Go here.

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New Jersey. For my fellow Garden State citizens, a few thoughts.
If Tom Kean Jr. did one thing right in this campaign is that he revealed Bob Menendez for who he really is. Dick Morris said it best “Menendez is an indictment waiting to happen.” Bob Menendez was Jon Corzine’s first and biggest mistake, “the evil of two lessers.”
If you have any pride in who represents you in this state, Kean is the right choice. For those of you who might be afraid of what he’ll do in Washington, don’t worry it won’t be much. Bob Menendez will not renew the tax cuts that disproprotionately help high tax states such as NJ and families like yours and mine. Menendez will also support amnesty. It didn’t work then, it won’t work now.
On the public questions:

#1: VOTE NO. The legislature raised the sales tax which will fund this so-called tax relief. It is a backdoor way to make the 7 percent sales tax permanent. Rebates are a scam. They take more of your tax money, send it to their preferred fiefdoms, then shower a few of the peasants with checks courtesy of the Governor. VOTE NO.

#2. Yes. Uses existing corporate tax revenue to fix our parks. If you have visited our state parks, you have to be thoroughly repulsed on how they have been neglected compared to other states.

#3. Yes. Dedicates gas tax revenue to transportation infrastructure. There’s a no-brainer.

The House. All 435 seats are up every two years. Taking into account vacancies, 232 seats are Republican and 203 seats are Democratic. A few things to keep in mind:
Each election is a local event. National polls don’t necessarily mean every race is exactly the same.
Most House elections, due to how district lines are drawn to maximize partisan advantage, are not competitive.
Realistically, there are about 40-50 competitive seats. Virtually all of these seats are held by Republicans.

Vulnerable Democrats. You could count them on one of your hands. At best, there are five potentially vulnerable districts. Three is probably more realistic. Two of those seats are in GA, where Republicans will reelect a governor by a big margin and benefit from redrawn districts that could help the GOP. At best, the GOP might win a seat here.
Lost Republicans. There are at least six open seats the GOP will lose by virtue of incumbents running for higher office, resigning from office in disgrace, or running away from past indiscretions (i.e., assaulting your mistress, FBI raids on your daughter’s apartment.) Throw in at least two incumbents who are running from the law and/or supoenas. These seats are gone.
Toss-Up Seats. This group of about 25 seats comprises incumbents in weak positions due to the prevailing national climate, changing demographics in their districts, strong challengers, and/or lousy campaigns on their part. A large number are from northern states, including IL, IN, OH, PA, NY and CT, but they can be found across most of the country. I’m guessing at least half of these seats are gone.
Other Endangered Elephants. If the GOP starts losing seats in this category, then we have a tidal wave of historic proportions. Most tidal waves usually aren’t seen until it is too late. The House GOP know what is coming.
The Democrats will win numerical control of the House with 224 members, just enough to avoid their handful of relatively conservative members scuttling the Speakership of Nancy Pelosi. Now the big question is whether this means two years of supoenas and impeachment?

The Senate. One-third of the Senate is up. Most races are done deals. The GOP has 55 seats. Democrats, including so-called “independent” Jim Jeffords, have 45 seats. One thing for sure—the GOP will lose seats.
Finished Republicans. Incumbent GOPers from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Rhode Island can move on.
Vulnerable Democrats. Realistically there are two Democrat seats the GOP could pick up. Menendez’s seat in NJ and the open seat in MD. They will gain neither. More on NJ later.
The Senate will be decided in these states:
Virginia. One thing for sure, Republican George Allen is not running for President in ‘08 (or anytime thereafter). This campaign has been about alleged racial slurs, who’s mother is a Jew, and pornographic war novels. Not the stuff of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Democrat Jim Webb, a former Reagan administration official, seems poised to win here.
Tennessee. A back and forth barnburner between Democrat Rep. Harold Ford Jr. and Republican Bob Corker. This one is down to the wire.
Missouri. This one has been virtually tied for the last month. A fight between GOP Senator Jim Talent and Democrat State Auditor Clare McCaskill.
Montana. I had written off GOP Senator Conrad Burns about a month ago. He was way behind in the polls and mired in lobbying scandals. The old guy without much of a personality has fought back against State Senate President Jon Tester, highlighting differences on taxes.
What does it all mean. I say the GOP loses Virginia (macaca works) and Montana (nice try Conrad), but holds on in Tennessee and Missouri. The GOP will have 50 Senate seats. The Democrats, counting “independent” Bernie Sanders from VT, will have 49. There there is “independent” Joe Lieberman…

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Ned Rice in NRO:

As Pelosi told Newsweek recently, Im not saying Im great, Im just saying I dont think everybody else is that great, either. A ringing endorsement, indeed if one is running, unopposed, for president of a sixth grade class. Presumably as Speaker Pelosi could afford to hire better speechwriters than the hacks who fed her this bon mot: Mr. President, stay the course isnt a strategy, its a slogan a statement which (apart from its inanity) is, of course, also a slogan. Then there was this inadvertently revealing Pelosi offering: The gavel of the Speaker of the House is in the hands of special interests, and now [after Democrats take over] it will be in the hands of Americas children. True in the sense that the gavel would be in the hands of someone with Pelosis childishly simplistic view of the world. Politics aside, making someone as inarticulate as Nancy Pelosi the Speaker would send a bad message to anyone who cared about speech even in the abstract.

the blog québécois

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Yours truly and Significant Other went to see the movie Borat this evening. I guess if you have been living on a desert island or a terrformed planet in the L5 region of space, you may not have heard of this send-up of central Asian social and religious mores and American life, but otherwise, I guess you know what to expect.

I laughed a heck of a lot at parts of the film, especially a wonderful send-up of some humourless radical feminists and a hilarious scene at which our wild-eyed “documentary maker” goes to a Pentacostal meeting. (One cannot take the piss out of such religiosity enough, in my view). I did – along with most of my fellow movie-goers, wince a bit at a scene involving a black prostitute, that was cruel and pretty unpleasant. Some of the incidents must have been staged, but I did get a bit worried that some of the people in this film were held up for mass ridicule without any idea of what might have been going on. We laugh at other people and flatter ourselves at our wonderful sophistication and cleverness, but how different is this really from those old Victorian freak shows, where people would pay a few coins to see a deformed human being? There was a scene involving an antique store in the South that was plain nasty and I hope the owner of the property was fully compensated for it. This sort of incident also raises the issue of property rights and movies: would an unwitting member of a lucrative movie be entitled to a slice of the profits? I don’t know the answer.

Some of the people in this romp across America were bigots, stupid and silly, but on the whole I get the impression, formed by my own experience and from seeing this film, that Americans are warm-hearted people who want to do well for themselves and their fellows; are friendly, helpful and dignified. A few people may make unpleasant remarks if they think no-one is watching, but are they so different to anyone else?

I can recommend this film, although I am really most looking forward to the latest Bond film. Against my earlier reservations about the casting of Daniel Craig, this looks to be a pretty hot production, taking us back a bit to the core of the Fleming character. Bring on 007.

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Yours truly and Significant Other went to see the movie Borat this evening. I guess if you have been living on a desert island or a terrformed planet in the L5 region of space, you may not have heard of this send-up of central Asian social and religious mores, America, but otherwise, I guess you know what to expect.

I laughed a heck of a lot at parts of the film, especially a wonderful send-up of some humourless radical feminists and a hilarious scene at which our wild-eyed “documentary maker” goes to a Pentacostal meeting. (One cannot take the piss out of such religiosity enough, in my view). I did – along with most of my fellow movie-goers, wince a bit at a scene involving a black prostitute, that was cruel and pretty unpleasant. Some of the incidents must have been staged, but I did get a bit worried that some of the people in this film were held up for mass ridicule without any idea of what might have been going on. We laugh at other people and flatter ourselves at our wonderful sophistication and cleverness, but how different is this really from those old Victorian freak shows, where people would pay a few coins to see a deformed human being? There was a scene involving an antique store in the South that was plain nasty and I hope the owner of the property was fully compensated for it. This sort of incident also raises the issue of property rights and movies: would an unwitting member of a lucrative movie be entitled to a slice of the profits? I don’t know the answer.

Some of the people in this romp across America were bigots, stupid and silly, but on the whole I get the impression, formed by my own experience and from seeing this film, that Americans are warm-hearted people who want to do well for themselves and their fellows; are friendly, helpful and dignified. A few people may make unpleasant remarks if they think no-one is watching, but are they so different to anyone else?

I can recommend this film, although I am really most looking forward to the latest Bond film. Against my earlier reservations about the casting of Daniel Craig, this looks to be a pretty hot production, taking us back a bit to the core of the Fleming character. Bring on 007.

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A site which allows you to vote on a subject that affects England every day. Today’s issue is about an an English Parliament.

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By the more than capable team at 18 Doughty Street starting from 8 (gmt) until late (6 hours of coverage). A must watch for political junkies all over. So pass the high-octaine coke and hit play on your QT.

My predictions: House remains Republican by a squeaker and Senate remains Republican thanks to RINOs. DU types cry election fraud and Dems head to meltdown.

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The rate a doctor site called Vimo is now offering a new incentive to rate your doctor. They are offering 5 free music downloads from emusic.com if you sign up and rate your doctor. Yes it is that simple. And you will not have to sign up for emusic either just go there and download the songs you want. So go tell em’ about your doctor and get yourself some free tunes in the bargin.

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We had to replace our furnace and hot water tank today. You’d think that with modern technology it’d be a fairly simple thing:

1) Unplug old furnace, tank. (Note: Turn off gas and water before you do this.)
2) Plug in new furnace, tank. (Note: Turn on gas and water after you do this.)

But no, it’s never that easy. This is what the process sounds like: BANG BANG BANG BANG. BANG BANG BANG BANGBANGBANG. WHIRR WHIRR BANG BANG. All day long. BANG WHIRR BANG.

I don’t know if the installers actually built them from scratch with pieces of scrap metal, but things seem to be humming along nicely now.

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This one is very easy…although I am loath to write anything about Christmas this early in the year I will make an exception. As Smashee & Nicey would say its for charidee mate. Help a band hit the 1000000 download mark before Christmas and a portion of the proceeds of their sales will go to. Music Industry/HIV/AIDS charity LIFEbeat. So go check out Greener’s Christmas Song and download it for charity’s sake.

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