Wailing Into The Void

Here’s how Blago thinks he should pick a Senator:

Mr. Blagojevich, whose administration has for years been known to be the subject of a federal corruption investigation, also spoke of his family’s financial woes and said he had three criteria for selecting the new senator: “Our legal situation, our personal situation, my political situation — this decision, like every other one, needs to be based on that.”

Looks like the interests of the people of Illinois didn’t make the list.

I got laid off this past Friday as my former employer goes into deep hibernation.  While this gives me much more time to blog I feel less motivated than ever to do so.  But since I’m here now for whatever reason, I might as well write about something, right?  Well, here goes…

This guy is a major asshole.

This concludes my blogging day.

The prime minister there has just moved to shut down Parliament rather than face a no-confidence vote.  Can he do that?  Yes.

Technically, what Mr. Harper did was to “prorogue” Parliament, a move that stops all actions on bills and the body’s other business, and thus goes well beyond an adjournment (which was not available to Mr. Harper in any event, as it requires parliamentary approval). It is not unprecedented — prorogation is used occasionally to introduce a new legislative agenda — but this is the first time any Parliament members or constitutional scholars here could recall the maneuver being used in the midst of a political crisis and over the objections of Parliament.

Mr. Harper declared the parliamentary suspension after a two-and-a-half hour meeting in Ottawa with Ms. [Michaëlle] Jean [, who represents Queen Elizabeth II!]. While no governor general has ever previously rejected a prime minister’s request to prorogue Parliament, several constitutional scholars said Mr. Harper was the first one to have asked permission when he did not have the support of the legislature.

Grab the popcorn and stay tuned.

Ah, the collective wisdom of the internets.

Sure, the city claims that it doesn’t issue any kind of parking ticket quotas to its traffic cops, but if that’s the case it makes you wonder how something like this can happen:

Critics of the city’s enforcement policies say that some agents, under pressure to produce numbers, write bogus summonses by, for example, “dumping” them repeatedly on abandoned cars. City officials say such instances are isolated. But the data do present some curious situations, like the 267 tickets, all unpaid, issued to a 1989 Nissan that was parked near the Brooklyn Navy Yard for the past 17 months. Most of the tickets were issued by a police officer, although several traffic agents had also left summonses on the car. The fines now total $32,964.

City marshals and sheriffs are authorized to tow cars with at least $350 in delinquent parking tickets. But this car was tagged repeatedly for the same three or four violations, even after it had two flat tires and no visible license plate and was parked about two blocks from the Brooklyn Tow Pound.

After The Times began asking about the car, it was towed away by the police.

Now Al-Qaida is bitching about it.  Look for references to Wright, Rezko and Ayers in bin Laden’s next video release.

Anti-government protesters have seized control of Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.  One of the protesters’ main grievances is over vote-buying:

The protesters, a loose coalition of royalists, academics and members of the urban elite, say they are frustrated with years of vote-buying and corruption. Many are also skeptical of Thai democracy in its current form and propose a voting system that would lessen the representation of lower-income Thais, whom they say are particularly susceptible to vote-buying.

Those of you who follow current events in this country are well aware we have a similar problem here, where ACORN exchanges crack for votes.

Mayor Bloomberg’s approval rating has dropped nine points in the last month.  He’s still at a very healthy 59 percent, but there are signs trouble may be brewing:

Significantly, 47 percent of voters said they believed the city was headed in the wrong direction, compared with 45 percent who said the city is on the right path. By comparison, two years ago, in a March 2006 Marist survey, 64 percent of registered voters said the city was moving in the right direction compared with 30 percent who thought it was going the wrong way.

Al Franken appears to be gaining some ground in the recount. Will he have overtaken Coleman when the dust finally settles?  I have no idea, but I expect there will be a lot of dust that takes a long time to settle before this thing is through.

Begich wins.  Sarah will have to be content with staying Governor.