Anna managed to get a copy of the debut CD from The Darkness past my own personal USPS thief (not local but in the Portland depot). She has been the first to get me a CD in about the last 6 months; my review games are going walkies, too.

Her timing is impeccable; today I blogged that The Darkness’ CD is going to be released in the US this month, instead of the previously planned early 2004. It is possible the label looked at import sales and decided there is a market in the US.

Anyway, first impressions: I expected the sound to be a lot fatter than it is. Several reviewers and pundits compared the band favourably to Def Leppard and Queen. The sound is a bit more indy than either of those bands and is not as multi-track produced as it could have been. The lead singer sounds a bit like a combination of Jeff Lynde and Robert Smith of The Cure with a bit of Bolan for good measure. His voices squeeks and yelps in a most interesting way, but the trick is that it freaking works. Many of the tracks are catchy as stink. The one thing that is great about this release is that it is really not like anything out there on the charts in either the US or the UK. Instead of navel-gazing boring angst or bland pop punk, it’s got a nice edge of originality.

This is a great debut album, and one that is not too good that it will be hard to top. I would love to see what Mutt Lange (if he can keeps his hands off his wife Shania for a month or so) or Bob Rock could do with this lot. They could easily become the T-Rex of the 0’s. For me that would not be a bad thing.

Of course, the most telling thing is that I have listened to this 10 track affair once through and am listening to it again. One wonders whether or not the band’s label, Atlantic, will give the US public a bonus track or two for having to wait.

It seems that it is not only certain Christian idiots and Maine socialists that have a blind spot for ole’ Castro. Even normally rather sensible bloggers like Alex Knapp can’t see Castro for what he really is. He features a link to a long and rather daft post by Randy Paul. So what if that idiot Carter and some moron jocks have gone to Cuba? That doesn’t mean we should lift the embargo. It’s good to see MLB supporting our enemy.

Every so often bloggers call for the embargo on Cuba to be ended. Generally they don’t seem to bother to offer an decent solution for the problem of Castro’s Cuba. It seems that many of them are perfectly happy to allow Cuba to carry on as normal.

Let me remind them again that, like Saddam, Castro exports terrorism and weapons to other countries in his region. He is a vicious dictator, brutally oppressing his own people. And he has a taste for Nuclear Weapons (remember the Cuban Missile crisis?). The bloke has backed the Shining Path, the Sandinistas, and the guerillas in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and other parts of Latin America. Cuba also supported rebels in Africa.

If you are against the embargo, come up with a better solution. Just ending the embago is not an option.

Mike reports on how the IDF is handling their war on terror of late. It seems HAMAS might be just a tad worried at the Israelis upping the ante. They have stopped trying to get the arms and feet of the hydra, instead going for the heads. What the left don’t realise is not that they have made it clear that Israel can do no right, it frees the Israelis up to take whatever force they deem appropriate.

It is, as it has been since the foundation of the Israeli state: “kill or be killed.”

Iain has posted some encouraging points made recently by two Tory MEPs at a meeting in DC of the American Legislative Exchange Council. The pair seem to grasp what disaster the EU “Constitution” would be for Europe and more importantly Britain.

The EU Constitution is a model for the subjection of historic nation-states to unaccountable centralised institutions which are not, and cannot be, democratic.

More importantly they are willing to speak about it in plain terms. So many Tories are wary of speaking forthrightly about this issue, for fear of being declared xenophobes.

The Princess Royal has always been the least showy of the royals, but even she must have felt somewhat under-appreciated on her trip to Canada last week.

The reality, say cynics, is that Canadian premier Jean-Luc Chretien is so chippy that he finds it nigh impossible to pass up any opportunity to lob a brick at the old colonial power.

Nice to see Cretin showing the world what a class act he really is. I bet the security arrangements were top as well. Wonder what would have happened if something dire had occured to the Princess Royal? Wouldn’t it be fun to see the UK bitch slap Cretin and his cronies?

Dean has written a long screed on “Feminism” and its daftness. We are talking the flag-waving men-hating activists like NOW. His post tears apart the assertion that only so-called feminists are pro-equality. Most men and women I know agree with the concept of equality for men and women. Yet, none of the women I know would called themselves “feminists.” Dean does an extremely good job at expressiing why this is the case. No doubt, Dean will get some abuse for his post, but it is a well written piece. Although, I do wish he would stop calling himself a “feminist”; it just sounds daft.

The comments contain a long-winded screed by someone calling herself “Allison” on why Planned Parenthood is evil.

Fearful that overtaxed consumers might want to escape the value-added tax (VAT), the European Union has concocted a plan to impose the VAT on software, videos, computer games, and music downloaded on the Internet from non-EU companies. This means that U.S. companies selling goods to EU customers might be forced to collect taxes on behalf of European tax collectors. The plan is the EU’s way to prevent tax competition, and it will lead to higher prices and higher taxes.” (09/04/03)

That is bit of socialist thinking on tax: “its only fair when everyone suffers.” Here is an example of socialism killing people.

In a period of two weeks during August, more than 11,000 elderly French men and women died of heat stroke. It is important to note that this is not nearly the scandal in France that it would be in America. In fact, upon hearing the news, French president Jacques Chirac decided to stay on vacation in Quebec. Why has this happened? In large measure because, in the words of British historian Paul Johnson, the French, like most Europeans, and like most left-thinking people anywhere, love ideas more than people.” (09/02/03)

Both of these disgusting examples of socialist-think came from Rational Review.

To its critics, Project Prevention or Crack — an American organisation which pays drug addicts and alcoholics to be sterilised – is a terrifying throwback to the neutering of ‘defectives’ during the 20th Century. But the woman who runs this not-for-profit programme believes she is offering a service to everyone:the drug addict, the taxpayer, the child who has not yet been born, and if she has her way — will never be born.” (09/02/03)

Found via Rational Review and a most interesting idea. I don’t see any thing wrong with it, since it’s voluntary. Obviously, the author of this piece seems to think that people who don’t even have the ability to control themselves should have children. Surely a few less crack babies would be a good thing?

Old Dominion University’s president cannot be sued for prohibiting a group from distributing political leaflets on campus, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. The Tidewater Libertarian Party sued university President Roseann Runte, claiming she violated free speech rights by refusing to allow the group to hand out leaflets on campus. U.S.
District Judge Henry C. Morgan Jr., without ruling on the merits of the case, said Runte has immunity from such lawsuits. The Libertarians vowed to appeal.” (09/04/03)

No doubt some Islamic group could distribute hate filled literature and she would allow it. It is distressing to see a federal Judge defend universities’ long-held belief that the Bill of Rights ceases to be on their campuses.

Via: Rational Review

I’m a fairly good amateur chess player. I’m not rated, but I guess that I’d be 1900, 2000 on a good day on the FIDE scale. Masters and Grandmasters are about at 2400 and up. Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer are currently rated at 2838 and 2780 respectively.

Which brings me in a roundabout way to my favorite TV show, The West Wing.

Not that I watch it often, but I occasionally click through the channels and come across it and am compelled to observe, the way that you in spite of your better judgment stare at a bad car crash.

Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass makes the case for why his country should be our next target in the War on Terror.