Dyre Portents The Rantings and Ravings of a Radical Moderate Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 78 6357

Articles from Dyre Portents

CA Electoral Votes to Be Split? 2007-08-01 01:03:58 From The New Yorker:Two weeks ago, one of the most important Republican lawyers in Sacramento quietly filed a ballot initiative that would end the practice of granting all fifty-five of California’s electoral votes to the statewide winner. Instead, it would award two of them to the statewide winner and the rest, one by one, to the winner in each congressional district. Nineteen of the fifty-three districts are represented by Republicans, but Bush carried twenty-two districts in 2004. The bottom line is that the initiative, if passed, would spot the Republican ticket something in the neighborhood of twenty electoral votes—votes that it wouldn’t get under the rules prevailing in every other sizable state in the Union.The Tuesday after the first Monday in June is California’s traditional Primary Day. But it’s not the one that everybody will be paying attention to. Five months ago, the legislature hastily moved the Presidential part up to February 5th, joining a stampede of state ...

McCain Campaign Continues Circling the Drain 2007-07-31 01:10:17 His presidential bid has turned into an endless implosion....McCain Campaign Is Dealt New Blow as Media Team ResignsBy JACKIE CALMESJuly 26, 2007; Page A4 WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain's media team has resigned, an indication that a campaign shake-up two weeks ago is continuing to backfire and further imperil the Arizona Republican's presidential candidacy. Political ad-makers Russ Schriefer and Stuart Stevens, veterans of President Bush's 2000 and 2004 campaigns, on Monday emailed the new campaign manager -- lobbyist and longtime McCain adviser Rick Davis -- to say that they were quitting. The two men told friends they had considered leaving for days, as they hadn't been paid and the campaign's financial straits raised questions of when and how much they would be.(snip)The unraveling of the McCain team this month climaxes months of infighting between other McCain advisers and Mr. Davis. That came against a backdrop of a slide in the polls as Sen. McCain became identified with t ...

Beer Myths Exposed 2007-07-31 01:00:55 The following is a public service announcement: We now rejoin our blog already in progress. ...

Justice Roberts Hospitalized 2007-07-31 00:45:16 HUPPER ISLAND — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., a seasonal resident of Hupper Island, located off Port Clyde, will be staying overnight at Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport following a seizure.St. George Ambulance responded to a call at about 2 p.m. Monday of a man who had fallen 5 to 10 feet and landed on a dock, hitting the back of his head. The patient was ashen and was foaming at the mouth. National news report quotes a Supreme Court spokeswoman as saying that Roberts was conscious the entire time of the incident. That spokeswoman has not returned a telephone call to the newspaper.PBMC issued a statement at about 7 p.m., saying that Roberts was being kept overnight as a precaution and was recovered. He suffered some minor scrapes from the fall, the hospital stated. A comprehensive neurological examination was administered to the chief justice and the seizure was determined to be a benign one, the hospital stated. The chief justice suffered a similar seizure in 1993. m ...

Of Note 2007-07-30 23:59:40 Michael J Totten's third article since he arrived in Iraq is up and its my fav so far. ...

Furball of Doom 2007-07-27 01:52:56 I first read this story over at Midtopia and then found video about it so I just couldn't resist.PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die: He curls up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live. more ...

The Enemy of My Enemy....is Israel? 2007-07-26 02:24:40 Arab League extends 'hand of peace' to Israel JERUSALEM (AP) — Arab League envoys paid a historic visit to Israel on Wednesday to present a plan for a regional settlement, saying they were extending "a hand of peace" on behalf of the Arab world.The one-day visit by the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan marked the first time the 22-member group has sent representatives to Israel. The Arab League peace plan envisions full recognition of Israel in return for Israeli withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 Middle East War. full articleSimply put Iran and its proxies have overplayed their hand. By showing that they are willing to train, arm, and finance terrorists/militias within their neighbors borders they have proven themselves to be the greater evil. (Plus there is that whole nuculer weapon thingy.)Additionally since America has essentially turned a Sunni controlled sectarian state into a Shiite controlled semi-religious state the balance of power in the region has been broke ...

Of Note 2007-07-25 11:13:48 Michael Totten has his second post up. He's now embedded with the 82nd Airborne as they patrol a part of Baghdad pacified by the surge.And over at Eunomia a conservative takes a look at the misconceptions he had about conservatives and the press prior to the Iraq war. h/t Good Will Hinton ...

Clinton's Obama Conundrum 2007-07-25 03:02:57 Democratic Front-Runners Tangle After Monday Night's Debate Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., said today that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, her chief rival for the Democratic nomination, made comments that were "irresponsible and frankly naive" when he said in Monday night's debate that he would meet with leaders of rogue nations during his first year in office. Clinton's response, made in an interview with an Iowa newspaper, marks the sharpest exchange to date between the top two Democratic candidates for president and the first time Clinton has explicitly attacked another Democratic candidate. It represents an elevation in a simmering dispute between the two camps, and a continuation of a specific argument at Monday's debate. The question that sparked the controversy at Monday's debate seemed simple enough: Would the candidates for president be willing to meet, within their first year in office, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea? Obama said yes, while Cl ...

Quick Note 2007-07-24 10:47:41 I've been using the time normally spent blogging to get ready to upgrade and move Donklephant.com to a new server. ...

The Press vs John Edwards 2007-07-21 11:09:13 Many seem to be of the opinion that the national press corp doesn't like John Edwards. Which I can understand as as I don't much care for him myself. However since I don't have a really strong feeling about him or any major factual basis for my dislike I keep it to myself. Hence, I originally blew off the idea until I read this today from the NY PostEDWARDS GOT RICH HURTING THE POORby Charles HurtTrailing in the polls, John Edwards spent the past week telling the poor and downtrodden how much he cares about them. He even insisted that his Kennedy-esque "poverty tour" was not part of his campaign to capture the White House. Yeah, just like all those years he spent latched to the back bumper of an ambulance were all out of the goodness of his heart. That and the $38 million fortune he amassed as the most successful personal-injury lawyer in North Carolina history. What made Edwards such a brilliant attorney - and a pretty good politician - is his ability to look you in the eye whi ...

Christian Crime Continues 2007-07-21 01:16:57 If it weren't for the fact that this guy is probably mentally unbalanced I'd be declaring it International Religious Intolerance Month.Murder suspect says he was doing God's workA Cypress man charged in the death of a Southwest Airlines flight attendant said Saturday that he was doing God's work when he went to a Montrose-area bar last month, hunting for a gay man to kill. "I believe I'm Elijah, called by God to be a prophet," said 26-year-old Terry Mark Mangum, charged with murder June 11. " ... I believe with all my heart that I was doing the right thing." Interviewed in the Brazoria County Jail Saturday morning, Mangum said he feels no remorse for killing 46-year-old Kenneth Cummings Jr., whom relatives described as a "loving" son who never forgot a holiday and a devoted uncle who had set up college funds for his niece and nephew. He worked at Southwest for 24 years. Mangum, who described himself as "definitely not a homosexual," said God called on him to "carry out a code of r ...

Of Note 2007-07-20 09:47:23 Michael J Totten has arrived in Iraq. Take some time to drop by and get a blogs eye view of what things are currently like there. ...

FOX News Poll: Republicans Losing Ground in ’08 Race 2007-07-20 01:50:50 Either the GOP candidates are in trouble or Fox is trying to lull the Dems into a false sense of security.Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton now holds a slight lead over top Republican Rudy Giuliani for the first time in a hypothetical 2008 presidential matchup. In fact, to varying degrees, Clinton and fellow Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama beat every Republican candidate they are tested against in the latest FOX News Poll. Opinion Dynamics Corp. conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News from July 17 to July 18. The poll has a 3-point error margin.In seven different head-to-head matchups, the poll shows the Democratic candidate tops the Republican. While this had been the case when Clinton was tested against Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson, this is the first time she has the advantage over Giuliani. By a 5 percentage point margin, voters say they would back Clinton over Giuliani (46 percent to 41 percent) if the election were held toda ...

Obama: Don't stay in Iraq over genocide 2007-07-20 01:17:05 By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday the United States cannot use its military to solve humanitarian problems and that preventing a potential genocide in Iraq isn't a good enough reason to keep U.S. forces there. "Well, look, if that's the criteria by which we are making decisions on the deployment of U.S. forces, then by that argument you would have 300,000 troops in the Congo right now — where millions have been slaughtered as a consequence of ethnic strife — which we haven't done," Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We would be deploying unilaterally and occupying the Sudan, which we haven't done. Those of us who care about Darfur don't think it would be a good idea," he said.(snip)"We have not lost a military battle in Iraq. So when people say if we leave, we will lose, they're asking the wrong question," he said. "We cannot achieve a stable Iraq with a military. ...