Tuesday's links and comments

Thomas Sowell is at his best when he pens his Random Thoughts columns.

As long as states like New Jersey exist, Democratic strategist should have known better than to have a campaign strategy geared around pointing out a Republican "Culture of Corruption." Here is the latest example of how politics are played in the Garden State.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Two Republican state lawmakers have filed a federal ethics complaint against Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez over $300,000 in rent he collected from a nonprofit agency for which he helped secure millions in federal dollars.

So the deal is pay me rent and I'll give you money taken from taxpayers. Wonderful.

Dennis Prager has a column today titled "Just a reminder about who and why we are fighting." Give it a read.

Just when you think news out of Iran can't get any weirder we get this headline:

Ahmadinejad challenges Bush to TV debate

President Bush most likely will ignore this challenge, but I almost thing something good could come of it. No, I don't think a conversation during a debate would convince Ahmadinejad not to be crazy. However, I do think people would get a much clearer picture of him than they got during his softball interview with Mike Wallace.

Saturday's links and comments

Uh-oh, the horses have escaped let's close the barn door.

Judge issues gag order in Ramsey case

Everyone has focused on the Lieberman/Lamont senate contest in Connecticut. There is another senate primary going on in Rhode Island and in this race there is actually a major difference between the candidates.

In R.I., a Feisty Conservative Challenges Sen. Chafee

As bad as the senate practice of filibustering is it pales compared to the arcane practice of senate holds. Here is an article about how it is being abused in order to hide wasteful spending from scrutiny.

Bad news gets the larger headlines, however slowly but surely things are improving in Iraq.

Gen. John Abizaid made headlines three weeks ago when he told Congress that civil war was a possibility in Iraq. Yesterday he went into two of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods to see whether a new U.S.-led offensive against the death squads and insurgents is making any progress. Abizaid invited me and a CBS reporter to join him on this journey into the heart of the Baghdad battle zone. In what follows, I want to draw a picture of what we saw. First, some background: This summer, any chance of success in Iraq seemed to be slipping away. Even Abizaid, who as head of U.S. Central Command has overall responsibility for the troops here, had to admit in his congressional testimony that the trends were

Read the rest to see what's changed.

Friday's news and links

First day of school went well. The fifth grader came home and declared he had the best teacher. We'll see how he feels once homework starts.

Last week Andrew Young had to resign his position as an advocate for Walmart after making some stupid racist comments. Many have condemned Young's comments. Thomas Sowell goes a step further and examines how Young's remarks reveal an ignorance of basic economics which is all too common.

For decades, one of the biggest blind spots of most civil rights "leaders" and "spokesmen" for the black community has been their utter lack of knowledge of economics.

As a purely factual matter, prices do tend to be higher -- and the quality of service and products lower -- in stores in low-income neighborhoods. But the knee-jerk assumption that this represents "exploitation" or "racism" ignores the economics of the situation. Many of the ghetto stores charging high prices are struggling to survive, while supermarkets in other neighborhoods are very profitable charging lower prices. There are many reasons for this.

Read the rest, Sowell explains things clearly enough even Young should be able to understand.

Larry Elder has an important question for you: Do we really want democrats in charge? Make up your own mind, but I'd say no for many reasons.

Sometimes the headline doesn't match reality. Here is an example: Schmidt runs into trouble. When you read the article it turns out some write-in candidate is accusing Rep. Schmidt of not running in a marathon back in 1993 that her website says she ran. I understand that we want politicians to be truthful, but there is no doubt that Schmidt is a big runner and in great shape. Now, if I were running for dog catcher and claimed to have run a marathon I could understand someone double checking whether I did or didn't (I haven't). Noy might do better by explaining to voters why they should vote for him rather than filing complaints about whether his opponent ran a race 13 years ago.

President Bush is in Maine this weekend to attend a family wedding. At the end of the article there is a short blurb which irritated me.

Antiwar groups affiliated with Sheehan plan to rally as close as they can get to the wedding at St. Ann's Episcopal Church, near Walker's Point. "Join with people of conscience to call for an end to the war in Iraq and say NO! to the Bush Agenda," reads an online recruitment pitch for the demonstration.

This is almost as bad as that idiot who travels to protest military funerals. Regardless of political differences some people have with their cousin, these people should be able to exchange their vows without disruption.

High school football gets started in Ohio tonight. I'll be watching the Clyde Fliers this season where Coach Marc Gibson (my wife's nephew!!!) set the bar awfully high last year in his first season by taking the team deep into the playoffs. It won't be easy to repeat.

He'll have to replace four All-Ohio players, including Division III defensive player of the year Matt Guhn, gone on to wrestle at the University of Michigan. Gone too are First Team All-Ohio linebacker Eric Schwartz and All-Ohio Honorable Mention linebacker Robbie Michaels and lineman Seth Roach.

The Fliers also placed 12 offensive or defensive players on the All-SBC teams and all but one of them graduated. The only returnee to this year's team is Thomas Schwartz who was Second Team All-SBC.

Yet the Fliers were still picked by coaches and writers to win the conference this year.

Blog hiatus

Regret the lack of posting over the last week. Between getting the kids ready for the new school year and preparing to ripout and re-do our kitchen, blogging has taken a back seat. Kitchen should be done by mid-September and I'll start posting regularly again.

Wednesday's notes & links

I don't like the sound of this. It was already enough of a pain to help kids with science projects with just 9 planets.

The solar system has 12 planets. That is the conclusion of an international panel formed to devise a scientific definition of a planet and settle an increasingly intense dispute over whether Pluto qualifies. The panel suggests retaining Pluto and immediately adding three new planets : Ceres, currently considered a large asteroid; Charon, now considered a moon of Pluto; and Xena, a recently discovered object that is larger than Pluto. But the group's proposal also makes clear that many more objects in the solar system -- perhaps dozens of them -- could qualify as planets after further study.

Jeff Jacoby examines Mike Wallace's sycophantic interview of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The opening line puts it in historical perspective.

NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN flew to Munich to see Adolf Hitler, Walter Winchell observed in 1938, ``because you can't lick a man's boots over the phone." Why did Mike Wallace fly to Tehran?

Everytime we get a reminder about the terror threat we are facing from radical Islam we can predictably count on an article touching on a particular theme:

Muslims fear terror backlash

I don't advocate attacking people based on their religion, but they have to ask themselves why they feel they have reason to be afraid. Could it be that their religion has many adherents willing to kill themselves as long as they kill innocent people at the same time? Could it be that their religious leaders frequently foment hatred of people with other beliefs? Could it be that donations made to their local mosques are funneled back to terrorists?

Oh, by the way folks, today was the day that radical Islamists had planned to kill thousands of people by blowing up airplanes.

Politicians have a bad habit of making promises they have no capability of keeping. Here is the latest and most outrageous courtesy of the Maryland senate race.

Cardin promises cancer cure by 2015

I could almost buy a promise to increase government spending on research, but to promise a cure?

N.J. Attorney General Quits Amid Scandal. This headline is one that gets recycled in New Jersey every so often. They just change the particulars. Every state has some corruption, but it just seems so much more pervasive in New Jersey.

More vote fraud

Here is a less than surprising article.

If there's one thing Donovan Riley apparently learned during his time in Chicago, it was "Vote early and often."

Riley, 69, the former CEO of the University of Illinois Medical Center and a former law professor at Loyola University, is running for a state senate seat in Milwaukee.

On Nov. 7, 2000, the day of the big election between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, Riley appeared at the polling place in Oconomowac, Wis., where he had registered to vote just the day before, voting records show. His ex-wife owned a home there. "Then he drove down to Chicago where he was already registered and he voted again," said Michael Crooks, a Wisconsin attorney who filed a complaint against Riley with Wisconsin election officials. "This is about as blatant as it gets."

Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher said it's usually difficult to prove such allegations. "But in this case, these documents seem to be pretty good,".

"My best recollection is that I was splitting my time between Wisconsin and Illinois and it's possible I made a mistake," Riley said in a statement released last week.

He says "it's possible I made a mistake" What a load of crap. That isn't a mistake that is a willful and knowing act. Step one is disbarment. Step two is throwing his crooked butt in prison. Only way to clean up elections is to have substantial penalties for vote fraud.

Not one word in this article about the party affiliation for this politician caught voting twice. You know what that means. Yep, his campaign website says he is a Democrat. For the last five years I've heard constant whining that Gore won the popular vote and ridiculous complaints of imagined vote fraud. We'll never know for sure how many living and eligible voters cast their ballots for Gore or Kerry, but I for one don't want to hear anymore of their BS complaints.

Monday's news and links

Robert Novak says don't believe the "crocodile tears" Republicans are crying over Joe Lieberman's defeat. I agree. Other than want our side to win the war, Lieberman is a nearly 100% reliably liberal vote. Additionally, Lieberman's loss makes it easier to correctly portray the modern Democrat party as the party of appeasement.

Speaking of appeasement, Michael Barone says it isn't fair to compare modern Democrats to Neville Chamberlain. He's right, it would be an unfair character assassination to Chamberlain.

At least Neville Chamberlain was made of sterner stuff. His Tuesday was the Munich agreement in September 1938, when he and the French persuaded Czechoslovakia to give up its borderlands to Hitler. He was cheered by vast crowds eager to avoid the horrors of war. His Thursday came in March 1939, when Nazi troops marched into Prague.

Chamberlain proceeded to build up Britain's military forces and to embark on a vigorous diplomacy to cabin Hitler in. He realized instantly that he had been, as Winston Churchill was to say in his funeral oration in the House of Commons, "deceived by a wicked man." He prepared to call Churchill, his bitter critic on Munich, into government. Chamberlain's diplomacy ultimately failed: Hitler wanted war too much. But Chamberlain stayed true to his countrymen, yielding his place to Churchill and strenuously supporting him when Britain was in peril.

Can we expect as much of our Left? It seems doubtful.

I don't like this headline: Cleveland Browns owner takes over Aston Villa for $118.8 million. Figure out how to win with your American style football team before you buy a European football team.

Apparently, there is some kind of cease-fire going into effect in the Middle East. Unless this results in Lebanon completely dismantling Hezbollah (which I doubt they have the will to do) than this is nothing but a pause to allow the terrorist to regroup and rearm and Israel will have accomplished nothing of lasting significance.

A poorly kept secret is out. IKEA coming to West Chester.

Trendy Swiss furniture retailer Ikea is building their Ohio store in this Butler County suburb. Ikea will build a 300,000 or 350,000 square-foot store on a large vacant parcel adjacent to southbound Interstate 75 off Muhlhauser and Allen roads, Township Trustee George Lang said today.

Wow, is this area growing.

We normally attend St John the Evangelist Catholic Church. However, if we oversleep we go to the next closest parish, St. Max. Today being the feast day of St. Max, Captain's Quarters recounts the heroism of Father Maximilian Kolbe at Auschwitz. I hadn't realized what a great man that church was named to honor.

Monday's news and links

Robert Novak says don't believe the "crocodile tears" Republicans are crying over Joe Lieberman's defeat. I agree. Other than wanting our side to win the war, Lieberman is a nearly 100% reliably liberal vote. Additionally, Lieberman's loss makes it easier to correctly portray the modern Democrat party as the party of appeasement.

Speaking of appeasement, Michael Barone says it isn't fair to compare modern Democrats to Neville Chamberlain. He's right, it would be an unfair character assassination to Chamberlain.

At least Neville Chamberlain was made of sterner stuff. His Tuesday was the Munich agreement in September 1938, when he and the French persuaded Czechoslovakia to give up its borderlands to Hitler. He was cheered by vast crowds eager to avoid the horrors of war. His Thursday came in March 1939, when Nazi troops marched into Prague.

Chamberlain proceeded to build up Britain's military forces and to embark on a vigorous diplomacy to cabin Hitler in. He realized instantly that he had been, as Winston Churchill was to say in his funeral oration in the House of Commons, "deceived by a wicked man." He prepared to call Churchill, his bitter critic on Munich, into government. Chamberlain's diplomacy ultimately failed: Hitler wanted war too much. But Chamberlain stayed true to his countrymen, yielding his place to Churchill and strenuously supporting him when Britain was in peril.

Can we expect as much of our Left? It seems doubtful.

I don't like this headline: Cleveland Browns owner takes over Aston Villa for $118.8 million. Figure out how to win with your American style football team before you buy a European football team.

Apparently, there is some kind of cease-fire going into effect in the Middle East. Unless this results in Lebanon completely dismantling Hezbollah (which I doubt they have the will to do) than this is nothing but a pause to allow the terrorist to regroup and rearm and Israel will have accomplished nothing of lasting significance.

A poorly kept secret is out. IKEA coming to West Chester.

Trendy Swiss furniture retailer Ikea is building their Ohio store in this Butler County suburb. Ikea will build a 300,000 or 350,000 square-foot store on a large vacant parcel adjacent to southbound Interstate 75 off Muhlhauser and Allen roads, Township Trustee George Lang said today.

Wow, is this area growing.

A quick dose of perspective

I was sitting here steaming about how awful the Browns looked in losing their first pre-season football game when I came across a story that made me put the game in proper perspective.

CLYDE, Ohio (AP) — A 12-year-old boy died after collapsing at a middle school football practice in northwestern Ohio, the school district superintendent said Thursday. Alaric Fisher, who would have been a seventh grader this fall, had trouble breathing and passed out on the field Wednesday evening. Coaches and the paramedics worked to revive the boy, who was taken to The Bellevue Hospital, where he died around 8 p.m

I'm a little embarrassed to be complaining about whether some pro football team will have a good season (not likely) while a family deals with the grief of losing a child. Hug your kids.

British foil potential major terror attack

Two days after Democrats in Connecticut voted to replace an incumbent who was in favor of national defense with a political neophyte who thinks we should negotiate with our enemies, we get a reminder of the type of enemy the civilized world is facing.

A plot to blow up planes in flight from the UK to the US and commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" has been disrupted, Scotland Yard has said.

Let us all pray the New York Times (and others of their ilk) doesn't uncover and disclose the methods the British used to disrupt this attack.

Before anyone thinks this is no big deal since it was overseas keep two things in mind.
1. The planes they were going to explode were heading here and presumably would have had mostly American passengers.
2. We had two likely terrorists arrested here in Ohio this week. Read this and tell me these two weren't up to no good.

Wednesday's notes & links

A few things in the news unrelated to Connecticut:

Maurice Clarett prepares for his upcoming trial (for two counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of robbery and one count of carrying a concealed weapon) by getting arrested this morning for refusing to pull over after a policeman saw he had made an illegal U-turn. He led police on a high speed chase before he was finally stopped after his tires were punctured.

Officers used Mace to subdue Clarett after a stun gun was ineffective because the former Fiesta Bowl star was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, Sgt. Michael Woods said. "It took several officers to get him handcuffed," Woods said. "Even after he was placed in the paddy wagon, he was still kicking at the doors and being a problem for the officers." Clarett exited the highway and pulled into a restaurant parking lot, where officers removed him from the SUV after he failed to obey numerous orders to exit the vehicle. After Clarett was placed in a police van, officers discovered a loaded rifle and three loaded handguns in the front of the vehicle, Woods said.

Maybe he can get these officers to be character witnesses in his other trial.

Despite frequent Democrat claims of stolen elections the only people caught committing election fraud appear to be activists on their side. Here is another example:

Two Democrats indicted for attempted fraud
William Connors, 47, Joseph Connors, 51, plead not guilty to tampering with 2005 Mechanicville elections

I think I'll stay off the Suwannee River. Sturgeon Knocks Out Florida Man on Suwannee River.

Here is a bit of judicial sanity. Major League Baseball lost and baseball fans (specifically players of fantasy baseball leagues) won.

A federal judge has handed the billion-dollar fantasy sports industry a shutout victory, ruling that the names and game statistics of Major League Baseball players are as public as the telephone book.

This was an incredible act of greed by MLB and the Players Association. Basically, MLB wanted to charge a users fee for any league which used player's statistics. What arrogance and greed.

I have a question for the Navy - Why hasn't this sailor been courts martialed and stood in front of a firing squad yet?

After refusing to release full details on a pending espionage case involving a petty officer held in the Norfolk brig, the Navy on Tuesday provided some specifics about the charges.

The Navy's charges depict Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann as a sailor who stole a Navy laptop computer, deserted his ship for more than eight months and traveled the globe, both attempting to give and actually delivering classified defense information to an undisclosed foreign government.

"Do-overs" are for little kids playing football not elections

Sen. Joe Lieberman lost yesterday in the Democrat primary to run for the U.S. Senate seat from Connecticut which he has held for 18 years. He immediately announced that he intends to file paperwork to run as an Independent. Lieberman was on the ticket with Al Gore in 2000 when they refused to accept the results of that election. Seems that Lieberman only believes in the results when he wins. Don't enter the primary if you aren't going to respect the results. Maybe this bumper sticker needs to be reprinted.

Connecticut primary today

Democrats in Connecticut go to the polls today to choose between the incumbent U.S. Senator and some rich liberal. Many conservatives have been pulling for the incumbent, Joe Lieberman, in this race mainly because he has been reliably on the United States side in the War on Terror. Personally, I don't much care which candidate wins the election. Connecticut isn't going to elect a conservative so whichever candidate wins will be at odds with me on nearly every domestic issue. This election will be miscast as a referendum on the Bush administration's foreign policy and the war in Iraq, but it is nothing of the sort. Connecticut is so reliably liberal that John Kerry won 54% of the vote there in 2004. Heck, Connecticut is so liberal that they only need to use living voters in that state. In fact it could be argued that a Lamont victory will actually help Republicans by further cementing the reputation of Democrats as weak on defense.

Here is a somewhat related column. Turns out Lanny Davis never realized that liberals could be mean and nasty before. He thought is was just conservatives until he saw the reaction to his support of Lieberman. He has no idea how deaf and blind he must have been to have failed to see these traits from his own side previously.

FBI Searching For 11 Egyptian Students

This doesn't sound reassuring.

Eleven Egyptian students who arrived in the United States last month are being sought by authorities after failing to turn up for an exchange program at Montana State University. When the 11 didn't turn up by the end of the last week, the FBI issued a lookout to state and local law enforcement, said FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko. "At this point all they have done is not show up for a scheduled academic program," Kolko said. "There is no threat associated with these men."

No threat? 11 young men from a predominantly Muslim country entering our country under possibly false pretenses and then going missing meets my definition of a threat.

Ney drops out of fall race

I have one question for Bob Ney. Why did you take so long to make this decision? I'm not presuming guilt, but Rep. Ney knows whether he did something wrong or not and has known for months that his connections to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff would be a major campaign issue. Waiting until now changes this congressional seat from being a safe Republican retention to a toss up in November.

How to identify your true friends

A problem for the rich and famous is differentiating between people who are your "friends" only for their own enrichment from those who are real friends. Well, one way to figure out which ones are true friends is to fall off your pedestal in an embarrassing way. Recently Mel Gibson was arrested for drunk driving and during the arrest he made some very stupid and anti-Semitic comments. Since then, there have been hundreds of articles about Gibson and his comments universally condemning him with some others in his business declaring they would never work with the actor/director again. Today, I saw the first article quoting anyone with any compassion for Gibson.

Actress Jodie Foster has spoken out in defence of Mel Gibson, insisting the actor is "absolutely not" anti-Semite. Ms Foster told the Los Angeles Times that Mr Gibson had "always fought a terrible battle with alcoholism". "Mel is honest, loyal, kind, but alcoholism has been a lifelong struggle for him and his family," she said. "I just wish I had been there, that I had been able to say, 'Don't do it, don't take that drink'." Ms Foster, who starred with Mr Gibson in the film Maverick, said the actor's previous struggles with alcohol provided "a shining example of how low you can go when you are young and still pull yourself up". "He took his recovery very seriously, which is why I know he is strong enough to get through this now."

Jewish movie producer Dean Devlin, who worked with Mr Gibson on the film The Patriot, has also spoken out in defence of the actor. "If Mel is an anti-Semite, then he spends a lot of time with us, which makes no sense," he said. "But he is an alcoholic, and while that makes no excuse for what he said, because there is no excuse, I believe it was the disease speaking, not the man."

Lots of people are with you on the way up. Your true friends are with you when you really need them.

My last comment on this is that it is a sad reflection on our priorities that the stupid comments of a drunk driver have been condemned more vociferously than the actual actions of the killer who snuck into a Jewish community center in Seattle and gunned down several people in cold blood.

Wednesday's notes & links

This would be great news if he was being honest. In addition to promising to lose the war on terror if Democrats gain control of Congress, Charlie Rangel gives us another reason to vote Republican.

Charles Rangel, the dean of New York's congressional delegation, said yesterday he'd resign his seat if Democrats don't take control of the House in November.

Rangel is one of those most responsible for poisoning the political atmosphere in DC so his departure would definitely be a good thing regardless of his replacement.

In a column titled "Jimmy Carter: A Terrorist's Best Friend," Frontpage Magazine explains the difference between Jimmy Carter and Mel Gibson.

The anti-Israeli bias in Jimmy Carter’s op-ed in yesterday’s Washington Post could not have been more evident if he had concluded, “Allahu akhbar!” Unlike Mel Gibson, Carter presumably wrote while sober, but his analysis and demonology barely differed for it.

Speaking of the 39th President, Scrappleface has this item today(h/t Baseball Crank):

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today downplayed rumors that he’s on “the short list” of potential replacements if surgery fails to restore the health of ailing Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

This is kind of funny.

Janet Napolitano still has to win re-election this year as governor. But supporters can already buy items touting her as a presidential candidate two years from now, including buttons, bumper stickers, T-shirts, and even a thong.

I don't know much about Gov. Napolitano, but my guess is she isn't thrilled about having her name on thongs even if it is promoting a future run for higher office. Hopefully yardsigns would be seen by more people than the thongs would.

Hey, the president is coming to Ohio again. Unfortunately, it's because a county is a disaster area.

President Bush plans to stop during a visit to Northeast Ohio today to thank some of the hundreds of rescue workers who braved sewage and raging waters to save people in last week's flood. Bush, who declared Lake County a disaster area Tuesday, will talk to several fire chiefs, emergency workers and U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette during a visit to the Lake County Emergency Management Agency in Kirtland.

I wonder if he will get a chance to check out my sister's flooded basement?

Joe Lieberman gets a little help

Sen. Lieberman in a tough primary battle against Ned Lamont got a little good news today. A couple of race baiting extortionists are campaigning for his opponent.

Democratic U.S. Senate contender Ned Lamont will get a campaign boost Wednesday from the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who will campaign with him Wednesday and Thursday in four cities. Lamont, who will face 18-year incumbent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of New Haven in an Aug. 8 Democratic primary, also will appear Wednesday on Sharpton's syndicated radio program.

"These two leaders represent hope and bring voice to many people who have been disenfranchised," Lamont spokeswoman Liz Dupont-Diehl said of the two. "We are very pleased they have come to support Ned."

Lamont associating himself with those two clowns should be worth a couple percentage points for Lieberman.

Tuesday's links and comments

From Chicago, we get today's example of why you need to be judicious in deciding what groups to join or support if you're interested in a political career.

Ald. Todd Stroger, the Democratic nominee for Cook County Board president, and the 8th Ward organization he represents have given almost $8,000 to a group that believes blacks should not be taxed and should not be involved in interracial relationships, and which supports the creation of a separate state for blacks. The Nation of Islam splinter group calls for "former slave masters" to provide the land for a black state and 20 to 25 years of supplies for those living there, along with free schooling for black students, who should be taught only by other blacks, its Web site says.

"World Opinion" is Worthless is the title of a column by Dennis Prager.

If you are ever morally confused about a major world issue, here is a rule that is almost never violated: Whenever you hear that "world opinion" holds a view, assume it is morally wrong.

Read the rest to get his point.

In Latrobe, last call for Rolling Rock. Latrobe Pennsylvania's second most famous export (only behind Arnold Palmer) Rolling Rock beer will no longer be brewed in Latrobe now that the brand has been purchased by Anheuser-Busch. My guess is the beer will not taste the same being brewed in New Jersey.

Castro's condition unknown after surgery. He could have a complete recovery, but any surgury can be potentially life threatening at his age (turns 80 in a couple weeks). Fidel Castro has ruled the island nation with an iron fist for nearly 50 years. Sadly, I would expect things to get worse there after he passes as the new dictator (Fidel's brother Raul is likely successor) will probably clamp down on political opposition to show he's in charge.

Speaking of Latin American leaders with medical issues . . .

Bolivian President Evo Morales has suffered a broken nose after being fouled by a goalkeeper during an indoor football match.

Weather predicting is a crapshoot

From the same professionals who told us yesterday would be mostly sunny all day (never mind the torrential thunderstorms) we get this revised prediction:

The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season will not be as active as initially projected, due in part to a cooling of ocean temperatures this summer, private forecaster WSI Corp. said in its updated tropical weather outlook on Monday.

In addition to the fighting in the Mideast, higher fuel costs can be partly attributed to the anticipated heavy hurricane season. However, if there is no weather related disruption of fuel delivery don't expect a decrease in gas prices.

Separately, how does the talk of cooling ocean temperatures square with the crazy global warming theory?