Update on Sudan

Nicholas Kristof in his latest column in the New York Times paints a bleak picture about the situation in Sudan. It appears Sudan is backsliding from the positive developments of a month ago.

Just Go Away

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are allegedly engaged. This has to be one of the most over-the-top publicity stunts in recent memory or Katie Holmes likes dating creepy guys (What guy jumps up and down on couch and does a few fist pumps over a girlfriend on Oprah, refers to her as "magnificent " and is a Scientologist to boot. Not any guys that I know.).

Update: Apparently I'm not only one wondering what Katie Holmes sees in Tom Cruise, a website is calling on people to join the movement to free Katie Holmes from "forces we may never understand."

Hat Tip: Sports Guy Intern

It's About Time

Senator John McCain, Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator John Sununu speaking in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, harshly criticized the Uzbekistan government and said the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe should conduct an independent investigation into the uprising and subsequent crackdown on May 13 that led to hundreds of innocent civilian deaths. Senator McCain had particularly stinging criticism of Uzbekistan's government, stating, "History shows that continued repression of human rights leads to tragedies such as the one that just took place." It's good to see that someone in U.S. government has finally had it with Uzbekistan's shenanigans. When the U.S. fails to get tough with its authoritarian allies like Egypt and Uzbekistan, it undercuts the credibility of President Bush who has said that the U.S. will support the citizens of countries who seek freedom. What has Uzbekistan done for the U.S.? We do have a small base there, which has been an important hub for the mission in Afghanistan, though the base is becoming of less importance with the security situation in Afghanistan stabilizing. In addition, Uzbekistan's counterterrorism efforts are doing more harm than good. They may be rounding up their fair share of terrorists, but they're also arresting many dissents, who the Uzbekistan government is calling terrorists to justify their arrest and subsequent torturing. The result of these counter-terrorism efforts is what occurred on May 13. It's time to reevaluate the U.S.-Uzbekistan alliance.

Half-Measure in Egypt

Voters in Egypt overwhelming voted for the constitutional change that will allow for the first oppositional elections in Egypt. First Lady Laura Bush called the change "a bold first step." While this electoral change is an improvement over the previous yes or no votes that took place, it is not much an improvement. It is already apparent that there is not going to be much of an opposition to run against Hosni Mubarak. Opposition candidates have to receive support from 200 members of Mubarak's party. Then assuming that opposition candidates can get that required support, do not expect a vigorous campaign from them. Ayman Nour, who is currently the lone opposition candidate, had the following inspiring campaign rally on Tuesday:

...A clutch of 20 Nour supporters bought tickets to the movie "Kingdom of Heaven" in order to have an excuse to loiter in front of a downtown cinema and shout anti-Mubarak slogans.

The ruse to overcome police restrictions on public meetings didn't work for long. Within a half-hour, a phalanx of thick-forearmed plainclothes security agents backed by dozens of club-carrying riot police marched down narrow Abdel-Hamid Said Street, shoved the protesters into the lobby of the Odeon Theater and scattered reporters and passersby down the block.

Five of the plainclothes men dragged Ihab Khouly, a senior member of Nour's Tomorrow Party, to jail for a brief stay. Nour's wife, Gamila Ismael, was manhandled, though she was soon permitted to return to nearby party headquarters.

Not exactly the bold first step Laura Bush was talking about. President Bush said during his second Inauguration speech, "All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you. " It's time for Bush to live up to those words and get Egypt to take that bold first step towards democracy. The U.S. currently gives billions in aid to Egypt each year and nothing would get their attention quicker than a threat to get rid of or significantly reduce their aid if they do not take significant steps towards democratization. Democracy is certainly a process, but without a vigorous opposition, a country cannot have democratic elections. I do not think anyone would call America's presidental elections democratic if John Kerry had to get the Republicans approval to run and whenever he held a political rally, it would get broken up by the police. Egypt may be an important ally on the war on terror, but that is not sufficient reason to continue to tolerate their autocratic form of government.

Number 7

Notre Dame got their 7th verbal commitment today when Luke Schmidt of Jasper, Indiana, announced today that he will attend Notre Dame. Schmidt is regarded as one of the top fullbacks in the country and is drawing comparisons to Mike Alstott. Notre Dame beat out Oklahoma, Purdue and Louisville for Schmidt. This is yet another great pickup for the Irish. The Notre Dame fullback depth consists of Rashon Powers-Neal and um, um, um, well you get the picture. Assuming Schmidt does not get hurt, he could very easily get significant playing time as a freshman.

Dumb Star Wars Fans

Two Star Wars fans are in critical condition in England after trying to make their own lightsabers by mixing gasoline with fluorescent light tubes, which resulted in one of the homemade lightsabers exploding. This accident reinforces one of the duhs of our world which is that if you mix gasoline with anything, bad things will happen.

Some Sad News

The Britney Spears reality show, Britney and Kevin: Chaotic, is in danger of being cancelled. For those of you who have not seen it (and based on the ratings that's quite a few of you), you're missing out on one of the great shows of our time. I watched an entire episode of Britney and Kevin: Chaotic on Tuesday and these were some of the nuggets of wisdom Britney and Kevin Federline shared with the world:

"He had the kiss."

"Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt broke up, I bet [Kevin] is thinking about me."

"Oh...oh...oh...oh...look at that ass."

"We hid behind the camera to learn more about each other."

"My love doesn't scare me. Other people's love scares me."

"Love is not just love."

I felt I learned so much about life and love from these two. So come on, watch Britney and Kevin: Chaotic. I guarantee by the end of the episode you'll have two, maybe three brain cells left.

Only the Cubs

The Cubs believe they have found the cause of Carlos Zambrano's elbow problems and you'll be suprised at what the cause is. All I have to say is what's next for the Cubs? Is Derrek Lee going to go on the DL with a sprained finger after pushing down too hard on a TV remote? As a White Sox fan, I can only hope.

A Cease-Fire

The Senate avoided a showdown over President Bush's stalled judicial nominees yesterday when 14 Senators, 7 from each party, came to an agreement that will allow three of the five stalled nominees to receive a vote on the Senate floor and forbids Senate Democrats from filibustering any additional judicial nominees except under "under extraordinary circumstances". The deal has left many people upset on both sides of the aisle. Conservatives are upset that seven of their own failed to uphold the principal that judicial nominees deserve an up or down vote. Liberals are upset that "conservative extremists" Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor, barring a miracle, will be appointed.

Personally, I'm glad this Senate pissing match is over for the time being. I have grown weary of the hypocrisy of both parties. This was a power struggle and nothing more. When Republicans like Majority Leader Bill Frist say, "Republicans believe in the regular order of fair up and down votes and letting the Senate decide yes or no on judicial confirmations free from procedural gimmicks like the filibuster," what he really means to say is that judicial nominees deserve an up or down vote when a Republican President nominates that person. You see when a Democratic President nominates one of those "left-wing ideologues" then the nominee does not deserve an up or down vote. That's why Senator Frist and other Republicans had to filibuster Clinton nominee Richard Paez in 2000. It's also why Senator Orrin Hatch, who was chairman of the Judiciary Committee during part of the Clinton administration, had to change the committee rules and allow any Senator to block a nominee from his or her home state with a "blue slip". But Republicans are not alone in this double speak. When Democratic Senator Tom Harkin says that the filibuster has "for more than two centuries... been essential to America's system of checks and balances," what he really means to say is that it is a tradition when a Republican President nominates a judge. When a Democratic President nominates a judge, then the filibuster is "a relic of the ancient past," or "a mockery of the Constitution," or "a breach of the Senate's constitutional mandate". It is why Harkin and 17 other Democratic Senators in 2000 sponsored a bill that would get rid of the filibuster.

Now that this compromise with the judicial nominees has been reached, does this mean that the battle over judicial nominees is over? Not by a long shot. This power struggle will likely pick up from where it ended as soon as the Supreme Court has an opening which should be this summer. The only way I see a Senate showdown over a Supreme Court nominee being avoided is if President Bush nominates someone in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor or Anthony Kennedy. It also might not take a Supreme Court nominee battle to rekindle this dispute over judicial nominees. A controversial appellate court nominee could easily lead to reswaping of charges of President Bush nominating "conservative extremists" and Democrats being "obstructionists". The partisanship over judicial nominees is just getting started.

Who Knew Reading A Menu Was So Hard

Just when I think Paris Hilton has hit rock-bottom in her stupidity, she finds a way to outdo herself. During a dinner with Pamela Anderson, Hilton threw her menu down in disgust and said the following: "I hate reading! Someone tell me what's on the menu!" Who knew that reading the 100 or so words on a menu was so straining. I'm betting Paris is also not comic strip fan because there is too many damn words in those bubbles.

Overblown Political Rhetoric of the Week

Courtesy of my "representative" Congressman Eleanor Norton Holmes, who said the following after Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison revived a bill that would overturn the ban on handguns in DC, "They're trying to see to it that more children get killed."

Yes Eleanor, Senators are scheming to have children to killed because frankly there's just too many of them right now. It's a lot like when state legislators allow people to hunt deer in order to thin out their population. You really have to wonder if some of these politicians think before they open their mouths.

While I think her rhetoric is vastly overblown, I actually agree with her that Congress's efforts to overturn DC's gun laws is a very bad idea, but for a much different reason. It should be up to the DC City Council alone whether DC changes it changes its gun laws. This is like Congress telling New York how to enforce it gun laws while ignoring how the other 49 states enforces its gun laws. Congress has more important things to worry about than how a city of 750,000 enforces its gun laws.

Grrrrrrrrrr

I had this nice, somewhat lengthy post on how the U.S. needs to get tough with Egypt and Uzbekistan in order to live up to the lofty rhetoric of President Bush's Inauguration speech and then Blogger for some reason decides to delete more than half of my post and give me no way to recover it. Blogger sucks.

That Doesn't Look Like a Book in His Hand

In my short life, I have been spend a fair amount time at a number of different libraries and bookstores. I have never seen this. It's probably a good thing.

Hat Tip: Collegehumor.com

My Suspicions Were Correct

Resident NFL moron, Onterrio Smith, is facing a one-year suspension after he skipped a NFL-administered drug test. These are the kinds of things that happen to people who carry around dried urine and a prosthetic penis in their duffel bag.

The Wendy's Chili Episode Continues to Get Weirder

Not only have the authorities figured out the source of the finger in Anna Ayala's Wendy's chili, they have figured out how she came into possession of the finger. The source of the finger, Brian Paul Rossiter, gave the finger to Ayala's husband, James Plascencia, after he lost it in a work-related accident to settle a $50 debt he had with Plascencia. I had no idea that a finger could be considered legal tender. Maybe the next time I get my Visa bill, I could just send them a severed finger or if the bill is particularly high, a severed arm.

The Newsweek Mess

There has been quite a bit of hand wringing going on over the false report in Newsweek that an interrogator at Guantanamo Bay flushed a copy of the Koran down the toilet. Unfortunately for Newsweek it was a blunder that could have been easily avoided. Newsweek made three huge errors that led to this false report. The first mistake they made is that they failed to critically evaluate the plausibility of these allegations. Here is a picture of a person holding the Koran.

As you can see even when the Koran is printed in small print, the Koran is a fairly lengthy and thick book. Thus, in order to flush such a book down the toilet you would need to either tear out a few pages at a time and flush those down the toilet (a very time consuming task) or own a one of the most powerful toilets in world (considering this incident took place in a prison that is highly unlikely in this case). The second mistake Newsweek made is that it failed to consider the sensitivity of these allegations. We currently live in a time where people behead others and blow themselves up over the Koran. There should have been a recognition by Newsweek that some Muslims would not react kindly to such an act. This is not say that if these allegations were true that Newsweek should not have published them. The story of an interrogator desecrating the Koran is on its face newsworthy, but like all sensitive news stories, it needed to be vetted extremely careful. Hence, there needed to be more than one anonymous source who could confirm the authenticity of these allegations. I seriously doubt Newsweek or any other MSM news organization would run a story, for example, that President Bush referred to a gay Congressman as a fag during a cabinet meeting if they could get only one anonymous source to confirm it. The third mistake Newsweek made, which is related to their second mistake is that they placed a bigger emphansis on getting the story out first as opposed to getting the story right. This has been a disease that has plagued the MSM for years and is one of reasons why their credibility continues to decline. Newsweek relied on anonymous source to predict a future event and that is really problematic according to Jack Shafer of Slate:

Many years ago at a newspaper job far, far away, my attorney David Andich cautioned me and my writers against publishing what anonymous government officials said would be in their reports. He also told us to be especially wary of the prosecutor who informed us-confidentially, of course-that he was going to indict the deputy mayor next Tuesday. If you commit those stories to print and the report or indictment doesn't contain the information your source predicted, you will find yourself in a world of legal hurt, he said.

In my mind's eye I can see Andich reviewing the Newsweek copy. The Quran findings were"expected" to be part of the military report. "Expected by whom?" Andich would have said. "Can't you wait until you have a draft or the final document in hand to report that they were included? What's your hurry?"

There is little doubt that Newsweek made a series of mistakes that led to this false report. Does this mean that Newsweek should be held responsible for 15 deaths at the anti-American protests last week in Afghanistan? The short answer is no. An Instapundit reader explains why:

Newsweek isn't the problem. The problem is that people will kill over a book being desecrated. Actually, over a anonymous report buried within a third rate weekly magazine. There is something wrong when people value a book, of which there are millions, over human lives. This is the real problem, and Newsweek isn't the source of it. The problem is an ignorant and violent subculture within the [I]slamic world, and the general lack of tolerance about religion therein.

This point I think is being missed in the dissection of the lastest MSM screw-up. The tragedy that took place last week in Afghanistan reinforced yet again on how desperate Islam needs for the lack of a better word its own Reformation movement.

What's the Matter with Illinois?

There must be something in water down in Springfield. First (former) Illinois Governor George Ryan is investigated and later indicated for his role in raising illegal campaign funds for his governor's campaign. Now the current governor, Rod Blagojevich, is having a grand jury investigate whether his chief fundraiser, Christopher Kelly, traded jobs for campaign contributions. Thank God I moved away from that corrupt cesspool of Illinois and moved to a place where ethics come first, where politicians discuss confidential FBI background checks on judicial nominees that they are not suppose to have access to and close political associates are indicted for accepting illegal campaign contributions.

What the Hell Was This Guy Thinking?

Minnesota Vikings running back Onterrio Smith, who has already been suspended twice by the NFL for violating its drug policy was caught a few weeks ago at an airport with "The Original Whizzinator". For those of you unfamiliar with "The Original Whizzinator", it is a device that can be used to beat drug tests. More specifically, the Whizzinator consists of heating pads, dried urine, a plastic bag that is to be filled with water during a drug test, and a prosthetic penis. And no I am not making this up, you can go to their website and check it out for yourself. Smith claims that the Whizzinator was not his and that he was taking the device to his cousin (about as an effective defense as that's not my pot). The NFL has yet to decide whether they will punish Smith though if the Vikings were smart they would cut Smith ASAP. This guy just does not get it. You would think after two drug suspensions that Smith would want to avoid even the appearance of taking illegal substances, but no. Apparently, Smith smoked away too many brain cells at Tennessee to use that kind of logic.

The Mystery of the Finger in the Wendy's Chili Has Been Solved

According to police, the finger that Anna Ayala found in her Wendy's chili belonged to an associate of her husband. I know this woman likes to sue people, but to put someone's finger in your chili, so you can sue a restaurant that is definitely a sign that you might need to get some counseling.

Follow-Up on Bolton

John Cole has an excellent post on why the nomination of John Bolton does not matter that much for either political party. Here's the power quote:

Anyone who thinks Bolton can go in there and 'shake things up' and actually change anything is fooling themselves and fails to understand that the very nature of the UN is one that the assembly is made up of people who have their own national interests at stakes. They aren't going to roll over because some foul-mouthed (presumably) bully goes in and scolds them...

...Likewise, anyone on the left who thinks that Bolton is going to go in there and ruin the UN hasn't been paying much attention, either. Pardon me if I also think that claims Bolton is going to destroy the UN are a touch, shall we say, overwrought. The UN is flawed, but any changes Bolton might institute will be minor. You want to change the UN- tell Congress. They pay the damned bills.

Hat tip: Instapundit

The Bolton Nomination

Assuming that the vote is not delayed again, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote on the nomination of John Bolton tomorrow. If being a jerk somtimes is the best dirt the Democrats have on Bolton, I have to wonder why they have wasted all this time stalling his nomination. As shocking as it might sound to some, being jerk sometimes does not disqualify you from a government position.

The Next Step

The Chicago Bulls dream season came to a close on Friday night after the Washington Wizards eliminated them with a 94-91 win. For the first time since MJ was wearing a Bulls uniform, the Bulls actually mattered. They were no longer the laughing stock that they had been for the past six years. Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler finally got it. The rookies of Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Chris Duhon and Andreas Nocioni contributed earlier than expected. What I loved most about this team is that unlike the previous six years, this team never quit. The Bulls could have continued to accept their losing ways after starting the season 0-9, but they bounced back to win 47 games. They could have rolled over to the Wizards, who were starting three studs in Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes and Antawn Jamison, while the Bulls were forced to start three guys in the front court (Othella Harrington, Antonio Davis and Nocioni) that would not start on any other playoff team because of injuries to Deng and Curry. But the Bulls refused to give into the Wizards and were just one fewer bad pass away from potentially forcing a Game 7.

While this was a phenomenal season for the Bulls, they have a critically off-season ahead. They have three big priorities in the offseason. One, retain their core, which means they have to re-sign Chandler, Curry and Duhon at a minimum. Resigning Curry is going to tricky with his unknown heart condition, but the Bulls could and should work out a contract that would be beneficial for both sides (e.g., sign Curry to a large contract, but only guaranteeing the money if he plays a certain number of games in a given season). The Bulls should also look to re-sign Harrington and Jannero Pargo, who are excellent role players and added to the Bulls depth.

The second priority is to re-sign Scott Skiles to a long-term deal. Skiles squeezed about as much as he could out of this team. The fact that he almost got a team with such a lousy frontline out of the first round of the playoffs is a minor miracle.

The third priority for the Bulls is to address their two shortcomings on this year's team which is their lack of depth in the post and the lack of a tall, defensive-minded, shooting guard, a la Ron Harper during the Bulls second three-peat run. Unfortunately for the Bulls, this is going to be a difficult proposition. They do not have a lot of cap space. After they resign their own free agents, they will probably only have the mid-level exception which will be around $5 million and the veteran's exception which will be around $1.5 million. The Bulls also do not have a draft pick, so any outside changes will have to come via free agency or trade (unlikely).

So who should the Bulls target to address these two needs? Here are a couple of possibilities. For their low post presence, the best available option is Shareef Abdur-Rahim. If the Bulls were as lousy as they have been, Abdur-Rahim would probably be of their price range, but after playing on nothing but lousy teams his entire career, I have to think he might take the Bulls mid-level exception to have the opportunity to finally play for a winner. Abdur-Rahim is a solid 18 points and 7-8 boards a night guy. While Abdur-Rahim is not a true post player and is a bit of a tweener (i.e., not quite a power forward and not quite a small forward), he would give the Bulls enough of a low post presence that they would not have to run pick and roll every offensive play when Eddy Curry is not on the floor like they had to during the Wizards playoff series.

In getting that defensive-minded, tall shooting guard, the best free agent option that fits within the Bulls budget is Shandon Anderson, who is known as a defensive stopper. Anderson is a below average offensive player, but with the scoring ability of Hinrich and Gordon, Anderson would not need to score much. Anderson can likely be had for $1.5 veteran exception, assuming the Miami Heat do not try to resign Anderson.

The Bulls took that critically step this season in becoming a competitive NBA team, now it is time for the Bulls to take that next step and become one of the elite NBA teams.

A Headline You Generally Do Not See

Jesus Christ in legal battle to get license. This might be the one time when a guy claims he is Jesus Christ and is not taken away by men in white coats.

Scopes Monkey Trial Part 2

While not quite as dramatic as the first Scopes Monkey Trial (sequels are never as good), a Kansas State Board of Education subcommittee is holding a "trial" on how evolution should be taught in Kansas schools and whether evolution should be something that students should be required to learn before graduation. I did not realize that we've traveled back to the 1920s.

A Coherent Thought Would be Nice

I lost several brain cells after I tried to read this interview the AP did with Paris Hilton about her new movie the House of Wax.

Hat tip: Collegehumor.com

Gross

Golden Palace, an online casino website, paid a radio station $5,001 for Britney Spears' alleged home pregnancy test. According to the radio station, the home pregnancy test was retrieved from the trash outside Spears' Los Angeles hotel room a few months ago. This is not the first bizarre purchase Golden Palace has made. They paid a Connecticut woman last month $15,100 to name her newborn child Goldenplace.com (that child should be in drug rehab by age 15). They also paid $28,000 for the grilled cheese sandwich that allegedly has the face of the Virgin Mary. At this rate, Golden Palace will be paying some hotel housekeeper $10,000 for a condom allegedly used by Brad Pitt during a sexual encounter with Angelina Jolie.

This is Why I Don't Watch TV Sitcoms

Brian Austin Green, who I believe has been out of work since the cancellation of Beverly Hills 90210 will join Freddie Prince Jr., who has been in such great movies like Summer Catch and Scooby-Doo, in a unnamed ABC sitcom about a "single guy [played by Prince Jr.] raised in a house full of women who has his life turned upside down when the women move back in with him." The sitcom should last for about 6 episodes.

You think Ohio and Florida had Electoral Problems

They got nothing on the state of Washington where "Governor" Christine Gregoire may have her November victory declared invalid. Her former challenger, GOP nominee, Dino Rossi, scored an important legal victory on Monday, as the judge will allow Rossi to use a type of statistical analysis to try to prove illegal votes swayed the race. Republicans in Washington claim they have identified more than 1,000 illegal votes, many cast in the names of dead people and convicted felons. The trial to determine whether the November results should be nullified is set for May 23. At this rate, Washington should have a clear-cut winner within a year of the election. Yikes.

More on Judges

Tigerhawk provides a follow-up to his initial compromise proposal to break the impasse over the stalled judicial nominees of President Bush.

Hat tip: Instapundit

Weis Strikes Gold Again

In a post last week, I linked a story on how Charlie Weis is off to fast start in his recruiting for the Class of 2010, and this fast start continues to pay dividends. Weis today secured a verbal commitment from their number one target at running back, James Aldridge , who is being compared to Bo Jackson and spurred a late push from USC. This is the third position where Weis has gotten his number one choice to give a verbal commitment (Zach Frazier-Quarterback and Paddy Mullen-Tight End being the other two positions). This is absolutely remarkable what Weis has accomplished so far considering it is only May 2nd and Notre Dame was 6-6 last season. Have I mentioned that I'm excited about the season opener at Pitt.

A Sensible Solution to the Senate Quagmire over Judicial Nominees

While I think Senate Republicans would be justified in getting rid of the filibusters for judicial nominees if they cannot get a vote on President Bush's stalled judicial nominees, I think it is politically unwise both in the short-term and the long-term. A majority of Americans are against getting rid of the filibuster for judicial nominees. In addition, Republicans will not be in control of the Senate forever and this rule change would be used against them in the future when a Democratic President nominates an "activist judge". But while changing the filibuster rules would have negative political costs for the Republicans, it does not mean the Republicans should sit on their hands and hope the Democrats will allow these Bush nominees to get an up or down vote. Tigerhawk proposes a sensible solution that not only should allow most of the stalled Bush nominees to get a vote on the Senate floor, but also shift any potential political costs from this struggle over the Judiciary to the Democrats. Here's his solution:

If you are going to filibuster, then you should have to filibuster. Filibusters should come at some personal and political cost. We should abolish the candy- ass filibusters of modern times, and require that if debate is not closed it must therefore happen.

The prospect of John Kerry, Hillary Clinton or Ted Kennedy bloviating for hours on C-SPAN would deter filibusters except when the stakes are dire, if for no other reason than the risk that long debate would create a huge amount of fodder for negative advertising. If Frist were to enact the "reform" of the filibuster instead of its repeal, he would seize the high ground. He could take the position that the Republicans are merely rolling back the "worst excesses" of the long period of Democratic majority in the Congress, and that filibusters will still be possible if Senators are willing to lay it all on the line.

Hat Tip: Instapundit