According to a published report, the long-range North Korean missile that failed shortly after take-off was aimed at waters near Hawaii. Yikes.

UPDATE: North Korea may be planning another long-range test.

Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont squared off in a nationally televised (on C-SPAN) debate this evening. I didn’t watch it, but my dad did, and he writes:

IMO ~ being as Objective as I Can be, which I think means, pretty Reasonably so ~ Lieberman slaughtered Lamont. :) / To paraphrase Gen Patton re the Enemy going up against his 8th Army, ‘You know, I actually feel Sorry for that poor sonofabitch, by God I Do.’ :> Ned Lamont is a Pipsqueak. :) His Inexperience showed, Painfully. He did NOT Look (nor sound) Senatorial / Joe Ran Rings around him on Knowledge & Articulation of the Issues, AND on Personality & Style ~ and most importantly, on the rhetoric of Dyed-in-the-Wool Democraticness. / Plus, Lamont has this sort of permanently-Jacklighted-Deer look in his unduly Wide Eyes. :> / Lieberman came off as an Aggressively Good Democrat. Really.

Unsurprisingly, Kos has a different take:

[T]wo things stood out — 1) Joe Lieberman proved that yes, he is a politician, in both the good and bad meanings of the word. The good — he was a polished debator and looked like he had done this a million times before. The bad — he lied, obfuscated, used cute rhetorical twists that did nothing but debase the level of discourse on the debate. Lieberman didn’t even bother thanking Lamont for showing up, a courtesy that just about every political debator extends to their opponent. Rude.

And 2) Ned Lamont proved that no, he is not a politician. He was clearly nervous. I mean, imagine your first debate being against an 18-year Senator and former VP candidate, with not just a statewide audience, but a national one tracked closely by half the blogosphere and just about the entire national political press corps. And given he’s now the leader of a new people-powered army, imagine his desire to good for them, to justify their passions and energy they are spending on his behalf. Gah. I’d choke under that kind of pressure.

But Ned didn’t. He held his own, even against a boorish, rude, and lying opponent. And as a result, the post-debate spin seemed tilted decidedly in his direction. Lieberman may have technically won the debate, but he did so using tactics so ugly that Lamont was the sentimental favorite.

I have no idea who’s right, though I think everyone on this blog knows where I stand as between the two candidates, and that I don’t buy the characterization of Lieberman as “boorish, rude and lying.” Kos is a card-carrying member of the pathological wing of the Democratic Party, which believes that anyone who supports the war in Iraq is an evil, lying Republican or DINO, so you’ll have to forgive me for not taking seriously his opinions of Senator Lieberman, who has more integrity in his left pinky finger than Kos has in his entire body.

We got Robbie back. Apparently he was scared of PJ's yorkie at first, which is hilarious. :) But eventually he got used to having an energetic little dog jumping all over the place, and they got along
well. Thanks again, PJ!

I can't believe I was in Seattle twelve hours ago. Weird. Anyway, Becky and I are on our way now to pick up Robbie from PJ's house. In other news, less than seven hours till Pirates! I am
definitely taking a nap before the midnight show, though. :)

Conservative Felipe Calderon narrowly wins Mexico presidential election. Visit CNN for the latest.

So ends the Excellent Adventure. :)

The NY Post commissioned a study of Ann Coulter’s work and discovered she “cribbed liberally in her latest book”. Post article, online here (via comments), and Editor & Publisher has a synopsis.

In other news, there is a fun Ann Coulter quiz.

Hints, quality of writing and historical context are good clues.

I think the headline is sufficient editorializing on this.

It's far too early in the morning…