Conservative Donnybrook

The famous British breakfast is under attack. The classic British breakfast is composed of “two rashers of crisp backbacon, British outdoor-reared pork sausage, two griddled eggs, whole-cup mushrooms, crispy sauté potatoes, fresh griddled tomato, Heinz baked beans and toasted or fried extra-thick bloomer bread.” According to the cantankerous author casting aspersions on such a great spread, hash browns “are dismissed as “ghastly manifestations of American imperialism” (damned uppity colonials).”

Well, this uppity colonial takes umbrage at the notion that hash browns (or better yet, corned beef hash, which failed to get a mention) are so lightly dismissed.

Mr. Coren, you might hate the fattening fare, and in particular, hash browns, and you might even prefer porridge (PORRIDGE?!). But, let me ask you this: Which tastes better?

I’ve never eaten backbacon and have no idea how it tastes, but I must say that it contains the word “bacon” and that gives me hope. I have to think that backbacon tastes better than porridge. Do you want to live forever? While the classic British breakfast sounds wonderful, I will still go with my favorite American breakfast - Two biscuits, topped by three scrambled eggs, with a side of crispy hash browns and the whole works covered in sausage gravy. Take that, you British oppressors!

Next thing you know, they’re going to try to tell us that being fat is bad!

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…or, at least play havoc with state slating conventions. I will give his supporters one thing; they are motivated.

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The old saying is: “Yeah, but what does that have to do with the price of bananas?”

Well, when it comes to oil, a lot. OPEC’s president says oil could hit $200 per barrel. The problem, of course, is that the price of everything which is shipped (which is pretty much everything other than online services) is affected by the price of oil. I recently reported on a trucker revolt in downtown Indy. Those revolts have been spreading throughout the country. When trucking companies are hit with high oil prices, does anyone think they absorb the cost? Of course, they don’t. That cost gets priced into the goods we buy.

Last year, we hit $100 per barrel for oil and, at that time, the price of unleaded gasoline was nearly $3 per gallon. When (note I did not say if) the price of oil hits $200 per barrel, gas prices will likely be $6 per gallon. I drive a fuel efficient import (made in Marysville, Ohio before anyone gets all kooky and talking about how they bought a Ford, which was built in either Canada or Mexico, tells how I should support American cars) and the other day my 12 gallon tank cost me over $40 to fill up, with $50 bills not far off. Those sorts of bills used to be reserved for the SUV driving populace. Forty dollars used to be my entire budget for gasoline for an entire month. Consider this: semi trucks typically have 300 (some have 325) gallon tanks.  At $4.16 for a gallon of diesel, which is a decent price right now, it would cost the average trucker nearly $1,250.00 to fill ‘er up.

I used to work at the fuel desk at a truck stop (third shift - drank tons of coffee), and it was a gigantic sale when someone spent $300 to fuel their truck. Now that would get them about two truck stops down the road. I understand their angst and realize that if nothing is done, we’ll soon feel their pain.

Diverting grain to be used to create fuel is not the answer. First, it is extremely expensive to accomplish - more than to drill for oil, or buy from the Middle East. And, second, it drives up the cost of almost every food item, which of course impacts poor people, who spend more as a percentage of their income on food, disproportionately.

Surprisingly, Barack Obama, who seems to be clueless whenever he begins to talk about actual policies as opposed to grand ideas like change, is somehow opposed to relieving the consumer from the burden of government taxes on fuel. Hillary, at least, gets it. McCain has been out front on this issue. But even McCain’s plan is a stopgap measure. First, a hiatus on the gas tax would eventually impact our roads, which the tragedy in Minneapolis teaches us are in a deplorable state. But, second, that sort of relief, while welcome, is temporary. The real problem is that demand has far outstripped supply and OPEC refuses to pump more oil.

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UPDATE: Looks like I nailed this. That’s funny; I never prognosticate correctly!

The Democrats face a crisis. They must have a consensus candidate before the convention if they want any chance of defeating the Republicans in November. But there are two competing factions that are dividing the party sharply into two camps behind two candidates, and, with the stupidity of the ultra-egalitarian “superdelegate” system now showing forth, each day that goes by divides the party further, and brings it closer to a floor fight.

These two camps are no more separated by irreconcilable ideologies than are the candidates themselves; Both stand firmly on platforms made of dreamy dreams and fluffy promises, tales told by idiots, signifying nothing. No, the division is rather one born of political dysfunction, akin to the dysfunction that ruined the Republican party in the early 1960’s. On one hand, the Democratic realists, the young face of the party, representing the only dynamism evident in that otherwise moribund institution, want to nominate a “winner”, and that would obviously Obama. On the other hand, the old line, representing most of the big money sugar daddies, experienced political and media operatives, and entrenched pols, are still looking to follow through on the scripted coronation of the candidate “whose time has come”-in other words, the conclusion of the same political Kabuki that gave us John Kerry-and Clinton is their obvious (and inexorably inevitable) candidate.

Now, this latter group, which represents the old party alliances with the media, labor, and special interest groups, has seemingly called in some favors, albeit reluctantly, and moved Rev. Jeremiah Wright off the back burner (where he has been simmering since about November) solidly front and center. Wright has been all over the television in the last few days, speaking to the National Press Club and the NAACP. Could it be that party operatives in favor of Clinton have used their contacts in these organizations to feed Wright’s insatiable urge for self promotion in order to kill the Obama campaign in favor of Clinton? It has certainly given Hillary plenty to react to in soundbites over the last two news cycles. In any case, the fact that someone has let Wright out of his cage, or, perhaps, that the Obama campaign can’t keep Wright in his cage, is highly suspicious. Likewise, t is indicative and illustrative of the deep dysfunction in the Democratic Party.

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The United States Spreme Court upheld an Indiana law that required voters to present state identification when voting. Writing for a 6-3 majority Justice John Paul Stevens concluded that the burden on individuals to acquire state ids and produce them at the polling place did not outweigh the litigtimate state interest of preventing voter fraud. The ACLU had argued that the id requirement would “inhibit voting.” It sure does inhibit voting. It inhibits the voting of individuals who cannot prove they are indeed citizens (and who coincendentally tend to vote Deomcrat). This law seems reasonable but when left to fest in the minds of liberals (like most issues) it has been manipulated into a “violation of civil rights.” Thank goodness the Supreme Court didn’t buy the argument.

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Right now, Rev. Wright is addressing the Washington Press Club.  He has re-asserted his belief that the United States government created the AIDS virus, “they are capable of anything.”  He charged that the United States is a terrorist nation by saying “you can not do terrorism to others and not expect it to be done to you.”  According to Wright, the U.S. “grinds under her citizens.”  Mr. Wright also charged the United States with imperial ambitions.  Wright seriously believes that the publication of his racist, ignorant and prejudicial comments and sermons is an “attack against black churches.”  Wright, in between answering questions from a moderator, bites his lip, winks, smiles, glibly answers and folds back in to his arrogant and defensive posture.  True to form, instead of apologizing for his career offensiveness, his goes on the attack against America, her government and citizens, while simultaneously defending his defective positions.  He said all this while claiming “this comes from the Bible.”  umm, not the Bible I read.

This man is arrogant, rude, racist, uninformed and objectionable.  Keep speaking, Rev. Wright, Justice and Truth contrast brightly against your ridiculous lies and foolery.

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Miley Cyrus who plays Hannah Montana for Disney recently posed topless with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz. The problem, of course, is that Ms. Cyrus is only 15 years old. The photo is scheduled to run in the next issue of Vanity Fair. Reportedly, Ms. Cyrus is now embarrassed about the shoot.

According to Vanity Fair, “Miley’s parents and/or minders were on the set all day. Since the photo was taken digitally, they saw it on the shoot and everyone thought it was a beautiful and natural portrait of Miley. In fact, when Bruce Handy interviewed Miley, he asked her about the photo and she was very cheerful about it and thought it was perfectly fine.”

While the photo falls well short of being child pornography, it is nonetheless titillating, appealing to the prurient interest. When one considers Ms. Cyrus’ age, it seriously calls into question the judgment of Vanity Fair and Ms. Cyrus’s parents.

The character, Hannah Montana, is wildly popular among preteen girls and for these photos to be published inappropriately sends a message to young girls that sexuality is a tool to be used. This is not the first publicity stunt for Ms. Cyrus, who appears to be following in the footsteps of earlier teen idol, Britney Spears. Earlier this week, Ms. Cyrus posted a picture of herself in her underwear on her MySpace site where she was depicted pulling down her tanktop to expose her green bra.

Photos like these will tend to sexualize young girls well before they should ever be considering the possibility. These sorts of photos help to break down the resistance which should naturally exist to resist that impulse. In that sense, the photo is irresponsible and harmful to society. In a more cynical sense, Ms. Liebovitz certainly did not need to add this controversy to her resume to increase her fame. For her, this photo is gratuitous.

The photo graces a cover of Vanity Fair which also features a photo of Bobby Kennedy with the caption, “Miley Cyrus takes off” (emphasis added). Somehow, no one thought to Photoshop Kennedy’s eyes to be checking out the Lolita who appears to be coquettishly, while coyly, beckoning to the reader/voyeur to give her a tumble.

It would appear that it is only a matter of time before Ms. Cyrus poses nude for one publication or another. Hopefully, whatever publication runs those pictures waits until she is 18 years old, regardless of what her parents consent to. And hopefully, by then her cache with the teen girl set will have faded and been replaced by whoever is next. Meanwhile, Disney might consider accelerating the search for Hannah Montana’s replacement.

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Regarding McCain’s request that the North Carolina GOP pull its recent Obama-bashing ad, Karl had this to say:

The NC GOP throws an ad out there which people see. It generates a little controversy, which trickles back to McCain, who can then take the high ground by asking them to take it down and in the process decry the politics of personal destruction, thus putting his opponents on notice that if they go that route, he has built up cred with the voters for running a clean campaign.

Meanwhile, every news outlet in America will air the ad repeatedly arguing about whether it steps over the line and praising McCain for his high ethical stand.

Beautiful, if you ask me.

Well, a little controversy has become a lot of controversy and McCain, rather than retreat and watch this unfold from afar, continues to dig in:

They’re not listening to me because they’re out of touch with reality and the Republican Party. We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan and this kind of campaigning is unacceptable.

Agreed. But what once seemed nothing more than campaign rhetoric now seems to be a full frontal assault on “unruly” members of the GOP. Not exactly the galvanizing the figure we had hoped for.

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Make that “Feeways.”  The MTA in Los Angeles has voted to take make several lanes on our local freeways toll lanes.  While this is not new to many parts of the nation, we here in southern California cherish our freeway system.  We already pay tax on gasoline to fund freeway improvements and maintenance.  Toll lanes will simply increase traffic in the non-toll lanes (while they still exist) and give higher income drivers the benefit of a quicker commute at the expense of the middle and lower classes.

Please, write Mayor Villaraigosa and let him know that this is a horrible plan and should not be implemented. 

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa 
200 North Spring St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Fax at (213) 978-0655

mayor@lacity.org

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Online shopping just became more taxing for NYers.  As of June 1, large online retailers, a la Amazon, will be forced to charge state and local sales taxes to online customers’ purchases.  Hopefully, this won’t apply to The Strand, although can’t help but think it somehow will.  At least Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion tax didn’t pass.

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Given the Jets’ perennial draft woes, it won’t matter if Darren McFadden is on the Board at No. 6.

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From WaPo’s The Trail:

Fast forward to 2:20 or so to hear Bubba’s wishful thinking:

If we were under the Republican system, which is more like the Electoral College, she’d have a 300-delegate lead here…I mean, Senator McCain is already the nominee because they chose a system to produce that result, and we don’t have a nominee here, because the Democrats chose a system that prevents that result.

Michael Novak agrees.  But for the Dems archane utopianism (pseudo-socialism) Hillary would have already been the nominee and Republicans could breathe a little easier.

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Public enemy number one is Iraq has to be the radical terrorist, Muqtada al-Sadr.  He is the head of a militia hell bent on imposing a theocracy in the region sympathetic to Iran.  He constantly either threatens United States soldiers or outright attacks them.  His Mahdi Army is estimated to have 60,000.  This horde is made up of armed members just waiting to be unleashed on an innocent public and against U.S. interests.  It is well past time to deal with this unstable element.  If al-Sadr wants a fight, we should oblige him. 

The Iraqi government has been held hostage by the threat of violence from the Mahdi army.  The United States military has been reluctant, to the point of pandering to the mad man, to engage it.  So what are our options?  We could either submit to al-Sadr’s wishes and withdrawal from Iraqi leaving her in a worse state than when we arrived, allowing an Islamist theocracy to emerge or we could fight this war we engaged in and win it.  The United States military knows where the bulk of the Mahdi Army militiamen are located.  In fact, they have been busy building a wall around a large concentration of them in the Baghdad slum known as Sadr City.  Another contingent was recently battled in Basra by inept Iraqi regulars, many of whom either surrendered or defected with arms to al-Sadr’s cause. 

My suggestion:  lay siege to these and other well-known Mahdi Army areas.  Seal off the areas; no one gets in and no one out without first submitting to a full strip search.   In conjunction with the saying of siege, al-Sadr should be assassinated as quickly as possible, where ever he may be.  Once the area is sealed and al-Sadr eliminated, the fighters should be granted two days to surrender or face massive aerial bombardment.  The two days should be granted in order to allow women, children and other innocents to escape the coming onslaught.  After the areas have been reduced to glass and ashes, a thorough sweep of the ruins should be conducted by United States soldiers to capture any remaining weapons caches. 

War is ugly, war is hell.  But if we are going to fight one we should also win.  A war should never be fought unless it necessary and is fought to be won as quickly as possible.  The elimination of public enemy number one and his group of crazed lunatics will place the United States one foot closer to getting out of this conflict.

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…at any cocktail party with these simple rules courtesy of Dave Barry.

To this I would add, play nice with your local Applebee’s bartender and politely ask him to “back you up” on dollar drafts after the first happy hour.  If played correctly, you should be able to imbibe enough inexpensive Bud to last you through to the second happy hour and thus avoid paying full price.  By the start of the second happy hour, any inhibitions with regard to speaking on any number of topics should have dissipated and you’ll be ready to argue almost anything, e.g. boxing is a more popular sport than soccer worldwide.

Better yet, move in with your local Applebee’s bartender during your third year of law school for ubiquitous dollar drafts from noon to close.

(HT: Karl and Dave)

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That’s right. The Cubs are only the second team in baseball history to reach 10,000 wins. Who is the other team? The Yankees with their 26 world championships? No sir. The Giants are the only team ahead of the Cubs. At least, that is, for a few years. Go Cubs. This just might be THE YEAR.

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Gentlemen, it would appear that yesterday was Earth Day and somehow we let it slide by without comment. People are going to begin thinking we don’t care about the environment. Let us try to do better next year.

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Yeah!  Congratulations, citizens of England, you are English again!  Today you celebrate the Feast of St. George the Dragon Slayer…your patron saint.  I am proud of you for taking this urgent step and once again celebrating your Englishness.  I am even more proud that a Catholic saint has led you back to the pride and honor you all deserve. 

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McCain, in a rather public manner, has shown his weakness and lack of campaign prowess by calling for the North Carolina GOP to remove a campaign ad from circulation.  John McCain says he wants to run a clean campaign. Is this add really “dirty” or “cheap?”  I don’t think so.  See for yourself.

The ad says Obama is too extreme for North Carolina.  Of course he is, he is too extreme for the entire nation!  Remember Mr. McCain, you are running against  Obama! 

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After today’s 8-1 win over the New York Mets the Chicago Cubs have moved to a 14-6 record to start the season and they look good. Real good. I’ve was born and raised a Chicago Cubs fan and I will die a Chicago Cubs fan. But for those that know me, I have been far more negative about the Cubs these past few years than positive. I blame it on not winning a damn thing in a 100 years and more specifically (among many other specifics) the collapse of 2003. However, after the start they have had this year I am starting to feel all but forgotten pangs of hope for the team this year. Right now they look like the team to beat in the National League. Although I fully expect them, after writing this, to collapse and cause me to yell at the tv about how poor their starting rotation is, I wanted to take a minute and share with the CD crowd the return (however small) of my hope in the Chicago Cubs.

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This afternoon my wife and I went to see Ben Stein’s documentary, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. As one reviewer pointed out, one’s opinion of the film is almost guaranteed to be determined by one’s stance on the Evolutionism v. Intelligent Design “debate.”

The point of the film is not whether ID is superior to Evolutionism, but rather that the mere suggestion that ID might provide some explanation as to the origins of life is strictly verboten in academic and scientific circles. Stein introduces his viewers to several scientists who have been drummed out of their positions because they had the audacity to mention Intelligent Design in their research.

One proponent of evolutionism, William Provine, an avowed atheist science historian at Cornell University, objected to the teaching of intelligent design in part on the basis that it’s “BOOOORING. I can’t think of any topic that is more BOOOORING!” Of course, when asked about the origins of life, Provine posited that aliens might have seeded life on this planet, deftly pushing back the question one generation (How did the seed scattering aliens come to exist, Professor Provine?).

Perhaps no single point shows that Stein was not attempting to advocate for the Intelligent Design position than the fact that Stein did not interview Michael Behe, a microbiologist whose book Darwin’s Black Box I found to provide much evidentiary support for intelligent design. Behe’s argument proceeded by examining the simplest of life forms, a single celled creature, and examined it at the microbiological level. At that level there are mechanisms (Behe uses a flagella as one example) that are incredibly complex structurally and functionally such that they could not have evolved happenstance. He coined the term “irreducible complexity”: Take away any of the structure’s complexity and it would cease to function and therefore would not confer an advantage which would be selected for. Indeed, extra baggage which provided no function would put the organism at a disadvantage, which Darwin predicted would ultimately cause its extinction. Critics of Behe have noted that some of the proteins that make up some of these structures that Behe used as examples occur in other contexts within the cell, however, that still fails to account for their combination into a specific structure which is much more complex than the joining of a few proteins randomly.

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