Yes, it’s a swing and a miss for Chris  :).

Here’s how eastern Connecticut’s Journal Inquirer called the play  (emphases added :)

Major League Baseball has put a stop to U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd’s raffle of two tickets to see the Boston Red Sox play the Cleveland Indians for the American League Championship.

Dodd, a candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination and self-professed lifelong Red Sox fan, last week offered a chance at the coveted playoff tickets to supporters of his long-shot bid for the White House.

There were a couple of critical catches.

The first was that the winner had to sit in the seats next to Dodd’s.

The other was that entrants had to either make a campaign contribution of $20.04, a number that represented the last time the Red Sox won the World Series three years ago, or recruit two dozen friends who would sign up on the Dodd campaign Web site.

The tickets were for Game 6 of the playoff series, and, if that didn’t happen because the Sox eliminated the Indians, the winner could go to Game 2 of the World Series.

Should the Sox lose the playoffs, Dodd was promising the winner free airfare to Iowa or New Hampshire to join him on the campaign trail.

But Dodd spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said Friday that Major League Baseball had "scuttled" the plan…

Here’s a Boston Globe take.  / The "Contribute" page linked from Chris’s campaign website states:

"NOTE: The Chris Dodd Fenway Tickets contest is no longer active. Thank you."

:)

(Subhead:  Future Jurists Out Elder Egghead for Tart Tort, Servitude Support  :)

In a move rather surprisingly supported by the usually-liberal Hartford Courant, the University of Connecticut School of Law has placed on temporary leave-of-absence a professor of 36 years’ (!!) tenure who, in class, (a) screened a case-related film that incidentally included footage of a thong-clad woman dancing, and (b) propounded politically-incorrect questions relating to reparations for slavery.   

Excerpts (emphases added) from the latter article (the one with the Lengthiest Link Language :) , dateline October 5:

The attorney for a University of Connecticut law professor criticized for showing a film clip that included a scene of a thong-clad woman dancing suggestively said Thursday that her client was simply showing an interview relevant to the course and did not intentionally show the dancer scene.

The professor, Robert L. Birmingham, agreed to take a leave of absence for the rest of the semester and apologized to students after he showed a clip from an R-rated version of a film called "Really, Really Pimpin’ in Da South."

The clip included an interview of a pimp convicted in a court case called U.S. v. Pipkins. At the end of the interview, the scene switched to the scantily clad woman briefly before Birmingham pressed the button to freeze the film, upsetting some students, law school Dean Jeremy Paul said.

[Reports that the Chagrin of Some of said Upset students was due to their Frustration at being Frozen out of viewing the Remainder of the Thong scene, were Unconfirmed. / ~ the Guestblogger  :]

"We believe it is in the best interest of the university not to escalate the situation and would like only to say that Professor Birmingham showed a relevant interview in class," said Heather Kaufmann, Birmingham’s attorney. "He stopped the film at the completion of the interview. Period. The suggestion that the questionable material was shown intentionally is both troubling and dishonest."

…Several students complained about the film clip, and the issue soon became the talk on campus. This prompted the dean to hold a campuswide forum  [well of Course; what Else? / ~ the Guestblogger ;] ,  at which many students spoke in support of Birmingham, a UConn professor since 1971 known as a provocative lecturer and iconoclastic thinker.

The dean, who is investigating the matter further, said he is trying to strike a balance between academic freedom and efforts to foster an inclusive, welcoming campus.

Hey I got a good idea, Dean ol’ buddy: how’s about further Investigating what’s the Matter with Fostering a Campus which veryinclusively Welcomes Everybody’s academic Freedom?  / I mean, if Columbia can somehow contrive to survive the jihad of Ahmadinejad , can UConn not stand to String along with a freeze-framed Thong?  :>  And even tolerate a rigorous exploration ~ in "Remedies" class, mind you ~ of the basis for proposed Reparations?

Read the whole Oct. 5 thing; and the preceding day’s piece too; and the Oct. 10 spineless editorial.

Bah. / And here we call ourselves The Constitution State. Phooey.

Star Out on Bail, Faces Disorderly Conduct Rap:  But Was It Art?

:)

From The MIT Tech (emphases added):

Star A. Simpson ’10, wearing a circuit board that lit up and was connected to a battery, was arrested at gunpoint at Logan International Airport this morning and was charged with disorderly conduct and possession of a hoax device. Simpson was released on $750 bail earlier today; her pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 29, 2007 at 9 a.m. in East Boston District Court.

Simpson (a former Tech photographer) was wearing the device, which included green light-emitting diodes arranged in the shape of a star, during yesterday’s MIT Career Fair. Her defense attorney said she was at the airport to pick up her boyfriend who arrived at Logan this morning.

Simpson approached an information booth in Logan’s Terminal C wearing the light-up device, Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Wayne Margolis said during Simpson’s arraignment today. Margolis also said that Simpson had been wearing the art for at least a few days.

(Well I don’t wanna Say anything but I think I’d Detect that something doesn’t quite pass the Smell test, right there / ~ the GuestCSI :)

She “said it was a piece of art,” Margolis said, and “refused to answer any more questions.” Jake Wark, spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, said that Simpson only described the LED lights after she was “repeatedly questioned by the MassPort employee.” Simpson then “roamed briefly around the terminal,” Wark said. Margolis said this caused several Logan employees to flee the building…

…Simpson had five to six ounces of Play-Doh in her hands, State Police Maj. Scott Pare said in a press conference this morning. The Play-Doh could have been mistaken for plastic explosives.

(More after the blast break :)

(more…)

Numerous overlapping investigations :> are being (you should pardon the expression)  Launched concerning exactly how it came to pass that  (emphases mine; internal links the WashPost’s) ~

An Air Force B-52 bomber flew across the central United States last week with six cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads that were mistakenly attached to the airplane’s wing…

The Stratofortress bomber, based at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, was transporting a dozen Advanced Cruise Missiles to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on Aug. 30. But crews inadvertently loaded half of them with nuclear warheads attached.

Air Force officials said the warheads were not activated and at no time posed a threat to the public. But a timeline of the episode supplied by the Air Force yesterday to House and Senate lawmakers indicated that the missiles in question sat on a runway in Louisiana for nearly 10 hours before workers noticed that the nuclear warheads were inside.

Military officials also said they were concerned that the warheads were unaccounted for several hours while the missiles were in transit. The missiles never left Air Force control, they said.

Well,  it’s reassuring to learn that the Boomers weren’t actually "activated" (though I think we might Know it if they Were ~ well, Some of us might, anyway…)  and that their Control wasn’t inadvertently transferred to the Shriners or somebody. :|  But to resume:

Two defense officials said it is unclear how stringent safeguards for the handling of nuclear weapons were skirted…Air Force officials said the mistake was a serious breach of rules and that an investigation began immediately.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the panel’s ranking Republican…requested an investigation of the incident by the Pentagon’s inspector general.

The aircraft’s pilots and other crew members were unaware that they were carrying nuclear warheads, officials said. "Essentially, this is an issue of a departure from our very exacting standards," said Lt. Col. Edward Thomas, an Air Force spokesman at the Pentagon, who declined to confirm that nuclear warheads were involved. "The Air Force maintains the highest standards of safety and precision, so any deviation from these well-established munitions procedures is very serious, and we are responding swiftly."

(Continues after the Drop Jump :)

(more…)

Niki Tsongas, widow of the late great U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas, has won the Democratic primary in Massachusetts CD 5, for the special election to fill the House seat which Marty Meehan vacated to become chancellor of UMass Lowell.  Jim Ogonowski won the Republican primary, and will wage the uphill battle against the popular Democrat with the married name that’s magic in the Merrimack Valley ~ perhaps in hopes that enough of the voters who attend his rallies out of Curiousity to See one of these rare Republicans :}  will end up Converting to his cause ;>.  Several other candidates are also running, including a bricklayer from Lowell named Patrick Murphy, concerning whom I believe I have a Folksong but nevermind about that now :].

Andrew Sullivan, on the Larry Craig Affair:

One problem is the cruelty of public discourse…The glee at his exposure came from both sides. It was ugly wherever it came from.

The incident should also tell the GOP something they still don’t want to face, but need to urgently.

It is that gayness is as deep a part of someone’s psychic core as can be found. It is not a sin; it’s an identity. The attempt to stigmatize, deny, suppress or criminalize this identity simply cannot work in the long run. We have to find a way to integrate gay people as humanely and as constructively into the wider society as we can.

I agree with Sullivan. Read him (it’s a short, but excellent & well-balanced, piece; he was away last week and his guestbloggers handled the daily Craig commentary).

In what was thought to be a possible Standoff situation, a Newington PD K-9, followed by the SWAT team,  entered Congregation B’nai Sholom  (Children of Peace) this morning. The search turned up nobody. Evidence suggests that some dirtbags had boosted some dirt bikes from a shed on neighboring property, parked them behind the synagogue while they busted in there to see what else they could find, and then abruptly fled (perhaps when the Burglar alarm sounded) leaving the stolen bikes behind and apparently taking nothing from the house of worship.

(Hat tip: Brendan, on his Lunch break. :)

As forecasted here (see “PS” at bottom of post, and Comment #6 :), the cyclone-scraped nation of Jamaica has bowed to Reality and postponed its scheduled August 27 election by a week.

In other Democracy-related news, the USofA’s Democratic National Committee’s Rules & Bylaws Committe has voted that millions of Florida Democrats’ ballots will be thrown out if they are cast on January 29 as decreed by Florida’s Republican-dominated legislature, rather than on February 5 (or later) as required by DNC Rules.

(Note: The foregoing paragraph is actually a massively-oversimplified distortion of a complex & important election-Law-vs.-party-Rules story; but what can I tell ya, I’m just feeling Fox-Newsy today. :)

“Pieces of Eight!” no more: Arrrr! ~

(CBS) SAN FRANCISCO, July 16, 2007 - As tourist attractions go, San Francisco’s wild parrots can be frustratingly unpredictable.

The 200 birds can often be seen swooping near Telegraph Hill, but there is only one place they show up like clockwork. At 5:30 every afternoon, they return to a small park surrounded by high rises, where outstretched hands await, offering sunflower seeds.

…There’s no doubt the parrots are loved. But is feeding them loving them too much — robbing them of the ability to survive on their own.

One bird lover who’s particularly disturbed is Mark Bittner. His book and documentary film, “The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill,” made the birds famous in the first place.

…”My whole thing is to keep them wild, not to make them into like a circus act,” Bittner said.

Bittner’s worries reached City Hall. As of today, public parrot feeding in San Francisco will be banned. Down at the park, that has ruffled plenty of feathers.

“I think law enforcement has better things to do with their time than to be policing a bunch of people trying to feed some birds,” Lori Colburn said…

Squawk about the Whole thing. :>

On the twelfth of July as it yearly did come
Bob played on the flute to the sound of the drum
You can talk of your fiddles, your harp or your lute
But there’s nothing could sound like the Old Orange Flute.

Yes, it’s time again for good Orangemen everywhere to celebrate the bloody coup by King Billy glorious victory of Prince William of Orange over James II & his forces of Popish Jacobite tyranny at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. ;> (Seems like Only yesterday… :)

But today, a mere 317 years On ;>, there seems to be Real reason for hope that at last ~ at long last! ~ the ancient animosities are Finally beginning to fade (and God send that this hope be Realized). From the BBC, a short Two months ago (emphases added):

…There was talk of sunshine and showers - a forecast that does us perfectly well on nine days out of 10 in Ireland - but no mention, as there surely should have been, of hell freezing over.

For this was the day when Ian Paisley - custodian for 50 years or more of the loudhailer of Northern Irish Unionism - came to the site of the Battle of the Boyne as a guest of the Irish government.

…[Republic of Ireland Prime Minister Bertie Ahern] told the DUP leader: “As we work to build a shared future we are all coming to acknowledge that we have a shared and complex past… We owe it to the generations that preceded us, but most of all, we owe it to those who will follow.”

…[newly-inaugurated UK Province of Nothern Ireland First Minister Paisley] was in reflective mood himself - poetically evoking the manner in which the gentle countryside of [the Irishrepublican county] Meath has reclaimed the battleground.

As he put it: “Instead of reverberating to the roar of cannon fire and the charge of men, the shot of musket or the clash of sword steel, today we have the tranquillity of still water where we can contemplate the past and look forward to the future.”

Amen, amen, to both the Taoiseach and the First Minister. / And, God send that it be a future of Peace ~ spiced with a dash of peace’s flavourful companion, good Humour :) ~

There is still a touch of devilment about Ian Paisley though - even as an 80-year-old head of government.

He chose to present Mr Ahern with a musket as a gift - a rather handsome 350-year-old relic of the fighting - taking care to remind him that it had been recovered from the losing side.

And he even managed a jocular reference to the issue of disarmament which held up Ireland’s peace process for so long saying: “If you ever want to use it, remember you’ll have to see the decommissioning organisation.“

Now the Old Flute was doomed, and its fate was pathetic:
‘Twas fastened and burnt at the stake as heretic.
As the flames rose around it, you could hear a strange noise
‘Twas the Old Flute still a-whistlin’ “The Protestant Boys”.

A truly Happy Twelfth to one & All. :)

This is of course the Strange Case of the Purportedly Missing Pants. The plaintiff, himself an administrative-law judge, sought 54 million smackers for the alleged deprivation of his trousers. Evidently the Judge judging his Suit wasn’t much impressed by his Briefs. Here’s her 23-page opinion rejecting his threadbare arguments. But the vindicated defendants still face Legal fees size Large.

According to the article in The Irish Independent, Tony has been a closeted (not to say, Cloistered :) follower of the Faith for a long time, but feared to make it Official whilst still PM because of potential constitutional difficulties:

Tony Blair is “certain” to become a Roman Catholic shortly after he steps down from office next week, friends of the British PM have said. They believe it will happen “sooner rather than later”.

Mr Blair is likely to discuss his conversion with Pope Benedict XVI, with whom he will hold talks in Rome tomorrow after attending his last summit of European Union leaders in Brussels.

…There have been persistent rumours that the Prime Minister would convert to Catholicism but Downing Street has always insisted that he remains a member of the Church of England.

Now friends say Mr Blair will formalise his already close affiliation to the Catholic Church. They say his “spiritual guide” in making the decision has been his wife, Cherie. They have brought up their four children as Catholics.

…It is believed that Mr Blair decided to remain an Anglican while he was Prime Minister because of the possible legal and political difficulties of converting while in office.

Although Britain has never had a Catholic prime minister, the church has said there would be no constitutional bar to Mr Blair joining while he was still in office. But some lawyers believe the 1829 Emancipation Act, which granted civil rights to Roman Catholics, may still prevent a Catholic from becoming Prime Minister. It says that no Catholic adviser to the monarch can hold civil or military office.

…As Prime Minister Mr Blair has been cautious about his religious beliefs. As Alastair Campbell, his former director of communications, once famously said: “We don’t do God.”

Read the whole lot.

PS: In other news of British spiritual practices :), the Ministry of Justice has created its own home team of morris dancers ~

A team of morris dancing civil servants from the new Ministry of Justice have been given permission to call themselves the Lord Chancellor’s Folk.

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, gave the go-ahead after considering a two page report prepared by an official in his private office.

…In the two page submission, leaked to The Times newspaper, a member of Lord Falconer’s private office briefs him on the history of morris dancing.

The document says the newly-formed Ministry of Justice group dance in the Cotswolds’ Tradition and in the Barmpton Style, which involves the “use of handkerchiefs and sticks”.

…It adds: “Morris dancing is currently one of the Icons of England on the Department of Culture, Media and Sport site, alongside a cup of tea, a stiff upper lip and a bowler hat.”

….a Ministry of Justice spokesman denied time had been wasted on the issue and said staff members were entitled to a hobby.

[Spot on. / ~ the civilservantpensioner guestclogger :]

…The Ministry of Justice has recently been under fire after Lord Falconer announcing 25,000 prisoners could be released early on licence to ease prison overcrowding in England and Wales.

View the whole dance. :)

An important state Republican figure, until recently the object of much Respect, has given up his legislative leadership post following revelations involving his Family, an alleged Underworld biggie, and a Conspiracy to commit Threatening, among other related matters. (He vows to retain his Senate seat, but personally I’m doubtful about the odds of That shoe staying on much longer.)

June 13, 2007
Associated Press  

HARTFORD, Conn. — Senate Minority Leader Louis DeLuca resigned as leader of the Senate Republicans Wednesday after coming under fire for asking a trash hauler to threaten a man the senator believed had abused his granddaughter.

DeLuca, 73, pleaded guilty last week to a misdemeanor threat charge.

“After careful consideration, and out of respect for this institution and for my caucus, I have decided to step down from my leadership position,” DeLuca said in a written statement. “I promised from the beginning that I would not allow my mistake that I made interfere with my public office.”

DeLuca represents Woodbury and nine other towns. He plans to continue serving as a senator.

He received a six-month suspended sentence and was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and donate $1,500 to charity as part of the plea deal.

…State and federal authorities said DeLuca in 2005 sought help from James Galante, a Danbury trash hauler currently awaiting trial on 72 counts of tax fraud, racketeering, threatening and extortion.

DeLuca said he had sought help from the Waterbury Police, but to no avail. Frustrated by the situation, the senator said he discussed it with Galante in a Woodbury diner, where the trash hauler passed DeLuca a note that asked, “Do you want me to have someone pay him a visit?”

Authorities said DeLuca told Galante “yes” and gave Galante the name and address of his granddaughter’s then-boyfriend. She is now married to him.

Waterbury police have contradicted DeLuca’s claims that he asked police three times for help.

The assault never happened. Prosecutors, who recovered the note in a search of Galante’s home, said they stopped the assault. DeLuca has apologized for his actions, calling them “stupid” and said he never meant to cause any physical harm to the man.

DeLuca has also been criticized for offering to help Galante politically. His comments were captured on an FBI surveillance tape…

More after the break.
(more…)

The rare News story with a Happy ending :} ~

TORRINGTON, Conn. — A 10-foot-long yellow anaconda that escaped from its owner’s apartment more than a week ago didn’t get too far.

The snake, named Ana, was found alive in the basement of the apartment building on Birge Street Saturday by a state Department of Environmental Protection conservation officer. It had been missing since May 15.

…Officials warned neighbors to stay away from the snake if they came across it, because of its sharp teeth. Authorities were also concerned that the reptile would not survive long because of the cold nights.

Police Chief Robert Milano said possessing anacondas is only illegal when they create a nuisance to other animals…

Beauchesne gave the snake, which had its own room in his apartment and ate whole rotisserie chickens, to Massachusetts-based Rainforest Reptile Shows after it was found.

Although the foregoing excerpt is only slightly Constricted, here’s where you can writhe the whole Skinny, unless of course you conda Shed your ancient ancestral Fears & inhibitions. ;>

Jerry Falwell’s body lies a-moulderin’ in the grave but his soul goes marching on ~ in Poland (!):

A senior Polish official has ordered psychologists to investigate whether the popular BBC TV show Teletubbies promotes a homosexual lifestyle.

The spokesperson for children’s rights in Poland, Ewa Sowinska, singled out Tinky Winky, the purple character with a triangular aerial on his head.

“I noticed he was carrying a woman’s handbag,” she told a magazine. “At first, I didn’t realise he was a boy.”

…Poland’s authorities have recently initiated a series of moves to outlaw the promotion of homosexuality among the nation’s children.

Tinky Winky’s psychological evaluation is being treated fairly light-heartedly by many people here.

One radio station asked its listeners to vote for the most suspicious children’s show. Some e-mailed in, saying that Winnie the Pooh had only male friends.

…Last month the European Union singled out Poland for criticism in its resolution condemning homophobia in the 27-member bloc.

Read the whole sillyarse thing.

Meanwhile, in a more Ominous report from the Motherland of Poland’s most-Recent former imperial Masters,

A gay rights demonstration in Moscow degenerated into violence for the second year running as right-wing and orthodox extremists attacked gay rights activists and supporters of the unauthorised demonstration.

GayRussia leader Nikolai Alexeyev was bundled into a police van and driven away moments after arriving outside the offices of Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, who has called homosexuals “satanic”.

…”What we have is authoritarianism and we are moving towards totalitarianism,” said Lydia Hmelevskaya, a 24-year-old lesbian.

“I have been beaten up on a train because of the way I look. I have the right to look the way I want to.”

…On numerous occasions, nationalists circled gay rights activists as they spoke with journalists, then reached in to punch or kick the person being interviewed.

One journalist was attacked because he wore an earring, which led nationalists to say he was gay.

Police intervened to arrest dozens of gay rights activists and only rarely detained their attackers.

Here’s the whole Unfunny thing.