October 31, 2008
Going John Galt
That Anonymous story about tipping the homeless instead of your waiter is making the rounds; the Instawife reposts a version of it left in her comments section. Dr. Helen improves on the meme with the following and I think if we had deployed this strategy six months ago the election would not even be close.
HOPE AND CHANGE FOR AMERICA: Spreading the Wealth Around.
In lieu of a tip, $_____ has been donated to the Re-Elect Obama for President Campaign. Thank you for supporting the man and the movement that are bringing America together!
If enough people leave notes like this, I'm sure it will galvanize waitpeople everywhere in support of The One!
Add cab drivers to the list.
Hollywood Director Attack Ads
John McCain turns to famous Hollywood directors for help with his attack ads (Part I, Part II). This via Hot Air, correct to point out Part II is a great improvement over Part I. David Lynch has sealed the deal for me: Vote McCain!
A barack in disguise
One thing for which I thank the junior Senator from Illinois: Many supposed conservatives have shown their true colours as this man has slouched toward the White House. These are people I would have trusted if, say, we were faced with World War Z. Now I know better. No matter the outcome of next week's poll, and no matter what these charlatans will have to say for themselves should John McCain become President, I will not forget. With their every word I will hear the voice of Grima Wormtongue. They have chosen their master. Let them learn the species of generosity for which his camp followers are famous.
In this sense, Barack is indeed a blessing. I would call it a small blessing for a blighted world. But if things get ugly it may be the greatest favour he could have possibly done civilization. It is said the forces of darkness are often their own undoing. Now we know who to turn away at the gate; who to leave to the zombies.
Tim Curry: Anything can happen on Hallowe'en
This is goth Christmas, btw. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance (via Coilhouse).
Goth make-up tutorial No. 1
Adora BatBrat demonstrates (silly, nsfw lyrics in accompanying music).
Best. Vampire. Evar.
Which vampire kills the competition?
(via Agent Bedhead)
October 30, 2008
Dark times demand dark music
Attentive Flea-readers will have noticed The Summer Glau Chronicles was nowhere to be found this week. Not to worry, it returns November 3. What even the most attentive Flea-readers may not have noticed are the discreet star tattoos Lena Headey - Sarah Connor of the show's lay title - sports on each forearm. They are quite fetching.
Pic related. Is Lena Headey.
Now that I have your attention: I am playing a darkwave/industrial set at Savage Garden as part of tonight's Devil's Night festivities. M00nBass, DIFF_CULT and Witchmaker make up the rest of tonight's line up; I will be on at 10 (allowing my suburban friends to get home before the TTC turns into a pumpkin).
New Order: Touched By The Hand Of God
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Television under the swastika
The Daily Mail reports Hitler's plan for Big Brother style television broadcast and surveillance; worth the read for the comments alone. Almost everyone agrees the BBC has seen Hitler's vision through (via Agent Bedhead).
All very interesting. But Michael Kloft’s documentary on the history of Nazi television, Television Under The Swastika suggests plans were much further along that this Daily Mail piece might suggest, Nazi television was broadcasting well before the War.
The cowgirl bathing suit lasso routine kitsch is fun, of course, and instructional in a bread and circuses way. But my favourite footage shows the Führer adopting his usual commanding position in his staff car and a brief look of consternation as it sets off in reverse. In the days of live television broadcast, Hitler's message was bound to suffer the occasional set-back of this kind. Today's left-stream media would have found a way to carry his water for him.
Everyone would have laughed
Most notorious for the torture and murder of Jean Moulin and for ordering the deportation of 44 Jewish orphans to their deaths, SS-Hauptsturmführer, soldier and Gestapo member, Klaus Barbie personally raped, tortured and murdered in pursuit of his duties as Nazi proconsul of Lyons. Decades later, after leading a full life in South America, Barbie was belatedly brought to trial in France. What should have been an open and shut case was instead taken as an opportunity by the far left and the far right to come together and put France herself on trial.
This should all sound distressingly familiar.
On the day before the verdict of Barbie's trial, Alain Finkielkraut, one of France's foremost moderate thinkers and the son of survivors of Auschwitz could be found outside the Palais de Justice and he was visibly upset by what he saw. "Imagine," he said with more than a hint of bitter irony in his voice, "that we're in 1945, at the end of the war, and someone says, 'you'll see, in twenty or thirty years when they accuse and condemn a Nazi torturer, it'll be the 'subhumans' who will defend him.' Everyone would have laughed."
Not any more. Not when the show trials start in Congress next year. Not when that same Congress enacts Canadian-style "human rights" star chambers. Not when Chicago education professors are called upon to draft the laws establishing them. Not when three new Supreme Court Justices ratify their validity in the face of the Constitution.
Substitute 9/11 for Holocaust and you find an agenda shared by the radical left and the radical right in raping the memory of the dead in service of destroying the United States and replacing democracy with a global apartheid (though that arm-band is now called "multiculturalism"). The difference between the two ends of the political spectrum is more than an aesthetic preference for this or that historic fascism. It is that the radical right is confined to a handful of basements and internet chat rooms. The radical left, by contrast, has taken control of the media, the university system, the entertainment industry, much of the judicial system and is now attempting to steal the presidency.
Arm yourselves while you still can.
October 29, 2008
Nick Drake: Riverman
Wish I made this. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Legend of the Seeker
Sam Raimi and Rob Tappert have a new television series based on The Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind.
One can only assume Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi have cameos. Some aspects of the world must still exhibit perfect symmetry.
October 28, 2008
Wear plenty of sunscreen
Fallout 3 launches today. To those of us without the right cultural capital, this Fallout Retrospective is an invaluable introduction to the before of the game. A five part gameplay demo introduces the new arrival.
Related: Killer ants. Also, girls, guns and garden gnomes.
Odds and ends
A number of Flea readers kindly keep me up to date with steampunk products on the internet; much appreciated though not always linked. One advantage of the (admittedly limited) popularity of the style is the increasing cottage industry of kit bashers large and small making their wares available for purchase. Take this Nerf rocket blaster modded as a cosplay steampunk ray gun. Sweeter yet, this Nerf Maverick steampunk mod. These auctions will soon be done but future retro-future eBay Victoriana may be found at Steampunk Attire, a specialized link filter dedicated to the subject.
Closer to the cyber end of the spectrum of post-industrial fashion is my new favourite design house, Alexander Hi Tek, a kind of style successor to Storm London. Sunglasses and watches are central to the current line but I am particularly impressed by this mask and - for the ladies - this extraordinary hat.
Flea Towers is undergoing redecoration and, were I to prioritize knick-knacks over ceiling fans, this Hunley Civil War submarine replica would be close to the top of the list. Given a larger budget, I would spring for this light up special edition Tokyo Disneyland opening 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea submarine Nautilus. With yet more mad money, Flea readers can say damn the torpedoes and mod their own Nautilus minisub and working Nemo suit.
Finally, my hat collection. Now wondering what a French military police M1912 goes for when such a beast is made available at auction. This is perhaps the ultimate in martial industrial stagewear.
Uniting Nations: Ai No Corrida (as interpreted by the Tokyo Dance Trooper)
Don't give up! Stand your ground! Fight! Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Bonus and extra: Tokyo Rock Trooper.
Messy war
As experience in Afghanistan and Iraq turns from theory to practice, opposition grows toward Future Combat Systems and the Revolution in Military Affairs.
In a new paper, Army Col. H.R. McMaster, definitely a member of the messy war group, calls for abandoning so-called transformation, which is intellectually rooted in the idea of a Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA). McMaster, of 73 Easting and Tal Afar fame, is a highly influential soldier-scholar who is currently putting together a brain trust for Gen. David Petraeus to review U.S. policy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan.
McCain asks if we know the real Obama
But do we know the real John McCain?
October 27, 2008
Dean Barnett, rest in peace
I am very sorry to pass on the news Dean Barnett has died, aged 41. I would like to offer my prayers to his family and friends. He will be sorely missed by those of us who were just his fans.
His appearances as guest host on the Hugh Hewitt Show were always welcome. He was gracious with people from across the political spectrum, had an engaging temperament and subtle wit that will not be replaced; in short, the model of a gentleman in an ungentlemanly age.
Hugh Hewitt remembers.
Had he had more time, he would have been one of the great influences on the GOP for as long as he lived, probably because he valued and used every minute he had.
Chowda. Rest in peace.
Update: Kathy Shaidle is linking remembrances and updates.
Generally speaking, people don't listen until it is too late
Your result for How Long Would you Survive in a Horror Film?...
The Horror Aficionado
Take How Long Would you Survive in a Horror Film?
Related: The Creeping Terror. Also, Sigourney Weaver almost gets naked at the end of Alien but then Ripley was not a virgin.
Where will China get the weapons and ammunition to wage a war of liberation?
Someone should tell the Onservatives about that last one.
More Robert Taber inspired thinking to follow, especially if things go badly on the 4th. I guarantee you the PUMAs are already thinking along these lines; you cannot steal an election in the United States - really steal, not selected/elected "steal" - without a revolutionary impulse rising in the hearts of patriots.
Important note: I am interested in means rather than ends with these links. I am four-square in favour of nuclear power and suspect I would disagree most policy issues with the author of these letters. Even so, he has interesting things to day about taking on tyrannical elites. There is the faith of our fathers. Then there is the practice of our fathers. Time to review the Federalist Papers too...
FYI: The tag line and question are quotes from Chairman Mao, a man who knew a thing or two about fighting and winning when out gunned. Again, ends vs means.
Related: The nuclear plant is everywhere!
A parable of hope and change
Lifted from an Anonymous.
Once in the Doe's my waiter had on an "Obama 08" tee shirt.
When the bill came, I decided not to tip the waiter and explained to him while he had given me exceptional service, that his tee shirt made me feel he obviously believes in Senator Obama's plan to redistribute the wealth. I told him I was going to redistribute his tip to someone that I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. He stood there in disbelief and angrily stormed away.
I went outside, gave the homeless guy $3 and told him to thank the waiter inside, as I had decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy looked at me in disbelief but seemed grateful.
As I got in my truck, I realized this rather unscientific redistribution experiment had left the homeless guy quite happy for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn.
Well, I guess this redistribution of wealth is going to take a while to catch on, with those doing the work.
October 26, 2008
Black Thong Stretching Trio
Knew I forgot something today. Basically I spend most of my time lately in a blood red rage. Fortunately, I have the internet. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance (nsfw but I take it you don't work on Sunday).
Update: Belatedly decided I should expand on the blood red rage issue having avoided it due to blood pressure issues. This business with the cigarette almost sent me off the deep end.
October 25, 2008
Rachel Stevens: Knock On Wood
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
The silenced majority
Zombietime considers the Democrats' meta-campaign and argues they have adopted the worst possible strategy; bluffing when they are going to have to show their hand on November 4. This is an in interesting read, perhaps the most interesting piece on strategy I have read this year.
Best of all, it points to Richard Nixon's answer to the problem of dealing with media bias.
In 2008 there is no silent majority: there is the silenced majority. The unpolled majority. The media is so pro-Obama that the views and the concerns of McCain supporters are for the most part ignored or, at best, mocked. The goal is to foster disillusionment among them, a sense of isolation. To trick the Republicans into all staying home on election day because "there's no hope of winning." Maybe the Democrats can't avoid a showdown on November 4, but if they can convince enough McCain supporters to individually "fold" and not vote at all, then Obama can carry the day.
Update: The Jawas.
Despite a FULL-COURT PRESS by the mainstream media, Ohio and Florida are now moving into the McCain column. Pennsylvania is trending to McCain, also.
DO NOT believe the hype, folks.
Get to your ass the polls. Get your family to the polls. Get your friends to the polls.
MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
HOLD THE LINE.
This is just as true for Republicans/PUMAs/Independents/conservative Democrats/the sane living in blue states. Every down ticket vote counts for or against a moonbat controlled Congress and a McCain presidency will go easier with a clear victory in the popular vote.
October 24, 2008
Here are some pictures of Eva Green
I am having an honesty in materials moment. The article is interesting too, actually (via Agent Bedhead)
Related: Eva Green for Dior Midnight Poison, Breil and Heineken. She has a lovely laugh in that last one, all the more so for being unexpected.
In case I forgot to mention it earlier: Tom Ford is the new tailor to James Bond.
Gary Numan: Me I Disconnect From You
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.*
* Yes, it's a Scientology reference. Numan had been reading William Burroughs who, in turn, had a fling with Scientology in the late '60s before getting turned off.
Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat
Despite recent unpleasantness in Georgia, and a dimwitted refusal to appropriately discern its friends from its enemies, a strong Russia is not only in the short term interest of the free world, it is in the long term interest of democracy. It is difficult to be too hard on Russia's corrupt leadership, blinkered as it is by anti-Americanism; these are features of every European government saved by the United States in World War II.
50 billion dollars in Russian military spending in 2009 may sound alarming but I find the prospect they may not be able to pay for it far more alarming. A Russian military "running on fumes" is inherently more destabilizing than even the most belligerent Russian policy in the near abroad.
Related to my point: India is building airfields along the border with China.
More than meets the eye: A previously classified Northrop Grumman video of the X-35 prototype for the short take-off/vertical landing variant of the F-35 joint strike fighter.
October 23, 2008
Damn you, Alexis Denisof
10/11: A day that lives in infamy (this disaster via Agent Bedhead, who is famous, btw). Console yourself with images from before the naqba.
Real Life: Send Me An Angel
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
The better Bond
Daniel Craig offers an extremely gracious answer to a somewhat delicate question. His answer is, of course, entirely wrong headed. Of the two presidential candidates, who would make the better Bond?
Craig doesn’t hesitate. “Obama would be the better Bond because—if he’s true to his word—he’d be willing to quite literally look the enemy in the eye and go toe-to-toe with them. McCain, because of his long service and experience, would probably be a better M,” he adds, mentioning Bond’s boss, played by Dame Judi Dench.
Sure, excepting the part about how James Bond kills men like Bill Ayers. Bernardine Dohrn would initially survive due to being a woman but due to leftist hubris her pitchfork Nazi salute would come out and Bond, to great audience applause, would kill her as an aside on the way out the door. Other than that and the fact McCain is the real deal, sure, I can see Obama as James Bond.
Or possibly Felix Leiter.
If Felix Leiter was a Marxist CIA agent.
But I repeat myself.
Ok, I think I can stop beating this horse now. Looks good and dead to me.
In all the empty places where you must walk
The Indian navy sallies out against jihadi pirates based in east Africa. About time, observes an Indian public wondering what the point is of supporting a large navy if the Indian government is "too weak" to use it.
The Indian Navy currently has 156 ships and 35 under construction, ranking it in the top 5 in the world in total numbers. In terms of numbers of modern ships, the Indian Navy will soon have more aircraft carriers, more amphibious ships, more major surface combatants, more submarines, more ships in the flotilla, and a larger auxiliary than any Navy in Europe, including Britain, Russia, and France. True they will not be as advanced in terms of technology, but a decade of buying American could change that in a hurry for India.
The numbers are impressive and - with the will - could be the shield of the civilized world in the coming darkness.
Related and awesome: The Indian Navy saree uniform.
Also related: Sovereign and mobile territory. GlobalSecurity offers a nifty graphic representation of aircraft carrier size comparisons.
America has twice as many aircraft carriers as the rest of humanity combined, and America's aircraft carriers are substantially larger than almost all the other's aircraft carriers. The Navy likes to call the big Nimitz class carriers "4.5 acres of sovereign and mobile American territory" -- all two dozen American carriers of all classes add up to about 75 acres of deck space. Deckspace is probably a good measure of combat power. The rest of the world's carriers have about 15 acres of deck space, one fifth that of America's.
Also awesome: An animated naval gun turret, based on a British 15 inch gun turret Mark 1.
October 22, 2008
The Green Fairy
Perhaps the ultimate gothic tipple, Pernod Absinthe returns after a 93 year absence.
I am also on the market for a Danger Bomb Clock. I think these are a very good idea.
Unrelated: Some people liked my "big butts" post the other day but this is the best blog post headline of the year.
Adamski feat. Nina Hagen: Get Your Body
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Related: Time for me to learn German.
Be regular and orderly in your life, that you may be violent and original in your work
If my financial situation was slightly better organized - and I had less work to do in the next few days - I would make my way to Chicago's Packer Schopf Gallery this weekend to take in Clive Barker's concept paintings for Midnight Meat Train.
Related: The trailer.
October 21, 2008
An unbroken line
Dan Gardner argues for a view of Canadian history that is not constricted to our current geography but part of a "grand, complex, interwoven saga spanning much of the globe". I could not agree more. While I am appalled to discover a new generation of undergraduates with no exposure to Animal Farm or 1984*, I cannot say Canadian history was taught well when I was teenager. Wet blanket, decontextualized nationalism was the order of the day and I expect this has not changed. The first formal exposure I had to Canadian history was through Manifest Destiny, a text on American history that shed some glimmer of light on events north of the border as part of a bigger picture.
Gardner goes on to critique Paul Gross latest acting/directorial effort about Canadian involvement in the War to End All Wars, Passchendaele.
The hero, a Canadian soldier played by Gross, is everything the Brit is not. Honest. Plain-talkin'. Brave in battle. He has no use for politics, doesn't care how the war started, and is loyal only to his comrades in the trenches.
The sharp division Gross draws between Canadian and Brit -- with the British Empire shoved over to their side of the line, thank you very much -- is also thoroughly modern. Canadians today see this country as a sovereign nation with no special link to Britain. The British Empire is, at most, an embarrassing reminder of the time when we were colonial subordinates; for many, it is a costume drama set in India.
Writing for The Torch, Mark C. points to a difficulty with this thinking - beyond its simple minded anti-Brisih cultural cringe; the bulk of Canadian volunteers were recent British immigrants. It is not clear to me if Gross' film draws the sharp line between British and Canadian an anachronistic nationalism would draw, I have yet to see the piece. If it does, this is as much a symptom of (English) Canada's failure to teach its own history as it is a repetition of it. It is also not clear to me the film will take a pacifist position or whether it will restate the opinion of every elderly relative I spoke with who lived through the thing, viz the Great War was a pointless, tragic waste. If so, this is at least a defensible point of view and one not to be confused with Hollywood's evil vogue for substituting a government conspiracy for every real world instance of jihadi activity.
I am prepared to give Paul Gross the benefit of the doubt. The Passchendaele trailer suggests to me a love story set in a time of great challenge and upheaval and, quite possibly, a story about what it is to be Canadian that includes bravery, sacrifice and feats of arms. I will put up with some (entirely justifiable) condemnation of Britain's decisions in the field for a Canada that includes an heroic army. It is nothing but the truth and it is a story we need now.
Paul Gross appears to believe the same. His words:
The Dominion Institute is on board with what appears to be a reasonable education guide and a film-related contest for young people. It is a start.
* It is not an accident these have disappeared down the memory hole. The Establishment has decided it is more important for you to feel empowered than for you to be empowered.
Mario Basanov & Vidis feat. Jazzu: I'll Be Gone
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Float like a butterly, sting like a Flea
I AM THE GREATEST!
Your result for The Personality Defect Test... Braggart
To put it less negatively:
1. You are more RATIONAL than intuitive.
2. You are more EXTROVERTED than introverted.
3. You are more GENTLE than brutal.
4. You are more ARROGANT than humble.
Compatibility:
Your exact opposite is the Bitch-Slap.
Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Hand-Raiser, the Haughty Intellectual, and the Capitalist Pig.
Take The Personality Defect Test at HelloQuizzy
October 20, 2008
But that is another story
The Summer Glau Chronicles is now confirmed for the remainder of its second season including not only the two new episode orders but the full back nine. Which for some reason sounds like a double entendre in this context now I come to think of it (hat tip to Agent Bedhead).
Related: Girls with guns.
Also related: Cat that looks like Summer Glau (according to Kathy).
Totally unrelated expect for the River/Riverbank pun that is not coming to me and, let's face it, would have been a stretch anyway: Tales of the Riverbank - The Riverbank Clock.
Reason nobody is watching television: Girls burping, dancing and smoking cloves on YouTube is miles better. This last one makes me yearn for the days when eating a piece of cake could take an afternoon. Young people have a lot more time to waste. This blog keeps me too busy in the pixel mines for that sort of frivolity.
Martha And The Muffins: Echo Beach
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
< girlfriend =
> awesome!
Now all he needs is beer and pizza and life is complete.
October 18, 2008
I do indeed like big butts; I refuse to pretend otherwise
io9 tracks down Frank Frazetta's Battlestar Galactica on-line masterpieces (my headline stolen from an io9 commenter).
Worth every penny. And yet another reason George Lucas is doing it wrong.
That said, I got round to watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and I have to say I am with Butters, I thought it was pretty good.
Tangentially related: Stills from the forthcoming Star Trek reboot. I am sceptical about the entire project but Sylar is rocking the Spock ears.
MGMT: Kids
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance (hat tip to SondraK).
Vet the media
An excellent idea.
After all, far more turns on the questions they ask and... refuse to ask, more importantly.
October 17, 2008
Tangerine Dream: Deadly Silver Crosses
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Life of Barian
The paper cups are important but don't forget the sandal and the gourd.
“I’ll do whatever he says to do,” actress Halle Berry said to the Philadelphia Daily News. “I’ll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear.”
Welcome to the cult of Barack Obama.
According to Omen III: The Final Conflict, The Antichrist comes from Chicago. Just saying. Anyone got a line on the Seven Sacred Daggers of Megiddo? Heed the warning: Attractive, brilliant, charismatic. He is one step away from the most important position on Earth.
October 16, 2008
No, Mr. Bond. I want you to get by on a UK civil servant's salary.
Yes, I would like to travel more and - given I have a week off for the first time in two years coming up in a few days - a little more time to pursue my various hobbies. As a general rule, however, I do not have ambitions to fantastic, unearned wealth and a life of sybaritic ease.
Which is just as well because if I did aspire to such a thing I would want to do it properly; no half measures. Mega-yachts are for the weak: I will have a giga-yacht.
You could hear the sound of penises shrinking from as far away as San Remo when “A” dropped anchor in the bay of Cannes recently. You could hear the sound of Billionaire’s accountants calculating the cost of building a more spectacular boat about thirty seconds later.
I will have an Aston Martin One-77 too, thank you very much.
Update: YouTube video of Blohm + Voss' monster creation.
Robyn: Cobrastyle
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
October 15, 2008
Please put me back in the water
All Canadians stop whatever it is you are doing.
Here at last: Paddle To the Sea.
The 1966 film version seen here was eventually nominated for an Academy Award two years later in 1968, for Best Short Film, because it was so beautifully done by the director - Canadian naturalist, master canoeist, artist and filmmaker Bill Mason.
Bill personally hand-carved from wood, in meticulous detail very faithful to the book illustrations, the beautiful wooden "Paddle" models seen in the film.
This story (both book and film version) has been loved by generations of school children for decades as they learn about the history of the Great Lakes region of North America while they follow the exciting adventures of a brave toy Wooden Indian in his tiny but sturdy Canoe (hand carved by a Native Canadian boy from Nipigon Country).
Relate: Wayne Omaha explain the emotional resonance of the film. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
This is your future
My American cousins, protect your republic from cultists. Watch this Los Angeles City Council public hearing on September 17, 2008 regarding L Ron Hubbard Way street closures and do something about it. This just leaves my blood boiling. Watch it and imagine a town, a state or the country were it to fall into the hands of Scientology.
Residents of L Ron Hubbard Way: This sounds like a class action suit. Do not bother suing Scientology, sue the City of Los Angeles. Embarrass them. Make it their problem.
October 14, 2008
God help us
CBC Radio is now projecting a Conservative minority government. Hooray! Money well spent, I say. Congratulations everyone for wasting our time yet again and especially to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Her Majesty's time waster in chief. One bit of good news: Having refused to hand the Conservatives a majority, we can look forward to another two or three years of federal government not entirely beholden to the province of Quebec.
A special shout out to Michael Ignatieff, tonight the happiest man in Canada.
Update: Another thought... no Greens elected. Evidently it will take more than two generations of lies about "the environment" to convince Canadians to entrust the Green party with a seat. Good. After this election, I consider them to be Canada's postmodern equivalent of the Nazi party; riddled with Truthers, defeatists, anti-Semites, Luddites, fantasists, health nuts, economic illiterates and people who are somehow proud to value the landscape over human life. When cornered, the party would disavow Truther or anti-Semite candidates yet somehow these people felt at home in the party in the first place. Barring the due diligence of the blogosphere -- and hard evidence -- the party would not have ferreted out their Truther and anti-Semite views as a matter of course; I believe those views would have stuck out to me in a casual conversation.
Free to oppose what I believe wrong
Today we have the opportunity to exercise our franchise, should we choose to do so. On this and every other day we have the right to speak our minds. Or rather, we used to. No matter who is elected to represent you or who our representatives choose to support for our next government, every member of Parliament might usefully be reminded of the words of John Diefenbaker.
He never added the caveat, "so long as nobody might be offended".
"I am a Canadian,
a free Canadian,
free to speak without fear,
free to worship God in my own way,
free to stand for what I think right,
free to oppose what I believe wrong,
free to choose those who shall govern my country.
This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold
for myself and for all mankind."
- John Diefenbaker
House of Common Debates, July 1, 1960*
Related: For context, and our American cousins, John F. Kennedy in Ottawa, May 18, 1961.
"We do not seek the unanimity that comes to those who water down all issues to the lowest common denominator or to those who conceal their differences behind fixed smiles or to those who measure unity by standards of popularity and affection instead of trust and respect."
His words might also usefully be remembered on a day of fixed smiles.
* With thanks to Covenant Zone for the correct quotation and who has posted more Canadian quotes on the subject of freedom.
Update: Kathy Shaidle.
Can you imagine a Canada in which school kids recited this each day like the Pledge? Naw, me neither. But it's fun to think about.
Update: Blazing Cat Fur lists everyone who participated in today's blogburst. God bless Canada.
Still... it's a start.
Shania Twain: That don't impress me much
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Edible Ballot Society
I had been planning to make a trip to my local polling station today to carry out one of my favourite hypothetical rituals, refusing a ballot. Having voted for Elvis some time ago, I decided it was time to move beyond producing spoiled ballots and to effectively vote none of the above. Thanks to David Warren, I now understand this is not an option. At least I am not alone in having confused Ontario provincial election law with the Canadian federal equivalent; most polling officials would not have a clue the practice exists anywhere (hat tip to the Parental Units of the Flea and to Five Feet of Fury).
The idea of an aroused citizenry, forcing one byelection after another, in riding after riding, until the parties agree to run some plausible candidates, deeply appeals to me. Better yet, I should like to see a Parliament emerge with, say, five Conservatives, three Liberals, two New Democrats, and 298 independents.
God, yes. Let us change the law at once. I expect Stephen Harper will get to it as soon as we have a Triple E Senate and the GST is repealed. Once we may legally refuse ballots, I have a further request aspiration demand, viz the right to eat my ballot (admit it: you want to as well).
Failing that, Elections Canada might have the courtesy to include a note on their website to the effect Canadians do not have the right to formally refuse their vote. Don't count on it happening any sooner than conservative reforms from our ersatz Conservative party; too many bums are keeping their seats warms in federal offices to encourage the electorate to get off theirs and do something about it.
If you want my cynicism you will have to take it from my cold dead hands
A minor observation concerning my feelings on the subject but I thought it was a reasonably clever way to end a post. I am delighted to learn Mark Steyn also says if the Obama's want his cynicism they will have to take it from his cold dead cynical fingers. Great minds, etc. (toward the end of the interview, courtesy of Free Canuckistan!).
October 13, 2008
Christopher Hitchens endorses Barack Obama for President
The only operative part of that sentence is the phrase "used to".
* Via Will. And another tip of the hat to Ace for his skull. I should probably get my own animated siren going on. The idea is to attract attention.
How about this?
Update: It is not as if the Hitch is never wrong. He is wrong about Israel, wrong about the Elgin Marbles and has a bee in his bonnet (to which I am often sympathetic) when it comes to religious crazies (a category into which I understand I might arguably fall). I assume it is this last which has him concerned about Sarah Palin.
I further assume he has decided Obama is lying in his repeated claims to be Christian; on this last point we agree. But -- and this is the but to end all buts -- neither McCain nor Palin have assumed a quasi-Messianic mantle to make their case for the offices to which they aspire. And they neither have belonged to a racial separatist "church". So, while I share Hitchens' concern in principle I think he is dead wrong in practice. This is the wrong call.
Stop Harper!
Fenris Badwulf reports on a meeting of extreme far-right Christian extremist right-wing, right-wing bloggers said to have taken place somewhere in downtown Toronto over the weekend.*
Fenris might be joking about the mass arrest lists. I am convinced we could do with a good mass arrest or two if I'm honest; I update my lists regularly. Yet another thing I have in common with Pierre Trudeau.
As to the groupies, the insolence! My very presence is a cold breeze. RTWT.
* Whence the graphic, courtesy of Five Feet of Fury (and the Communists, obviously).
The Odinga Identity
Raila Odinga is just another corrupt machine politician dhimmi murdering swine stupid name guy in Barak Obama's neighbourhood. Or rather, tribe. Unlike Obama's spotty church attendance, debatable choice of babysitters or somewhat recent ex-girlfriends, Odinga may prove more difficult to throw under the bus. For one thing, Odinga's friends are jihadis and his supporters lock women and children in churches, set fire to them and machete anyone attempting to flee.
In other words, men who play actual hard ball rather than the McCain variety. It is not that I think Obama lacks spine, I credit him with more than 99 out of 100 of his supporters. But I think the man has yet to learn there are situations you cannot talk your way out of.
On a related note: I am beginning to like the sound of President Biden. Assuming the networks and voter registration fraud give Obama his margin, I suspect the DNC will feel much the same as soon as the first indictments come down in the spring. These will be for real crimes in a time of war; not Clintonian venality. Failing the justice system, Obama is still going to figure out he is not in Chicago anymore and -- despite his friends in Hollywood, the universities and the "mainstream" media -- there are lines he cannot cross. Frankly, he has already sailed right over a number of them. At some point, the people are going to notice.
Old Patriot comments at Rantburg:
Provided they can take a pause in their crying-jag-as-life-strategy long enough to get the message, this is something the left might usefully remember the next time they accuse the right of plotting violence. It is not a subject we joke about (ok, so we do: see two posts above; my hyperbole gland is trying to compensate for an excess in my bile duct today). There is an expression progressives may have heard but most likely never understood, certainly not on the visceral level of any conservative worthy of the name:
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
I am referring to Mad King George and his Hessian mercenaries, you understand. Obama's friends in the Umma take a different long historical view. They have high expectations of an Obama presidency; he will find it all too easy to disappoint them.
October 12, 2008
Gregorian Mode: Blasphemous Rumours
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
October 11, 2008
Talks to free Ukrainian arms ship collapse: pirate spokesman
So reads the headline of an AFP article. Flea-readers will be as shocked as I am too see their insensitivity repeated in the lede.
I see, so pirates have "spokesmen" now do they?
Note to AFP: This is 2008. Your pirate "spokesman" is more properly referred to as a "spokesperson" or simply "spoke"; an editorial change is in order. Your adoption of gender neutral/gender fair language could avoid perpetuating stereotypes of pirates as men engaged in hijacking, kidnapping, murder and rapine. A gender neutral diction would more properly reflect the possibility of female pirates engaged in hijacking, kidnapping, murder or rapine or, indeed, transgendered pirates. This discursive shift would open doors/portholes/hatchways for young people of any gender or of indefinite gender orientation previously discouraged from a career in pirate representation by the patriarchal language of domination sadly characteristic of French press reportage.
Shame on you, AFP.
Related: The IMB live piracy map for 2008. If only we could use this map to infer a shared culture or worldview serving to justify acts of piracy to the men who engage in them; some motivating ideology which leads the pirates to believe their victims are less than human and deserving of their fate. Oh well, some things will probably always be a mystery.
October 10, 2008
If you win, you're still a rat
I love Toronto's Chinatown on Spadina for the groceries and for the restaurants and for the shopping. What I do not love are the squalid piles of garbage, the inconsiderate and dangerous driving or the system of apartheid city governance which creates both problems by enforcing the law for some but not for others. Take, for example, yet another instance of rats frolicking in a restaurant window. Much as progressives do not believe Muslim women deserve the same protection of the law as white middle class academic feminists, progressives do not believe Chinese home or business owners deserve protection from cholera outbreaks or the plague.
The left's verminous reaction to the incident is exemplified by doit2julia, commenting at the Toronto Star.*
Posted by doit2julia at 2:30 PM Thursday, October 09 2008
Ignore the obvious public health issue in favour of ideological finger pointing. Check.
Infantile sarcasm (as opposed to by smart sarcasm). Check.
Berate a publication for words it did not publish. Check.
Class war. Check.
Invoke the apartheid holy grail of multiculturalism. Check.
"Racist!" Check.
My American cousins, you are looking at Obama's America in miniature.
* Kudos to the Toronto Star for acknowledging a blog broke the story. Unkudos for linking CityNews but not blogTO (both are linked above).
The Birthday Massacre: Remember Me (City of the Dead Mix)
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Stephen Hawking: We must learn to live in space or we will not survive
"It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next 100 years, let alone next thousand, or million. The human race shouldn't have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet. Let's hope we can avoid dropping the basket until we have spread the load."
I want humanity to survive and, with it, a flotilla of arks carrying Earth's miracle some distance out of harm's way. If that means a future history written in Russian or Mandarin, so be it.
Directly related: The Starlost is available on dvd (hat tip to Mike Campbell).
Manatee squash
The internet is the best. Evidence.
Also: Panda babies!
October 09, 2008
Pennies a day
The Parliamentary Budget Office has produced figures estimating the cost of Canada's Afghan mission; expect Canada's "progressive" media to let you know every Canadian household will have been billed the equivalent of $1500 by 2011. I also expect I am going to be hearing this number over and over again from every compassionate, anti-war person I know whose compassion strangely fails to extend to the women and children of Afghanistan or, indeed, any Muslim woman or child who might appreciate some small portion of our liberty.
The Torch helpfully breaks down that $1500 further; it works out to 13.7¢ per Canadian per day. That, my friends, is the best money I will have spent today on anything. Follow the link for the full (illustrated) analysis and a list of just some of the things our money is buying, not least of which is our freedom.
* humanitarian food assistance to more than half a million Afghans in 2007 alone
* more than 530 Community Development Councils elected in 9 districts, which facilitated more than 700 community projects completed, including improvements to transportation, water supply and sanitation, irrigation, power supply, education, health, and agriculture
* maternal health care professionals being trained in emergency obstetric care and monitoring
* approximately 350,000 children being vaccinated against polio
* measles and tetanus vaccination program reached more than 76,000 children and 63,000 women
* non-food kits (teapots, soap, gas stoves, towels, buckets, kitchen sets, blankets, floor mats, sweaters and health kits) supplied to 1,500 families
* more than 30,000 Afghans received functional literacy training and more than 4,000 received vocational training throughthe World Food Programme in 2007 alone
* More than 5,000 people (the majority of them women) have received literacy training through UNICEF
As Damian points out, those figures are just for Kandahar.
We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves
The Jawas point a derisory finger at yet another Canadian embarrassment, the latest target of Canada's puritans-without-God, disposable coffee cups. Remember: This is what the left cares about; to them, 9/11 is dismissed as the politics of fear.
Intestinal cramping over a non-problem. Check. Professional income as a consultant for an imaginary profession. Check. Bullying and threats directed at people who work for a living if she does not get her way. Check. But there is a silver lining in that garbage disposal unit... even the reliably liberal Toronto Star gives Tim Horton's the last word. Socialists and social engineers need to step lightly if they plan to demonize our double-doubles.
Javor said Toronto should figure out a way to compost its coffee cups, the way that Hamilton does. He called concerns about plastic lids a "red herring," saying the city should simply ask residents to remove the lids, which are recycled at a plant in Mississauga.
"I really think that we are looking at an element that is trying to make this into an environmental catastrophe. Well, it is not," Javor said.
Better to convince self-satisfied progressives of the Annex it is common courtesy to find a garbage can for their empty coffee cups rather than treat any flat surface as an alternative. I am certain local book store staff have better things to do than pick up after grown up babies with BMWs.
Related: A handy top ten most depressing quotes from George Orwell's 1984 (the last one is a spoiler but if you have yet to read 1984 you deserve what you get). And a doubleplusgood array of book covers.
And that, my friends, is why Barack Obama will attempt to censor the blogosphere and tell us it is for our own good.
October 08, 2008
Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge
I have learned something new both fannish and art historical thanks to the etherwebs: E.M. Lissitzky's Soviet propaganda poster may look eerily familiar to Flea-readers still missing the Uncharted Territories.
On a related note, I am planning to go out as a Peacekeeper Commando this Hallowe'en. Whether my outfit is going to be as elaborate as a hardcore Farscape fan's is down to scheduling...
Dobenbeck Feat. Joanna: Please Don't Go
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Rewarding greed and stupidity
John Bird and John Fortune explain how markets really work (via Ace). Canadian Flea-readers should be advised several groups might risk being brought into hatred and contempt in the course of their analysis.
On an equally serious, if less satirical, note; some questions and answers on the Canadian economy. David Akin assures us Canadian banks were either too small to have participated in the sub-prime farce or were prevented from doing so by regulation. Consequently, Canada's direct exposure to the mess is not what it is for our cousins south of the border. In the medium term, our resource and manufacturing sectors may suffer but in the short term events may work out well for the aforementioned Canadian banks; the US Federal Reserve may be enlisting them as investors.
October 07, 2008
Death Cab for Cutie: Soul Meets Body
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Obviously
Your result for The Your Type of Girl Test... The Goth Girl
43% Sexy-Cute, 21% Dark-Light, 16% Artsy-Stylish
Sexy, Dark and Artsy, the Goth Girl definitely catches your eye. And who can blame you, with her black eyeshadow, black clothes, and black expression? The Goth Girl tempts with the promise of sinful satisfaction.
Take The Your Type of Girl Test at HelloQuizzy
Fascinating
Your result for The Beautiful Faces Test... Mischa Barton
75% Eyes, 52% Nose, 61% Mouth, 65% SexyCute
You seem to like prominence in all of the features, and a cute demeanor. Mischa Barton has come to prominence on the hit show (and spiritual successor to 90210), 'The OC'. She's definitely full-featured, and more cute than sexy. She's also in no way the 18-year-old she plays on the show, but that's okay. We love her anyway.
Similar: Alyssa Milano (sexier), Hillary Duff (smaller lips)
If you liked my test, please remember to give it a decent score, and of course I'm always happy to hear feedback. Thanks!
Also, you could check out my Your Type of Girl Test.
Take The Beautiful Faces Test at HelloQuizzy
More like it
...I scored 13 on Hatred, higher than 90% of my peers, apparently. Also, 9 on Insanity, higher than 84% of my peers!
Your result for The Supervillain Archetype Test... The Megalomaniac
The Megalomaniac is the most prestigious of super-villain classes. If anyone is ever going to rule the world, it will probably be you.
Your main goal in life is power and domination, you have the tools to do it, and you know it. Megalomaniacs are intelligent and forceful, and they tend not to let their emotions cloud their judgment. Most of the time. They are usually found, or not found, working at the top of a huge structured organization, though many prefer to work by themselves.
The Megalomaniac has but one flaw, but its an invariably fatal one; arrogance. He knows that he can take over the world, and he isn't afraid to let you know, often elaborately and in great detail. They often do not foresee the fly in their ointment, because they do not want to admit that such a fly could exist.
Sample Megalomaniacs: Dr. Doom, Lex Luthor, Ras al'Ghul, Kang the Conqueror, Emperor Palpatine, Brain
Take The Supervillain Archetype Test at HelloQuizzy
October 06, 2008
October 05, 2008
Let us go forward together
It may seem strange to think of May 1940 as a better time but I believe something like that sentiment explains the enduring popularity of Foyle's War. The writing, the acting and the production were superb, the latter taking extraordinary care with period detail. But beyond that was an evocation of the spirit of the time, a sense of how Britain pulled together in the face of adversity and a representation of decent people upholding the law in the face of cynicism, opportunism and despair.
If only this were the spirit of our age.
It was was great disappointment I learned the show was to be cancelled and to find Season 6 skipping lightly through two years of the struggle to make it to VE Day for the finale. But there has been a greater disappointment still. I think I can speak for almost every man who watched Foyle's War in saying I am a little in love with Samantha Stewart. Sadly, Honeysuckle Weeks is not quite the woman she played on tv.
Flea-readers are advised to consider carefully before following that last link; the image is indelible. Safer by far to click the following for a post-Foyle Honeysuckle interview. And some good news: ITV may revive Foyle's War.
Related: It is almost impossible to credit, but the BBC used to represent British interests. Take this response to Adolph Hitler's "Last Appeal to Reason", for example.
I believe the British people still believe much the same in our current circumstances. They have almost no voice in their Parliament and none at all in their press. God bless the memory of Sefton Delmer and God bless the internet.
"For your first lesson we will take:
"Die Kanalüberfahrt… the Channel crossing, the Chan-nel cros-sing."
"Now just repeat after me:
"Das Boot sinkt... the boat is sinking, the boat is sin-king;
"Das Wasser ist kalt… the water is cold. Sehr kalt… very cold."
"Now, I will give you a verb that should come in useful. Again please repeat after me:
"Ich brenne… I burn;
"Du brennst… you burn;
"Er brennt… he burns;
"Wir brennen… we burn;
"Ihr brennt… you are burning."
"Yes, meine Herren, in English, a rather practical language, we use the same word ‘you' for both the singular and the plural:
"Ihr brennt... you are burning;
"Sie brennen… they burn."
"And if I may be allowed to suggest a phrase:
Der SS-Sturmführer brennt auch ganz schön… The SS Captain is also burning quite nicely, the SS Captain is al-so bur-ning quite nice-ly!"
Spike Jones & His City Slickers: Der Führer's Face
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Canadian Flea-readers are advised caution: An HRC complaint might claim this sort of humour risks bringing one of several master races into hatred and contempt. If you think I am joking, I have a couple decades of cultural studies papers and Disney's take on a mincing Nazi stormtrooper, an exaggerated Italian accent and a cartoon General Tojo to back me up. In today's Canada, being the enemy makes you a protected minority. Or a former CBC executive. But I repeat myself.
Related: The Donald Duck rendition.
The falcon cannot hear the falconer
There was a time not so long ago when Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith would have been hanged or, worse yet, shunned by society. Now I do not imagine he will be so much as cashiered for his defeatism. Far from it, I expect he can look forward to a warm welcome in SW1, some appearances as a military expert for the BBC and perhaps a sinecure as spokesperson for the winnable War On Second-Hand Smoking.
October 03, 2008
Oh look, it's Natalie Dormer again
Why We Fight Week @ The Flea... Episode V: The Ranking:
Some may say officer's totty is a cynical theme for a week, suggesting an unreconstructed view of the fairer sex and a one track mentality on the part of the Flea's male readership. All I can say in response is... thanks!
PR6! Woo! Woo!
On a serious note: Paris Hilton.
Related: "I'm voting Democrat." Also, Hollywood has transcended self-parody. I do not think the Greeks had a technical term to encompass this degree of farce.
I missed last night's Veep debate -- I gather there was something on about Canada's election as well -- but Hugh Hewitt and Mark Steyn thought it went well for Sarah Palin. This despite a moderator who stands to make hundreds of thousands of dollars from an Obama victory.
The bun stays.
Update: With apologies for the delay, a direct link to Robert Jago's Top 25 Canadian political blogs. I assume the Flea's Olympian performance is going to be relatively short term. Ezra and Mark will be blogging again soon...
HPLHS: If I Were A Deep One
A warning to the professionally aggrieved: The following contains the expression "Mad Arab". Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
A rare treasure: An essay by H.P. Lovecraft I have not read. Now I fear to turn the page -- or click the link -- lest I behold cyclopean vistas too terrible to contemplate. Or parse.
Now that is an opening sentence; the rest I shall pass over in silence.
Speaking of cyclopean: I must somehow restrain myself from buying the following... while I am sore tempted by A Lovecraft Retrospective: Artists Inspired by HP Lovecraft, I have quite enough monstrous tomes to contend with as it is.
Arm yourself because no one else here will save you
From a last redoubt of the culture that still remembers what Britain means... James Bond news. The Quantum of Solace theme is the bomb; tuck a little parallel compression under Alicia Keys' vocals and we are good to go. But seriously, who mixed this? The linked commentary is catty but it is not wrong.
Jack White's favourite Bond music is the title to OHMSS, btw. Good choice. John Barry is God.
Related: A compilation of James Bond title themes.
And for anyone who missed the Quantum of Solace teaser trailers.
October 02, 2008
I blame society
Why We Fight Week @ The Flea Chronicles... Episode IV:
Every time I run a picture of Summer Glau I get a traffic spike. Somehow the process does not seem to be working the same way for Fox and The Summer Glau Chronicles.
One of each
Billy Connelly on religion; specifically, suicide bombers and other quaint Mohammedan customs. Would we had more examples to the contrary and a greater commitment to the rights of women everywhere, regardless of what the local priesthood believe to be a woman's lot in life. Warning: NSFW language and more than enough of the truth to get you charged with thought crimes were you to repeat the bit in Canada.
Also from the comments at Jihadwatch -- with a hat tip to Meleager99 for the link -- some thoughts on Dubai. I have said much the same thing myself but not in such useful detail.
Dubai may be an offense to Muslim sensibilities, but for other reasons, it is an offense to good taste and a sense not only of aesthetic, but moral proportion. The whole project of modern, empty Dubai, hollow Dubai, nothing Dubai, where each building represents an attempt to outdo another with gimmicks (this building turns with the sun, and that one can stand on stilts, and this one prostrates itself five times a day) and the most grotesque and unappealing luxury (Warren Buffett won't be impressed), merely put on display all the comic bad taste of the Arabs and Iranians much of Dubai real estate is owned by Iranian) who, with the money they do not spend on mosques and madrasas around the world, on weapons purchaes and weapons projects, and on buying armies of Western hirelings, use to build the kind of thing, more or less, on display in the picture above.
In the rich Muslim states, the best of the West --which has nothing to do with money, but with intellect and the imagination -- is not being emulated. Instead, much as they denounce that West, it is the worst of that West that in the rich Arab and Muslim states is being sedulously aped.
The luxury of Dubai is nauseating to contemplate. There is nothing there but that. No art, no science, no thought. Luxury, money, gold in the souks. Perhaps the locals will rent some paintings for display from the Louvre, rent a succursale or two of Western universities looking for loot, in order to pretend there are minds to be cultivated and something like civilization to be found in Dubai. But it's not to be found. All of Dubai is not worth a single star in your personal Michelin. Dubai is merely a cheesy holiday resort with elephantiasis, the result of the hundreds of billions that are so freely spent because they have been not earned, but merely accidentally acquired.
The photograph above tells you all you need to know, not only about Dubai, but all the other pleasure-towns that the Arabs have built up with the oil money lavished upon them.
Civilizationally, they remind me of the story -- a true story, told to be by a former member of the staff-- about the famous London bookseller Hatchard's. One day a rich Arab entered the store. It seems he had bought a country estate, with a large library, and he asked that that library now be filled -- he motioned around the vast bookstore --with "one of each."
Remember: Mock Donald Trump for this sort of excess and you are considered sane. Mock the rulers of Dubai for the same excess -- on steroids -- and you are considered racist.
October 01, 2008
It is only a passing thing, this shadow
Why We Fight Week @ The Flea... Episode III: The Return of the Flea:
Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. It's Kylie: The Musical. A bit obvious conceptually once the idea is pointed out (hat tip to the Sister of the Flea).
An even better idea: Kylie bedding. Dream the impossible dream.
Armin van Buuren & DJ Shah feat. Chris Jones: Going Wrong
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.