UPDATE: The court has announced they will issue a ruling on Tuesday May 26th. Time is running out for the California Supreme Court to issue their ruling on Proposition 8. According to the standard rules of the Court they had 90 days from the arguments to issue the decision and since the court only issues rulings on 2 days (Mondays and Thursdays) they are down to three days. Tuesday May 26th (because Monday is a holiday). Intent on this ruling would be announced Friday the 22nd. Thursday May 28th....

Speculation is growing that the next Justice of the US Supreme Court will be Judge Diane Wood of the 7th Circuit Court Of Appeals. From the Washington Post President Obama is intensifying his search for a Supreme Court nominee and has interviewed Judge Diane P. Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago, believed to be among a handful of top contenders. Wood arrived in Washington on Tuesday to attend a conference at the Georgetown University Law Center, but she met with Obama...

In a not very surprising move the voters in California appear to have rejected a series of ballot measures intended to help cure the recent budget crisis. This means that the legislature and the Governator will have to figure out a way to work through about $ 20-40 billion in deficits through some other method. As I previously discussed, this was basically a choice between two very bad options, either short term solutions that would result in higher taxes and spending cuts or forcing the legislature...

This may be the coolest picture ever. During the 0.8 seconds that the shuttle and the Hubble passed by the sun, a guy managed to take this photo   More images at the link http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090515-sts125-sts125-solar-transit.html

From his background, it seems a strong choice. It also serves the political purpose of sidelining a potential Obama opponent for 2012. http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12382105 From the Salt Lake Tribune Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. will resign from office to accept a nomination to become the ambassador to China. Sources tell The Salt Lake Tribune that an announcement is scheduled for Saturday. Huntsman is in Washington, D.C., but calls to his spokeswoman and various staffers were not returned Friday night. Huntsman,...

Next Tuesday the voters of California will go to the polls in a special election which offers us one of the wonderful benefits of democracy: a choice between two absolutely horrible options. The election offers us five propositions, numbered 1A-1F and is the result of the recent budget agreement which took about 100 days to reach. The basic choice is between supporting the proposals which would cure the problems in the short term but do nothing to fix things for the long term. In addition the tax...

Between now and June 1st the California Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on the legality of Proposition 8. For those who may have been living in a hole for the last few months, Proposition 8 amended the California Constitution to overturn a prior ruling and make same sex marriage illegal. Opponents to the law have challenged it on the ground that it is a revision (IE a major change to the Constitution) and thus required legislative approval. As I previously discussed, while I was strongly...

This show is just plain brilliant

I was listening to the radio on the way to a client meeting today when a caller came on to attack the evil that is the RINO. One of the points they made was the the GOP is only successful when they are pure conservatives and that this is why they won in 1994. Being a political junkie and a bit of a numbers freak I decided to go back and take a look at the truth of that statement and perhaps not surprisingly found out that the RINO was actually key to the success in 1994. For purposes of this discussion...

Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert has been working over the past few months to correct oversights by various organizations who have failed to properly honor him. He recently succeeded in getting NASA to name an exercise bike on the space station after him but is still working on the Pulitzer Prize committee. However there is a saying about people in glass houses and in reviewing his recent programs I have noticed a distinct failure on his part. Not once has he taken the proper time to honor this...

Florida Governor Charlie Crist (R) is expected to announce today that he is running for the US Senate seat being vacated by Senator Mel Martinez. On the surface this should be good news for the GOP as Crist has been popular with voters and would help them to hold a potentially vulnerable seat. But the right wing of the pary, seemingly determined to destroy anyone who is not pure, has a candidate in State Representative Marco Rubio. Conservatives are mad at Crist for supporting the President’s...

Last year I posted about my dismay and concern over the fact that then President Bush was projecting a budget deficit of roughly $ 500 billion for the 2008-2009 budget year. At the time I lamented the fact that the reaction was mostly partisan, with each side pointing fingers at the other rather than seriously examining the issue and accepting that both sides had some share of the blame. Now we have an announcement from  President Obama that the projected deficits for the next two budget years...

A former Catholic Bishop who resigned amid scandal has now admitted he is gay. Not to in any way take away from the seriousness of the story, but I can just see the late night talk show writers at work for the new monologues.

Defense Secretary Gates has reportedly decided to replace the top US General in Afghanistan and will make a formal announcement later today. General David McKiernan, who was put in charge less than a year ago, will be replaced by Lt. General Stanley McChrystal, a former commander of special operations forces at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Obviously, while the official statement is that Gates made the decision, he certainly did not act without the approval of President Obama. Whether this decision...

A tragic story out of Iraq today as a soldier has been arrested for shooting five of his fellow soldiers. We want to avoid too much speculation at this point but early reports do suggest that the suspect was being treated for stress. This is an increasing problem: as troops are sent back to Iraq over and over again, the stress levels begin to rise. Above and beyond the issues involved in being in combat you now have the stress placed on the families and the worries over that. Obviously this is not...

Earlier this week I put up a post in which the introductory historical note was better received than the subject of the post itself. It occured to me therefore that it might be a good idea for me to make a series of posts on various historical tidbits. Being both a student of history and a fan of the ‘what if’ genre I think it might be of interest to some of our readers. Frequency will of course depend on the general desire for the posts. Today we are taking a trip back to January 1853...

A fun video for your weekend enjoyment See how many you recognize or remember watching Sadly I think I knew them all Yeah, I need to get a life.

Let me begin by saying that I do recognize that the current swine flu outbreak is serious and it is important for us to be cautious in dealing with it. It is also quite appropriate for the media to give significant coverage to the topic and for all of us to be prepared. The government should be working to stockpile proper supplies of serum to prevent it from getting out of control. However, I do think that there is a bit of an overreaction to the current situation. Part of this is a result of the...

In September 1911 a British warship HMS Hawke was on patrol when it collided with a passenger liner, the RMS Olympic. The liner was badly damaged and had to go into the repair yard for several months. Not long after returning to duty the Olympic lost a propeller, the result of unrepaired damage from the prior collision. On the surface these incidents seem to be a minor bit of history, except they had some unforeseen consequences. The first collision forced the line that owned the Olympic to delay...

Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge has announced he will not run against Arlen Specter in 2010. While the Democratic primary is still in flux, this pretty much locks up the seat for the Democrats.

There is an old Chinese proverb, quoted by various leaders over the centuries, which says ‘It doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice’. I have myself often quoted this proverb to family and friends when discussing various political issues and hope to use it for a series of posts over the coming weeks. The basic point, of course, is that when you are looking for a solution to a particular problem the goal should be to find what works, without worrying...

As a lifelong Star Trek nerd I almost fell out of my Captain’s Chair laughing at this one http://www.theonion.com/content/video/trekkies_bash_new_star_trek_film?utm_source=a-section

I am not much of a Horse Racing fan and did not even bother to watch the Kentucky Derby today but the results are sending shock waves through the community of racers as wll as the gambling world. A 50 to 1 longshot, Mine That Bird, raced from behind to win. The second biggest upset in Derby history and the biggest since 1913. The payout was $ 103.20 for every $ 2 bet. So if you’d put down $ 100 on the race you would have gotten back $ 5,160 for a profit of over five thousand dollars. If you’d...

US News and World Report has a story worth reading. Seems that Keith Olbermann took a big pay hike while GE (owner of MSNBC) was getting a big bailout. Since Olbermann has attacked executives for taking raises during bailouts, should he not keep to the same standard?

With word out that Justice Souter is about to hitch up the buckboard and head back to New Hampshire we have already heard speculation about his successor and how they will impact the direction of the court. However there is an old saying about what happens when you assume, and those of us who are watching from the outside as well as those working from the inside at the White House should take it to heart. For one thing, I would not make book on the fact that Judge Sotomayor is a lock to get the...