Like the Big Dig......Just A Whoooole Lot Bigger

So Barack Obama has apparently taken this FDR talk seriously enough to reveal his "21st Century New Deal", and suddenly I'm reminded of that quote...
...how does it go?...
...a "second class mind but a first class temperament"

“[W]e will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change that. We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. That won’t just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work.”

OK, OK I know it was TR not FDR but lets not ruin a good meme...

Were They Watching The Same Election As Me

So, the reason John McCain lost the election wasn't because of Obama's 600 million dollar war chest, it wasn't his youth or the fact that he was a far better communicator. It wasn't because after eight years of a Republican administration the public wanted a change, or the fact that the ever tongue-tied George Bush's approval ratings are at an all time low. It wasn't because of the long unpopular war, or the fact that the media that did so much to make the war unpopular is so deeply in the pockets of the Democratic party that most of the pundits should register as paid lobbyists.
Oh yes, and that global finncial crisis had only a little to with it.
No the real problem with the Republican campaign was the overt religiosity of some of McCain's supporters....

....except of course McCain wasn't their first or even second choice in the primaries, and no, conservative social issues were'nt even particulary brought up during the election (except for opposition to gay marriage which actually succeeded wherever it was brought up) and the most famous minister in the country now is the race-baiting preacher of the Democratic candidates church.

SO you see, it all makes perfect sense.

Q: What Did You Do During The War Daddy A: Why, I Drank Egg Nog, Son

While on one side of the Indian Ocean modern day pirates run amok, driving even "super powers" to distraction (since their Twenty First Century mores find it hard to deal with eighteenth Century threats) on the other side of the ocean the Australian Navy gets a Christmas holiday.
For two months.

Sliding Into First

Let's see... 1,342 points since Obama was declared the winner.... comes out to 167 points a day... which means by the time he actually takes the office the Dow will be somewhere around...hmmm...-2521.

Rise of the Pinkshirts

Taking a cue from another famous gay activist (I refuse to capitalize gay) sore losers are spreading their curious brand of tolerance and diversity...

On Sunday, November 9, a band of about 30 homosexuals stormed a church in Lansing, Michigan. Some were well dressed and were stationed inside Mount Hope Church, where they pretended to be normal Sunday worshippers; others were outside dressed in pink and black.
The group of self-described homosexual anarchists, Bash Back!, claims the evangelical church is guilty of “transphobia and homophobia.” The group says that it fights for "liberation," opposes "all forms of state power," and urges members not to condemn certain methods of promoting their cause "on the grounds that the State deems it to be illegal."

During the service the protesters outside the church were beating on buckets, shouting “Jesus was a homo” on a megaphone and carrying an upside-down pink cross. They distributed fliers to passersby.

And it's apparently spreading...

Another church building belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been vandalized. This incident in Sandy is the seventh in a string of vandalisms targeting the Church's chapels.

Churches in Weber and Davis counties were also hit by vandals over the weekend, raising concerns about a possible hate crime. In those incidents, vandals shattered doors and windows.

Sort of their own little Crystalnacht.

Will America Take The Plunge ?

Obama Says...Paris Is Worth A Mass

...or at least Washington DC is.

26°05′49.4″S 111°04′27.5″E,

The grave of HMAS Sydney.

Paging Dr. Mengele...oops, Sorry, I Mean Orwell...

Put young children on DNA list, urge police

· 'We must target potential offenders'
· Teachers' fury over 'dangerous' plan

Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain's most senior police forensics expert.
////////

Last week it emerged that the number of 10 to 18-year-olds placed on the DNA database after being arrested will have reached around 1.5 million this time next year. Since 2004 police have had the power to take DNA samples from anyone over the age of 10 who is arrested, regardless of whether they are later charged, convicted, or found to be innocent.

Concern over the issue of civil liberties will be further amplified by news yesterday that commuters using Oyster smart cards could have their movements around cities secretly monitored under new counter-terrorism powers being sought by the security services.

Hi, I'm Back

"To Stand Athwart History Yelling Stop...

Remember There Is No Such Thing As ....

...Presidents Day.

While In Richmond, Virginia Socialism Advances

OK, outside of Richmond....in Henrico county to be exact.

Henrico County risks paying top dollar for land because officials are reluctant to use government authority to force owners to sell, an independent commission has concluded.

"Since the county rarely uses its power of eminent domain, informed landowners realize that the county will not condemn and they will 'game the system' to their advantage," the commission said in a report released yesterday.

So basically the land belongs first to the government and they essentialy just let you live there.

Tuckahoe District Supervisor Patricia S. O'Bannon, who had requested the commission be set up, citing an apparent pattern of the county paying high prices for land owned by developers, said she feels justified in her request.

Really.
Imagine that very high land prices in an area of very high growth and diminishing amounts of land.
Government solution: make them give it to us...

Now They're Getting Delusional Over At The Corner

From John Derbyshire this morning...

"A Midwestern conservative activist "formerly of the Fred! team and now in the Romney camp" emails in to tell me something I think is likely true. Romney lost here for two reasons that are not mutually exclusive: class warfare and envy. People don't like him because he is richer, smarter, better-looking and more successful than they are, and so much so, that it is impossible for him to camouflage the difference. Oh, they will make claims such as religion or flip flops, but it's all hogwash. This is, of course, contrary to what conservatism ought to be, but it is in line with humanity as it is.

I am afraid so."

Talk about whistling past the graveyard (or is it sour grapes? You pick the homely metaphor). Their candidate isn't losing because he's seen as Northeastern Liberal who just putting on a Conservative act for the campaign.
It's not his flip flops.
It's not even his LDS faith.
No, their candidate is losing because... he's too good.

Harder To Make Up

Surrogate mothers could be given up to £15,000 of Health Service money to have children for gay couples, it emerged yesterday.
An NHS trust is considering funding the service for infertile couples - whether they are heterosexual or of the same-sex.

I'd say that "same-sex couple" pretty much is the definition of "infertile."

Old Hippies To Devil Dogs: Get Lost

Apparently a timetable for leaving Iraq isn't enough, now Liberals want the US armed forces out of Berkeley.
No road side bombs as of yet...

...the Berkeley City Council, which voted 6-3 Tuesday night to tell the U.S. Marines that its Shattuck Avenue recruiting station "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders."
....
In a separate item, the council voted 8-1 to give Code Pink a designated parking space in front of the recruiting station once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week from noon to 4 p.m.
....
An employee of a nearby business who asked not to be identified said Wednesday the elderly Code Pink protesters are aggressive, take up parking spaces, block the sidewalk with their yoga moves, smoke in the doorways, and are noisy.

...and here are some words of wisdom from City Council member Maxwell Anderson...

Anderson, a former Marine who said he was "drummed out" of the corps when he took a stand against the Vietnam War, said he'd love to see the Marines high tale it out of town.

"We are confronted with an organization that can spend billions of dollars on propaganda," Anderson said. "This is not Okinawa here; we're involved in a naked act of aggression. If we can provide a space for ordinary people to express themselves against this kind of barbarity, then we should be doing it."

...and here is how to get in touch with the histrionic Councilman Anderson,
...sorry I'm sure I meant to say Council Person.

Hard To Make Up

From the Daily Mail....

The Department for Children, Schools and Families commissioned Stonewall to write the guidance jointly with lobby group Education Action Challenging Homophobia.

It says that pupils aged four to seven should "understand that not all pupils have a mum and a dad" and learn about different family structures.

Advice to teachers of 11 to 14-year-olds states: "Schools should make efforts to talk inclusively about same-sex parents, for example, avoid assuming all pupils will have a "mum and dad".

"When schools discuss marriage, they may also discuss civil partnership and adoption rights for gay people."

In a section on engaging with parents, it asks schools: "Do you talk about 'parents' instead of assuming all pupils have 'mum or a dad'?"

The advice goes on to urge teachers to challenge every derogatory use of the word gay to avert homophobic attitudes.

....wait for it....

The guidance - produced for the Government by gay rights group Stonewall - will be formally launched today by Schools Secretary Ed Balls.

OK, I thought it was funny.

The New Bishop Laud...

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has called for new laws to protect religious sensibilities that would punish “thoughtless and cruel” styles of speaking.

Dr Williams, who has seen his own Anglican Communion riven by fierce invective over homosexuality, said the current blasphemy law was “unworkable” and he had no objection to its repeal.

But whatever replaces it should “send a signal” about what was acceptable.

This should be done by “stigmatising and punishing extreme behaviours” that have the effect of silencing argument.

So watch those ears....

What Did I Tell You

TOPEKA, Kan. - Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Tuesday endorsed Barack Obama for president, a Super Tuesday boost in a GOP-leaning state that Democrats hope to reclaim in the White House campaign.
ooooooooooooooooo
Sebelius has impressed Democrats nationally by election success, and party leaders let her give the Democratic response Monday night to Bush's State of the Union address.

She is coming off a year as head of the Democratic Governors Association, a group that Bill Clinton once led. The governor made Democrats' lists of potential vice presidential running mates for nominee John Kerry in 2004, and while there's less of the same talk this year, she is seen as possible Cabinet appointee in a Democratic administration.

I however seem to remember this little moment which the AP (shocker!!) fails to mention...

Paging Dr. Mengele V

The latest in our series...

Smokers, heavy drinkers, the obese and the elderly should be barred from receiving some operations, according to doctors, with most saying the health service cannot afford to provide free care to everyone.
Fertility treatment and "social" abortions are also on the list of procedures that many doctors say should not be funded by the state.

And what on earth is a "social abortion"?

Knowing Someone From The Company They Keep

.....or in this case from those that praise them.

Just as I start warming up to McCain(out of desperation more than anything else) we have the endorsement from the New York Times and now the support of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch which damns him with.....

Perhaps his most courageous political stand in the current campaign is his moderate view on immigration reform. Here is a senator from a border state who joined with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and others to defy reactionary forces by sponsoring a comprehensive and compassionate immigration reform bill. That the bill failed is not the fault of Mr. McCain.

...and apparently he's smarter than the average conservative...

He has little patience with the scientific know-nothings of the modern right, having long ago recognized the threat of global warming and — despite his long pro-life voting record — the promise of embryonic stem cell research.

Notice the use of the word "promise", as in it doesn't actually work but it's a convenient brickbat to beat Republicans until a Democrat takes office then the press can safely forget it "promise".

And what is the deal with big city papers and Giuliani.
First the New York Times...

The real Mr. Giuliani, whom many New Yorkers came to know and mistrust, is a narrow, obsessively secretive, vindictive man who saw no need to limit police power.
...Mr. Giuliani’s arrogance and bad judgment are breathtaking.

...now the Post-Dispatch...

We find former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to be cravenly narrow and mean.

Maybe somebody needs to buy the Editorial staff of the Post-Dispatch a dictionary, because mine says that "cravenly" is the adverb form of craven which means..."cowardly; contemptibly timid; pusillanimous".

I'd call Giuliani a lot of things, a coward isn't one of them.

The Millstone In The Democratic Party's Eye...

....is that they (and their water carriers in the press) are overlooking how race is going to doom their chances at the polls this year.

The reality is that either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama is going to be their nominee and either one of them alienates an important part of the Democratic base.

If Hillary gets the nod Black voters will stay home in droves driven away by what is perceived as the racist way the Clintons went after the first Black candidate to have snowball's chance of getting near the Presidency; especially if she keeps getting ahead of him in the delegate count while he keeps winning a plurality of the votes. (more on that later)

And if Obama gets the nod, the truth is, a significant number of the white working class will not vote for a Black man. A young Black man. A young Black man named Barrak Hussein Obama. Maybe a Morgan Freeman look a like would have a chance but (sorry George Stephanopoulos) all those millions of Whites still in a swoon over the likes of JFK and LBJ (and especially older voters still thinking fondly of Truman and Roosevelt) will not push the button for a Black man. A young Black man. A young Black man named Barack Hussein Obama.

Enlightened residents of Manhattan and Georgetown not withstanding, just because some people think all Republicans are plutocrats or religious fanatics doesn't mean they have suddenly become color blind.

Is It Me? (pt. II) .....

.....or is the Democratic race starting to resemble James Watts famous (OK, infamous) line.


...so does that make John Edwards the "cripple."

Is it Me ?.....

......or is David Letterman starting to look like the town crank.

As well as sounding like one.

Or maybe An Enemy Of The People.

Seeing The World Through PC Glasses, Or.....

.......all the news that's fit to print. And I do mean fit.

An interesting science piece from the New York Times on the theory(attacked over the last couple decades) that the crew of Columbus' ships contracted syphilis from the natives of the New World and brought it back to the Old.

Even more interesting is the titles of the piece, "Genetic Study Bolsters The Columbus Link To Syphilis".

Almost makes ol' Christopher seem like some fifteenth century Typhoid Mary doesn't it ?

.....and a quick little search of the article reveals that words "native", "Native American", and "Indian"(that last one isn't surprising) appear....absolutely....no where.

Are They After Huckabee Because He's An Evangelical ?

Of course they are.
And I support Thompson.

I might... I might take the protestations of the members of CMSM (that's Conservative Mainstream Media) that they're actually so concerned about Huckabee's conservative credentials if so many of them where not trumpeting the candidacies of those Conservative titans....... Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.

Case in point. To paint Huckabee as some strangely Christian-Democrat type of Republican while whistling past the pro Big Government records of Giuliani and Romney is to seriously stretch the credulity of the politically informed.

As for him raising taxes in Arkansas......folks, it's Arkansas, maybe they needed more revenue.

And I thought Conservatives were in favor of handing back more responsibility to the states?