#7 Duke beat #2 North Carolina in a Cameron Classic last night.

Pac-10 cellar dwellar USC — which, at 2-9 (three games behind the eighth-place team in the loss column), is in serious jeopardy of not qualifying for the conference tournament — hosts #12 Arizona tonight. This is the Trojans’ chance to make a statement and begin a valiant comeback… oh, who am I kidding? They’re going to get slaughtered.

Also tonight: Gonzaga vs. Pepperdine. Go Zags!

Incidentally, if you just can’t wait for March to begin, here’s a Bubble Watch to whet your appetite. It says the Irish are off the bubble and in the field of 65 after their win over BC on Tuesday.

In other sports news, the NCAA Football Rules Committee has recommended instant replay for next season. And Donovan McNabb says he wasn’t sick during the Super Bowl.

P.S. The #15 team in the RPI rankings is… Vermont???

P.P.S. Bracket Buster Saturday should be fun. Alas, it’s next Saturday — the same day as my Lord of the Rings Trilogy Party! :(

Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles will get married on April 8.

Today, my mom “catches up” with my dad, joining him in the ranks of the 56-year-olds for exactly four days.

Then on Monday, he retakes the “lead” for another 361 days. :)

Anyway, Happy Birthday, Mom! (Previous blog birthday greetings here and here.)

This is why the Iraq WMD debacle is such a big deal, contrary to the heads-in-the-sand proclamations of some on the right.

It is also why Bush should not, under any circumstances, have been re-elected after what happened with Iraq.

If a different U.S. administration — a Kerry Administration, a Dean Administration, a Lieberman Administration, even a different Republican administration with a different national-security team — were saying what the Bushies are saying now about Iran, they would be subject to much less skepticism. Some skepticism, yes. But much less.

However, given that Bush is still president and his entire team is still in place — no one has been fired, and some have been promoted — the question must be asked: what reason does anyone have to trust the The Neocons Who Cried Wolf?

As Joe Biden said at the Democratic National Convention:

Forty years ago, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy sent former Secretary of State Dean Acheson to Europe to seek support. Acheson explained the situation to French President de Gaulle. Then, he offered to show classified intelligence information as proof. De Gaulle said, “That’s not necessary. I know President Kennedy. I know he would never mislead me on a question of war and peace.” Would a single foreign leader react the same way today?

No, they wouldn’t — nor would the majority of the American public. Worse, even once the evidence is aired, many would remain extremely skeptical. They’d wonder: “Is the intelligence being ‘hyped’ again? Is relevant contrary information being left out, again? Can we really trust these people, this time?”

Recall, by the way, that the third time the boy cried wolf, there really was a wolf. That’s why this is such a gravely serious problem. The case against Iran appears to be much stronger than the case against Iraq ever was. A conflict with Iran may, God forbid*, prove necessary — much more necessary than Bush’s discretionary** war with Iraq. Yet because of what happened with our intelligence in Iraq (and, perhaps more importantly, the perceptions of what happened with our intelligence in Iraq), the Bush Administration is uniquely ill-suited to fight even a necessary war of pre-emption.

I blame Ohio. :) And Iowa.

*I say “God forbid” not only because war is inherently something that we should hope doesn’t happen, but because we are no position, militarily or strategically, to fight a war with Iran right now. Doing so would probably require either a) a draft, or b) abdicating our responsibilities in Iraq and leaving that country to the wolves, which would be both morally wrong and strategically disastrous (get ready for the “blowback” in a decade or two). Moreover, a war with Iran would be much harder to win than the initial ground war with Iraq was, and the chances of it turning into a huge, Middle East-wide conflagration — particularly one involving Israel — would be much higher.

**I personally believe that the war in Iraq was justified but not necessary. Hence, “discretionary war.”

P.S. Here is David Kay’s column.

You don’t typically think of black holes as pushing objects away, but in the case of a binary star system where one star gets sucked in and the other is still well outside the event horizon, a remarkable slingshot effect can result:

An outcast star is zooming out of the Milky Way, the first ever seen escaping the galaxy, astronomers reported on Tuesday. …

The outcast is going so fast — over 1.5 million mph — that astronomers believe it was lobbed out of the galaxy by the tremendous force of a black hole thought to sit at the Milky Way’s center. …

The star used to be part of a binary pair, waltzing with its companion star close to the rim of the black hole. … As the two stars twirled around each other, they were pulled faster and faster toward the edge of the black hole. …

While the companion star was captured by the black hole, the outcast continued on its whirling path around its edge.

Objects go faster the closer they get to black holes and this star was probably moving at extraordinary speed, perhaps as high as 20 million mph. That very speed, coupled with the speed of its twirling, sent the outcast zooming toward the edge of the Milky Way and beyond.

Escape velocity from the galaxy is roughly 750,000 mph, according to the article.

(Hat tip: one Erika, via the tips e-mail.)

USCTrojans.com has quotes from Norm Chow, Pete Carroll and Matt Leinart on Chow’s departure to the NFL.

P.S. CBS Sportsline’s Dennis Dodd calls it the biggest breakup since the Beatles.

After Notre Dame’s win over BC last night, Illinois is the only undefeated team left in college basketball. But personally, I’m more exicted about the only winless team left in college basketball — Savannah State, which, at 0-26, is just two games away from becoming the second team in a half-century to finish the season winless. C’mon, Tigers, you can do it! :)

Oh, yes, this is VERY Constitutional.

House passes underwear measure
[sic / ~ the guestblogger :]

BY TAMMIE SMITH
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Feb 9, 2005

By a 60-34 vote, House members passed a bill yesterday that would fine people up to $50 for intentionally exposing their underwear in a way that is “lewd or indecent” in public.

Norfolk Democratic Del. Algie T. Howell’s bill has attracted attention from supporters all over the country who dislike the low-riding baggy-pants style favored by some rap-music entertainers and copied by youths everywhere.

Riding high, the boxers-rebellion Underwear Measure now creeps up to the state Senate where, according to the article, it could fall shorts. Finding the proposal impermissibly nasty & brutish, ACLU lawyers are even now readying their briefs to give the Courts the lowdown if needed.

The language provides (emphases added):

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 18.2-387.1 as follows:

§ 18.2-387.1. Indecent display of underwear.

Any person who, while in a public place, intentionally wears and displays his below-waist undergarments, intended to cover a person’s intimate parts, in a lewd or indecent manner, shall be subject to a civil penalty of no more than $50. “Intimate parts” has the same meaning as in § 18.2-67.10.

(Delicately we assume that modesty forbids quotation of the section latterly cited.)

So presumably the perp could plead that while Yes he did realize his waistband was showing, he really hadn’t Intentionally donned any foundationwear at all that morning, just automatically slipped ‘em on whilst still half-asleep in the early dew.

Mindful that all people everywhere instinctively yearn for Freedom, the Liberty-loving Republicans of the Virginia House of Delegates voted 44 to 14 in Favor of the No Show Proviso. Two Independents also said Aye. Democrats, waffling as usual, split 14 For, 20 Against. (2 R’s & 3 D’s didn’t vote; one seat in the 100-member chamber is vacant.)

(Note: hip-hop fashion notwithstanding, the record reveals that Rep. Rapp, Repub 96th, voted Hell Yeah. :)

If this picture doesn’t make you queasy, you have a stronger stomach than I. (Hat tip: Bea.)

The inevitable is now official:

USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow said Tuesday night that he is taking a similar job with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, thus ending one of the most successful coaching partnerships in college football history.

:(

Chow says he and his family have “enjoyed being part of the Trojan family and will continue to cheer for the Trojans.”

P.S. The article quotes Matt Leinart as referring to the Trojans’ post-championship assistant-coach exodus as an “avalanche.” No kidding! The USC coaching staff is breaking up faster than President Bush’s first-term cabinet! :) Let’s review:

Offensive coordinator Norm Chow: Offensive coordinator, Tennessee Titans
Quarterbacks coach Carl Smith: Offensive coordinator, Jacksonville Jaguars
Offensive line coach Tim Davis: Offensive line coach, Miami Dolphins
Defensive line coach Ed Orgeron: Head coach, Ole Miss
Graduate assistant Dennis Slutak: Special teams coordinator, Ole Miss

The NCAA champion Trojans are in essentially the same boat as the NFL champion Patriots, who have lost both their offensive and defensive coordinators to head coaching jobs.

It’s good to be the king. Except when it’s not.

Here’s a video of fans rushing the court after Notre Dame’s big win. (The file is 6.9 MB, but it’s located on ND’s servers, so it should be a relatively quick download for those on the campus network.)

[UPDATE: If you’re really patient, you can download the full-sized, 33.5 MB video.]

Here are a couple of photos:

Notre Dame 68, Boston College 65.

Thanks, Colin:

You too, Chris:

P.S. How cool is it to be these kids? You storm the court, you get in an AP photo:

IRISH WIN!!!!!This message will expire on April 9, 2005

Notre Dame is leading undefeated, #4-ranked Boston College, 49-38 in the second half! :)This message will expire on April 9, 2005

In honor of Mardi Gras, Professor Kaveny bought pizza for our entire Contracts class:

Woohoo! Thanks, professor!