I Just Can't Like Ben Jonson

Michael Kahn's staging of The Alchemist is artistically perfect, or close to it. The sets, costumes and performances are wonderful, particularly in the second act when the various separate intrigues set up by the three con men (or "venture tripartite" as Jonson would have it) threaten to collide --and everyone's timing is "on."
If I have a criticism, it's of the playwright. Every time I have opportunity to see a Jonson play, I think to myself, "This will be wonderful. Jonson wasSource: Wheat Weeds RSS Feed

Reporting back from Thanksgiving

I’m back home at last. Being away was a nice respite, but I kept wondering what was going on in the world (with only a hard copy of the NY Times to tell me!) and I kept wondering what was going on with the blog. And I even managed the feat of passing the entire three days without getting caught up in any political discussions.

For Thanksgiving itself, there was a very large organic turkey and a very small wild turkey with the usual tasty accompaniments, and a few unusual ones asSource: neo-neocon RSS Feed

Further on the Matter of the Party Crashers: An Open Letter to the Secret Service [UPDATED]

[UPDATE: It turns out that the Salahis had contact with President Obama. Oy vey.]

Dear Sirs:

I expect better of you. Seriously. Even if, as some have suggested, this is a put-up deal, it can’t help but reflect poorly on the reputation and performance of your fine Service, which has provided a century and a half of efficient professionalism and security to the nation.

Couple slips though security to crash White House state dinner

Let me be direct. MySource: Red State RSS Feed

The Psalm 109:8 Controversy

I’m a bit late on this, having just read about a religiously-themed slogan appearing these days on T-shirts, web sites, and bumper stickers. The slogan? “Pray for Obama, Psalm 109:8.”

To those who don’t dig any deeper, the words and Bible citation may be anything from laudable to innocuous.

But people taking the time to look up the passage are registering differing views, ranging from laughter to outrage.

Psalm 109:8, not among the Bible’s mostSource: The Moderate Voice RSS Feed

ObamaCare's Winners and Losers

ObamaCare's winners and losers

By BETSY MCCAUGHEY

November 24, 2009

New York Post

After the Senate voted Saturday night to proceed with debate on health reform, Majority Leader Harry Reid declared the public the winner. In truth, more Americans will be losers than winners.
Both Senate and House bills strip nearly half a trillion dollars from Medicare, robbing seniors to expand Medicaid. The Senate bill also spendsSource: Theodore's World RSS Feed

ACT: the Lib Dems’ new action network launched today

Today sees the public launch of ACT, the Liberal Democrats’ new social action network. This is the second launch in our three-part strategy,following on from the new-look libdems.org.uk.

ACT is a place where supporters can connect with one another, organise events and campaigns, share photos and videos and talk about politics.

Our aim is to reach a community of Liberal Democrats that extends beyond the formal boundary of party membership. So although ACT will be maintained asSource: Liberal Democrat Voice RSS Feed

Newtongate: The final nail in the coffin of Renaissance and Enlightenment “thinking”

The blog Carbon Fixated has a must-read post that provides some perspective on the scandal du jour:

If you own any shares in companies that produce reflecting telescopes, use differential and integral calculus, or rely on the laws of motion, I should start dumping them NOW. The conspiracy behind the calculus myth has been suddenly, brutally and quite deliciously exposed after volumes of Newton’s private correspondence were compiled and published.

When you read some of theseSource: Climate Progress RSS Feed

9/11 Murderers Seek Platform For Views

From their unabashed fans at the New York Times:

Sept. 11 Defendant Seeks a Trial, and a Platform

By SCOTT SHANE

November 21, 2009

The five men the Justice Department has said will be charged in the attacks of Sept. 11 intend to plead not guilty so they can express their political and religious views during a trial, the lawyer for one of the men said on Saturday.

The lawyer, Scott L. Fenstermaker, said that during a meeting at the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba,Source: Sweetness Light RSS Feed

ThinkFast: November 19, 2009

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) unveiled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act last night, a health care reform bill that combines elements from legislation that passed two Senate committees. According to Reid, the CBO says the bill will cost $848 billion over 10 years while reducing the deficit by $130 billion over a decade and extending coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans.

“In a ruling that could leave the government open to billions of dollars in claimsSource: Think Progress RSS Feed

Vote For Us!

We would like to beg you, our readers, to nominate ConWebBlog in the 2009 Weblog Awards. Since there isn't a media category per se and we're not quite poltical, we're going to aim for the Best Large Blog, defined as having a Technorati authority rating of between 301 and 500 (we're at 440).

ConWebWatch is listed in the comments as a nominee (which is where the shameless self-promotion comes in), so what you need to do is click on the "+" icon in that particular commentSource: ConWebBlog: The Weblog of ConWebWat RSS Feed

Just doing my part to support our most famous ex-governor.

Yep! I bought it all right. Even though I swore I wouldn't!

Perhaps this was her evil plan all along, to fill the book with lies KNOWING that bloggers and media types would have to buy the book so that hey could refute the lies and set the record straight.

Could she be that smart?

Nah!

Anyhow just to get a flavor for the direction this book is sure to take, here is the first line from the very first page.

"I don't believe that God put us onSource: The Immoral Minority RSS Feed

Leader of the Pack

She ain’t no Toto
She ain’t no Lassie
She ain’t no Rin Tin Tin

But she does have a high degree of self-importance. Combine that strong personality with a great sense of humor, a little arrogance, limitless energy, and an assertive nature and you have Tessa, a pup that’s very hard to train. When she’s outdoors she generally ignores the simple commands that she aces in the kitchen, Instructions like sit, stay, come, and down–mandatory in the house–are seemingly Source: Listics RSS Feed

Small Glimpse of NYC Terror Trials...

The Defense calls Mr. Eric Holder to the stand. "Did you seek to bring legal action against the former administration for the treatment of these detainees?"
The Defense calls the President of the United States of America to the stand. "Did you refer to the treatment of these detainees as 'torture?'"
Your Honor, the defense moves to dismiss the charges.

Source: Blonde sagacity RSS Feed

Who Needs Mathematicians for Math, Anyway? The ed schools' pedagogy adds up to trouble.

This is a great article on math instruction.

If anyone is interested in how math and sciences have devolved in the government schools, look no further.

This is what happens when academics who have never taught in a given field try to set the standards for everyone else.

From City Journal.

The statistics on U.S. math performance are grim. American eighth-graders ranked 25th out of 30 countries in mathematics achievement on the 2006 Programme for InternationalSource: Right Mind RSS Feed

Restricting Abortion

Do you know these guys?

Yup, actually, you do.

This is the list of the 20 ostensibly pro-choice Democrats who voted for the Stupak amendment. Over at 538, Nate did a nice chart. The Planned Parenthood rating relates to pro-choice, the NRTL ranking is anti-choice. All of these men voted Yes on Stupak, and you can see in the right column how they voted on the final bill. For the full analysis, click here.

Why would an ostensibly pro-choice Congressman vote for the Stupak Source: 2008 Democratic Convention Watch RSS Feed

Pew Survey: Incumbents Beware, especially Democrats

A new survey by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds widespread anti-incumbent sentiment among the American electorate.
From the survey: The mood of America is glum. Two-thirds of the public is dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country. Fully nine-in-ten say that national economic conditions are only fair or poor, and nearly two-thirds describe their own finances that way -- the most since the summer of 1992.
An increasing proportion ofSource: THE CENTRIST RSS Feed

Is this a clue about an early election?

Are people reading too much into this?

I suppose we will see many more alerts like this but there’s a bit of a flurry tonight over this job ad from Chris Bryant - the Rhonda MP and Europe minister. Why does this job end on March 31s? Is this a clue to the election date?

A member of the Tory PR team twittered it and one or two people have sent me emails.

With all due respect to Chris Bryant he is the big flaw in the theory. For I cannot believe that he is privvy to theSource: Political Betting RSS Feed

Cowardly Kit Bond Carries Water for the Bush Administration and Whines About Terror Trials in NY

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These tough guys sure do have a lot of fear about trusting the United States court system, don't they? During an interview with Andrea Mitchell today Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond joined the long list of Republicans carping about the Obama administration moving the trial of 9/11 suspects to New York.

Bond: Well I think it’s an insult to the memory of those who were brutally murdered on Sept. 11th to have the leaders behind theseSource: Crooks and Liars RSS Feed

America’s Enemy Within the Gates

America’s Enemy Within the Gates
By J. D. Longstreet
*******************************
As I watched the aftermath of the shootings at Ft. Hood recently I, like so many other Americans, was aghast at the carnage wrought by America’s greatest enemy… “Political Correctness.” Say what you will but when the facts all come out, I am convinced the culprit will be none other than political correctness in our government, and in our military, in our religious community, in ourSource: Faultline USA RSS Feed

What does Glasgow NE say about Labour’s Scottish chances?

How many losses do we expect them to suffer?

At the General Election on May 5th 2005 Labour won 40 of the 59 seats north of the border on just 38.9% of the vote. No wonder that Blair “forgot” about his 1997 manifesto commitment on electoral reform.

Since the election they lost Dunfermline to the Lib Dems in 2006 and Glasgow East to Labour in 2008. This was partly balanced by the “gain” overnight of the Speaker’s seat.

So how are things going to look forSource: Political Betting RSS Feed

Prof. Lionel McIntyre Busted in Columbia Gal 'punch' Over Argument About Race

Prof busted in Columbia gal 'punch'

New York Post

A prominent Columbia architecture professor punched a female university employee in the face at a Harlem bar during a heated argument about race relations, cops said yesterday.

Police busted Lionel McIntyre, 59, for assault yesterday after his bruised victim, Camille Davis, filed charges.

McIntyre and Davis, who works as a production manager in the school's theater department, are both Source: Theodore's World RSS Feed

Little Time Bombs

Listening to the radio yesterday, I heard a statistic noting that, of the world’s one billion Muslims, an estimated two hundred million of them subscribe to the radical Islamic strain. That’s no small number whether looked at in total, or as a percentage. The reason it’s problematic is what this large group believes in and what they’re willing to do to attain their goals.

In case you’ve forgotten, let’s revisit the words of radical Islam’s de-facto leader, Osama binSource: GraniteGrok RSS Feed

CBS Does Its Part In Fueling The “Blame Obama” Mentality

The Justice Department has subpoenaed indymedia.us for its visitor logs for a certain date. While this raises big flags regarding online privacy, something else happened with this action that is very odd. The recipient of the subpoena was told she could not talk about it unless authorized by the Justice Department – an essential gag order.

Of course news like this would send the right into a full frenzy that Obama is trying to silence the media, even a left-leaning site likeSource: Crooks and Liars RSS Feed

Modern Warfare 2 gets Hollywood-style launch

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2, the most anticipated computer game of the year, has received a Hollywood movie-style launch bringing part of London to a standstill.As fans queued for stores which were opening at midnight, trucks filled with actors dressed as military characters from the game passed by.There was also a VIP party at Vue Cinema in Leicester Square attended by movie and TV stars and hosted was by Vernon Kay (never mind).Modern Warfare 2 is expected to become the biggest-sellingSource: British Blogs RSS Feed

Acer Aspire 8940 Core i7 Notebook

Acer has added a new notebook to its range with the launch of the Acer Aspire 8940, which is Acer’s new flagship notebook with a range of high end features. The Acer Aspire 8940 features a 1.6GHz Intel Core i7 720QM processor, an 18.4 inch Full HD widescreen display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, 4GB of DDR3 RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250m 1GB graphics cards. On top of that the Acer Aspire 8940 comes with a 4 x Blu-ray / DVD Super-Multi double layer drive, a multi card reader, 802.11Source: British Blogs RSS Feed

A new author at RedStateBlues

I am so very pleased to announce that another author will be joining me here at RedStateBlues. This is someone I've known literally all her life, and I know she has some important ideas to add politically and otherwise. It's my daughter, Jenn!
Jenn's politics were no doubt influenced by her dad and I, but she has her own unique take on things, and believe me we don't always agree. So this should be fun.
Look for posts from 20-something Jenn from time to time. She'll post when sheSource: RedStateBlues RSS Feed

NYT Says Hasan Has ‘Contact PTSD’

From the always understanding New York Times:

A news photographer records footage of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s apartment door in Killeen, Texas. Painful Stories Take a Toll on Military Therapists

By BENEDICT CAREY, DAMIEN CAVE and LIZETTE ALVAREZ

November 8, 2009

Many of the patients who fill the day are bereft, angry, broken. Their experiences are gruesome, their distress lasting and the process of recovery exhausting. The repeated stories of battle and loss Source: Sweetness Light RSS Feed

THE LIBERAL LIE CARTOON GALLERY AND YoU cAn'T mAkE tHiS sTuFf Up

Election day 2009 a precursor to election day 2010 and a kick in the butt for BHO ! I must say...I LOVED IT!!!!!
YoU cAn'T mAkE tHiS sTuFf Up - BEDFORD, Pa. — In exchange for no jail time, a woman and her adult daughter have agreed to stand outside a Pennsylvania courthouse holding signs saying they stole a gift card from a 9-year-old girl on her birthday. Fifty-six-year-old Evelyn Border and 35-year-old Tina Griekspoor stood outside the court for 4½ hours Tuesday. They held signsSource: The Liberal Lie, The Conservative Truth RSS Feed

General Warns Diversity May Be Casualty of Ft. Hood Shooting

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From This Week with George Stephanopoulos, an interview with Gen. George Casey in which (of course) we use the "terrorism" label, but the general also worries that speculation about the Ft. Hood shootings will fan the fires of bigotry in the military:

STEPHANOPOULOS: You say you can't talk too much about the investigation, but we are learning a fair amount about Major Hasan in the last couple of days. And it appears that there wereSource: Crooks and Liars RSS Feed

Congrats to Katherine Reutter of Central Illinois

Yesterday, Katherine Reutter won the gold in the 1500m short track race at the World Cup in Montreal with a time of 2:23. Katherine is a native of Champaign, and is on target for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver next Feb.
Stephen Colbert has graciously lent his name to the US Speed Skating team and Katherine also has sponsorship by local businesses. Colbert is asking his fans at Colbert Nation to donate here.
Katherine is a Benny family friend. Benny's World is very proud ofSource: Benny's World RSS Feed

Waterpur Fight

U.S. Army soldiers watch the surrounding hills for insurgents while fellow soldiers race to their position, dodging heavy sniper fire during a three-hour gun battle in Kunar province, Afghanistan, Nov. 3, 2009. The 4th Infantry Division soldiers have been battling insurgent forces in the Waterpur valley since arriving in Afghanistan last June. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Matthew Moeller

Source: Murdoc Online RSS Feed

Clinic Cat MAX On Orders to Luke Air Force Base

Max, a 21-pound gray tabby cat, is on official Army orders to the Luke Air Force Base Veterinary Clinic in Glendale, Ariz. Not only does he increase the morale of the staff and visitors to the clinic, he also officially provides "Fat Cat Security and Pest Control" as stated in his orders

Clinic cat on orders to Luke Air Force Base

56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS)

During the past tenSource: Theodore's World RSS Feed

Today's Health Care Moment: Joe Wilson was Right

No, not about most things. And CERTAINLY NOT about standing up and yelling at President Obama. But yesterday, he said:

“If [U.S. House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi insists on shoving this bill through, then I believe that Members of Congress should go onto the government-run option,” Wilson said. “If it is good enough for the American people, then it is certainly good enough for Congress.”

This may well be the single thing he's ever said with which I wholeheartedly agree.Source: 2008 Democratic Convention Watch RSS Feed

A bloodbath

The map to the left, which I got from The Washington Post, pretty much says it all: yesterday was a bloodbath. While the map only shows the gubernatorial race, the other two statewide races maps don’t look much different. The added loss of a net of six House of Delegates seats is a bitter pill.

A successful campaign requires time, money and people. Tuesday, the Republicans had all three, while the Democrats didn’t.

Time

When I think of the element ofSource: Vivian J. Paige RSS Feed

Ol Michelle O Had a Farm.... E-I-E-I-Yo.....

Michelle Obama has been teaching young kids about farming in the inner city since springtime, and she often shares tricks with students that good old Barry picked up from his young, wild Hawaiian and ACORN days.
Here she's explaining how they saved money back in the old days by growin' their own weed, just like they do now in the backyard of the white house where their personally grown "medicinal" (wink wink) stash resides during growing months in DC getting better harvest there thanSource: Chicagoray RSS Feed

Kevin Kim's Aggressive Tactics

This came into my inbox. (I linked it via the photo.)
--Joanne Trikas, who ran the polling site at PS 79, wrote of the Kim poll watchers that, “Many of our inspectors and myself at times felt they could be electioneering to voters. These people were ‘constantly’ inquiring with the inspectors who told me that they were very aggressive in gathering information.”
-- Elyse Bulla, the coordinator at PS 130, wrote that the Kim poll watchers, “Did not want to follow orders orSource: Queens Crap RSS Feed

Lieberman: I Wish People Would Come Out and Debate Me on the Public Option

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Joe Lieberman claims that he 'wish[es] people would come out and debate me on the public option instead of questioning my motives' when asked about the money he's receiving from the insurance industry. That's news to Rachel Maddow Joe. If you're looking for someone to debate you about your motives, I hear she's still looking for a response from your office.

SCHIEFFER: I’m going to ask you this question because I want to give you aSource: Crooks and Liars RSS Feed

The End of 2500 Years of Jewish Life in Yemen

As noted in an editorial today in the Jerusalem Post, the month of Tishrei 5770, or October 2009 on the secular calendar, marked the end of 2500 years of Jewish life in Yemen. Last month the United States State Department completed a clandestine operation to transfer the last 60 Yemenite Jews to the U.S. So ended a process that began with "Operation Flying Carpet" in 1949-1950, in which most of the Jewish population of Yemen, some 49,000 of my holy brothers and sisters, were flown toSource: The Hedgehog Blog RSS Feed

WTC Steel Made Ship Sails Into New York For Commissioning

Now part of that tragedy has been turned to good use with the introduction of the remnant steel from the attack, which has come full circle by being recycled back into the fabric of our military that keeps us and this mostly great country free in the form of this Navy Assault ship called USS New York, which in the picture there sails through the Mississippi River Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009, leaving on it's journey from New Orleans to New York which was completed yesteday.
HopefullySource: Chicagoray RSS Feed

Political Koans… Scozzafava, Rangel, Bruno, Pharma, AIG

A koan is a short, often paradoxical idea, meant to tell the truth, or cause the ego to give up, or cause enlightenment, or all three.

Old well known koans:

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

What is the sound of a tree falling in the forest, if there is no one there to hear it?

I try my hand at koans. I’m no good at it, but I try.

Why it is so easy for ‘the base’ of any side to fall so easily into a Pavlovian rage by telling them half-truths Source: The Moderate Voice RSS Feed