Holy moly!

The Biggest Hole in the world is in Russia.

The gaint hole is actually a diamond mine in Eastern Siberia near the town Mirna. It is 525 meters deep and 1.25 km in the diameter.

The suction above the hole resulted in several helicopter crashes, so all flight above the hole is prohibited now.

Crikey.

¿Qué el infierno?

Has anyone else noticed these government PSA’s being run on Fox News every day in Spanish?

Is this some kind of bad joke or just idiots in government at work wasting our tax dollars as usual?

It’s just strange that they are using American football players in a Spanish language commercial on a non-Spanish channel.

The Shrek commercial is even stranger.

These PSA’s are supposed to be targeted at children to get out and play to help prevent childhood obesity — a noble intention. But — how many Spanish speaking kids are sitting at home watching Fox News every afternoon?

Weird.

*if this is Comcast or some other cable outlet doing this — never mind, but still missing the point.

Judgement Day

Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick charged with perjury, obstruction, misconduct

DETROIT –Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has filed felony charges against Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty, accusing both of perjury, conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office, charges that could send both to prison in connection with the text-message scandal.

“Our investigation has clearly shown that public dollars were used, people’s lives were ruined, the justice system was severely mocked and the public trust trampled on,” Worthy said. “This is as far from being a private matter as one can get.”

She expects the mayor and Beatty to turn themselves in by 7 a.m. Tuesday for arraignment in 36th District Court.

I wish they could also charge Kwame with felony hubris. The level of sheer contempt for the people of Detroit and the law it takes to get to a point like this is just mind boggling.

As I type this, I’m waiting for the mayor to give his press conference. His arrogance and failure to act like a decent human being are still in evidence as he is having his staff exclude reporters that have been active in reporting this case from the press room.

Ah, it’s starting. Kwame is having his lawyer do the talking. What a bunch of shit. No apologies, no responsibility. Blame throwing and denial. They will not discuss the case with the press.

No resignation. It is beyond ridiculous that they are playing the victim card at this point.

Here comes the mayor.

Kwame is “deeply disappointed in the prosecutor.” This is a “flawed process.” “I will be exonerated.” Blah, blah blah. “Full and complete vindication.”

Kwame is going to drag the City of Detroit down with him.

Scumbag to the end.

Heh. Let’s have another round of Name That Party!. And, again.

I wonder how long it will be before we hear from Kwame’s mother, US Congresswoman Caroline Cheeks-Kilpatrick, defending her son — again.

You’re doing it wrong

The World’s Weirdest Engineering Disaster

On a fateful day in 1980 a group of oil drillers were working in a shallow lake in Louisiana probing for oil. A miscalculation sent their drill straight into a large salt mine shaft below the lake’s surface. The hole started at just over a foot in diameter but rapidly widened as the water from the lake above washed away the salt around it. What started out quite simply ended in disaster that no one could have predicted.

Yikes. I had never heard about this before.

Those of us from Chicago have first hand experience with what can go wrong when you start poking holes under large bodies of water.

Leave Kwame alone!

Bumped: I posted this on January 30th, but Kwame is now getting well earned national attention for his “indiscretions” — this deserves another look.

Heh, for those outside of Michigan, the “Gangsta Mayor” is in trouble again. This time for lying in court about an affair with his chief of staff during a lawsuit brought by former police officers who were fired for having the gall to try to investigate wrong doing by the Mayor and his staff. The City of Detroit had to settle for several million dollars. Kwame didn’t think anyone would ever find out about the text messages that he sent on his city issued cell phone to his paramour about getting rid of the officers and how she has a sweet, sweet booty.

Guess he doesn’t watch The Wire.

No words

And it just keeps getting weirder:

Kevorkian plans to run for Congress

PONTIAC — Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian is planning a run for Congress.

Kevorkian was released from prison last year and remains on parole. But the 79-year-old told The Oakland Press for an article published Wednesday that he plans to run for office as a candidate with no party affiliation.

“We need some honesty and sincerity instead of corrupt government in Washington,” Kevorkian said.

He said he would say more about his candidacy next week.

Kevorkian lives in Oakland County and the 9th District. That’s a seat now held by Republican Joe Knollenberg. Democrat Gary Peters also is among those planning to run for the seat.

Unfortunately, I no longer live in the 9th, having moved into Sander Levin’s district a couple of years ago. I’m not a huge Knollenberg fan, but I would gladly pull the lever for him to offset the goofballs and Ron Paul supporters that will go ga ga for Dr. Death.

Exit question, can convicted felons run for congress? I know, it’s probably a prerequisite these days, but seriously?

Hypocrisy, thy name is…

Ouch.

This is everywhere by now. But, it’s just too much to pass up.

Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring

ALBANY - Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation.

An affidavit in the federal investigation into a prostitution ring said that a wiretap recording captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a hotel room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.

Mr. Spitzer today made a brief public appearance during which he apologized for his behavior, and described it as a “private matter.”

A “private matter.” The gall.

Juicy details of the “private matter” at The Smoking Gun.

Spitzer — forever to be known as “client-9″ — has yet to resign. My guess is that he is working out the details with prosecutors to cut a deal that helps him avoid a full indictment if he relinquishes his public powers.

“Client-9″ was prosecuting prostitution rings while availing himself to the services of the Emperors Club — essentially eliminating their competition. For what sort of “compensation?”

So, yes little moonbats, this is not just about “sex.” This is not a “private matter”, it is a criminal one.

How much is too much?

Gabe at Ace of Spades HQ offers this article on fair use:

What Bloggers Should Know About Copyright and Fair Use
—Gabriel Malor

Whether they know it or not, bloggers confront copyright issues every time they publish a post. If they’ve copied and quoted text, the odds are very good that the copied text was someone else’s copyrighted work. The same is true if they’ve displayed a photograph, graphic, or other image that they found on the internet. And, of course, what a blogger writes is generally his or her own copyrighted work with all the protections that status implies.

Those protections include the exclusive rights to copy, distribute, and display the copyrighted work. So where does that leave us if, say, we want to discuss a recent article in the Washington Post or to titter over a photograph of the drunken débutante of the week? The answer is Fair Use. The fair use doctrine provides that some limited use of copyrighted material is permitted even though it is unauthorized.

Fair use isn’t, however, carte blanche to take the copyrighted works of others. And it’s not always easy to tell just how much copying fair use will cover. At the suggestion of Brian Ledbetter, of the recent snapped shot copyright dispute, I have pulled together some guidelines for bloggers on copyright and fair use. One of the reasons I’m so insistent about explaining fair use when it comes up is that many well-meaning people have been led to believe that it protects their activities when it doesn’t. By correcting the more common misunderstandings, I hope we can limit the damage, if you will, among bloggers and blog-readers, and get on with what we like to do.

DISCLAIMER (You knew there had to be one, right?): I am not a lawyer and I’m not qualified to give out legal advice. What follows is an informative guide to keeping out of copyright trouble based on my own experience in this particular area of U.S. law; it is not legal advice. It is not necessarily complete, nor should you rely on it if you find yourself facing accusations of copyright infringement. If you are in that situation, get an IP lawyer. The only way to entirely avoid the problem is to NOT COPY ANYTHING. The rest of us, who just can’t help ourselves, should read on…

Intellectual property is property just like any other. It can have value or be totally worthless. It can be passed from person to person, leased or rented, and bought and sold. Its owners can be individuals or corporations. And it can be stolen. For that reason, the law provides copyright owners with strong and lengthy protection. But because we don’t want to completely wall off recent works from public discussion, the law also provides a limited exception.

1. What works are covered by copyright?
Literary works, musical works, dramatic works, pantomime and choreography, pictorial, graphical, and sculptural works, sound, and architectural works that are recorded in some manner. Most importantly for bloggers, this includes things like news articles and op-eds, photographs provided by the wire services or others, and our own original writing on our blogs.

It does not matter that the only place the work is recorded is the internet. Nor does it matter, generally, whether the author displays the “©” somewhere on, in, or near the work. Nor does it matter that the work is provided for you to view for free. Finally, it does not matter whether or not the author registered the work with the Copyright Office.

The bottom line: if it falls into one of those groups, is original, authored, and recorded in some manner, it can be covered by copyright.

2. What cannot be copyrighted?
Copyright only covers the expression of the author. It cannot cover facts or ideas. So, for example, no one can copyright a news event and prevent you from discussing it. You cannot take another person’s expression of the news event–the words or images he uses to describe it–but you can author your own.

Similarly, no one can copyright an idea, say, the idea of a girl lost in the forest as the basis of a children’s story. You cannot copy word for word another person’s story or even paraphrase his plot–that’s his expression of the idea–but you can write your own children’s story about the same idea.

Also, unoriginal works are not protected. So if I make a photocopy of Steven Spielberg’s next script, I cannot claim to own the copyright in the photocopied version.

The bottom line: No one can ever stop you from writing about the news. You are free to write about factual events and their sequence, including (generally) who said what and when or who did what and when.

3. How do I tell if something is copyrighted?
A good default position is to assume that if you are reading it (in the case of text) or seeing it (in the case of images or audiovisual works) or hearing it (in the case of music) then it is copyrighted. The vast majority of works available to you on the internet are subject to copyright. This goes double for any copyrightable work created in the last seventy-or-so years.

Unless you have good reason to believe that something is not currently protected by copyright, for example, because it has a notice that says “Public Domain” attached or because it is 500 years old, your best option is to assume that it is copyrighted.

I will note again for the sake of thoroughness that it does not matter that something is free for you to view; it can still be copyrighted. It does not matter that a work is easy to copy, like so much on the internet; it can still be copyrighted.

The bottom line for bloggers: Assume that something you find on the internet is copyrighted and act accordingly.

4. What is fair use?
Now we get into the meat of it. The fair use doctrine provides that copyrighted material may be used even without authorization from the copyright holder for purposes including, but not necessarily limited to, “criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.” This does not, however, let you copy, distribute, or display just anything if you are engaged in one of the listed activities.

Your use must be appropriate or “fair” given the copyright holder’s rights. If you end up, unfortunately, in court over this question, the factfinder (usually a judge) will examine four factors in detail, but we don’t need to think about them right now.

For copyright law, “fair” does not mean what you think is fair. The word has a legal meaning apart from common, every-day usage. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security and think that just because you are a snarky news blog, you can ignore the copyright protections of legacy media.

5. Okay, so how much use is fair use?
Generally, excerpting portions of copyrighted text is permissible, especially when you are commenting on or criticizing the excerpts. For example, if you are writing about a current event and want to use part of a newspaper article in your discussion, you may quote portions of the text to aid your discussion. Be very careful, however, that you are making news comment and not just running an amateur news service where all you do is reproduce the significant bits of other people’s copyrighted works. That’s not fair use.

When it comes to photos, the problem is that it generally isn’t possible or desirable to copy, distribute, or display just a portion of the photo. In the particular area that concerns us–the internet–some courts have held that use of a photograph is fair if the purpose is to direct the viewer to the original and if it is of vastly reduced resolution. But do not let that fool you. That description also fits what legacy media outfits like CNN and the New York Times do and they pay good money to the wire services for the pleasure.

Bloggers may want to put themselves on stronger footing by reducing the resolution of displayed photos and hotlinking to the copyright holder’s original, but that does not necessarily make their use “fair.” The central issue in cases like this is the purpose of the blogger in displaying the photo. If he is just doing the same thing as the wire service–providing newsworthy images to interested viewers–he will likely still be infringing the copyright.

To get around this problem, the key is that your criticism or comment has to be about the photograph itself and not just the content that it depicts. In essence, you are making the photography part of the news story. You can accompany your criticism of the photography with discussion of the content, but without the former, you are just illustrating your news posts with photos that belong to someone else. Again, that’s what the legacy media does and they have to pay good money to do it.

6. What is not fair use?
You cannot take and republish entire copyrighted articles, even if it is free to view them on the author’s webspace. In fact, you cannot take and republish entire copyrighted articles, even if you paid to view them behind the author’s subscription wall. In short, there is no way to stretch the fair use doctrine to include copying entire textual works that are copyrighted. You’re not Google, don’t try it.

Also, copyright infringement is not cured by attribution. Think about it. I don’t get away with stealing my neighbor’s car just because I say who it really belongs to when I give it away or sell it. You’re confusing copyright infringement with plagiarism.

Finally, copyright infringement can still occur even if you make no money from the use and even if you cause the copyright holder to make more money. As the copyright holder, they have the exclusive right to copy, distribute, and display the work. There is no exception for not-for-profit, pajama-clad web-warriors, nor does the law penalize gigantic corporations who have copyrighted works.

7. How does this affect me in practice?
In reality, things aren’t so restricted. Copyright holders have neither the time nor the interest in pursuing every violation from small-time bloggers and other internet cranks. But that doesn’t mean that you are legally in the clear. It only means that you aren’t enough of a thorn in their side to cause them to call in the lawyers. I think you can probably get away with quite a bit more use than what is “fair.” Don’t think that the forbearance of copyright holders will last forever or will protect you in all circumstances.

Also, the fair use doctrine provides you a defense to accusations of copyright infringement. But having to assert this defense means that you could still end up in front of a judge. That’s a punishment all it’s own and entirely separate from the question of which party is “in the right.” Keep in mind that civil and cooperative engagement with the lawyers when they come knocking can get you a long way and might save you some grief.

Finally, to take a line from Stephen den Beste: Don’t Write Letters. I know that this is a superficial discussion of the subject; the purpose here is to help bloggers make smart decisions about what they put on their blogs, not teach a seminar on copyright law. Also, and most importantly, if you email me a question of the form: “Is [my usage] fair use?” I cannot reply. I’m happy to discuss the factual realities of copyright law, but I cannot and will not make a “ruling” as to your legal situation.

Interesting article.

I’ll try to keep all of that in mind.

Ah, crap

Look for gas prices to go up again…

Explosion Rocks Oil Refinery In Big Spring

There has been an explosion at an oil refinery in Big Spring, located about 250 miles west of Fort Worth, near Midland.

The refinery is owned by Dallas-based Alon USA. It employs about 170 people and produces about 70,000 barrels of oil a day.

Blake Lewis, a spokesman for the company, said that all of the refinery’s employees had been accounted for about one hour after the explosion. At least one worker was injured and taken to the hospital, Lewis said. The condition of the worker is not known.

The company does not know what caused the explosion, but fire sparked by the blast was quickly put under control.

A PSA from AMA

In light of Wickedpinto’s post below, I thought it would be important to make this public service announcement…

NSFW!

Hey Ya’all

Just stopping in for a quckie’esh sort of thing.

Okay first, politics.

Fred waited to flogging long

McCain will get the nom.

Hillary is a bully, as long as her fat drunk unfaithful husband can back her up with his crowd.

Edwards is a pussy “When can I talk? when can I talk?!”  but of course the “impartial” media doesn’t take sides, . . . . or do they?  Even dems have to wake up to last nights farce.

anyways, the thing that I actually wanted to talk about.

I’m not a loser, though that is the lifestyle I live.  I’m poor though I shouldn’t be, and for some reason saturday, I started to think about some formative moments in my life, and it reminded me of something that I did a number of years ago.

My brother has a very nice house, very nice, and he has a number of neighbors who are very nice people who have very nice children.  a number of years ago, while I was working the line at a feeder plant for the local ford plant, I was off for two weeks, during their “retooling” (Actually it was a complete reconception of the ford 500, or at least a way to re-market it)  so I didn’t have anything to do for 2 weeks, and my brother, knowing that I like spending time with him, and the fact that my brother would like for the people that he knows to learn to know his brother (me) “invited” me over to his place.

I’m the kinda guy that I won’t take anything for free, I don’t know why, I’m poor, so actually I should be the one who takes free shit whenever it’s available, and when not available I should negotiate for even more free shit, but I don’t, ESPECIALLY when it comes to my brother.

Anyways, heres the story.

My brother allows me to store a lot of my shit at his place, and I have a pretty fair bit of shit, for storage, considering that I have never actually lived on my own.  (I crash here and there, and stuff like that, even when I have had money, I prefered the bumming style of residence, sorry, thats just something I have in me.  It might be an intimacy or some shit, but, I always prefer at least one roommate.)

Anyways, my bro let me store a bunch of my shit, mostly large cabinet type items, and collectibles at his place (my brother has a rather large baseball card collection, and I have rather significant comic book collection, so he was understanding, especially since I told him, that whoever has the first kid, gets the comics, and he kinda said the same thing, though he knows I won’t likely have a kid, back on point) I needed to get all this shit up into the garage attic.

My brothers neighbors have kids, and all of my brothers neighbors kids LOVED my brother.  My brother is the “cool old guy who doesn’t touch me” sorta shit, and since I am my brothers brother the neighbor kids liked me too, and while I was doing this work for my brother, I took a break, opened up his garage, and embarrassed myself trying to rollerblade (don’t ask, it consists of bruises, scraps, and a number of untimely demonstrations of inertia, largely occuring when I tried a “crossover.” lets leave it at that.)

Anyways, two of the neighbor girls rode their bicycles up to the garage, making fun of my attempts at rollerblading, and said “wickedpinto?  Is lameaswannabestallion(my brother) home?”

“no, he’s on vacation, won’t be back till saturday.”

the girls harumphed, but they knew that while I wasn’t as cool as lameaswannabestallion(mybrother) I was a cool guy, so the girls approached me, and started talking shit about the two boys who were riding their bikes next to the girls.

It was obvious that the boys like the girls, and that one of the neighborgirls kinda liked one of the boys, so I asked “you want me to get rid of them?”

“couldja?”  one girl asked.

“be nice?” the other said

(I’m totaly paraphrasing here.  and by “paraphrasing,” I mean, borderline making shit up, but the heart of the story is true)

“no problem, whats their names?” I asked the girls, they told me, and I went all “oldcorps” on their asses and called out their names, the boys came running to me like recuits who just got out of the stickers, with the “fuzzy’s” on their beans.  (”fuzzy’s” is one of many nicknames for pre-indoc recruits in the corps, because your head is shaved, and you MUST remove, and then wear, and then remove, and then wear your sweatshirt, so all the loose cotton gets caught in your little scrub brush bean.)

The boys came up, and I introduced myself, and I acted like a protective uncle or cousin to the boys, asked them their intentions and all that shit.

As soon as I thought one of them was gonna piss themselves I whispered something like “I don’t know if they like you, but girls like a manly man.  Just go with this, and don’t look at them okay?”

The boys went with it, they helped me carry all my shit up into my brothers attic, or rather they just made sure that if I dropped my shit, it wouldn’t break, and there ya go.

The boys got to be “men” by working with a grown man (me, though I didn’t tell them that they were helping me with my comic colection, that might have fucked up there game) the girls got to be in control of the boys, and develop an adult ally in the game of gender at a young age, and my brother got all of my shit out of his way.

Thats a four for all.

Unfortunately, the one boy that the one girl liked pissed and moaned and whined the entire time, and she decided she didn’t like pussys.  the other kid would harrass my brother for a while after that, if he needed any help, and it made my brother feal a little wierd because here is this strange kid, BEGGING to do physical labor around my brothers house, and my bro didn’t know why.

Later when I told bro the story, he was kinda pissed about me conscripting kids to do my work (even though I didn’t, and I DID pay them when they did “volunteer.”) but I figured it was a formative lesson for the girls. 

I don’t know where that is going, but I will likely be told not to type so loud in the next few minutes, if I don’t stop, after all, I’m still using the library.

Love, Ya’alls, thanks for the thoughts.

Fred — It’s all about South Carolina

Unfortunately, South Carolina looks almost exactly like Iowa in the most recent polls.

A third place finish in South Carolina and being blown out in New Hampshire and Michigan isn’t going to cut it. I hate to say it, but I think Fred will be out before the end of the month.

Disgusting — Brits treat their returning soldiers horribly

Afghan heroes home for Christmas forced to change out of uniforms on freezing runway before using airport terminal

Scores of soldiers flying home from Afghanistan on Christmas leave were ordered to change out of their uniforms on a freezing runway before being allowed into a civilian airport terminal.

Troops were told not to be seen in public in their uniforms - which they had worn with pride while risking their lives during months of intense fighting against the Taliban.

If this were an isolated incident, it would be easy to write this off as a mistake or misunderstanding. But, it’s already happened a couple of times in Seattle and once in California, that I remember — while escorting the body of a fallen comrade.

Just mind numbingly callous. But, don’t forget — they support our troops.

Right.

Thanks to Michelle Malkin

Breaking News — Romney winning in Wyoming

Romney Takes Early Lead In Wyoming

AP reports that Mitt Romney has taken the early lead in the WY GOP caucus today, potentially providing him with a welcome but barely noted bright spot as he struggles to regain momentum in NH. Romney easily led the overall vote with more than 50%. Duncan Hunter was second with 21% and Fred Thompson, who hadn’t won any delegates, was third with 17%. Results were expected to pour in throughout the day.

Also — Rutgers leading Ball State in the International Bowl in Toronto.

Less surprising than the fact that there is a Bowl game in Canada is that the game’s attendance doubled that of the Wyoming caucus turnout.

Republican presidential candidates gear up for Michigan primary

No mention of Fred Thompson.

The Detroit News:

Romney officials said the first voting of the campaign — and the disappointing loss in Iowa — had generated a new sense of urgency among volunteers. And they’re banking on what is by far the most extensive network of political supporters and staff in the state to make a difference between now and Election Day.

“The difference between our organization and others is, we have an organization,” Romney staffer Katie Packer said.

Romney, an Oakland County native and son of late Gov. George Romney, has endorsements from four of the state’s Republican members of Congress and dozens of lower-level officials.

With the crucial New Hampshire contest looming, Romney supporters argued that the former Massachusetts governor is the only candidate competing across all the early states. And Michigan supporters renewed their promotion of Romney as best equipped to address the state’s economic malaise.

“When you look at where our country is economically and the economic challenge Michigan faces, it’s critical that taxes be reduced so we can get the economy humming again,” said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, in a conference call with Michigan reporters Friday. Camp contrasted what he called Romney’s tax-cutting record with that of McCain, who opposed President Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. McCain now says he wants those cuts to be permanent.

Romney aides said their campaign would spend the weekend recruiting volunteers and targeting likely supporters with phone calls.

McCain, the winner of the 2000 primary in Michigan, is hoping Romney’s loss in Iowa can give him the momentum to defeat Romney in New Hampshire, where Romney led throughout the summer and fall. The winner in New Hampshire, in turn, likely will carry enormous momentum into Michigan.

“We’re planning the next 11 days of events, getting out the yard signs and making the phone calls, a regular old grassroots campaign,” said Jerry Zandstra, a former Republican candidate for U.S. Senate and former backer of Sam Brownback who has endorsed McCain.

The Arizona senator began airing his first television ads in Michigan on Friday.

Democratic candidates have promised not to campaign in Michigan’s Jan. 15 presidential primary because the state jumped ahead of others, in violation of national party rules. The Republicans are starting to plan their Michigan ground games.

John McCain: Plans to hold rallies at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids and Oakland International Airport in Waterford on Wednesday. He’s scheduled back in Michigan, at events in Warren and Clawson, Jan. 12; Howell, Lansing and Battle Creek Jan. 13; Kalamazoo, Holland, Spring Lake and Grand Rapids, Jan. 14; and Traverse City and Ann Arbor Jan. 15.

Mitt Romney: Plans to be the guest speaker at the Oakland County Republican Party’s 60th Anniversary Gala Dinner in West Bloomfield Jan. 14.

Fred?

I’m getting bombarded by the Romney and McCain campaigns.

I get an email every couple of days from the Thompson campaign asking for money. No information.

It’s starting to look like I may have backed the wrong horse.

And, Michigan Democrats, how does it feel to be left out of the democratic process by your party?

McCain — talking tough

It’s hard not to like a guy that makes statements like this.

Why does he make it so difficult the rest of the time?

via HotAir

Jay R. Grodner achieves Internet immortality

His name is now an Internet verb.

As in, to grodner oneself.

Grodner [’ghræd n3r] (v):
1) To aggressively self-destruct through felony vandalism crossed with a sense of invulnerability and entitlement.
2) To be-prick oneself in public while flashing the victim card.

Thanks to Neptunus Lex.

An open letter to Fred Thompson

From an Iowan who attended the caucus for Fred Thompson tonight, a comment at AoS:

Open Letter to Fred,

I watched your video to Iowans, caucused for you, and brought friends. Yes, you got beat, but there’s a lesson to take away from this, if you’re seeking one.

Huckabee won due to emotional appeal. The people who latched onto him are seeking any sign of strong character. These people are our emotional voters, and are as quick to leave a cause as they are to join one. But they do represent a demographic of importance in the national election, especially when you realize that most of the “other party” is comprised of these types.

Romney came in second due to a strong organization. His people were able to convince the rational, non-emotional voters that he’s a well-polished executive who can lead a country. As the saying goes, “winner’s win and loser’s lose” and Mitt has done a good job convincing many he’s in that former category.

You did marginally well, but can clearly do better. As I heard across Pottawattamie, Mills and Fremont counties, your organization was a mess. Your people do not return calls, your organization can’t get signs out, and overall, you did not convince us executives, business owners and other rational voters that your organization has the capacity to win. You’ve heard the comments questioning your “fire in the belly”? What we’ve observed is the logistical equivalent: you may be the best candidate, but your organization can’t execute and make your success possible. At this level, my friend, intent doesn’t matter. It’s all about execution.

This isn’t time to make excuses, blaming scarce funds, etc. We’re talking basic execution failures at a low level. Ignoring phone calls, emails for information, etc. Long-time party loyalists couldn’t get your people to function, at which people distance themselves from your efforts. If I had outsourced these functions and obtained these results, I’d fire the contractor.

If you’re going to pull it off, you need to lead your campaign organization as you would the nation (from what I’ve heard, you’ve left the operational leadership up to others - which was a clear mistake). Either step up and drive these people to excellence, or set it aside and let someone else win. You’re one of the few people who has the opportunity open to them, but you’ll have to decide whether you really want it.

Your Iowa experience was commensurate with the effort your team put into it. As you’ve hopefully realized, success here is a function of both your vision and the organizational capacity of your team. May this experience guide you in your upcoming challenges.

Best wishes for lessons learned,

Redherkey
Fremont County Iowa

Thanks Redherkey.

Unfortunately, Redherkey’s experience in Iowa perfectly mirrors what we are experiencing in Michigan. We’ve gotten no “official” word, but at this point it looks like we are being written off.

It would have been nice to know.

Hopefully, things are not the same on the ground in South Carolina. But, I doubt it.

Thousands of people are willing to help your campaign, Mr. Thompson, if you’ll just let them. Yes, the money comes first, but without any state or grass roots organization — you are going to go nowhere fast.

Scumbag of the Year makes the Chicago Tribune

It took a few days, but the story of shitbird extraoardinaire, Jay R. Grodner, caught the attention of the press.

John Kass covered the story today in the Chicago Tribune.

I’m going way beyond fair use, I can’t find any part that I could leave out. Kass talked to more of the people involved than we’ve heard from before — except for the bad actor himself, who remains hidden.

As of this evening, this was the most viewed story on the Chicago Tribune web site.

Jay R. Grodner is officially — infamous.

Marine Sgt. Michael McNulty — now on his way to Iraq for his second tour of duty in the war — took meticulous care of his car.

It is a black two-door BMW, an expensive ride for a young Marine from Chicago, but then, McNulty didn’t exactly join up for the big paycheck and luxury vacations.

The 26-year-old McNulty was a trader at the exchange and enlisted in the Reserves after 9/11. He babied his car so much that he had military vanity plates along with a sticker in his window that let people know that a Marine or a Marine supporter drove that car.

But someone didn’t like the Marine sticker, or the pro-military plates, and decided to stage an anti-war protest, with a key or hard piece of metal, on the shiny black finish of Sgt. McNulty’s car that caused $2,400 in damage.

“It’s a really nice car. It’s in perfect condition. He keeps it meticulous. And he was going to sell it,” said Sgt. McNulty’s friend, Tom Sullivan, a college buddy from Loyola University.

The last time Sgt. McNulty was in Iraq, he worked a .50-caliber machine gun from a Humvee. Now that he’s going back, he really doesn’t need a shiny black BMW that shows dust.

“There wasn’t a scratch on his car,” Sullivan said.

But there is one now.

It is a big scratch, a particularly long scratch in that black paint, a scratch stretching from the rear driver’s side around the back, across the trunk, then up to the passenger’s side.

If you have a car, and parked it on the street, surely you’ve thought about what an angry key could do to it.

According to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, it wasn’t an accident, but a deliberate key job, not done by some kid or street thug, but by a Chicago lawyer who apparently can’t stand the military.

Private attorney Jay R. Grodner, 55, of Chicago has been charged with a class A misdemeanor — criminal damage to property — punishable by up to one year in jail and up to a $2,500 fine, said Andy Conklin, spokesman for the state’s attorney’s office.

Late Wednesday, I reached Sgt. McNulty, who declined to comment for the paper but confirmed the facts in the police report.

And I wanted to get Grodner’s side of it because he’s been accused but not convicted of anything. So we called all the Grodner numbers we could find — home and business — including those on the police report and others in the suburbs and Chicago. Many were disconnected, and his cell phone voice mail was full.

I’d like to ask him two questions:

Why?

And, are you proud?

“McNulty was just coming to pick me up for breakfast, because he was going to training just before deployment,” Sullivan said of that morning on Dec. 1 in Rogers Park.

There are several one-way streets near Sullivan’s home, but McNulty missed the turn, and rather than drive two or three blocks around, he put the car in reverse and backed up a hundred or so feet. He pulled up in front of his friend’s house, rang the bell and Sullivan came downstairs. McNulty then turned around and saw Grodner’s hands on his black car.

“Mike says, ‘Hey, what are you doing to my car? Open up your hand!’” Sullivan told us. “And [Grodner] goes, ‘[Blank] you! Just because you’re in the military you don’t run the roost!’”

There were allegedly many more epithets and cuss words, some allegedly applied to the United States Marine Corps, to the U.S. armed forces and to Sgt. McNulty himself.

“Quite frankly, you don’t even look like a soldier. You’re a small little [blank],” Grodner said according to Sullivan.

This last bit really bothers William McNulty, who is Sgt. McNulty’s brother, and he called me.

“My brother should be commended for not just smashing that guy’s windpipe right there for all the stuff he said about our military, and the insults,” William McNulty said. “Instead, my brother called the police, as he should have.”

According to the police report I read, other investigative accounts and interviews, Grodner was upset to have been accused of purposely scratching the car. So upset, that he accused his accusers of being anti-Semitic.

The Chicago police officer responding to the call didn’t take the accusation seriously, according to the report, because he couldn’t justify it. And Sgt. McNulty’s brother and Sullivan say it is outrageous and nonsensical.

“The officer wasn’t going to hear this kind of talk. He put the kibosh on the whole thing,” Sullivan said. “So [Grodner] became apologetic.”

According to the police report, “The offender denied scratching the victim’s vehicle, but did admit to rubbing past it.”

Rubbing past it? I guess it all depends on what the definition of “rubbing” is.

That’s where it is now, awaiting another court date, set for Jan. 18, after Sgt. McNulty refused to back off and drop the charges in earlier court appearances.

Lawyers know how to drag things out, with continuance after continuance, stalling until complaining witnesses get tired and move on.

But Marines on their way to war don’t seek continuances.

And all Sgt. McNulty wanted was a little respect, and the chance to sell that car of his, without a scratch.

Wow, Grodner turns out to be an even bigger scumbag than it seemed originally. Pompous, arrogant, obnoxious and now obviously — pretty fucking stupid.

Grodner, if you haven’t figured it out yet, you are completely fucked. You screwed the pooch this time. The best part is — you did it to yourself.

Bluster and hubris are not your friend. This time, you get to bend over and grab your ankles. What is the correct term for a self-inflicted ass pounding?

BOHICA, baby!

I look forward to reporting your sentencing.

Caucus Day!!!

Iowans are congregating by the tens of dozens today to kick of the primary season with their quasi-democratic caucus selection process.

Our buddy Russ from Winterset is caucusing for Fred! tonight and promises updates from the scene. The Des Moines Register has full online coverage — here.

Updates as the day goes on. Already Bill Clinton is spinning — “I didn’t win a primary until Georgia.”

Heh, first update from Russ over at AoS:

I went to the Rotary meeting today at noon, and had a good conversation with my “inside source” with the Madison County Republican party. He said that they only anticipate having five precinct captains speak up for their candidates, but that wasn’t the good part.

Guess who’s standing up to speak for Mike Huckabee?

No, God’s going to be busy watching the Virginia Tech/Kansas football game, and Jesus said something about trying to catch up on some NHL games he’s TiVo’d. Huck’s going to be handling this one with a mere mortal.

The Precinct Captain for Mike Huckabee will be: Mike Huckabee’s sister. I. Shit. You. Not. Mike Freakin’ Huckabee’s freakin’ sister. What are the odds of that happening?

Advice time, morons: Should I refrain from calling Mike Huckabee a pigf*&ker in front of his sister, or should I let ‘er rip?

I know what I’d do, but hey, that’s just me.

Update 8:30 pm: With 10 % of the dem vote reported CNN is saying 34 % Edwards, 32% Clinton, 31% Obama and 2% Richardson. The dems have that goofy second place rule in their caucus and it looks like that will come into play tonight for at least a few candidates.

On the Republican side, only 2% reporting: 33 % Huckabee, 24% Romney, 17% Thompson, 11% McCain.

Long night ahead. We’re also live blogging over at AoS.

Update 8:50 pm:

Missed the dems, on the Republican side with 15% in: 36% Huckabee, 23% Romney, 15% Thompson, 12% McCain.

The larger precincts have yet to report and the dem caucuses are still going through their second round of voting.

Update 9:00 pm: Well, that didn’t take long. CNN and Fox just called it for Huckabee.

Huckabee 7,809 35% 0 25% reporting
Romney 5,355 24% 0
Thompson 3,178 14% 0
McCain 2,638 12% 0
Paul 2,425 11% 0
Giuliani 830 4% 0
Hunter 72 0% 0

On the dem side, things just took a turn for Obama.

Obama 206 33% 0 34%
reporting
Edwards 200 32% 0
Clinton 198 32% 0
Richardson 11 2% 0
Biden 6 1% 0
Dodd 0 0% 0
Gravel 0 0% 0
Kucinich 0 0% 0

Update 9:15 pm: Obama moving up a little more.

Obama 373 34% 0 54%reporting
Edwards 345 32% 0
Clinton 340 31% 0
Richardson 19 2% 0
Biden 11 1% 0
Dodd 0 0% 0
Gravel 0 0% 0
Kucinich 0 0% 0
Uncommitted 0 0% 0

Update 9:30 pm: It’s a battle for second place in the dem primary with 2/3 of the vote in. Still too close to call, but it’s not turning out to be a good night for Team Hillary.

Obama 505 35% 0 66% reporting
Edwards 452 31% 0
Clinton 449 31% 0
Richardson 25 2% 0
Biden 14 1% 0
Uncommitted 2 0% 0
Dodd 0 0% 0
Gravel 0 0% 0
Kucinich 0 0% 0

Update 9:31pm: CNN calls it for Obama.

Obama 580 35% 0 73% reporting
Edwards 511 31% 0
Clinton 507 31% 0
Richardson 30 2% 0
Biden 17 1% 0
Uncommitted 2 0% 0
Dodd 0 0% 0
Gravel 0 0% 0
Kucinich 0 0% 0

Update 9:40: Things are tightening up between Thompson and McCain with 65% in. On the dem side, second place is still too close to call.

Huckabee 25,510 34% 0 65% reporting
Romney 18,668 25% 0
Thompson 10,308 14% 0
McCain 9,891 13% 0
Paul 7,674 10% 0
Giuliani 2,708 4% 0
Hunter 324 0% 0

Obama 664 36% 0 78% reporting
Edwards 561 31% 0
Clinton 557 30% 0
Richardson 35 2% 0
Biden 18 1% 0
Uncommitted 2 0% 0
Dodd 1 0% 0
Gravel 0 0% 0
Kucinich 0 0% 0

One thing I like about this caucus thing — stuff happens very quickly. Not that many votes to keep track of and get reported.

Update 10:00 pm: Very tight between Thompson and McCain. Almost dead even between Edwards and Clinton.

Huckabee 28,762 34% 0 72% reporting
Romney 21,213 25% 0
Thompson 11,522 14% 0
McCain 11,281 13% 0
Paul 8,549 10% 0
Giuliani 3,053 4% 0
Hunter 366 0% 0

Obama 816 37% 0 90% reporting
Edwards 663 30% 0
Clinton 656 30% 0
Richardson 48 2% 0
Biden 20 1% 0
Uncommitted 2 0% 0
Dodd 1 0% 0
Gravel 0 0% 0
Kucinich 0 0% 0

Update 10:15 pm: Thompson and McCain reaching near dead heat status. The dems are still too close between Edwards and Clinton. For some reason Edwards is on TV right now claiming victory. “The status quo lost and change won.” Heh, every democrat is running on a “change” platform. Obama crushed the two of them, I can’t see what Edwards thinks he has to celebrate.

Huckabee 30,852 34% 0 76% reporting
Romney 22,973 25% 0
Thompson 12,289 14% 0
McCain 12,109 13% 0
Paul 8,995 10% 0
Giuliani 3,246 4% 0
Hunter 392 0% 0

Obama 867 37% 0 94% reporting
Edwards 697 30% 0
Clinton 687 30% 0
Richardson 50 2% 0
Biden 22 1% 0
Uncommitted 3 0% 0
Dodd 1 0% 0
Gravel 0 0% 0
Kucinich 0 0% 0

Update 10:30 pm: Yikes! McCain just passed Thompson, still too close to call. On the dem side, Hillary is done. Edwards takes second.

Huckabee 31,508 34% 0 78% reporting
Romney 23,682 25% 0
McCain 12,520 14% 0
Thompson 12,484 13% 0
Paul 9,132 10% 0
Giuliani 3,321 4% 0
Hunter 395 0% 0

Obama 899 38% 14 96% reporting
Edwards 716 30% 12
Clinton 705 29% 13
Richardson 50 2% 0
Biden 22 1% 0
Uncommitted 3 0% 0
Dodd 1 0% 0
Gravel 0 0% 0
Kucinich 0 0% 0

Update 11:00 pm: Wow. Fred is back in third w/ 85% of the vote in.

Huckabee 35,257 34% 0 85% reporting
Romney 25,995 25% 0
Thompson 13,786 14% 0
McCain 13,473 13% 0
Paul 9,992 10% 0
Giuliani 3,571 4% 0
Hunter 452 0% 0

Update 12:00 am: Results coming in very slowly now.

Huckabee 35,621 34% 0 86% reporting
Romney 26,524 26% 0
Thompson 13,932 13% 0
McCain 13,693 13% 0
Paul 10,184 10% 0
Giuliani 3,613 4% 0
Hunter 458 0% 0

Update 12:30 am: The dem results are final and we’re at 93% on the Republican side. Looks like Fred may be safe in third.

Huckabee 38,605 34% 17 93% reporting
Romney 28,367 25% 12
Thompson 15,044 13% 3
McCain 14,749 13% 3
Paul 11,232 10% 2
Giuliani 3,853 4% 0
Hunter 499 1% 0

Obama 940 38% 16 100% reporting
Edwards 744 30% 14
Clinton 737 29% 15
Richardson 53 2% 0
Biden 23 1% 0
Uncommitted 3 0% 0
Dodd 1 0% 0
Gravel 0 0% 0
Kucinich 0 0% 0

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