Interesting News – 10 January 2008

The top three Republican candidates appear to be in a tie in Michigan. I wonder if we will see a Republican nominee emerge before the convention. Rick Moran is asking for our support for Fred Thompson.

Some thoughts on McCain that mirror my own here. McCain is hardly a die hard conservative, and his votes on tax cuts and immigration are hard to swallow. But he has vowed to end earmarks and he makes the highest marks on national security, both of which make him an attactive candidate to me at least. In terms of bipartisanship, he is also the real deal – a true thorn for conservatives on many issues, but he would likely appeal to many independents. Bookworm Room wonders if he isin’t trying to position Lieberman as his running mate.

Remember the Lancet Report claiming 655,000 Iraqi dead issued just before the last election? The World Health Organization has released its own, much lower count based on a much larger sampling. Laer has the story here.

I am regularly amazed by the arguments against using picture I.D.’s to combat voter fraud. Of particular note is the argument that it would harm the indigent and prevent them from voting. That seems a canard. Anyone who can make it to a polling booth on election day can just as easilly make it to a government office, show proof of their identity and get an i.d. card. Contrary arguments appear to be an invitation for fraud. More thoughts here.

The People’s Democratic Republic of San Francisco wants to be a gun-free an island unto itself. And in some ways, they are making progress towards that goal.

Al Sharpton smells some race-geld to be had in the inadvertent comment of a TV golf analyst. He has started mining and much to its shame, the Golf Channel has caved.

And from Across the Pond . . .

Europe has discovered democracy. They want to vote and have their say . . . in the U.S. elections.

Democracy does have its limits, however. The governments of Europe want a "mature debate" on the EU, but no vote on the same. And on this most important issue facing Britain since 1939, Labour is being assissted by the Tories. Scandalous. When the Queen took the oath of coronation near half a century ago, it was clearly not the EU Constitution she was binding herself, along with the people of Britain, to uphold. At least some people are attempting to expose the government’s deceit in their own way.

The BBC knows where its bread is buttered – its Brussels, not Westminister. EU Referendum ponders whether this might explain the BBC’s fawning coverage of and deference to the EU. I think that the EU is simply the ultimate leftist construct, and given the bent of the BBC, that explains the affinity.

And the MCB responds to the comments of the Bishop of Rochester that there are no-go areas in Britain. Sheik Yer Mami notes that most Britons seem to disagree with the MCB.

"Millions of children are being raised on prejudice and disinformation. Educated in schools that teach a skewed ideology, they are exposed to a dogma that runs counter to core beliefs shared by many other Western countries. They study from textbooks filled with a doctrine of dissent, which they learn to recite as they prepare to attend many of the better universities in the world. Extracting these children from the jaws of bias could mean the difference between world prosperity and menacing global rifts." This is a quote on education in French and German public schools. Read this exceptional post at DWM.