Last Call

The UN Security Council has made a unanimous 15-0 vote to slap heavy sanctions on Libyan strongman Qaddafi.

The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose sanctions on Libya amid Moammar Gadhafi's escalating attacks on anti-government protesters.


The approved resolution includes an arms embargo, asset freeze and travel bans for Gadhafi and several of his key associates. It also refers the violent crackdown to the International Criminal Court.

"The text send a strong message that gross violations of basic human rights will not be tolerated and that those responsible for grave crimes will be held accountable. I hope the message is heard, and heeded, by the regime in Libya," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's deputy ambassador to the United Nations who earlier voiced opposition to Gadhafi's government, said after the vote the resolution would provide moral support to the people resisting in Libya. He urged officers in the armed forces to renounce Gadhafi.

One point of contention revolved around language in the resolution that referred to adopting "all necessary measures to enable the return to Libya of humanitarian agencies and to secure the prompt and safe delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in need."

There was concern that the language could be interpreted as including military intervention.

That section of the resolution was softened in the approved version to call on member states to work together to "facilitate and support" the return of humanitarian agencies.

With President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton now calling for Qaddafi to go, it's looking like the guy doesn't have a friend in the world.

Well, except for Hosni Mubarak.

Those Who Can't Do, Teach

Col. Mustard figures the Buffalo Beast editor who tricked Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker into believing Walker was addressing billionaire conservative Scott Koch should be prosecuted for...wait for it...identity theft.

There does not seem to be any doubt that the blogger used Koch's name without authority or consent.  The blogger thereby used Koch's "personal identifying information."

The purpose of the use of Koch's name also was to obtain a "benefit" for the blogger, namely access to Gov. Walker, and to obtain something "of value," namely a recording to be used by the blogger. 

Additionally, it appears that there also was the purpose of harming the reputation of Koch, both through the inflammatory statements by the blogger acting as Koch and by creating the appearance of some improper influence by Koch on the political process. 

In sum, there certainly seems to be enough evidence already known at least to justify an investigation by the Madison police as to the possible theft of David Koch's identity, a felony under state law.

Probably enough here to justify an investigation into Col. Mustard here as a practicing law professor, too.   Best part?

Instead, the Madison Police Chief wants an investigation of Gov. Walker, even though there were no statements made by Walker which could constitute a crime.  If the Madison Police Chief wants someone and something to investigate, it is not Gov. Walker.

Yeah, how dare we apply the first amendment selectively while a state governor is openly talking about the fact "we thought about" planting agents provocateur in the anti-Walker demonstator crowds or about soliciting and coordination of campaign money while on state property.

Identity theft is the crime here that Wisconsin voters and citizens should be worried about?  That's like going after Luke Skywaker for trespassing on the Death Star.

StupdiNews! The Good, The Bad, The Stupid

From recent news, we have the good, the bad and the stupid:


The good:

NEW YORK — A homeless man who hadn't seen his daughter in 11 years was reunited with her this week, thanks to a tweet.

Three weeks ago, Daniel Morales was given a prepaid cell phone as part of a project documenting the lives of homeless people. He and three other men were asked to share their experiences on the street through 140-character updates.
Morales, 58, quickly amassed more than 3,000 followers. On Wednesday, he tweeted, “Hi thi is to let yo people know that in lookin eoq my daughter her name is sarah m rivera.” He posted his phone number and a picture of his daughter, Sarah Rivera, who was 16 when he last saw her.

The Bad:

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida authorities say a 26-year-old man raped a 2-year-old girl at SeaWorld Orlando and saved pictures of the crime on his cell phone, local media reported Friday.

The Stupid:

A 14-month-old girl spent hours trapped inside a Conyers bank vault Friday evening after wandering off from her mother and grandmother, an employee at the Wells Fargo branch.

Police and firefighters were helpless, unable to reach the toddler who had walked into the open vault as the bank was closing for the day. Before the girl, whose name was not made available, could be found, an employee of the branch closed the vault.

O. Henry wrote an awesome short story based on this. It's just surprising to me that this could happen, with the precautions one imagines is in place.

Peekaboo! I Stall You!

MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Assembly early Friday passed a bill that would strip most public workers of their collective bargaining rights — the first significant action on the new Republican governor's plan.

The vote put an end to three straight days of punishing debate, but the political standoff over the bill is far from over.

The measure now goes to the Senate, where minority Democrats have been missing for a week, preventing a vote in that chamber.

Crazy times call for crazy measures.  I'll be following this and posting updates as they come.

Two And A Half Stupidity

I'm a fan of the show, I admit. It took a while to grow on me, but it's amazing that all those years of work can be derailed by one crazy drunk guy.

After a day of unhinged and unsolicited comments ripping his show's executive producer Chuck Lorre and assorted enemies -- Alcoholics Anonymous and Thomas Jefferson, among others -- the star finally went further than CBS and Warner Brothers Television could take.

The network and TV production company announced Thursday that they had pulled the plug on television's top-rated comedy, "Two and a Half Men," which was scheduled to restart production on Monday.

"Based on the totality of Charlie Sheen's statements, conduct and condition, CBS and Warner Bros. Television have decided to discontinue production of "Two and a Half Men" for the remainder of the season," the companies said in a joint statement.

Maybe next year, sorry Charlie.

Oh, Why Hello There Other Shoe, Glad You Could Drop In

GOP Rep. Chris "Check my abs on Craigslist" Lee resigned immediately in the wake of his shirtless ad soliciting fooling around on his wife.  Politicians *never* resign that fast without a reason.  I've been wondering what it was, and now it looks like we know.

"In the past 10 days, two D.C.-area transgender women contacted us, each with a separate story about exchanging emails with the ex-congressman. One sent us an ad that Lee allegedly posted on Craigslist in search of trans women; the other sent us a never-before-seen photo that she says Lee sent her after they started chatting by email. Taken together, they present a possible explanation to those who have wondered why such a tame 'sex scandal' forced Lee's hand so quickly." 

Just....wow.  You really can find anything on Craigslist, can't you.

EPIC FAIL.

Not Quite As Stupid As Once Thought

Dubya may be a dimwit, but he's smart enough not to be in the same town at the same time as Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange.

George W. Bush said Friday he will not visit Denver this weekend as planned because WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was invited to attend one of the same events as the former president.

Bush planned to be at a Young Presidents' Organization "Global Leadership Summit" Saturday but backed out when he learned Assange was invited, Bush spokesman David Sherzer said.

It was unlikely that Assange would have attended in person. The Denver Post reported he appeared at the conference Friday by video link.

Assange has been in Britain fighting extradition to Sweden in a sex crimes inquiry, and his lawyers have raised fears that he could be arrested by U.S. authorities investigating whether Assange and WikiLeaks illegally distributed secret government documents.

WikiLeaks has released tens of thousands of U.S. military documents on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and on U.S. diplomatic efforts worldwide, deeply angering U.S. officials.

Sherzer said Bush doesn't want to be part of a forum that invited someone who has "willfully and repeatedly done great harm to the interests of the United States."

And as awesome as this would have been to see for us, Bush is smart enough to know that nothing possibly good for him would have come from this.  At all.  Give your handlers a raise, Dubya.  They're smarter than Palin's crew, at any rate.

StupidiNews, Weekend Edition!

• As the US withdraws its ambassadors from increasingly isolated Libya, the UN Security Council meets to consider sanctions and possibly other action against Qaddafi.
• A GOP-requested Commerce Department investigation of NOAA clears the weather service of the "climategate" controversy, finding no evidence of wrongdoing.
• State Republicans in both Kansas and Missouri advanced tough new voter identification laws despite calls by critics that there's no evidence suggesting voter fraud.
• New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie wants state employees to pay a much higher part of their insurance premiums, arguing they need to pay the same as private sector workers do, 30%.
• Internet provider Level 3 and cable company Comcast continue to fight it out, taking their battle to the FCC.