It's like deja vue all over again. Or history repeats itself, repeatedly.
A tale of the rise and fall of a great empire.
In the New York Times:
Op-Ed Contributor
Pirates of the Mediterranean
By ROBERT HARRIS
Published: September 30, 2006
Kintbury, England
IN the autumn of 68 B.C. the world’s only military superpower was dealt a profound psychological blow by a daring terrorist attack on its very heart. Rome’s port at Ostia was set on fire, the consular war fleet destroyed, and two prominent senators, together with their bodyguards and staff, kidnapped.
The incident, dramatic though it was, has not attracted much attention from modern historians. But history is mutable. An event that was merely a footnote five years ago has now, in our post-9/11 world, assumed a fresh and ominous significance. For in the panicky aftermath of the attack, the Roman people made decisions that set them on the path to the destruction of their Constitution, their democracy and their liberty. One cannot help wondering if history is repeating itself.
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If You Live in Lexington, You Live in GOD'S COUNTRY!!!1!1!!one
(Lexington County) - Lexington County deputies have taken a woman into custody who they say hosted alcohol and sex parties for teenagers.
Deputies arrested 46-year-old Patricia Hartwell. She's charged with six counts of transferring beer to a minor, five counts of transferring liquor to a minor and five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Deputies say the parties were for students at White Knoll High School, and these parties happened regularly over a two-year period. Investigators say Hartwell encouraged boys and girls to have sex at her apartment, which is located near the school.
Sheriff James Metts says some of the teens involved were as young as 14 years old.
"It's possible that hundreds of kids were involved," Metts says.
Officers say in addition to alcohol and drugs, Hartwell provided birth control pills. Metts says the pills were given without the consent of parents.
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In the White House, home is where the fart is.......
Paul Bedard of U.S. News & World Report raised a few eyebrows this week when he went public about President George W. Bush's fondness for…well…farts.
Yep. The President farts - a lot. He farts in front of other White House staffers. He likes to joke about farts, cusses constantly and laughs with glee at the misfortune of others.
Writes Bedard:
He loves to cuss, gets a jolly when a mountain biker wipes out trying to keep up with him, and now we're learning that the first frat boy loves flatulence jokes. A top insider let that slip when explaining why President Bush is paranoid around women, always worried about his behavior. But he's still a funny, earthy guy who, for example, can't get enough of fart jokes. He's also known to cut a few for laughs, especially when greeting new young aides, but forget about getting people to gas about that.
Proposed War Crimes Act protection for Bush administration would apply retroactively
Proposed War Crimes Act protection for Bush administration would apply retroactively
By PETE YOST Associated Press Writer
(AP) - WASHINGTON-The Bush administration drafted amendments to the War Crimes Act that would protect policymakers retroactively from possible criminal charges for authorizing humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees, according to lawyers who have seen the proposal.
The move marks the administration's latest effort to deal with how the United States should treat people taken into custody in President George W. Bush's campaign against terror.
At issue are interrogations carried out by the CIA, and the degree to which harsh tactics such as water-boarding were authorized by administration officials. A separate law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, applies to the military.
Are you kidding me?
Speeder Turns Around To Help Trooper
Fri Aug 4, 9:21 PM ET
A state Highway Patrol officer who crashed while trying to catch up to a speeding motorist got some aid from an unlikely source — the man he was chasing.
The patrolman, Frank Nowakowski, was uninjured in the crash Wednesday.
Nowakowski was nearing the end of his shift along Interstate 15 when a vehicle sped by at more than 95 mph in the opposite lanes.
Nowakowski crossed the median and took off after the driver, reaching speeds of 120 mph in an effort to catch up. Nowakowski said he had just decided to end the pursuit for safety reasons when one of the rear tires of his cruiser blew out, sending his patrol car careering off the highway and through a barbed-wire fence.
"This happened in a heartbeat," he said. "I had no idea."
Is palmettocrescent dead?
So, is the site dead?
I have a funny/sad story about the perils of dealing with the law school bureaucracy, also titled "How not to build alumni enthusiasm" but I'll save that for later.
Anyone still checking here?
Something I've noticed around here (possibly to be filed under "tech support")
Now I'm not going to look accusingly at anyone. Particularly a series of replies in the Etheridge for State House thread and one former "flatmate" (as the across-the-ponders would call it). So, rather than declare, I'm going to present this as a question:

