Titled:    Finland Squirms as Its Latest Export Steps Into Spotlight

Has Dave thA decided to make up for a week or two of slow posting? Lost his job? 3 posts in one day? Well, I just couldn't resist reporting a story that digs deep at the European psyche.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Eurovision Song Contest, it is a yearly ritual of polite boredom, politics and occasionally music where the ever-expanding empire of Europe and guests pits its singers against each other.

It used to include a jury in each country that would award marks for all the other countries except themselves. This would lead to predictable voting, with the French always voting down the Brits and other nationalistic rivalries. (The UK scored zero overall in 2003, probably a reflection of the Iraq invasion as much as a poor song choice.)

This may explain why Ireland, famously neutral, has won seven contest, also a record.

Strange rules abounded thoughout the years - songs had to be sung in the local dialect - even the weird Maltese,  and with Lithuania singing in Samogitian which is a dialect of Lithuanian, making many songs totally incomprehensible to most viewers.

Norway holds the record for scoring zero point in three years ("nul points"), closely followed by Turkey and Austria.

The maximum duration of each song is three minutes, and although musicians of any genre can play, the musicians and songs selected for the Contest tend towards very commercial pop. Some viewers of the Contest view the event as a combination of camp entertainment and a musical train wreck (a fact played upon in the UK broadcast with the sardonic BBC commentary of Terry Wogan) and a subculture of Eurovision Song Contest drinking games has evolved in some countries.

It's worth noting that the voting system used for the Contest was originally designed to select a single compromise winner from a large field of candidates. A number of countries use this same system to select their entries, some of them going through several rounds of voting before selecting a winner. After repeated iterations of the system, variations from middle-of-the-road pop music tend to be eliminated.

So it is with great humor that I note the entry from Finland this year:

Don't forget this is a competition famous for the likes of Abba, and Céline Dion with most winners fading immediately into obscurity.

They have eight-foot retractable latex Satan wings, sing hits like "Chainsaw Buffet" and blow up slabs of smoking meat on stage.

"In Finland, we have no Eiffel Tower, few real famous artists, it is freezing cold and we suffer from low self-esteem," said Mr. Putaansuu, who, as Lordi, has horns protruding from his forehead and sports long black fingernails.

As he stuck out his tongue menacingly, his red demon eyes glaring, Lordi was surrounded by Kita, an alien-man-beast predator who plays flame-spitting drums inside a cage; Awa, a blood-splattered ghost who howls backup vocals; Ox, a zombie bull who plays bass; and Amen, a mummy in a rubber loincloth who plays guitar.

It is not the first time the contest, which began in 1956, has spawned discontent. Last year's Ukrainian entry song was rewritten after being deemed too political by government officials in Kiev because it celebrated the Orange Revolution. When Dana International, an Israeli transsexual, won in 1998 with her hit song "Diva," rabbis accused her of flouting the values of the Jewish state.

But not everyone in this Nordic country of five million views the monster squad as un-Finnish. Some Finns say that Lordi is right at home and that the band's use of flaming dragon-encrusted swords and exploding baby dolls expresses the warrior spirit of the Vikings.

Europe isn't what it used to be.

In 2006 the format of the Eurovision Song Contest was sold to an American Broadcaster in order to compete with American Idol in the ratings. The member countries of [Europe] will be replaced by the different States and territories of the United States.

Watch out USA.

Hat-tip to Nobody's Business again

Titled:   Multi-Culti Madness Goes Extraterrestrial

Malaysia (a country that has declared attending Friday prayer sessions mandatory) is getting ready to send a Muslim astronaut into space as part of an International Space Station mission in 2007. This poses quite the religious quandary.

Muslims are required to pray five times daily, turning toward Mecca during prayer. But as Zainal Abidin Abdul Rashid of Malaysia National University pointed out ..., the space station circles the Earth 16 times in 24 hours, with a sunrise and sunset occurring about every 90 minutes. "Does this mean we have to perform 80 prayers a day?" he said. ... On the issue of "qiblat" or the direction of Mecca, suggestions range from installing a special rotating seat so that the Muslim astronaut could turn easily toward Mecca, to using a calculator that can determine qiblat direction and the prayer schedule. Then there is also the question of how to perform ablution, a ritual cleansing of the body, with water-rationing in space. Also, how does one do the prayer ritual of kneeling and prostrating under zero gravity?

The physicist in me ponders the maths involved in calculating the position of Mecca on a rotating globe while in orbit, and the tracking of it during prayer. The rotating chair would have to revolve in 3 axes to avoid ending up facing away from it by the end of prayer time. Assuming that an orbit directly over Mecca is unlikely, there will quite a bot of spinning involved. Quite an image - a whirling dervish of prayer, flailing arms and legs...

The realist in me asks why anyone would think to do this at all, selecting instead an astronaut whose religious duties do not involve the re-engineering of the shuttle.

Hat-tip to Nobody's Business

See more like this at http://www.daybydaycartoon.com

Titled:     Greenpeace takes Kennedy to task

But Ted Kennedy? Sure enough, the activist group known for its flair for drama hammers the liberal Bay State senator - and Cape Wind opponent - in new ads being shown in states nationwide in the days leading up to a congressional vote that could doom the Nantucket Sound wind farm.

In the 30-second spot, a cartoon Kennedy looms over the water like a Japanese movie monster, pounding wind turbines as they sprout from the water, and barks, ''I might see them from my mansion on the Cape.''

See the movie here

Titled:   Iran oil bourse next week

Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said on Wednesday that the establishment of Oil Stock Exchange is in its final stage and the bourse will be launched in Iran in the next week.

He told reporters, upon arrival from Qatar where he attended the 10th General Assembly of International Energy Agency and consultations with OPEC member states, that registration of the Oil Stock Exchange is underway and the entity will operate after being approved by by Council of Stock Exchange.

He rejected a statement attributed to him saying that Oil Stock Exchange will bring to the ground the US economy and said, "I don't know who has speculated that I've not talked about US economy." Asked about conference on energy in Doha, he said that more than 60 countries and 30 oil companies and consultants took part in the conference.

Vaziri Hamaneh said that serious discussions were held including security of supply and demand, security of investment in energy and environment issues.

"The best method for security of demand in the oil sector is that consumers should be given opportunity to enter into partnership with the suppliers in investment in oil industry."

He said that the conference called for diversifying energy resources and cooperation of the developed states with the countries possessing oil and gas resources.

Asked about the oil price rise, Vaziri-Hamaneh said that oil price is being influenced by political situation, whereas it should be freed from political impacts and economic and technical fundamentals should determine the oil prices.

"As long as political impacts dominate the oil market, price hike will continue," he concluded.

Iran is going to sell oil denominated in Euros. Countries will need not buy US dollars to buy oil, reducing the value of the dollar even further.

 

Of course Iraq tried to do this just before we went in to save the dollar / world iraqi people.

Titled:   Cloned dog celebrates first birthday in S.Korea

The world's first and only cloned dog celebrated its first birthday on Monday, as the leader of the South Korean team that produced the Afghan hound faced a criminal investigation for possible fraud and ethics violations.

The team led by scientist Hwang Woo-suk unveiled the dog named Snuppy last August amid global fanfare. Time magazine named Snuppy one of the most amazing inventions for 2005.

The birthday celebrations at the university where Hwang once ran his lab were subdued. Snuppy, short for Seoul National University puppy, is in good health and weighs about 64 lbs, university officials said.

For his birthday, Snuppy enjoyed two of his favorite foods; ice cream and sausages.

How about that - a story from Korea of a dog actually being fed, not eaten.

Happy Birthday Snuppy.

Titled:   44 percent of Americans think that they pay the right amount of income taxes

John Lott brings us news of a surprising new survey that coincides nicely with the end of the tax season.

Apparently 44 percent of people think that they pay the right amount of tax. 48% think it is too high.

At first blush, this seems to say that taxes are about right, if a little high.

When you remember that nearly half of Americans pay no tax at all, you can see who the 44% comprise of.

In his Apr. 1 radio address, U.S. president George W. Bush discussed his fiscal policies, saying, "The debate in Congress over taxes ultimately comes down to this: Who knows best how to use your money—the politicians in Washington or you? I believe the money we spend in Washington is your money, not the government’s money. I trust you to make the best decisions about what to do with your hard-earned dollars, because when you do, your family is better off, our economy grows, and prosperity and opportunity spread throughout our great land."

Titled:   'Give Me Your Money or I'll Kill You'

The gun-free shangri-las of the District and Maryland erupted yesterday in a rolling wave of violence, gunfire and car-jackings. This was an unchallenged romp by an armed gang that took full advantage of the safe, gun-free environment and took everything they wanted:

At a news conference outside police headquarters, D.C. officers said they believe the crimes started early Saturday in Northwest when a group of young men carjacked a Mazda 626. The next day, thieves stole a black Jeep Liberty parked near 12th and Varnum streets NE. Police believe that Jeep was used in many crimes that followed.

The next robbery, police believe, took place about 11:45 p.m. Sunday in the 600 block of Fairmont Street NW. The crimes picked up again about 1 p.m. Monday when armed men attempted a carjacking in Mount Rainier, police said.

In the next few minutes, heavily armed men committed three more robberies in the Hyattsville area, pistol-whipping four victims in one of the holdups.

And it didn't stop there. The police seem to be dumbfounded and are making a slow start towards investigating the crimes:

"Hopefully, we'll get some fingerprints," McCoy said. "There are definitely other people out there."

Police said they were still trying to piece together the exact number and sequence of robberies and carjackings and were culling through reports to see whether other crimes might be connected to the group.

The sheep people are concerned:

Yesterday, some of those who live or attend schools in neighborhoods targeted by the robbers said they were shocked by the brazen crimes.

"It's so scary," said Lauren Treacy, 18, a freshman at Catholic. "I know I have to be careful."

About two miles away, at Howard, where one of the carjackings occurred, freshman Kimberly Williams, 19, was trying to come to terms with the suddenness of it all.

"I wouldn't expect that to happen here in broad daylight," she said.

You usually get what you vote for.

Hat-tip to Ravenwood

Titled: Legislative Update Michigan's 'Castle Doctrine'

After expressing initial concern with language 'substitutes' to the Castle Doctrine, MCRGO quietly set to work on changes acceptable to MCRGO's membership. The first step was MCRGO and Senator Alan Cropsey meeting with one of the sponsors to explore our concerns. The second was working with Senator Cropsey to schedule a Hearing (early March) to review the issue itself. The final step was sharing our specific concerns with NRA liaison Darin Goens earlier this month. He agreed with our assessment. United, we were then able to affect the necessary changes.

We join with the NRA in thanking Representative Jones for his assistance in developing language that everyone can support. Together with the Bills sponsored by Senator Alan Cropsey and State Representative Tom Casperson, MCRGO can now 'endorse' the entire package. With the coalition in place, action will now begin next week in the House under the able leadership of Representative William Van Regenmorter, Committee Chair and long-time 2A supporter.

We also wish to thank you--MCRGO's members--for your patience. While others continue to blindly bang the drum for calls and letters to Legislators, you trusted MCRGO's tried and true method of working respectfully behind-the-scenes with key Legislators in pursuit of effective language. It is this approach--and the relationship with Legislators we have developed--that has allowed MCRGO to build a record of uninterrupted victories in both the Capitol and the Courts.

While this is not over, we can see the light at the end of what's been a relatively long tunnel.

More at the MRGCO's web site.

Titled: House Bill 4643 Becomes Law: Public Act No. 92

This Bill was prompted by CPL renewal delay problems. HB 4643, requires that an application for CPL renewal must be either granted or denied within 60 days; failing that, the current CPL is automatically extended for 180 days. This bill was passed by the House in July of 2005, by the Senate in March 2006, and signed into law April '06.

More info at the MCRGO's Web site.

Titled:   Do You Have to Be Crazy to be Mayor of New Orleans

As New Orleans attempts to drag itself back to normality, some old patterns re-emerge. Ms. Butler is running for Mayor of New Orleans and she is asking her constituents to trust her integrity. At the same time as using a photo-shopped Disney photo for her campaign website:

Yes, the Disney-branded garbage can had to go. So, assuming that this picture has been chopped heavily, including her presence itself, why not just use an old photo of New Orleans in its heyday, pre-Katrina? That would be the honest thing to do.

As her website so clearly says:

"The Right Plan is only as good as the Right Leader…
Kimberly has always done “Right” what she says she will do!”

...uncompromising integrity...

Mind, it also contains a large number of misspelled and badly put together sentences.

 

Much as we should applaud anyone willing to throw their hat into the ring of local politics, she really should think about the image she portrays. It makes it too easy to guess which party she aligns herself with.

Hat-tip to Say Anything

Titled:   John Pilger sees freedom die quietly

The UK is making fast moves to complete its Big Brother society. ID cards are imminent. And the British parliament is passing laws to remove debate and oversight of the process. The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill will remove the right of parliamentary scrutiny of government legislation under the guise of "cutting red-tape."

From the New Statesman:

It will mean that the government can secretly change the Parliament Act, and the constitution and laws can be struck down by decree from Downing Street...

...The new bill marks the end of true parliamentary democracy; in its effect, it is as significant as the US Congress last year abandoning the Bill of Rights...

...If you fail to keep an appointment to be photographed and fingerprinted, you can be fined up to £2,500...

...Every place that sells alcohol or cigarettes, every post office, every pharmacy and every bank will have an NIR terminal where you can be asked to "prove who you are". Each time you swipe the card, a record will be made at the NIR - so, for instance, the government will know every time you withdraw more than £99 from your bank account. Restaurants and off-licences will demand that the card be swiped so that they are indemnified from prosecution...

Read it and weep.

Titled:     Two kids hurt in minor league scramble for cash

No - not a reference to Ben "Helicopter" Bernanke - that kind of money drop would hurt us all - but a stunt by a Michigan minor league team.

Two children were injured in a scramble to grab cash being dropped from a helicopter as part of a promotion after a minor league baseball game.

About $1,000 in cash was dropped Saturday from the helicopter over Fifth Third Ballpark's outfield as children lined the outfield fence. After the cash was dropped, the children scrambled.

A 7-year-old boy was trampled and taken to a hospital, while a 7-year-old girl got a bloody lip after being pushed onto the ground.

I hope Ben takes note of the effects of dropping money onto a fiscally-unaware population.

Titled:   The state is looking after you

The Economist carries a disturbing article about the encroachment of government into the everyday lives and choices of its citizens. This newly-dubbed "soft paternalism" carries the promise of self-directed controls enforced by the state. Imagine contracting with the state to fine you if you visit donut shops more than once a week - or having to get a license to buy alcohol. Of course it would be voluntary... but then the most egregious infringements of our rights usually are... to start with.

An excerpt:

Most people would accept that a healthy diet is hard to achieve, financial matters are confusing and cigarettes kill too many. The state is tempted to step in, not only because of the harm that smokers, lushes, spendthrifts and gluttons may do to others, but because of the harm they are doing to themselves. In Scotland last month the government banned smoking in offices, restaurants and pubs. In Massachusetts, the state legislature has passed a bill requiring everyone who can afford to buy health insurance to do so, on pain of higher taxes.

This is hard paternalism. The softer sort is about nudging people to do things that are in their best interests. The purest form involves setting up systems for sinners to reform themselves: in Missouri for instance, some 10,000 compulsive gamblers have banned themselves from riverboat casinos; if they succumb to their habit (and are caught) they face tough punishments. In most cases, though, soft paternalism means the government giving people a choice, but skewing the choice towards the one their better selves would like to make.

Be wary - very wary.

Sorry for the slow posting this week.

Duty calls me out of town and normal blogging service should be resumed towards the end of this week.

Titled:   Why black sheep are barred and Humpty can't be cracked

Newspeak (1984):

The underlying theory of Newspeak is that if something can't be said, then it can't be thought. One question raised by this is whether we are defined by our language, or whether we actively define it. For instance, can we communicate the need for freedom, or organise an uprising, if we do not have the words for either? This is related to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and Ludwig Wittgenstein's proposition, "The limits of my language mean the limits to my world."

Britain (2006):

TRADITIONAL nursery rhymes are being rewritten at nursery schools to avoid causing offence to children.

Instead of singing “Baa baa, black sheep” as generations of children have learnt to do, toddlers in Oxfordshire are being taught to sing “Baa baa, rainbow sheep”.

“This is fairly standard across nurseries. We are following stringent equal opportunities rules. No one should feel pointed out because of their race, gender or anything else.”

In keeping with the new approach, teachers at the nurseries have reportedly also changed the ending of Humpty Dumpty so as not to upset the children and dropped the seven dwarfs from the title of Snow White.

Ok - so it's not the first or most significant change that has taken place to traditional speech. The actual nursery-rhyme in question was written in 1744 and is related to a tax imposed on wool by the king, which divided receipts equally between the local lord (the master), the church (the dame), and the farmer (the little boy). Black wool was apparently taxed at a lower rate than white wool. So a protest song, became a nursery rhyme and then becomes the target of the government.

Before the original is erased from our collective memories, here are the words in full:

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full.

One for the master,
One for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full.

One to mend the jerseys
one to mend the socks
and one to mend the holes in
the little girls' frocks.

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full.

Titled:   Two Tier Currency Rumor

As the Federal Government works to find a way out of impending fiscal doom, rumors are starting to spread of a two tier currency system.

George at UrbanSurvival is trying to track down sources:

I am trying to find a source of a disturbing rumor in an email or two yesterday about so-called "red backs" - which it was speculated might be the beginning of a two-tier currency system.  The buzz is that a "normal" bill, used inside America's borders would continue to be the "green backs" and they would be heavily devalued in the event of a monetary crisis, and that "red backs" would be used outside of the US.  The "red backs" would not be devalued.  The idea is that if your greenbacks only bought, say 25-cents on the dollar outside America, we would, as a nation, import less.  (Might cause the immigration problem to reverse, too.)  At the same time, while countries outside the US would retain their purchasing power, then our exports would soar, at least so far as we make things any more.

As a way to have your cake and eat it, the idea looks promising to the Fed. As far as making it very expensive to travel outside the US, this would seem to be not quite so attractive.

Quite how it would work with international transfers and purchases using digital dollars I'm not sure. Maybe they plan to have people convert their dollars at the borders...

Probability of truth: <5%

Update:  Subject is also found here, and here

Toys in the Attic has a great post concerning the way to achieve our 2nd Ammendment rights - absolutely in one hit, or incrementally.

Towards the bottom of the page I found this, attributed to Tam at View From The Porch:

In 1933, you could send money to Sears and buy a machine gun through the mail, with no questions asked.

In 1967, a fifteen year-old could walk into a hardware store and, showing no ID other than some pictures of Andrew Jackson and filling out no paperwork other than the warranty card, walk out with the handgun of his choice. The only background check might have been the proprietor asking “Is this for you or your dad, Bobby?”

In 1986 a teen could walk into a sporting goods store in a mall and buy a semiautomatic rifle and five hundred rounds of ammunition after filling out one small form and undergoing no background check, and walk her purchase out through the mall, no questions asked.

In 1994 you could drive to Georgia from Tennessee and buy the scariest-looking riot shotgun on the rack with your photo ID and, again, no background check.

In 2006, to buy a simple single-shot .22 rifle, of the type used to teach gun safety and marksmanship to Cub Scouts, here in the gun-friendly state of Tennessee, you must show current photo ID, the address on which must match your current residence address. You must fill out a page and a half of a big tri-fold form, and then wait for the seller to fill out the rest. You must wait while an invasive background check is performed on you and the serial numbers of the gun (even if brand new) are checked to make sure it is not stolen. You must give your thumbprints, for Vishnu’s sake.

...and this, this is “more easily available.”

Progress is being made, albeit slowly. Sometimes we have to remember that we aren't winning all the battles and much work is left to be done.

Titled:   Boy turns in knife but may still be expelled

Zero tolerance rears its ugly head again in Indiana.

Elliot, 14, said he was walking to the school entrance in the brisk weather March 3 and had placed his hands in his coat pocket when he felt the Swiss army pocketknife in the pocket.

 

"I went straight to the office right inside (the front door)," he said.

 

He said he handed the knife to Teri Donahue, the school's treasurer, and told her he had brought it to school by mistake.

 

As a result of Elliot's actions, the school's principal, Jimmy Meadows, suspended Elliot for the maximum 10 school days as allowed by law and recommended Elliot be expelled. A confidential expulsion hearing is scheduled for April 10.

Dave Kopel has written a detailed summary of current Concealed Carry laws.

Nebraska and Kansas have finally joined the shall-issue club, making 40 shall-issue States in the Union.

Progress is slow, but it is being made.

Titled:    Anti-gun advocate's son facing weapons charges

As is becoming all too frequent, the anti-gun activists are demonstrating an "OK for me, but not for you" attitude and failing to deal with reality even in their own homes.

In the latest case, Julia Farquharson, founder of United Mothers Against Violence Everywhere, found herself facing reality head on:

"I have nothing to hide," Farquharson said to police. However, she was not the focus of the investigation.

Police were there because of her son Kadafi Farquharson, 23. He was arrested on weapons charges.

The mother and anti-gun violence advocate said someone else must have put the weapons in her house.

She berated officers as they left her home.

Police officers offered to show Farquharson the results of their search. Items allegedly found by investigators included a rifle magazine, a disassembled handgun and a quantity of ammunition.

After seeing what police had allegedly collected, Farquharson said she does not believe it. "No, my son wouldn't carry a gun, no," Farquharson said.

Another article, in the Toronto Sun, explained a little more:

The son of a Toronto anti-gun violence activist faces multiple gun-related charges after he was arrested with two sawed-off rifles hidden down his pants.

Police from the Emergency Task Force surrounded the house of Kadfi Farquharson, 23, on Duncanwoods Rd. in the Finch and Islington area just before 4 p.m. yesterday after being called to the area by a man who said someone had tried to shoot him.

One would think that having sawed-off rifles unknowingly planted in your pants would raise your suspicions.

It is incredible to think that Ms. Farquharson believes she has the right to dictate what other people can and can't do when she can't even discern the character of her son who lives in the same house.

I wonder if this is the same Kadafi Farquharson quoted recently praising an anti-violence course he had just completed:

"I just want to hope that in the future there are a lot more programs like this," graduate Kadafi Farquharson told reporters. "Because we need a lot, lot, lot more programs like this to get more kids off the street."

Farquharson and the other graduates accepted their diplomas from Mayor David Miller himself. The program was part of Miller's Community Safety Plan and cost the city $27,000.

"We have to make sure our young people grow up safely, and we have to make sure they have a chance," Miller told CTV News. "If they don't have a chance, they get sucked into the gun and gang culture. Programs like the one we're at today give young people a real chance."

It certainly didn't seem to work for young Kadafi.

Titled:     Supersoaker flamethrower

And probably fairly dangerous too, but it sure looks like fun:

Supersoaker flamethrower

Hat-tip to Say Uncle