Crosblog

After hearing Mel Gibson's drunken anti-semitic rant, the judge in his case sentenced Israel to give Mel several square miles of disputed land in Gaza.

Then enter the World Championship of Strip Poker, taking place in London next month.

And apparently they're not kidding.

Note to Doyle Brunson - if you're going to enter, for the love of God, don't lose!

...or, more likely, yet another reason I probably shouldn't be President. (Besides my policy of ordering airstrikes on any movie studio shooting a Jimmy Fallon movie.)

So, in the Middle East, everyone who's not currently blaming Israel is blaming the U.S. This is because of Israel's "disproportionate" response, back when everyone was ready to blame Hezbollah, till Israel made it retroactively not their fault. It's our fault because we're totally cool with it.

The diplomatic thing to do to offset this anger would be to back off the support of Israel and "understand" why tactics such as Hezbollah's are used. For good or ill, Stone Cold John Bolton does not do "understanding." But I was hoping maybe he could do education. It's not enough to take Israel's side, if we don't explain why we're doing it.

To the extent Hezbollah has avoided damage in the current conflagration, it is because they have managed to hide among civilian areas, passing off their casualties to women and children, and using Israel's concern about civilians (a concern they don't share) to protect themselves. This is cowardice to such a great degree that even the U.N. has noticed.

It also matters what Hezbollah wants. Their primary objective is the realize of this turd. And why, pray tell, is Samir Kuntar languishing in an Israeli prison. Well, his defenders describe the "Nasser Operation" this way -

The goal of the operation was to attack one of the biggest military bases located in Naharya...The result of the operation was the death of the commandos group members, and the imprisonment of Kuntar and Al Abrass . On the Israeli’s side, 5 were killed and 12 others wounded.

I mean, come on - the guy just took part in a military operation, right?

Actually, no. That's not right. Kuntar's defenders are, at least in English, being amazingly dishonest about what this "hero" did to piss off Israel:

The mother, Smadar Haran, had managed to slip into a crawl space with her two-year-old daughter Yael and avoid detection. But as police began to arrive, the gunmen took her husband Danny and four-year-old daughter Einat down to the beach, where they shot Danny in front of his daughter and smashed in her skull with a rifle butt.

The tragedy didn't end there; Smadar's frantic efforts to keep her little one quiet resulted in Yael's death from suffocation.

To repeat - smashed in a four-year old's skull with a rifle butt.

Among other things.

Nasrallah has promised that what he's currently putting Lebanon through will result in freedom for Kuntar. The Washington Post once gave Einar and Yael Haran's mother space to tell us clearly who we're dealing with here. She said something else, a little more recently:

"You tell me your hero, and I'll tell you what your morals and values are," she said quietly.

This is why we're not neutral. This is why we picked a side, and this is why we picked the side we did.

Sometimes they file stuff like this.

Tip - TalkLeft.

The 81 year old father of Senator Norm Coleman was charged with lewd conduct and public indecency for allegedly having sex with a 38 year old woman in a car outside a pizza parlor.

On one hand, ew. On the other hand, Norman Bertram Coleman Sr. is the man.

Sen. Coleman, R-Minn., issued a statement Wednesday that said:

"I love my father dearly. I do not condone his actions or behavior, and I am deeply disturbed by what I have learned. He clearly has some issues that need to be dealt with, and I will encourage him to seek the necessary help."

Cialis?

Tip - Steve Silver.

About. Damn. Time.

My wife is actually somewhat irked that I read about these DVD's coming out before she had the chance to surprise me. (For the record, blame for that should rest with the good people at Entertainment Weekly.) I suppose I understand - she so rarely gets the chance to use her shopping powers for good.

I know, I'm conflicted too. On one hand, crazy elected officials demean the democratic process, bring disrepute to the very causes they purport to endorse, and damage any chance of national consensus with their polarizing rhetoric.

But on the other, aren't they heaps of fun? Especially when they represent the other side?

Anyhoo - the gang at Winds of Change are trying a wackectomy on the Democratic party, giving a platform to Hank Johnson, who surprisingly forced Cynthia McKinney into a Democratic primary runoff in metro Atlanta.

Johnson's fairly liberal, but he comes off as sane about it - and Georgia's 4th district will be represented by a liberal - end of story. Catherine Davis - the Republican nominee in the 4th - may sound good, but she's only slightly more likely to win Georgia's 4th than I am, and I'm neither a resident of the 4th, nor a candidate. In the primary, Davis got less than 1/3 of the vote total of either Johnson or McKinney. If Johnson doesn't win the primary, Georgia's 4th will sigh, roll their eyes, and go back to crazy.

Anyway, I'd miss the crazy, but nevertheless - best of luck, Hank.

Guy plans to propose to his girlfriend. How he plans to propose is unique - he persuades her to join him on a plane ride, where they will fly over an area where family members will hold up a sign asking her to marry him.

Sounds romantic, right?

And it probably was, until the plane crashed.

Everyone survived - and is still planning on going ahead with the wedding, cause apparently, God didn't tell them it was a bad idea or anything.

Of course, first they have to replace the ring that was lost in the crash.

This cartoon.



Tip - PetitDov.

Venezuela's Chavez hails Belarus leader.

Said leader, Alexsandr Lukashenko, is often referred to as "Europe's last dictator."

Not without cause.

Actually liked it, as did the spouse. Not anywhere near as good as Signs, but several orders of magnitude above the craptacularity that was The Village.

A number of professional poker stars have sued the World Poker Tour, claiming the WPT improperly coerces them into forfeiting legal rights to promote themselves and their own products if they want to appear on WPT programs.

Couple of posts on I Had Outs have some more info on the suit. Alceste's comment to this post has the Cliff Notes version of the complaint. More here (which actually links to here, where the real discussion takes place.)

I look forward to the poker pros on the witness stand. You think there'd be any way for an opposing lawyer to tell if Craig Ferguson was lying on the stand?

While I was away with no internet access, I basically gave up blogs in exchange for cable news. As a result, I was much less informed about what the hell was going on in the world, especially as relates to the current brouhaha in and around Lebanon. But, I got back and blogs caught me up, more or less. Some good reads, if you're interested..

Word of the People - doesn't think Israel's offensive will help them, security-wise.

Cake or Death has a couple posts on Israel's attempt to cut the head off Hezbollah, and President Bush's PG-13 support of same.

Petitdov writes about her desire to be in Israel as they go through yet another assault on their very existence.

Dave Justus links some historical analysis, and notes that some quarters that might be expected to side with Hezbollah are getting ticked off as Nasrullah and Co.

Steve Silver mentions some comments from Iran re: Jews acting like Hitler, which would make your head hurt when you think of President Wackypants' previous statements supporting Hitler, or denying he did anything terribly unpleasant...oh, just read it.

And Dawn Summers thinks Americans in Lebanon can pay for their own damn evacuation.

And now I understand.

Update - Missed one, which is unfortunate, because it's a good post - Mike points out it's not as complicated as some would make it out to be.

Yesterday, I came back from a conference on the beach.

Today, I heard a death metal band fronted by a parrot.

Life just keeps getting better and better.

So, my spouse, who is to "punctual" what "The Break-Up" is to "good movie" had gone missing for a time, causing me some worry and failing to pick me up when she was supposed to. This resulted in the following conversation.

Her: I'm sorry. Are you still mad at me.

Me: No. First I was upset, then when I still didn't know where you were, I was really worried.

Her: So I stayed away long enough then.

Love is a many splendored thing.

Crosblog - your #1 source for all your "crazy Hamas redhead" needs.

Also a good source - Karol.

So the spouse gets an invitation from a co-worker to go to a concert at Chastain, just a couple weeks after seeing a great Kenny Rogers show. She thinks it would be a good idea to go, as socializing with co-workers is good professionally, and she thinks it would be a good idea to bring yours truly along, as she thinks exposing co-workers to yours truly is...well, I have to admit, I have no idea what the hell she thought the upside of that was, but in any event, I have a pretty good seat at a show featuring Def Leppard and Journey, so I put on the T-shirt and jean shorts.

"I'M READY TO ROCK!"

"Um...sweetie...could you put on a shirt with a collar, and maybe some khakis or something like that."

"Sorry, I thought we were going to a rock concert."

Rockers, Dockers...how much difference is there, really? Off comes the t-shirt, on goes the business casual.

"I am adequately prepared to rock."

So, after the Bob Dylan wannabe they have as the opening act gets done, Journey takes the stage. Cause two out of five members from the groups heyday = "Journey" and not "Voyage - A Loving Tribute to Journey," right? Plus, the guy who took Steve Perry's place is sick, so no Steve Perry, no second-team Steve Perry - we get third string Steve Perry. This must be how Falcons fans felt when they bought tickets expecting to see Michael Vick and injuries left them with Kurt Kittner.

I want to yell out "Play Oh, Sherry!"

Spouse advises that's not funny.

Still, the third stringer, Jeff Scott Soto, isn't bad - he's got a range and tone similar enough to Perry to do justice to his songs, and his stage presence is...hold on, what's my wife looking at?



Kurt. Fricking. Kittner.

Spouse decides she wants refreshments. Yours truly gets drafted, and spends the last half hour of the Journey Tribute Band's set (aka "The only Journey songs I know") in a fairly claustrophobic line finding out they're out of ice, so all the beverages are warm.

Man, hot chicks at rock concerts can make guys do stupid stuff sometimes.

Kittner and company stand down, and it's time for Def Leppard. I remember these guys as a pretty good hard rock band until my sister discovered them around my junior year in high school. She promptly fell in love with at least four band members (I don't recall her having much use for the bass player), bought Hysteria, and played it to the exclusion of all other tapes until she discovered the New Kids or something. I recall spending a large chunk of my teen years wanting these British bastards dead.

They know how to put on a show, however. And unlike Journey, they're the guys I remember - hey look, there's guitarist Phil Collen.

"Play Sussudio!"

Apparently that's still not funny.

What is funny, however, is Joe Elliott letting us know this show won't be terribly loud, out of respect for local noise ordinances. How terribly rock 'n roll of you, Joe.

"We're going to rock you, without disturbing the neighbors."

Maybe my conformist, establishment tendencies wouldn't have kept me from being a rock star.

Encore is kind of rushed, too, because another local ordinance says the show has to end at 11:00. Besides, all us rockers got work the next day.

"We appreciate the rocking, however, we have been sufficiently rocked for one evening."

Yeah, it's just like I remember it in high school.

God, I was a nerd.

A woman was so impressed with the deputy who came out to respond to her noise complaint that she called 911 and asked them to send out the super-cute deputy again.

The good news was he did in fact come back. The bad news is he arrested her.

Our new courthouse has more or less been completed, so this is our last week in the Trailer of Justice. This means I have to do the modern equivalent of Hercules cleaning out the Aegean stables - pack up my office. You learn things, doing this - apparently, my coworkers wished me a Happy Birthday in 2004.

As I recall, I had one.

Say it with me, people - criminals are dumb.

Case in point, this story - Some people try to cash a personal check stolen in a burglary - problem is, the bank teller knows the person whose name is on the check. Teller tries to stall while she confirms the check is stolen, but our criminals, sensing something is up, have already left.

Are they smarter than regular criminals?

Well, the driver did leave his driver's license and social security card at the bank - so I'm thinking no.

Answer: If you're stalking Bob Uecker.

I mean, we all enjoyed Mr. Belvedere, but really, there comes a time when you just have to let go.

Former GA Superintendent of schools/gubernatorial candidate Linda Schrenko sentenced to 8 years in prison and $414,000 in restitution for fraud and money laundering.

She used the money to help her unsuccessful bid for governor in 2002, and to get a face lift.

So the Washington Post gave Palestinian PM Ismael Haniyah space on the op-ed page to weigh in on current events.

While I understand why others (LGF, for instance) are upset at what appears to be legitimizing a leading voice for terror, I'm glad to see it myself. After all, Hamas claims to be the grownups in this situation, the ones behaving responsibly - surely their own words would make that clear. Let's review, shall we?

(Note - I'm not quoting the whole thing - only parts that invite a witty/snippy/marginally relevant response. Read the whole thing here - cause who knows, I may be cherry picking and taking words out of context, mostly because doing so is just so much fun!)

As Americans commemorated their annual celebration of independence from colonial occupation, rejoicing in their democratic institutions, we Palestinians were yet again besieged by our occupiers, who destroy our roads and buildings, our power stations and water plants, and who attack our very means of civil administration.

Comparison to America's Founding Fathers? Check. Of course, I don't recall that any portion of our revolution was based on a desire to wipe Britain off the earth completely, but maybe those folks at Schoolhouse Rock aren't telling me the whole story.

"Take your powder, take your gun, report to General Washington..." Oh, right, where was I? Oh yeah, Hamas' revolution, were it as successful as they intend, would result in Israel's complete elimination as a state. That's a little different. Just saying, is all.

The current Gaza invasion is only the latest effort to destroy the results of fair and free elections held early this year. It is the explosive follow-up to a five-month campaign of economic and diplomatic warfare directed by the United States and Israel. The stated intention of that strategy was to force the average Palestinian to "reconsider" her vote when faced with deepening hardship; its failure was predictable, and the new overt military aggression and collective punishment are its logical fulfillment. The "kidnapped" Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit is only a pretext for a job scheduled months ago.

And your source on that is? Also, why is "kidnapped" in quotes? Did Shalit come voluntarily? You know, a human shield kinda thing?

...Yet Israeli collective punishment only strengthens our collective resolve to work together.

Personally, dude, I've never doubted that you speak for a majority of Palestinians. I find the clarity refreshing. That Palestinians are united is good. That they are united behind a medival terrorist organization dedicated to Israel's destruction is less good, although it has the secondary benefit of making us less sympathetic.

They think, doubtless, of the hostage soldier, taken in battle -- yet thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of women and children, remain in Israeli jails for resisting the illegal, ongoing occupation that is condemned by international law.

"Taken in battle" - now I get it, Shalit isn't a kidnap victim, he's a prisoner of war. Here, Mr. Haniyeh, I have your back, to an extent. He could be a prisoner of war - if you're at war. If you are, in fact, at war, then Israel is entitled, I'd think, to try and win said war, and frankly, the Gaza incursion is a miniscule fraction of the destruction Israel has the capacity to bring down upon the Palestinians. I'm sure if you had the means Israel has, you'd show similar restraint. If Israel is not entitled to fight a war, then Shalit has been illegally kidnapped, and the only question that remains is whether you're an accomplice before the fact (authorizing the strike where Shalit was taken), or after (in helping the kidnappers make their ransom demands.)

...Who is the underdog, supposedly America's traditional favorite, in this case?

Again, I get it. The Palestinians are George Mason. Not the founding father this time - now they're the basketball team. Yeah, Americans love the underdog. But Americans also loved it when Sean Connery mocked that guy for bringing a knife to a gunfight in the Untouchables. Striving valiantly and honorably in the face of superior odds inspires admiration in Americans. Engaging in brutal cheap shots in pursuit of an unjust goal inspires schadenfreude when you get your ass beat.

I think they will question why a supposedly "legitimate" state such as Israel has had to conduct decades of war against a subject refugee population without ever achieving its goals.

No question at all, from my end. They've had to conduct decades of war because you buttmunches refuse to let go of the dream of Israel's annhilation, and national suicide is, oddy enough, somet of a deal-breaker. Thanks for putting "legitimate" in quotes. Makes drawing those sort of conclusions easier.

...Its "separation barrier," running across our land, is hardly a good-faith gesture toward future coexistence.

Isn't intended to be, buddy. It's intended to stop suicide bombers, and has so far proven more effective than relying on your goodwill and sense of decency. Also more effective at protecting Israelis than relying on your goodwill and sense of decency: the music of Tears for Fears. Some people might be shamed by that.

But there is a remedy, and while it is not easy it is consistent with our long-held beliefs. Palestinian priorities include recognition of the core dispute over the land of historical Palestine and the rights of all its people; resolution of the refugee issue from 1948; reclaiming all lands occupied in 1967; and stopping Israeli attacks, assassinations and military expansion.

For you guys, that would be totally easy, since it's everything you wanted. Also, could you be a little more clear on the "resolution of the refugee issue from 1948" point? Some of us are worried that you mean that to have millions of Palestinans, most of whom have never lived in Israel, swamp the place and eradicate Israel's identity. Besides, Captain Unilateral is way ahead of you:

"A solution to the Palestinian refugee issue as part of any final status agreement will need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state and the settling of Palestinian refugees there, rather than in Israel," he said.

Meaningful negotiations with a non-expansionist, law-abiding Israel can proceed only after this tremendous labor has begun.

Give you everything you want first, then you'll consider Israel's concerns? Nice deal if you can get it. But answer me this - do you actually think Israelis are this dumb, or do you merely hope it?

However, we do not want to live on international welfare and American handouts.

Then quit asking for them.

We thought our pride in conducting the fairest elections in the Arab world might resonate with the United States and its citizens. Instead, our new government was met from the very beginning by acts of explicit, declared sabotage by the White House.

Again, we agree - you were fairly elected. Of course, so was George Bush, and other countries refuse to cooperate with us all the time because they don't freaking like him. So, we're victims, just like you.

Oh, no, wait, that's not it. We got the whole "international community likes the other guy better" argument in our election. Other guy wouldn't shut up about it, in fact. So we voted for Bush, as is our right, and other countries decided how to deal with our President, as is their right. The fact that Bush was democratically elected does not obligate other countries to cooperate with him where they feel their own values would be jeopardized by doing so...

...you're looking at me the way my dog does when I use words he doesn't understand, aren't you?

Was Israel defending itself when it killed eight family members on a Gaza beach last month or three members of the Hajjaj family on Saturday, among them 6-year-old Rawan?

Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: Stop lying about that.

We present this clear message: If Israel will not allow Palestinians to live in peace, dignity and national integrity, Israelis themselves will not be able to enjoy those same rights. Meanwhile, our right to defend ourselves from occupying soldiers and aggression is a matter of law, as settled in the Fourth Geneva Convention. If Israel is prepared to negotiate seriously and fairly, and resolve the core 1948 issues, rather than the secondary ones from 1967, a fair and permanent peace is possible. Based on a hudna (comprehensive cessation of hostilities for an agreed time), the Holy Land still has an opportunity to be a peaceful and stable economic powerhouse for all the Semitic people of the region.

Translation - "if Israel gives us nearly everything we want now, we'll have a much better chance to finally build up enough strength to finally push the cursed Jews into the sea, which meets our definition of 'fair and permanent peace.'

Oh, you have a definition to? Yeah, wish we cared about that."

If Americans only knew the truth, possibility might become reality.

I was just thinking the same thing.

For something that by definition had to be thrown together in less than a day - this is really cool. (Move the mouse to move Zidane - left click to headbutt).

Tip - Pretty Numbers.

Judge rules search of Jefferson's office legal, returns items seized to the FBI so they can, you know, investigate and stuff. Jefferson's Speech and Debate clause argument was shot down hard:

Just as a search warrant does not trigger the Fifth Amendment’s testimonial privilege, neither does a search trigger the Speech or Debate Clause’s testimonial privilege...

...The purpose of the Speech or Debate Clause is not to promote or maintain secrecy in legislative activity...

The D.C. Circuit has held that the “touchstone” of the Speech or Debate Clause privilege is “interference with legislative activities.” Brown & Williamson, 62 F.3d at 421. Thus the Court’s decision here depends upon whether the execution of the search warrant impermissibly interfered with Congressman Jefferson’s legislative work. See MINPECO, S.A. v. Conticommodity Services, Inc., 844 F.2d 856, 859 (D.C. Cir. 1988). Unlike in Brown & Williamson, the material sought here was not privileged as it did not fall within the legitimate legislative sphere...

...Contrary to the arguments of amicus, legislators do not have the right to determine the scope of their own privilege under the Speech or Debate Clause...

...The power to determine the scope of one’s own privilege is not available to any other person, including members of the co-equal branches of government...

I'm quoting a lot more than usual, I know, but I'm really enjoying reading this.

Now for the Separation of Powers horsecrap...

If there is any threat to the separation of powers here, it is not from the execution of a search warrant by one co-equal branch of government upon another, after the independent approval of the third separate, and co-equal branch. Rather, the principle of the separation of powers is threatened by the position that the Legislative Branch enjoys the unilateral and unreviewable power to invoke an absolute privilege, thus making it immune from the ordinary criminal process of a validly issued search warrant.

The entire opinion (yes, there's more) may be read here.

All in all, a fine smackdown on the idea that Congressional privilege allows Members of Congress the right to use their offices to hide evidence of corruption.

Shamil Basayev, the architect of the Beslan school hostage taking, which led to the deaths of over 300 people, mostly children, was killed by Russian forces over the weekend.

Good riddance.

Couple of possible explanations...

One claim is Marco Materazzi called Zidane a "terrorist" - a potentially exceptionally egregious insult to the Algerian-born Zidane.

The other claim is more universal - Materazzi said something bad about Zidane's mama.

Question - did Materazzi say this in French, or does Zidane speak Italian? In any event, whatever was said, to have yourself thrown out of the biggest game your team has played in 8 years is jackassery of the first order. The French were running rings around Italy, and I can't imagine Italy could have held out through the rest of the game and 30 minutes of overtime against a full squad French assault. (Yeah, it sounds weird to me too, but French soccer prowess and French military might are two radically different concepts.) With Zidane out, the fatigued Azzurri were able to keep the French out of the net, and of course - Zidane would have been money in the bank during the penalty kick phase.

Matthew Yglesias makes an important point, however - Zidane's headbutt, while unsportsmanlike, vicious, and completely out of bounds, was nevertheless really freaking cool. The move should be adopted by a WWE star pronto - it would totally fit in with Fit Finlay's character.

Italy wins the World Cup - going perfect in penalty kicks.

And what in the blue hell could Zidane possibly have been thinking?

Step on a hornets' nest.

Actually, upon further reflection, it may be less a "good" way and more an "effective" way to avoid yardwork. Still, it works.

Went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Electric Boogaloo yesterday. It's good. Not X-3 good, but substantially better than anything else I've seen this summer. The effects are good, but there aren't any moments as cool as when you first see the skeleton pirates in the first movie. The ending is a cliffhanger, and there is a scene after the credits. (It's not crucial to the plot or anything, but it's there, so be advised.)

Also cool - the first teaser for the must-see movie of 2007.

(Yes, I know Michael Bay made it, but still...)

Romania scraps plan for Dracula-themed amusement park.

Would it have been opened during the day?

Man charged with poisoning his own children as part of a scam to get money from Campbell's Soup company.

The unemployment rate is relatively low. There are jobs out there. Maybe they don't all pay as much as "child-poisoning fraud," but the satisfaction level has to be higher.

OK, once again, I'm paraphrasing. What the Georgia Supreme Court actually did was reinstate a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage - overturning a trial court's striking the amendment on a technical violation. (That opinion, which is 1.) not terribly interesting, and 2.) pretty clearly the technically correct decision, may be read here.)

Georgia Democrats are thrilled. I doubt you'll find one willing to go on record as saying it, other than Attorney General Thurbert Baker, who's quoted in the article, but they are. Had the Supreme Court affirmed the lower court ruling, Governor Sonny Perdue (who, perhaps coincidentally, is running for re-election this fall), planned to call a special session to force a new ban back on the November ballot, which would have been a disaster for Democrats for two reasons - 1. It would have driven up turnout among people not inclined to vote for Democrats, and 2. It would have forced Democrats running for statewide office to take a stand on the matter, and watching those folks choose between the principled and the popular is not pretty. And that's assuming you can find someone who actually supports gay rights, even if it's just in their heart. Watching Secretary of State/Gubernatorial Candidate/Nitwit Cathy Cox forget where she stands on the issue from day to day is amusing for awhile, but eventually it becomes sad. To the extent Lt. Governor/Gubernatorial Candidate/Sumo Wrestler Mark Taylor is willing to discuss the issue, he's willing to discuss Cox's flip-flops on it. And it's not like Taylor is blind to the benefits of marriage himself. Have you seen his spouse?

Anyway, Georgia has once again joined with other redneck backwaters in declining to have its highest court settle the gay marriage issue. Locally, this means that gays still lack marriage rights, and the issue of acknowledging said rights won't be an issue this fall.

Republican leaders are very happy. So are Democrats.

Finally, bipartisanship.

Memo to Israel - conceding any amount of land to us is a catastrophically bad idea and you would be fools to consider ever doing it again.

Well, that's not how they put it - how they put it was to fire a long range rocket at a populated area from what used to be an Israeli settlement.

Either way, means the same thing.

People who remember the legendary Steiner Brothers tag team (and it is preferable to remember arguably the greatest tag team in wrestling history, as opposed to whatever the hell Scott Steiner's turned into nowadays), were surprised to learn that Rick Steiner had earned a seat on a local Georgia school board. (Surprising because Rick's wrestling persona was always a little...well...not terribly intellectual. If you watch RAW today, think Eugene, only meaner.)

Anyway, Rick's on a school board, and was hoping to win re-election to his seat. Unfortunately, when qualifying, he forgot his real name wasn't Rick Steiner, and will now have to rely on a write-in campaign to stay on the school board.

The Dogface Gremlin lives.

ECW champion Rob Van Dam and Sabu forgot one of the cardinal rules recently - that rule being, if you have drugs in your car, drive the speed limit, moron.

After stopping RVD for speeding (Sabu was a passenger), an Ohio State Trooper noticed the car smelled like Otto's jacket, conducted a search, and uncovered 18 grams of marijuana, as well as various prescription painkillers.

Pot? RVD?

I'm speechless.



By the way, the catchphrase that goes with that is "RVD 4:20 means I just smoked your ass!"

Get it?

Former KKK leader found severely beaten.

The actual Kelo controversy, that is. The final property owners have reached agreements with New London, CT. Suzette Kelo will have her house physically moved to a new location, and she will hold title to the house and the property the house is on. Michael Cristofaro will give up his family home, but will receive the right to purchase a home in the same area at a fixed price.

The whole eminent domain thing, however, continues.

Friday night the crazy redhead and I went to our big 4th celebrating thing - the Kenny Rogers concert at Chastain Ampitheater.

We sat too far away to see for certain if the post-surgery Gambler is as bad as reported. But I will say he sounds great. It was a little disappointing that his banter with the crowd during "Ruby" was exactly the same as it was on a live album I bought like six years ago, but I learned my lesson - don't buy live albums.

The banter was good, too - he claimed to be able to ID all the men in the crowd who were there because they got dragged by their wives. He offered a guy in the front row named Rick $10 for every hit song he could name. I'd like to note that a guy who can afford front row center doesn't need Kenny Rogers' money, but that would probably just make me seem petty.

But seriously, Kenny - those aren't kids down there.

He needed to get in the new songs, so the old stuff was cut down. The new songs were good, and included a shout-out to Eminem. (It's in the song "The Last Ten Years" if you're looking) Still, we were there for the old stuff - it was great to hear "Through The Years" especially, since we had that song sung at our wedding). I wanted to complain about only getting one verse of "Daytime Friends", but it was noted that there are limits to how long you ask the septugenarian to perform under the spotlights in the 85 degree heat. It would, however, cool off later.

His first finale was "The Gambler", after which he played a clip of the Coolio version. The 80 year old in the cowboy hat sitting next to us thought it was great. It was at this point it started to rain, but there were two more encores to get through ("Lady" - my least favorite Kenny Rogers song, and "Islands in the Stream." The rain became a downpour - but we were still out there dancing, because, dammit, that's what you do at concerts.

After the show was the traditional 4th fireworks display - everyone who was staying had taken all the covered spots where you could actually see the fireworks, so if we wanted to see the fireworks, we were going to have to stand in the middle of a downpour, with the umbrella safely in the back seat of my car, wherever the hell we parked. So my wife stands out in the middle of the ran, oohing and ahhing at teh fireworks..

...and there I am, right next to her. Some things are worth risking pneumonia and getting water dripping in inappropriate places. (Actually, that last one was less of a risk, and more of a guarantee.)

Happy 4th, everybody.