If This Is The Best The Extreme Right Can Do . . .

. . . then Sotomayor's confirmation is pretty much a done deal.

The latest anti-Sotomayor Right Wing talking point is that she can't be a good judge because she has a 60% reversal rating. But as Steve Benen notes, the Radical Right is completely full of shit on this one:

Sotomayor has been on the appeals court federal bench for over a decade, and during her career, she's written 380 rulings for the 2nd Circuit's majority. Of those 380, five have been considered on appeal to the Supreme Court. And of those five, three have reversed the lower court's decision. That's how the right gets to a 60% reversal rating -- three out of five, as opposed to three out of 380.

Of course, if that 60% figure were really scandalous, the right should have balked at the Alito nomination -- he had two of his rulings considered by the high court, and both were overturned. (That's a 100% rating! He must have been a horrible judge!)

The irony is, Sotomayor's reversal numbers are actually better than the norm, not worse. Media Matters noted yesterday, "[A]ccording to data compiled by SCOTUSblog, Sotomayor's reported 60 percent reversal rate is lower than the overall Supreme Court reversal rate for all lower court decisions from the 2004 term through the present -- both overall and for each individual Supreme Court term." * * *

I'm no expert on the Supreme Court, but as I understand it, not every case which is appealed to that Court is granted review. It doesn't surprise me, therefore, that of the cases the Supreme Court actually decides to review, a majority of them would be reversed.

But the Radical Right can get away with this type of bullshit talking point because the right-wing base is made up of a bunch of idiots who will believe anything that Limbaugh, Cheney, or Hannity tells them.

The Movement To Legalize Pot Takes A Huge Hit

It now appears that the drug of choice for evil-doing terrorists is marijuana:

* * * The ringleader of the four-man homegrown terror cell accused of plotting to blow up synagogues in the Bronx and military planes in Newburgh admitted to a judge today that he had smoked pot before his bust last night.

When U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa M. Smith asked James Cromitie if his judgment was impaired during his appearance in federal court in White Plains, the 55-year-old confessed: “No. I smoke it regularly…I understand everything you are saying.”

The stunning revelation came as the accused plotters made their first court appearances following a dramatic arrest by the NYPD and FBI last night. The suspects drove in an SUV that law enforcement believed was laden with explosives ready to be detonated outside the Jewish centers. * * *

"Homegrown" terror cell -- that's pretty funny. I have no doubt that the anti-legalization folks will have a field day with this one.

And speaking of drug users, either Rush Limbaugh is off the Oxycontin or he's a little smarter than I thought he was (from his radio show last Wednesday):

RUSH: As any of you and all of you who have been paying attention to the Drive-By news media the past number of months have heard, I am the titular head of the Republican Party. I have been anointed to this position by members of the Drive-By Media, and, of course, the Obama White House. I have not been named the titular or any other head of the Republican Party by anybody in the Republican Party. And so I hereby, ladies and gentlemen, today announce that I am resigning. I am resigning as the titular head of the Republican Party. Clearly I am not the titular head of the Republican Party. It's not an office I sought. It was a position that was ladled on to me when I was appointed without my acquiescence. So the only thing I can do to remain true to myself and to you is to resign this position that I never had in the first place. But because so many people think I am the titular head of the Republican Party today, I quit.

In the famous words of Roberto Duran, "no mas, no mas," no more, no more. I quit. I resign as the titular head of the Republican Party.

This is a remarkable admission from Limbaugh -- he has essentally conceded that being the de facto head of the GOP was playing right into the Democrats' hands, and in doing so has admitted that his extremist brand of right-wing politics is hurting the Republican Party.

Rush's resignation is a mild setback for Obama and Company, who have a strong interest in keeping in place right-wing whackos like Limbaugh as the spokespersons for the GOP. The last thing the Democrats need is some middle-of-the-roader becoming the leader of the Republicans. That's why Obama chose Utah Governor Jon M. Huntsman Jr. as his pick for ambassador to China. Huntsman, a moderate Republican, is often mentioned as a possible presidential candidate for 2012, so sending him to China was a great way for Obama to deal with that potential political threat.

But don't worry, folks -- Limbaugh's resignation is pretty much a non-event given that Dick Cheney appears to be the new de facto head of the GOP. It just doesn't get any better than that.

Cheney/Palin 2012!

Another Old Sci-Fi Series To Be Rebooted

First we had a reboot of Battlestar Galactica. Then the old Star Trek series got rebooted with the recent movie. And The Prisoner will soon be brought back to life in the form of an AMC miniseries. Plus we recently learned that the series "V" will be revived by ABC.

And now it appears that the old Gerry Anderson series UFO will be updated:

Veteran producer Robert Evans is getting into the alien business, teaming with ITV Global to create a feature based on cult TV series UFO.

The British show, which ran from 1970 to 1973, was created by Gerry Anderson, best known for his work on the hugely popular Thunderbirds series.

According to Variety, the plot "revolves around Shado (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization), a covert military organization that thwarts an alien race that has been kidnapping and killing humans for decades, then using the body parts. Shado headquarters is hidden beneath a Hollywood studio, and the studio mogul is actually the Shado commander."

However, while the original show was set in 1980, the reboot will take place in 2020. * * *

I loved this show when I was a kid. It was a lot better than Anderson's follow-up series, Space: 1999, which I thought was sort of weak.

And although I've often complained that Hollywood doesn't have any new ideas, I'm liking the fact that all these old sci-fi shows are being rebooted. And it makes sense to do this type of thing, because it is undoubtedly easier to sell a reboot of an old series given that there is already a built-in audience, which I'm sure makes the studio heads more comfortable when it comes to spending the money.

Spoiler-Free Impressions of Star Trek 11

I saw the new Star Trek movie last night. I've been all over the map as far as anticipation for this film is concerned. Eighteen months ago, when casting information was revealed, I expressed a concern that the movie would suck. I felt this way because it was my belief that the whole Star Trek concept had run out of steam and they should give it a long rest.

But then the teaser trailer came out, then full length trailers, and I actually started thinking that the movie could be great. Then the reviews started trickling in and they have been very positive -- Rotten Tomatoes gave it a whopping 96% freshness rating -- so I figured I'd go into the movie with expectations so high that there would be no possible way I could enjoy it.

Well, the movie rocked. It was well-paced, well-acted, and very funny, but not overly funny. It was great to see these familiar characters re-introduced and re-imagined.

People who are not fans of Star Trek will probably miss a lot of the inside jokes (especially those delivered by Karl Urban, who did a great job with the McCoy character) -- whereas some hardcore Trekkies might not like how certain things have been tweaked -- but I think the filmmakers struck a nice balance. The movie had a great "feel" to it.

I had a few problems with various elements of the plot, and one scene involving a series of tubes felt out of place. But any shortcomings were quickly forgiven due to the high quality of the overall production. You definitely should see this one on the big screen.

Yes, But Will It Open The Pod Bay Doors?

This is pretty cool:

The biggest internet revolution for a generation will be unveiled this month with the launch of software that will understand questions and give specific, tailored answers in a way that the web has never managed before.

The new system, Wolfram Alpha, showcased at Harvard University in the US last week, takes the first step towards what many consider to be the internet's Holy Grail – a global store of information that understands and responds to ordinary language in the same way a person does.

Although the system is still new, it has already produced massive interest and excitement among technology pundits and internet watchers.

Computer experts believe the new search engine will be an evolutionary leap in the development of the internet. Nova Spivack, an internet and computer expert, said that Wolfram Alpha could prove just as important as Google. "It is really impressive and significant," he wrote. "In fact it may be as important for the web (and the world) as Google, but for a different purpose.

Tom Simpson, of the blog Convergenceofeverything.com, said: "What are the wider implications exactly? A new paradigm for using computers and the web? Probably. Emerging artificial intelligence and a step towards a self-organising internet? Possibly... I think this could be big."

Wolfram Alpha will not only give a straight answer to questions such as "how high is Mount Everest?", but it will also produce a neat page of related information – all properly sourced – such as geographical location and nearby towns, and other mountains, complete with graphs and charts.

The real innovation, however, is in its ability to work things out "on the fly", according to its British inventor, Dr Stephen Wolfram. If you ask it to compare the height of Mount Everest to the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, it will tell you. Or ask what the weather was like in London on the day John F Kennedy was assassinated, it will cross-check and provide the answer. Ask it about D sharp major, it will play the scale. Type in "10 flips for four heads" and it will guess that you need to know the probability of coin-tossing. If you want to know when the next solar eclipse over Chicago is, or the exact current location of the International Space Station, it can work it out. * * *