A lot of attention is being focused on the conditions in France that have led to this mess that theyÂ’re currently trying to get under control. And certainly those conditions, which have been glossed over in the past, have helped create the powder keg thatÂ’s not only exploding in the socialist utopia of France but is now spreading to her European neighbors.

First there is the economic problem. Dick Morris writes today in the NY Post about a French society designed to provide a high-quality (and high cost) of life for the traditional white French citizens. A major negative consequence, however, is that there is no chance for upward-mobility within this cushy system that creates few jobs and grows anemically at best. And those most affected are its immigrants. more...

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"There's a sucker born every minute" is an oft-quoted phrase attributed to the famous 19th century huckster. Well in China, where the population is well over one billion, there must me several born every minute. Apparently, there is a company over there that just had its license suspended for trying to sell real estate on the moon.

The Beijing Lunar Village Aeronautics Science and Technology Co. managed to sell large swathes of pristine lunar property before being shut down, the state -owned Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

The company, claiming to act on behalf of an entity referred to as the Lunar Embassy in China, charged 298 yuan (37 US dollars) for each acre (0.4 hectare) on the moon, according to the report.

Each lucky new owner of lunar soil was issued a "certificate" that ensured property ownership including rights to use the land and minerals up to three kilometers (1.9 miles) underground, Xinhua said.

Li Jie, CEO of Lunar Embassy, said that 34 clients bought 49 acres (20 hectares) of land on the moon in the first three days after his company became operational last month.

Barnum would find it all very amusing. So many suckers, so little time.

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New Jersey's results are not really a surprise. The Dem machine owns that state. NYC, again no surprise. Bloomberg is popular and Ferrer is a weak opponent. The California initiatives? Didn't follow them all that much, but in a state dominated by Democrats, even parental notification wasn't a shoo-in.

Now Virginia. A lot of spin will be made this morning about how this bodes badly for the GOP in 2006. I'm not buying it. This was basically Gov. Mark Warner's reelection by proxy. Kaine is his Lt. Gov. and Warner's approval ratings are in the 70's. From what I understand, Kilgore ran a negative campaign that probably turned off a lot of independents (both parties can learn a valuable lesson here).

Three points:
1) After last night, the Democrats have a net increase in Governorships in the amount of...zero.

2) A Democrat Governor in a "Red" state doesn't mean a whole heckuva lot. Connecticut has a Republican Governor, Jodi Rell. She is currently finishing out the term of John Rowland who resigned because he was both corrupt and stupid. Despite the fact the CT is as "Blue" a state as your granny's wig (stole that one from Pam Meister), she is favored to be elected in her own right in 2006).

3) Steve the Llamabutcher points out an interesting trend in Virginia:

Nationally, it just really doesn't mean that much: since 1989, the Virginians have elected a governor of the opposite party of the president elected the year before. 1988-Bush (R) 41, 1989-Wilder (D); 1992 Clinton (D), 1993-Allen (R); 1996 Clinton (D), 1997 Gilmore (R); 2000 Bush (R) 43, 2001 Warner (D); 2004 Bush (R), 2005 apparently Kaine (D).

One other thing, though. This result is a major boost for Mark Warner in his expected bid for the Presidency in 2008. Hillary was hoping to avoid a nasty primary battle, but with Warner hitting her on the right, she'll need to rally the moonbats, which should make for a lot of fist-pounding and high-pitched shrieking in here speeches. Good enough for archiving and playing back during the general election.

UPDATE: 9:30am
John Podhoretz in the NY Post puts Virginia in perspective:

Now, it's true that George W. Bush won Virginia by 8 percentage points in 2004, while Republican candidate Jerry Kilgore appears to have lost by 5 points. But if you think Kilgore's loss reflects Bush's weakness and a nightmare for the GOP in 2006, consider this:

Bush won Virginia by eight points in 2000, too — and the following year Democrat Mark Warner became governor with a 5-point margin of victory. The next year, in 2002, Republicans won a stunning midterm victory, taking four Senate seats and expanding their majority in the House of Representatives.

Those results suggest that the outcome of the Virginia governor's race will have nothing whatsoever to do with what happens in November 2006.

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The Two Towers, Book Three, Chapter Nine is posted.

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And here I was disparaging Johnny Depp in the last post.

Yips to Robbo and Steve

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1 I got Indiana Jones Indiana Jones is an archaeologist/adventurer with an unquenchable love for danger and excitement. He travels the globe in search of historical relics. He loves travel, excitement, and a good archaeological discovery. He hates Nazis and snakes, perhaps to the same degree. He always brings along his trusty whip and fedora. He's tough, cool, and dedicated. He relies on both brains and brawn to get him out of trouble and into it. Indiana Jones 79% Lara Croft 67% Captain Jack Sparrow 63% Batman, the Dark Knight 58% James Bond, Agent 007 50% The Amazing Spider-Man 50% William Wallace 50% Maximus 46% Neo, the "One" 33% The Terminator 21% El Zorro 21%

Posted by: Ryan S. at November 08, 2005 08:36 PM (HAY6t)

2 Tres cool... You scored as James Bond, Agent 007. James Bond is MI6's best agent, a suave, sophisticated super spy with charm, cunning, and a license's to kill. He doesn't care about rules or regulations and somewhat amoral. He does care about saving humanity though, as well as the beautiful women who fill his world. Bond has expensive tastes, a wide knowledge of many subjects, and his usually armed with a clever gadget and an appropriate one-liner. James Bond, Agent 007 83% Indiana Jones 67% Lara Croft 67% Neo, the "One" 63% Batman, the Dark Knight 58% William Wallace 58% Maximus 54% Captain Jack Sparrow 38% El Zorro 38% The Amazing Spider-Man 38% The Terminator 25%

Posted by: Georgia Girl (gfsil) at November 08, 2005 09:59 PM (M2L+3)

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France is burning and all Chirac can do is declare a state of emergency.

President Jacques Chirac declared a state of emergency Tuesday, paving the way for curfews to be imposed on riot-hit cities and towns in an extraordinary measure to halt France's worst civil unrest in decades after 12 nights of violence.

Ralph Peter's in the NY Post today:

Utterly devoid of self-awareness, the French cherish their image of America as racist. But minorities in the United States have opportunities for which their French counterparts would risk their lives. Our problem is that demagogues convince the poorest of our poor to give up on getting ahead. In France, the non-white poor never have a chance of any kind.

France has no Colin Powell or Condi Rice, no minority heading the equivalent of a Fortune 500 company, no vibrant minority political culture. When Americans who adore la vie en France go to Paris (the intelligentsia's Orlando), they don't visit the drug-and-crime-plagued slums. If tourists encounter a Moroccan or a Senegalese "Frenchman," he's cleaning up the sidewalks after the dogs of the bourgeoisie.

Willfully blind to reality, liberals continue to praise the racist culture of France by citing the Parisian welcome for Josephine Baker or the Harlem jazz musicians in the 1920s. But the French regarded those few as exotic pets. The test is how they treat the millions of immigrant families whose members don't play trumpets in bars or sell their flesh in strip clubs.

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Unless you live in New Jersey, Virginia, California or NYC, you don't have any statewide offices or ballot initiatives to vote for or against.

But chances are in your town or city there are municipal elections. Turnout for these races is always low. It's ironic that the people who never vote, complain that they don't feel like their vote makes a difference and most of the people who do vote, only cast their ballots in elections where they actually have the least amount of influence.

You vote counts, even if you are in the political minority where you live. It is a right that brave men and women are fighting for every day. It is also a responsibility. And to take the right and responsibility lightly or to ignore it altogether is an insult to the armed forces past and present who gave all to defend it. And keep in mind the Iraqi citizens who risked their very lives to cast their vote (many for the very first time) a couple of weeks ago.

I'm not one to lecture, so I'll back off the pedantic tone. But consider how much time it takes to stop and gas up your car before work, run over to Wal-Mart on your lunch hour to pick up diapers or go out of your way to the grocery store on you way home because you're running low on milk or orange juice. That's about how much time it takes to vote. A lot of times it takes less time than those tedious errands.

Don't you think casting a vote is worthy of the same amount of your time that it would take you to stop by the post office to mail some bills that have to go out that day?

Now stop being a whiny, bitching pussy and go do it. ;-)

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This past Saturday morning I rolled out of bed, thew on some ratty clothes, put on a baseball cap and headed out to pick up some bacon, egg & cheese breakfast sandwiches for the family. As I drove down a road lined with trees adorned with mult-colored foliage, I was listening to my favorite talk radio station, WABC out of NYC.

The morning guy on Saturdays is Mark Simone. Simone is one of those old-school radio guys. Though he's a conservative-leaning Republican, he's extremely gracious to hostile callers (probably too much, in my opinion). He does, however, have a firm grasp of the facts and very politely rebutts the standard talking points that many of the callers throw out at him. I was amused to hear two consecutive callers making the same point with regard to the latest incarnation of the "Bush Lied" meme that Democrats are harping on heading into the 2006 mid-terms. more...

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The Two Towers, Book Three, Chapter Eight is posted.

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UPDATE: Giants WIN, Baby!! 24 - 6. Not the prettiest game you ever saw. But that reception and TD by Jeremy Shockey was sweet!

Now the focus is on tonight's game with the Eagles v. the Skins. Whatever the result will be a big deal for them, but it could go either way for me as they're both 4-3.
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Thus far, the Forty-Niners have racked up only two wins for the season - both of these were at home and the most recent one was last week against Tampa Bay.

Thus far, the Giants have yet to win on the road this season (New Orleans doesn't count as it was really at Giants Stadium). And Eli Manning has yet to win on the road at all.

This week is a big test. The next two weeks, the Giants need to rack up two more in the win column (at San Fran and at home v. Minnesota) because after that their schedule is brutal and ladden with critical division games.

So it's time for the team to stay focused and beat a team that is certainly beatable. They should take advantage of their weak secondary and prepare for their strong pass rush. A solid performance by the offensive line is critical here, not only in protecting Manning but also in creating lanes for the running backs. The Giants offense will need to keep their plays balanced if they are going to be able to capitalize on their passing game.

I give San Fran credit for beating the Bucs last week in their house and the Giants must not take this game lightly.

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1 What a strange team you have if a 24-6 victory is "not the prettiest game you ever saw." My team won today too!

Posted by: Georgia Girl (gfsil) at November 06, 2005 10:58 PM (M2L+3)

2 Penalties, penalties, penalties!!

Posted by: Gary at November 06, 2005 11:06 PM (0eYgQ)

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The Two Towers, Book Three, Chapter Seven is posted.

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A German firm called Nutzwerk Ltd has a policy that makes whining a fireable offense:

Manager Thomas Kuwatsch said those who get up on the wrong side of the bed should stay at home and work out their grumpiness rather than come into work.

But he warned those taking too much time off for bad moods would face the sack.

"We made the ban on moaning and grumpiness at work official after one female employee refused to subscribe to the company's philosophy of always smiling," he said.

"She used to moan so much that other employees complained about her complaining. Once it was part of the contract however, our employees really started to think positively.

Graphic from: Theodore's World

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John Hinderaker at Powerline, on the Democrats' current "pre-war intelligence" tactics against President Bush:

"I think perhaps the Democrats in the Senate are trying to distract their activist base from the reality of their own impotence."

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FLOTUS is 59 today!

Happy Birthday to a terrific woman who reminds us what it's like to have a First Lady with class!

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1 Yes, Happy Birthday to a great First Lady!

Posted by: Georgia Girl (gfsil) at November 04, 2005 10:49 AM (EHefn)

2 Couldn't agree more. Cheers!

Posted by: reverse_vampyr at November 04, 2005 06:17 PM (Ns5kk)

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Well the Lefties at MoonBat.org are really egging them on. Their latest email is sounding the alarm to its members:

It is important at this moment, when Reid and others are fighting these important fights that we make sure they know we've got their backs. They're taking a risk—they need to know we support them and recognize this sort of leadership. It's important that the Democrats don't let the issue die. We'll be working more and more over the next several months as we get close to the 2006 elections to encourage them to stand up and fight.

They've even got a website: Give 'Em Hell, Harry Dot Com. Next November is going to be hell alright, for any Democrat who embraces these nuts.

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See this picture?

Now look closely. See that little bitty red part inside the little blue part at the top of Alaska? That's where we will soon be drilling! Despite all the whining and moaning from the environmental whackos, it looks like it takes a slap in the face (and the wallet) to make people realize that we need to start drilling from our own sources.

I wrote a heads-up that this was coming down the pike back in August. Now it looks like its finally going to happen in the next couple of weeks. What a perfect time, when the Democrats are already flailing. Now the GOP can finally put an end to their perennial ANWR filibuster. You want to play around with Senate procedures, guys? We can play that game too.

UPDATE: The Senate just passed the motion! Now the House and Senate versions must be reconciled.

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An old one, but relevant nonetheless:

This and other such quotes by Democrats before the U.S. went into Iraq, assembled here.

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While the folks on the far Left are rubbing their hands together with glee over Harry's hissyfit earlier this week, BullDogPundit points out how the Dems are embracing a doomed strategy that will help keep them losing:

The Democrats have offered no alternatives to what they would do differently in Iraq. Rather, they are obsessed on their belief that the President lied about WMD's. While their kook base may believe that , out here in the real world most people don't. Was the intelligence wrong? Yes. But no one with sense thinks anyone deliberately lied about it to get us into war.

Further hampering their efforts are the fact that 28 Democrats voted in favor of the war, including many of those who now want to be President. That is not an enviable position to be in. What are they to say "Look, you should elect me because I was stupid enough to be manipulated?"

While Democrats are banking on a 1994-like coup of Congress in 2006, the situations between these two election years is like comparing apples to oranges:

Could the GOP done as well as it did if they just hammered on Clinton? I think not. Rather, they had a list of new ideas that the voter could look at and say "Yeah, I agree with this".

Further, the 1994 takeover strategy did not start in 1993. It was many years in the making and done through with grassroots and fundraising efforts, as well as having to overcome a mindset of a permanent minority, which meant that nice, but ineffective men like Bob Michel had to go. It just so happened that the events of 1994 were a perfect storm that allowed the strategy to work flawlessly.

More please...with feeling!

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The Two Towers, Book Three, Chapter Six is posted.

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