A historic blog posting

DJ Barack-O warns his East Coast subjects to buckle their seat belts.

“All indications point to this being a historic hurricane,” Obama said from his vacation getaway on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., which lies on Irene’s projected path and for which a hurricane watch is in effect.

Alas for the Colossus of the Mall ("I am King, King of Kings. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair") its official consecration will have to be postponed because of meteorological shenanigans. Poseidon is in an ill temper. His first trick, the earthquake, having failed to produce the proper reverence, he has whipped up Irene for his amusement.

These things pass, and in due course the Colossus -- oh, yes, and the "Mountain of Despair" St. Martin removed a sinful country from -- will receive its honors. I would bet money that the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Associated Press will all use the word "historic" in their reports on the event.

This "historic" handle is one of the Lazy Corrupt Media's (LCM's) favorite ploys nowadays. What was DJ Barack-O's election? Just ask any LCM newspaper writer or TV face worker. "Historic." "Historic." "Historic." "Historic." "Historic."

Of course, by definition it was historic. Everything that ever happened or will happen becomes part of the historical record. The sinking of the Lusitania made history too. But as the word is used now, it has ultra-positive connotations, except for the odd hurricane. I don't recall any newscasters on September 11 ten years ago saying, "Today, in a historic terrorist attack, the World Trade Center was leveled ... ."

Using "historic" in the sense of "wonderful, marvelous" is but one of the LCM's cute little tricks for slipping their Mickey Finn of bias into the public's drink. If the LCM fails in its all-out attempt to destroy the candidacy of Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann or whoever, the stories about his or her inauguration will not be graced with the word "historic."

I can see the opening lines already: "On a grim, cloudy day in Washington, amid protests from over 500 activist organizations kept at bay by security guards, the nation's 45th president took the oath of office today in an unhistoric ceremony."

Mall-ted MLK

I didn't know until the other day they were adding a sculpture of Martin Luther King to the National Mall in Washington, but ever since he was canonized it was only a matter of time. It's only another step in filling in the Mall's green space with buildings and monuments to one ethnic group and victim class after another. Ehh.

But this thing? As St. Martin was known to say, "Great God almighty!"

Even Stalin would have been embarrassed to put the equivalent in the middle of Moscow. The Chinese would shy from a monument to Mao on such a scale -- although, America being what it is today, its creation was outsourced to a Chinese sculptor.

If this photo gives an accurate impression of the relative size of St. Martin's colossal torso and the people you can barely make out in the lower right, ...

Excuse me, I've just been in an earthquake. Blimey O'Riley!

First one I've experienced since the 1980s. A very disconcerting business when walls and floors start quivering like Jell-O.

... Where was I? Oh, yes, the MLK Hulk. I've seen sculptures of Roman emperors that were less imposing. Only Constantine's statue, his cogitating bit now in the courtyard of the Capitoline Museum, might have measured up to MLK's.

Someone hand me the National Mall checklist, please. Let's see. Recent additions: National Museum of the American Indian -- check. National Museum of African History and Culture -- check. National Museum of African Art -- check. Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial. Women in Vietnam Memorial.

I expect the Latino Museum deficit to be fixed shortly (unlike every other deficit in Washington) -- it's proposed to be installed in the old Arts and Industries building, formerly dedicated to American inventiveness.

Who's left? Oh, yes. Mark my words: a dozen years from now, the cracks in the Jefferson Memorial will be patched with duct tape, while the new LGBT Museum's opening ceremonies will feature Elton John on roller skates pounding away at a 50-foot be-glittered piano.

To much

Is there anyone left, other than professional writers and editors, who knows the difference between "to" and "too"?

In the blogosphere, particularly in comments, "to" has become almost interchangeable with "too." When I first started noticing the error, I assumed it was just a typo, resulting from someone being in a hurry. But it has become far too -- yes, too -- common to be anything other than ignorance in most cases.

A dumbed down educational system and  a post-literate popular culture mean that words are learned by hearing them, in speech or on TV, rather than reading them. So naturally the difference between homophones is incomprehensible.

Because he says so, that's why

King Obama's love is here to stay.

Shortly before leaving for Martha's Versailles, King Barack 0.5 took care of a little transforming-America business that his ethnic colonizer troops had been nagging him about.

You will recall that he had a spot of bother trying to get the DREAM Act (don't you love those cynical acronyms?) passed. That was to turn the children of illegals into citizens once they completed two years of college, as though the United States needs a million more young people with half a degree. 

Hey, no problem, amigos. Congress won't pass the bill? He doesn't have to sign no stinkin' bill. He'll just DREAM Act America by executive order.

The Obama administration announced Thursday that it would launch a case-by-case review of illegal immigrants slated for deportation, in a move that could grant a reprieve to so-called DREAM Act beneficiaries and thousands of others. 

The DREAM Act is a proposal in Congress to give illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children a chance at legal status if they complete two years of college or military service. Though the bill has not passed, supporters and critics alike suggested Thursday's announcement could serve to unilaterally carry out its provisions.

King for a Day Obama has now decided illegals are to be deported by "priority." Translation: Only when there's no way around it, like when a border jumper kills people.

From the Washington Times:

Bowing to pressure from immigrant rights activists, the Obama administration said Thursday that it will halt deportation proceedings on a case-by-case basis against illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria, such as attending school, having family in the military or having primary responsible for other family members’ care. ...

The move won immediate praise from Hispanic activists and Democrats who had strenuously argued with the administration that it did have authority to take these actions, and said as long as Congress is deadlocked on the issue, it was up to Mr. Obama to act.

L’état, c’est lui.

We have become a sad parody of a republic.

Oh, no! Our "progressive" cities are too white!

Aaron M. Renn, an "independent writer on urban affairs based in the Midwest," looks at famously progressive U.S. cities and finds a tragic flaw: too many white people, not enough vibrancy.

He's probably right about the facts. The conclusions he draws put me in mind of Sydney Smith's anecdote about two Edinburgh women disputing from opposite balconies. They would never agree, Smith quipped, because they were "arguing from different premises." Renn and I would interpret the situation he cites rather differently.

He writes:

Why is it that progressivism in smaller metros is so often associated with low numbers of African Americans? Can you have a progressive city properly so-called with only a disproportionate handful of African Americans in it? In addition, why has no one called these cities on it? ...

Why move to the suburbs of your stodgy Midwest city to escape African Americans and get criticized for it when you can move to Portland and actually be praised as progressive, urban and hip? Many of the policies of Portland are not that dissimilar from those of upscale suburbs in their effects. Urban growth boundaries and other mechanisms raise land prices and render housing less affordable exactly the same as large lot zoning and building codes that mandate brick and other expensive materials do. They both contribute to reducing housing affordability for historically disadvantaged communities. Just like the most exclusive suburbs.

Renn has a fair point about progressives enjoying the relative prosperity and amenities usually associated with un-diversity while congratulating themselves on their inclusiveness.  Of course it's easier to make politically correct noises about African Americans and immigration when you are comfortably insulated from the real-world consequences of large non-Asian minority populations.

But he apparently believes that it's immoral for a city to have any zoning for quality of life. Minimum lot sizes and quality materials, that's raa-aa-aa-cist! No one should be allowed to live anywhere that isn't affordable for "historically disadvantaged communities"!

The other day I took a virtual tour of São Paulo, Brazil, on Google's Street View. Now there's a city Renn should be over the moon about. He can luxuriate in the sardine-like density. No racist building codes, lots of shanties held up by will power.

Imagine a large corporation with a workforce whose African American percentage far lagged its industry peers, sans any apparent concern, and without a credible action plan to remediate it. Would such a corporation be viewed as a progressive firm and employer? The answer is obvious. Yet the same situation in major cities yields a different answer. Curious.

He finds it curious. In the unlikely event he should read this, perhaps I can satisfy his curiosity. The Federal Superstate can beat corporations into hiring their quotas of minorities because to the corporations it's just a cost of doing business. They pass the cost on to the customer. But despite their best efforts, the federales haven't yet managed to force people to live with quotas of vibrancy. People are kind of fussy about their neighborhoods. Ridiculous, of course, but that's people for you.

If people really believe what they say about diversity being a source of strength, why not act like it? I believe that cities that start taking their African American and other minority communities seriously, seeing them as a pillar of civic growth, will reap big dividends and distinguish themselves in the marketplace. 

This trail has been blazed not by the “progressive” paragons but by places like Atlanta, Dallas and Houston. Atlanta, long known as one of America's premier African American cities, has boomed to become the capital of the New South. It should come as no surprise that good for African Americans has meant good for whites too.

 Well, different premises.

Big Brother is watching British children

Children in Lancashire, northern England, are being monitored for any hint that they might be influenced by "right-wing extremists."

From the Lancashire Telegraph (tip of the hat: Gates of Vienna):

Police said the ground-breaking counter-terrorism programme Channel, which has so far concentrated at Islamic extremism, has been widened to take account of the rise in right-wing extremism in the county. 

Parents, teachers, community leaders and police officers are referring children and young adults who they feel may be at risk of being radicalised by groups such as the English Defence League.

Multi-culturalism, the state religion, leads to totalitarianism. Since government-encouraged colonization by Muslims and other imports from dysfunctional societies is bound to create strife when native populations are displaced in their own country, the Leftist Politburo has no choice but to stamp out any sign of resistance. Children must be prevented from hearing anything but the Multi Cult party line.

Channel is a national safeguarding initiative for individuals considered vulnerable to recruitment by violent extremists. ...

Insp Bilal Mulla, Lancashire’s Channel co-ordinator, said: “Channel is not a tool for spying. [Perish the thought! Just a way of spotting potential deviationists.] It is making people understand there may be vulnerable people who are targeted by those with radical views who had a different agenda."

That "Insp," by the way, is an abbreviation for "Inspector." In other words, a high-ranking police officer whose job is to proactively stamp out thought crimes by labeling them "violent extremism."

Insp Mulla said he wanted to encourage people to refer any ‘signposts’ of right-wing or other types of extremism to his team. ...

“We put interventions in place, not investigations. [Why waste time on investigation -- assuming thought crimes are fair game for investigation -- when you can get on with 'interventions'?] If someone is not suited for the Channel project, we pass them on to other authorities such as Youth Offending, mental health practitioners, probation for example."

Righto, Inspector. You got your smartphone-enabled arson parsons and looters-in-waiting, but so what? Remember your mission! Have your plods (during the hour per shift when they're not doing paperwork) keeping an eye out for youngsters who might be exposed to Forbidden Thoughts about race and immigration. 

And I bow to your brilliance in turning any young person "at risk" of being influenced by the EDL over to the brain police -- sorry, I mean "mental health practitioners." Should you need any guidance, I'm sure you can find ex-KGB officers to act as advisers. In the Soviet Union, they got it down to a science, putting dissidents in mental wards for "treatment."

Community Cohesion Sgt Colin Dassow, who runs the courses, said: “Right-wing extremism is having a big influence on what we do.” 

Sergeant Dassow -- "Community Cohesion" sergeant! -- you said it. Can't have community cohesion while there's any free thought and free speech left in Lancashire.