[id cards] fine fisk on the issue

Cleanthes, at The Select Society, has done a fine fisk on the ID card issue, as Timmy Worstall did on the Stern Report. I think you need to head across and view this report. In it, he takes each point one by one: Illegal Immigration, Crime, Terrorism, Identity Fraud and so on and dismantles it. For example: The case for ID cards is a case not about liberty but about the modern world. Wrong: it’s about both, but it is more about the former than the latter. ID cards have been used long before the advent of the new technologies that we are all busy accessing.

[blogfocus] the burning issues

Iain Dale is one who's had to divide his time recently.

Welcome to another Blogfocus. In a post yesterday, I intimated that there were two main issues this time round and that one of these involved what bloggers had not written. Allow me to explain. Although some of those below have subsequently posted this evening, nevertheless, at the point last evening when I trawled through the blogroll, ten had not posted for days and another five appeared to be feeling the strain. This was interesting.

Non posters:

http://www.samizdata.net/ [Johnathan]
http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/
http://www.minettemarrin.com/
http://freedomandwhisky.blogspot.com/
http://vented-spleen.blogspot.com/
http://jeffreyarchers.blogspot.com/
http://existingactually.blogspot.com/
http://reactionarysnob.blogspot.com/
http://www.di2.nu/blog.htm
http://indecent-left.blogspot.com/

Two of the semi-posters:

http://www.theselectsociety.com/blog/
Philo did say though: Off to the Windy City on Tuesday; may live blog the results if jet-lag allows. Cleanthes hadn’t posted.
http://www.stephenpollard.net/003026.html
Stephen Pollard had posted, albeit on music, music, then music, then said: I'll do my best to post, but it's unlikely I'll be posting anything here until Thursday. Apologies.

I wrote about this in an earlier post here and other bloggers have now had their say here.

[fedex] cancels airbus, orders boeings instead

FedEx Corp., the world's largest cargo airline, has scrapped its order for the troubled Airbus A380 jumbo jet and said it would purchase 15 Boeing Co. 777 jets instead. It was the first cancellation of an A380 order. FedEx, working to meet international shipping demand, scrapped the 10-plane Airbus order after production troubles delayed planned deliveries from January 2009 into 2010. Probably wise anyway. Airbus is a fine aircraft; it’s just that this and this and this and this worry one a little. And did you ever see Tom Hank’s Cast Away?

[russia] winter on the roads 2

The car on the left was my British machine – the joys of open top motoring know no bounds, especially with a lady’s hair streaming beside you, the throaty roar of the 2 litre and a spot of lunch at a nice country pub at the end of the ride. The other car is my no-nonsense Lada 102 with beefed up stabilizers, gas shockers and so on. It’s basic and rugged, especially the brakes and shockers – it’s just the electric system which sometimes lets you down. Never buy an imported car here – it will break in half by the end of the year on these roads. The Lada is known as the Russki Tank and if something does break, there are automarkets all over the place where a few roubles will see you with a new part and a thousand mechanics willing to do the job for about $10.

[russia] winter on the roads 1

In response to Ellee’s question, snow is relatively rare in southern Britain and chains will get you from A to B but in Russia, they’re useless – we need to zip about in the snow for over three months and so everyone has two sets of tyres – summer and winter. It should be the case in Britain as well but ridiculous legislation prevents this safety feature. My winter tyres are Gislaved Nordfrost III 175s [pictured], the best you can get according to Za Rulyom. They have hundreds of little metal studs and the tread gives excellent grip. My summer tyres are Michelin 185s All Weather and they are also outlawed in Britain. Why?!! Today was changeover day and I prefer to change alloy wheels ’n all, so I have ten altogether. In the next post, I’ll show you my little car.

[take-a-toke] new from burger king

As the nation goes to the polls, some eyes have turned to another issue: Mark Landavazo and Henry Gabaldon were in uniform and driving a marked patrol car when they stopped for a meal at a drive-through Burger King restaurant in Los Lunas, New Mexico. They ate about half of their burgers before they began to suspect that the meat contained an illegal drug. They used a field test to confirm the substance was marijuana and then went to a hospital for a medical check. Three Burger King employees - Justin Armijo, 19, Robert Nuckols, 21, and manager Joseph Ledesma, 33 - have already been arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and aggravated battery on an officer. They were subsequently indicted. Of course my info is out of date but has anyone been to Burger King in Lewisham? Or at Charing Cross? Burger King is a firm I have misgivings about. Is this just imagination? Incidentally, will the Republicans retain control?

[last chance] les derniers criminels nazis

Le Figaro ecrit: Ils ne sont plus qu'une poignée, mais ils coulent une existence paisible, après plus de soixante années passées à faire oublier leurs crimes. Les derniers criminels de guerre nazis se terrent encore çà et là en Europe, guère inquiétés par les pays d'accueil, qui ne souhaitent pas particulièrement réveiller les démons du passé et se présenter sous un jour défavorable. Mais pour ces vieillards désormais sans histoires, reste un épineux obstacle avant le repos éternel. Le centre israélien Simon-Wiesenthal, ainsi baptisé en hommage au célèbre chasseur de nazis décédé en septembre 2005, a lancé une « opération de la dernière chance » pour leur mettre la main dessus avant qu'il ne soit trop tard. Suivez …

[let’s be racist] are you english or just a mongrel

You’ve no doubt already seen this from the Telegraph: Lord Tebbit, Carol Thatcher and other volunteers thought they were pure Anglo Saxon - until they were DNA-tested. Andrew Graham-Dixon watched their jaws drop on discovering racial origins from Africa, the Middle East, even Mongolia. We are all mongrels now, he says. I understand, in my situation, that I am half English and half Irish but I suspect I might have Jewish blood in there somewhere as well. Don’t have any proof – just feel it. What about you?

[prostitution] throw away the code and indulge

Vox Day continues to come out with surprising things which happen to make sense: As with so many other things, once traditional Christian morality with its fixed basis in Scripture is cast out the window, it is replaced with a whole host of other, more fluid sensibilities. And there's absolutely no reason for any godless individual to take issue with prostitution. On what basis would they object to anyone choosing to engage in such simple and relatively pleasant manual labor? Vox goes on to address the phenomenon of more and more men turning to paid sex without the hassles of a moaning female. Bitter and cruel but the logic is there.

[first real snow] the air is filled with it

Ladies and gentlemen, I just looked out of the window and it’s falling. Yes it is – the wonderful, clean, beautiful, soft flakes falling to earth like someone just tipped a giant bucket over and of course, everyone is caught unawares, as in Britain. A lady client phoned just now and said she’s stuck in Gorky; cars are sliding all over the road on summer tyres, cannoning into one another. Great situation. And here I am, writing to you in the living room.

[tiwesdæg] the day of single combat

Don’t you try it – leave it to Tyr or Tiw or Tew or Tiu to take care of all the combat today, on this Sumerian Gugulanna’s, this Babylonian Nergal’s, this Greek Ares’ and Roman dies Martis. Happy French Mardi and careful not to sacrifice your arm to Fenrir, the wolf, while you’re at it. May you come through today's battles unscathed and may your entry to Valhalla be on another day.

[writing] feeding the blogmonster

DK said it long ago: In that time, I have seen good new blogs flare up, burn brightly and then die after only a few months; some because their writers found that they had said everything that they wanted to say, some because of time pressures and some because of official or family pressure. There are sometimes those who pop up again in a different guise, but they rarely last for long. Lady Ellee, of Ely, said: I am too tired to blog tonight and have lots of studying to do for my PR diploma course on Saturday, I am way behind thanks to blogging. Deogolwulf said: My boss, however, has begun to notice my less than enthusiastic undertaking of the job for which I am employed, and has understandably suggested that I stay offline. AJD said: Took some time off blogging - life got too complicated. Basically, either you’re a professional and blogging fits into your micro-economic plan or else you’re an amateur, like me and the stresses are enormous to keep the blogmonster fed and take care of your other life. Something has to give. Even my Minister, in a veiled criticism, said, ‘You’re quite attached to that webpage, aren’t you?’ Attached? As in a narcotic?

[economics] the science of greed

[Erle Stanley Gardner: The Case of the Perjured Parrot, pp 187-189, Iris Press ed., 2002] Gardner was a lawyer who wrote mystery stories, his best known character being Perry Mason, who used the courtroom for the solution of the mystery; this story was written in the late 40s and reflected on the depression era. An entrepreneur is murdered while away on a fishing trip, Mason is called in and this is a conversation between Mason and the businessman’s grown son. Of interest is that it is a different take on the depression, written closer to the time itself:

‘After Dad returned, he said that we were all too greedy; that we worshipped the dollar as the goal of our success; that it was a false goal; that man should concentrate more on trying to develop his character. You might be interested in his economic philosophy, Mr. Mason. He believed men attached too much importance to money as such. He believed a dollar represented a token of work performed, that men were given these tokens to hold until they needed the product of work performed by some other man, that anyone who tried to get a token without giving his best work in return was an economic counterfeiter. Concluded …

[astronomy] mercury crossing sun on wednesday

Mercury will spend five-hours trekking across the sun starting at 2:12 p.m. EST in America. People in Western time zones of the United States should be able to see the entire trip and it will also be visible in North and South America, Australia and Asia, but not in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India, where it will be nighttime. The last "transit of Mercury," as it's called, was in 2003. These events occur about 13 times a century, with the next one happening in 2016, according to NASA. That's more frequent than the transit of Venus, which happens in pairs, roughly twice in each century. (The next one is 2012). Just so you know.

[civility] please skip over this post if it offends you

Australian Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop has called for good manners to be taught in schools, saying there has been a "decline in civility in Australia". Of course there has - not only in Australia - and the blame is fairly and squarely laid at the feet of two generations of godless humanists who have hijacked education, the arts and music, stamped out the Christian ethic in favour of self-fulfilment and the pursuit of the dollar and left youth in a spiritual void which they’re trying to fill but with no guidance from their elders. They’re essentially alone but being young, don’t know it yet. Why are narcotics so rampant in the young, for example? Because humanistic values fulfil them? Give me a break! Where Ms Bishop loses the plot though, is in saying "if we are to institutionalise civility we must ensure that schools are reinforcing community standards and common values." As can be seen from the many blogcomments around the sphere, there is strong resistance in the community to decency and a return to Christian values. It’s the old adage – you can lead a horse to water…

[indignity] and the old gray lady refuses to budge

I’m a sailor and we’re known for being a pretty eccentric bunch, ascribing all sorts of human qualities to our craft and coaxing and loving the ladies as we would do our women. Except for Pacific Proas, which are boys, ships are ladies, after all. So when I read this in the NY Times about Intrepid refusing to budge from its home, I had to chuckle. “Old gray lady Intrepid did not want to heave her home in New York,” Bill White, president of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, said in a televised interview. “She does have to go,” he said. Ha! And ha again! Obviously not a seaman, our Mr. White.

[blogtrawls] which reveal surprising things

All of you do your own daily Blogrounds and so it would be clear which themes currently predominate but I found two main themes in the trawl for tomorrow evening's Blogfocus which seemed to repeat themselves. One of these is not in what people actually wrote but in what they didn't write. I'm dying to post on this right now but will have to discipline myself to wait until tomorrow evening.

[bombing] at least guy fawkes aimed for the top

A Muslim convert apparently planned to detonate a dirty bomb and launch an attack on London's Tube. Former Hindu Dhiren Barot, 34, from London, plotted "massive explosions" in a synchronised attack in the US and UK. Question is – why? Why blow up ordinary men, women and children when you supposedly love the common people as a good Muslim and when the people you’re really after are Blair, Prescott and the gang? At least Guy Fawkes aimed for the men in parliament. And why are the guilty always hundreds of kilometres away at the time? Such as at St. Andrews. Amazing things, coincidences.

[cheney] to hunt again after 9 months

Brave Dick Cheney is going on his first hunting trip, on election day, since shooting his companion, attorney Harry Whittington, in the torso, neck and face with a 28-gauge shotgun while aiming at a covey of quail. Cheney will head to a private hunting lodge near Pierre, South Dakota, accompanied by his daughter, Mary and political director, Mel Raines. He’s almost certain no one will get hurt this time, unless the election goes against the Republicans. If it does go against them, then Richard will most likely kick serious butt.

[voodoo logic] haiti world’s most corrupt

The ten most corrupt countries, according to Transparency International and as seen by business people, academics and risk analysts: Haiti, Burma, Iran, Guinea, Sudan, DR Congo, Chad, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Equatorial Guinea. French and Italian firms were named as the worst culprits for paying bribes in low-income countries. Poor Haiti has suffered from decades of poverty, environmental degradation, violence, instability and dictatorship which have left it as the poorest nation in the Americas. The ten least corrupt: Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Australia and the Netherlands. Netherlands not corrupt? Denmark? Hmmm. And where is Russia?

[iceland] fear-of-flying plane hit by lightning

An Icelandair Boeing 757 with 90 passengers, including 13 people who were on a trip to commemorate their completion of a fear of flying course, was hit by lightning on its way from Frankfurt, Germany. This was reported by RÚV. The passenger who contacted the news service said that despite the unfortunate timing of the incident, he had nearly overcome his fear of flying. In other news, widespread damage to property resulted when a severe storm blew across Iceland in the early hours of Sunday morning and beyond. Barbecues, trampolines and garden sheds blew away and boats and ships were torn from piers where they were moored. All domestic and international flights were disrupted. Meanwhile, in the Mödrudalsöraefi area, in the Icelandic outback, car windows were shattered by blowing rocks. No injuries to people were reported. Don't think I've seen blowing rocks before.

[happy monandæg] day of the moon

Well, it’s the Sumerian Nanna, the Babylonian Sin, the Greek Selene, the Roman dies Lunae and the French Lundi. Lundi, Mundi, it’s still a good day. You meet your friends again and a good long lunch is had by all, replete with irreverent jokes and laughter. Be of good cheer because the alternative is depressing.

[gaelic football] irish incensed at australian ‘thugs’

Australia-Ireland International Rules football is in doubt after a violent contest marred last night's 38-point Australian victory. Irish team manager Sean Boylan accused the team of “thuggery” in the spiteful contest, which left Ireland's Graham Geraghty in hospital and saw Australian captain Barry Hall and Irish captain Kieran McGeeney both sent off in front of a sellout crowd of more than 82,000 at Dublin's Croke Park. However Irish officials are fuming after several fights broke out in the first quarter, including one before the starting siren sounded. Boylan claims the Australians deliberately targeted their players, and was ready to call off the match at quarter time. Gaelic Athletic Association marketing manager Dermot Power said the entire series was now in doubt. “Quite a lot of people think we shouldn’t be doing it. Quite a lot of them think we should concentrate on our own games. Quite a lot of people feel that it’s not fair to put amateurs out against professionals.'' The Australians were just thugs. Poor Ireland – they don’t like it when the thuggery is against them. Who would Britain support in this one?

[casino royale] first bond reviews by the press

Times: Every decade gets the Bond it deserves and we are living in some pretty scary times. Craig combines Sean Connery’s athleticism and cocksure swagger with Timothy Dalton’s thrilling undercurrent of stone-cold cruelty. While the rather foppish Pierce Brosnan had the bland chiselled looks of a male catalogue model, Craig’s face is endlessly fascinating. Mirror: Easily the best Bond film since Golden Eye, it's 144 minutes of non-stop, end-to-end action that proves there's plenty of life in the world's longest-running movie franchise. Dark, gritty and surprisingly violent, the suave, smooth-talking secret agent of old is replaced by a steely-eyed killer with a dash of vulnerability. Mail: Daniel Craig is probably the best and most serious actor to have been cast as 007 and this film makes full use of his range. He's also the toughest and most virile leading man since Russell Crowe's Maximus in Gladiator. Will Casino Royale be a huge hit and continue the franchise? I think it will.

[prejudice] sometimes there’s a grain of truth …

I have never held with the PC blanket ban on prejudice. Quite often, there is indeed some basis for it, if perhaps the reaction leaves something to be desired. Bryan Appleyard tells it as he sees it and I for one appreciate that. He states: At the London School of Economics, Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist, is in trouble over his conclusion that low IQ, not poverty or disease, is the primary cause of Africa's problems. In Ethiopia, for example, the average IQ is 63 and life expectancies are in the mid-forties. People are upset about this because it seems racist. Bryan concludes: For, if Africa is locked in low IQ misery from which it can only be rescued by institutional and educational systems developed by the high IQ nations, then a new colonialism would seem to be the most rational and humane response. Now I don’t howl for BA’s blood here. I think we should think this through. Do read his piece and while you're at it, you might stumble over to this piece on prejudice as well.

[whistleblowers] heroes or traitors

Most people, especially the Russians, regard Alexander Solzhenitsin as a patriot and a hero. What did he essentially do? He told on the Soviet Union. He was a whistle blower.

Many Russians regard Vladimir Rezun as a traitor. What did he essentially do? He told on the Soviet Union. He was a whistle blower.

Half the Americans regard Daniel Ellsberg as one of the most important figures in Nixonian America and the man who blew the whistle on Vietnam. The other half accept, in varying degrees, Henry Kissinger’s assessment of the man: A fanatical drug-crazed sexual pervert, the most dangerous man in America, who has to be stopped at all costs.

Mordecai Vanunu told the world about Israel’s nuclear weapons. He was a whistle blower. Hero or traitor? Here are their stories.

[debunking marconi] how to waste thousands of dollars

On Dec. 12, 1901, Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi made history by using a kite and some copper wire atop Signal Hill in St. John's to receive a wireless signal from across the Atlantic Ocean. More than a century later, a group of radio scientists in Newfoundland are conducting a series of tests aiming to debunk Mr. Marconi's claim to fame. "We're essentially setting out to prove it wrong," said Joe Craig, a physicist and director of the Marconi Radio Club. I love some of the reader comments:

While we're at it, let's debunk the biggest scientific fraud...
Perhaps the scientists would get a better understanding by listening...
Poor Marconi, he should have discovered global warming instead...

The full report is here.

[ashes] hi tech, instant-response assault teams

Explosive scanning devices, sniffer dogs, high-tech surveillance cameras, opening the gates two hours before the start of play to allow time for comprehensive bag searches, zero tolerance on poor behaviour, anti-terrorist exercises - cricket will never be the same. Is it all necessary? Zero tolerance of poor behaviour now. What - yelling out, ‘Bloody convict!’ or ‘Pommy bastard!’? Does this constitute poor behaviour and justify being dragged away for a few rounds of electro-torture and simulated drowning? The Public Safety Response Team will spearhead the security operation for the first Test at the Gabba which starts on November 23 and my understanding is that these are boys you don’t want to mess with.

[cfs] the disease of champions

The man in the photo is Alistair Lynch, triple premiership spearhead - hardly a hypochondriac, hardly a shrinking violet. A solid customer. And yet he has CFS [Chronic Fatigue Syndrome] which not only greatly reduced what he could do but put CFS on the table for discussion. Was there ever a syndrome so mercilessly attacked and summarily dismissed and yet it exists. He was diagnosed with it. Thousands of others have it. Just how real is it?

[hawai'i] at the end of the runway – a chasm

Planning to go to Hawai'i? A report by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., found more than half of U.S. commercial airports - including Los Angeles International, Chicago's O'Hare International and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International - have runways that lack either a 1,000-foot margin at the end of a runway as a safety zone or an "arrestor bed" to slow overrunning aircraft. Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for Hawai'i DOT, said the protections may be physically impossible to provide at some Hawai'i airports, such as Lana'i airport, where the edge of one runway is at the lip of a gulch. "There may be physical limitations for certain runways that we'll have to look at."

[sunday] light mist and quiet has descended over the land

Marvellous day outside. There’s a white, bright greyness to the sky and it merges into a misty haze through the dimly visible trees. Children are playing downstairs in their light jackets and hoods, the temperature is about … one moment … let me see … plus three and it’s quiet and still out there. It induces calm reflection, snug in our heated rooms but it’s just inviting us to go out for a long, brisk walk or a trip to the forest and shashlik.

[blogfocus] the tragedy of iraq and related issues

Photo from Iain Dale

The Iraq and other Middle-Eastern conflicts have forced western countries to consider their positions and those positions are disparate. This Blogfocus touches on some of the things bloggers have written on these themes:

# Shoddy treatment
# Under-equipped troops
# Military tactics
# The British enquiry
# The posting of evidence of WMD
# Across-the-spectrum anti-war sentiment
# The Muslim mindset
# Different takes on the issue

Iain Dale sets the tone with a timely reminder about those above us who make the decisions: Three soldiers' bodies returned home today from Iraq. There was no government minister in attendance. What an indictment of this sorry lot of charlatans that purport to govern our country.

On the other hand, as Blognor Regis brings to our attention: The Duke of Edinburgh has paid a surprise visit to Iraq to see British troops serving there. The 85-year-old flew to Basra to see soldiers from The Queen's Royal Hussars. That’s leading from the top.

Continued here ...

[nazis] lebensborn children meet

Found this quite moving: The Lebensborn "source of life" children were part of Nazi racial experiments. While millions of Jews and others deemed "undesirable" were being slaughtered, thousands of children were selected for Aryan physical qualities and given to families of Hitler's special police. Now, a meeting of 60 members of the Lebensspuren "traces of life" group, formed last year, is being held in Wernigerode, a town where the Nazis ran a Lebensborn home. It’s a struggle to imagine what it must have been like in those days in Germany.

[louise veronica ciccone] the battle for moronic supremacy

Follow her advice – tell no one.

It’s usually against my principles to write about Madonna but this one takes the biscuit: "If you haven't heard of [my book] by now, then you are either: a] living under a rock, b] living on the moon, c] away with the fairies. I am happy to clue you in to what the rest of the world already knows." Yet no matter how much sympathy she generates over the adoption saga, this passage about her own writing surely ranks among the most self-serving, self-satisfied and downright smug introductions to any book in recent memory. That’s all I wish to quote about the arcane Kabbalist who recently said she didn’t want to be a mother anyway. Try not to buy anything of hers whatsoever.

[rumsfeld] he’ll go when ‘they’ want him to, not before

An editorial to be published Monday in the Army Times, which serves the four main branches of the U.S. military will call for President Bush to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. "Basically, the editorial says, it's clear now, from some of the public statements that military leaders are making, that he's lost the support and respect of the military leadership," said Robert Hodierne, senior managing editor. One of the unknown knowns is that Rumsfeld can’t go unless he himself wants to or the ties are cut by Them. Identifying Them members, including Richard Cheney and Henry Kissinger, is quite easy. The rule of thumb is - if he’s in a top post, if the policy he supports produces Sudans and Iraqs, if he's a headkicker by nature - he’s one of Them.

[cllr ayling] the pleasures of eating indian

Love this excerpt from Gavin Ayling, who went to India in a manner of speaking. I went to Indian Summer in Brighton last night for a Diwali evening. As always the food was perfect (I don't use that word lightly) and the environment, service and everything else you might wish for were excellent. The chicken melts in the mouth, the inter-course palate cleanser does what it should while tasting better than any fruit juice you've had... Inter-course palate cleanser … yes … I can see how that would satisfy.

[saddam] the moment has come

If you’re moved to pity by the aging Saddam, never forget the swashbuckling version from the past and his delightful sons.

So the verdict and sentence on Saddam appears to have finally arrived. From the City News report: One of Saddam's lawyers claimed a death sentence for his client would "open the gates of hell" to the thousands of American soldiers stationed in Iraq. The mother of all gates? Sunni Arabs are predicting widespread violence should Saddam be sentenced to death and the majority of Shiites, many who were persecuted under Saddam, will be enraged if he gets off. Nice situation for that sad, divided country.

[saturn’s day] one day to go

The Sumerian and Babylonian Ninurta, the Greek Cronos and the Latin Saturnus all join to bring to a close the working week. Saturnus was identified in classical antiquity with the Greek deity Cronus, and the mythologies of the two gods are commonly mixed. Either way, the photo of him eating his children might scare the children so the photo of the planet appears instead. Tomorrow’s a rest day, folks and over here we now have four days of holidays !

[2006] year of the missile

1] Somali Islamists test fired rockets on Friday and prepared for war. 2] Iran's Revolutionary Guards have fired missiles with the capability of carrying cluster warheads at the start of 10 days of military manoeuvres. 3] North Korea test-fired a long-range missile. 4] China recently joined North Korea and Hezbollah in the parade of ballistic bombers by shooting off a newly developed Dong Feng 31. 5] Hezbollah's happy-hour shooting needs no link. Awful lot of countries preparing for war when there is no official war. Does someone know something we don’t?

[haggard] who stands to win and lose

If we can leave aside the MSM sleaze for one moment, it’s a fair question what the motivation was behind the Haggard ‘outing’. The question this blog asks itself, as do many others, is who stands to win and lose by this ‘outing’? One answer is that the environmental lobby [the pre-hijacked grass roots supporter level] stands to lose big time. They’ve lost a major spokesperson. Who gains? You can answer this for yourself.

[china] the silk road to africa

Never thought this blog would stoop to using Them as a source for a story. The CFR [and one thing their pedigree does give them is authority in international pot-stirring] says Beijing’s policy of “non-interference in domestic affairs” allows it to feed its voracious appetite for oil without regard for Sudan’s refusal to accept UN peacekeeping troops in Darfur, as discussed in Backgrounder, or the repressive regime of Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. China’s investment in Africa is projected by Chinese officials to reach $50 billion this year and that’s a whole new ball game.

[dj de petro] foot in mouth, then backslides

Had to chuckle over DJ de Petro, who made some – er - inappropriate remarks about a Gubernatorial candidate and was then fired. DePetro told the Globe today he was "stunned" by his firing and that he only told his listeners that he wished someone would "tell the fat lesbian to shut up." He then tried to extract himself: "I didn't violate any laws. I know it's mean but she is technically obese and lives an alternative lifestyle. What if someone yelled about Kerry Healey being a spoiled white bitch or Mihos being an arrogant wealthy egomanic?" DePetro apologized on the air after making these remarks. There we go again – apologize, apologize. If you make a remark, stick with it, especially if it’s appropriate.

[ségolène] how much do you really know

All right – she’s a total honey, even at 55 and appears to have a good heart. But be careful – as Wikipedia admitted, she’s also the woman who commissioned a homosexual video for schools called “The Happiness of Loving”, including information for students on the Civil Partnership scheme and how to counter distaste for homosexuals. She has also been very active in promoting same sex ‘marriages’. That will no doubt put her up in some people’s estimation but it will leave the rest us cold.

[sarkozy] comme ségolène, comme benoît xvi

''Ca fait bien longtemps que j'ai employé ces mots'', assure Nicolas Sarkozy

Le patron de l’UMP a promis vendredi de ramener ''l'ordre juste'' en France, une formule chère à Ségolène Royal. Pour lui, la candidate à la candidature socialiste n’a pas le monopole de cette expression. « Je suis pour l'ordre juste », a déclaré vendredi Nicolas Sarkozy aux chauffeurs de bus de Villepinte, en Seine-Saint-Denis. « Il n'y a pas de justice possible sans ordre », a-t-il précisé. Suivez.

[tomkat] irrational dislike for this man worries me

I do not like thee, Mr. Cruise. The reason why I can but muse but this I know I’ll never lose – I do not like thee, Mr. Cruise. MGM CEO Harry E. Sloan announced yesterday: "Cruise and Wagner will have substantial ownership of United Artists. Budget permitting they will have almost complete control over green-lighting and developing new productions." How long till the first blockbuster starring Tom Cruise?

[richard branson] what to do with wealth

This is another of those pre-blogging days articles with end credits but no links. And yet it is interesting and throws up some novel ideas on how best to disburse wealth in poorer nations. Richard Branson is famous for enjoying his wealth. But he also feels that great wealth brings with it great responsibility and he talked to the BBC about the business of philanthropy in the third world. Here.

[backsliding] apologies left, right and centre

What’s with all this apologizing? Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont apologized Thursday to Muslims in the southern part of Thailand for past government policies. The American Legion accepted John Kerry's apology. The Pope said he was ‘deeply sorry’ for comments on Islam following the papal tradition of apologizing for things like the annihilation of Constantinople by Crusaders during 4 days of mayhem in 1204 A.D. Australia has an ongoing National Sorry Day for the aborigines. Enough already! PG Wodehouse said the best sort of people don’t need apologies and the worst sort take advantage of them. Sorry if that offended you just now! Sorry!

[food & wine] seafood to disappear in 50 years

Are you a seafood lover? Researchers warn in the journal Science that 90 per cent of present-day marine fish, crustaceans, shellfish and other currently eaten species of seafood could vanish in 50 years. But the study's lead author, Canadian fisheries researcher Boris Worm, [is that his real name?], thinks countries will correct the present overfishing, economic mismanagement and environmental degradation before that happens. Really? I’m not so sure.

[scum rises] enough to make you haggard

The key comment on this Haggard issue comes from JC Himself: Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, who resigned Thursday after denying an accusation by a male prostitute that the pastor paid him for sex over three years, is either an innocent man framed by those who would destroy the church … or else he’s of the devil’s party and a shining example of the adage ‘the scum always rises’. Time will tell. To say the Christian church is riddled with scum is a truism. To say that this negates the Christian message is either naïve or something worse.

[insulin] don’t mess with the keys to good health

Insulin crystals

In 1996, the Zone diet was popularized through, amongst others, Joyce and Gene Daoust [Warton, Del Mar, CA]. The theory was that excessive carbos produce excess insulin, which in turn causes heart disease, hypertension, stroke, high blood cholesterol and triglycerides, and diabetes. The solution was to consume 40% carbos, 30% protein and 30% fat in each of five or six balanced meals over the course of one’s day. Dr. Phil Maffetone [3ba060$8ce@newsbf01.news.aol.com] added that perhaps half the population [including athletes ] was insulin resistant to some degree. There were some unresolved questions about this theory.