14th Amendment:
"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Justice Scalia:
This does not apply to women today because, in 1868 when the 14th amendment was written, women weren't "persons".
Ta-da!
Saudi Arabian officials have reportedly arrested a vulture suspected of being a Mossad spy, after the bird, tagged by Israeli scientists, flew into Saudi territory today.
Haaretz reports:
The bird was found in a rural area of the country wearing a transmitter and a leg bracelet bearing the words "Tel Aviv University", according to the reports, which surfaced first in the Israeli daily Ma'ariv.
But, according to Haaretz, "residents and local reporters told Saudi Arabia's Al-Weeam newspaper that the matter seemed to be a 'Zionist plot.'"
I am now a Grand Master of Peggle, and so can return to real life.
Wife's out, so I'm experimenting in the kitchen. Today's attempt: Thai spicy basil fish. Pretty easy: pan fry a fish, throw in some red bell pepper, carrot, onion, a dash of chili garlic paste, chopped fresh basil at the end, and put it all next to some jasmine rice.
First bite: "holy shit"
That was about 5x too much chili paste. Ow. Super ow. What I can taste is awesome, but ... ow.
From the cast and crew of OK-Cleek.Com: have a Happy and/or Merry Whatever You Want!
Some restrictions apply. Applies this week only. May not be substituted for other week and/or events. Not redeemable for other emotions. Has no cash value. Check local laws and regulations before redeeming. Void where prohibited.
The Atlantic Wire rounds up a lot of commentary suggesting that Barack Obama is in the midst of a comeback. It's largely from folks on the center left, and guess what? People on the right are arguing that, in fact, "there's no Obama comeback."
I'd pose these question to everyone who has made arguments on either side of the question: why does it possibly matter?
How can a professional pundit not know this?
It matters because journalists are narrative-driven, and if they think Obama’s back on top, their stories will be slanted to reflect this. He'll be a winner in their eyes: minor victories will be played-up, minor losses ignored.
For example of the opposite, see his coverage for the last few months: every loss is evidence of his failing administration, and even major victories are seen as outliers against the continuing pattern of failure. He's a loser. He's already failed. He should be primaried. He should step down. Blah blah blah.
And this stuff matters because most people don’t pay close attention to the daily details of politics, but they do have a sense of who’s winning or losing. And people like winners a lot more than they like losers.