Has The Steyn commented on this yet?

If not, I can't wait to hear the fat jokes he'll come up with!

Jeepers, you can't make this stuff up. In Britain, fat jokes are now hate speech. Does it still count if you make fat jokes about yourself? (Especially given that people now have to attend self-esteem classes). Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we, um... lose our sense of proportion (no hateful pun intended).

After an all-party parliamentary committee heard evidence that over half the British public has a negative view of their body image — with girls as young as five worrying about how they look and plastic surgery rates on the rise — they came back with the type of solutions we’ve come to expect from Big Government: Force all school children to attend mandatory self-esteem and body-image classes, and consider including fat people as a protected class under the country’s hate speech laws.

Jesse Kline, National Post

Research shows that programs fail when subjects don't show up

From our Painfully Self-Evident files. Group of genius researchers try "intensive" weight-loss program on a bunch of Aussie girls and it fails abysmally. Problem was, it kinda sounds like hardly any of them wanted to participate in the first place. No, this is not a joke. My latest post on MercatorNet's Family Edge.
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It cracks me up, too.

I hope those glasses are shatter proof.


The Avengers is good, but Bill Bixby is still the real Hulk to me. (Yes, I know that was actually Lou Ferrigno; I didn't think about that when I was six.) The 70's may have been bad in a lot of ways, but you still can't beat their TV theme songs.

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Swerve to smell de soup.

Rest in peace, Jim Unger. Your cartoons were "nuts sing on de roof" .

 Here's a touching farewell sentiment which has become something of a catch phrase with some of my siblings and me.
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Why welfare-state liberals are almost hopelessly obtuse

...most especially the ones who squawk about overpopulation and how we should all stop having babies. They don't really mean it, of course, because who would change their adult diapers when they end up in the nursing home? Please pass the irony supplements.

The brilliant Ramesh Ponnuru at National Review

We still need to have children so that we can enjoy a secure old age. Modern societies have disguised the old bargain by socializing it. They maintain expensive government programs to assist the elderly, financed by successive generations. The children still take care of the elderly when they grow up, but now it’s all the children providing for all the elderly, collectively.

In some ways this arrangement may represent an advance for civilization. Most people seem to think so. But it has a little-appreciated drawback: It imposes a heavy, if hidden, burden on parents, especially those with several children, and societies that adopt it therefore tend to have fewer children. For both moral and practical reasons, it is time to revise the generational bargain again.

He sums up left-lib thinking nicely: "Don’t raise children yourself, but benefit in old age from the fact that others have done so."

One of his conclusions? "We ought to end the federal government’s bias against having children."
Amen, brother.

h/t Pundette
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The Venture will venture no further

We bought a used Chevy Venture minivan a few years ago; I won't say from whom, because I don't want them to feel badly. (Not that it matters; these folks don't read this blog, and besides which, it's really not their fault that the van got old, because that's what vehicles eventually do). But this poor dog of a family conveyance was a money pit on wheels from the get-go.

Quite often wherever you had to get, you just didn't end up going, not without returning home to get another vehicle anyway, or having to be rescued en route to somewhere. It beat its own record for untimely breakdowns once when I picked it up from the repair shop in Town A, and drove about ten minutes (en route to Town B, 30 minutes away) and something ELSE went wrong (not the thing that was wrong when it was in the shop). It ended up in yet another repair shop in Town B. (Luckily, several relatives live there, so I wasn't entirely stranded and alone as I waited for Mr. P. to come rescue the kids and me.)

My last breakdown (or ahem, the van's) occurred on Thursday last. Two gaskets were blown, one in the Venture and one in yours truly. We were informed it will cost over $2000 to repair--far far more than the van is worth if we sold it for cash. So it's time for the Venture to venture to minivan heaven (or more likely, Auto Wreckers 'n Spare Parts purgatory).

It rots to be forced to buy another vehicle right now; heaven only knows what this will do to my kitchen reno budget. You can't drive kids to music lessons in a dishwasher.
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Mrs. B, this may have been meant for us

Since we are both in the throes (or at least the pre-throes) of a total kitchen remodel: The Biggest Kitchen Design Mistakes.

I had a chuckle at #6: Too Much Storage. I was recently in a newly-renovated kitchen (very high end, big wow-factor) and the owner enthused, "You wouldn't believe how many empty cupboards I have!" Almost as though it might be impressive (instead of completely foolish) to have spent $10K more on cabinets than was necessary.

Then there's this link: Easy Ways to Make Your Kitchen New Again. Items 2-8 are good ideas, but not Number 1:

"Put table lamps on your island or dining table"

Because...

a) a common problem in kitchens is having too much empty countertop space

b) there just aren't enough things in the kitchen/dining area that kids can knock over and break

c) nothing enhances your dining experience like (or looks classier than) an electrical cord trailing across the table.
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The Thrill of it All

We were browsing Netflix last Friday evening, looking for good family fare, and stumbled on this 1963 film, starring Doris Day and James Garner. I had never heard of it before, but we thought we'd give it a try. If you've never seen it, read on.

Because I honour the military

And because I don't 'forward' chain emails, not even the ones that ask for prayer. And because I have no use for the scumbag ACLU. I did not compose the text below, but cut and pasted it from the email I received. May God protect our soldiers and bring them safely home. 

ACLU has filed a suit to end prayer from the military completely. They're making great progress. The Navy Chaplains can no longer mention Jesus' name in prayer thanks to the ACLU and others.


'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Prayer Request: When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops around the world.

Of all the gifts you could give a Marine, a Soldier, a Sailor, an Airman, & others deployed in harms way, prayer is the very best one ever.

GOD BLESS YOU FOR PASSING IT !!
PLEASE PASS IT ON !

I know these are not Amerian troops, but I am also pro Israel

Like

I like goofy pet photos, too, but here's something even more enlightening.
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Were you a high school bully?

There's an ab(solution) for that.  If you're actually sorry, of course.

Or you could throw off the fetters of organized religion and just confess to the CBC. It's up to you.
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It better be flippin' huge

if it's going to reach that far.

I just hope that all this "fierce competition" doesn't result in something like this:

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Today is the first day of the rest of your May 2012.

Let us celebrate with a little poetry in honor of my soon-to-be demolished kitchen (and some of its utensils). I call it With apologies to Margaret Wise Brown.

Goodbye, Room.

Goodbye, spoon.

Knock me over with an IUD!

Mainstream U.S. media NOT covering huge national story of huge Catholic lawsuit against the Obama administration! It only makes you look (even more) like fools, people. This lawsuit is Not. Going. Away. I wonder if the CBC is NOT covering it too (I don't watch the CBC...)

Funny how the MSM is there with cameras, boom mikes and a thousand reporters if a pedophile priest farts, but when 40 dioceses file suit against the U.S. gubmint over its attack on religious freedom, suddenly it's "nothing to see here, folks." Come to think of it, the MSM won't report that the HHS mandate IS an attack on religious freedom, so go figure.


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Is your house making you fat?

Oh my. The lengths (and breadths!) people will go to, in order to blame their weight issues on something other than garden-variety gluttony! This article is hilarious and I just had to fisk it. Listed below are the top 11 reasons why your house "could be tricking you into chowing down and gaining weight."

Touché, mon ami.

Peter Stockland (Cardus blog) on Quebec:

Citing former Laval University professor and labour relations specialist Rejean Breton, Martineau renders Quebecers as infantile, self-obsessed fantasists suckling upon the Nanny State.

 How you say? Le OUCH!

The genuine illness in Quebec is fear: authentic, in-dwelling fear that altering anything in the present will inevitably obliterate the future.

Hint for les Québécois concerned about "the future": quit yer whining, get off the streets; go back to church (and to work) and start having babies again. Voila! You will have a future. 

h/t Deborah Gyapong on Facebook

Related: Colin Kerr 

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Why am I not surprised?

Mr. and Mrs. Beazly (Math majors, both), call your office. You might be able to pick up some sweet moolah tutoring basic math to university students in your province.

"We're expressing concern that 8,300 students are taking preparatory and foundational math in first-year college, but the vast majority cover concepts introduced in Grades 6, 7 and 8," co-author and York University professor emeritus of math Graham Orpwood told Parent Central.

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OK, forget the chalkboard

And the bulletin board and the calendar and the daytimer and the sticky notes and the recipe box and the 45 cookbooks and the TV or stereo and the laptop and the recipe card attached to the fridge with a magnet, and yes, maybe even the phone. Turns out all you need for the kitchen is an iPad.

Houzz.com

If the CBC loses "Hockey Night in Canada"

Then TSN can hire Don Cherry and Ron MacLean. Life goes on, and everyone's happy. Except the CBC:

"It’s at a point that, in three years, CBC might just collapse."

h/t SDA, who says, "Don't Tease Us Like That." 

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The Electric Maid for Modern Mothers

If there's anything more fun than looking at kitchen pics, it's looking at vintage and antique kitchen pics.

I love him cuz he makes me laugh

"Entering these murky waters, swimming through it like a crab in Mrs. Warren's tomato mayo..."

One of the most incredible pieces he's ever ever ever written. And that's not hyperbole either.

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Groovy

Because sometimes you just need a break from contemplating the implosion of western civilization. Oh wait, never mind...

I found out about Ethel Smith whilst searching for an old tune titled "Just a Prayer Away". (The girls will be singing it at a seniors' home this Friday night.) Ethel accompanied Bing on this 1944 recording. I dunno, but I think maybe Ethel should have hung it up by the 60s. Just because. But you can't deny what one commenter on this video enthuses: "The girl can really rock an organ!"

The album cover alone makes it eligible for inclusion on The List. 

Just catching up on my Hannan

As he discusses the end of Europe as we know it. 

As long as Europe's élites remain determined to keep the euro, the economic situation will deteriorate. And the worse things get, the likelier people are to demand the high-tax, high-spend policies which caused the mess. The eurozone is now in a vicious circle. 

Over at CMR, Patrick Archbold foresees much worse than tussles over "austerity".
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Thoughts on Europe

This time it's Victor Davis Hanson at NRO.

Not since 1940 has Europe found itself so weak and incoherent in comparison to a unified and solvent Germany. And the present disconnect of nations that did most things wrong publicly demonizing Germans for doing most things right — while privately begging them for more bailout cash and guarantees — simply is politically untenable. If this continues, I would not be surprised to see a Mediterranean Franco, Salazar, Mussolini, or Metaxas emerge soon, albeit in pinstripes and with a tasteful villa on the Mediterranean.

Interesting times ahead.
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The intolerance you tolerate may be your own.

"Tolerance is the virtue of people who don’t believe anything." G.K.Chesterton

Since this month is (wow) half over, I am posting my May column from Catholic Insight. If you are Canadian and Catholic (or either or neither), please consider subscribing to this fine publication. 

On hating hate and tolerating intolerance

A voice crying in the Wildersness

The Steyn. Five pages long, but if you value freedom, worth every minute.

But in the end the quiet life isn’t an option. It’s not necessary to agree with everything Mr. Wilders says in this book — or, in fact, anything he says — to recognize that, when the leader of the third-biggest party in one of the oldest democratic legislatures on earth has to live under constant threat of murder and be forced to live in “safe houses” for almost a decade, something is badly wrong in “the most tolerant country in Europe” — and that we have a responsibility to address it honestly, before it gets worse.

Because it's going to get worse.

"The Western world is shuffling into a psychological bondage of its own making."
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Pro-abortion camp desperate for young blood

(No irony intended)

LSN: Head of NARAL stepping down, wants younger woman to take her place to defend 'choice' for the "next 40 years". (Perhaps the bonny lass below will take the job.) They need some youth to revitalize the pro-abort movement, but can't seem to attract young people to the cause in nearly the same numbers (or zeal!) that the prolife movement does.

This is really a puzzler. I mean, for the most part, the pro-abortion movement is angry, bitter, hate-filled, bigoted (just ask them how they like the Catholic Church), humourless, joyless, occasionally violent, and pro-death: what's not to like?

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I've watched Captain America twice now

...and I'm still confused. Why does the star of the movie die so early in the film?

I'll take it

According to LifeSiteNews' Facebook stats, my Dangerous Housewives article was the second-most read item on LSN this past week. It's still on the "most viewed list" at Merc too. When one's writing career is as 'modest' (ie. relatively unsuccessful) as mine, that's kind of a big thrill. At any rate, it's probably more uplifting than giving a campaign speech in front of someone's garage and having hardly anyone show up for it, and then being told that one of your chosen 'hosts' might not even vote for you.
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From our "Gee, ya think?" files

Extreme hoarding to be classified as a mental illness. I say 'extreme', because I think about 90% of the population is guilty to some extent of hanging onto useless junk that impairs their lives to one extent or another (and are embarrassed about it). Are you stubborn about de-cluttering, a casual packrat or a hardcore hoarder? Find out.  And then if you need to, get help. I'm lucky; I married mine.

Tidy hoarding (but still problematic) 

--this is probably Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Untidy hoarding--yes, that's a microwave, in the livingroom
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I am totally going to do this.

Have a chalkboard in the kitchen. Since our "design aesthetic" (ha ha) is "shabby-eclectic-sorta country-laid back-retro-whatever-we-can-afford-I'm-no-designer-but-I-know-what-I-like-chic" it ought to fit right in. Handy and cute too.

But no chalkboard walls. There is a limit.

March for Life yesterday

Borrowing a pic from Deborah Gyapong (thanks!) Sure wish I could have been there. (I hope the forces for death are quaking in their Birkenstocks...)

Well done, folks! More photos (and links) at Lilley's Pad. (I like his photo of the vicious hooligans in front of the Morgentaler clinic--and I don't mean the police officers sent to protect it, but the potential "rioters").
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March. For. Life.

Be there, or be there in prayer.

The versatile Kevin O'Brien

explains the pyramid scheme that is the American economy (indeed the economy of the entire Western hemisphere): 

That’s the real “product”, not the bottle of herbs and vitamins, but the devotion to the idea that wealth can be produced out of thin air.

The Distributist Review, a wonderful source for anyone wondering if there is a just and workable middle ground between Anarchy (the Occupy movement) and Out-of-control Capitalism. 
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Wondering what to buy Mom for Mother's Day?

I speak in general terms, of course. This post is not pointedly for my children. Yahoo Shine: Half of moms don't like what they get for Mother's Day. (I'd say they are still ahead of the 18% of moms whose families FORGOT Mother's Day entirely.)

What constitutes a 'bad' gift? There is no correct answer to that question. Even a bra in a frying pan conceivably has its place (it would make a great gag gift if your mom was a 70s-era feminist). Moreover, one mom's junk is another mom's treasure, so ultimately, even sites like the one in the photo above  have no real meaning.

Hint: in order to get that perfect Mother's Day gift, don't rely on the advice of strangers! (ie. websites or articles on Yahoo). Instead, make an effort to get to know your mom--her likes and dislikes. I know. It's easier just to go the chocolate/flowers/brunch route. At which I for one would never turn up my nose...
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Pro-abort fembots in dire need of irony supplements

As Andrea at PWPL has pointed out, this Star column on the youth prolife movement in Canada is actually quite balanced (hell freezing over?). But this funny quotation caught my eye. It comes from a disgruntled fembot:

“There used to be the perception that people outside the abortion clinics didn’t have any working uteruses, because they were too old, or men,” she said. “That’s still to some extent true, but definitely there is a huge surge in young people being active in the anti-choice movement.”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I have some questions for her fembot logic (yes, it's an oxymoron; let it go): So you can't have an opinion on abortion unless you have a "working uterus"? Does the anti-life movement kick women out when they reach menopause? Does the movement exclude men? Further extending the logic, do you have to be a person of colour to be against racism? Do you have to be a woman to be a feminist? Do you have to be a child to oppose child porn? Do you have to be an animal to join the SPCA? Do you have to be a vegetable to promote veganism (don't answer that)?

Working uteruses? Um, I hate to be the one to point this out, but if you are on the pill, your uterus doesn't work. If you are using an IUD, your uterus doesn't work. If you are on any injectible long-term slow-release hormonal contraception, your uterus doesn't work. If you are menopausal, your uterus doesn't work. If you have had serious scarring, perforation, damage from contraception or abortion, your uterus very likely doesn't work. If you have had a hysterectomy, your... oh wait, never mind.


Heck, I like this criteria! If only "young" women (of childbearing age), with healthy, functioning uteri are allowed to have an opinion on abortion... our side wins. 

And there's more. Oh my, this lady should really take a crack at stand-up comedy: she continues, saying that the pro-life youth surge is due to "the “big advantage” the pro-life movement has. In many cases it is tied to religious institutions like schools and churches, making it easier to find recruits, she said."

In fact, you can find lots of anti-life sentiment in Canada's schools and (selected) churches. Morever, I can tell you from looooooong experience that most church-folk in this country (even Catholics) are mind-numbingly apathetic when it comes to abortion. So that's not it.

There is a youth surge for pro-life because prolifers HAVE CHILDREN (sometimes, lots of them!) and teach them to value life. Sorry, that's the way things work, ladies. Too bad, so sad. I remember some time back, a waggish feminist columnist wrote a piece called "Omigod, I forgot to have children!"

Yes, ma'm, yes you did.
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Thank heaven for the internet

And may its power increasingly be used only for Good. We all have issues that we are afraid or ashamed to bring into the light of day. The internet assures me that I am not alone.

The one, the only

Jonah Goldberg. This NRO article discusses the one and (thank heaven) only Joe Biden and his numerous gaffes (literally and figuratively):

Biden’s rhetoric often sounds like a stoned teenager talking about food. “Dude, these Cheetos are the best-tasting things ever!”
The word “literally” has taken a beating in the Age of Biden. He’s often proclaimed that Obama had the opportunity “literally to change the direction of the world” (which, if possible, might help fulfill that promise to lower sea levels).

[...] 

Biden’s logorrhea dementia is the most popularly diagnosed malady in political life since Bill Clinton’s priapism. 

Heading to Amazon now to check out Mr. Goldberg's available titles...
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Love comes in all sizes

Meet the Johnstons from Georgia. This lovely, generous family will inspire you. My latest post on MercatorNet's "Family Edge".

Everyone wants to cash in on Mother's Day

Even liquor store owners. Too funny.

Hint, Misses Pinkerton: you know I don't need knicknacks, perfume, or kitchen stuff, and I can't keep houseplants alive. Books, chocolate, CDs, and of course, "bottles" are fine.

Photo found here.

How cool is this?

My "Dangerous Housewives"article on MercatorNet got picked up by LifeSite News! That's a first for me. Thanks, John-Henry, if you made the decision. The article has also been on the "Most Viewed" list at Merc, garnering a bunch of "Likes".

Sometimes you totally need a pick-me-up, especially on a Monday when the usual avalanche of stuff looms...
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Iowahawk's Life of Julia

Chock full of hilarity. In that regard, it's hard to distinguish from the original. 

h/t Pundette

Um, isn't that an oxymoron?

"Realistic fantasy." Heh. MercatorNet's reviewer Harley J. Sims asks:

The slaughter, rape, incest and deceit in "A Game of Thrones" or the nobility and dignity in "The Lord of the Rings"?

That choice is a bit of a no-brainer for me.
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Can we ship some feminists to Afghanistan?

And maybe some assorted Liberals and Democrats too? Cuz there really is a War Against Women going on over there. Hideous.
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Well, one can certainly hope.

"Obama Is Losing His Rock-star Status Among Young Voters" by Michael Barone.

In his campus speeches, Obama stumped for keeping low interest rates on student loans.
But young people may be figuring out that colleges and universities are gobbling up the money government pours in, leaving them saddled with debt.
It's a side issue. The Harvard survey showed 58% of millennials saying the economy was a top issue and only 41% approving Obama's handling of it. Like Romney, they seem to be saying, "It's the economy, and we're not stupid."

Fat lot of good a 'slightly cheaper' student loan (ie. slightly smaller debt) will do, if you can't find a job to pay it off.  As Dennis Prager points out succinctly here, next November's election is not just an election, but a "plebiscite on the definition of America."
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Unnerved

Don't look now, but HuffPo lefty Michael Scarfo discovers there are conservatives in Canada! He talks about attending a Mark Steyn presentation, where he found proof, PROOF, I tell you! One would assume he's talking about April 24's Steynamite, but no. Scarfo is just now getting round to disussing Mark's Cdn appearance from LAST year, for crying out loud. (Buddy, if you're going to try and keep up with Steyn and conservatism in Canada, you'll have to do better than that).

Predictably, he accuses Mr. Steyn of "inciting hatred" and even goes further:

With manipulative orators like Mark Steyn, things unsaid with a well-timed verbal ellipsis can be almost as effective as an overt statement...

Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd say those "things unsaid" that Mark Steyn didn't actually say, would be likely, nay, very likely to possibly offend someone in the future! This constitutes PRE-CRIME! Get out Section 13 and arrest that man! Steyn that is. Oy vay, wait for Scarfo's conslusion:

But Canadians need to take our share of the responsibility for the continued evolution of our collective North American culture. Until we do that, we will keep missing out on opportunities to engage in serious public discourse on pressing social issues...

Gee, Mr. Scarfo, guess WHY we keep "missing opportunities" for discourse? Thanks to political correctness, the MSM, the HRCs, the MONO-culture of UNIversity, left-lib groupthink and so on and so forth, Canadians don't really actually enjoy "free speech." And maybe we should not enjoy free thoughts either, because after all, incorrect thoughts can lead to... things unsaid.

Now please go take your irony supplement.

h/t Steynonline.com
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There is such a thing

...as a bad university education, in much the same way that faulty products exist everywhere in the market. Even when it's a marketplace of ideas, as my pal TC used to say.

The Steyn, National Review (on the Quebec student riots):

Whoever writes the epitaph of Western civilization will marvel at the thoroughness with which higher education led to mass delusion — indeed, mass moronization.

h/t Pundette 

Dangerous Housewives

In which I rant calmly discuss Hilary Rosen and the Dem-fem Creed. My latest article on MercatorNet.

My goodness, he has a way with words

I can feel a journalism-crush coming on for Michael Walsh. Here he dissects Obama's lame campaign slogan "Forward" by pointing out that if anything, the Big 0 is hopelessly stuck somewhere else. (Crush-inducing sentence in red.)

But most students of Obama’s vintage have long since moved on, putting away childish things, as First Corinthians advises. Not Obama. He’s a dandy in aspic, forever suspended in the gelatinous world-view of the angry Baby Boomers who run him. He was their dream candidate come to life, molded and formed in the image and likeness of the “revolutionary” Sixties, his very lack of accomplishment and experience a feature, not a bug. He could be anything they wanted him to be. Unfortunately for him, what they wanted him to be was Abbie Hoffman in a well-tailored suit. It never occurred to them that Abbie would not have made a very good president. Just a destructive one —

h/t Pundette

Update: American Spectator's Jeffrey Lord weighs in on the campaign slogan. He points out that some sorta left-leaning Chinese guys and some extremely right-leaning German dudes used it first.
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My latest posts on MercatorNet

This one is about babies, and this one is about family dinner conversation. Neither one is earth-shaking (in fact, as is often the case, the comments section is better than my post), but Merc always appreciates the hits. And hey, you could leave a comment too.
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"Ms. Harris’s problem was not that she drank Coke"

Have one Coke... not twenty-eight!

National Post's Marni Soupcoff nails it. 

At the end of the day, one of the few health tenets that can be relied upon through the trends, the studies and the ages is “everything in moderation.” Ms. Harris’s death is much more a reminder of that simple, but wise, principle than it is an indictment of the soft drink industry.

But oh, it's so much easier to compare the makers of Coca-Cola to "drug dealers" (I kid you not) and to demand warning labels on pop cans (DO NOT DRINK MORE THAN 28 OF THESE PER DAY" and (quite possibly sometime in the dystopic future), lawsuits against Big Soda. 

Mrs. B, should we just give up and start a "People are tragically imprudent and unwilling to take responsibility for their own lousy decisions" category? 

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This is ugly

This video is hard to watch. It contains no bad language and features some very attractive people. But the sentiments expressed are sad and ugly. There is no other way to see it. Post-modern society prefers to subsist on euphemisms and make-believe, however, so you can't say you weren't warned. It's good satire.

"Cohabitor Vows" posted on MercatorNet by my editor/boss Carolyn Moynihan.


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