The Olympics and stuff

My wife has not been able to get to bed before 1:30 am since August 8. That is about when exhaustion takes over and she can't watch the Olympics anymore. On the other hand, I've watched a little bit but am not glued to the TV like she is.

As for the Chinese women gymnasts, they do look young, but as my wife said, our niece looked 12 last year and now looks 16. She grew a lot and got rid of her braces and if you saw her you would think she is 16/17 not 14. BTW, her father is a black belt in Brazilian Jujitsu if anyone tries to bother her.

So are the Chinese cheating in women's gymnastics? I don't know and at the end of the day, it just doesn't matter. Why? because the ideal of the Olympics is dead and has been dead for decades. The Olympics have been and always will be giving the host country a chance to show off their city. But what about fairness to the athletes from the countries that follow the rules? Well they will have to work harder to compete against underage competitors (who will have their own problems dealing with disappointment and stress of competition). It may not be fair, but then again, neither is life so deal with it and move on.

On to Georgia. Maybe we need to sell some of our cold war surplus M1 and M2's to Georgia for $1 each, load them on ships and send them to Georgia ports escorted by a carrier group and maybe lease a Los Angeles class sub to them as well for maybe $10 a week to open the sea lanes from Russia's blockade. What about Turkey and the Dardanelles and them not liking US warships passing through them? Well if the try to close the straights, well we have a lot of troops just south of them and their troops have/are invading Iraq to suppress the Kurds, we can make life hard for them too if they wish. Yes, this is wishful thinking of sending tanks and making sure the Georgians are properly supplied. Easy to say, hard and risky to do. But if we don't stop Russia here, where do we stop them? The Baltic states? Ukraine? Poland? Germany? why them and not Georgia? What makes them more valuable then Georgia?

On a personal note, work has been nuts and will continue to be so for another month or so with all the changes here, so the boss will be making most of the posts, thanks for making them.

Life in the UK

Two stories about life in the UK, both point to the same thing, the downward spiral of a once (and still) proud people who are giving up the freedoms their fathers and forefathers fought and died for.

In the name of convenience and security, let the government take care of every problem. But to do so, the government must have more and more power. So in the end, the government is blamed for everything bad that happens and the people have no freedoms left because the government needs the ability to snoop to solve the problems. Why do we (humans) always seem willing to trade our freedoms for convenience or supposed safety and security?

Next, I thought the UK had freedom of religion. They may have it on paper, but not in practice.

The State of Britian

Is the UK the new Ireland? By the 1980s, there were more Irish living in the US then in Ireland. Now the UK is seeing a similar net emigration as those who can are leaving. People will vote with their feet when the government shows by its actions it does not care about them.

Hat tip, the Corner at NRO

The Left Wing School Agenda and the Banning of Patriotism

When Churchill was dropped from the UK school curriculum last July, one had to wonder if patriotism itself was next. Now it's official.

The Institute of Education, a leading educational body, has warned teachers not to instill pride in students when speaking of great moments in British History:

This is bad, but unfortunately, California seems determined to catch up.

Here in the US, the leftist agenda is also sinking its teeth into our schools at an equally disturbing pace. Leading the charge is California:
San Francisco is debating an anti-war textbook, which features corporate American celebrating the spoils of war and Ronald Regan hugging Osama Bin Laden. Pete Hammer of the San Francisco Unified School District, who approved the book, says "The topic is one that a lot of teachers would have an interest in bringing into the classroom."
A current bill gaining momentum by California lawmaker Joe Simitian (D - Palo Alto) would require California schools to include climate change as part of the science curriculum.
Last October, "Mom and Dad" were banned from schools, along with "Husband and Wife." In the same bill, public schools were ordered to allow boys to use the girls' restroom or locker room, and vice versa, if they choose.
Last June the state passed a homosexual education bill, which: "...requires textbooks and other instructional resources to cast a positive light on homosexual ‘marriages,' cross-dressing, sex-change operations and every other facet of homosexual and bisexual lifestyles."
More hatred of Israel, as seen by anti-Israel speakers and the atmosphere that appears on the UC Irvine, UC Berkeley and San Francisco State campuses.

Harry Humphries someone you should know

Harry Humphries passed away in January of this year. Who was he?
He

was the adjutant of No 617 Squadron, The Dambusters, when it formed in the spring of 1943 and remained with the unit until a few weeks before the end of the Second World War.

A true British hero who answered his country's call when war broke out, served in a support role that allowed the unit to carry the fight to the enemy and after the war returned to civilian life and picked up where he had left if.

He will be missed.

Thus Proving the Point

A Danish suntan shop was bombed in the midst of a week of riots by Muslim men venting "their anger and frustration towards Danish society by setting fire to cars and burning bonfires in the streets." All this over the publication of a cartoon depicting Muhammad sporting a stick of dynamite as a fashion accessory. Ironic. And there are continued threats against the cartoonist.

In America (or most of the West for that matter) when there is government sponsored art desecrating Christ there is an uproar, some petitions are written, and perhaps even a Senator or two. Never has there been violence over such a thing, even though the shock artist intends to provoke as much reaction as possible. Why? Because we live in a culture where speech is ingrained in our psyche and revered by all. It is a freedom purchased at great and sometimes odious cost. As much as I dislike such antics (and I DO dislike how my tax money supports shock art), I suck it up because the same freedom that allows me to write in this blog allows for disrespect of what I hold dear. Such are the allowances we must make in a liberal democracy and we have been raised in such way by our parents and teachers.

How are these Muslim youths raised? What is taught in their homes? When they attend mosque and their daily prayers, what are the things revered by their teachers? It is true a single action speaks louder than words, but that solitary event is not entirely silent--a bombing of a tanning salon speaks volumes.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Global Warming

LEGENDARY Nessie hunter Robert Rines is giving up his search for the monster after 37 years.

The reason???

Rines believes that Nessie may be dead, a victim of global warming.

You can't make this stuff up.

Hat tip NRO

UK and US myths

By not bothering to teach history, 23% of the people living in the UK think Winston Churchill was a mythical figure and not a real person. The man died in 1965 so its not like it is hard to find people who were alive when he was around. But it shows the state of education and culture in the UK, they have stopped honoring their heroes out of fear of offending someone or because the hero was not perfect in the modern eyes of the public or elite.

Rosie O'Donnell is now claiming President Bush almost killed her in 2000. She was so distraught he had become the Republican nominee, she went fishing and cut herself with a knife which almost killed her. Because the evil Republicans nominating Bush, its Bush's fault she hurt herself when going fishing. Amazing.

The future of the UK

Turning the UK from a nominal Christian nation to a Muslim nation politically. Will the US follow suite?

Is the UK out of its bleeding mind???

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.

I'm speechless.

Leave it to the French

To decide free shipping by Amazon isn't French. In fact, it's unlawful:

That law forbids booksellers from offering discounts of more than 5 percent off the list price, and Amazon was found to be exceeding that discount when the free shipping was factored in.

The beauty of all this? The lawsuit leading the court to rule against Amazon was brought by the plaintiff, the French Booksellers' Union. What is it with European unions and governments where they seemingly do what they can to disallow competitive business practices? This sort of law only destroys pricing competition; without which the consumer ends up paying more. Perhaps you end up with more mom and pop shops staying in business, but isn't that a choice that the consumer should make?

You know, in America we call that price fixing. Good for the citizens of France, they're protesting via an online petition (sponsored by Amazon, of course). Bless their consumer hearts.

(courtesy of Ars)

Powered by ScribeFire.