The Hound Of Ulster

The story’s not completely GONE.

Here are Plame’s three versions of how Wilson was sent to Niger, according to Bond:

•She told the CIA’s inspector general in 2003 or 2004 that she had suggested Wilson.

•Plame told Senate Intelligence Committee staffers in 2004 that she couldn’t remember whether she had suggested Wilson.

•She told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in March that an unidentified person in Vice President Cheney’s office asked a CIA colleague about the African uranium report in February 2002. A third officer, overhearing Plame and the colleague discussing this, suggested, “Well, why don’t we send Joe?” Plame told the committee.

Huh. (And double-HUH.)

Ginsburg LOST again.

The decision moved Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to read a dissent from the bench, a usually rare practice that she has now employed twice in the past six weeks to criticize the majority for opinions that she said undermine women’s rights.

Speaking for the three other dissenting justices, Ginsburg’s voice was as precise and emotionless as if she were reading a banking decision, but the words were stinging.

“In our view, the court does not comprehend, or is indifferent to, the insidious way in which women can be victims of pay discrimination,” she said.

Last month, Ginsburg rebuked the same five-justice majority for upholding the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act and for language in the opinion that she said reflected “ancient notions about women’s place in the family and under the Constitution — ideas that have long since been discredited.”

Yesterday she said that “Title VII was meant to govern real-world employment practices, and that world is what the court today ignores.” She called for Congress to correct what she sees as the court’s mistake.

As a non-legal person, I have almost no idea what this is all about. But I’m fully prepared to take the Thomas/Scalia/Roberts/Alito side of an issue over the Ginsburg/Stevens/Breyer one pretty much every day of the week. I’m good at judging by apprearences that way. Fun.

Or at least he’s getting very close to RUNNING.

Fred Dalton Thompson is planning to enter the presidential race over the Fourth of July holiday, announcing that week that he has already raised several million dollars and is being backed by insiders from the past three Republican administrations, Thompson advisers told The Politico.

Thompson, the “Law and Order” star and former U.S. senator from Tennessee, has been publicly coy, even as people close to him have been furiously preparing for a late entry into the wide-open contest. But the advisers said Thompson dropped all pretenses on Tuesday afternoon during a conference call with more than 100 potential donors, each of whom was urged to raise about $50,000.

Conservatives everywhere will be thrilled.

Now a senior analyst for ABC News Radio and substitute host for the legendary Paul Harvey, Thompson savaged the White House immigration proposal in a commentary last week. “A nation without secure borders will not long be a sovereign nation,” he said. “No matter how much lipstick Washington tries to slap onto this legislative pig, it’s not going to win any beauty contests.”

Hard for me to know exactly how conservative he actually is; I really don’t know enough about his positions on things. But it’s not like his competition is particularly tough in that regard. Just about anyone would become the “most conservative” option when running against McCain/Romney/Rudy.

That’s pretty much all anyone can say about THIS:

If Devil Rays rookie outfielder Elijah Dukes feels the need to reach out for advice in light of his latest troubles, Gary Sheffield says he’ll be there to listen.

…

“We all need somebody to help us through our youth,” Sheffield said, according to The Tampa Tribune.

Well, Sheff fills the requirement of knowing a lot about “troubled youth.” Unfortunately, he doesn’t only have a troubled past. He’s working on a pretty troubled present, as well. I’m guessing Tampa’s going to let this offer slide.

Rod Bennett is at it again. The man’s “obsession” with King Kong is either very frightening or very cool. I haven’t decided which quite yet, but I’m definitely leaning towards cool, because of stuff like THIS.

Follow-ups HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

I have no idea if I’ve got all of them there.  Was keeping pretty close tabs on it, but one may have slipped by me. 

What I’d love to see is the entire thing in “regular” script format. A bit easier to digest. Perhaps I’ll drum up enough courage to ask Mr. Bennett for just that…

Dave Shaneyfelt’s UPSET.

If legislators don’t want to make the judgment call that assisted suicide is immoral, can’t they at least recognize the power of the argument that we don’t want or need to tempt people into choosing it?

And what about the effect of assisted suicide on victims’ families? Under the California proposal, family members need not be notified when a doctor is going to help one commit suicide. What about the guilt those family members are subjected to in thinking that they failed to provide sufficient care or comfort to their loved one?

…

I bristle at the mindless, political slogan of “death with dignity,” as if those like Michelle had an undignified death. Let those who want to kill themselves kill themselves. But as to the rest of us, please leave us alone and stop trying to use the law and medicine to pressure us especially the most vulnerable among us into choosing your own wretched fate.

Chris is also UPSET.

A better question, though, is what makes surrendering to sickness, grief and financial or familial pressures a “death with dignity” in the first place? Is suicide somehow more “dignified” than fighting illness or treating suffering? Is our dignity really lost when we can no longer feed, dress or take ourselves to the bathroom?

Assisted-suicide supporters insinuate that dignity is not inherent in the human condition, but contingent upon one’s abilities and the value society puts on them. Stick around too long — become too weak, too feeble — and you’re undignified. Unlike other would-be suicides, your tragically low sense of self-worth is justified. (No wonder disability-rights groups also oppose this bill.)

The notion that the infirm or dying are lacking in dignity points to an astonishingly narrow view of humanity. Often, the weak and the sick can teach the rest of us a good deal about courage, acceptance, strength — and dignity, above all.

For those of us that don’t live in Oregon, this sort of thing is scary. (OK, it’s probably scary for those of us that do live in Oregon. But it’s not quite so new.) Something disturbingly Spartan about this whole thing.

I think THIS would be considered a “piece of information one does not want to come out if one is trying to combat the notion that professional bike racers are dopers, and especially if one is trying to refute a positive drug test of one’s own.”

Bjarne Riis became the first Tour de France winner to admit using performance-enhancing drugs to win the sport’s premier race, further eroding cycling’s credibility after a series of doping confessions.

His admission Friday means the top three finishers in the 1996 Tour have all been linked to doping — and two have admitted cheating.

The retired Dane said he used the blood-booster EPO from 1993 to 1998, including during his 1996 Tour victory, confirming years of speculation that he benefited from banned substances. He also admitted taking cortisone and human growth hormone, but didn’t say when.

“I have taken doping. I have taken EPO,” Riis said at a televised news conference. “I have made errors and I would like to apologize.”

I’m not sure what “I have taken doping” means, but it can’t be good. Nor can this little comment, especially if you’re Landis.

“Bjarne Riis said himself that he is did not deserve to have won the Tour in 1996 because he cheated. I think the same thing, because he has soiled the yellow jersey,” Prudhomme told The Associated Press when reached by telephone. “Seeing as he did not deserve to win, does he deserve to lead a major cycling team?”

I know, I know. There’s the whole “innocent until proven guilty” thing, but it’s getting pretty hard. Barry never took ‘em “intentionally,” remember? And how easy is it to consider him innocent?

Technology ADVANCES…I guess. Tom Cruise will be PLEASED.

In the race for ever thinner displays for TVs, cell phones and other gadgets, Sony may have developed one to beat them all - a razor-thin display that bends like paper while showing full-colour video.

Sony Corporation posted video of the new 2.5 inch display on its’ web page.

Feels a bit like the UMBRELLA to me, though I can see a number of legitimate uses for this one right off the bat. Just not sure how necessary they will be. Or how good.

THIS is pretty interesting, if very unsurprising.

(That chart is too bright. I’m not sure how to fix it.)

I was confused by THIS briefly.

– Micah Owings, Astros, struck out a season-high eight in his first complete game to lead Houston to a 9-1 win over Arizona.

Any guesses as to the source of my confusion?

And THIS Tim Brown post contains quite the little eye-opener:

With the Los Angeles Dodgers holding a one-run lead last night against the Milwaukee Brewers, Jonathan Broxton finished the eighth inning by striking out Prince Fielder. The last four pitches of the at-bat were fastballs, clocked at 98, 99, 97 and 98 mph on a Dodger Stadium gun reputed to be slow. Takashi Saito pitched the ninth for his 24th consecutive successful save, dating to last season, and this is why the Dodgers – particularly if they can get Jason Schmidt up and running again – should outlast the rest of the NL West.

That’s fast. Gagne-like, even.

I’ll close with the “FLIP-SIDE” of Stark’s recent Overrated article.

Now obviously, I’d have to be a major goofball to argue Hoffman has a better Hall case than Rivera. But that doesn’t mean Hoffman hasn’t been criminally underrated. Here’s the best way to put their careers in perspective:

They have basically the same number of blown saves in their careers — 58 for Hoffman, 57 for Rivera — except Hoffman has had 70 more opportunities. In other words, Rivera would have to go two seasons without blowing a single save just to say he had the same save-conversion percentage as Trevor Hoffman. So can we please give this man his due already?

BIRDS of a FEATHER, it would appear.

Yes, I know that I’m going over-board in saying that, so use a bit of salt in that particular statement. I don’t actually think Hillary and Obama are evil the way Sadr is evil.  I’m exaggerating to get my point across.  Still, check out these quotes.

Exhibit A:

“…I fully support our troops” but the measure “fails to compel the president to give our troops a new strategy in Iraq…”

Exhibit B:

“…Enough is enough,” President Bush should not get “a blank check to continue down this same, disastrous path…”

Exhibit C:

…”We demand the withdrawal of the occupation forces, or the creation of a timetable for such a withdrawal. I call upon the Iraqi government not to extend the occupation even for a single day…”

OK, so you can probably tell those quotes apart, right? Especially since the word “occupation” is a big giveaway, unless you’re Michael Moore. But they’re nowhere near as different as they should be. And it’s really hard not to think that Obama and Clinton are entirely politically motivated in their actions here.

At least that’s not true of al-Sadr.

Or at least he’s about to give it the “Ol’ College TRY.”

I’m hearing about many sell-outs throughout the country. Predictions are for the Disney pic to do between $15M and $20M tonight alone. Yowza!

…

My box office gurus are expecting Disney’s P3 to make $200 million over the next 4 1/2-days. But the benchmark for comparison to Sony’s Spider-Man 3 is what P3 does Friday-Saturday-Sunday: Can Johnny beat Spidey’s $151 mil at the box office?

As that piece points out, RT’s review TRACKING is pretty unimpressive so far. 51% isn’t particularly good for a “blockbuster,” and the “Cream of the Crops” are an ugly 40%. (Dead Man’s Chest FINISHED at 54% and 42%, for comparison.)

Didn’t seem to bother its box office numbers too much, though.  And we’re talking about four thousand, three hunderd and sixty-two theaters.  There is simply no way it’s going to be a “financial failure.”