In terror war, 2nd track for suspects
"The Bush administration is developing a parallel legal system in which terrorism suspects — U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike — may be investigated, jailed, interrogated, tried and punished without legal protections guaranteed by the ordinary system, lawyers inside and outside the government say."
Interesting article in Slate.
Here's the problem with this silly little tradition: I can't imagine presidents not eating Turkey on Thanksgiving Day, so some poor Turkey just replaces the pardoned one every year.
I did indeed do to Disneyland. I spent most of the day in California Adventure, which was practically empty, then to Disneyland, then back to California Adventure, where Chad and Susan met me, then back to Disneyland. The California Screamin' roller coaster is so fun at night, though a little cold. But beware the funnel cakes. They're the worst I've ever had.
I ended up crashing at Chad and Susan's place, so we went out to breakfast at the Newport Beach pier. And then to Costco and Ikea. Alas, I didn't buy anything.
Chad lent me Battlefield 1942. It may be the best game ever. It's like Tribes 2, but set in WWII. Its hardware requirements are pretty steep, though.
Anyway, I took a three-hour nap this afternoon, and I'm still groggy. I can't wait to fall asleep...
I was so exhausted when I got home that I went straight to bed and slept for two hours; Andrea woke me up via instant messenger. I forgot to get change at work today for laundry, so I'll have to go to the arcade in Westwood. maybe I'll stop by Diddy Reese's for the $1 cookie-and-milk deal.
I think I'll go to Disneyland tomorrow. I could spend all day there, go to church with Chad and Susan and then go back until it closes. Or maybe I'll just go on Sunday, to both. Hopefully the Matterhorn is up and running.
Major change is in the air for pollution rules
"The Bush administration on Friday gave 17,000 older power plants, refineries and factories greater flexibility in meeting the Clean Air Act — a move that some states planned to challenge in court."
From the recent Canadian flap....
On Thursday, when first asked about the reported comment, Chretien said Mr. Bush was "not a moron at all, he's a friend. My personal relations with the president are extremely good."
Not exactly a ringing endorsement, eh?
From a page-one article in today's LA Times:
"...Nobuko Nakano, head of a one-person group..."
Now that's just silly. How does a single person ever constitute a "group?" And even if such a group were logically possible, how could there be a "head" with no followers? It is so hard for the nation's No. 2 newspaper to admit they're quoting a *person* rather than an official?
On the third try, my Capellini Pomodoro recipe came out exactly like it's supposed to. I actually used the right amount of tomatoes, weighing them instead of just guessing how many the recipe calls for. Andrea and I thought we might be putting too much in, but it came out perfectly. We had Chad and Susan over for dinner, but forgot to cook the asparagus or prepare the olive oil / balsamic vinegar dip. Oops. Anyway, I have leftover for today and can't wait for lunch.
Overall, we had a nice weekend. We saw the IMAX version of attack of the Clones, but the picture quality was actually worse than the original. The new resolution made it easier to tell which backgrounds were real and which were digitally created still picture. And other scenes showed pixelization!
Yesterday, when Andrea and I took her Brazilian friends to Downtown Disney, I thought I'd be a big man and use my Annual Pass to get us in the parking garage for free. But they were doing free parking for some reason, so it didn't matter. Zip-a-dee-do-da.
Can Pelosi pull a ‘Gingrich’?
Unfortunately, the Democrats are associating old-school liberalism with new ideas. This is one way to practically guarantee the Bushies and second term.
This has all been said before, but one of the big reasons for the Republican route last night was Democrat's failure to inspire its constituents. After rolling over on Bush's big priorities -- the tax cut, Iraq, etc. -- and offering no centrist alternatives, they gave Democrat voters very little reason to show up to the polls. As James Carville put it, they had no message and no backbone. Here's hoping they get their act together.
