We have officially moved to WordPress from MT. You might see a few kinks in the next few days. Rest assured that we are all working hard to get things back to normal as soon as possible. One could speculate that the transition worked slightly better because I was off in Devon for a few days.

Friend of Dodgeblogium and former fellow New England blogger (I left N.E. not he…) has made an appearance on New England Cable News television talking about blogging. It struck me as rather amusing that both of those interviewed were in the “real media” as well as being bloggers.

Speaking of TV, my appearance on BBC Three as part of the Bush for a Day program has yet to be scheduled. I do hope they plan to post the thing online as BBC Three TV is not the most widely available channel.

Friend of Dodgeblogium in Montreal, Paul, has posted a most amusing quiz. I took the thing and managed a cozy 98% for my troubles.

To my great shame I found out about Ben’s appearance via Dean. I do have the excuse of being away for 5 days and that Dean’s is one of my first ports of call each day. Anyway congratulations to Ben for an appearance well done.

Perry has detailed why British Tories (not the wet variety) should vote UKIP in the 10 June elections in order to save their party. I spent the weekend in Devon and there were far more UKIP signs than either Tory, Labour or the Lib-Dems. Picture evidence will be forthcoming as soon as I figure out how to get the pics off my phone.

The Symphony is up for this week over at the Book of Life. Why not head over and pay them a visit?

The Bonfire is nice and toasty this week. The Carnival is also up for the week.

When two people argue over a thigh and get into a fight over it…that happens to be of human origin.

This lot ain’t got no respect for RESPECT. And can you blame them?

Oh yeah and Michael Moore Hates America has a new trailer up.

Oh yeah and the good people at Catallarchy link to some innovative ways to encourage abstinence.

by Dr Helen Szamuely for the The Bruges Group:

The argument over the inclusion of Christianity in the EU Constitution opens up the deep fissures in Europe, calls attention to centuries old conflicts and undermines the whole notion of there being one set of European values. Do we really want a Constitution that wants to regulate even European history?

Of all the many disagreements about the text of the EU Constitution, discussed last week and yesterday (Monday, May 24) by the Foreign Ministers and to be presented to the Summit in Dublin on June 17, the most extraordinary concerns God. What started off as a small complaint by one or two countries has turned into a full-throated chorus. No fewer than seven member states – Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovakia sent a letter to the Irish Presidency demanding that there should be a reference to Christianity in the Constitution. Spain has decided to abandon that particular cause. What these countries want to do is, if one may put it that way, beef up the rather wishy-washy preamble to the Constitution, which refers to the “cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe”. Well, you can see their point.

Some of the French in Normany look nostalgically back at the former German occupiers. As we approach D-Day some seem to regret the fact the allies won the war. The amazing thing is these ole’ collaborators are willing to talk to the press.

“At least around Omaha beach, the Germans treated us correctly…”

Yes, those wonderful Germans keep the trains running on time and got rid of those nasty Jews. The woman interviewed continued.

They were not all barbarians and not all the French were in the Resistance. Franz and Hedwig are our friends now.”

Many will say this is just the French being the French. To the rest of us, this is just another example of what noxious oiks reside in France. To end is this really nasty quote.

In the days after the invasion, he met a Frenchman in the badly bombed town of Vire who pulled a six-inch dagger from his pocket. “I said, ‘I hope you’re not going to use that on me.’ He replied, ‘No, I’m saving it up for the Americans, look what they’ve done to our town…

Update: Tim Blair has found that you don’t have to be old to wax nostalgic for Uncle Hitler in France.

LaB sends this interesting piece in the NYT test-drinking summer ales. I would love to try the stuff mentioned that is 9 percent.

why don?t we do it in the road?

why don?t we do it in the road?

no one will be watching us
—the beatles

This webcam at Abbey Road Studios points at the crosswalk that the Beatles made famous.

Via Steel White Table

Please pay attention, as there will be a quiz at the end of this post! [Just kidding]

Dodgeblogium is making the move to WP over this long week-end, so it may be a little odd here from time to time for a bit. It happens that it is long week-end in both the USofA and the UK, which seldom if ever occurs. Our fearless leader is away to Devon, scouting out the best pubs, no doubt. Yours truly is stuck in the boiler-room, as usual, tending the fixtures. The others are at their usual haunts, doing who knows what.

That is all ! Stand easy, group.

oh, I wonder, wonder who

but who knew who

who wrote the book of love
—the monotones

This is hilarious, but not very worksafe (unless you happen to be Bill Clinton’s new intern).

Click on one of the buttons on the left and watch as the love secrets of the ancients are displayed in glorious wire-frame mapping!

But there’s more! It slices, it dices, it —

Sorry, wrong script.

Click on the button at the upper right and you can position, rotate and arrange to your heart’s content. Discover love secrets that the ancients never thought of, or decided to postpone until the invention of chiropractors.

Yes, it’s hours of fun for the whole family! Order now and —

Oops. Wrong script again.

the blog québécois

I am really f******* sick of hearing Amnesty International bleating on about the Great Satan America. Barely a day goes by without an expose from this once-great organisation on the evils of America. In the Sudan they’re burning villages by the dozen, but screw that, lets talk USA.

I’ve supported this group for 30 years, only to see its decent heritage prostituted for cheap jibes at Bush. I heard Amnestys director on the radio recently trying to out-Moore Michael Moore.

It is sickening to see 40 years of hard work and impartial campaigning trashed as Amnesty becomes just another Leftists pressure group.

Why should any government take this partisan, political action group seriously, least of all the USA. Like France, Amnesty is digging its self a large pit in which to lie.

Amnesty’s website and PR machine has gone Yankee crazy, its “All-America, All the time”. I can see their point though, why waste valuable time on some filthy human rights victim when there’s good publicity to be found taunting the Yanks.

Wednesday night saw the usual ‘gathering of the band’, with the nucleus in attendance. The group is now coalescing into a real unit, so the first bit of time was devoted to doing some real business planning before getting down to the fun part of making music together. “Jamming” was the order of the night, as a new player is being worked into the mix. There’s no better way to find out if someone fits than to just ‘let ‘er rip’ and see what it sounds like. All were pleased with the results, so things should go well in future.

As you may have noticed, JFM is filling in for Andrew, as he is away to Devon for a few days of visiting some friends, along with Mater, who is over for a couple of weeks. If there is further news from him, yours truly will be reporting the same to you, here.

So you’ve gotten into a furious argument with a Lithuanian, but you can’t come up with a crushing ethnic insult. Hold your tongue no longer, for here is the Racial Slur Database, which proves that the peoples of the world are truly united, if only in their hatred of each other.

“Lit” or “Balt” or “Litvok” should do the trick. Never let it be said that this blog isn’t educational.

the blog québécois

Let’s have some fun, shall we?! So the Germans believe that even Bush’s face is now fair game. That does it; they’ve stepped over the line this time.

From David’s fine blog, Davids Medienkritik, comes a pointer, with instructions, to tip the scales back in a positive direction in another one of Der Spiegel’s nasty biased polls.

“Frhlich – er hat so lustige Augen” is the only positive choice !! There are further instrutions and the link over at David’s place.

Vote Early, Vote Often, and give them a merry chase.

Reuters reports on a German pensioner who has finally gotten his cumupance.

BERLIN, May 25 (Reuters) – A German pensioner living in a Florida beach pad paid for out of his $2,200 monthly social security payments has been forced to return to Germany after the government cut his benefit, authorities said on Tuesday.

The former banker, who left Germany in 1979 saying living in the country made him depressed, has a doctor’s certificate of disability and was granted the money because he lacked independent financial means, Frankfurt social welfare said. “Florida Rolf”, 65, caused a media storm last year and sparked a heated debate about flaws in the German welfare system when his care-free lifestyle hit newspaper headlines. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s ruling coalition changed the law in record time and passed legislation on stricter conditions on social security payments for Germans living abroad. “Florida Rolf was forced to come back because he no longer fulfils the conditions to receive such payments,” Franz Frey, head of Social Services in Frankfurt, told Reuters. Authorities in Frankfurt said the man, for whom no surname has been given, refused an offer of the minimum payment of 205 euros ($248) per month and accommodation, Frey said. “It was a far cry from his home in Florida,” he added. “He can only expect to get more from us if he finds a flat where the rent is commensurate with his claim.” He has no registered address and has disappeared since coming to the social welfare offices earlier this month, Frey said.

One wonders what is worse? The fact the man got so much money in state benefit or the fact that his pension goes so much farther in Miami (not the cheapest city on earth) than it does back in Frankfurt.

Via: Johnathan

Ms Daley does a rather excellent fisking of the left-wing belief that the US is a neo-imperialist entity. It has always struck me amusing that some of these people are the same ones who claimed that the US was too isolationist in the past.

As far as I can tell ,what the US is meant to do is pay all its money to the UN, provide bodies to get killed in some god-forsaken place, but should not say a word. Thankfully, even Democratic administrations resist this foolish idea.

And another thing: what is wrong with a country only participating in international adventures when it is in some way in their specific self-interest?

“There were no kisses, Hershey’s or otherwise, for a resolution to ban the sale and possession of candy in Brooklyn, which got chewed up and spat out like so much bubble gum last night. Gary Popkin, vice chair of the Brooklyn Republican Party, reacting to a wave of laws banning or restricting harmful products, offered a spoof resolution to ban sweets because ‘candy is more deleterious to the health of the residents of Kings County overall even than marijuana and cocaine, because of candy’s vastly more widespread use.’” (05/25/04)

Via: Rational Review

Fz has asked the following question to us all:

1. At what age did you first begin to appreciate popular music?

It depends on what you consider popular music. Whether your definition is the Amazon one or that of the charts. I have never really appreciated most pop music because it’s bland garbage. However I have been listening to rock/metal et al since I was about 12.

2. Is that age at least 15 years ago? If yes, proceed.

3. Can you think of two performers or groups who couldn’t get your attention then, but for whom you have a deep appreciation now? Who are they?

Therion, a Norwegian former death metal band, who now play dark metal prog.

The second such musical force is Robert Johnson, the (in)famous blues guitarist who has influenced pretty much everyone in his wake. When one is younger it is hard to appreciate the rather horrid recordings of this great man. As one gets older ones ear becomes more attuned to the talent that is covered by the scratches.

My uncle always used to say to me, “Urrrrrgh!” and then go back to sleep. But occasionally I’d find a note in my lunchbox that said, “If you’re going to take upskirt shots of women without their knowledge, it’s best not to use a flash.”

Sage advice from Gizmodo.

the blog québécois

“What do you do when you sue U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and win? Fifty-one-year-old Valerie Corral, a sinewy 5-foot-tall great-granddaughter of Italian immigrants, throws back her head, laughing, her hands reaching to the clouds, hips wiggling, feet stomping. ‘It’s my happy dance!’ she says, throwing her arms around her husband, Mike. She has also planted an acre of marijuana. The decision that lets the crop remain is just one round in a long legal battle.” (05/23/04)

Isn’t it about time to ditch that loon yet? Bush might actually attract some of the libertarian-minded Republicans (and supporters) if he ditched Ashcroft. The man is a nutter and a mill-stone around Bush’s re-election hopes.

Via: Rational Review

International Islamic Conference: Genuine Call for Tolerance or Reiteration of Hollow Slogans?

Julie Burchill writes the articles I would write, if I had the time, talent or column space. Blogging comes easy to those lacking these vital ingredients.

A rarity in British media, Julie lacks grovelling White-guilt, seething America-phobia, upper class snobbery or moral equivalence.

Burchill

“Tom Paine”, at Silent Running, in his usual fine style, has pointed an accurate finger at ‘big media’ for having the moral sense of a lump of merde. This kind of reporting needs more publicity every damn day !!

Total bollocks.

Some little pikie kid just stole my mother’s mobile, while she was talking on it, about an hour ago. If I were a Christian I would forgive him for his misdeeds. As I am not, I hope the little bastard dies a horrible painful death and burns in hell for all eternity (if such a place exists). Let’s hope his next victim is a “Russian businessman”.

The results are in for the latest round of King of the Blogs. Walloworld is still keeping it tough for the rest of them.

This week’s Carnival is up over at Spot On.

Bonfire is on as well.

Some interesting points on the new Hollywood trend for Kabbalath.

I roar like the jungle, I fight tooth and nail

I just gotta get you, you`ll fall without fail

I`m ready for the kill, I`m right on the brink
—elvis presley

I remember watching a couple of years ago a TV news story about a cougar that was roaming around a small town outside of Edmonton. The cameraman had some telephoto footage of the cougar rolling around on its back in a field, looking quite pleased with itself.

This, mind you, was only a few hundred yards away from an elementary school. The principal was interviewed. She was all a-flutter about it:

“I don’t know what we’re going to do. We’ll tell the children to walk a different way home.”

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer the time-tested method of protecting kids from cougars, which is a three-step process:

1) get rifle;
2) shoot cougar;
3) repeat as necessary.

Though now that I think of it,

4) shoot the principal

might be a good idea, too.

Talk to park rangers or RCMP officers, and they’ll tell you horror stories about people who are absolutely clueless about wildlife. My favorite was the couple who decided it’d be a great photo-op to pour honey over their baby’s hands, so that a roadside bear could lick it off. (Fortunately the Mountie arrived on the scene before any damage was done.)

All of which is by way of introduction to this article by Clinton W. Taylor in National Review Online, who links Disneyesque romance of Nature with Disneyesque romance of predators of the two-legged kind.

Meanwhile, the Palo Alto Daily News headlined Wednesday’s paper with “Lion’s Killing Sparks Furor.” It included a picture of flowers and written tributes left at the base of the tree, including this eulogy: “Your death will not be in vain. Tears are shed for you, and this brutality will inspire ACTION. You are loved.” (This was not the only written message directed to a specific animal in connection to this incident. The San Jose Mercury News reported that the owners of Kelsey, the Labrador retriever who chased the cougar up a tree, received an e-mail calling their dog a “traitor to animal-kind.”)

the blog québécois

Jewschool reports on Greece’s rather cack-handed attempts at being welcoming to all the athletes who are coming to their vile wonderful country this summer for the Olympics. The message is pretty much the same as it is in Saudi Arabia, i.e., Jews stay away.

Of course, from what I have been hearing it would be a good idea for Americans, Britons, and pretty much everyone else to stay away from Greece right now. If there are no terrorist attacks in Athens during the Olympics it will be a bloody miracle.

And while we are on the subject of the Olympics, I was rather dissappointed to see that London made the short-list this week. The bidding game to get the damn games is almost as big a waste of taxpayers money as the actual games themselves. As one wag put it, this is probably the only time I have ever wanted France (or is this case Paris) to win anything.

Re: Anglophone Europhilia
Date: 22 May 2004

Sir – Your leading article “Britain belongs in the English-speaking world” (May 15) is misleading. It proposes that Britain must choose between “the European Bloc” and the English-speaking world. We do not have to make that choice, nor should we.

From:
Lord Watson of Richmond, Chairman of the English-Speaking Union, London SW1

Thomas Woods, 59, of Davis Park on New York’s Fire Island, was “drinking heavily” with his roommate, Rod Bennett, when he had an idea for a contest. “Let’s see which one of us leaves first,” Woods allegedly said as he set the rug on fire. As the flames spread Bennett ran out to a neighbor’s house to call the fire department. By the time firefighters arrived the house was fully engulfed, and Woods was later found burned to death. (New York Newsday)...Then he’s the winner, isn’t he?

Via: This is True.

Homicide bomber redecorates a Bradley. I find it terribly funny…is this wrong?

As many of you probably know by now my site, Patriot Paradox went down recently due to bandwidth issues. It will re-open at the normal venue on June 1st, but until then I have opened a site up, in exile.

So come by and tell me happy birthday, my B-Day is May 24, 1979. At least come by and say hello so I won’t get bored!