28 September, 2010

Communism's Nuremburg (City Journal)

Guy Sorman at City Journal (a blog which, I must confess, I had not heard of until now) has a very interesting piece on the trials of Communist Khmer Rouge leaders, currently going on in Cambodia.

What the Khmer Rouge brought to Cambodia was in fact real Communism. There was no radical distinction, either conceptually or concretely, between the rule of the Khmer Rouge and that of Stalinism, Maoism, Castroism, or the North Korean regime. All Communist regimes follow strangely similar trajectories, barely colored by local traditions. In every case, these regimes seek to make a blank slate of the past and to forge a new humanity. In every case, the “rich,” intellectuals, and skeptics wind up exterminated. The Khmer Rouge rounded up urban and rural populations in agricultural communities based on precedents both Russian (the Kolkhozy) and Chinese (the popular communes), and they acted for the same ideological reasons and with the same result: famine. There is no such thing as real Communism without massacre, torture, concentration camps, gulags, or laogai. And if there has never been any such thing, then we must conclude that there could be no other outcome: Communist ideology leads necessarily to mass violence, because the masses do not want real Communism. This is as true in the rice fields of Cambodia as in the plains of Ukraine or under Cuban palms.

He also observes:

Nazism’s trial took place in Nuremberg beginning in late 1945, and Japanese fascism’s in Tokyo the following year. But until now, we have had no trial for Communism, though real Communism killed or mutilated more victims than Nazism and Fascism combined. Communism’s trial has never taken place, outside the intellectual sphere, for two reasons. First, Communism enjoys a kind of ideological immunity because it claims to be on the side of progress. Second, Communists remain in power in Beijing, Pyongyang, Hanoi, and Havana.

To this I would also add a third reason: Communism still enjoys a fair degree of support among certain prominent intellectuals, though they now tend to cloak their leanings in other terms to disguise their ideology. Nevertheless, Revolutionary Marxist and Communism have never gained the stigma that Fascism and Nazism have in our culture, even though history has proven them to be a far deadlier strain of Totalitarianism. By all rights Stalin, Lenin, and Mao should be as reviled by the world as Hitler is today, as synonymous with notions of evil as Auschwitz is. I find it appalling that twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening up of Eastern Europe, we are still ignoring its murderous legacy and giving a pass to its atrocities.

24 September, 2010

Karma Bites Communist Professor On The Ass

William Ayers, the retired University of Illinois at Chicago professor who was also a Weather Underground radical, has been unanimously denied Emeritus status by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

The reason?

It seems that the chairman of the U of I Board of Trustees is one Christopher Kennedy. His father was a certain Robert F. Kennedy. The same Robert F. Kennedy who, on June 5 1968, was cut down by a bullet fired by Sirhan Sirhan. The same Sirhan Sirhan who, in 1974, William Ayers partially dedicated his book Prairie Fires to.

From Christopher Kennedy's statement:
"[I cannot in good conscience] confer the title to a man whose body of work includes a book dedicated in part to the man who murdered my father."

Paybacks a bitch, ain't it?

EDIT:
This gives me a good excuse to post this:

20 September, 2010

Yamato, Hasshin!

More live-action Space Cruiser Yamato trailers have been released. This is looking really, really cool!



29 August, 2010

Review: Chaco Canyon - Archaeology and Archaeologists


Chaco Canyon: Archaeology and Archaeologists
by Robert H. Lister & Florence C. Lister


Those who are hoping for an overview of the Anasazi and the ruins they left behind in Chaco Canyon may be a little disappointed with this book. To begin with, the book is not so much a discussion of the archeology and anthropology of the Chaco Canyon remains, as it is a history of the various archeological digs that have taken place there. Beginning with their discovery in the late 19th century, this volume chronicles the major expeditions up to 1980 in fair detail – outlining not only what each group found, but the techniques they used, the formation of these expeditions, and even some discussion of their trials and tribulations. While this book might appeal to those who would like to know more about the process of archeological discovery or are interested in the history of a little-known area of 20th century archeology, as an overview of the Anasazi remains the book is sometimes frustratingly inadequate.

To be sure, the history of the Anasazi is discussed. Efforts are made to explain how major discoveries fit in the context of the ancient Southwest, and there is one long chapter offered summing up a general overview of the entire Chaco Canyon region. But yet, the emphasis on the book is still less on the archeology and more on the archeologists, which may limit its appeal.

Another problem is that the book, while still printed and sold at many outlets (one can readily find it in the bookstores at most National Park visitor centers in the Southwest), is a tad out of date. Its original publication was 1981, and it has not been updated even though that was almost 30 years ago. Since that time there have been considerable changes in our understanding of Anasazi and early Pueblo culture, as well as break-throughs in technology which have shed new light. It would have been nice to see some of this discussed.

Chaco Canyon: Archeology and Archeologists is illustrated with many black-and-white photographs, culled from expeditions and hard-to-find publications, as well as many maps of individual archeological sites. There is also an extensive appendix listing each known archeological site and (at least, as of around 1981) what is known about them individually. The writing is clear and concise, and for those interested in archeology, reasonably entertaining. Overall the book is an adequate, if dated, introduction to the archeology of Chaco Canyon, though individuals looking for more scientific and anthropological substance on the subject may find it somewhat lacking.

24 August, 2010

Messenger Sends a Post Card

The MESSENGER probe to Mercury has send us an image of the Earth and the Moon... from 114 Million Miles away.


That's the Earth on the left, and the Moon on the right, amid a back drop of stars.

Source:
You are here: Incredible photo of the 'twin star' that is the Earth and Moon taken from 114 million miles away (Daily Mail Online)

Also, check out the Messenger Mission to Mercury home page at JPL

22 August, 2010

Review: CSI-Sin City, by Max Allan Collins


CSI: Sin City
by Max Allan Collins

Media tie-in novels generally fall into two categories: those that seek to accurately replicate the feel of the original source material in book form, and those that attempt to use the original source material as a stepping off point to explore that source material’s characters or even concepts. Sin City very much falls in the first of these categories – not necessarily a bad thing, but not necessarily a good thing either.

Like an episode of CSI, the book follows two murder investigations simultaneously: one the murder of a church-going housewife, the other of a stripper at a Las Vegas strip joint. Both stories are handled fairly straight-forward, in basic prose that rarely even remotely aspires to literature. The unfortunate consequence of this is that many of the series regulars (the book is set roughly during CSI’s first few seasons, so that means Grissom, Catherine, Brass, Warrick, Stokes, and Sara) come off as rather flat and cartoonish, with little or no depth or personality; anyone reading this book not already familiar with them from the TV series would probably have a difficult time keeping track of who the characters were, much less why we should care for them. This is probably the books’ greatest weakness, and is likely to disappoint those fans who pick up tie-in novels hoping for a more in-depth look at their favorite characters. On the other hand, the unencumbered prose does make for an exceedingly quick read, and the mysteries themselves -- while a little predictable -- are at least presented in an engaging enough manner to satisfy most fans of CSI.

Bottom line is, it’s a media tie-in novel, so unless you are a fan of CSI or at least reasonably familiar with its conventions, this book probably isn’t for you. But if you are a fan and are interested in what is essentially a no-frills police procedural, Sin City is at least worth the few hours of diversion-among-familiar-friends the novel will give you.

Rating: ***

20 August, 2010

Bill Millin & The Bagpipes of Sword Beach

Bill Millin, a private who landed on Sword Beach with the British Army's First Special Service Brigade, has died. He achieved fame during the war as the man who came ashore on D-Day armed not with a rifle, but with a set of bagpipes... which he played while under fire to boost the morale of his mostly Scottish unit.  His musical feat was immortalized in one of my favorite sequences from The Longest Day (which is in turn, one of my all-time favorite movies):



Rest In Peace, Mr. Millin. And thank you for your service.

Obituary:
Bill Millin, Scottish D-Day Piper, Dies at 88 (The Times of London)

Rod Blagojevich Cartoon Star!

17 August, 2010

When you've lost Ray Bradbury....

The Obama administration has lost legendary SF writer Ray Bradbury.

"Ray Bradbury is mad at President Obama, but it’s not about the economy, the war or the plan to a construct a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City.

“He should be announcing that we should go back to the moon,” says the iconic author, whose 90th birthday on Aug. 22 will be marked in Los Angeles with more than week’s worth of Bradbury film and TV screenings, tributes and other events. “We should never have left there. We should go to the moon and prepare a base to fire a rocket off to Mars and then go to Mars and colonize Mars. Then when wedo that, we will live forever.”

The man who wrote “Fahrenheit 451,” “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” “The Martian Chronicles,” “Dandelion Wine”and “The Illustrated Man” has been called one of America’s great dreamers, but his imagination takes him to some dark places when it comes to contemporary politics.

“I think our country is in need of a revolution,” Bradbury said. “There is too much government today. We’ve got to remember the government should be by the people, of the people and for the people.”"

Source
Los Angeles Times: Hero Complex August 16, 2010

15 August, 2010

Review: The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Stories


The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Stories
By H.P. Lovecraft
Edited, With an Introduction & Endnotes by S.T. Joshi

Quick Review: You can tell that the works of H.P. Lovecraft have entered the stuffy realm of “literature” when Penguin/Viking feels compelled to produce releases of his work under their Penguin Classics banner. The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Stories is the first of (so far) three volumes of Lovecraft’s tales to appear under this imprint, and it serves admirably as both a good introduction for those unfamiliar with his work, or as a good assemblage for those more familiar with him and are seeking a decent, comprehensive collection with annotation.

This collection contains a mixture of tales from both his early and later periods, both long and short works, with several lesser known and harder to find stories thrown in for good measure. Most of the stories directly concerning Cthulu or its followers are here collected (“Dagon”, “The Call of Cthulu”, “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”), as well as many other tales that have long been considered classics in the Lovecraft corpus (“The Colour Out of Space”, “The Whisperer in the Darkness”, “Herbert West - Reanimator”, “The Rats in the Walls”). What’s more, the collection also contains extensive endnotes by editor S.T. Joshi, who not only provides insights into the writing of these works but also explains obscure references and even points out how many of Lovecraft’s stories directly relate to one another; even those reasonably familiar with Lovecraft’s work will find new insights and connections that they hadn’t realized existed.

Overall I think this is a very good collection, among the best Lovecraft anthologies currently in release. I would recommend it to anyone interested in H.P. Lovecraft with absolutely no reservations.

Rating: *****

14 August, 2010

30 Years Ago Today


On this day in 1980, Lech Walesa led labor strikes in the Gdansk shipyards against the Soviet-backed Communist government in Poland, forming the first independent (non-government run) trade union in Eastern Europe -- Solidarity (Polish: Solidarnosc) -- and ultimately challenging Communist authoritarian rule. It was the first visible crack in the Iron Curtain that the Soviets couldn't stop (well, brutally suppress with tanks and firing squads), and was the first domino to fall that would result nine years later in the complete collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe.

Solidarnosc still lives on.

Useful Idiots (BBC Radio)

The term "Useful Idiots" was a term used by Lenin and Stalin to describe otherwise intelligent people, usually Westerners, who nevertheless turned a blind eye to the genocides and brutal repression practiced by the Communists. These individuals invariably became the mouthpieces for Communism in the west, vocally promoting the Soviet Union and later Mao's China as shining examples of Socialist Equality and either dismissing or even suppressing mounting evidence to the contrary. Individuals such as George Bernard Shaw, Walter Duranty, Doris Lessing, Simone de Beauvoir, and many others not only sympathized with the Soviet Union and its aims, but were adamant in their efforts to make excuses, apologize, or even outright suppress dissenting views -- branding all those who opposed them as Fascists or Racists (sound familiar?), and in many cases either obfuscating or even destroying evidence to the contrary. Even when evidence was laid at their feet of the atrocities committed by Stalin and his cohorts, these individuals would either publicly deny it or lie to the world about its significance. To them the ends justified the means, and if the cost of attaining a true Socialist World Order were the lives of a few (tens of) millions of individuals standing in the way, that was a small price to pay.

BBC Radio has put together a documentary about these individuals, one that does not pull any punches and places Stalin's victims squarely at their feet. Its well worth listening to. You can listen to it online, or download it as a podcast directly from the BBC.

Useful Idiots: The Full Documentary (Listen Online @ BBC World Service)
Useful Idiots: Part One (Download)
Useful Idiots: Part Two (Download)

13 August, 2010

The Race Card is Maxed Out (Daily Show with Jon Stewart)

Maybe its just me, but I've been hearing a number of liberals complain lately that The Daily Show has "ceased to be funny". Maybe its because of things like this:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Race Card Is Maxed Out
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party

Truth hurts too much, perhaps?

12 August, 2010

North Korea Temper Tantrums

Remember in June, when I commented on what might be North Korea's reactions to their soccer team's dreadful performance at the World Cup?

Seems it may not have been too far off the mark.

Daily Mail Online:
North Korea probed over claims World Cup flops were tortured after early exit from tournament

Some players were evidently subjected to "harsh ideological criticism" (a Stalinist term for "beating the living crap out of someone"), and the head coach and his family were sentenced to hard labor at one of Kim Jong Il's "re-education" facilities (which human rights observers have long deemed probably the most inhumane prisons on the planet).

Someone, please, get rid of these asswipes running that country. Shoot. Every. Fucking. Last. One. Of. Them.

ESA's Rosetta at 21 Lutetia

I was so busy on vacation that I totally missed news about this encounter: the European Space Agency's unmanned Rosetta spacecraft performed a flyby of the asteroid 21 Lutetia on July 10, and sent back images.


Link: Rosetta Spacecraft Lutetia Flyby (ESA Official Website)

Next up for Rosetta will be an encounter with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in early 2014, where it will land on the comet and accompany it around the sun, sending out data the entire time.

For those who are wondering, according to the official numbering system for minor planets, the number 21 before the name Lutetia means that this object was the 21st minor planet discovered.

Additional Links:
21 Lutetia (Wikipedia)
ESA Main homepage

U.S. Is Bankrupt and We Don't Even Know It (Bloomberg)

Possibly the most depressing thing I've read all day.

"Most likely we will see a combination of all three responses with dramatic increases in poverty, tax, interest rates and consumer prices. This is an awful, downhill road to follow, but it’s the one we are on. And bond traders will kick us miles down our road once they wake up and realize the U.S. is in worse fiscal shape than Greece."

U.S. Is Bankrupt and We Don't Even Know It, by Laurence Kotlikoff (Bloomberg)

Kirk vs. Giannoulias -- The State of the Race

Rasmussen has released their August poll, and it shows Mark Kirk and Alexi Giannoulias in a dead heat (40-40) for the Illinois Senate seat. This comes on the heals of two July Rasmussen polls, which showed Giannoulias with a slim leads of +1 (Kirk 39; Giannoulias 40) on the July 7 poll, and a slightly larger lead of +2 (Kirk 41; Giannoulias 43) on the July 26 poll (can't find the direct links to the polls, mostly because I was with crappy internet access at the time they came out, so you'll have to settle for the RCP Poll recap).

While both of the July polls were well within the margin of error for this race, the fact that Kirk has come back from the two-point deficit is a very good sign. Kirk's stumbling on the questions concerning his military record did hurt him, and the Giannoulias campaign has managed to be more visible with their candidate than they have in previous months, both of which served to raise his profile somewhat among voters. But as I've been saying for months now, polls conducted over the summer generally amount to little more than bragging rights, and that any true snapshot of the way this race is going won't be available until the late August and early Septembers polls start coming out.

I note that in July, several other polls (mostly Gallup) came out apparently showing a swing in sentiment among voters towards the Democrats, a trend which utterly evaporated once the August polls started coming out. One common theory going around is that Republicans tend to take July off for vacation, and that may have helped skew polling data towards the Democrats. If this is true (and I do think there may be some truth to this, though perhaps no more than a kernel), then that might partially explain the swing to and from Giannoulias between July and August. In any case, I will also note that I warned months ago that there would be some polling showing Giannoulias ahead at some point over the summer, and that everyone needed to wait until summer shenanigans were over before voters begin to settle down.

Rasmussen appears to have now switched to a twice-a-month schedule for polling on this race, which means that I would expect another Kirk vs. Giannoulias poll to be released before the month is out (say, around the 25th). My prediction is that it will show either a tie or Kirk with a slim lead.

EDIT:
More good news for Kirk.

"Voters in the 13 Battleground Senate seats – five held by Republicans, eight by Democrats – want to vote for Republicans. Voters in the four seats held by Democratic incumbents are unhappy with those incumbents and are in a mood for change."

U.S. SENATE BATTLEGROUND SURVEY (Public Opinion Stategies/Crossroads)
Crossroads poll: Dem Senate in peril, by Alexander Burns (Politico)

Whether You Liked Him Or Hated Him, This Shows Class

Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura showed up today unscheduled and unannounced at the USO receiving area in the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, and greeted a group of troops returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.


According to several news reports today, Mr. Bush has done this several times since leaving office, as well as visited wounded soldiers at Dallas area VA hospitals and nearby Fort Hood -- all unannounced, with very little news coverage, and virtually no fanfare. Which is exactly the way he wants it.

11 August, 2010

Coming Soon Not to A Theater Near You (Unless you live in Japan)

Day 4

July 11, 2010
Well, that’s annoying.

I’ve found one thing to complain about this KOA: for some reason their internet won’t let me in to Blogger to post my Day Three report. I spent a good deal of time trying to get into it last night but to no avail, and today doesn’t seem to be much better. What’s more, internet access in general seems a little hinky and slow. It could be because we’re at the far end of the campground from their router, so perhaps that’s affecting my access. But that doesn’t explain why I can’t log in to Blogger. I mention this because if this continues I may have to wait until the next place before posting these updates on this trip. Grumble.

We didn’t do much today. This morning we got into the truck and drove to Salida to pick up some food and drinks, then came back to camp. This afternoon I took the boys to the pool and let them swim while I read some H.P. Lovecraft. This evening the boys and I played some Magic-The Gathering. No cable at this camp ground so I can’t hook up the tv (thank goodness for small blessings).


Cotopaxi KOA, along Highway 50, near Cotopaxi, CO and along the Arkansas River.

Cotopaxi KOA campsite.

Cotopaxi KOA campground.

Tomorrow will be a big day -- in the morning we will be taking a river rafting tour down the Arkansas River, in the afternoon we will be taking our first train ride, with the Royal Gorge Railroad.

Day 3

July 10, 2010
We left Limon early and headed across the plains of Eastern Colorado towards Colorado Springs. Eastern Colorado is typical high-plains country, which means miles and miles of expansive grasslands and not much of anything else. Occasional towns, but mostly just grasslands. Even the roads are few and far between.

The Eastern Colorado Experience

We drove through Colorado Springs -- a pleasant town, and another one I wish to spend time in (lets me honest here; I’d like to spend time in most towns out in the Western US) -- but didn’t stop. We took US 24 through and out of town and up into the mountains, encountered the inevitable traffic-congesting small town arts festival in Manitou Springs, and finally made our way to the first touristy target of the trip.

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
Link: Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument Homepage (NPS.gov)


I love the US National Park system. Every year I buy an annual pass, because I know that I will visit so many National Parks that the hefty cost of the pass (around $100.00 these days) is actually the cheaper alternative to paying the entrance fees everywhere I go. While I will spend time at the big, well-known parks that everyone is familiar with (Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, etc.), it’s the little-known, out of the way places that hold my greater interest. They tend to be smaller, more intimate places – with far less tourists and more hands-on interaction than the larger, more famous parks.

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (near Florissant, Colorado) is a park set aside to preserve a rich vein of fossil plants, insects, and some animals, all from an epoch when the Rocky Mountains were roughly half their present age and size. At the time average temperatures were much warmer than they are today; we know this because of the fossil insect evidence, and because of the petrified redwood tree stumps found in the park (redwoods only thrive where the temperatures are – on average – warmer than they are today). Certainly, the elevation was also lower than the present-day 8,400 feet. The fossils resulted from the eruption of one or more volcanoes in the region approximately 34 Million years ago, which blanketed the area in soot, ash, and pumice, burying everything and preserving it for aeons – until the uplift of the Rockies and ordinary erosion exposed the petrified remains.

Historical accounts indicate that when settlers first moved into the area in the late 19th century, the ground was littered with petrified wood. Most of it was carted away and sold as geologic curiosities, predominantly back on the east coast. With the advent of tourism, several enterprising families set up tourist hotels and lodges in the area to showcase the petrified stumps too large to be broken up and carted away, one lodge even going to so far as to be built around one of the largest stumps so that it could be showcased in the living room of the establishment. These activities continued until as late as 1961, when the last of them closed shop (evidently because of the death of the owner, not because of financial loss) and the family decided to sell the holding to the government. By then fossils were beginning to be found in and around the area, and so in 1969 some 6,000 acres were set aside and handed over to the park service as a National Monument.

Like most National Monuments of its type and size, the visitor center is small and manned both by local volunteers and only a few park rangers (I only saw two, and that may have been the extent of NPS staff at the facility). There are several walking paths looping around and back from the visitor center, allowing visitors to go to most of the known petrified remains as well as to the areas most of the fossil remains have been found. A preserved 19th Century homestead and a school building are also on the park grounds, as well as the usual assortment of high-altitude wildlife.

We took a loop trail that begins in front of the visitor center and ends behind it. All told, its about a one mile walk, which means it takes about a half hour to do even if you’re out of shape (like I am. Blah!). The trail takes you to some of the more impressive petrified remnants, such as The Big Stump, and the equally well-known grouping of Three Stumps.

The Big Stump. This was the petrified stump that the Colorado Petrified Forest Lodge had at one time been built around. The lodge was torn down by the park service in 1971, so as to return the stump to its “original” setting.


These petrified stumps are under a canopy so as to preserve them from further erosion. Note the metal bands affixed to help hold the formation together. Note also the scale of the tree remains in relation to their visitors.


The canopy for The Three Stumps can be seen in the distance at right, and at center is the visitor center.

Time spent at this location was about two hours, which is more than enough to take in most of the major points of this park.

*******

After leaving Florissant, we headed south and then west to Cotopaxi, Colorado and our next campsite. Along the way we passed at least two llama farms. What in the world are llama farms doing in the middle of Colorado?

*******

We’re now checked in at the Cotopaxi KOA. The place is fairly packed due to it being the weekend, but I like the relative remoteness of the place, nestled as it is in the Arkansas River canyon. Tomorrow will be an off-day, the first day we haven’t been moving since the trip began.

The Best Laid Plans

Well, I am back from my vacation. Unfortunately, everywhere I went I had lousy internet access. Sometimes it was just an abysmally slow connect, other times the places I stayed at didn't offer WiFi. One of them had passable connectivity, but for some reason wouldn't let me into Blogger. Several places only offered WiFi if you paid extra.

The upsot of all of this is that I was unable to keep my promise of posting while on the road. The couple times I tried I either couldn't get into Blogger, or I literally had to wait two or three minutes per click in order for the computer system to respond (thus dragging out for hours that which normally takes only a few minutes). The good news is that I did more or less keep a diary of the trip with the intention of posting when better connectivity became available, but that ended up never really happening. But now that I am home I can go through my entries and post them.  So over the next few days, I hope to catch up and bore everyone with vacation stuff. Be very afraid.

I've also got some thoughts on various things and some other miscellaneous links to post up.  Perhaps someone out there will find them of some interest.

10 July, 2010

Vaction Pics - Days One & Two

What would a boring vacation monologue be without vacation pics?

DAY ONE

Start of the trip: the beat up truck and the beat up camper.


Some views of the windmill farm along I-80 near Walnut, IA. Oh, how exciting!

DAY TWO
The campsite in Limon, CO with the boys (Limon, KOA),


A thunderstorm on the plains. I tried to get a picture with lightning, but kept being too late.

Hopefully better pictures for Day Three.

Day 2

Usually when I am going through Nebraska, it is at the end of a trip. Thus, my usual voyage though the state goes from west to east, starting at either the Wyoming or Colorado borders, and heading toward Omaha and the state of Iowa. But today was something of an anomaly; rather than use it as a stepping stone home, I instead used it as a leg of my journey westwards. Have you ever noticed that things look different when you approach them from another direction? Nebraska didn’t look like the Nebraska I’m used to today, in large part because I was approaching it from an (for me) unusual angle. All the usual pit stops and turn offs looked the same, but the highway looked and felt different this time. It was a strange experience to be driving what felt like the first time on a highway I know very well.

One of the things I’ve found about driving across Nebraska on I-80 is that the major cities and landmarks are all just about one hours drive apart. Starting at the I-80 & I-76 split (which is roughly a mile away from the Nebraska/Colorado border) and going east, the first major city one encounters is North Platte; an hour or so east from there, Kearney; an hour more east, Grand Island; an hour east more, Lincoln; finally another hour, and you’re in Omaha. To be sure these are only approximates; the distance between North Platte and Kearney is about 80 miles, while Kearney to Grand Island is about 50. But the average works out pretty well, and it gives you a good picture how much longer you have to drive to get across the state just by knowing which cities/landmarks you’ve passed. And of course, if you’re heading westward-ho rather than east, the timing works just as well in reverse. A little tidbit of useless knowledge, for those interested. Oh, and before anyone asks, if you’re heading to Wyoming through Nebraska or starting at Wyoming heading east, the Wyoming border to I-80/I-76 split segment takes about an hour and a half to run, and is the only part of the rubric that doesn’t fit.

Anyway... Nebraska. I like Nebraska. It has an open expanse, no nonsense feel to it that doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. When you’re in Nebraska, you’re in “the country”, and Nebraskans wouldn’t have it any other way. As you head west, the grasslands become more dominant and the tress become fewer and fewer, until finally near the Colorado border they disappear almost completely. By then the grass has become all pervasive, covering plain and hills alike for as far as the eye can see. Only an occasional farmhouse disrupts the sea of grass, and even then only occasionally. Along the way across Nebraska, the Platte River runs mostly parallel to the interstate, but occasionally crosses underneath it. The Platte is a wide and long river, but very shallow; one can wade across it for much of its length. In the summer especially, when the spring rains are no more and much of the rest of the flow is being taken for irrigation.

As for the trek across Nebraska itself, mostly we just drove, trying to finish the trip there and thus have less traveling to worry about. There are a lot of tourist-trappy places I’ve always wanted to stop at along the way in Nebraska but never seem to find the time, much less convince the people in my vehicle they were good places to stop. The Pioneer museum in Kearney, for instance (which is in a building that goes over the interstate like a gateway). Or the Heartland Military Museum , with all of its decommissioned ordinance set outside. One of these days I’ll get the chance to drop by these places, perhaps even at the tail end of this trip. But sadly, today was not that day. This trip will be about mountain ranges, ruins, railroads.

Right now we’re camped out the KOA in Limon, Colorado, which is the first official bit of camping this trip. Nice campground, and one that is surprisingly crowded for an out-of-the-way town. Tomorrow we’ll be heading for the next KOA (in Cotopaxi, which is near Royal Gorge). But before that I think we’ll visit Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, which will be our first real piece of touristy activity.

Cross your fingers that the program I’ve downloaded works. I’ve been wanting to post some pictures, but the picture size the digital camera I have produces is way too large to be practical to post tot he blog. I’m hoping to edit them into something more usable.

08 July, 2010

Day 1

Today was essentially a driving day.

My usual method on these trips is to spend the first day or two getting the bulk of the driving out of the way. Since I live in Chicago, even the closest areas of what I would consider "the West" are at least a good days drive away, and the areas I like to frequent (Wyoming, Utah, Arizona) are another good day beyond that. As just a straight roadtrip, you can do it in one continuous drive -- from Chicago, Denver or Cheyenne are only about 15-16 hours away. But with children and towing a camper, that isn't practical.

No real sightseeing today, unless you count whatever it is one can catch by looking outside the car window.  We crossed the Mississippi River at Davenport in the early afternoon, and the Missouri River at Omaha at about sundown.  Illinois along I-80 is mostly flat and green, but Iowa at least has the virtue of rolling hills and occasional valleys.  Much more interesting a drive west than taking I-90 through southern Minnesota, a route which I consider to be possibly the Most Boring Highway in the United States.

Windmills are sprouting up everywhere in Western Iowa.  It wasn't so long ago (3-4 years ago) that the only windmill you could find along I-80 was a towering one at Adair that never seemed to be working.  I'd often wondered what the deal with that windmill was, since every time I drove by it I never saw its arms rotating, just frozen stock still.  The only purpose I could ever see it performing was to advertise the town along the busy highway, since you could see the thing for miles before the exit.  But nowadays, not only is it working at generating electricity, but there are dozens -- perhaps even more than a hundred -- of similar size standing right along with it in the Adair area.  And not only Adair, but further west in and around the town of Walnut, another wind farm is sprouting up that looks like it may grow to be just as large.  Walnut -- which I've been visiting for years, since its better known as having the largest concentration of antique stores and antique malls in Iowa -- appears to be becoming something of a boom town, a rare thing these days.  The Wind Rush is on, and it looks like towns like Adair and Walnut are looking to capitalize, with still more towns joining in as well (truck convoys carrying those huge windmill blades have become an exceedingly common sight on I-80 through Iowa; I counted four on today's drive alone).  I wish them all good luck, though I am still skeptical that wind power will ever amount to anything more than a drop in the bucket when it comes to fulfilling our country's energy needs.

Tomorrow we head across dusty Nebraska and into even dustier Eastern Colorado, with the ultimate aim being the town of Limon and its KOA.

Something to Read Before I Leave

Siobhan wants me to wait a little before leaving so she can run some necessary errands and still see us off. Which means I have a little time to troll around the internet.

This is a damn good read:
The Progressives’ Legacy of Bankruptcy, by Tiffany Jones Miller
(National Review Online)

07 July, 2010

Night before

Well, I'm getting ready to depart. Cross your fingers that I keep up with this blog thing through the trip. I picked up a digital camera especially so I can post to the blog and email pictures of kids to people.

Mileage on vehicle at start of trip: 186,475.7.

05 July, 2010

Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles

The Michael Moorcock original Doctor Who novel now has a name (The Coming of the Terraphiles), a release date (November 9. 2010), and a listing on Amazon:


The Coming of the Terraphiles,
by Michael Moorcock

Product Description:
Miggea - a world on the very edge of reality. The cusp between this universe and the next. A point where space-time has worn thin, and is in danger of collapsing. And the venue for the grand finals of the competition to win the fabled Arrow of Law. The Doctor and Amy have joined the Terraphiles - a group obsessed with all aspects of Earth's history, and dedicated to re-enacting ancient sporting events. They are determined to win the Arrow. But just getting to Miggea proves tricky. Reality is collapsing, ships are disappearing, and Captain Cornelius and his pirates are looking for easy pickings. Even when they arrive, the Doctor and Amy's troubles won't be over. They have to find out who is so desperate to get the Arrow of Law that they will kill for it. And uncover the traitor on their own team. And win the contest fair and square. And, of course, they need to save the universe from total destruction.

Notice the reference to Moorcock's Eternal Champion series ("Captain Cornelius")

Looking forward to this one.

Poll Predictions

Its the start of the first full week of a new month, which means several polls for various races in Illinois are likely to be coming out over the next few days.

The one I am most closely watching is, of course, the Illinois Senate race. Rasmussen should have their snapshot out about the middle of the week, and my bet is that it will still show Mark Kirk ahead, albeit with a small lead (probably in the neighborhood of 2-3%). PPP hasn't had a poll in this race out in a few months, so there's a good chance they'll weigh in; if so, I readily expect them to show Gianoulias either tied or with a sliver of a lead. Of course, as I've stated numerous times on this blog, I think polling at this time is close to meaningless, but its at least interesting to watch the various races make hash out of them.

The other big Illinois race I'm expecting to see polling on is the Governor race. My gut feeling based on personal observation is that Governor Quinn is in big, big trouble. I expect Rassmussen to show challenger Brady with another double-digit lead, while if PPP weighs in they'll probably show Brady in the mid-to-upper single digits. Honestly, the few Quinn supporters I've found are lackluster in their support at best, while the Brady supporters are getting fired up; this race may not even be close come November. But again, I've got to issue the same caveat as above in the US Senate race: summer polling, blah-blah-blah, wait until the September polls start coming out for the real snapshot of what's going on in this state.

BTW, I was expecting a Daily Kos/R2000 poll out by now for both races, but that ain't gonna happen in view of recent events. I expect now for Daily Kos to sit the summer out while they lick their wounds and find another (hopefully, more ethical) company to do their bidding polling for them. I wouldn't expect to see another poll from them until September or even October... much to many Democrat candidates disappointment, I'm sure.

04 July, 2010

Heading for Colorado This Week

My annual trek out west starts this week. I will be heading for Southern and Central Colorado, with some possible trips into New Mexico, Utah, and/or Arizona. Places I'm hoping to visit include:


Great Sand Dunes, National Park....


Mesa Verde National Park...


Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park...


Royal Gorge...

...and many others. I'll be camping with the pop-up with both of my boys, and hoping to chronicle the trip here on this blog. So keep coming back and see how things are going with us!

How to Make the World Cup More Interesting to Me

In Congress, July 4, 1776

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

On this day in 1776, the final draft of the United States Declaration of Independence was approved. In actuality, the Second Continental Congress had voted to approve secession two days earlier on July 2, but the final wording of the document was not ratified until July 4. Most historians agree that only John Hancock, as president of the Second Continental Congress, actually signed the document that day and most of the rest didn't sign it until nearly a month later, on August 2, while some may not have signed it until as late as September. But nevertheless, this is the day that is remembered as the true turning point, the moment the Thirteen Colonies became an independent nation.

Happy Birthday, United States of America.

01 July, 2010

WARNING: That which you have seen can never be unseen

From the same Chinese news service that brought you the CG "dramatic recreation" of Tiger Woods' Thanksgiving now comes.... Al Gore, Sex Poodle!

30 June, 2010

Signs the Apocalypse is Nigh

At the confirmation hearings for Elene Kagan today, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D, MN) asked the nominee about Twilight.



29 June, 2010

R2000 Polling Data

Daily Kos has admitted that the polling for many of the most prominent polls they've conducted with R2000 are likely to have been complete and utter bunk. Not only are the gathering methods (and therefore, the data itself) probably faulty, but there is also evidence that much of it was completely fabricated.

I think it is safe to say that I disagree with Daily Kos about 99.99% of the time. But I do have to give them kudos for choosing to air this sort of dirty laundry in public, and in particular for taking it upon themselves to do the honorable thing:

While the investigation didn't look at all of Research 2000 polling conducted for us, fact is I no longer have any confidence in any of it, and neither should anyone else. I ask that all poll tracking sites remove any Research 2000 polls commissioned by us from their databases. I hereby renounce any post we've written based exclusively on Research 2000 polling.

I note that Real Clear Politics hasn't removed the R2000/Daily Kos data yet from the Illinois US Senate and Illinois Governor races. Perhaps they're reluctant to, because it would probably skew those races even further towards the Republicans than they already are. My guess is RCP will keep those polls posted, but it may be a few more months before we see another poll on either race that isn't Rasmussen or PPP. The Gianoullias campaign has got to be disappointed, because I suspect they were counting on R2000/Daily Kos to manufacture a poll sometime this summer that showed them ahead of Mark Kirk.

26 June, 2010

Image of the Day

I gotta say, this image of two diners at a Washington, DC hamburger joint is kind of cool:


That's President Obama on the right, and on the left is President Medvedev of the Russian Federation. Just two guys talking a little business over a quick lunch...

By the way, the restaurant is called Ray's Hell Burger and is just a couple of blocks from the White House. News reports say that its a favorite of White House staff, so chances are its been cleared by the Secret Service dozens of times over.

25 June, 2010

A Step in the Right Direction

Officials in Georgia (Note to Peggy West: the country, not the state) have torn down a statue of Joseph Stalin that had been erected in his home town.

Reuters: Stalin statue removed in Georgian home town

While its about 60 years too late, its at least good to see that history is finally catching up with one of the most despicable people who ever lived.

Facepalm moment

The stupid. It burns.



The sad part is, people who are this clueless about basic geography are all too common. This woman is the kind of person who goes to Hawaii and is amazed that you don't need to show your passport, or asks where Dakota is because, since there's a North Dakota and a South Dakota, there obviously must be a Dakota somewhere in between.

21 June, 2010

Meanwhile, at the World Cup...

Oh, wow. Dear Leader Kim Jong Il's handpicked soccer team just got spanked by Portugal, losing 7-0.

So what are Dear Leader's likely responses to this?

1) To the rest of the world, blame the United States and South Korea.
2) Execute a few of the coaches and maybe send some of the others and their families to "re-education facilities" (read: slave labor camps), in order to teach them about the hazards of doing harm to the honor of North Korea and Kim Jong Il.
3) Tell the North Korean people that the team actually won, that they were heading home early from the World Cup as victors, and to make them guests of honor at a brand new Arirang performance composed to honor them and the glorious leadership of Kim Jong Il, in whose wisdom they were sent to South Africa in the first place.

Huh. Wonder how many members of that team will actually return home, or will they take the opportunity to disappear only to ask for political asylum a few days later. Though its rumored that many on the team are actually Chinese nationals under assumed Korean names, so chances are many will just go back home to China.

Anyway, Dear Leader is probably fuming about now.

Illinois Governor's Poll Watch

Two polls in recent weeks point to big problems for Governor Quinn's re-election campaign: Public Policy Polling has Republican challenger Bill Brady up by 4 points, while Rassmussen has Brady up by a whopping 11 points.

As always, I'm rather skeptical about Rasmussen's numbers, since they lean Republican and this is essentially a Democratic state. Also, as I've mentioned previously concerning Mark Kirk's poll numbers, polls conducted five months away from an election and at the start of vacation-and-fun-in-the-sun season are not always the best indicators of actual strength. But PPP's polling data should give Gov. Quinn's supporters cause for concern; PPP is in general a Democratic-leaning polling organization with a Democratic-leaning polling bias, and if even then they are finding the sentiment leaning against a Democrat incumbent, then Governor Quinn is clearly in trouble. Still, I have to caution that its only June, and most voters don't start waking up to oncoming elections until they're about two months away. If these numbers are the same or worse in September, Quinn will officially be in Real Trouble.

19 June, 2010

Two parts of space and time...

Just in time for the season climax of the new Doctor Who season... NASA releases the following image from the Spitzer Space Telescope.


It's where two parts of space and time that should never have touched have been forced together.
--The Doctor, "The Eleventh Hour"

Either this is all one big coincidence, someone at NASA has a sense of humor (and good timing), or... we're all in big trouble.

And with that, I shall now go into the living room and watch "The Pandorica Opens"... :)

EDIT:
Yes, I know, I really should be typing out my thoughts on the current season. One of the many things I've been meaning to get to on this here blog.

The World Sees Obama as an Amateur: Mort Zuckerman

Over at US News and World Report (Wow, I didn't even know USNWR was still even around!), Mort Zuckerman has a great summation of President Obama's foreign policy:

The reviews of Obama's performance have been disappointing. He has seemed uncomfortable in the role of leading other nations, and often seems to suggest there is nothing special about America's role in the world. The global community was puzzled over the pictures of Obama bowing to some of the world's leaders and surprised by his gratuitous criticisms of and apologies for America's foreign policy under the previous administration of George W. Bush. One Middle East authority, Fouad Ajami, pointed out that Obama seems unaware that it is bad form and even a great moral lapse to speak ill of one's own tribe while in the lands of others.

World Sees Obama as Incompetent and Amateur, by Mort Zuckerman

18 June, 2010

Liberal Bias

Consider this flyer, currently being distributed around Minneapolis:


If the target were a female Democrat, you just know that the media and the Democrats would be all over this and denouncing it as "typical right-wing hate speech". CNN and MSNBC would be devoting entire hours of debate, Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow would be frothing at the mouth, and Al Franken would be introducing a resolution to condemn the "atmosphere of hatred" among Republicans. But when the target is an outspoken conservative woman, you can practically hear the crickets chirping.

Hypocrites.

Hat tip: NewsBusters

15 June, 2010

Updates, sort of

1) I'm very busy this week with work and entertaining a house guest, so I'm probably going to still be on a light-posting schedule for another week more. Please bear with me.

2) Yes, I know about the gaffes Mark Kirk has been making. Doesn't seem to have affected his poll numbers (Rasmussen still has him ahead), but I acknowledge they're boneheaded and potentially embarrassing to his campaign (though in truth, I also think they are pretty dang minor errors). It still doesn't change two things: 1) I still think he's clearly the better candidate over Gianoullias; and 2) we're still five months away from the election. Right now, people are more concerned with sunbathing and Central Division standings; I doubt anyone but political junkies are paying any attention. People won't start caring until late August at the earliest, September at the most likely. Until then, its mostly just hot air.

3) Addendum to above: I predict R2000/Daily Kos will put a poll out over the summer showing Gianoullias with a slim lead. Again, like I've been saying all along, these polls don't mean a thing right now except for bragging rights. Wait until September, when the real race begins.

4) Going to Colorado this year, starting July 8. Watch this blog for extensive coverage!

5) Saw this, couldn't resist posting:

Hat tip: Jay Nordlinger @ The Corner, National Review Online

31 May, 2010

Apologies

Sorry I've not been around.  I lost the power cord to my laptop, and I've been very busy with Real Life issues to find the time to post here.  Hopefully I will be able to get back to a more reasonable schedule once the kids are out of school in a few weeks.

Until then, enjoy some film music spectacularly performed by a Japanese organist on an Electone electronic organ (and yes, these do appear to be all the same person):





Memorial Day 2010



Honoring those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Requiscat in Pace.

I'm A Marvel/I'm A DC 100th video

More humor which will fly completely past the non-comics reading majority of you.

23 May, 2010

A little classical music news from Baghdad

"Get rid of me," Saddam Hussein allegedly once warned, "and in short order you'll be hearing Jew composers from New York in Baghdad."

Saddam Hussein was deposed in 2003 and died in 2006, but its taken until this month for that prophecy to become true.

Excite: 13-Year Old Pianist Plays with Iraqi Orchestra
(Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra & pianist Llewellyn Kingman Sanchez Werner performed George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue)

Hat tip: Jay Nordlinger, The Corner

20 May, 2010

Double Standard With Cuba

Big Journalism has an interesting piece on Julia Sweig and her recent book, Inside the Cuban Revolution:

Big Journalism: Regarding Cuba, a Typical MSM Double Standard At Play

16 May, 2010

Think I'm Over-reacting to Our Economic Picture?

Try looking at this, from the Chicago Tribune:

And here's the part that really, really scares me: No country in history has long survived saddled with that much debt. We are literally heading for economic suicide, unless things change very, very quickly.

Hat tip: Doug Ross @ Journal

Compare and Contrast (Blackfive)

From Blackfive:

The US way of handling pirates:

A federal judge has postponed the U.S. trial of six Somali nationals charged with piracy off the coast of Africa to give both sides more time to prepare.

U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson on Thursday pushed back the trial to Oct. 19 from July. The suspects are charged in an April 10 attack on the Navy vessel USS Ashland. The Somalis, who don't speak English, are charged with piracy and related counts and could face life in prison if convicted.

The judge cited the potential for having to deal with classified information, the number of defendants, the language barrier and other hurdles in issuing the delay.

The Russian way of handling pirates:

Ten pirates captured by the Russian navy last week near Somalia were put in an inflatable boat without navigational equipment and cast adrift in the Indian Ocean last Friday. They are now presumed dead, according to Russian officials.

The official told the Russian press that after an hour, radar contact with the boat was lost and the pirates “apparently” had all died. He did not elaborate.

Hmmm...

Will the Euro Sink US?

This is not good.

Just as our economy seems to be turning a corner, news is starting to percolate that European gold dealers are out of inventory and panic buying is building. Few people in Europe believe the Greek bailout will solve the problem, as ever increasing debt still looms in many other countries -- including Spain, Portugal, Italy, and even Great Britain. Some are openly questioning whether the Euro can survive. Meanwhile, the Euro is plunging versus both the Dollar and the Yen, raising the specter of inflation. This burgeoning flight to gold may just be the first sign of a building global panic, something which could turn the Great Recession into the first major global depression in 80 years.

Meanwhile, we continue to spend money we don't have, raising our debt to levels that not only our children but our children's children's children will still be paying off.

If I had any money right now, I'd be tempted to join in the gold buying panic.

15 May, 2010

A Hidden History of Evil

We rightly insisted upon total denazification; we rightly excoriate those who now attempt to revive the Nazis’ ideology. But the world exhibits a perilous failure to acknowledge the monstrous history of Communism.

From: A Hidden History of Evil, by Claire Berlinski, The City Journal

Hat Tip: Big Journalism

14 May, 2010

Twitter Watch

Favorite Twitter-meme of the moment: On the day Gordon Brown resigned, several people in the UK wondered if he was going to wake up the next morning in The Village.

Here, here, and here.

Which, of course, gives me an excuse to link to this:

RCP Moves Illinois Senate Race to "Leans Republican"

Real Clear Politics has taken the plunge and moved the Illinois Senate race from "Toss Up" to "Leans Republican".


Real Clear Politics: Senate Race 2010

11 May, 2010

Brown Out

Reports are coming in that Labour's talks with the Liberal-Democrats have collapsed, and that UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown will resign in a matter of hours.

FoxNews: Brown to Resign as British Prime Minister, Conservative Set to Take Reins
Daily Telegraph: Gordon Brown prepares to resign as Prime Minister
The Times: Gordon Brown prepares to resign

....and if you really want to be masochistic:

The Guardian:
Gordon Brown to Resign as Prime Minister

EDIT:
Update - Gordon Brown has officially resigned; David Cameron should emerge from Buckingham Palace as the new Prime Minister sometime soon.

Congratulations to David Cameron and the Tories.

08 May, 2010

Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC: Iron Man 2 and Jonah Hex

Usual disclaimer. This will only make sense if you are a comics fan.

Mark Kirk Up by 3 Points (R2000/Daily Kos)

Another week, another poll showing Mark Kirk ahead in Illinois. This time its R2000/Daily Kos, which as you can imagine is a very Democratic-leaning pollster. They have Kirk ahead by three points, 41% - 38%. Note that both this poll and the most recent Rasmussen poll peg Giannoulias support as being at 38%, while each poll differs on the level of Kirk's support. Since Rasmussen leans Republican and Daily Kos leans Democrat, I'm guessing that Kirk's true support is actually somewhere between the two, say around 44%. Real Clear Politics still has this race listed as a "Toss Up", but if any more polls come out showing a Kirk with a substantial lead I think its likely RCP and others will start moving this race into the "Leans Republican" column. So the question is becoming, will Giannoulias actually stay in race?

UK Election Results

Congratulations to David Cameron and the UK Conservative Party. While they did fall short in reaching an outright majority in Parliament (they wound up with 306 seats), they did emerge as the largest party and therefore the most likely to be able to form a government. Current Prime Minister Gordon Brown isn't giving up the fight, however -- he's hoping to hobble together a coalition government with the Liberal-Democrats. But even with a Lib-Dem/Labour coalition, there aren't enough votes for an outright majority. A Conservative/Liberal-Democrat coalition, however, would pass a majority mark -- so if Labour cannot make a deal with the Lib-Dems and hold onto power as a "minority government", then perhaps the Conservatives can. In any case, this will be the first time since 1974 that the UK experiences a hung parliament, which basically means everyone is traveling in mostly uncharted waters right now. Good luck to the UK.

And no, I don't ever want to see a Parliamentary-type system here in the United States. There's something to be said for knowing exactly when and how long our elected officials will stay in office.

05 May, 2010

Those Racist Republicans & Tea Partiers

According to the New York Times, a record number of African-Americans -- at least 32 -- are running for Congress in 2010... as Republicans. And a large number them are running with endorsements from the local Tea Parties.

04 May, 2010

Conservatives Likely to Win in the UK

Thursday is the election over in the UK, and according to the Daily Telegraph its looking very good for the Tories:

With momentum building behind the Tories, party strategists believe Mr Cameron is “on the cusp” of being able to form a government by the weekend. The Conservatives are on course to seize at least 103 seats from Labour – 14 shy of the 117 needed to secure an overall majority, the poll shows.
-- The Daily Telegraph: David Cameron needs just 14 more seats

Labour has pretty much imploded, thanks in part to Gordon Brown's "bigoted woman" gaff from last week. What's more, the Labour faithful know it, and are already resigning themselves to the returns on Thursday. Even some of the Labour candidates are now trying to distance themselves from Gordon Brown's wretched record as Prime Minister.

The only bright spot for Labour and Liberal-Democrat supporters is that the Conservatives are only likely to capture a slim majority, not the huge one that Labour enjoyed for most of the last 13 years. There's even the chance that the Tories might fall just a handful of votes short of an outright majority, which would therefore necessitate a coalition government. However, that possibility is starting to look less likely, but is by no means out of the realm of possibility.

Guess we find out in a couple of days.

So, Then... Who is the Party of the Rich?

Popular wisdom states that the Republicans are the party that is supported by the rich while the Democrats are the party of the "poor, common man". Except... if you look at the details, a startling amount of the richest neighborhoods in the country give overwhelmingly to the Democrats, not Republicans:


Johnson locates the oligarchy in the upper reaches of the investment banking profession. What he doesn’t note is that these are overwhelmingly Democratic. There is nothing “curious” about a president’s seeking to arm his most reliable supporters with political power. And when you look at it this way, the intermarriage of financial and executive branch elites could only have happened in the Clinton years, simply because there is not sufficient Republican manpower in New York’s investment banks to permit it. Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, Jon Corzine, Timothy Geithner  …  one could make no similar list of partisan Republicans who have made the trek from Wall Street to Washington.
--The Weekly Standard: American Oligarchy, by Christopher Caldwell

Hat Tip: Jonah Goldberg, NRO-The Corner

Election 2010: Republicans Pick Up 8 Senate Seats?

According to Real Clear Politics and their amalgamation of all the polling data across the country, if the election were held today the Republicans would pick up 8 Senate seats and trim the Democratic majority to 51-49.

Real Clear Politics: Senate Race, No Toss-Ups

Looking at their map, I think they are probably right in that it looks unlikely that Republicans will recapture the Senate, since of the remaining Democratic leaning states there would be an uphill fight to turn them Republican (although I think California and Wisconsin are possibilities). But cutting significantly into the Democratic majority would still be a tremendous victory for them.

Happy Star Wars Day!





May the Fourth Be With You!

Details:
The Daily Telegraph: Star Wars Day: 'may the fourth be with you', say fans in tribute to cult films