Church and State

"The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion."

1797 Treaty of Tripoli

New York City elections

Okay, I'll admit it - as much of a liberal as I am, I almost always lean towards Republican candidates in local elections (with the notable exception of Chris Christie, who is running for Governor of New Jersey.)

On November 3rd, the polling opens for Mayor of New York city - and we'll see incumbent Michael Bloomberg stand against Democratic nominee William C. Thompson - New York's current Comptroller.

Bill Thompson has the dubious distinction of being endorsed by corrupt Democratic senator Chuck Schumer, the notorious Al Sharpton and District Council 37 - the city's biggest union. For that reason alone, I'm really concerned about his ties to 'special interests'.

Michael Bloomberg, on the other hand, is an incredibly capable business mogul with moderate political opinions. He began life as a Democrat, much like former mayor Rudy Guiliani, before getting nominated on a Republican ticket.

Okay, Lady. I kissed your damn baby. Now do I get your vote?

Bloomberg is the eigth richest American - and the attitude that built his fortune has served this city extremely well. He's very pragmatic and practical - and brings with him an methodology that embraces the best of the private sector. Admittedly, he's 'profitized' certain aspects of the city administration - like increasing parking fines to practically criminal levels - but that's offset by the positive things he's done.

Bloomberg's main push in his third term (he fought to have term limits repealed) will be to improve education across the city and help ease poverty.

Bloomberg with another baby - watching Wall Street traders hurl themselves from the Stock Exchange earlier this year.

Michael Bloomberg isn't a perfect candidate by any means - but he's a damn good one and I believe the city will do much better under a third term of his leadership than Bill Thompson's.

Residents of New York City - don't forget to vote this November 3rd.

Operation Gingermobile: The Hulme?

A friend of mine asked me if there were any other notable Hulmes (not that I'm particually notable, even for my Ginger activism.) In the midst of Googling for more notable namesakes, I discovered this incredible thing:


It's a Hulme - pronounced "Hull-Meh" - CanAm. This 7 liter, 600bhp supercar is designed by a company based in New Zealand and named after eponymous 1967 Formula One champion Denny Hulme.

Only 9 Hulme CanAms are being built a year - but new models are already being planned - including one with a windscreen! The one I'm excited about, the Hulme F1, will be a fully-enclosed grand tourer design along Le Mans specifications. If they can throw in a decent boot and windows you can climb in and out of, I'm sold!


Check the magnificent Hulme motor company out at their website.

What we did this weekend...

Mini Militant made a new friend at the North Brunswick Heritage Day!

Although they don't seem too friendly in this picture...


So he made another new friend!


But tortoises were too slow... No hares here, but there were some bunnies...


And, of course, a llama to round things off with. Mini Militant will never appreciate what a fondness his Dad has for llamas...


And finally, with Mini Militant being babysat by Auntie, we headed out to get our 'salsa' on at a local event. I busted the kind of dance moves you can only manage if you're white, English and have no sense of rhythm.

So how did you spend your weekend?

Protect the poor, disenfranchied Heath Insurance executives!

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Hilarious stuff - and if you can't watch videos with your Internet connection, I'll explain why!

This video is a Public Service Announcement spoof in which Will Ferrell and various stars from TV make a heartfelt claim to protect the poor executives of the health insurance industry who'll be hit hardest by so-called 'Obamacare.'

Blink and you'll miss 'em, but in this video you'll see Olivia Wilde from 'House', Masi Oka from 'Heroes' and Donald Faison from 'Scrubs.'

Yes, we're aware it's all politically-slanted stuff from Democratic-loving non-profit MoveOn.org, but it's still pretty fun stuff! It's nice to see Will Ferrel taking time out from absolutely sucking in his latest movies in order to do something that's genuinely funny.

And if you want to catch up with the antics of the other stars, they're appearing on your Direct TV Service this fall! The new season of 'House' started last week, while a Direct TV subscription gives you access to Comedy Central, which seems to play nothing but interminable repeats of Scrubs (featuring good old Donald Faison.)

For weeks now, Mummy Militant and I have been discussing the idea of scrapping our Direct TV Packages and trying to make do without TV, but now the winter season of great shows have started appearing, our resistance is weakening!

And as far as Mini Militant's concerned, Direct TV Deals him into all the Dora the Explorer he can watch, so he's lobbying to keep it around! Watch this space - we'll let you know who's victorious.

Check out the Addams Family!

So October's coming up - and that means spooky goings on in the lead up to Halloween!

If you've got kids, an excellent spooky suggestion to entertainment them is the Addams Family musical. It's a Broadway-style show featuring the favorite characters from the old black and white family show. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until March, though!

The cast of the original '64 TV show

Although the Addams Family is best known as a TV show (or you might remember the two popular movies) it actually started after-life as a cartoon in the New Yorker - running from 1938 until cartoonist Charles Addams.

The Addams Family as they first appeared in the New Yorker

The TV show inspired by the comic kicked off in 1964 - and established the characters we know and love today.

The Addams Family show looks to be a corker - featuring Nathan Lane as Gomez, Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia and Annaleigh Ashford as Wednesday.

Performances begin April 10th, 2010 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on West 46th Street, New York. You can get your claws on The Addams Family tickets here.

Poster for the new Addams Family musical

And if the Addams Family sounds too spooky, there are still High school musical tickets for fans of Disney's popular HSM trilogy, or JACOBS THEATRE TICKETS

Oktoberfest at Myrtle Beach!

I hate the beach.

Actually, that's not true. I love the seaside, in certain places. For example, the crisp, white sand of Tresco, or the rocky pebbles of Saint Valery en Caux. When I lived there, the beaches were often deserted and I got to swim, stroll and enjoy them at my leisure.

Tresco - where the beach is a haven of tranquility

But here, 'the beach' is a different animal. In New Jersey, 'the beach' refers to the Jersey Shore - a length of sandy Atlantic beaches bustling with people and cars. You couldn't pay me to go there - especially not in the heat of summer.

The Jersey Shore - where the beach is like a writhing mass of sweaty hog meat

Sand, crowds, traffic and sunburn do not make for a happy Militant Ginger!

But down on South Carolina, it looks like the beach-brainiancs have actually come up with a beach-side bash that I would enjoy - and wouldn't have to slather myself up with suncream to attend!

This October, they're celebrating Oktoberfest - the German beer festival. On October 3rd, brats and beer will take over the beach and Myrtle Beach Hotels will play host to lager-quaffers in lederhosen.

"We've wanted to do something like this for a long time, and it just wouldn't be feasible in the summer," Oceanfront Merchants Association President Jonathan Staton explained. "We would never be able to shut down a section of Ocean Boulevard in the summer."

Free to enter and attend, the Oktoberfest will feature German beer, music and even a bratwurst-eating contest (sign me off of that one.) Fireworks will serve as the climax to the celebration.

"The polka band will be really fun," marketing manager Hatton Gravely boasted.

It's the first time Myrtle Beach Resorts will play host to Oktoberfest - and in addition to being a lot of fun, it's hoped to inject some extra out-of-season cash into the local economy. The festival itself is not-for-profit.

"Our goal isn't to make any money," Johnathan Staton admitted. "Any proceeds we do make will go to the Special Olympics, and to help cover some of the city's costs for providing services."

"This is the first time it has been done in a Myrtle Beach Resort," he added. "We're excited to bring people downtown."

Response from Nintendo

If you guys remember, I complained to Nintendo that their 'Mii' editor on the 'Wii' didn't have an option for redheads! Read about it here.

Well, I got a response. Only it's not nearly as funny as my letter to them was.

Hello,

I can see why you feel the way you do, although I can assure you that Nintendo doesn't have anything against anyone with red hair--or any other color for that matter. At this time I haven't heard of any plans to update the Mii Channel, but I will make sure that your comments about it are included in the channel's record of feedback.

We do occasionally hear from those who want some attribute or characteristic added to their Miis, but to us the beauty and success of Mii creation is in its simplicity. What amazes us is how creative users can be with the relatively few tools provided. In the case of hair color, I can only speculate as to what the designers were thinking, but there are eight colors provided. One of those colors is a reddish-brown, which I'm sure they thought would bridge the gap, as it were.

I thank you for having taken the time to share your concerns with us and for allowing us to respond.

Sincerely,

David Marshall
Nintendo of America Inc.

My response?

Dear David Marshall,

Many thanks for your response. So absolutely no chance of a free Wii then?

Yours faithfully,

Roland Hulme, a.k.a. Militant Ginger

Operation Gingermobile: The $1,600 dream machine...

I blame it on Olds Chick! She was the one who left this message on Operation Gingermobile:

As the owner of a 1978 Mark V, I get about 15 mpg in the city, and better on the highway.

I'd ruled out the beautiful Lincoln Continental Mark V as a potential 'Gingermobile' because it has the dubious distinction of being one of the most thirsty production automobiles ever - apparently getting an estimated 7mpg!


But Olds Chick has blissfully disputed that - and, as a result, it looks like the Lincoln's back in the game! Previous to that, I'd still been looking at Pontiac Firebirds and the good old chevrolet camaro.

I especially liked the Lincoln Continental Mark V for a variety of reasons:

• It's a big, luxurious car like James Bond's Bentley or The Saint's Hirondel.
• It's got classic American swagger and squishy suspension like The General Lee.
• James Bond drove a 'Continental' (Bentley, that is - but the same name!)
• James Bond also drove a Mark V (Bentley, that is - but the same name!)
• It's pimpin', unique and stylish - kind of like me.
• Two doors, four seats and a huge boot/trunk - Adventure Eddy essentials.

The only drawback? It's got an automatic gearbox. All Lincolns do!

Nevertheless, even that drawback pales into insignificance when you consider this:


When I searched for Lincoln Continental Mark V's in my local area, I found this black beauty for just $1,600! Look at it! What a gorgeous motor car!

$1,600 is a bargain for this classic auto - although there's probably a reason for that! Sixteen hundred is less than the deposit for a brand new Hyundai!

I imagine that to get this potential Gingermobile up to inspection standards would probably involve quite a serious investment. And to really soup it up, I'd like to do the following:

• Add a five-speed manual transmission from the similar-vintage Ford Mustang
• Sling a loud, dual-exhaust 'cherry bomb' set up pipes on there
• Uprate the suspension so it handles tightly
• Add rack-and-pinion steering for clean, crisp control
• Swapping out those whitewalls for big, fat racing tyres
• Repainting it British Racing Green or cherry red.
  

By that time, you're looking at splashing out enough cash to buy a new chrysler! Except you won't have the crash-test rating or acceptable fuel economy!

But what a ride that would be. Everything a Gingermobile should be - rough and ready with a refined edge. I love it already!

Sadly (or as far as Mummy Militant's concerned, fortunately) I don't have $1,600 or more to splash out on this - but while that still leaves me without a Gingermobile, I feel the search is getting closer to a conclusion.

Oh, and in other car-related news, the infamous Ford Transit van (most normally seen at 90mph, three inches from your rear bumper in the fast-lane of the motorway) is coming to America! They've announced that the much touted 'backbone of Britain' will be heading Stateside in 2010. The ford transit connect will offer a fuel-efficient alternative to Ford's regular lineup of trucks and pickups.

Why you shouldn't 'friend' your boss on Facebook

Here is an important lesson to be learned from Social Media – in this instance, networking site Facebook.


Don’t ‘friend’ your boss and then badmouth him in a status update!

As funny as that example is, though – it’s a sober warning for the rest of us. With the advent of ‘social media’ like blogging, Twitter and Facebook, it’s never been easier to create your own online identity and communicate it across the Internet.

But it’s worth remembering that what you project into the information superhighway stays there – and can often come back and haunt you with nothing more complicated than a ‘google’ search of your name.

Coworkers, bosses, clients and even potential new employers will be exposed to whatever you’ve thrown out onto the Internet and their opinion of you will be influenced as a result.

If your blogs are rambling and full of typos, it projects a message that you’re sloppy and lack attention to detail.

If you launch f-bomb laden rants on political forums, you come across as angry and opinionated.

If your Facebook profile features nothing but pictures of drunken debauchery, your boss might start to wonder if your ‘Monday morning flu’ is authentic!

So take charge of your online identity! You’re in control of how other people view you online and if you’re not proud of the result, you’ve got nobody to blame but yourself.

Fortunately, help is at hand.

Social Media Specialist Tyler Jennings is giving a lecture this Friday (September 25th) to present ‘Personal Branding 2.0: Best Social Media Practices.’

Personal Branding 2.0: Best Social Media Practices
7:45 a.m.--9:30 a.m.

USA TODAY
535 Madison Avenue
32 Floor

In this 90-minute lecture, he’ll introduce you to the same brand-building exercises that real businesses use to establish their hierarchy amongst competitors, talk directly to their consumers and establish the values they wish to be identified with.

Using these techniques, it’s a straightforward exercise to build a ‘personal brand’ you feel fairly represents you.

So if you’re a frequent ‘Twitterer’ or spend more than an hour a week on Facebook, Jenning’s lecture could help. Find at more at the AWNY website here.

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings

Have I've wasted my life?

Perhaps.

For the past two decades, I've been subconsciously motivated by an innate desire to mold myself after Indiana Jones.

See the picture on the right? I used to have a poster of that above my bed when I was a little boy. Indy's been with me since I was old enough to watch movies.

That probably explains my joint honors degree in history, my fascination with fedoras and cowboy hats and the fact that I'm rarely seen without a leather jacket.

In fact, it explains this:

My version of Short Round is very, very short.

But I've been an idiot! All this time, I thought to 'be' Indiana Jones, you actually had to emulate him - hence why I wore the hat, studied history and got beaten up by towering Nazi stormtroopers [I think you made that last one up - Editorial Bear.]

The truth is, I didn't need to do any of these things - because the power to 'be' Indiana Jones was already within my grasp, right in the comfort of my own home!

Yesterday, I mentioned how I lost my 'Wii' virginity - and last night, I played 'Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings' for the first time.

Now, I'm not a cynical gaming guru - so what's old rope to those people was new and exciting to me. I got to put on my 'Indy' hat, pick up a Wii controller in each hand and...

...and it was AWESOME.

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings lets you 'be' Indiana Jones. And not in that crappy 'press the A button to punch, use the B button to jump' way. Thanks to the Wii's controllers, when you control Indiana Jones onscreen, you actually have to DO the things he does.

For example, in the opening scene (Sudan, 1939 - the Germans wore grey, you wore blue) Indiana Jones goes up against five Nazi stormtroopers armed with nothing but his fists - and YOU have to punch your way through them.

Crack that whip! In real life, I'd have tangled it round my throat by now...

You thrust the left controller for a left jab. Swing the right one for a mean right hook. Jerk up the left controller again and POW! An uppercut that leaves the Germans seeing stars.

Staff of Kings has a control style that's simultaneously simple, yet complex. It's utterly intuitive.

Within minutes, I was ducking punches, using my whip to sweep Stormtroopers off their feet and thrusting Nazis head-first into brick walls. It took my about ten attempts to polish off the gang of Germans - and by the time I was finished, I was literally dripping in sweat.

With the Wii, you can use your whip, fists, objects and furniture to pummel your foes

There is simply nothing else like it.

The whole appeal of video games is the chance to do exciting, dangerous things you can't do in real life - but I've always found the format kind of flat. I love Grand Theft Auto, for example, but I always thought it kind of ironic that your on-screen avatar ran miles across a busy city while you say on your sofa eating Cheese Puffs.

Staff of Kings, on the other hand, manages to actually let you 'do' what Indy does. It's incredibly visceral to actually throw punches, crack the whip and work up a sweat dodging bad guys. Perhaps I'm biased, having never played on a Wii before, but as far as I was concerned, it was one of the most rewarding gaming experiences I've ever enjoyed.

Yes! Yes it does!

Compared to Playstation 3, the graphics of the Wii (and accordingly, Staff of Kings) are pretty primitive. Likewise, the story is resolutely linear, unlike city-wide 'sandboxes' like the infamous Grand Theft Auto. But despite that, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings offers something no so-called 'more sophisticated' game can equal.

Last night, I got to beat up Nazis, swing across ravines, explore ancients tombs and rescue a beautiful (digital) girl and I have the sore arms to prove it. There's simply nothing more satisfying than that.

Except for perhaps doing it in real life - and if this candid picture is anything to go by, that's something I've been aspiring to for years now.


Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings is available from Wal-Mart, Amazon and Blockbuster for $19.99.

Don't Wii On Me! Gingerism from Nintendo?

A family member's on vacation - and in addition to looking after his dog for a few days, we've taken temporary ownership of his Wii as well.

Despite being a big kid at heart, I've managed to avoid getting a gaming console since coming to America - and if you want to know how I occupied my time without one, the fact that I have a baby should answer that question!

However, despite finding other ways to occupy my time, I'd always secretly fancied a Wii. It's the only gaming console that uses kinetic controllers - as in, you wave and waggle them about to control your on-screen avatar. So much more fun than sore thumbs!

Finally, club your family members in the face with a plastic controller - all in the comfort of your own home!

So yesterday, I finally got to try the Wii out for myself - and it's AWESOME.

I played Wii Sports - where you use the controllers to play on-screen sports like tennis and baseball. The tennis game is great. Waving your controller gives you surprisingly deft control of your character's backhand and it's alarmingly addictive to play!

Without exaggeration, this You Tube clip probably sold more Wii units than any amount of Nintendo advertising!

But one thing angered - nay infuriated - me.

When you play on the Wii, you play as 'Mii' - a little onscreen character you can design to look just like you (if you were related to a Weeble.)

Creating the Militant Ginger 'Mii' - although something's not quite right...

You can pick your character's height, width, skin-tone and facial features and even pick their hair style...

...unless you're ginger.

Notably NOT ginger!

Yep, using the on-screen options available your 'Mii' could resemble pretty much any demographic. African, Asian, Indian or Aryan. But there was a conspicuous lack of 'ginger' in the hair options.

Even Rob Zombie has a 'Mii.' But of course, he's just a talented, sociopathic filmmaker - not ginger!

You could go for 'brown' or you could go for a sandy 'yellow' but there was nothing in the middle. My 'Mii' looked nothing like 'me' because his hair color was resolutely not-red.

Hair color options - NONE OF THEM GINGER! Not even a LITTLE BIT!

I'm horrified! Disgusted! Appalled and enraged! Nintendo, what kind of gratuitous gingerism is this? Shame on you!

I am forthwith writing to Nintendo USA to demand something be done about this. As a so-called Militant Ginger, I can't let this slight pass unpunished!

An Open Letter to Nintendo, USA

Nintendo of America, Inc.
Redmond, WA

Dear Sir, Madam,

Recently, I was fortunate enough to finally get to play Wii – and I absolutely loved it.

For years I’d been looking for a way to suck at tennis, bowling and golf in the comfort of my own home and now, thanks to Wii Sports, I can finally do that.

But despite my initial enthusiasm for waving my arms around in my living room - knocking furniture over, scaring the dog and making my 14-month-old son stare at me like I was a lunatic – I have encountered a very serious and offensive oversight built-in to the very fabric of the Wii.

Enthused by my first experiences with Wii, I attempted to use your ‘Mii’ editor to create an avatar who looked like me. Although I was able to approximate my imposing height, athletic build and rugged, yet sensitive good looks, when it came to mimicking my striking red hair the Mii editor completely failed me!

There was no ‘red’ option available in the hair color box! Just a choice between some crappy chocolate brown and a muddy yellow color that’s suspiciously similar to the paint-job on my ’89 Lincoln Town Car. Neither one does the job. I’m a proud redhead – in possession of flaming ginger hair that’s as unequivocally orange as Paris Hilton’s fake tan.

I find this oversight disgusting and racist!

Mii conspicuously makes almost any possible variation of skin-tone and facial feature available to users – meaning anybody from an albino to an African-American can perfectly reproduce their Mii-likeness on Nintendo. Almost anybody, I should say – because we redheads are insultingly excluded from this so-called ‘all-inclusive’ editor!

What if you’d left out options for Asian people to make realistic-looking Miis?

Okay, that’s a really bad example, since Nintendo is Japanese, but you get my point!

My red hair is a result of my proud Anglo-Scots heritage. My ancestors – and their Scandinavian forebears – proudly roamed the northern seas raping and pillaging in order to perpetuate our proud ginger race (and possibly make up for some deep seated insecurity issues – I’m still researching that.)

Between 2% and 6% of Americans are redheaded, so it’s disgusting that Nintendo would so purposefully exclude us from creating our own Mii likenesses to enjoy your games with.

Frankly, the pleasure of sucking at Wii Tennis, or being completely crap at Wii bowling, or even the delight I take in remaining resolutely hopeless at Wii Golf, is diluted by the fact that whatever Mii I choose to represent me onscreen is a pale (well, paler) imitation of my glorious ginger self.

I am affronted, antagonized, bitter, chafed, choleric, convulsed and all sorts of other words I found on www.thesaurus.com.

I demand satisfaction!

Therefore, it is essential that you amend the Mii editor immediately to include an option for red hair. If you fail to do that (or fail to buy me off with, perhaps, a free Wii, wink wink) I will not rest until your offensive oversight and callous attitude is publicized across the nation!

Redheads of the world unite! (Bring sunscreen)

Roland Hulme, a.k.a. Militant Ginger

www.militantginger.com

A Poem about Computers

They say to err is human,
And on that I would agree,
To bodge things up entirely,
You require a PC:

Whether Dell, HP, or Compaq,
(Never, though, an Apple Mac,)
You'll crash your desktop, lose your files,
Unless you have some I.T. guiles.

Computer Drivers, for a start,
Arranging them can be an art,
It says install them, all anew,
But who knows what the hell they do!

My monitor is looking weird,
My status bar has disappeared!
Video Drivers are corrupt,
I think my motherboard is f**ked.

I wouldn't mind, except you see,
That all my work's on that PC!
If it's lost, I'm up the creek,
I was meant to hand it in last week!

Audio Drivers on the fritz,
(I think it's time to call it quits)
I've no idea what sum'bitch does,
Except to make my speakers buzz!

Up, I lift my damn PC,
Out the window, then you'll see!
I'll like it fine when it's been smashed,
Quite literally, the damn thing's 'crashed.'

But wait, what's this I see right now?
Could this be the answer... But how?
To fix my 'puter, right and true,
And this is all I have to do?

On, and off, and then reboot,
Turn my speakers off of 'mute',
Holy crap, it's working now!
(Don't just ask the reason how!)

In the future, I'll stick with this:

Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto by Mark Levin

Mark Levin is something of an aberration amongst conservative pundits. He's no opinionated blowhard like Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly. He's smart - really smart.

Which makes Levin's new book, Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto, fascinating to read - even if you're liberally-inclined.

The concept of Liberty and Tyranny is a simple one. Written last year - when the lack of cohesive leadership within the conservative movement was at its most obvious - Liberty and Tyranny is essentially a call to arms for conservatives.

Styled after Karl Marx's 'Communist Manifesto,' it explores what conservatism really is, where the movement's origins lie and what its goals are. He challenges what it means to call yourself 'a conservative' - and Levin even finishes his 'manifesto' on the same note as Marx - a conservative version of the call to action: 'Workers of the World Unite!'

The book demonstrates what a multifaceted concept 'conservatism' has become - and how competing conservative voices often clash as they stand up for opposing values.

What Levin accomplishes is stripping down the values of competing voices, peeling away each prejudice until all that's left are the essential ingredients that make up a 'true' conservative.

It's in recognizing shared values that libertarians, social conservatives and other self-styled conservatives can find a common purpose, even if they disagree on other important issues.

It's in achieving this that Levin's manifesto becomes frighteningly effective.

In attacking liberalism, Levin resorts to crude, but effective techniques. His first step is in refusing to call the left-wing 'liberals' at all. He prefers the more chilling: 'statist.'

As the word "liberal" is, in its classical meaning, the opposite of authoritarian, it is more accurate, therefore, to characterize the Modern Liberal as a Statist.

But Levin uses more than name-calling to skewer the left wing - identifying key hypocrisies within the liberal agenda and nailing them with aplomb.

For example, Levin identifies how liberal government bypasses the 1st Amendment 'Right to Free Speech' by encouraging political correctness - the muzzling of free expression through accusations of racism, sexism or bigotry.

The Statist veils his pursuits in moral indignation, intoning in high dudgeon the injustices and inequities of liberty.

He similarly highlights how the left-wing use the U.S. Supreme Court to undermine popular law - 'legislating from the bench' to bypass the democratic process.

This is what he calls a 'soft tyranny' - a concept he lifted from Alexis de Tocqueville's book Democracy in America. Levin argues that America has been heading down this path of 'tyranny' ever since Roosevelt's 'New Deal' - and his manifesto warns conservatives that they share a common duty: Opposing the growth of a 'conglomerate' federal government.

Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto is quite unlike any conservative book I've read before, because it has gravitas. Most conservative authors (like the clownish Glenn Beck) produce lightweight literature that's easy to dismiss. Mark Levin, on the other hand, makes a credible case that resonates even with die-hard liberals like myself.

It's not light reading - Levin has a doctorate in law and writes like it. But Liberty and Tyranny is nevertheless an energizing read for conservatives and a thought-provoking one for the rest of us. He might not win any new recruits, but anybody brave enough to read this book will certainly have a new perspective on the ideology of the right wing.

Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto by Mark R. Levin is available now for $15.00

Beer for my Horses

'Beer for my Horses' has the dubious distinction of being a movie based off a song - Toby Keith's 2003 duet of the same name with country legend Willie Nelson.

Toby Keith stars as 'Rack' Racklin, the deputy sheriff of a small town in Oklahoma. Keith's surprisingly good, too - more so than you'd expect considering he was once described as; 'so redneck, his family tree has a noose hanging from it.'

Playing out like a modern-day Western, 'Beer for my Horses' sees our small-town lawman encounter some big-city trouble following the chance arrest of a ruthless Mexican drug-dealer.

When the drug cartel make off with Racklin's new girlfriend, the lawman's forced to recruit a makeshift band of vigilantes (including country-fried co-stars Ted Nugent and Rodney Carrington) and seek justice south of the border.

Formulaic stuff? Indubitably - but 'Beer for my Horses' manages to defy expectations despite having a script lifted straight out of the 'cliche' bin. Part action movie, part road-trip and part character comedy, the journey to the inevitable 'high noon' showdown is anything but predictable.

When the movie first opens, following Toby Keith as he dispenses small-town justice, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's going to be a gentle character piece about love and law in America's heartland. It's well-scripted, rich and worthy - the sort of thing my mother likes to watch.

Who knew Toby Keith could act?

But things go off on a rapid tangent when the kidnapping takes place - and Racklin and his buddies saddle up a souped-up Ford F-150 to take justice south of the Mexican border. The middle of the movie is a unabashed road-trip flick - filled with comic characters and highway misadventures familiar to anybody who's enjoyed Road Trip or Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle.

When Willie Nelson makes a pot-smoking cameo, you know you're in 'Road-Trip' territory.

And the climax of the movie? A different direction all over again. Suddenly, 'Beer for my Horses' takes a leaf out of those old Steven Seagal movies and the showdown with the drug cartel is a violent mish-mash of explosions and rattling machine-guns.

Real life suvivalist nutcase Ted Nugent plays 'Skunk,' a survivalist nutcase.

It's like three movies in one - and reaps the best bits from all of them.

What makes this disjointed approach work so well is the ensemble cast - especially supporting lead Rodney Carrington. As Toby Keith's bumbling deputy, he keeps up a steady flow of slapstick comedy throughout the movie - and fortunately, more gags hit than miss. His consistency smooths the transition between segments.

Unsurprisingly, since Carrington co-wrote the script, he gets all the best scenes (including an impromptu rest-stop musical number) but Ted Nugent's also terrifyingly memorable as fellow deputy 'Skunk' - despite having just one line in the entire movie!

When it all comes together, you're left with a surprisingly adept movie. Held together by a killer soundtrack (thanks to the lineup of country co-stars) and some solid cinematics, 'Beer for my Horses' makes excellent fodder for a popcorn-guzzling evening of entertainment - and even stands up well to repeat viewing.

'Beer for my Horses' starring Toby Keith and Rodney Carrington is available now from Wal-Mart and online retailers, priced $14.99.

The Year Britain lost Eleven Days

This date in 1752 was somewhat unique for the inhabitants of Great Britain.

They'd gone to bed on 2nd September, 1752. When they awoke, it was the 14th.

In the space of less than a few seconds - the chiming of midnight - eleven days simply vanished from British history.

It's a wonderfully evocative footnote in history, but one with a most mundane origin.

1752 was the year that Britain formerly adopted the 'Gregorian Calendar,' the popularly accepted civil calendar used for date-keeping by most of the rest of Europe.

Until that point, Britain had still been using the 'Julian Calendar,' which had been introduced by Julius Ceaser way back in 46 B.C.

The differences between the Gregorian Calendar and the Julian one were subtle, but significant. The Julian calendar was designed to approximate the Roman tropical year, whereas the Gregorian calendar was aligned to the passage of the sun. Because one was governed by human foibles, the other by the passage of heavenly objects, the two weren't always in alignment.

In fact, because the Vatican first adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1582, by the time Chesterfield's Act came into effect in 1752 (it had been Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, who pushed for calendar reform) Britain was a full eleven days out-of-sync with the calendar of mainland Europe!

It's a fascinating, if little known footnote in history.

Today, we take our synchronicity with the rest of the world for granted - with traditional barriers like language, culture and economics eroding before our eyes. It's hard to believe that just over 250 years ago (a blink in the eye in historical terms) the people of Britain and mainland Europe weren't just separated by the English channel, but by almost two whole weeks as well!

It makes today's five hour time difference between New York and London seem utterly inconsequential.

Rebuttal, extreme edition...

Professor Tom, who is one of the most consistent and withering of commenters on Militant Ginger, had such a brilliant response to my post 'Why Good Evangelicals Make Bad Americans' that I felt like I had to repost it here:

You know, it's a good thing that you marked this post as irrational, or else I would have thought you were serious.

We don't deny gays any basic rights. We're debating if we should extend them the right to marry, but that's something different.

We are one of the most generous countries in the world. US charitable spending, per capita, is more than double the European average. There's a difference between voluntary charity and the government taking money at the point of the gun. Indeed, the latter often takes from the poor to give to the rich (or at least, well-connected).

The funny thing is that, since evolution doesn't work on human timescales, it's pretty much the one bit of science that _can_ be ignored without ill effect.

And I love the idea that the "rest of the developed world is marching inexorably forward and we're stuck resolutely where we were".

From 2005 to 2007, three quarters of new drugs were first introduced in the US. (This is according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.)

When it comes to Mars rovers, the score is US 3, rest-of-world nought.

We've sent space probes to all the planets, and a couple of kinda-planets, like Pluto, Ceres, and Vesta. No other country had done that.

Most people don't remember how, a mere two decades ago, the idea of having a box that sits in your car and tells you exactly where you are would be science fiction. But now it's GPS, and GPS was made in the USA.

The Tesla Roadster, the first all-electric sports car: A US thing.

Google. Facebook. Yahoo!. Youtube. Windows Live. Wikipedia. Blogger. You have to get to the eighth largest website before you find one that wasn't founded in the US. And it's Baidu.com, an Chinese search engine, not something from Europe.

When it comes to the ranking of the top worldwide universities, the US has the top three, and 17 of the top 20.

And I think the reason for this is that the US has a tradition of idealogical freedom. I have a right to be wrong. And that means people can question the status quo, and come up with new ideas, and keep the US on top of the world when it comes to innovation.

And we do that while maintaing a religious pluralism that works in practice, one where people are free to worship what they wish without imposing their beliefs on others.

There's a reason why the British film is getting no distribution... it's because it's a boring period piece. US film distributors don't shy away from controversy, they relish it. There have been plenty of movies about evolution, including Inherit the Wind. And there have been far more controversial movies release.

No, the reason Creation lacks distribution is because the distributors don't think they'll make their money back. We don't have a socialist film board deciding what we _should_ watch, and subsidizing distribution. So movies have to make money. If nobody's going to see a movie, the distributor won't bother distributing it.

Of course, the filmmaker isn't going to admit this, so he'll try to blame it on someone else. And, well, you seem to have bought his spin: hook, line, and stinker.

Yes, I don't like getting nailed acutely and succinctly - but Tom's comment was actually as uplifting as it was withering. The United States is the nation I'm proud to call home - and it's a country I absolutely adore for a variety of reasons. And when stories like this force me to call my love of America into question, a refreshing bitch-slap from an objective observer is a welcome breath of fresh air.

It's deeply, terrifyingly stupid that only 39% of Americans 'believe' in evolution - but Tom unequivocally reminded me that this nation's still the top and instead of wringing my hands, I should embrace America's strengths and do what I can to help move thinking away from it's weaknesses (the embrace of evangelicalism.)

Cheers, Tom. Out of a lot of great comments you posted, this one is especially noteworthy.

Why good Evangelicals make lousy Americans

Read Professor Tom's rebuttal here.

That's right, kids. It's time to start beating your head against the table again. The inimitable Siger forwarded this article to me and it makes me want to stab myself in the head with staples:

Charles Darwin film 'too controversial for religious America'

A British film about Charles Darwin has failed to find a US distributor because his theory of evolution is too controversial for American audiences, according to its producer.

By Anita Singh

Creation, starring Paul Bettany, details Darwin's "struggle between faith and reason" as he wrote On The Origin of Species. However, US distributors have resolutely passed on a film which will prove hugely divisive in a country where, according to a Gallup poll conducted in February, only 39 per cent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution. Full story here.

This is so astonishingly depressing. This wonderful nation was brought into being by some of the smartest men ever to breath - but two hundred years after the Founding Fathers left their democratic legacy, it seems the nation's taking a step backwards.

We don't teach our kids about the incontrovertible evidence of evolution because it offends our 'religious sensibilities.' We deny gay Americans their basic civil rights because it offends our 'religious sensibilities.' We're even arguing about giving health care to the poor because our 'religious sensibilities' apparently decry sharing our hard-earned buck with the less fortunate (I think Jesus actually preached the exact opposite.)

This driving demon of extreme evangelicalism is perhaps why America's slipped from its position as the world's most competitive economy. Maybe it's why we're the only industrialized nation in the world without universal health care. Perhaps fundamentalism is why India and China are beginning to eclipse us economically.

This obsession with medieval thinking is, just maybe, the reason why the rest of the developed world is marching inexorably forward and we're stuck resolutely where we were.

What happens to a nation which embraces extremist religion over science, humanism and reason? It becomes a hell-hole like Iran or Afghanistan. What happens to people who believe extremist religion trumps education? They become progressively more stupid as each new generation forgets what the prior generation learned.

The problem isn't Christianity - because Evangelicalism no longer even remotely resembles Christianity. The message Jesus Christ spread was simply to love your brother, something we're increasingly reluctant to do because loving your brother sounds suspiciously like 'socialism.'

Words just fail me. However much I rant, it seems impossible to adequately communicate my deep-rooted frustration with the 80 million or so Americans who believe their God-given purpose is to dismantle everything good, bright, right and sacred about this wonderful country.

It strikes me you can be a Good (Evangelical) Christian, or a Good American. I'm just increasingly losing faith that you can be both.

When Joe Wilson yelled 'You Lie,' was he telling the truth?

During President Obama's Wednesday-night speech on health care reform, the voice of South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson echoed across the chamber.

"You lie!"

Obama had just insisted that his proposals wouldn't provide government-funded health insurance to illegal aliens. Wilson's outburst received a chorus of boos from both sides of the house, but the question remained:

Was Obama lying?

No.

Obama's highly-touted Affordable Health Choices Act 2009 doesn't include any measure to provide illegal aliens with government-subsidized health insurance - but that doesn't mean illegal aliens won't continue to get free health care as a result of it.

In fact, illegal aliens have been receiving free medical treatment for decades now - and characters like Joe Wilson are complicit in it.

Contrary to popular belief, America actually has a form of universal health care - the elephant in the living room nobody talks about in the health care debate.

The law makes it mandatory for most hospitals to offer emergency treatment to those without medical insurance, or legal residency. As a result, whether it's being patched up for a broken arm, or giving birth to a new baby, illegal immigrants run up a daily hospital tab in the millions of dollars.

Thanks to these laws, everybody in America has at least some access to treatment when they need it - even if they never pay for it. But who does?

Mostly, it's the 80 million Americans who purchase health insurance, privately or through their employer. Hospitals mitigate their costs by increasing the price insured patients pay. When we go in for an MRI, our bill reflects not just the cost of treating us, but also the people who didn't pay.

More than the costs of malpractice insurance, or pharmaceutical price-fixing, it's this 'free' medical care that has caused the price of regular medical insurance to shoot up. Premiums have doubled in the past decade - and are forecast to do the same again by 2020.

When Congressman Joe Wilson gets his knickers in a twist about illegal immigrants receiving free medical care on his dime, he's presumably unaware they already are.

In fact, Obama's Affordable Health Choices Act 2009 will actually reduce the number of illegal immigrants receiving free care.

One of the measures Obama proposes is mandatory purchase of insurance - fining people who don't buy coverage. These fines will be issued via a resident's Tax I.D. number - which isn't linked to their immigration status.

Thousands of illegal immigrants may now find themselves forced to buy health insurance just like the rest of us. A negligible number - but still a number.

Which means, in the great scheme of things, that Congressman Joe Wilson advocates a system that institutionalizes free health care for illegal immigrants, whereas President Obama proposes a system which addresses that issue.

And in yelling out 'you lie' across the chamber, Wilson didn't just prove that he was classless and boorish - he also confirmed that he was ignorant, as well.

9/11 Remembered

It would be inappropriate not to blog about the significance of today's date - the anniversary of what might well prove to be the defining moment of my generation. When hijacked airliners plunged into the World Trade Center in New York City, the world changed and it's never been the same since.

I always feel deeply uncomfortable on this day. I wasn't in New York until a few weeks after 9/11 - so whatever contribution I can make to marking his important anniversary seems rather hollow. Similarly, even though I'm fiercely proud of the United States, I'm not much of a flag-waver either - especially since the significance of this date is being hijacked by opportunistic propagandists like the disgusting Glenn Beck.

All I can do is look back objectively at the legacy of 9/11 - to many people, that means 'the war.'

Many people criticize America's military retaliation in Afghanistan - but even though Operation Enduring Freedom launched an ongoing conflict that has cost the lives of hundreds of servicemen, reports like this one highlight an undiplomatic truth liberal-minded people like myself don't like to admit. It worked.

Al Qaeda went from controlling the foothills of Afghanistan to hiding out in caves and sloping across the border into Pakistan. Instead of emerging as a dominant regional collective, the foot soldiers of Al Qaeda are now estimated to number in the mere hundreds - scattered and impotent in the face of remorseless pressure from US and Allied policing.

The war in Iraq is a murkier subject. It's been proven conclusively that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was in no way linked to Al Qaeda or the terrorist attacks on the United States. In fact, he was one of militant Islam's staunchest enemies - and whatever you say about his despicable regime, it was highly effective in suppressing the influence Al Qaeda.

So by invading and toppling his dictatorship, the United States created a power vacuum that extremists like Al Qaeda rushed to fill - perhaps a serious tactical mistake.

But the extremists have so far failed to fill that gap. Even though it comes at a heavy price (the lives of thousands of US servicemen) America's legacy in 'free' Iraq will hopefully be the foundation of a secure government that rejects extremism. Many Sunni insurgents have already allied with Americans instead of Al Qaeda. Hopefully, that alliance will last.

Whether we made the right decisions after 9/11 is a tricky question - and one very few people agree on. What we should agree on, however, is that we're immensely lucky to have hundreds of thousands of men and women in uniform risking their lives to protect us as a result of what happened.

One can criticize the war in Iraq, or the political motivation behind it - but you can't question the motivations of the individual soldiers camped out in the Persian desert. They don't risk their lives for oil rights, or protecting Israel, or empire building (or a hundred other murky motivations detractors have proposed for why Bush went to war.)

The soldiers themselves do it because it's their duty. They do it to protect their families, and friends (and even the ungrateful people waving 'End this War' banners in Washington D.C.) They do it because they believe they're making the world a safer place, to avoid ever seeing another tragedy like when the Twin Towers fell.

And if their sacrifice is the legacy of 9/11 - then it's one we should be very grateful for.