This should come as a surprise to no one:

MSNBC host Keith Olbermann noted that the Family Research Council (FRC), which is currently campaigning to stop filibusters of President Bush’s judicial nominees by Senate Democrats, was quite vocal in the late 1990s in defending the right to filibuster another presidential nominee, James C. Hormel, who was nominated by President Clinton as ambassador to Luxembourg.

Follow the link for the details.
As they say on The Daily Show, there’s a principle for every occasion.

Morgan Stanley’s senior economist Stephen Roach has a pretty sharp criticism of the Federal Reserve:

The rhetorical flourishes of America’s central bankers have dug the US economy — and by definition, a US-centric global economy — into a deep hole. To this very day, the Fed has never confessed to the Original Sin of condoning the equity bubble. On the contrary, Greenspan & Company have been on the defensive ever since by dismissing the increasingly dangerous repercussions of the original post-bubble shakeout. Far from playing the role of the tough guy that is required of independent central bankers, the Fed has become an advocate of the easy money of a powerful liquidity cycle. One bubble has since begotten another — from equities to bonds to fixed income spread products (i.e., emerging market and high-yield debt) to property. And financial markets have gone along for the ride — not just in the US but also around the world as global investors and foreign central banks have rushed with reckless abandon to finance America’s record current-account deficit.
The day is close at hand when US monetary policy must get real. At a minimum, that will require a normalization of real interest rates. Given the excesses that now exist, it may even require a federal funds rate that needs to move into the restrictive zone — possibly as high as 5.5%. Yes, this would cause an outcry — perhaps similar to that which occurred in the spring of 1997 on the occasion of the Original Sin. But in the end, there may be no other choice. Fedspeak has taken us into the greatest moral hazard dilemma of all — how to wean an asset-dependent system from unsustainably low real interest rates without bringing the entire House of Cards down. The longer the Fed waits, the more perilous the exit strategy.

If you’re into this topic, go read the whole thing.
I continue to wonder how the economy seemingly chugs along despite some of the negative economic forces at work. I doubt some of the economic indicators are telling us the full story.

That eye peering over your shoulder will be zooming in:

In a move that could rankle privacy advocates, Microsoft said Monday that it is adding the PC equivalent of a flight data recorder to the next version of Windows, in an effort to better understand and prevent computer crashes.
The tool will build on the existing Watson error-reporting tool in Windows but will provide Microsoft with much deeper information, including what programs were running at the time of the error and even the contents of documents that were being created. Businesses will also choose whether they want their own technology managers to receive such data when an employee’s machine crashes.

Microsoft claims consumers will be able to control what information is being transmitted. Most people will probably just check “yes” without knowing what they are consenting to, but okay. I just wonder how far off we are from the day when Microsoft, or someone else, will be required to report when people are using their computers for “bad” things (e.g., visiting certain websites, copying or downloading copyrighted files). This could end up be another tool authorities use to monitor what people are doing.

A few of you may have wondered why a comment wasn’t displayed when you submitted it.
I recently updated to Movable Type 3.15. It came with a setting where comments are not posted until I “approve” them. I’ve wasted at least half an hour trying to figure out how to configure it so that approved commenters can post without further approval, but thus far no luck.
Hopefully I’ll get it fixed soon. If you have a tip on what I need to change, post it in the comments. Oh, never mind . . . .

From my alma mater:

Around 3:30 a.m., Tuesday, April 26, a fire broke out near a kitchenette on the third floor of Thatcher Hall, the women’s residence at Southern Adventist University.
Twenty-two fire trucks responded. There has been one fatality. The victim’s family has been notified. Two students have been taken to the hospital. All residents of Thatcher Hall have been evacuated and are in a safe location on the university’s campus.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family and students during this time of crisis.
“This is affecting us very deeply here at the university,”� says Gordon Bietz. “Please pray for the students and the staff as we struggle to deal with this tragedy.”�
The academic deans are meeting to decide what to do about today’s exam schedule. A service will be held on campus later today, and campus counselors and pastors are providing counseling for the students.

More details here.
What a bad way to end a school year. Prayers go to the family of the victim.