I have no intention of reading a book about George Herbert Walker Bush, but some of the quotes in media reviews are interesting:

On Dick Cheney, who served under Bush for 4 years:

“He just became very hard-line and very different from the Dick Cheney I knew and worked with,” Bush reportedly told Meacham, speculating that 9/11 had affected Cheney’s views. “Just iron-a*s. His seeming knuckling under to the real hard-charging guys who want to fight about everything, use force to get our way in the Middle East.”

Bush said Cheney, pushed to be more conservative by his wife and daughter, “had his own empire and marched to his own drummer.” Whose fault was this?

[More...]

In an 88 page opinion based on principles of human rights, Justice Arturo Zaldívara of the Mexican Supreme Court has paved the way for legal marijuana in Mexico.

The vote by the court’s criminal chamber declared that individuals should have the right to grow and distribute marijuana for their personal use. While the ruling does not strike down current drug laws, it lays the groundwork for a wave of legal actions that could ultimately rewrite them, proponents of legalization say.

Justice Zaldívar writes: "...[T]he state recognizes an individual’s autonomy to engage in recreational activities that do not harm others.

[More...]

Intelligence experts in the U.S. and elswhere are now saying a bomb brought down the Russian airplane in Egypt. The U.K. and Ireland have suspended flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.

Wilayat Sinai released another audio message today taking credit. Here's the last part according to one translation: (dashes inserted by me)

"To the skeptics and decriers we say: die in your rage! We downed it by the grace of G-d, but we are not required to explain how we did it.

So, inspect the wreckage of the aircraft, analyze your black box, make your conclusions based on your expertise, and prove that we did not down nor else prove how it fell. Eat your hearts out! We downed it by the grace of G-d. G-d willing, we will explain how we did it at a time and manner of our own choosing.

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It's Election day. Don't forget to vote.

Ahmed Chalabi, who urged the U.S. to invade Iraq, has died of a heart attack.

In other news, Rafael Amaya-Nunez, lead actor of Senor de los Cielos, apparently took his role too much to heart last week. He was admitted to the hospital for a drug overdose. Telemundo and his office did not deny the report. After several hours in intensive care, he was able to move around and recovered. He's now on a well-deserved vacation, according to Telemundo.

Season 4 has been filming for a few months, and is almost done. There will be a season 5 as well. I just wish they wouldn't kill off so many good characters. (My recap of Season 3 is here. I describe Season 1 here.)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Terrorism theories got a boost yesterday, amid reports that US infrared satellite detected a heat flash over the Sinai at the time the Russian passenger jet went down, and statements by Kogalymavia Airlines (Metrojet in Russia) ruling out structural failure, technical defects and pilot error.

But there still are no reports of evidence of an explosive device in the debris, and it also doesn't appear anything external hit the plane. While that leaves fewer scenarios, such as a bomb on board, sabotage, or the tail falling off , it still doesn’t answer the question of whether ISIS had anything to do with the crash.[More...]

Russia now says the plane that crashed in Egypt broke apart high in the air. A bomb on board? ISIS still maintains it caused the plane to crash but it hasn't said how.

The plane was in good shape. Metrojet Deputy Director Alexander Smirnov, ruled out engine failure:

"An engine failure doesn't lead to catastrophe," he said on television. Smirnov described the A321 as a reliable aircraft that would not fall into a spin even if the pilots made a grave error because automatic systems correct crew mistakes.

Air France, Dubai-based Emirates and Qatar Airways have suspended flights in the area. Would they do that if they thought it likely the plane crashed because of a technical problem?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Yesterday, ISIS's Wilayat Sinai (background here) claimed responsibility for the crash of Kogalymavia Airline flight #7K9268 from the resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to St. Petersburg, Russia, in which all 224 persons on board, including 25 children were killed. (The passenger list is here. All but 4 were Russian - 4 were Ukranian, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Ukraine.)

Russia said ISIS' claim was false and ISIS doesn't have "manpads" that can shoot down a plane at 30,000 feet. )Manpads stands for man-portable air-defense systems. ) Almost everyone is mocking ISIS' claim. But ISIS didn't say it shot the plane down. It just said it was able to bring it down. Earlier reports that the pilot had radioed of technical difficulty and intended to make an emergency landing have now been disputed by officials.

Could there have been a bomb on board? Could it have been on-board sabotage? No one knows right now. [More...]

It's WLOCP Day! The picks:

Notre Dame @ Temple +11 (3 units), Tennessee @ Kentucky +9 (3 units), Miami Florida +14 (3 units) @ Duke, Texas -4 (3 units) @ Iowa State, Michigan @ Minnesota +14(3 units), Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech +3 (3 units), Georgia +3 (3 units) vs Florida (In Jacksonville), USC -4 (4 units) @ California, South Florida @ Navy -7, Illinois +7 @ Penn State, Nebraska @ Purdue +8.

Go Gators!

At least some good news today: Poland has rejected the U.S. request to extradite 82 year old director Roman Polanski for a crime committed almost 40 years ago.

At a hearing in Krakow, Judge Dariusz Mazur ruled that turning over Mr. Polanski would be an “obviously unlawful” deprivation of liberty and that California would be unlikely to provide humane living conditions for the filmmaker, who is 82.

He was also critical of the U.S. judge and prosecutors in the case, saying if he behaved like they did, he'd lose all respect. [More...]

Obama today authorizes the first boots on the ground in Syria. The White House still claims they won't be in a combat role.

On CNN today, a Republican called that distinction false, saying the dividing line is whether our troops will be in harm's way and because these troops will be battling ISIS, they will be in harm's way and there will be casualties. At least some Democrats are voicing disapproval. [More...]

[Lou Reed, Nico and the Velvet Underground, 1966.)

The New York Times: Parents of heroin addicts are urging a kindler, gentler drug war.

Our last open thread is full. Here's a new one, all topics welcome.