Since it’s dominating the news, and I’m busy with other stuff. Meanwhile, the Corner is probably your best source for Republican side analysis.
Another link: Making sense of exit polls.
Meanwhile, cast your own ballot on this question:
Comments are open for your related links or observations.
I admit some remorse after reading this column in the Torstar;
“I’m not certain the truth about history will do much to enhance the cultural esteem of white students, though perhaps ultimately, that’s what we need is for black people feel [sic] a little better about themselves and for white people to feel a little worse.”
Mostly for the 45 seconds I’ll never get back, but as badly as it’s penned, it does ask a question that I’ve struggled with most of my adult life. Why can’t I feel worse?
I live in a modern western society, blessed with wealth I’m told was extracted at a cost of centuries of pain and exploitation. But try as I might, I cannot bring myself to share this essential white burden.
While my melanin content is a product of my birth, “guilt” does not come easily to me. Call it a flaw in character, but my guilt has always been partnered with “consequence” – consequence for my transgressions – not my mother’s, nor my grandfather’s three times removed.
I cannot feel their pangs of conscience. Their remorse eludes me.
And even in those rare moments during quiet reflection, when I push back the force of reason and allow quivers of 18th century slave-trading shame to wash over my 21st century privilege… I have no place to put it.
Scotland was never known for its cotton.
While I’m sure many Scots grew fat trading in human bondage, I can’t count my rooming house ancestors among them.
And there withers the root of my spiritual failure. Like the African hyphenated people of today, my cultural history is lacking completeness. Their ancestors were robbed of their liberty – my ancestors were deprived of their slaves.
History has never fully reconciled my people, haunted as we are by a record of slavelessness.
Our society, our governments, must reach out to support our search for worse feelings, recognize and answer for our diminished angst.
I know there’s no turning back the clock. No government can compensate my ancestors – men and women who toiled their own soil, tended their own flocks, washed their own laundry. No program of today could provide the restitution that might fulfill my ancestral guilt – a slave of my own.
But they could pay for a maid.
Tips open.
Given the engineers and geologists* who frequent this site, the following may spark some discussion…
In a fairly dense article entitled “Abiogenic Hydrocarbon Production at Lost City Hydrothermal Field,” researchers Proskurowski et al., find evidence of the abiogenic formation of short-hydrocarbon chains in an area where hydrocarbons would not otherwise be able to form by the biogenic theory. What Proskurowski et al. identified was the formation of carbon chains 1 to 4 carbon atoms in length, with shorter chains forming deeper, and with isotopic signatures ruling out biogenic origins. The conclusion of the article is as follows: “Our findings illustrate that the abiotic synthesis of hydrocarbons in nature may occur in the presence of ultramafic rocks, water, and moderate amounts of heat.”
Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting.
Does anyone else find it troubling that doctors feel the need for a special interest organization to address this?
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And you accuse us of hyperbole when we warn you about this nutjob?
Flashback – “A polar-bear killer on wheels.”
Another flashback – a long history of asshatness.
“Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday she might be willing to garnish the wages of workers who refuse to buy health insurance to achieve coverage for all Americans.”
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Update – The Would-Be Commandress In Chief has the sniffles again!
Saving the planet one tropical vacation at a time;
Leaders talk climate change at Hawaii conference [….] Delegates met behind closed doors for a two-day global climate change conference in Hawaii but were not expected to make major progress on setting limits for greenhouse gases.
And not a moment too soon…
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The Mauna Kea Weather Center forecast snow flurries and possibly heavy snow today and into tomorrow night on the 13,796-foot mountain. […] Haleakala National Park officials said snow reached much lower elevations than normal, down to the 7,000-foot level in the general area where the park headquarters is located. |
As global warming continues to strike around the globe…
In Tehran…
In China…
Tokyo…
Saudi Arabia…
Baghdad…
And hardest hit of all – the northern hemisphere…
When will it all end?
Addendum: Members of the Church of Kyoto are advised to read this comment before posting.
“Why does the western liberal left openly advance the interests of murderous fundamentalist Islam?”
It’s the eugenics, stupid!
h/t
… in ConsumerAffairs.Com that the Toyota Prius traction control system can fail to operate properly on a snowy road, Prius owners report the hybrid’s TRAC system is still inadequate on slippery inclines.
One Vermont Prius driver, suffering through a recent January snowfall, described Toyota Prius traction control as “dangerous in mountainous snow country.”
[…]
A Langley, Washington Prius owner told us that her hybrid this month “stopped totally on a medium uphill approach to her driveway and garage resulting in the car falling off (the) driveway into ravine of trees” on a snowy December day.
In Medford, Oregon, Mike is the most recent victim of the reluctant traction control system.
“I am a seasoned driver in the snow. I can drive front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. I am a forester and have been driving in snowing conditions for 28 years, 22 of those years on the job,” he wrote. “I just had my first experience driving my Toyota Prius in the snow today. The engine cut out all power anytime the wheels slipped at all.”
Mike said that the traction control failure made driving the vehicle on an uphill climb almost impossible.
“It was very dangerous as you had no control as other vehicles came toward you, and once I lost momentum and could not start again. This was in 2 inches of wet snow on a 6 percent incline. I finally inched my way home and ended up putting chains on to back into my flat driveway with 2 inches of wet snow,” he wrote.
He concluded that the traction control system in the Prius “is absolutely a design flaw.”
Breaking – Snow hits Tokyo…
Welcome, Windsor Star readers.
To start your Monday.
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Related: Coincidence and contradiction
Where the foxes caper unmolested, the government packs your school lunch, and “I’d like you to meet my ‘better quarter’ …”
Husbands with multiple wives have been given the go-ahead to claim extra welfare benefits following a year-long Government review, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
Even though bigamy is a crime in Britain, the decision by ministers means that polygamous marriages can now be recognised formally by the state, so long as the weddings took place in countries where the arrangement is legal.
Wait! There’s more!
Muslim medical students are refusing to obey hygiene rules brought in to stop the spread of deadly superbugs, because they say it is against their religion.
Women training in several hospitals in England have raised objections to removing their arm coverings in theatre and to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands, because it is regarded as immodest in Islam.
Universities and NHS trusts fear many more will refuse to co-operate with new Department of Health guidance, introduced this month, which stipulates that all doctors must be “bare below the elbow”.
The measure is deemed necessary to stop the spread of infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile, which have killed hundreds.
If this has you feeling stressed, please – find a chair, breathe deeply, and think good thoughts… “more pavilions at folkfest… more pavilions at folkfest…”
The voice of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan …
… coming to you from deep in the wilds of Trudeaupian Canuckistan;
It is against Canadian law to do business with the Taliban. This company needs to be reminded of that fact.
Hosting: (where the website is served from)
alemarah.org = 206.53.62.196
company: rcp.net
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
CONTACT COMPLAINTS:abuse@velcom.com
1-905-791-4597
UPDATE – “Cyber-Jihad denied”.
Smalldeadanimals gets results!
“Now, normally, beating up on someone like this isn’t very much fun. But we are talking about a profession that specializes in passing judgment, often snide, on everyone else. And so, onward…“
Heh.
Official NOAA thermometer, Cordova, AK.
SJHL History – 1000 regular season wins for Weyburn Red Wings coach, Dwight McMillan. Congrats! I spent many an hour skating figures on that ice.
“A year ago, we were losing in Iraq. Then the president made the most momentous decision of his presidency.” (A very good read.)
One of the chief reasons behind underfunding of reserves.
Three weeks in.. “I’m guessing that if Kinsella could get his phone calls returned by the OLO, he wouldn’t need to resort to writing “public letters” on his blog”.
Drop yours in the comments.
