Marathon Pundit: Sunday night's Odds and Sods

A trip around the horn tonight on an ice-stormy (for me) Sunday night. Down in Kentucky, it's foggy, as Prairie Bluestem writes--and she has a picture to prove it.

Why was the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis scrubbed until January? Faulty ECO sensors. California Yankee reports that NASA has been struggling with this problem for two years, and he provides an excellent graphic that explains what these sensors do.

Last last year, Nancy Boyda of Topeka upset legendary distance runner and five term Republican congressman Jim Ryun in Kansas' second district. Ryan and fellow Republican are Lynn Jenkins hope to win back the seat for the GOP--and even the New York Times, the KRA Blog reports, views Boyda as vulnerable, especially if Hillary Rodham Clinton is the Democratic nominee.

Back home in Illinois, more House of Representatives intrigue: Former Indiana Pacers and Bradley University coach Dick Versace was given a given a sporting chance of netting a Democratic pick-up in Illinois' 18th District, which covers the Peoria area. Incumbent Republican Ray LaHood is retiring; the district has been held by the GOP for years--LaHood's predecessor was Bob Michel, who was the House Minority leader until his 1995 retirement.

But on Friday, Billy Dennis of Peoria Pundits reported that Versace announced he was withdrawing from the race due to unspecified personal reasons. The filing deadline in Illinois was over a month ago, the Democratic county chairman in the district have to scramble to find a candidate, as Versace was running unopposed.

With all of the talk of Barack Obama's run for president dominating the local and national media, my other senator, Dick Durbin, has been mostly flying under the radar, even though he's the Democrats' number two man in the Senate. He's up for re-election next year, and he's a heavy favorite to win, but with a few more crazy outbursts like the one Teri O'Brien describes, Durbin might be vulnerable. Besides, the continuing stream of embarrassments surrounding failed governor Rod Blagojevich can't be contained forever--Illinois voters will want to send a message and "Blago" isn't on the ballot next year.

And in kleptocracy news, Solomonia tells us that the Palestinian Authority has a policy on confiscating cars stolen from Israelis. Those cars end up being used by PA police officers, rather than being returned to the rightful owners in Israel.

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