Cation, please
 

It would tell me that there is a significant amount of damage to the heart muscle. But that's pretty obvious from the fact that he's had multiple heart attacks and surgeries. It would not necessarily be an indication of a worsening or imminent condition, though. I get chest pains when it gets too cold and I'm as healthy as a.....

Well, you know what I mean.

Ty- better get some new bloggers
 

Oh. And what are the NYT's headlines on the day 72% of Iraquis voted?

"Several Explosions Heard Across Baghdad" and "The Vote, and Democracy Itself, Leave Anxious Iraquis Divided" Maybe it was published before any estimates, but geez.

This from a Republican? Have you looked at your fringe recently?

Yes.


And religiousity at the Bush/Ashcroft/Keyes/Delay level is certainly less common than that. But at least you don't let them make policy.

Ty- better get some new bloggers
 

Fox news just broke in to football coverage and says 60%, which still isn't too bad.

But I like how the President waited until the full football audience was tuned in to take over the airwaves. The downside for him is that all of Philadelphia now wants him dead.

eta: I am clearly totally out of it.

Ty- better get some new bloggers
 

They wanted him dead before.

I loved Kerry's Meet The Press reaction to the vote. No big deal. Not even legitimate since so few people could actually vote. He disputes the figures of turnout. Says the world is far less safe now.

Ty- better get some new bloggers
 

Question:

Are the reported figures reflecting 60-72% of the RV, or the EV? Huge difference. In any event, a good thing that must reflect massive turnouts in Shia and Kurdish areas. I'll be interested to see the statistics from the Sunni Arab regions.

S_A_M

Ty- better get some new bloggers
 

I am interested in the Sunni numbers as well, but the most heartening story I heard today was that a suicide bomb went off at a polling place, killing four, but the Iraqis there still stayed in line to vote. Brought a tear to my eye.

Whatever Happened to Deny, Deny, Deny?
 

• THE son of the United Nations secretary-general has admitted he was involved in negotiations to sell millions of barrels of Iraqi oil under the auspices of Saddam Hussein.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...462576,00.html

For Those of You Who Don't Understand that Europe Has Lost is Moral Bearings
 

Ty- better get some new bloggers
 

The WSJ is reporting 60% of registered voters.

Question for the libertarians
 

OK, so if prostitution should be legal, and people who aren't willing to take available jobs should be denied unemployment benefits, is this right (cross-post of a post by Hank on FB)? Or is this not an issue b/c there shouldn't be any unemployment benefits at all?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai.../30/wgerm30.xml

'If you don't take a job as a prostitute, we can stop your benefits'

A 25-year-old waitress who turned down a job providing "sexual services'' at a brothel in Berlin faces possible cuts to her unemployment benefit under laws introduced this year.

Prostitution was legalised in Germany just over two years ago and brothel owners – who must pay tax and employee health insurance – were granted access to official databases of jobseekers.

The waitress, an unemployed information technology professional, had said that she was willing to work in a bar at night and had worked in a cafe.

She received a letter from the job centre telling her that an employer was interested in her "profile'' and that she should ring them. Only on doing so did the woman, who has not been identified for legal reasons, realise that she was calling a brothel.

Under Germany's welfare reforms, any woman under 55 who has been out of work for more than a year can be forced to take an available job – including in the sex industry – or lose her unemployment benefit. Last month German unemployment rose for the 11th consecutive month to 4.5 million, taking the number out of work to its highest since reunification in 1990.

Question for the libertarians
 

The latter. The apparently distasteful coercion is created by the state's offering of unemployment benefits with conditions. I blame that. But if you legalize prostitution, why isn't it like any other potentially unattractive job--couldn't one make the same argument if one were "forced" to be the sewer de-mucker for example?