Atrios celebrates 10 years of blogging with a declaration of Wankers of the Decade. Up first, Jane Galt:

[T]his particular award is really going back to the beginning, when the libertarian case for war in Iraq was strong, and the metaphysics of "pre-emptive war" was debated alongside the metaphysics of "firm, pre-emptive" use of 2x4s against protesters. Throw in a bit of confusion about just what a 2x4 is, the fact that people on the internet are mean, and pleas for civilitude from those of us not wanting to blow up a bunch of people over there just because, and you have the perfect McArdle mix.

Read the whole thing. Including the links. Very funny and spot on. The countdown for Wanker of the Decade will be fun. I'm thinking Tom Friedman can't lose, but maybe a surprise will be sprung.

Speaking for me only

How topical. The annual Voice Biometrics Conference begins today in New York. This year's theme: Benchmarks, Use Cases and Real World Experience.

Registration is $699., but maybe they have media passes available. One interesting talk may be that of Alexey Khitrov, of the Speech Technology Center which is a "gold" sponsor of the conference. (Its program is SpeechPro):

Reality Check #1: Lessons Learned from Forensics and Law Enforcement

What other programs do law enforcement use for speaker recognition? [More...]

Interesting New York Times story:

At the 76th Masters this week, there will be no club caddies required; only two black caddies started the season with regular jobs on the PGA Tour and one has since been fired. The great black caddies of the past, who carried the bags for Gene Sarazen and Jack Nicklaus and the game’s other greats, are dead or well into the back nine of their lives.

For a variety of reasons, no new generation has taken the bags from them. Caddying, once perceived as a menial job, has become a vocation for the college-educated and failed professionals who are lured by the astronomical purses driven by Woods’s immense popularity. In 1996, the year Woods turned pro, the PGA Tour purses averaged $1.47 million. This year, they average $6.20 million.

Yes, there is very good money in being a caddy of the professional golf tours now. I think we need not look for more in terms of explanations. If there was good money in picking fruit, there would be a disappearance of the Latino fruit picker. Yes, I am calling white privilege.

Speaking for me only

Link:

“It’s entirely up to [Hillary Clinton],” Clinton told “Good Morning America” of ABC News. “I believe that she’s being absolutely honest with you when she says she doesn’t think she’ll go back into politics. But if she comes home and we do this foundation stuff for the rest of our lives, I’ll be happy; if she changes her mind and decides to run, I’ll be happy.”

As I have stated, I don't think it's optional from the Dem point of view -- she's our best hope to hold the White House (assuming President Obama wins reelection.)

Speaking for me only

ABC News acknowledged today that the police video of George Zimmerman being taken into custody following the shooting death of Trayvon Martin shows injuries to the back of his head. It says a forensic enhancement it commissioned allows the injuries to be seen.

Forensic enhancement wasn't needed. As I showed here, the injuries were noticeable from ABC's original footage. You just had to look. Here's the screengrab I got back on March 29. [More...]

ICE has arrested 3,100 immigrants in a national six-day sweep:

This six-day operation, the largest of its kind, involved the collaboration of more than 1,900 ICE officers and agents from all of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations' (ERO) 24 field offices, assistance from ICE Homeland Security Investigations as well as coordination with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners throughout the United States. Arrests occurred in all 50 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, three U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.

204 of those arrested will face criminal charges. Here's the fact sheet on the arrests. [More...]

A court in Pakistan has convicted Osama bin Laden's three wives and two adult daughters of illegally remaining in Pakistan, hiding their identity from authorities and forgery. The court sentenced them to 45 days in detention, after which they will be deported.

Although in custody in a private house since May when Osama was killed, they will get credit for time served since March 3 when they were arrested.

They have two weeks left, and they will serve the sentence at the home where they've been detained, not in prison. They will be allowed to take their minor children with them when they leave. Two of the wives are from Saudi Arabia, and one is from Yemen.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court today ruled all arrestees may be subjected to visual body searches when entering the general population of a jail, no matter how minor the offense for which they were arrested.

"[E]very detainee who will be admitted to the general population may be required to undergo a close visual inspection while undressed."

The opinion in Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders, is here. The petitioner in the case had been arrested after a traffic stop because a computer search showed a bench warrant for an old fine. [More..]

A judge in New Zealand today eased the bail restrictions on Kim Dotcom and his MegaUpload co-defendants. Kim DotCom requested:

....internet access, permission to meet with his co-accused to research their court case, permission to go swimming at the pool at his mansion and be allowed to travel to a music studio to finish recording an album.

The judge granted all, with some limits on how often he could visit the recording studio. The Crown did not oppose internet access or going to the pool. The Judge, in granting the motion, said Kim DotCom was not a flight risk: [More...]

There were three winners of the MegaMillions grand prize. Two people in Colorado won substantial amounts..

The million dollar Colorado winner bought his/her ticket at the same 7/11 I bought mine at.

The $1 million winner bought a ticket at the 7-Eleven at 4040 E. 8th Ave. in Denver and the $250,000 winner bought a ticket at the 7-Eleven at 6802 S. Yosemite St. in Centennial.

So, it really could have been me -- but it wasn't. [More.....]

My picks (Game winner in BOLD): L-Ville (+ 9) over Kentucky, Ohio State (-2 1/2) over Kansas (7 units.)

Ronde van Vlaanderen tomorrow. Give me Cancellara.

Open Thread.

If you didn't win, don't feel bad. The odds:

If you buy 50 tickets a week, you will win the jackpot every 68,000 years.

Update: Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner: A winning ticket was purchased in Baltimore, MD.

This is an open thread, not just limited to MegaMillions.