celebration

Adam Walsh's Case Finally Closed

jacob

This is tremendous news for John and Reve Walsh:

A serial killer who died more than a decade ago is the person who decapitated the 6-year-old son of “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh in 1981, police in Florida said Tuesday. The announcement brought to a close a case that has vexed the Walsh family for more than two decades, launched the television show about the nation’s most notorious criminals and inspired changes in how authorities search for missing children.
“Who could take a 6-year-old and murder and decapitate him? Who?” an emotional John Walsh said at Tuesday’s news conference. “We needed to know. We needed to know. And today we know. The not knowing has been a torture, but that journey’s over.”
Walsh’s wife, Reve, at one point placed a small photo of their son on the podium.
Police named Ottis Toole, saying he was long the prime suspect in the case and that they had conclusively linked him to the killing. They declined to be specific about their evidence and did not note any DNA proof of the crime, but said an extensive review of the case file pointed only to Toole, as John Walsh long contended.

They’ll never put this behind them. There’s no such thing as “closure” for the family of a murdered child – not in the sense that most people mean by that word. But at least that not knowing won’t be eating them alive.

John Walsh has always been one of my heroes. I’m glad he finally got the justice he’s worked so hard to help others find.

Adam Walsh's Case Finally Closed
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The Digital Cuttlefish in Print!

jacob

Gah, I missed this!


That’s right; with heart in throat, I am announcing the dead-trees version of The Digital Cuttlefish, Vol. 1, available for purchase at Lulu.com. Over a hundred verses, representing (more or less) the first year of… whatever it is that I do. Just in time for Cephalopodmas, Squidmas, Christma-Hanu-Rama-Ka-Dona-Kwaanza, or maybe somebody’s birthday.

Support independent publishing: buy this book on Lulu.

Too awesome! And with a cover designed by Blake Stacey, too!

I wish I’d caught this when it was first released – I know what I’d be reading this fine snowy evening. Ah, well. Winter ain’t hardly over yet – still plenty of time to pick up a copy, make a mug of cocoa (with marshmallows – there’s no other kind), and cuddle up with a volume of Cuttlefish and a cat.

Ah, contentment.

The Digital Cuttlefish in Print!

Don't Let the Door Hit You In the Arse

jacob

News that made me grin:

Late last month, reports surfaced that the right-wing advocacy group Freedom’s Watch founded by Ari Fleischer and funded by Sheldon Adelson was downsizing. A spokesman would not say at that time if the group would continue to operate in the future. Today, however, the Washington Times reports that the organization will officially close its doors at the end of the month…

Something tells me the era of unfettered fucktardedness is coming to an end. Good.

Oh, and remember that sleaze fest they were going to throw at the end of the election? Yeah:

Freedom’s Watch touted itself as the conservative answer to MoveOn.org and boasted that it would spend nearly $200 million in this year’s election cycle. But in the end, the group spent around $30 million.

Ending not with a bang, but a whimper, I see.

Don't Let the Door Hit You In the Arse

Hearty Congratulations to My Canadian Friends

jacob1 Comment

It’s good to see your wanna-be Bush is about to get his bottom soundly thrashed:

OTTAWA (Reuters) – The leaders of Canada’s three opposition parties on Monday signed a historic deal to bring down the minority Conservative government and then form a coalition government of their own.

The Liberals, New Democrats and separatist Bloc Quebecois say the Conservatives of Prime Minister Stephen Harper — who won a strengthened minority in an Oct 14 election — are not doing enough to help Canadians cope with the worsening financial crisis.

[snip]

A confidence vote has been set for next Monday. The proposed coalition government would be the first of its kind in modern Canadian history.

“We’re seeing a sad spectacle from Stephen Harper’s government. … (It) has shown it has no plan, no competence and no will to face up to the crisis,” Liberal leader Stephane Dion said at a news conference after the signing.

“The opposition parties have decided it is time to take action. … We’re ready to form a new government.”

And how, when the man won a “strengthened majority” just over a month ago, did it come to this? The power surge apparently shorted out his political prudence circuits:

While Americans are enjoying their tryptophan comas, up in the Great White North, the Conservative government of Stephen Harper has presented the opposition parties with a choice: castration or being in charge during the worst recession since World War II.

The Conservatives have presented a budget which:

1) has no fiscal stimulus to help the economy;
2) gets rid of public financing for political parties, since Conservatives don’t need it and the other parties do; and,
3) which forbids public sector unions to strike for 3 years while they “reform”, (read, get rid of) pay equity.

Harper figures this is a no lose bet for him. If the other parties bring him down, well, they get to be in charge during the upcoming recession, which will do nothing for their popularity. If they don’t bring him down, he institutionalizes the Conservative fund raising advantage and gets to break the public sector unions. Rich people and corporations love giving money to folks like Harper who keep cutting their taxes, gutting regulations and letting foreigners make them rich by buying out their firms then moving the jobs and headquarters to other countries.

Can we say miscalculation, boys and girls? If the Coalition government can turn the recession around, Stephen’s no-lose bet becomes a fool’s gamble.

Stephen Harper is a noxious bastard who deserves the worst that can be dished out. If you want to know just what a fucktard he is, I urge you to visit Canadian Cynic and have a trot through the archives. The Cynics have been documenting the never-ending fuckery for quite some time. It’s just pathetic that it took Harper’s hubris in threatening public funding for political parties to finally rouse the opposition into actually opposing the sorry son of a bitch.

But the important thing is, Harper’s about to get his teeth handed to him in a hat. It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving con.

Canadians drink free tonight. Salud!

Hearty Congratulations to My Canadian Friends

Peacemakers Postscript

jacob


Take careful note of the engraving. This is the official flask of En Tequila Es Verdad, and if you want one, you can get your very own here.

Only the finest tequila is going in mine, which means it stays empty until I can afford same.

Nothing can be as pure awesome as that flask, except for this:


That’s right. As the Daily Show once said, “Ten F@#!ing Years!” Happy Anniversary, mis amigos!

If you ever need to find my car, it’s the Nissan with both that bumper sticker and this one:

I’m done being a total geek now. We now return to our regularly scheduled blogging.

Peacemakers Postscript

Sinking In. The Numbers Help

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I’ve spent most of tonight staring in disbelief at post after post about our victory. It’s almost too much to believe. I should have gone downtown and marched in the streets with many other deliriously happy Obama fans, but I didn’t know about that little event until long after it was over.

It’s okay. I’ve been looking at some numbers. Some glorious, beautiful numbers.

First off, states:

Obama: 27 + DC
McCain: 20
Too Close to Call: 3

Arizona disappointed me, but Indiana pulled through, and it looks like North Carolina will as well. Watching a lot of Republicon strongholds fall tonight was awe-inspiring. That map’s turning bluer as we speak.

The electoral vote is delicious:

Obama: 349
McCain: 147

My darlings, this is what is known as an ass whuppin’. And it ain’t over yet.

Are you ready for your eyes to pop? Check out the current popular vote total so far:

Obama: 62,202,520
McCain: 55,207,708

Obama has already won the most votes of any presidential candidate in our history. I believe this is what we like to call a “mandate.”

And how about turnout? Not too shabby:

From the Politico …

More than 130 million people turned out to vote Tuesday, the most ever to vote in a presidential election.

With ballots still being counted in some precincts into Wednesday morning, an estimated 64 percent of the electorate turned out, making 2008 the highest percentage turnout in generations.

We have at least 55 Senate seats, with at least a hope in hell of reaching that magic 60 once the close races are called.

We picked up 17 House seats, with a few more too close to call: right now, we’re at 251-171, which I don’t have to tell you is a rock-solid majority.

We have our majorities. We have our mandate. Now it’s time for us to put them to good use.

Howard Dean’s fifty-state strategy paid huge dividends. Let’s keep that going. In 2012, I want to be able to drive from sea to shining sea passing through nothing but deep blue states.

Yes. We. Can.

Sinking In. The Numbers Help

Yes We Did

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PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA…. At 11 p.m. EST, the networks have called California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii for Barack Obama.

And with that announcement, Obama will be the 44th president of the United States.

Yes. He. Did.

Update: I’m not embarrassed to admit that I’m at a loss for words. Eleven months ago today, Obama told a group of Iowans, “You know, they said this day would never come.”

And yet, he we are. It’s an extraordinary moment to savor.

Yes, it is.

Yes We Did

Holy Fucking Shit Batman! The AZ Reprise

jacob

Dos mas. DOS FUCKING MAS!!

The two most recent polls show that Senator Obama has cut into John McCain’s once seemingly insurmountable lead in…. his home state of Arizona. Long considered a given for John McCain, Arizona’s ten electoral votes are an absolutely necessary component of his path to 270. Perhaps more important than those ten electoral votes themselves is what a tight race in Arizona foretells: If Arizona winds up being a 1 or 2 point race on election night, that likely means that Obama has already taken Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada.

The latest polls, released today, suggest that McCain maintains a slight lead:

Project New West: McCain 44; Obama 40
Zimmerman & Associates: McCain 44; Obama 42

This is how fucking lame McCain is – he’s lost the state he represents. He should have carried Arizona with double-digits. He wasn’t all that unpopular in the state when I was there – virtual fucking love fest, in fact, despite the occasional rumbling about his temper and his shoddy Republicon ways.

The fact that Obama is withing striking distance is phenomenal.

Holy Fucking Shit Batman! The AZ Reprise

After AZ Poll, My Computer is Wearing My Coke

jacob

Holy fucking shit, Batman!

AZ-Pres: Hold on to your hats!

Myers Research (D) & Grove Insight (D). 10/23-24. Likely voters. MoE 4% (No trend lines)

Likely voters

McCain (R) 44
Obama (D) 40

Early voters (34% of the sample)

McCain (R) 46
Obama (D) 47

The sample was 40 percent Republican, 33 Democratic, and 26 percent independent. ASU has its own survey coming Monday, and they’ve hinted at similar results. Makes me wish I would’ve polled Arizona instead of Tennessee.

Four points? Four fucking points?! And ahead in early voting? This is fucking Arizona we’re talking about, right? McCain’s home state? His stronghold? The one he should have walked away with for free? Rassmussen had it at fucking 59-38% last month, for fuck’s sake! Myers showed a 14-pt lead! And now we’ve got Obama within spitting distance?

Hot damn, home state! You go! Kick that carpetbagger in the nads!

I’m so proud of you! *sniffle*


(And before you all start screaming “outlier,” consider this. Maybe the locals at KAET knew something the nationals didn’t. Not to mention Bruce Merrill, professor emeritus at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, thought just a few days ago that new polls would show McCain with a very narrow lead. You can take him, AZ!)

After AZ Poll, My Computer is Wearing My Coke