News roundup. I've had Fox News on all day.

This anchor (?) has been trying hard to get someone to say that the election in Spain is a victory for al Queda. Really hard. To me, the idea that Spanish voters turned to the Socialist party as a reaction to the bombings, to the apparent retaliation by terrorists for Aznar's support of the U.S. in Iraq, was unfathomable. Impossible. And yet,

"The war they got us into, against our will, cost so much," said Alex Rierasanz, a 24-year-old student walking a Madrid street after midnight, waving a red and white flag of the victorious Socialist Party. "We saw that Thursday morning. They lost because their lies angered the people, and got many more out to vote against them."

Exit polls and reports in Spanish media indicated that Rierasanz was a typical voter.
And,

Many still were [demonstrating] when Aznar showed up to vote, shouting that he should feel ashamed for promoting a war the people didn't want and that had now brought death home.

Turnout was unusually heavy, with 63% of registered voters, compared with 55% in 2000.
And,

"I wasn't planning to vote, but I am here today because the Popular Party is responsible for murders here and in Iraq," said Ernesto Sanchez-Gey, 48, who voted in Barcelona.

I can't believe it. The discussion on Instapundit is extensive.

On a lighter note, "Kerry declines to name leaders who back him." Hey John, I know who one of them is, and if the others aren't a whole lot more respectable you might want to shut up about it. Actually, suggesting that voters should vote for you because of foreign opinion is pretty stupid on it's face, isn't it?

Finally, a tenth planet. Tentatively named 'Sidna' after an Inuit goddess, red in color and either half or twice the size of Pluto, possibly with its own moon. Also composed of 50/50 rock and ice. Heads up: Pluto isn't a planet. It's a big piece of frozen crap that got caught in our sun's gravity; thus the odd makeup and eccentric orbit (I subscribe to the idea that a 'planet' is something that developed with the solar system; anything else is space junk). Sidna is most likely an exotic piece of the Kuiper belt.
Nice try though. Incidentally, everybody knows that the tenth planet is supposed to be named Vulcan.

- posted by Dactyl @ 8:07 PM