Over the last six months since Walmart has opened one of their stores here in Ithaca (a town of 20 thousand), there has been a lot of ill feeling and hostility. This has been specially evident on the Cornell campus, where column after column denounced the capitalistic enterprise.

Now it seems someone has taken his/her hatred a little too far. This morning at six thirty the police were called in to investigate a bomb-like device. As of now the complete mall area has been closed off. According to WHCU, Cornell and Ithaca hazardous department officials are investigating what they say are the materials for a home made bomb.

Katheryn @ Bench Memos is reporting that the cloture vote for Justice Owens just passed — 81-18.

It seems the Republicans have proved to be spineless again. . .seven Republicans lead by John McCain have decided to make a deal where there is cloture (or end of debate) on three nominees (Janice Brown, Bill Pryor, Priscilla Owen) for the Republicans’ promise to not support the constitutional option.

As bloggers at the Corner and Bench Memos have aptly pointed out, not only are the Republican senators who agreed to this compromise spineless, they are also dumb. A reader writes Jonah Goldberg:

So let me get this straight. The Democrats agree top allow three votes they can’t stop in return for the Republicans stopping all the other votes they ( the Democrats) can’t stop. The Republicans agree that the Democrats can do this again if they decide conditions constitute an “extraordinary circumstance”, and the Republicans agree that until the next election they will allow them to do this witout fear of retribution. This is what passes for moderation and compromise in Washington? What did we gain that we didn’t already have? What did we give up in return for nothing?

This is the deal from Bench Memos):

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS

We respect the diligent, conscientious efforts, to date, rendered to the Senate by Majority Leader Frist and Democratic Leader Reid. This memorandum confirms an understanding among the signatories, based upon mutual trust and confidence, related to pending and future judicial nominations in the 109th Congress.

This memorandum is in two parts. Part I relates to the currently pending judicial nominees; Part II relates to subsequent individual nominations to be made by the President and to be acted upon by the Senate’s Judiciary Committee.

We have agreed to the following:

Part I: Commitments on Pending Judicial Nominations

A. Votes for Certain Nominees. We will vote to invoke cloture on the following judicial nominees: Janice Rogers Brown (D.C. Circuit), William Pryor (11th Circuit), and Priscilla Owen (5th Circuit).

B. Status of Other Nominees. Signatories make no commitment to vote for or against cloture on the following judicial nominees: William Myers (9th Circuit) and Henry Saad (6th Circuit).

Part II: Commitments for Future Nominations

A. Future Nominations. Signatories will exercise their responsibilities under the Advice and Consent Clause of the United States Constitution in good faith. Nominees should only be filibustered under extraordinary circumstances, and each signatory must use his or her own discretion and judgment in determining whether such circumstances exist.

B. Rules Changes. In light of the spirit and continuing commitments made in this agreement, we commit to oppose the rules changes in the 109th Congress, which we understand to be any amendment to or interpretation of the Rules of the Senate that would force a vote on a judicial nomination by means other than unanimous consent or Rule XXII.

We believe that, under Article II, Section 2, of the United States Constitution, the word “Advice” speaks to consultation between the Senate and the President with regard to the use of the President’s power to make nominations. We encourage the Executive branch of government to consult with members of the Senate, both Democratic and Republican, prior to submitting a judicial nomination to the Senate for consideration.

Such a return to the early practices of our government may well serve to reduce the rancor that unfortunately accompanies the advice and consent process in the Senate.

We firmly believe this agreement is consistent with the traditions of the United States Senate that we as Senators seek to uphold.

Update: Daily Kos gloats here.

Mendsaikhan Enkhsaikhan has conceded the election to now President Enkhbayar. Enkhbayar is from the Mongolian People’s Republic Party, and a former Prime Minister of Mongolia. Although the official results will only be in in a few days, it looks like he will be the new President. Democracy flourishes in Mongolia, and so opinions vary as well, but from what I heard he is a much less corrupt, and keeps good track of what’s going on in the country. I’ve heard that he does not drink that much–maybe not at all, and that he is a early riser and late night person. I do know for a certainty that the country in general does run a bit better though, when the Communists are in charge, and small things like electricity and running water in the cities are more reliable.

Elections were underway today in Mongolia.

Publius Pundit has more.

School has finally finished. . . and I’ve been feeling a little disoriented and tired as I’ve finished up the work and cleaned out of my room.

I noticed however that the New York Times has an interesting article on one of the most pro-life and outspoken conservative senators — Rick Santorum.

Login is required, but if you don’t feel like going through the hassle and have firefox (like me) you can use this extension to bypass the registration requirements for the Times and countless other free registration sites. Someone just mentioned it to me a few days ago, and it’s already been quite a blessing.

Leslie Burke was born in Lancaster, the oldest in a family of five. He was pretty normal when he was growing up–but had the hardest time balancing. This was the only indication that things were not quite right.

In 1983 he was working as a postman when his employer asked him to get a physical. He was diagnosed with Cerebellar Ataxia. Their is nothing that you can do about this disease, and he was told that he would not see his 40′th birthday–he did, four years ago. The only thing that you can do is to just get on with life.

He did this, and has got a lot done since the doctor’s diagnosis 18 years ago. This condition gets worse and worse, and he is now in a wheelchair all the time. He was worried that when his condition has progressed,and he can no longer speak or eat by himself, the hospital would decide to remove his feeding tube, like they did with Tony Bland.

Last year, on July 30 2004 he won the court battle that said he must be given food since he wanted it to be continued. The hospital filed an appeal last September and the appeals court will hear them this coming Thursday (May 19) and come to a decision.

Cerebellar Ataxia does not affect one’s mental ability–and he will mentally be completely there, it will only affect his physical abilities. He does not look forward at all to the prospect of slowly dying off because of starvation–even though the doctor’s think it dignified.

Click here to go to his website, which has lots of more info on the case.

Source is: SaveCharlotte.com | Crossposted at BlogsforTerri