Mary Katharine is a friend of mine. I take no pleasure in publicly disagreeing with her. But, I think her take on the CNN/YouTube debate is wrong. So at the risk of being grumpy old Lou Grant to her "turn the world on with her smile" Mary Richards, I'm going to tell you why.

Now, MKH titles her latest blog entry "Should We Republicans, Young and Old, Pretty Much Confirm the Old Fogey Republican Stereotype for all time by Torpedoing New Technology Experiments and Debates in Light of the Problems with this one?" She admits that she is intentionally tweaking folks with the title. And it is a rhetorically funny question.

Except that I'm here to answer "Yes."

UPDATE:If any of you are interested, MKH just responded to me over at her place.

She gave as good as she got. It's fair. Read her piece, and if you disagree please be polite.

She's a friend, and in this instance if I see a familiar name from here crossing the line in her comments, I'll bring out the AoS ban hammer. more...

Posted by: Jack M. at 06:00 PM | Comments (149)
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Putin's party won.

Many Russians complained Sunday about being pressured to cast their ballots, with teachers, doctors and others saying they had been ordered by their bosses to vote at their workplaces.

"People are being forced and threatened to vote; otherwise they won't get their salaries or pensions," said Boris Nemtsov, leader of the liberal Union of Right Forces party.

Dozens of voters reported being paid to cast ballots for United Russia, said Alexander Kynev, a political expert with election monitoring group Golos. In the town of Pestovo in the western Novgorod region, voters complained they were given ballots already filled out for United Russia, he said.

In Chechnya, where turnout was over 99 percent, witnesses reported seeing election authorities filling out and casting voter ballots in the suburbs of the regional capital, Grozny.

There was a tense, subdued mood at some polling stations. Yelena, a 32-year-old manager in St. Petersburg, refused to give her last name out of fear of official retaliation for voting for the liberal Yabloko party.

"We live in a country with an absence of democracy and freedom of speech," she said.

Many voters were reluctant to discuss their vote — a shift since the late 1980s, when Russians complained loudly about their government. One elderly woman, a veteran of a defense research institute, refused to give her name and only admitted that she had voted for Yabloko when she was certain no one else was listening.

The authorities, she said, would not let Yabloko win seats.

"That's why we have about 300 fools, I'm sorry to say, in our Duma," she said. "And I don't believe Putin: He is an ordinary man, we must not give him absolute power."

Too late for that, Grandmother.

Meanwhile in Venezuela, the result of Chavez's referendum which would eliminate term limits (installing him as totalitarian) remains to be seen.

Posted by: LauraW. at 05:35 PM | Comments (16)
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From See-Dubya.

I haven't been able to beat it yet, though I've gotten to "99% complete" twice. Anybody have any advice for dealing with the big brown hulk-monsters that come out near the end? I just never have enough bullets to deal with those guys...

And a new addiction is born.

Posted by: LauraW. at 04:41 PM | Comments (14)
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After much back and forth, Mitt Romney is set to take on the issue of his Mormon faith directly. HeÂ’ll speak at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, TX on Thursday.

Clearly, HuckabeeÂ’s inroads with religious conservatives is starting to have an impact on RomenyÂ’s thinking.

"This speech is an opportunity for Governor Romney to share his views on religious liberty, the grand tradition religious tolerance has played in the progress of our nation and how the governor's own faith would inform his presidency if he were elected," Kevin Madden, a campaign spokesman, said in a statement. "Governor Romney understands that faith is an important issue to many Americans, and he personally feels this moment is the right moment for him to share his views with the nation."

Get ready for a week full of comparisons to JFKÂ’s 1960 speech to Southern Baptist Leaders (which was given in Houston) about religion and what a Catholic president would mean.

Posted by: DrewM. at 02:03 PM | Comments (72)
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You know, in the age of Cronkite, Rather, Brokaw, Jennings et al... I honestly believe the pro-Tyrant spin was all done with a wink and a nod.

They knew that Cuba and Iraq for instance, were not Democracies, and when they duly reported the election results, everyone was in on the joke at the expense of big bad U.S. of A.

I'm having a hard time reading this article as anything other than coming from a true believer in what the author has been spoon-fed all through J-school and devout viewings of Michael Moore flicks.

Members of municipal assemblies in Castro's home province of Santiago nominated him for parliament, known as the National Assembly. If he agrees to be a candidate and is re-elected during national elections Jan. 20, Castro will remain in the running for another term as Council of State president.

Cuba elects National Assembly members every five years. Several weeks after a new slate of members is chosen, parliament convenes to choose the Council of State. Castro has held the council's presidency since it was created in 1976. Previously Cuba's prime minister, he has been the nation's unchallenged leader since leading a successful revolution 1959.

Posted by: Open Blog at 01:30 PM | Comments (25)
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The indoor smoking ban in the UK has had an unintended consequence. In cold weather, smokers use patio heaters to keep themselves comfortable outdoors.

This won't do.

Environmentalists say the heaters must now be banned if Britain is to meet carbon dioxide emission targets.

Tony Juniper, of Friends of the Earth, said: "The impacts of the smoking ban are positive, but this should not cause more problems for the environment. Either smokers will have to give up smoking or simply put on a jumper."

Naturally. Deal with the unwanted results of one ban by imposing another.

The last part of Mr. Juniper's quote has a disagreeably imperious ring to it. The sound of a wretched busybody who is used to getting his way over others.

In the name of saving the Earth, of course. It's not like he enjoys telling other people what to do.
He's just so terribly concerned about the Earth.

Tangent: In Washington State, private hookah-smoking club (!) gets around indoor smoking ban.

UPDATE: (Jack M)- Hooker-smoking? There's nothing I like better than a little smoked hooker. Tastes like salmon.

Ohhh...LW said hookah. Forget I said anything.

Posted by: LauraW. at 11:58 AM | Comments (47)
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Zi Lin Zhang, People's Republic of China.

"There are 1.3 billion people behind me".

And they all want a f'n' sammich.

Posted by: Dave In Texas at 11:35 AM | Comments (76)
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For the most part I find video rants amateurish and not well done at all. This one just kinda draws you in because the guy isn't too loud, not using a lot of profanity, and the 7+ minutes it takes doesn't seem all that long. Its a Brit who's not too keen on their version of CAIR. Sort of has a Hitchens's flavor to it.

H/T Sompopo's Revenge more...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 04:41 AM | Comments (24)
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Well, Missouri played like the Missouri of the 1980s and 1990s against Oklahoma tonight and was run out of San Antonio. West Virginia laid an egg against Dave Wannstedt's Mustache tonight. And Hawai'i is probably going to lose to Washington. [UPDATE: HAWAI'I CAME BACK AND WON. THAT'LL TEACH ME TO GO TO BED BEFORE GAME IS OVER.]

So, what does this mean? I guess *spits on the ground* Ohio State will go to the BCS Title Game after all. Who should play them?

Oh, and here is why you should stick to buying pr0n at seedy stores with private viewing booths.
I know. Totally non-sequitor. But that's how I roll.

Posted by: Open Blog at 10:09 PM | Comments (62)
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The Des Moines Register has two new polls out and they show new leaders in both parties.

Huck is leading the Republican field 29-24% (which is right around the margin of error of 4.4%). That means Huckabee is up 17% from the last poll in October, while Mitt is down 5% in that time.

On the Democratic side, Obama leads Hillary! 28%-25%. Obama is up 6 points and Hillary is down 4% from the previous poll.

As important is the fact that a lot of voters are still pretty soft in their support.

Close to half of the Democrats and 61 percent of the Republicans say they still could be persuaded to change their minds. Campaign strategists figure that some holiday conversations with family and friends will turn to politics and that those discussions may well influence decisions.

The caucuses are just over a month away (January 3rd) but times really shorter than that. How much campaigning is going to get done from about the 21st through the 1st? It seems the voters will be gathering and talking amongst themselves but will the campaigns be able to really sway them at the last minute? What would you think of a candidate that had call banks calling you the weekend before Christmas?

h/t The Page

Posted by: DrewM at 08:26 PM | Comments (80)
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