Predictions for 2006

Social Security reform remains dead, Bush turns towards tax reform, albeit much less ambitious than conservative supporters would like.

Sam Alito's nomination fight will focus almost exclusively on abortion-related jurisprudential issues as politicians mindlessly conform to the media rubric which fails to believe there are any judicial controversies of import beyond Roe v. Wade.


More al Qaeda leaders are killed or captured, but bin Laden himself will remain at-large the entire calendar year.

Republicans retain the House and Senate but lose seats in the former.

NBC will actually have a good fall season, but will still underperform CBS and NBC.

Out: complaints about porn DVDs playing in full view of other vehicles in traffic
In: complaints about people watching porn on video iPods on subways, buses, airlines, etc.

That's Not What You Meant To Say.... Is it?

Hold on, DOJ! I think you got it all wrong! You really mean to investigate the NSA secret spying program, not how the existence of the program was leaked to the public... right?

Wanted: Good PR Rep

Is it me or are steroid-taking baseball players getting stupider by the day? I know many of them are hiring people to help them mask their illegal performance-enhancing drugs. But it seems like these people should also hire PR people to help them craft better explanations for failed drug tests – or if not PR people, maybe a good fiction writer.

Raphael Palmeiro is still saying he doesn’t know how he tested positive (hat tip, Deadspin). He thinks he must have put something into his body without checking first, assuming it was a legal performance enhancing drug. What is worse is that the NY Times journalist who interviewed him seems to have bought the story. Murray Chass uses Palmeiro's build to give his denial credibility. Apparently, Palmeiro doesn't have the typical steroid-user's body. The only problem is that steriods do not just give someone big muscles, they can also help people recover faster from strenuous workouts (this becomes very important as you age). Just because someone isn't bluky doesn't mean they aren't users. Maybe Stephen King or Dean Koontz can help the next person who tests positive to come up with a better story.

American Indian

I finally visited the National Museum of the American Indian during one of my days off from work. It was one of the only Smithsonian Museums I hadn’t visited. I have to say I think they did a good job. The museum is informative, even if it tries to breeze past some of the major political issues American Indians face. It finds time to talk about the different societies’ belief structures, their history, and their place in the modern world. What becomes very clear is how delicate the balance is to retain the old customs and the important parts of their culture, while at the same time welcoming certain scientific advances.

What was missing though were important aspects of their life that are sometimes more controversial. For example, the exhibits talk about gaming casinos, and while they mention that controversy exists, the discussions were mostly positive from what I saw. Also, there was little talk about the significant poverty issues these communities face. I understand that it might be undesirable to talk about these problems in a museum – after all, it is much more fun to celebrate a culture than to recognize its problems. But if this were to be a complete educational experience, I think more of these issues should have been discussed.

Besides that one criticism, my experience was positive. The information was accessible and interesting and I came away knowing a lot more about American Indian culture than I did before going in. I am glad that the Smithsonian Institution is finding new ways “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men”.

As a final note, the food court there is excellent. It showcases Native American foods from different regions. This is one of the only examples I know of where the food is used as an extension of the exhibits in the museum.

Cujo

Your dog doesn't resent you for getting a job - it is just bored.

Tunnel Vision

An eye-opening post on Slate about Muslim extremism in Bangladesh. You would think with so many other countries also facing this problem, the world would be able to talk about more than just Iraq.

Del Boca Vista

If this offer is real, and anyone rejects it, they should be hit over the head with a tack hammer. Not even One-Eyed Willie's treasure could cover how much these people will get for their homes.

This Season, We Wish You (Catholic) Love

Single Italian women, behold! This season, the Catholic Church wishes you prosperity, good health, and love... just not with Muslim men.

Two documents issued by the Vatican "called for extreme caution by Catholic women contemplating marriage to a Muslim" warning them of "bitter experiences" for women resulting from such unions. Cardinal Ruini, the head of the Italian bishops commented that "Catholics marrying Muslims have to reckon with extra difficulties arising from deep cultural differences."

Sure, when two people with different religious beliefs and cultural backgrounds decide to get married, they should both think about how these differences could affect their life together.

But, wow. The Catholic Church pretending to look out for women's best interests?... This would have nothing to do with xenophobia, fears of Islamization of Europe, or racism, would it?

Proof the Jews Don't Run Hollywood...*

... or at least not the entertainment chain store FYE (For Your Entertainment).

Completing my Christmas shopping yesterday at FYE, I bought some boxed sets of DVDs for relatives. The cashier tossed in a free FYE 2006 calendar which is chock full of DVD release date-listings for the new year as well as some coupons to save money at the store. The calendar begins with December 2005, however, and on that page it lists December 15 as the first day of Chanukah, which is of course 10 days off the mark. Chanukah this year begins sunset of the 25th.

The minor holiday is completely ignored in 2006 calendar year, as are Passover and the high holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Perhaps it's no big deal for a calendar the primary purpose of which is to drive traffic to FYE for DVD release days (Tuesdays), but it seemed a bit of an insensitive cultural oversight to me given most calendars these days list major Christian and Jewish as well as civic holidays.




*yes, I'm guilty of using inflammatory-sounding headlines to rope in audiences, rest assured readers I am no conspiracy theorist nor anti-Semite, as the context of this post indicates.

Moderate Until Re-election (MUR)

Apparently Rick Santorum is trying to become more moderate as his re-election comes up. Instead of attacking the decision by Judge John E. Jones III, Santorum is no longer affiliating himself with the Thomas More Law Center, a Christian-rights group that had defended the Dover School District's decision. Although Santorum had at one time praised the Dover School Board for their decision, now it seems he is backing away from that position, at least until the election is over. Of course Santorum is saying his position hasn’t changed and that he favored the freedom for teachers to teach criticisms of evolution, but not force them to teach Intelligent Design. Either way, I expect Santorum to spontaneously self-combust one of these days as he tries to publicly say something moderate.

Eat It Wallflowers

Via the Professor)

Black Eyes Mounting

Memo to the Federal Government. You might want to rethink spending the billions and billions of reconstruction funding dollars with the Army Corps of Engineers:

"Hurricane Katrina will go down in the history books as the costliest hurricane in U.S. history, but not by a long shot the most powerful.

The National Hurricane Center released a summary report on Katrina this week that downgraded the storm's intensity at landfall in Louisiana on Aug. 29 from Category 4 to Category 3. The winds in New Orleans, which lay to the west of the storm's center, were probably even weaker than that, at Category 1 or 2 speeds, the report said."

So to recap:

1) The Army Corps of Engineers constructs a levee system to withstand a Cat. 3 hurricane.

2) Said levee system fails due to the force of what was originally characterized as a Cat. 4 hurricane, causing the most expensive disaster relief operation and clean up in the history of the United States.

3) Hurricane Katrina is officially re-designated a Cat. 3 storm once it made landfall, down from an original rating of Cat. 4 storm.

4) Reconstruction of said levee system is scheduled for completion on June 1, 2006 not just at full Cat. 3 strength, but at Cat. 5 strength by the same group who originally constructed the first levee system.

Are we sure Mike Brown is no longer working for the federal government? It sure sounds like he or one of his acolytes is trying to hatch another hair-brained scheme.

Another Comeback Kid?

Democrats and liberals, hold you rallying cries and empty determination that 2006 will be your 1994. Why? Because the Bush comeback is starting. The approval ratings started quietly rebounding recently and have him showing strength on terrorism and the economy. Mostly this has been Republicans who were starting to have dissatisfaction come rallying back, but Bush still has a huge weakness among independents. Always interesting are the Iraq polls:

Slightly more than half of the country (52 percent) continues to believe the war was not worth fighting, according to the new poll, although the proportion who said it was rose seven points, to 46 percent. But a majority now believe the war has contributed positively to the long-term security of the country, after dipping below 50 percent during the late summer and fall.

[snip]

More than half the country (52 percent) said they favor decreasing the number of troops in Iraq, a five-percentage-point increase since early November. But far fewer of those anxious to bring troops home are calling for a speedy exit. Just 12 percent of those surveyed said they favor immediate withdrawal, down from 18 percent in November, whereas 40 percent said they favor a gradual withdrawal, up from 29 percent in November. Just over a third said they favor keeping troop levels where they are now.

Looks like Murtha's call for the U.S. to surrender Iraq to Al-Qaeda isn't playing well politically, and the Democrats best heed this before they continue to trumpet the point to self-annihilation. Another factor in Bush's rebound is probably Sam Alito who a majority of Americans want to see appointed to the Court. While only 54% say he should be confirmed, only 28% oppose him. Another potential political seppuku for the Democrats, who will create all kinds of awesome soundbite for the 2006 midterms while they get hysterical on Alito. I would guess that nominating Alito, which so far has only alienated the predictable strong Democrats, only stirred up indifference amongst most Americans and drastically rallied the Republican base to Bush's side. This probably explains why Bush's numbers have improved so much from November 1, when he was still hamstrung by the Harriet Miers fiasco.

All in all, I don't expect this is a trend that is going to reverse itself. Even with the domestic spying, Bush has coming out wailing and people are responding well to it. He's gathering momentum and no longer are the Democrats going to be able to keep simply lurking, they're really going to have to do the impossible and come up with a real political platform if they want to derail a possible GOP renewal.

Just Say No!... To ANWR Drilling

Tee hee.

I guess Bush & Co. did not make it to Santa's "nice list" this time around: their dream of drilling for oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) was thwarted once again.

Sorry, Dick, no bonus from Haliburton under the Christmas (um, I mean, holiday) tree this year.

What Does it Take for UMd. Officials to Crawl Into their Shell?

A student at Maryland sent this along to me. For the heck of it this student filed a facetious complaint about an innocuous holiday greeting available at the umd.edu website. This student permitted me to include the correspondence, but with the student's name excised. I've also censored the private office line for Mr. Candelaria, the official who replied to my fellow Terrapin.

Thank you for your email. As you know the university is governed by state and federal laws and regulations as well as by the policies and procedures adopted by the Board of Regents. The university adheres to its Human Relations Code, a copy of which can be accessed through my office's website.

We are sorry that you felt offended by the communication or attachment sent last week. I will take your concern under advisement at this time. If you wish to follow up with any sort of formal action, I would be happy to meet with you to explain the various options. My personal line is 301-4**-****. I expect to be out of the office for some vacation after this Wednesday.

Thank you.

Roger Candelaria

-----Original Message-----

From: *********

Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 *****

To: dmote@umd.edu

Cc: rcandel@umd.edu; cblack@umd.edu

Subject: Re: Holiday Greeting

President Mote,

I wanted to let you know that I was deeply offended by your recent mass e-mail regarding Holiday Greetings.

You noted that this season is a time "when we gather with family and friends to relax, take stock, and count our blessings." I feel that using the term "blessings" implies the existence of an omnipotent being that influences our lives. This implication can be very offensive to the atheist population at this university. It also borders on a violation of the First Amendment because it implies state sponsorship of a God-centered religion.

I was also offended by the online animation wishing us to be inspired. I noticed that in the bottom corners of the animation, there sit holly leaves and berries. Those symbols reek of Christmas to me and it certainly implies an endorsement of that holiday over th! e many other holidays celebrated during this season. Where is the menorah, or the harvest basket? Why must you use a clearly Christian symbol when addressing a very diverse group of people.

I hope that you will seriously consider retracting your "happy holiday" wishes, apologize for the offensive nature of your e-mail, and ensure that the animation is removed from the university's web site before more people are offended.

Thank you,

**********

Student

And You Thought Stalin Was Crazy BEFORE!

THE Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the creation of Planet of the Apes-style warriors by crossing humans with apes, according to recently uncovered secret documents.

Moscow archives show that in the mid-1920s Russia's top animal breeding scientist, Ilya Ivanov, was ordered to turn his skills from horse and animal work to the quest for a super-warrior.


According to Moscow newspapers, Stalin told the scientist: "I want a new invincible human being, insensitive to pain, resistant and indifferent about the quality of food they eat."

Nuff said.

You Can Run But You Can't Hide (Obligatory Big FISA Post)

This whole FISA business is quite unnerving. The reactions to it have been particularly diverse, some predictable and some unpredictable. First, the spooks. Defensetech has a solid roundup of the intelligence community's reaction to this whole FISA flap. (Hat tip, Balloon Juice.) In a word:

Their reactions range between midly creeped out and completely pissed off.

All of the sigint specialists emphasized repeatedly that keeping tabs on Americans is way beyond the bounds of what they ordinarily do -- no matter what the conspiracy crowd may think.

"It's drilled into you from minute one that you should not ever, ever, ever, under any fucking circumstances turn this massive apparatus on an American citizen," one source says. "You do a lot of weird shit. But at least you don't fuck with your own people."

[snip]

But this call chain could very well have grown out of control, the source admits. Suddenly, people ten and twelve degrees of separation away from Osama may have been targeted.

The spooks seem a bit spooked and puzzled. For what it seems this sounds like another typical and chronic Bush Administration problem. Something begins that seems justified and a good idea at the time, then begins to spiral out of control because little effort is made to restrain it.

Kevin Drum has an update on a FISA judge who resigned here and in an earlier post wonders why the hell the Bush Administration needed to stray from the loosey-goosey demands of FISA in the first place. FISA, among other things, allows the NSA and others to get warrants AFTER THE FACT in secret courts. These seems like it would easily suit their purposes, unless they're afraid of a CLASSIFIED paper trail that no one can legally access, and if they are afraid of it, what do they have to hide? Instabandit wonders the same thing, but posits that it may have been a technology issue (which I don't buy) and makes the very good point that this isn't so different than stuff that was happening under Clinton anyway.

Do I think this is an impeachable offense and he should resign, like some blowhards? No, because this isn't the worst thing he's done by far. Sure, it's sketchy, but so was the torture issue, which troubles me a bit more than domestic spying. I think the rightwing crowd's argument that this is not really anything new also rings plausible. As much as people would want to act like this is some sort of new Bush invention I doubt that. But, all the same, Congress should probe it, as many Republican lawmakers are calling for. We need more facts about who did what and the extent of this, and if it did spiral as out of control as it seems, heads should roll over at the NSA and people should do jail time. The notion that because Congress authorized the President to fight terrorism he could do this is absurd.

Hey, I don't like Kenny G either, but...

... dontcha think you're taking it a bit too far, Mahmoud?

- Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has banned Western music from Iran's radio and TV stations, reviving one of the harshest cultural decrees from the early days of 1979 Islamic Revolution. Songs such as George Michael's "Careless Whisper," Eric Clapton's "Rush" and the Eagles' "Hotel California" have regularly accompanied Iranian broadcasts, as do tunes by saxophonist Kenny G.

Pure Genius

This is so wonderful I weep and laugh at once.

"Oh thank god," he said Ironically.

Finally, someone has taken a stand against these conservative right, inbred yahoos touting that "intelligent design" is a viable, scientific alternative to the theory of evolution. What makes it $weeter is that this ruling came from a Republican judge. Not only that, he was apparently appointed by President Dipsh ... Bush ... himself, proving that even a retarded monkey can find a bannana every now and again.

My favorite part about this whole article is what Judge John E. Jones III reportedly said after the trial:

"The breathtaking inanity of the board's decision is evident when considered against the factual backdrop which has now been fully revealed through this trial. The students, parents, and teachers of the Dover Area School District deserved better than to be dragged into this legal maelstrom, with its resulting utter waste of monetary and personal resources."

I couldn't agree more, Judge Rock-My-Face-Off-Even-If-You-Are-Republican. Despite all of this, I know that what the conservatives say at the end of the article is true, and that this stupid debate will go on and on; however, at least it's a small step for rational thought and a tiny kick in the junk of the fanatical right.

Now then, if only I can convince them to teach $tevolution in schools. Talk about breathtaking inanity!

Who Does Fair Trade Benefit?

Tyler Cowen is on the case, with his usual assault of industrial organization and strategic economics, and his thoughts and theories may surprise you.

Getting a Rush

There was a striking report on NPR last night about the growing use of OxyContin by high school students. NPR cited a study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse that claims OxyContin use is up 40 percent over the last three years and that one in 20 high school seniors admit to having used it.

I guess my biggest question about this trend is whether banning a drug completely, like heroin, or making it available through a prescription like OxyContin, has any effect on its use. OxyContin, at $80 a pill, is much more expensive than heroin, but it seems to be used more right now. Granted, this could be a symptom of poor information where kids don’t know the serious addictive nature of the drug. One of the kids interviewed by NPR said he tried it because it was a prescription drug and he therefore assumed that it was relatively safe.

The point is that OxyContin has become a serious problem. I don’t know what the answer is, but I suspect one proposal will be to ban it completely. As much as it has helped those in serious pain, we need to find out if there are other ways we can combat this before banning it becomes our only recourse.

Strike One

You can tell that I am not a very good Democrat when I see a transit strike and I don't take the union's side. Although I think unions can have a very positive impact on improving working conditions and obtaining fair pay for their members, when they become too powerful, they often ask for too much. Unions are notorious for ignoring current and future fiscal conditions in seeking ever increasing wages and benefits.

The New York City transit workers have walked off the job after negotiations fell apart late last night. Two aspects of the contract that are under dispute are making new workers pay more for health care and pension plans and how to spend the current budget surplus. The union thinks much of the $1 billion surplus should be spent on increasing employee wages and benefits and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority says the surplus needs to be saved for future projected budget deficits. With rising health care and pension costs, as well as fiscal troubles many public transportation agencies face, both would be reasonable concessions for the union to make. In fact, pension plans for public officials have been declining for over a decade, and refusing to accept this fact shows that the union is in denial.

Since public officials are prohibited from striking under New York State law, the union is likely to lose big in this fight. Employees will be fined two days pay for each day of the strike, and although New Yorkers are taking it in stride for now, their patience is not likely to last.

Jabberbloggy and Literacy

The Princezz missed out on a wonderful opportunity to discuss American literacy in our public forum. More statistical goodness after the jump.

The Agony of Defeat

I'm calling it. The United States has officially lost the War on Drugs.

Bolivia’s socialist presidential candidate Evo Morales, who has promised to become Washington’s “nightmare,” said his victory was assured in Sunday’s elections after two independent exit polls showed him with an unexpectedly strong lead.

If the projected margin holds, Morales, a coca farmer who has said he will end a U.S.-backed anti-drug campaign aimed at eradicating the crop used to make cocaine, will likely be declared president in January over his conservative opponent.

As if Hugo Chavez didn't give Washington enough headaches, Morales will probably make him look warm and cuddly. An avowed socialist who plans to make cocaine production easier will certainly make the entire regional dynamic the U.S. has been trying to put in place in Latin America fall to pieces. The surge of cocaine will be hard to stop, and without the cooperation of the producer it's unlikely that the U.S. will be able to get anywhere without relying on border protections (already pathetically inadequate). And, after decades of trying to plant neo-liberal free-market notions in Latin America Morales, like Chavez, will roll it all back in his country instantly and make others mistakenly believe they can survive the same way. The tides are indeed turning, and the U.S. may continue to lose ground in Latin America unless it can successfully counter the influence of such figures.

The Guilt Trip of the Century

From Bush's news conference regarding the NSA surveillance program:


"My personal opinion is it was a shameful act, for someone to disclose this very important program in time of war.

"The fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy.

"You've got to understand, and I hope the American people understand, there is still an enemy that would like to strike the United States of America, and they're very dangerous. And, you know, the discussion about how we try to find them will enable them to adjust. Now, I can understand you asking these questions. And if I were you, I'd be asking me these questions too.

"But it is a shameful act by somebody who has got secrets of the United States government and feels like they need to disclose them publicly."


You're right, Mr. President. It is our fault for demanding transparency of government in a democratic society, not your fault for pulling old Cold War CIA/KGB wire-tapping tricks on your own people. So I guess if another terrorist attack happens (god forbid!) that will be our fault, too, for wanting some sort of honesty from our own elected government officials, not your fault for still not having your act together after five years in office.

RINO Assemblage

Sorry, it's been a while since I linked to the Carnival.

The Yes Men

Recently, I watched The Yes Men, a documentary following two WTO impersonators. Although the documentary itself wasn't great in its own right, the hijinks of the Yes Men keeps it compelling. The Yes Men started by creating spoof websites with similar links to the person or organization they were satirizing. It started with a George W. Bush site in 1999, and a WTO site soon followed that. Each site tried to portray their victim in a way that the Yes Men thought was more honest; they call this Identity Correction.

Soon after the creation of the WTO site, they received email questions followed by invitations to speak at a number of conferences on trade. The Yes Men would accept the invitations and use the forum to satirize the WTO through advocating for policies that show callous disregard for people in developing countries. Strangely enough, the Yes Men are not discovered at the conferences, despite the absurdity of their presentations.

It seems though that the Yes Men saved their best satirical conference for after the documentary. Their latest website takes on DOW, and again they were invited to speak at a conference. In April 2004, the Yes Men announced the Acceptable Risk Calculator, and its mascot, the golden skeleton – because, “It may be just a skeleton in the closet, yes--but it could very well be a golden skeleton too.” This new calculator will help companies determine, through examining market forces, if any potentially dangerous products might still be profitable in the long run. The best part is that instead of being ridiculed for their speech, many at the banking conference wanted pictures with the golden skeleton and signed up for licenses to use the Acceptable Risk Calculator.

Kinnithrung Sprat

I would love to be optimistic about the WTO summit in Hong Kong. After all, it looks like there has been some progress. The European Union agreed to eliminate subsidies for exported farm goods by 2013 and the US has agreed to end cotton subsidies earlier than other subsidies. Also, duties and quotas on 97 percent of imports from 32 of the poorest countries will be elimnated.

But these compromises will only take effect if the full accord is passed. And with so much left that is in dispute, an agreement looks doubtful. France and the US are blocking many measures that would force them to cut more of their farm subsidies. And while the farm subsidies exist, developing countries whose economies are highly based on agriculture will have trouble competing in the global market. Even if the US agrees in principle to further reductions in subsidies, the agreements will still have to be approved by Congress, where even the current concessions could be controversial.

This Way To Exit

Assisted suicide for terminally ill patients has been legal in Switzerland for some time, but up until now, those who wished to die had to leave hospital premises to do so. Now, a Lausanne hospital has taken a major step forward in preserving the patients' dignity by allowing assisted suicides on its grounds.

In the U.S., a lot of attention is paid to how we enter this world -- and our right to do so. The pro-choice/anti-choice battle wages on, and realizing the undeniable religious foundations of this country, it is hard to envision a time when there will not be political, social and moral tensions surrounding the abortion issue.

But there is too little focus on how we leave this world -- and our right to do so. The rights of the individual are respected, but only to a certain point. We are trusted to make decisions about whether to have children and how many, whether to smoke or not, whether to have elective surgery or not, whether to own a gun or not, whether to vote or not, whether to love or not... but not whether to die or not.

Perhaps our biological survival instincts makes it rightfully so; in a sense, we live to be and stay alive. But is that a be-all-and-end-all argument against euthanasia? After all, some animals realize that death is nigh, and hide away from all help and sustenance, speeding up the final moments.

So how about if we spend some time considering our intellectual instincts instead? Let us explore our abilities to reason, to feel, to live our lives intentionally versus haphazardly. To allow ourselves and our loved ones to leave this world the same way we had tried our best to live in it -- with dignity, respect and compassion.

Unholy Zealotry

Tis the season. Three stories strike me, two from always disgruntled Catholic Sullivan. The first involves the controvery of a somewhat positive review of Brokeback Mountain on Catholic News Service. Since then it's been edited and censored. Witness the sad disclaimer

Editor's Note: "Brokeback Mountain," originally rated L (limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling), has been reclassified O -- morally offensive. This has been done because the serious weight of the L rating -- which restricts films in that category to those who can assess, from a Catholic perspective, the moral issues raised by a movie -- is, unfortunately, misunderstood by many. Because there are some in this instance who are using the L rating to make it appear the church's -- or the USCCB's -- position on homosexuality is ambiguous, the classification has been revised specifically to address its moral content.

Also, recently Benedict's cabal excommunicated (for those who don't know much about Catholicism, that's the worst thing that can be done) an entire priest and Lay board in St. Louis over mere financial matters.

Unlike most other Roman Catholic parishes around the country, St. Stanislaus Kostka's board -- not the archbishop -- has governed the parish's finances, according to an arrangement dating to the late 19th century.

Since Burke began serving as archbishop in January 2004, he had increased pressure on the parish to conform to current church structure and hand over control of its assets.

St. Stanislaus's lay leaders refused, accusing Burke of wanting the parish's assets, estimated at more than $9 million.

The Vatican has backed Burke.

Roger Krasnicki, spokesman for the St. Stanislaus board, said avenues of appeal are available but had in the past proved to be "an exercise in futility."

"I think it's a gross error of judgment on his part," Krasnicki said of Burke's decision. "It's a sad day in the Catholic Church."

What? I understand the need to impose discipline. But excommunication, permanently removing these people from the Catholic Church, is a horrific act. As Catholicism holds that those not in the Church cannot achieve salvation, this Archbishop effectively damned these people to hell over a governance issue. I'm speechless at the completely unChristian nature of this action.

And last, but not least, we have the American Family Assocaition protesting Walmart for not saying Merry Christmas. In case you forgot, these are the same clowns trying to prevent a cancer vaccine because it might take away some of the risks of sex. Again, words escape me at this kind of lunacy. It's one thing to be upset over the government preventing people from saying Merry Christmas, but what business do these people have trying to attack a private corporation over it?

In an online petition, the American Family Association recently gathered more than 500,000 signatures asking Target to include Christmas in its promotions. Stores such as Sears and Wal-Mart are facing boycotts.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Amy Wyatt said the company has made no effort to remove Christmas from its holiday ads. She said a promotion set to run from mid-November to early January was simply misunderstood: its slogan is "home for the holidays."

"It was a matter of choosing a slogan that carries through the entire season," Wyatt said. "The signs went up before Thanksgiving and won't be taken down until after New Year's. The idea was to focus on the family."

About 50 protesters took part in Saturday's demonstration, organized by religious leaders. Dick Otterstad of the Church of the Divide donned a Santa Claus costume and greeted shoppers with the message: Don't forget about the meaning of Christmas.

Again, Tis the Season.

Question

Is there anyone who WASN'T on the Jack Abramoff payroll?

Bush Gets It

At least, when it comes to the iPod Shuffle.

Bush: All of these. I put it on shuffle. Dwight Yoakam. I've got the Shuffle, the, what is it called? The little.

Hume: Shuffle.

Bush: It looks like.

Hume: The Shuffle. That is the name of one of the models.

Bush: Yes, the Shuffle.

Hume: Called the Shuffle.

Bush: Lightweight, and crank it on, and you shuffle the Shuffle.

Hume: So you -- it plays . . .

Bush: Put it in my pocket, got the ear things on.

Hume: So it plays them in a random order.

Bush: Yes.

Hume: So you don't know what you're going to going to get.

Bush: No.

Hume: But you know --

Bush: And if you don't like it, you have got your little advance button. It's pretty high-tech stuff.

Hume: . . . be good to have one of those at home, wouldn't it?

Bush: Oh?

Hume: Yes, hit the button and whatever it is that's in your head -- gone.

Bush: . . . it's a bad day, just say, get out of here.

Hume: Well, that probably is pretty . . .

Bush: That works, too. ( Laughter )

Hume: Yes, right.

Well Slap My Ass and Call Me Susan

WTF

Iraqi security forces caught terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the Fallujah area last year but released him because they didn't realize who he was, the deputy interior minister said in an interview broadcast Friday.

The deputy minister, Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal, told the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp., that Iraqi police "suspected this man" and detained him "along with other members" of his group.

"Afterward, he was released because we did not know the identity of this criminal," Kamal told LBC. The station said the remarks were made Wednesday but were aired Friday.

"He was not armed," Kamal said. "He was like any other citizen who was suspected. There was a simple interrogation with him and he was released."

Kamal said the incident occurred "about a year ago, approximately." U.S. forces overran Fallujah in November 2004, ending domination of the city by insurgents and Islamic extremists, including al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq group.

I'm too flabbergasted to say anything more.

Stay Tuned

There is news from South Korea that a paper documenting the cloning of embryonic stem cells could be retracted due to inaccuracies. Apparently, most or all of the stem cell lines created were fake. This is a pretty significant scientific set back for stem cell research. This experiment, if it were true, would have demonstrated the ability to create stem cells by injecting the nuclear DNA of one person into an egg cell whose nuclear DNA had been removed. This would potentially allow for stem cells to be created for a patient using their own DNA, eliminating the possibility of the patient's body rejecting the treatment. Stay tuned as the details of this story unfold.

Brains. . . .Brains. . . . .

I'm no fan of the Botox Zombie, but this move shows she's got some sense left.

Pelosi said Democrats will produce an issue agenda for the 2006 elections but it will not include a position on Iraq. There is consensus within the party that President Bush has mismanaged the war and that a new course is needed, but House Democrats should be free to take individual positions, she sad.

"There is no one Democratic voice . . . and there is no one Democratic position," Pelosi said in an interview with Washington Post reporters and editors.

Pelosi recently endorsed the proposal by Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) for a swift redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq over a period of six months, but no other party leader followed, and House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) publicly opposed her.

She said her support for Murtha was not intended to forge a Democratic position on the war, adding that she blocked an effort by some of her colleagues to put the Democrats on record backing Murtha.

Pelosi has made some extraordinarily idiotic moves this year, but this is one of two that makes a great deal of sense. First, her jumping on board the Porkbusters boat first and offering a 70 million dollar transit project to the chopping block before any other Republicans could do so was very foresighted. Second, keeping the Democrats from turning into an on-record anti-war party is smart. The Republicans, while mostly supporting the war, have had a lot of the rank and file make a lot of criticisms of its conduct lately. That's because the leadership has wisely loosened things up enough to let people express dissent. Democrats, in a lockstep anti-war position, become much more vulnerable as a whole by going in the opposite direction. Already the party is careening towards Doveageddon (a Russ Feingold nomination in 2008), and when she backed Murtha it looked like the Democrats were going to adopt a kool-aid position on Iraq. Iraq is a difficult situation, and locking an entire party in support or against it is foolish. Despite pressure to do so, Pelosi resisted the call, and that shows she has more leadership quality than I imagined, but that's still not saying much.

Ban Fans

Anti-smoking advocates are probably pleased about all the public smoking bans passing everywhere, but we all know they won't rest on those laurels. Their storm-trooper boots are going to be knocking down everyone's doors soon.

Anti-smoking activists who are driving cigarettes from public places across the country are now targeting private homes -- especially those with children.
Their efforts so far have contributed to regulations in three states -- Maine, Oklahoma and Vermont -- forbidding foster parents from smoking around children. Parental smoking also has become a critical point in some child-custody cases, including ones in Virginia and Maryland.
In a highly publicized Virginia case, a judge barred Caroline County resident Tamara Silvius from smoking around her children as a condition for child visitation.
Mrs. Silvius, a waitress at a truck stop in Doswell, Va., calls herself "highly disappointed" with the court's ruling.
"I'm an adult. Who is anybody to tell me I can't smoke or drink?" she said in an interview yesterday.
An appeals court upheld the ruling, but not before one judge raised questions about the extent to which a court should become involved in parental rights and whether certain behavior is harmful or simply not in a child's best interest.
Mrs. Silvius says she complied with the decision by altering her smoking habits.
"My children know not to come around when I'm on the front porch with my morning coffee, tending to my cows or out in my garden, because I'm having a cigarette," she said.
Still, she thinks this was not a matter for the courts because it was not proven that she posed a risk to her children's health.

It's from the Mooninite Times so I would take it with a grain of salt. But it's still I think a worthy concern. Anti-smoking types, at least in the form of the organizations they're in, obviously would like to see smoke banished from the country, and much like anti-abortion advocates are doing it by slowly eroding people's rights to smoke. (Hat tip, Balloon Juice).

No Such Agency

In 2002 President Bush authorized the NSA to conduct domestic surveillance of US citizens and foreign nationals. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. This administration has decided from the beginning that they are above all laws; in all cases, the ends justify the means. While I take the war on terrorism very seriously and understand the need to keep track of those with suspected ties to terrorist organizations, there are ways to accomplish this within the law.

This White House needs to be held accountable for its decisions - for its reckless disregard for fundamental laws of this country. The two most visible examples of this, torture / secret detention facilities and domestic surveillance unapproved by a judge, violate major principles of this country. We decided from the beginning that citizens of this country would have basic civil rights that includes a protection of privacy. Time and again the courts have overturned convictions due to unreasonable search and seizures or unapproved surveillance. We should not tolerate an administration that feels so free to violate basic rights that this country has tried to protect for generations.