…The Professor And Mary Ann Jane….

As I recall it, the original theme song for Gilligan's Island did not mention two characters, the Professor and Mary Ann. They were added later (I just checked and yes, they were originally called "the rest" rather than being named during the first season.) Well, Mary Ann is in a bit of hot water all these years later - she's been busted for possession of pot.

DRIGGS, Idaho - Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island," is serving six months' unsupervised probation after allegedly being caught with marijuana in her car.

She was sentenced Feb. 29 to five days in jail, fined $410.50 and placed on probation after pleading guilty to one count of reckless driving.

Under a plea agreement, three misdemeanor counts — driving under the influence, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance — were dropped.

On Oct. 18, Teton County sheriff's Deputy Joseph Gutierrez arrested Wells as she was driving home from a surprise birthday party that was held for her. According to the sheriff's office report, Gutierrez pulled Wells over after noticing her swerve and repeatedly speed up and slow down. When Gutierrez asked about a marijuana smell, Wells said she'd just given a ride to three hitchhikers and had dropped them off when they began smoking something. Gutierrez found half-smoked joints and two small cases used to store marijuana.

Dawn Wells is 69 years old now, but I still remember having a young boy's crush on her when I watched that series (in real time, not in reruns). I never did like "the Movie Star".  

Spitzer And A Plea Bargain

ABC News is reporting that the only thing holding Eliot Spitzer back from resigning as governor of New York is not having a plea bargain in place that avoids him going to jail. His money-laundering in order to pay for his hooker addiction is the issue that could get him some very real jail time.

A 22-year-old escort found on another call-girl Web site claimed to ABC News in a phone interview that Gov. Eliot Spitzer had been one of her customers two years ago when he was New York attorney general and that he was a nice guy who tipped well.

"He didn't do anything that wasn't clean," she said, adding that she knew who he was because he had made calls from the attorney general's office in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Federal investigators say there is no evidence Spitzer used state money or campaign funds to pay the prostitutes, but that the way he moved an estimated $40,000 through various accounts violated federal money laundering laws.

"These are serious laws and laws that given the amount of money involved here could mean a prison term of 10 to 18 months," Sean O'Shea, a former federal prosecutor specializing in financial crimes, said.

A prison term is one of the issues holding up the governor's resignation as well as whether or not he pleads guilty to criminal charges. 

Give him the plea deal and be done with him. His career is over although his narcissism will probably lead him to try to remain a political player. But he'll find that a lot of people want nothing to do with him or his proclivities. Political cooties can be contagious. 

Stunning Lack Of Judgment

If the quote in a California newspaper is accurate, Geraldine Ferraro exhibited a monumental lack of judgment and will undoubtedly soon be thrown under the Clinton campaign bus.

The latest controversy ripped between the two campaigns as primary voters in Mississippi cast their ballots in the latest installment of the dramatic Democratic White House race, with Obama tipped for another victory.

Ferraro, who sits on Clinton's finance committee and has spoken at her rallies, sparked the firestorm when she was quoted by a California newspaper as saying: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position."

Obama, the first African-American with a viable shot at the White House, called the remark by the Democrats' 1984 vice presidential nominee "patently absurd."

"I don't think that Geraldine Ferraro's comments have any place in our politics or the Democratic Party," he told Pennsylvania newspaper The Morning Call.

His campaign clamored for Ferraro's head, noting the swift resignation of an Obama aide last week after her remark that Clinton was a "monster" sparked howls of outrage from the New York senator's team.

At the rate staffers are dropping, the entire campaign staff of both candidates will fit comfortably in a phone booth by the time the convention rolls around. Assuming Ferraro resigns, of course. I'm a little stunned by how badly both campaigns are behaving at the moment. The absolute recklessness of some of the comments by staffers is, I suspect, a result of the staff's frustration over the deadlock - and the lack of a clear path to victory by either candidate. And so, the ugliest aspects of all the identity politics is all coming out at once.

Fun to watch, isn't it? 

“George Fox” One Big Spender

Eliot "Happy With Hookers" Spitzer turns out to be a real big spender. In fact, he may have ponied up as much as $80,000 keeping his hookers happy.

ALBANY, N.Y. - With pressure mounting on Gov. Eliot Spitzer to resign over a call-girl scandal, investigators said Tuesday he was clearly a repeat customer who spent tens of thousands of dollars — perhaps as much as $80,000 — with the high-priced prostitution service over an extended period of time.

Spitzer and his family, meanwhile, remained secluded in their Fifth Avenue apartment, while Republicans began talking impeachment, and few if any fellow Democrats came forward to defend him. A death watch of sorts began at the state Capitol, where whispers of "What have you heard?" echoed through nearly every hallway of the ornate, 109-year-old building.

On Monday, when the scandal broke, prosecutors said in court papers that Spitzer had been caught on a wiretap spending $4,300 with the Emperors Club VIP call-girl service, with some of the money going toward a night with a prostitute named Kristen, and the rest as credit toward future trysts. The papers also suggested that Spitzer had done this before.

Speaking of condition of anonymity, a law enforcement official said Tuesday that Spitzer, in fact, had spent tens of thousands of dollars with the Emperors Club. Another official said the amount could be as high as $80,000. But it was not clear over what period of time that was spent.

Well, he certainly was a good customer. A lousy husband and father, though. But Kinky Eliot still has not resigned as of this posting, either. If he does not do so, I rather doubt he will survive impeachment and trial. There really cannot be much support left for the sanctimonious Spitzer. 

The Aftermath of Winter In China

In the wake of brutal winter storms in China, there are new worries about the inflation rate. Why are those tied together, you ask? Simple: the storms destroyed many crops and food prices are soaring. Consumer prices in China rose by 8.7% in February alone, topping January's already staggering 7.1%. China's central bank is under pressure to raise interest rates as a result.

Food costs soared 23 percent after blizzards destroyed crops and snarled transport links, causing shortages. China, the biggest contributor to global growth, raised rates six times last year in a failed attempt to curb prices and more increases risk triggering an economic slump as export demand weakens.

“They must raise interest rates big time — at least two to three percentage points this year,'' said Andy Xie, former chief China economist at Morgan Stanley, now an independent analyst in Shanghai.

The key one-year lending rate is at a nine-year high of 7.47 percent. The deposit rate is 4.14 percent, less than half the pace of inflation.

“We need to stay calm and take effective measures,'' the statistics bureau said in a statement. It will be “more difficult to control full-year inflation'' because of the storms, the bureau said. The government aims to cap price gains at 4.8 percent for 2008. 

A 23% rise in food prices alone is incredible and indicates that things are bound to get even worse in the short term. Pork has risen some 63% over the price at this time last year. The article does not directly indicate just how bad the damage was to crops, but the price increases indicate that the damage was very bad, indeed. Unless the agricultural sector can recover quickly, things will get even worse.

Trying To Stop Terrorists With Lawsuits

The Regents of the University of California have filed a lawsuit against "animal activists" who have been harassing university researchers at their private residences. The increasingly violent terrorists - and they are terrorists - have been aggressively attacking the researcher's homes and families. There is a chilling note buried in the story as well.

The University of California regents have responded by suing UCLA Primate Freedom, the Animal Liberation Brigade, the Animal Liberation Front and five people allegedly affiliated with them. It is a tactic that the regents successfully employed nine years ago.

The regents hope to win a permanent injunction similar to one granted against Last Chance for Animals in 1989. But some experts note that the regents now are battling more violent, Internet-savvy foes who thrive in online communities, post faculty "targets" on Web sites and upload how-to guides for their attacks.

"The reality is that, unlike in the past, where movements really relied on interpersonal communication and gatherings to ferment this radicalization, all this is happening online now," according to Oren Segal, co-director of the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism in New York. "The ability for people to learn about the movement and how to carry out attacks on behalf of it are easier than it's ever been because of the Internet."

Indeed, a temporary restraining order — prohibiting harassment and posting of faculty members' personal information on the Internet — was granted Feb. 21 by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. But three days later, six masked protesters reportedly disrupted a child's birthday party at the home of a University of California at Santa Cruz researcher and confronted her husband at the door, hitting him on the hand.

It is unclear whether the protesters are connected to those named in UC's lawsuit.

Harassment by violent animal rights activists has climbed at universities across the country, including Oregon Health and Science University, the University of Utah, and Ohio State University, where researchers have been victims of home visits or, in one case, found their windows slathered in glass-eating acid. Scientists, administrators and lawyers are closely watching the effectiveness of the California regents case.

Experts say the shift toward more personal attacks is a response to increasingly fortified laboratories, which universities began securing in the 1980s and 1990s as attacks heightened.

Now, groups have shunned "Fort Knox" in favor of ill-prepared homes, said Jerry Vlasik, the former vivisector turned spokesman for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office. Vlasik has repeatedly advocated for using "whatever force against animal research scientists necessary."

"If killing them is the only way to stop them," he said in a telephone interview, "then I said killing them would certainly be justified."  (Emphasis added)

I have said before that it is only a matter of time until someone is killed by the environmental terrorists. I'm afraid that the above statement indicates that there is little time left. The authorities had better get serious about stopping these people and their illegal acts now, before they escalate even further.

The One To Feel Sorry For

As Dana Milbank at the Washington Post points out today, the allegedly kinky Eliot Spitzer's sexual proclivities and the political damage that has been done to his career are only minor things compared to the cruelty spitzer inflicted on the real victim here: Silda Spitzer, his wife. The ever arrogant Spitzer dragged her out in front of the cameras to share his political nightmare and to act as a human shield against the media. 

The woman accused of running a prostitution ring allegedly patronized by Eliot Spitzer told one of her call girls that the New York governor had been known to "ask you to do things that, like, you might not think were safe."

But whatever Spitzer — or, in the language of a federal court filing, "Client-9" — did with a petite brunette nicknamed "Kristen" on the eve of Valentine's Day last month at Washington's Mayflower Hotel, it probably wasn't as monstrous as what he asked his wife to do yesterday.

In the grand tradition of Larry Craig, David Vitter and Jim McGreevey, Spitzer dragged his partner of 21 years before the television cameras at his offices in New York to announce that he was "disappointed" in himself for unspecified sins.

Silda Wall Spitzer looked like a victim of food poisoning as she stood by her man's side. She cast her eyes downward at the 183-word statement while he read it. She raised her glance only briefly, when the governor admitted he had "acted in a way that violates my obligation to my family," when he offered an apology "to the public, whom I promised better," and again when he pledged to "dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family."

The silent Mrs. Spitzer — Harvard law school graduate, corporate lawyer, nonprofit founder and mother of the governor's three daughters — then led Client 9 away from the lectern.  

Silda Spitzer is the real victim of all of this. She is the one to feel sorry for, not the politically tainted and morally bankrupt governor of New York.  

Endeavour Lifts Off

In a rare night launch, space shuttle Endeavour has lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center taking a Canadian-built robot and the first section of a Japanese science laboratory into space. The mission is planned to last an unheard-of 16 days, the longest ever.

Thrust in the form of translucent blue and bright yellow fire ignited a light show over NASA's Kennedy Space Center when Endeavour roared off the launch pad at 2:28 a.m. EDT on March 11.

The first module of the Japanese-built Kibo laboratory complex was packed inside Endeavour's cargo bay, along with a Canadian-built robotics system that will enhance the capabilities of the International Space Station's robotic arm.

The pressurized logistics module for the Kibo complex represents the first manned spacecraft for Japan.

"With this flight, I believe we fully became a real partner in the International Space Station project," said Keiji Tachikawa, president of JAXA, the Japanese space agency.

Dextre is the robotics system that Endeavour lofted into orbit. With it, Canada is making a literal extension to what the nation already built. Canada built both the space shuttle robot arm and the robotic arm used on the International Space Station.

I had the disconcerting pleasure of watching a night launch of a shuttle - from Orlando, Florida - some years back. It is absolutely amazing to be that far away from the launch and yet still see the rockets trail of fire quite clearly.