000 fell silent at the start of a spectacle considered so important to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il that it has merited a rare, if limited, opening to the outside world.

North Korea has creaked open its doors for Arirang, a festival that celebrates national pride and, this year, commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Stalinist state's ruling Workers' Party. Performers, who numbered almost as many as the spectators, won furious applause for their coordinated displays of rhythmic gymnastics, flying acrobatics, traditional dancing and military taekwondo routines -- all synchronized to a massive video and laser light show.

[...]

North Korea has rolled out the red carpet this month in exceptional style. Tour operators, diplomats and analysts describe the gathering of foreigners as the largest since Kim inherited the leadership on the death of his father and North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung, in 1994.

The guests have included hundreds of Americans, typically barred by the North Koreans. Among them have been New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former CBS News anchorman Dan Rather. The festival has brought official delegations from China, Russia and Cuba as well as ranking visitors from Mexico and a host of other nations. Thousands of South Korean tourists, usually forbidden to travel into the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, are also being embraced during October in this spruced-up city.

Moran Knows His Bullshit

Rep. Jim Moran is many things, a liberal Democrat, a blowhard, an alleged wife-beater, and a racist asshole (he nearly beat up a black kid a few years back, supposedly for messing with his car). One thing he is not, however, is a guy who buys steaming hot political bullshit:

Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) expressed extreme displeasure over the withdrawal of Harriet Miers's Supreme Court nomination, saying he doesn't believe the White House's official explanation for the pullout.

"I think what this reflects is a weakness on the part of the president, a bunker mentality on the part of the White House," the Northern Virginia Democrat told 630 WMAL News.

Moran said Miers "could have been trusted to be a fair and conscientious jurist," and he believes the White House caved to pressure from conservative critics.

"Basically, in order to get the support of the far right wing base, they've got to follow their instructions," Moran said.

"I would have been happy with somebody that was simply to the right of center. Harriet Miers was to the right of center," he said. "Now, we're going to get somebody to the far right, and I don't think that serves the public interest."

Asked whether there was any truth to the official explanation for the withdrawal -- that the White House and Senate would have reached an impasse over Miers's documents during her tenure as White House counsel -- Moran said, "Oh, that's just bullsh*t."

Moran is letting out a fresh load himself with his inflated partisan rhetoric, of course, but he is right. The White House spin is painfully transparent, but that's neither here nor there. It happens all the time in politics regardless of party, and it's a non-story in and of itself. What matters now is Bush has a real chance to hit it out of the park with the replacement pick, unite his base, and turn the focus from Rove, Miers, DeLay, etc., towards the future of the Supreme Court.

Oh, that and whomever he picks is likely to be vociferously and foam-mouthedly opposed by radical left-wing interest groups like NARAL, and I think Bush stands a good chance of putting a solid, intellectual conservative jurist on the Court which would make Kate Michelman put on the sackcloth and ashes and buy stock in coat-hanger manufacturers.

Innovation Still Exists

Yes Virginia, there IS someone with a brain in state government.

"One of the most imaginative legislators in Virginia today is Chris Saxman, the Republican delegate from Staunton. Saxman has devoted more energy than almost anyone else in the General Assembly to devise creative ways to reduce state spending. His latest brainstorm: Encourage college students to graduate early rather than drag out their educations for five or six years at public expense.

The State Council on Higher Education projects enrollment demand for in-state students to increase by more than 56,000 students by 2012; Virginia's four-year institutions are expected to absorb 11 percent of that increase. State support covers roughly 68 percent of tuition and general fees for in-state students. Incredibly, there is no requirement for students to complete their educational requirements on time. Indeed, Saxman notes, it takes students five years on average to graduate. "By offering incentives to students to complete their undergraduate degrees in less than four years," he says, "we will help to free up space for incoming students."

Saxman's idea: Provide students with graduate school scholarships if they graduate in three years from public four-year colleges and universities. In return, scholarship recipients would obligated to remain and work in the Commonwealth for a minimum period or pay back the cost of graduate school tuition. He is particularly keen on encouraging doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers and other professionals in short supply to stay in the state.

Phyllis Palmiero, former director of SCHEV and a member of the Joint Subcommittee Higher Education Funding likes the idea. "Many students come to college with a number of college credits, some equivalent to a full year, however, they do not have the incentive to finish their degree early," she says. "They prefer to remain with their class and ultimately enjoy their senior year. This is partly cultural and partly because there is no financial incentive to graduate early. Providing incentives or rewards for finishing early, such as graduate school scholarships, would certainly provide that incentive.""

Okay, guilty as charged. I had the ability to graduate early, but ultimately decided to "take it easy" for my final year in college. Had there been a financial incentive in place, I probably would have taken full advantage of it. This type of problem-solving is reminiscent of Mark Satin in his book/blog the "Radical Middle", by fusing popular causes among the Left (increasing access to higher education) with end-goals favored by the Right (cutting spending). Now if only we could encourage similar thinking amongst the rest of our representatives.

Miers Withdraws Nomination

Thanks to my Anonymous friend for alerting me to this.

Okay, I am going to withhold some of my relief on this. Part of me isn't sure the real reason behind Bush's pick of Miers. While the conventional wisdom is that Bush made this pick without input from Rove or Cheney, who were both busy with other issues including the grand jury investigation, I am not completely convinced.

A friend of mine said that Rove might have actually been behind this nomination, allowing someone to go forward who would get very little support, so that any opposition to the next nominee could be portrayed as obstructionism. And that next nominee will likely be a very far right ideologue, or as my friend said, Darth Vader.

Although the conventional wisdom appears to make more sense, that the Miers nomination debacle is the type of decision Bush is capable of making without input from his top advisors, I am afraid that this could yet another sign of Rove's brilliance.

Either way though, I am convinced that the Democrats will hate the next nominee - most likely Priscilla Owens or someone similar. So while I am glad someone unqualified has withdrawn her nomination, I am also afraid. Very afraid.

Are You A Feminist?

Over happy hour with friends last night, conversation quickly turned to dating (of course). And eventually, to the growing phenomenon of speed dating -- a new pre-mating ritual in which participants have anywhere from two to, I don't know, eight or so minutes to find out the crucial stats about each other and figure out whether they ever want to see the other person again.

So, let's say you only had five minutes to get the scoop on someone. What questions would you ask? Would you go for the garden variety stuff (where do you work? what do you like to do in your free time? where are you from originally?...), OR would you take the non-orthodox route and throw in some quirkier questions (what does your closet look like? what five songs would describe your last weekend? what's your favorite beer?...)?

And it is not all about their answers to your questions, either, but also about their reaction to your questions. Surprise? Boredom? Deer-in-the-headlights expression?

I have figured out my favorite Q. And not only would the answer matter, but the reaction which accompanied it:

Are you a feminist?

So? Are you?

Chicago Celebrates the End of Days

Folks, I am not one panic or proclaim wild and irrational theories, but it looks like the apocalypse will soon be on us. Of course I don’t know this for certain, but there have been signs. With the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox both ending over 80 years each without a World Series championship, there can be little doubt of the fate before us. I am just warning you now to be prepared, because if the Chicago Cubs win next year, you better be somewhere remote the next day – hiding as best you can from the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Alright, I am kidding. Yes, last night the 2005 baseball season ended as the Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros in what was billed as a pitchers duel, but can really only be described as great pitching but terrible offense from Houston. Brandon Backe did everything he could to keep his team in the game, but the offense couldn’t get hits when it mattered – leaving a small village on the base paths last night (yes, I just quoted Major League – or maybe that was from Major League II?). I was lying in bed last night, stressed out and unable to sleep. But watching the Chicago White Sox celebrate put me at ease. To watch a team that started their quest last April, finally see all the hard work pay off, is a great thing. That moment is what team sports are all about. Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees could win the American League MVP this year, but he is still without a championship. Barry Bonds, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, will likely retire without a championship – and if you ask him, all the awards and recognitions mean little without that. Today, the Chicago White Sox are the best team in baseball.

Okay, we have a champion, what about everything else? The Nationals finished above .500, something they should be very proud of. Early on they fed off the energy of being in a new city - a baseball city. They faded out after the all-star break, but experience will cure that problem. Look for them to compete again for the very competitive NL East Division title next year. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox found out that money can’t buy you a trip to the AL Championship – look for them both to refocus a little bit, although only the Red Sox have room for major changes. And unfortunately steroids did not go away (and with rumors of an American League outfielder, whose team was in the playoffs, testing positive for steroids, it will be with us this off-season as well). Hopefully though, MLB will continue to improve on its testing policy so the fans’ faith in the integrity of the game can continue to grow.

But now that baseball is over, I can no longer deny that summer is definitely over. Oh how I look forward to the spring.

Is It Good For You?

An MIT economist thinks so. As much as I hate to rekindle this fire: read it and weep. But, I read this as little more than evidence that you can find a study and statistics to back whatever it is you want to believe.

A number of researchers have found striking correlations between religion and various measures of well being. For example, religious participation is correlated with lower levels of deviant behavior and better health. And, attending religious services weekly, rather than not at all, has the same effect on individuals' reported happiness as moving from the bottom to the top quartile of the income distribution.

Gruber concludes that being in an area with more co-religionists leads to better economic outcomes through the channel of increased religious participation. Although this paper does not investigate the mechanism through which religiosity creates these results, Gruber suggests four possibilities: that religious attendance increases the number of social interactions in a way peculiar to religious settings; that religious institutions provide financial and emotional "insurance" that help people mitigate their losses when setbacks occur; that attendance at religious schools may be an advantage; and, finally, that religious faith may simply improve well-being directly by enabling the faithful to be "less stressed out" by the problems of every day life.

Hat tip, Sullivan.

Dance, puppets!!!

Apparently, Japanese researchers at the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. have created the first Human Remote Control. No no, you read that right - you can actually control others with this lovely new device. I bet the conservative right is positively salivating over this puppy. Think of the money they could save by not using that special Kool-Aid!

It's somehow based on the magic of "galvanic vestibular stimulation," which sounds like something that happens to me after I eat Mexican food. It's actually a clever way of manipulating equilibrium in order to make your mindless slave walk in any way you wish; like an egyptian, for instance.

They try to make a case for using this kind of technology for amusement and non-violent warfare, which is as interesting as it is insane. Amusement I can see, since I'd probably spend the rest of my days forcing the elderly into epic, Mortal Kombat-esque battles with one another. Some might call that a hypocritical abuse of power;.

I call it ingenuity!

Gender Wars... or A Lack Thereof

TOKYO (AP) -- An advisory panel on Japan's monarchy will propose allowing women to ascend the throne, the chairman said Tuesday, in a boost to a measure that has broad support in Japan and could relieve pressure on the imperial family to produce a male heir.

It’s about fucking time!

I’m sorry, but what century is this? First of all, monarchies are so yesterday, darlings, (except, of course, in the Kingdom O’Phun)! Their only purpose is to put scandalous pictures on the pages of The Sun and provide Entertainment Tonight with time fillers between the newest Angelina-Brad and Jen-Vince sightings.

Second, the whole idea that “women cannot run countries” is so incredibly misogynist and antiquated it makes me want to scream! My absolutely favorite delusional argument against female leadership is the one about how women cannot make rational decisions during “that time of the month” so they should be kept away from the helm of power.

Um, right. Funny how women are able to be engineers, teachers, scientists, writers, mothers, construction workers, pilots, doctors, lawyers, professors, senators, nuclear physicists and so on and so on - and not bring their nations to absolute ruin during “that time of the month”!!!!! Considering that more than half of the world’s 6.5 billion human inhabitants are female, with about a quarter of the ones 12-and-older “cycling” every week – isn’t it a shocker we didn’t blow the whole place up yet?!!

Let us take a minute, and reflect on the greatest human tragedies – wars, pogroms, ethnic cleansings, assassinations, mass destructions – over the course of human history. Who was at the political helm at the time? Man, you say?!!! Noooooo…It cannot be!

Women can take Midol if things get rough, darlings, but unfortunately, there’s no panacea for testosterone-induced stupidity, group-think and violence.

Widening 66

Both Gubernatorial candidates are for it. Many area residents are clamoring for it. Studies were done under Mark Warner's Administration to look at how to do it. But should it be done? I hold a certain position on a certain Arlington County Commission (which will remain unnamed), and at our monthly meeting this week we were discussing legislative priorities to propose to our County's delegation to the Virginia General Assembly. Usually this is one of the more interesting meetings of the year, and many of the same topics came up: we want state tax incentives for people who invest in alternative energy sources for their homes, businesses, etc., Clean Smokestacks, more attention to the Chesapeake Bay, and other such things. Then the topic of widening I-66 came up when we received our yearly visit from a certain Arlington County Board member. This is a County Board resolution from earlier this year that pretty much summarizes all the relevant problems and history.

A sad fact was brought up during this meeting, and that is this: the cost of widening I-66 ONE LANE ONLY WESTBOUND would require 5 exceptions to safety regs (permanently no shoulders) and would cost on the order of 100-200 million dollars by an optimistic estimate. This would be adding lanes inside the beltway before Prince William as this project does, where basically there isn't much of a traffic problem anyway. That's one lane, in one direction. Much of the reason for this is the simple fact that land along 66 is practically worth more than platinum right now. Adding a lane eastbound would be even more costly. So, let's assume, that adding a lane on both sides, as Jerry Kilgore has proposed, would reasonably cost half a billion dollars. Still say you're not going to raise taxes, Jerry? Or are you just going to reneg on the promise you're making to win votes in Northern Virginia?

While widening 66 would maybe be nice, I personally believe that if they made it 20 lanes wide we'd still have traffic problems. And the cost is going to be explosive. And if there's one thing Virginians don't like, it's paying for anything with more taxes. Until this reaches such a state of emergency where people are willing to do that, or people are more willing to use mass transit, widening 66 is going to remain a pipe dream.

The Man Behind the Man Behind the Man

The Plame Game continues to get more and more complicated, as Tom Maguire somehow manages to keep on top of things. Cheney is now implicated as the man who passed on to Scooter that Ms. Plame was a CIA agent. But what else? Were either of them aware this was classified info? If it was Tenet who told them, as some have suspected, maybe. Or maybe not! Has Scooter lied under oath to protect his both? Maybe, maybe not! David Corn has some thoughts on possible fallout too.

Almost everyone is puzzled what Fitzgerald's endgame will be now. Who is he going to indict, if anyone? Who has committed perjury? What does it mean for Bush's Presidency and is that why he chose to inform Dick Cheney of Harriet Miers' choice "from a distance" as it were? There are way many more questions than answers. Also, Fitzgerald's revisiting of the whole yellowcake issue and Joseph Wilson's claims thrown even more shadows over the end goal of whatever is going on.

Because there's no such thing. . .

As hating on Harriet Miers too much, here's the Reaction's latest Miers withdrawal watch. A roundup of all things against Harriet Miers, including a flaming sword into the heart of the most steadfast defender of all: Hugh Hewitt. This, though, says it all. The hostility toward this woman just grows by the day. I can now discern four distinct groups of people who hate Harriet Miers:

1) Liberals who hate Miers because she was nominated by Bush. They need no other reasons.

2) Activist Social Conservatives who hate Miers because they're not sure whether she will overturn Roe v. Wade or any number of other important decisions regarding prayer in schools, the Ten Commandments, or the death penalty for minors.

3) Intellectual Conservatives who hate Miers because they're not sure whether or not she'll challenge big government.

4) Moderates who hate Miers because they think she's unqualified.

Count me in Category 4). And of course there are mixtures of them. I myself can't discern even more than 2 groups (yellow-dog Bushies and Some Evangelicals) who support Miers nomination. It seems a whole menu of Miers-hating is starting to appear. Whether it's cronyism, incompetence, liberalism, or conservatism Miers is the ultimate political Rorschach test: you can find whatever it is you hate in her!

White Flight Club

What a bunch of hillbillies:

"Jamie and Stephan Lechner liked their house in Germantown well enough, but in recent years, they said, the neighborhood began to change in ways that made them feel less comfortable. There were some discipline problems in the school where Jamie taught. There was a shooting in a low-income area not too far from where they lived and other, smaller signs that made them think things were headed downward."

[snip]

"We had conflict," said Jamie Lechner, referring to her old Germantown neighborhood. "And we wanted to move away from that. . . . That's why we're here -- to be sheltered."

[snip]

Perilla, who does vote, moved to Dominion Valley from a house in Manassas, which is in the older, more developed part of the region, a diverse area where Mexican and Central American immigrants have settled and where neighborhoods of single-family homes might be adjacent to townhouses and apartments. Like the Lechners, she and her family moved in part because the old neighborhood was changing.

"It sounds awful," Perilla said, "but it was turning into a more working-class neighborhood. More pickups -- not that there's anything wrong with that. . . . There were problems we didn't want to deal with -- at least on a personal level."

The Lechners were of a similar mind. They liked the diversity of their Germantown neighborhood, they said, but they did not want to subject their children to what they perceived as racial conflicts and other problems they associated with nearby government-subsidized housing.

[snip]

"At a certain point, you want your kids to grow up in Mayberry," Jamie Lechner said. "And this is as close to Mayberry as we can get."

Honestly, if the colored and poor people scare you, that's all you have to say. I'd have more respect for these folks if they were up front about their preferences/biases/prejudices/etc. instead of beating around the bush. The 'Mayberry' line says it all.

Help Out Harriet

Start Your Engines

Pre-Season ACC Basketball poll. It sure looks like the Wahoos will have to wait another year, but beware of upsets.

Rank Team Points
1 Duke (87*) 1,044
2 Boston College 918
3 Wake Forest 791
4 North Carolina State 744
5 Maryland 707
6 North Carolina 573
7 Miami 540
8 Virginia Tech 451
9 Georgia Tech 380
10 Clemson 230
11 Florida State 216
12 Virginia 92

*Duke was voted No. 1 on all 87 ballots cast.

Robert Mugabe and Desperate Thuggery

Robert Mugabe sure is a rambunctious fellow. When he's not declaring Bush and Blair are equivalent to Hitler and Mussolini and that his country is a paragon of democracy, he's busy demolishing people's homes and starving them.

Thousands of Zimbabweans are now living like animals in the midst of rubble, crawling in and out of hovels less than 3ft high, fashioned from cardboard boxes and broken asbestos.

With no means of earning a living — and with aid agencies banned by the government from helping them — they are forced to forage in rubbish for rotten vegetables or prostitute themselves for the equivalent of 10p to feed their children. A doctor who managed to get in said tuberculosis was rife.

These are the victims of Operation Murambatsvina (drive out the filth), Mugabe’s so-called urban beautification campaign which, according to a damning report by the United Nations, left more than 700,000 homeless or without an income.

Yet last week the United Nations flew Zimbabwe’s president on an all-expenses-paid trip to Rome to celebrate World Food Day in defiance of European Union travel sanctions. Flanked by bodyguards, he proclaimed that there was no hunger in his country and blamed its problems on George W Bush and Tony Blair, branding them international terrorists and likening them to Hitler and Mussolini.

These poor "dust people" are unfortunate evidence of how much of a thug Robert Mugabe is. While his people starve to death, he gives highly applauded speeches to the UN on World Food Day about how bad Bush and Blair are. Some things just boggle the mind, and it really makes you wonder why people accord the UN so much credibility when it comes to human rights. Here's a more personal account of what happened while Mugabe was being applauded and high-fived for his hypocritical rhetoric.

While Mugabe was enjoying Rome, Zvikomborera explained how she is forced to live. Her children scour the rubbish dump of a supermarket for rotten potatoes and tomatoes out of which she cuts any good bits. The previous day, the two girls had shared one cup of rice. Zvikomborera had nothing.

Until two weeks ago they were getting food from a Buddhist organisation. Then the Department of Social Welfare summoned aid agencies, such as World Vision and the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and banned them from distributing any more.

“They told us there is no such thing as urban displaced people in Zimbabwe and there is no hunger in Harare,” said one aid worker. “They just want these people to die.”

Like most of her fellow dust people, Zvikomborera is still astounded by what happened to her. “Before Murambatsvina we were poor but we were managing. My children were clean and went to school. I collected scrap wood from carpenters and industries and sold it for firewood.

“When the police and dogs came, we lost everything. In one hour they had smashed my home, bed, wardrobe. We have nothing left but a few clothes and pots and pans. I just cried and cried.

“Now we live here on the dust. We have no water. There is a tap at the bus station but they make us buy the water at Z$50,000 (£1.10) for 20 litres. Where can I get money now they have stopped us selling things? My children cannot go to school as I have no address and don’t know where I will be in two weeks. Everyone is sick and starving.”

The fact that Mugabe can commit this kind of brutality, and have Thabo Mbeki be his bagman in helping pave over his phony President-for-life elections that his opponent Tsvangirai called "daylight robbery" is beyond me. The more we complain about politics in the U.S., the more we have to be thankful we don't have this kind of tyrant in charge.

No Advisor Left Behind

It's official: Ben Bernanke is to replace Alan Greenspan. Where does he come from? Well, the President's Council of Economic Advisors! Is anyone surprised? I won't allege bald cronyism in this case, though. And anyone who does should be quickly smacked back with the fact that Bernanke has, at least, served on the Fed before and his specialty is in monetary macroeconomics. Read his vitals here. Seems like a standard choice. Here are also some smart remarks on current-accounts deficit and global savings gluts. Bernanke has been hip to some of the more troubling trends in international economics, especially with regard to U.S. currency, and he has unique theories on some of these problems. Given bad news about the topic earlier this week, he's also serious about fighting inflation and has thought a lot about how to do it.

He should probably do pretty well, but it doesn't look so great for him to be picked right from Bush's inner-circle of economic advisors with the Harriet Miers fiasco going on, even if he is probably one of the most well-qualified people for the job. Even so, definitely color me as being in support of the guy.

Really Want to Save Marriage?

There's a lot of attack about marriage being under assault. About wars on the traditional family. About the so-called "Radical Gay Agenda" seeking to destroy American culture. We all know that's a bunch of bulljive. There's only one real threat to marriage: celebrities. Kung Fu Monkey has the real policy answer to this: the Defense Against Celebrity Marriage Amendment. I'm already writing my state delegation.

Carnivale

RINOs on the march.

I Am Sofa King Retaw Dead

I was unaware that apparently the Apocalypse has happened, and the DC Metro Area has transformed into the brutal land depicted in Mad Max 2:

Ingaharra and Evans, both of whom lived in Prince George's, were not the most law-abiding of drivers, according to court records. Each had been cited for at least a half-dozen traffic offenses, records show -- never for aggressive driving specifically, but a few times each for speeding.

Evans, a field technician for Washington Gas, had been arrested twice in 1990 for allegedly carrying a gun illegally, authorities said. They said Ingaharra, who was unemployed, had been the subject of several criminal complaints that accused him of harassment and making threats.

The two were strangers when they dueled on Old Alexandria Ferry Road.

"They were arguing back and forth in their cars," said a law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the incident is being investigated. "When they got to the intersection, [Ingaharra] got out, started walking toward the other guy with his arms up, like, 'What do you want to do now?'

"Basically he was egging him on," the official said.

Evans's attorney, David Simpson, said in a brief interview that his client was afraid of Ingaharra. Simpson acknowledged what Evans did next: He pointed his Glock out the driver's window of the Mercedes and squeezed the trigger, again and again.

Yikes.

Budget Idiotarians Attack!

The aftermath of the Coburn Amendments has been telling, especially when it comes to the Last Frontier's always-entertaining Congressional Delegation. Here's the real doozy from the pages of El Wapo:

The amendment became a cause celebre on the left and the right, with watchdog and conservative groups reporting updates on their Web sites throughout the day. The Club for Growth alerted readers early yesterday on its Web log, or blog: "As of last night, the opposition is putting up a big fight. They sense this amendment, if successful, as establishing a precedent. A precedent where all pork is vulnerable and no lawmaker is safe."

Later in the day, the Heritage Foundation circulated a paper, "The Bridge to Nowhere: A National Embarrassment," and noted, "fiscally responsible members of Congress should be eager to zero out its funding." Even the Sierra Club backed the amendment, noting, "We must fix the nation's existing infrastructure first."

And, there is a curious twist to the story: Many residents of Alaska appear to support forfeiting the bridge money for hurricane relief. "This money, a gift from the people of Alaska, will represent more than just material aid; it will be a symbol for our beleaguered democracy," reads a typical letter to the Anchorage Daily News.

Young, who made sure his state was one of the top recipients in the highway bill, was asked by an Alaska reporter what he made of the public support for redirecting the bridge money. "They can kiss my ear! That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard," he replied.

Well, hmm. Isn't this interesting? Apparently Young (who by the way the Bridge to Nowhere would be named after, in case you didn't know about it) thinks something that has massive support amongst his own constituents is "the dumbest th