There Are People Who Believe They’re Napoleon, Too
But we don’t give them two battalions of French troops and a road map to Russia.
Reader Tips
A little late for today – sorry! I was off to an early start this morning and just got home. (You’re better off enjoying the weekend away from the computer, anyway.)
Beyond Kraft Dinner
As promised, a few photos from my trip to Beijing.
The air quality is much as advertised, though the composition seems to be about 1/3 pollutants, 1/3 blowing dirt, and 1/3 poplar fuzz. In an effort to green up the city, the government – in the words of my host – “picked the wrong trees”.
| The most common sight in Beijing – there are thousands of construction cranes in operation everywhere you go. |  |
One really has to see the monster from street level to get a sense of how weird-ass the weird-ass CCTV building is. (Taken through the rainy car window – sorry.)
I announced it will fall down. My host disagreed, and explained that it would be “the most famous building in the world”. “Yes,” I agreed. “Most famous when it falls down”.
| In fact, much of the modern architecture in Beijing is reminiscent of a Star Trek movie. This is a downtown rail stop. |  |
Dog shows look pretty much the same everywhere.
A downtown food market booth. Thanks, but no thanks.
(Incidentally, among the few “fat” people I saw in China were the guys scavenging food out of the garbage barrels at this market.)
| Speaking of which – I discovered the reason behind the world-wide food shortage. Her name is Tiffany. This was the lunch she ordered for three. | 
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The main gate at the Forbidden City.
Lion guard thingies.
Obligatory images from the Great Wall.
Uh oh. Don’t tell you-know-who…
There are others in this directory, though they’re rather mundane.
Rocket Man
Dutch Cartoonist Jailed
For this.
Correction: The cartoon shown is from the Halifax Chronicle Herald, who are also being dragged before a HRC for publishing it. No jail time, though.
Yet.
Irena Sendler
“Last year she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, eventually won by Al Gore.”
Y2Kyoto: Reckless Endangerment
Should the West ever secede over “green” attempts to appropriate our energy industries, we should consider asking Alaska to join us;
I am disappointed and disturbed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to weaken the Endangered Species Act by listing the polar bear as threatened despite the steady increase in the species’ population. Scientists have observed that there are now three times as many polar bears in the Arctic than there were in the 1970s.
Never before has a species been listed as endangered or threatened while occupying its entire geographic range.
This decision was made without any research demonstrating dangerously low population levels in polar bears, but rather on speculation regarding how ice levels will affect Arctic wildlife. Worse yet, today’s decision cannot and will not do anything to reverse sea ice decline.
Instead, this action by the Fish and Wildlife Service sets a dangerous precedent with far-reaching social and economic ramifications. It opens the door for many other Arctic species to be listed, which would severely hamper Alaska’s ability to tap its vast natural resources. Reinterpreting the Endangered Species Act in this way is an unequivocal victory for extreme environmentalists who want to block all development in our state.
The manipulation of the Endangered Species Act was highlighted by Kassie Siegel, the lawyer who wrote the legal petition for the Center for Biological Diversity. Ms. Siegel made no attempt to disguise her group’s intent when she said that the effort to list the polar bears was to ‘try to make the point that global warming is not some future threat’. This statement confirms that these fringe environmentalists are simply using the polar bears to advance their extreme agenda.
This abuse of Endangered Species law will have a devastating impact on the entire nation through endless litigation and regulation. It will ultimately weaken the Act itself, which has been one of our nation’s most valuable tools for conserving wildlife.
Alaskans must now stand together and fight attempts to exploit the public’s fear of climate change as a means to impose unreasonable burdens in our state. The future of Alaska will depend on it.”
“When I delivered that speech, nobody clapped.”
Electoral Genocide
Another great moment in socialism.
(Warning: disturbing images)
Because There’s Always A “Next”
“No, those who scare me are those who (not entirely unlike the Nazis) are in positions of authority and responsibility and think that this gives them a vantage point on what kinds of speech should and should not be acceptable. It’s not that I care deeply if some truly marginal and deeply resentful fool gets caught in the sights of some kind of hate police and penalized. It’s that in creating such a precedent for thought policing, both cop and citizen naturally ask, well,
who’s next?“
Reading this quote again, I’d disagree in one respect. I do care that “truly marginal and deeply resentful fools” get caught in the HRC web as much as I do the unsuspecting restaurant owner wanting to keep his doorway free of pot smoking loiterers.
I don’t need to share their marginal views or resentment to defend their right not to be harrassed by a bureaucracy that defaults to “guilty until proven innocent”.
Why? Because, it’s the truly resentful who are most likely to carry their frustrations beyond verbal release into murderous violence when backed into a corner, and doubly so when those doing the backing trade in provocateurism and injustice. When the unbalanced finally snap, it’s rarely the bureaucrat behind the machinery who endures their wrath – it’s the innocent at their workplace, or the police officer who pulls them over for speeding who find themselves in the crosshairs.
It’s a tricky enough business dealing with these individuals within the justice system proper. The last thing we need are the thumbscrews of the human rights racket being applied to such cases.
Seven Year American Recession Watch Remains On High Alert
Construction starts on new U.S. homes
… rose by a surprisingly strong 8.2 percent in April and applications for new building permits turned up for the first time in five months, the Commerce Department said on Friday in a report showing that the hard-hit housing sector still had some spring vigor.
Starts in April ran at a 1.032-million-unit annual rate, up from a revised 954,000-unit rate in March, while permits gained 4.9 percent to 978,000 a year from a revised 932,000 in March.
That was a significantly stronger performance than anticipated by economists surveyed by Reuters who had forecast April starts at a 940,000-unit rate and permits at 920,000 a year.
h/t maz2
Y2Kyoto: An Inconvenient Dinosaur
The figures don’t lie. The only environmentally sustainable course of action for the Toronto Star is to commit corporate suicide. (More quickly than it already is, that is.)
For the planet.
For the children;
A prototypical publisher selling 250,000 newspapers on each of the 365 days of the year adds nearly 28,000 tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, according to calculations we’ll explain in a moment. That’s roughly equivalent to the CO2 spewed by almost 3,700 Ford Explorers being driven 10,000 miles apiece per year. (Disclosure: I own a 12-year-old Ford Explorer. Anyone want to buy it?)
CO2 matters, because a dangerous buildup of the gas in the atmosphere – caused by the growing consumption of fossil fuels and the decimation of our forests – is causing the earth to warm to such dangerous and unprecedented levels that the health of the planet and its inhabitants are imperiled.
The problem for even the most environmentally sensitive print publisher is that every aspect of the business does uncontestable violence to the environment.
Reader Tips
“The persecution of a national news magazine and political websites by the CHRT, the libel suits against bloggers – that’s fine with the Liberals. They are firmly behind that – but to prevent a Liberal from using the auspices of parliament to question a man who is sueing him in a civil court – that’s one step too far.”
Who’s kidding whom? If he appeals this to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, there’s a better than even chance he’ll end up with high speed.
Yes, Canada does.
No more apologies. The Post is calling Warman’s bluff.
Yours in the comments.
Spanking Siddiqui
“Perhaps Mr Siddiqui might be a less opaque. There is no ‘ongoing debate in Canada over when freedom of speech crosses the line into hate.’ When the likes of Hamas, Hizbollah and the policies of the Arab world are given credibility, the question of hate is not in question. What is in question is just how much hate is acceptable- and the answer to that is quite clear: Canadians have a very high tolerance for hate if it is well camouflaged.”
I Suppose It’s Better Than “Toots”
UPDATE: The left show the victim their support and understanding…
Not Just Anti-Israel
Tony Burman has taken on a new role with al-Jazeera as the Middle Eastern broadcaster’s managing director for its English-language station.
From CBC to Al Jazeera – a lateral career move if ever there was one.
Bush Displays A General Garment
“Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,”
And Obama claims it’s cut to his fit.
From Rusafa to Sadr City
Bill Ardolino has a new photo slideshow up from his embed in Iraq.
When Will The NEJM Officially Recognize Bush Derangement Syndrome …
… as an exceptionally debilatating disease? I believe right after they view this…
I got to admit though, he’s got great hair…