iPod: The Other White Meat

MacNN reports that at least two iPod buyers who bought their new toys at Wal-Mart were surprised to find meat or batteries in place of the MP3 player. "A woman and her son from Mililani, Hawaii were caught by surprise on Christmas morning as the boy opened a box which should have contained a brand-new fifth-generation iPod from Apple, but instead contained a sealed fish or meat product. ... Another Wal-Mart customer was also dissappointed when she opened her newly purchased iPod package. After opening a 30GB iPod box which was sealed with cellophane wrap, she discovered six AA batteries taped together--an effort to simulate the weight of the iPod."

Russian Backsliding?

A few recent articles have caught my eye on Russian backsliding away from a market economy. It had already appeared that Putin was a totalitarian at heart, despite what W saw in his heart. Of course, none of this has seemed to bother those who hold themselves out to be champions of human rights when it comes to Iraq. See also China.

But now that Russia appears to be renationalizing many of its businesses, maybe conservatives will actually take notice. According to the CS Monitor, "the Kremlin has effectively renationalized almost a third of the formerly private oil-and-gas sector." This should be a real problem for American and other Western interests with designs on Russian oil fields, which should make it a priority point for W and his crew.

Yesterday, news came of the resignation of a top Putin advisor and major proponent of free market economics. Andrei Illarionov, Putin's economic advisor, cited "a Kremlin ... bent on eradicating political freedom and commandeering the country's economy."

This story has been developing quietly for a few years, and you don't hear much of it here in the US. I wonder what would cause it to get prime real estate in the papers?

This Doesn't Sound Good, Does it?

From a Washington Post article on the recent Iraqi elections and their unkind results for W's good buddy Ahmed Chalabi:

Eight members of a single Iraqi SWAT team were wiped out in what Iraqi authorities described as an hour-long shootout with better-armed insurgents. [Emphasis added]

Now, maybe these guys were like SWAT trainees. Or quasi-SWAT. Or maybe even the better-trained, better-armed Iraqi forces are not well-equipped enough (either training- or equipment-wise, or both) to handle security in the country by themselves.

I'm Back

and I'll try to be better about posting regularly.

You Forgot Mongolia!

President Bush became the first sitting US President to visit Mongolia. He praised them for their support in the GWOT. Mongolia has 131 troops in Iraq and about 50 in Afghanistan.

Senate Does its Job

What took it so long?

Thank You, Vets

Thanks, a few hours in advance, for your service to our country.

Divide and Conquer on Miers?

The right is so divided on the nomination of Harriet Miers, I think the left has no idea what to do. So the left is sitting on the couch, eating popcorn, transfixed on what it sees before it. They don't seem to know what to do. To this observer, the left has only one choice: wholeheartedly support the nomination of Harriet Miers. MoveOn.Org should air ads promoting Miss Miers for a spot on the Supremes. People for the American Way ought to send out mass mailings urging Americans to support their President.

The Bull Moose is on the right track. But more needs to be done. This should be in the public eye. Dianne Feinstein, Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton must meet with the President and urge him to stay the course. And they need to hold a press conference immediately after telling C-SPAN Nation that they fully support the President on this issue.

I don't think I've been more correct about something in my life.

What's the worst that could happen? And intellectually incompetent justice could be confirmed onto the Supreme Court. Like that's never happened before.

Aawoooooooooooo!

So, I've decided that there are few artists in rock and pop music more underrated than Warren Zevon. Unfortunately, he gets tagged with the "novelty act" label because of Werewolves of London, but he has a catalogue of pretty good songs. Lawyers, Guns and Money and Excitable Boy are fine songs, as is Poor Poor Pitiful Me. Anyway, I was just thinking that as I was on my computer this evening.

Life Imitating Art?

On a recent West Wing, moderate GOP presidential candidate Arnold Vinick made a covenant he knew he would not keep. He promised a religiously conservative lobbyist that he would have a Roe v. Wade litmus test on judicial appointments. On a Sunday talk show, he publicly repudiated the litmus test.

Switching over to real life, now, a formerly moderate-sounding GOP president is drawing the ire of conservatives for a number of issues. President Bush has led conservatives through a period of unmitigated government expansion and entitlement expansion, using the carrot of socially-conservative judicial nominees. But when faced with two openings on the Supreme Court, W punted, nominating a not-too-conservative, scholarly and well-respected (by liberals even!) judge and a cloying sycophant with no record of conservative decisions under her belt. As you can imagine, many conservatives are pissed off. Wouldn't you be?

If like me you have a visceral hatred of this President, you gotta love this quote:

"The broader nature of the split becomes clearer with each conservative declaration of independence from the Bush White House. David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, wrote yesterday that many of his friends "swallowed policies" they opposed out of loyalty to Bush.

"We've been there for him because we've considered ourselves part of his team," Keene wrote in an essay printed in the newspaper the Hill and e-mailed to fellow conservatives. "No more. From now on, this administration will find it difficult to muster support on the right without explaining why it should be forthcoming. The days of the blank check have ended."