The Guardian has a piece on Karl Rove, aka “Turd Blossom.” Looks like Rove started out his political consulting old-school style:

In the autumn election season of 1970, a cherubic, bespectacled teenager turned up at the Chicago campaign headquarters of Alan Dixon, a Democrat running for state treasurer in Illinois. No one paid the newcomer much attention when he arrived, or when he left soon afterwards. Nor did anyone in the office make the connection between the mystery volunteer and 1,000 invitations on campaign stationery that began circulating in Chicago’s red-light district and soup kitchens, promising “free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing” for all-comers at Dixon’s headquarters.
As political dirty tricks go, it was minor league. Hundreds of the city’s heavy drinkers and homeless turned up at a smart Dixon reception looking for free booze. Dixon was embarrassed but the plot failed to stop his momentum: he was elected state treasurer and went on to become a senator. But the teenager who stole his letterheads, Karl Rove, has gone even further.

I bet that’s a much more effective vote getter than a mission to Mars. I wonder if Turd Blossom will break out that offer again if the campaign goes south this fall.

I was doing a little channel surfing last night and came across this “reality”-type show “Now Who’s Boss?” on TLC. I gather it’s a newish program, though I don’t watch enough TLC to know.
The plot, from what I gather, is to take corporate executives “down the latter,” making them doing the jobs of entry-level grunts.
I only caught the end of the show, but it was truly educational to hear the exec’s shocking revelation that it’s physically demanding working in a hot dish room, waiting tables, hauling gear, and that kind of stuff.
This is why these guys get paid the big bucks.

Iraq’s leaders have signed the interim constitution. Yes, it contains a quota, or the legal “aim” of a quota, whatever that means:

The National Assembly shall be elected in accordance with an electoral law and a political parties law. The electoral law shall aim to achieve the goal of having women constitute no less than one-quarter of the members of the National Assembly and of having fair representation for all communities in Iraq, including the Turcomans, ChaldoAssyrians, and others.
Chapter 4, Article 30 (c)

Interestingly, by my count our own U.S. Senate only has 14% females (and no African-Americans), which wouldn’t cut it under this provision. Time for senatorial affirmative action.
UPDATE: Say Uncle points out another constitutional goodie:

The individual has the right to security, education, health care, and social security. The Iraqi State and its governmental units, including the federal government, the regions, governorates, municipalities, and local administrations, within the limits of their resources and with due regard to other vital needs, shall strive to provide prosperity and employment opportunities to the people.
Chapter 2, Article 14

Perhaps we should be importing “democracy trainers” from Iraq!

Yesterday’s New York Times had a piece warning that Chinese Internet stocks might be in a bubble similar to the one the U.S. had in 2000:

SHARES of three Chinese Internet portals have been among the highest fliers on the Nasdaq market recently, tripling in value over the last 12 months.
But some financial analysts warn that the Chinese stocks are likely to fall sharply, much as American Internet stocks did in 2000.
“The bubble is going to burst,” said Andy Xie, a Morgan Stanley economist based in Hong Kong. “It’s going to be bad.”

Meanwhile, Warren Buffet thinks the U.S. dollar will continue to take a hit:

Warren Buffett, the American investment guru and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has issued a fresh warning over the way the US is deluging the world with dollars to fund its huge trade deficit.
In his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, the world’s second wealthiest man says the consequences of this could be “troublesome”, reaching far beyond the currency markets. He also discloses that Berkshire is loading up with foreign currency to offset its exposure to the dollar.
“Prevailing exchange rates will not lead to a material let-up in our trade deficit. So whether foreign investors like it or not, they will continue to be flooded with dollars,” Mr Buffett writes.
Although Mr Buffett said the bulk of Berkshire’s $120bn in net worth would continue to be held in US assets, such as its stakes in Coca-Cola and American Express, the company was spreading its risk by increasing its exposure to currencies including the euro. “Berkshire holds many billions of cash-equivalents denominated in dollars. So I feel more comfortable owning foreign exchange contracts that are at least a partial offset to that position,” he tells shareholders. In 2002, the company took a deliberate decision to increase its holdings of junk bonds denominated in euros and now owns $1bn worth of these.

According to news reports, Buffet is making a $12 billion bet against the dollar. [His annual report and shareholder letter are available here.]
If Buffet is correct (I just heard currency “gurus” on CNBC talking about the dollar falling to $1.35-1.40/euro range), it won’t do much to help gas prices. The “stealth tax” continues.

Wow. It sounds as if Tom Delay just awoke to the concept of separate branches of government. He may actually do something without Karl Rove’s permission:

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, criticized by some conservatives for toeing the White House line too often over the past three years, is about to announce his own legislative agenda.
“I have not discussed this with President Bush or anyone else in the White House, and have no desire to,” Mr. DeLay told The Washington Times in an interview in his majority leader’s office. “But if you don’t set these conservative goals, you don’t get conservative governance.”
On Wednesday, Mr. DeLay will take the extraordinary step of introducing his own set of legislative and policy goals, for this year and beyond. He said that while he was still working on the specifics, his proposed initiatives “will cover three basic issues: security, prosperity and family.”

If you don’t set these conservative goals, you don’t get conservative governance? Just who is it that’s be calling the shots in Washington, anyway?
Sounds to me like trouble in the ranks.