The Blog of Record

Same website, two versions. They make good cars, though.

Pretty harsh stuff. Well, you can’t build an absurd cult on truth.

Hope the laptops were worth it, guys.

Story and more at Random Good Stuff.

Attempts to shame Blago into decency aren’t working? You don’t say!

U.S. senators are in for a major fight if they intend to follow through with threats to bar Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s appointment to replace President-elect Barack Obama from entering the U.S. Senate next week, say legal scholars, political analysts and even some elected officials.

Pretty dumb stuff, but none of it is more surprising than the absence of Rod Blagojevich from the list.

Which moves will help the book deal?

How about appointing himself to Obama’s seat?

No surprises here. Well, no pleasant surprises, anyway.

Plus:

Interesting that Mr. Obama’s seat is now considered a wholly owned subsidiary of the Black folks from Chicago.

Journalists used to do it; now bloggers are elevating it to new heights of silliness.

(Via Cynical-C Blog.)

Israel keeps hitting hard, strikes weapons-smuggling tunnels, office of Ismail Haniyeh – prime minister of Gaza’s terrorist Hamas government. The U.N. counts at least 62 casualties among Gaza civilians, a.k.a. Hamas human shields. The big news is that Israel considers truce.

More on the two-day truce to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza proposed by France. Update: Israel wisely regects calls for truce. The objective is to destroy Hamas, not to give it breathers when the French ask.

Prime Minister Olmert and Defense Minister Barak appear split on the truce proposal.

Gaza terrorists hit a school in southern Israel with a rocket.

Cease terror, not cease-fire:

Despite their vitriol and bravado, since Israeli military operations began Saturday, the Hamas government has buckled: 400 targets have been struck; most of the regime’s symbols have either been pulverized or are tottering. Hamas officials have gone into hiding, providing no succor to the masses, whose distress is directly attributable to Hamas’s bellicose policies.

Analysis: Air power alone won’t do it.

Updates from Israellycool. And his yesterday’s live-blogging post.

Somehow misses vital organs. As to his new arrest – well, Al Sharpton defended him, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

By the way, CNN calls Bell’s mother “Melissa” in the text and “Michelle” in a photo caption. I know times are hard for the news media, but maybe trying to cut costs by saving on their famous layers of fact-checkers and editors is not the best solution.

You would get a PC for free and then pay for use based on what what you do with it, how long, and what softwate you run.

Update (Jan. 2, 2009): Microsoft’s patent application got rejected.

News here and here. I guess one can kinda hope he didn’t sell the seat despite everything. On the other hand, Blagojevich knew he was under investigation for three years – and still put the seat up for auction. If he was stupid enough to do that…

The biggest question is what kind of man would want this seat if it comes by way of a Blago appointment.

One thing is for sure – Blagojevich doesn’t care the slightest bit about the damage he’s doing to the Democratic Party’s image.

In Britain, of course. His lawyer:

‘Just because he is a prisoner does not mean that he should not get the same level of treatment as an NHS patient.’

Sure, a convicted robber crippling himself when jumping from a prison roof should get the same level of treatment as a law-abiding citizen whose taxes pay for the criminal’s care, as well as his meals and everything else – including his publicly-funded legal team.

His injuries, though, didn’t prevent him from carrying out another robbery after release.

‘Tis better to be silent and be thought not ready for the Senate, than to speak and remove all doubt.

An expert on CNN explains the you-knows: “What happens is, you haven’t clarified your thought yet – and you start speaking anyway”. Starting to speak before you know what you want to say? Looks like she was made for the U.S. Congress.

10 dead in Gaza strikes after 3 Israelis killed in South (with video):

On Monday, three Israelis were killed in Ashkelon, Ashdod and Nahal Oz when over 80 rockets and mortar shells hit southern Israel.

On Tuesday,

at least 10 people were killed and 40 others wounded when IAF planes dropped up to 16 bombs on a series of targets in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday morning, Palestinians said.

‘New security environment’ is the goal: Israeli leaders are prepared for “a long, complicated action that would take tenacity and perseverance”. The fact that “there is understanding [in the world] for what Israel is doing” is helping.

Israel will push forward with its offensive in the Gaza Strip until it “completely destroys” Hamas; the operation will continue “as long as it takes to dismantle Hamas completely”. Let’s hope.

And, as usual, go to U.S. media for pictures of supposed (you never know with their history of fake photos) Palestinian civilian casualties but not the five Israeli civilians killed by Hamas rockets since the air strikes began. Nice coverage of Cynthia McKinney’s boat incident, CNN, calling her a human rights activist. You sure she’s not an anti-Semitic Hamas supporter?

Only in Britain:

The device automatically slows a car down to within the limit for the road on which it is being driven. The system uses satellite positioning to check its location and when the speed exceeds the limit, power is reduced and the brakes are applied if necessary.

It’s being done “to help save lives and cut carbon emissions”, of course.

It has been well-trialled, and the Commission for Integrated Transport and the Motorists’ Forum, which both advise the government, are calling on ministers to promote a wide introduction of the system.

The advisers believe it should be voluntary but say drivers who have tried it, liked not having to worry about exceeding the limit.

We all know what it means when something is followed with a “but”.

Amazing country, Britain.

Has the ACLU been implanting its people into the military?

The original lawsuit filed in September alleged [the plaintiff] had to attend events at Fort Riley where Christian prayers were given.

The people behind the lawsuit have the court filing and PR materials online here.

It’s 1978. British Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan orders a defence analysis after seeing a  report on the Soviet threat to the country. And, after having been PM for two years, foreign secretary for another two before that, and home secretary for three years even earlier, he suddenly finds out to his complete surprise and horror that Britain is defenceless against a Russian invasion.

The documents are scrawled with his exasperated comments. At one point he writes: “Heaven help us if there is a war!”

Doesn’t sound like a leader you want to have when your country has enemies. No wonder Margaret Thatcher made short work of Callaghan in 1979. Can’t imagine her being so clueless.

Here goes another $6 billion:

In yet another move to prop up the crumbling U.S. auto industry, the government announced Monday that it will pump $6 billion into GMAC Financial Services, a financing company critical to the survival of General Motors.

It’s fun to be too big to fail. Kinda makes you too big to care.

His name is Tripp. Hey, why not Trigg? We all know the boy will be a hunter as soon as he learns to walk!