California Senator Barbara Boxer opines on Supreme Court Nominee John Roberts in today’s SFGate/Chronicle. The single most important paragraph is thefinal one, where she says:

Justice O’Connor was a pivotal vote in protecting our rights. Her retirement from the Supreme Court has created, in and of itself, an extraordinary circumstance — one that places an equally extraordinary obligation on all of us to ensure that her successor honors her independence by continuing it.

Note the use of the keyword “extraordinary circumstance”–this is the phrase which triggers the exception to the “Gang of 14″‘s no-filibuster agreement. Plainly, Boxer is setting up a precedent for a fight if it becomes necessary. Not sure if I agree completely, but I appreciate how she’s doing it.

Why lions, tigers and cats don’t have a sweet tooth:

Leave a cookie in a room with a dog and it will be floor crumbs upon your return — but with a cat, the treat will be safe.

Scientists say they have now unearthed the reason for the feline’s utter indifference toward sweet-tasting goodies: The gene for its sweet taste receptor is riddled with errors and does not work.

Our three will lick ice cream bowls clean. Maybe they just want the cream and not the sweet part?

Wondering why tonight’s and tomorrow’s somewhat crucial A’s-Rangers games are not televised? Steve Kroner tells all.

In some sense, the lack of television coverage for these two games might be termed the un-luck of the draw. Pries said another consideration is to prevent any lengthy gaps in the TV schedule; the longest TV drought is three games. So, at some point, an attractive game or two slips through the TV cracks.

Also of note:

One week from tonight, KICU will have another ‘Inside TV’ telecast for the Tigers-A’s game. The audience will see some of the proceedings in the truck and, using the SAP channel, can hear director Mark Wolfson’s instructions mixed with the call of Glen Kuiper and Ray Fosse.

From the SFGate Culture Blog: Paging Officer Hemingway …

Yesterday, Boing Boing posted about some over the top police blotter write-ups from the SFPD, with painstakingly crafted prose by an officer who seems to be an aspiring writer. The post’s author quoted a report from Monday, May 16, 8:55 am:

He had not run for very long before he realized the two cops were only pacing him. They could see something he could not. With each frantic step a sense of dread nagged at him. The more calm and calculating they were, the further behind he left his common sense, and his panic ratcheted up. As he ran, the black and white radio car glided silently along behind like a predatory whale.

Follow the link above to read more from this police log… and to sign up for emailed updates.

Congratulations to intelligent and thoughtful Canadians for being the 4th nation to legalize gay marriage.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin signed the legislation making it law, hours after it was approved by the Senate late Tuesday night despite strong opposition from Conservatives and religious leaders.

The bill gives homosexual couples the same rights as those in traditional unions between a man and a woman, something already legal in eight of Canada’s 10 provinces and in two of its three territories.

Must be nice to live someplace where equal human rights are extended to all instead of restricted bit by bit.