Tuesday, October 7, 2008


The Nightowl Newswrap

Federal Judge orders release of Chinese Uighurs from Guantanamo U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina today ordered the release of a group of prisoners into the United States. The men were picked up in Afghanistan in 2001 in the initial invasion of Afghanistan, and have been held for more than seven years, in spite of being cleared of "enemy combatant" charges over four years ago. Judge Urbina, apparently versed in the finer points of the Constitution, called the detention unlawful, explicitly saying that document prohibits indefinite imprisonment without charges.

Single-digit satisfaction Only 9% of Americans are happy with the direction the country is heading. That is the lowest level since Gallup started tracking that index.

Speaking of record-low Gallup numbers aWol is at 25% - just one point above Nixon's approval the day he resigned in disgrace. But we still want to know who the hell those 25% are. NRO and the Weekly Standard don't employ that many people, do they?

To Senator McCain, the sun gave him cancer, so the sun is evil. Evil like the terrorists who aren't in Iraq, you see: In one of the most contested exchanges from the first presidential debate, Sen. Barack Obama attacked Sen. John McCain's voting record on alternative energy. "Over 26 years, Sen. McCain voted 23 times against alternative energy like solar and wind and bio-diesel," Obama said. McCain dismissed Obama's statement as if it were an absurd claim. "No one in Arizona is against solar," McCain retorted. Moments later, Obama sought to make another point about McCain and Arizona. The Arizona senator interrupted the Democratic presidential nominee to make a sweeping assertion about his unwavering support for alternative energy development: "I have voted for alternate fuel all of my time," McCain said, "and no one can be opposed to alternate energy." Michael Neary, president of the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association, a non-profit trade association, said McCain frequently says he supports renewable energy development, but his deeds do not match his words. McCain, Neary said, has skipped many important votes or voted against measures that would spur alternative sources like solar and wind. "If he was truly an ally of alternative energy, he would have taken the time to get out there and vote and maybe rally some of the troops on the Republican side to get [measures] passed," Neary said. "That's something he hasn't done, and this is extremely important to Arizona." McCain's underwhelming support of alternative energy is well known to Arizona's solar industry leaders, several of whom were surprised to hear the GOP presidential candidate proclaim his strong support for solar during the first debate.


Good thing he wasn't driving a school bus: Quintin Watts had a lengthy criminal record, a history of substance abuse and a string of motor vehicle offenses. Even his mother says he wasn't a good driver. Yet on Sunday he was behind the wheel of a busload of senior citizens and Laotian immigrants traveling to an American Indian casino north of Sacramento. Eight people were killed and 30 others injured when the bus ran into a ditch and overturned. Now authorities are investigating the possibility that the 52-year-old Stockton man may have been on prescription or nonprescription drugs. He was arrested Monday as he lay critically injured in his hospital bed. His condition had improved to fair, a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday. The accident was at least the eighth serious crash in the U.S. in the last three years involving buses carrying people to and from casinos.

Probably a good idea to keep Fort Irwin open then: The Army says it wants to build what could be the world's most powerful solar power plant, as part of a far-reaching effort to cut back on the service's dependence on fossil fuels. The question is whether the Army will actually make good on its green promises. Currently, the most powerful photovoltaic array in the country is at Nellis Air Force Base, outside of Las Vegas. It generates about 15 megawatts of power. Other plants are in the works in New Mexico, Arizona and California that could produce up to 300 megawatts. Yesterday, the Army declared that it would "partner with the private sector to construct a 500-megawatt solar thermal plant at Fort Irwin, California, in the Mojave Desert, that will provide renewable power on the grid and provide the sprawling Army post with added energy security against disruption of power supply."

Out.Fucking.Rageous. A week after getting their $85 Billion bailout, AIG executives went on a retreat at a luxury resort, where they were pampered and preened to the tune of half a million taxpayer-funded dollars.

Our friend Brad Friedman tore up Hans von Spakovsky on the Tavis Smiley radio show! He left Spaz with his dick in his hand, cryin' for his mommy. Here at Nightowl headquarters, we were doing belly-bumps, giving high-fives and shouting "Boo-Ya, Bee-atch!"

"Sit down, Boy"??? WTF??? A particularly ugly incident happened at a Palin rally in Florida when a supporter shouted a racial slur at an African American sound man for one of the networks and told him, "Sit down, boy."

508 That is how far the Dow fell today, closing at 9447.

We are starting to really like this "guilt by association" game! Big talker William Ayers was a piker compared to this bunch. Yes, children, John McCain has just what you've been hoping for: very strong connections to some extremely nasty right-wing terrorists - the innocents-torturing, children-murdering kind.

And our enthusiasm for it just keeps growing! That secessionist outfit that "First Dooooood" Todd Palin threw in with, whose founder advocated armed insurrection against the United States? Yeah, that group of whack-jobs and America-haters has some shady ties to...wait for it...Iran. It just keeps getting better, dunnit?