Who Is Leading Whom?

A fairly surprising bit of reporting from Andrew Romano of Newsweek's Stumper blog. It seems that the supposed big money advantage that Obama has over McCain doesn't exist. In fact, McCain will have considerably more cash going into the general election than Obama - by a rather large margin.

For all the pundits who predicted that Democratic nominee Barack Obama would crush McCain in the general-election money race, this should come as something of a surprise. After all, Obama raked in a record-breaking $280 million during the primary season; McCain's receipts totaled a measly $120 million. But as the last few months of federal fund raising disclosures have shown, "the real surprise" of this year's cash chase–as I wrote on July 11–is that "it's much more competitive than anyone expected." And the latest numbers are no expection.

While Obama netted a massive $51 million in July–again clobbering McCain, who racked up $27 million–the important statistic to look at is the combined amount of cash-on-hand for each candidate and his party (i.e, how much is actually available to spend on getting the nominee elected). In this case, the totals are nearly identical: the Republicans finished July with $96 million in the bank ($75 million for the RNC, $21 million for McCain) versus $94.3 million for the Democrats ($25.8 million for the DNC, $65.8 million for Obama). Bottom line: neither candidate is struggling financially.

There's more, do hop over and read it. As Romano points out, McCain will not have to fund raise during the general election. He opted for public financing and will be getting large monthly checks as a result. Obama will have to continue raising funds right through election day. McCain is currently outspending Obama by large margins in key states. Admittedly, the results are mixed so far, but things are not quite what many predicted, either.

You Can’t Get Blood From A Stone

But Shell Oil appears to have found a way to get oil from a rock. The Denver Post describes a promising technology to extract oil - a lot of oil - from oil shale in the American West. There are many unanswered questions and many details that need to be worked out, but this is pretty promising. Shell's test site yielded about a 65% recovery rate for the oil. Versus about a 25% recovery rate for traditional methods. The resultant extracted oil is of an extremely high quality.

GARFIELD COUNTY — The ramshackle collection of wellheads and electric cables hidden in a pine-covered draw west of Rifle doesn't look like much now, but until three years ago it was the home of the oil industry's equivalent of the Manhattan Project.

Over five years here, Shell Oil conducted a series of secretive experiments that have the potential to blow open the status quo of North American oil production, unlocking the vast reserves of oil shale that underlie Colorado's Western Slope.

Early attempts failed miserably. But beginning in 2002, Shell drilled a honeycombed series of wells, then lowered in giant heating elements, raising the temperature of the shale to 650 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 months. Out flowed an abundance of high-quality shale oil.

"It was our 'eureka' moment," said Tracy Boyd, a spokesman for Shell, smiling as he showed off the historic spot. "Now we know we have a technology that works."

Now that and similar technologies have become fodder in the increasingly contentious energy debate, holding out the possibility that, in an era of $4-a-gallon gasoline, America might just be sitting on oil reserves equal to a 100-year supply of the country's imports.

The fight over oil shale has become a major issue in Colorado's U.S. Senate race as well as a regular talking point for Republicans nationwide. At the White House in June, President Bush blasted Democrats for "standing in the way" of oil-shale development and hurting ordinary Americans.

The latest to enter the fray is Orrin Hatch, the powerful Republican senator from Utah, who accused Democratic Senate candidate Mark Udall of siding with "an elite, anti-oil crowd" by helping impose a moratorium on commercial leasing regulations for the shale deposits. (Utah is one of three Western states with oil-shale reserves.)

The technology still needs to be proven at an industrial scale and there are serious issues about the environmental impact, especially on water resources. Read the whole thing. The early battle lines are already forming both in the short term of this election and in the long term, decades away. But this appears to be promising. Certainly more promising than this incident over in Zimbabwe.

A Giant Mystery

We have had some dramatic entrances and exits upon our small stage at Baker Street. The invasion of the Ninja Cheerleader Squad or the visit by the Ivory-Billed Dodo for example, but I cannot recollect anything more sudden and startling than the first appearance of Magnus Pedis, M.A., Ph.D., etc. His card, which seemed too small to carry the weight of his academic distinctions, preceded him by a few seconds, and then he entered himself — so large, so pompous, and so dignified that he was the very embodiment of self-possession and solidity. But he slammed his head into the top of the door frame as he entered, cracking the stout English oak and causing him to stagger against the table, whence he slipped down upon the floor, and there was that majestic figure prostrate and insensible upon our bearskin hearthrug. He blended in against the bearskin, from which I deduced that he badly needed a shave.

We had sprung to our feet, and for a few moments we stared in silent amazement at this ponderous piece of wreckage, which told of some sudden and fatal storm far out on the ocean of life. Then Holmes hurried with a cushion for his head. and I with
brandy for his lips. The heavy, bearded face was seamed with lines of trouble, the hanging pouches under the closed eyes were leaden in colour, the loose mouth drooped dolorously at the corners, the rolling chins were unshaven. As were his hands. Collar and shirt bore the grime of a long journey, and the hair bristled unkempt from his enormous head. It was a sorely stricken and hirsute man who lay before us.

"What is it, Watson?" asked Holmes.

"Absolute exhaustion — possibly mere hunger and fatigue. Or he's had a bit too much gin and tonic," said I, with my finger on the thready pulse, where the stream of life trickled thin and small.

The puckered eyelids had begun to quiver, and now a pair of vacant blackish brown eyes looked up at us. An instant later the man had scrambled on to his feet, his face crimson with shame. Well, what we could see of it under his five o'clock shadow.

"Forgive this weakness, Mr. Holmes, I have been a little overwrought. Thank you, if I might have a bottle of Scotch and a side of beef, I have no doubt that I should be better.”

Holmes ordered the comestibles straightaway and our guest disposed of them straightaway.

“I came personally, Mr. Holmes, in order to insure that you would return with me. I feared that no telegram would convince you of the absolute urgency of the case."

"When you are quite restored –"

"I am quite well again. I cannot imagine how I came to be so weak. I wish you, Mr. Holmes, to come to Georgia with me by the next train."

My friend shook his head.

"My colleague, Dr. Watson, could tell you that we are very busy at present. I am retained in this case of the Elvis Documents, and the Abergavenny wardrobe malfunction is coming up for trial. Only a very important issue could call me from London at present. Besides, it is quite impossible to take the train across the Atlantic Ocean."

"Important!" Our visitor threw up his hands. "Have you heard nothing of the discovery of a dead bigfoot in Georgia? It is imperative that you come to Georgia to test the DNA of this creature!

“Oh, that won't be necessary, Dr. Pedis. I have already tested the DNA,” said Holmes.

"What!”

"Yes, I did the analysis yesterday. The bigfoot DNA reveals that the Georgia specimen is closely related to the Cardiff Giant and the Piltdown Man.”

Our visitor gazed down at his size 26 boots and muttered angrily to himself.

“Drat, I had hoped I actually existed.”

Goodbye Sandy Allen

A slightly obscure pop culture icon has passed away: World's Tallest Woman Dies at 53

INDIANAPOLIS - A woman who grew to be 7 feet, 7 inches tall and was recognized as the world's tallest female died Wednesday, a friend said. She was 53.

Sandy Allen, who used her height to inspire schoolchildren to accept those who are different, died at a nursing home in her hometown of Shelbyville, family friend Rita Rose said.

The cause of death was not yet known. Allen had been hospitalized in recent months as she suffered from a recurring blood infection, along with diabetes, breathing troubles and kidney failure, Rose said.

In London, Guinness World Records spokesman Damian Field confirmed Wednesday that Allen was still listed as the tallest woman. Some Web sites cite a 7-foot-9 woman from China. …

Allen weighed 6-1/2 pounds when she was born in June 1955. By the age of 10 she had grown to be 6-foot-3, and by age 16 she was 7-1.

She wrote to Guinness World Records in 1974, saying she would like to get to know someone her own height.

"It is needless to say my social life is practically nil and perhaps the publicity from your book may brighten my life," she wrote.

The recognition as the world's tallest woman helped Allen accept her height and become less shy, Rose said.

"It kind of brought her out of her shell," Rose said. "She got to the point where she could joke about it."

In the 1980s, she appeared for several years at the Guinness Museum of World Records in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

"I'll never forget the old Japanese man who couldn't speak English, so he decided to feel for himself if I was real," she recalled with a chuckle when she moved back to Indiana in 1987. 

"At Guinness there were days when I felt like I was doing a freak show," she said. "When that feeling came too often, I knew I had to come back home."

My chief point of connection to Miss Allen is the song "Hello Sandy Allen" from the classic Split Enz album Time & Tide.  The lyrics, by Neil Finn, always struck me as particularly touching:

Hello Sandy Allen,The world's tallest woman

We made friends in New York, Don't know if you'll remember

I'm bound to say I felt uneasy, when I first laid eyes on you

But I liked the way you talked, Like a living hoper

Towering over our heads in more ways than one

The hand that shook my hand was awesome, It still amazes me

Hope you're happy - Sandy Allen, Hope your garden is blooming

We're all staring at the mirror, Tryin' to put our faces on

Appearance never held you back

Must be when you're number one, you don't have to try so hard

Godspeed.

When Everything Is Not As It Seems

Today, China got caught - twice - faking portions of the Olympic opening ceremonies. First it was the little girl who wasn't there, now it's faked fireworks. First the little girl who sang the Chinese anthem - but wasn't allowed to be there in person because her teeth were crooked:

A member of China's ruling Politburo asked for the last-minute change to match one girl's face with another's voice, the ceremony's chief music director, Chen Qigang, said in an interview with Beijing Radio.

"The audience will understand that it's in the national interest," Chen said in a video of the interview posted online Sunday night.

The second falsehood was the phony fireworks.

Beijing organizers confirmed Tuesday that some of the fireworks display featured prerecorded footage.

Fireworks that burst into the shape of 29 gigantic footprints were shown trudging above the Beijing skyline to the National Stadium near the start of the ceremony.

Though the footprint-shaped fireworks were real, some of the footage shown to television viewers around the world and on giant screens inside the "Bird's Nest" stadium featured a computer-generated three-dimensional image.

Prerecorded is being a bit too kind. Completely fake would be a better descriptor. The images were made up on a computer.

Beijing, the first CGI, lip-synced Olympics. (Actually, I'm quite sure that lip-syncing has been done before - though not for the same, lame reason. The CGI appears to be new, however.)

Don't you love the line: "The audience will understand that it's in the national interest." Remind you of any other statist rhetoric?

UPDATE: Once again, no sooner did I hit the publish key. Over at Memeorandum, a paean to the marvelous Beijing opening ceremonies pops up from HuffnPuffco. Prattling on about "the purpose of the greater". As I said, where have you heard that before?

Sorry, Old Chap….

….It will just cost too much to save your life. NICE, the increasingly Orwellian advisory body to Britain's National Health Service has ruled that there is not - and will not be - a "Rule of Rescue." What does that mean? Simple, if your health care costs to much, you're a deader.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Guidelines (Nice) has ruled for the first time that saving a life cannot be justified at any cost, in a review of its ethical guidelines.

The ruling - made by the board of the controversial organisation - contradicts advice it received from its own 'Citizens Council' which offers advice from a representative sample of the general public.

Nice is facing growing criticism over the number of drugs it is now rejecting which are available throughout Europe and in America. Last week, it refused to sanction four kidney cancer drugs which can double life expectancy.

It has now rejected the so-called "rule of rescue" which stipulates that people facing death should be treated regardless of the costs. The rule is based on the natural impulse to aid individuals in trouble.

In a report on "social values judgement" the regulator says: "There is a powerful human impulse, known as the 'rule of rescue', to attempt to help an identifiable person whose life is in danger, no matter how much it costs. When there are limited resources for healthcare, applying the 'rule of rescue' may mean that other people will not be able to have the care or treatment they need.

NICE isn't, is it? This is the logical outcome of socialized medicine. The decisions of the state are final and may not be appealed. Well, actually, there is a step further that I expect the folks at NICE to reach eventually. That will be to withhold care completely from those who fail to meet some arbitrary standard they dictate.

Such as disagreeing with NICE.

Still think socialized medicine is a ginger-peachy idea? Hope you never need extraordinary care.

Obama’s Weirdness

The interview on faith and religion I mentioned the other day is a gold mine of weirdness.  Let's look at what Obama thinks is going on when he is speaking to crowd as a political leader:

OBAMA: IT’s interesting, the most powerful political moments for me come when I feel like my actions are aligned with a certain truth. I can feel it. When I’m talking to a group and I’m saying something truthful, I can feel a power that comes out of those statements that is different than when I’m just being glib or clever.

GG: What’s that power? Is it the holy spirit? God?

OBAMA: Well, I think it’s the power of the recognition of God, or the recognition of a larger truth that is being shared between me and an audience.

So, it seems clear that when Barack Obama feels strongly about something it is because he views it as touching something of the divine.  So, if you hold a different political position on one of those matters you are at best a fool and at worst evil.  Either way you are standing against the will of God, which happens to coincide with the political principles of Barack Obama.  Aren't we lucky?

Now, this I just found interesting:

GG: Who’s Jesus to you?

(He laughs nervously)

OBAMA: Right. Jesus is an historical figure for me, and he’s also a bridge between God and man, in the Christian faith, and one that I think is powerful precisely because he serves as that means of us reaching something higher.

And he’s also a wonderful teacher. I think it’s important for all of us, of whatever faith, to have teachers in the flesh and also teachers in history.

So what have we got here?  Obama thinks Jesus is A) an historical figure, B) a bridge between God and man, and C) a wonderful teacher.  The truth is there is nothing particularly Christian about those views.  Muslims, for example, hold much the same view of Jesus.  It is Christians who believe Jesus is the son of God, the redeemer of our sins, the maker of a new covenant…in short the Messiah.  All of the specifically Christian views of Jesus seem to have escaped Obama's notice, or they have been rejected. 

Which is it?  I don't know, but it sure seems like Barry Obama is one weird guy.

Stuff You Can’t Make Up…

…but this sure does fit a pattern many vainly try to claim doesn't exist.  From The Dude Abides:

At 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 27, 2004, when I was the religion reporter (I am now its religion columnist) at the Chicago Sun-Times, I met then-State Sen. Barack Obama at Café Baci, a small coffee joint at 330 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago, to interview him exclusively about his spirituality. Our conversation took place a few days after he'd clinched the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat that he eventually won. We spoke for more than an hour. He came alone. He answered everything I asked without notes or hesitation. The profile of Obama that grew from the interview at Cafe Baci became the first in a series in the Sun-Times called "The God Factor," that eventually became my first book, The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People (FSG, March 2006.) Because of the staggering interest in now U.S. Sen. Obama's faith and spiritual predilections, I thought it might be helpful to share that interivew…

The money quote:

GG:
Do you believe in sin?

OBAMA:
Yes.

GG:
What is sin?

OBAMA:
Being out of alignment with my values.

Don't share the O's values?  Welcome to sin my friends.

You, There! Step Away From The Bird Feeder!

Yep, some elements on the left want the United States to be more like Europe. Like this? A local council in Britain has threatened a pensioner and his wife with legal action - unless the couple cease and desist the hideous practice of….

…..feeding birds.

Far from an attempt to live in harmony with nature, the customary ritual of helping birds in their daily search for food has been branded a dangerous practice that must be stopped.

After receiving a complaint from a neighbour, environmental health officers wrote a letter to the Dunnys informing them they were causing a noise nuisance and attracting dirt and possibly disease to their village.

The letter, from Berwick Upon Tweed council, said: 'Birds cause some considerable problem in forms of noise and dirt.

Not only do their droppings damage and contaminate property, the birds also carry various diseases such as salmonella.

'If they are encouraged into an area and build nests, these nests can cause problems, such as blocking chimneys, flues and gutters. Food put out for the birds will also attract rats and vermin.

'If we establish that a nuisance or pest problem does exist, we may have to consider further action.'

Mr Dunny, 69, a retired foreman and joiner, has branded the demand as 'completely crazy' and vowed to continue putting food out for his feathered friends.

He and his wife live in the Northumberland village of Belford, where garden bird tables are a common sight.

He said: 'Let them put me in jail. . . it's just crazy. What do they mean by  noise?

Yep. I really want to be more like Europe, don't you?

My ancestors had the good sense and taste to either be thrown out of old Europe (father's side) or flee the oppressive policies there (mother's side). I have no intention of being "more like Europe." Neither should you. 

Death Sentence

Those are the words used by groups that tried to intervene in the latest decision of the British National Health Service. They have decided that British sufferers of kidney cancer will no longer have access to life-prolonging drugs commonly available in Europe and the US. British kidney cancer patients can expect no help from the National Health Death Service.

The drugs-rationing body for the NHS has been accused of bullying, ignoring and patronising patients.

The unprecedented attack follows the highly-controversial decision to ban drugs that can extend the life of kidney cancer victims.

Experts asked to advise the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence have lodged complaints, describing the consultation as a sham.

Two patients' representatives attacked the system as 'flawed and irrational' while the charity Kidney Cancer UK is also expected to make an official complaint about being ignored.

Nice's decision to ban four drugs widely available in Europe and the U.S. was described as a 'death sentence' by doctors, patient groups and campaigners.

Now the complaints have shed new light on the way such life-and-death decisions are made.

Do read it all, especially this part:

Nice admits they work but says they cost too much.

This is what "free" health care entails, folks. Bureaucrats will decide who gets what drugs, care, service - they will decide who lives or who dies. And they will be LESS answerable than the much maligned private insurance companies in this country.

Still think socialized medicine is the answer?

Pray you don't get an unapproved cancer, then.

The Devil Went Down To Georgia

He was lookin' for a country to steal. Vlad "The Impaler" Putin has launched an all out attack on Georgia. Not the one from the song, the other one. Russian aircraft are bombing civilian apartment buildings. There is a notable lack of interest in any of that from the left blogosphere, as a quick perusal of Memeorandum indicates. If Israel isn't involved, the left is pretty much silent.

The Daily Mail is reporting that Russia is attempting to bomb the pipeline that runs through Georgia, delivering oil to the West.

The war in Georgia escalated dangerously last night after Russian jets reportedly bombed a vital pipeline that supplies oil to the West.

After a day of heightening international tensions, Georgian leaders claimed that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which transports oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, had been attacked. But it is thought the bombs  missed their target.

Their claims came after Russian jets struck deep into the territory of its tiny neighbour, killing civilians and ‘completely devastating’ the strategic Black Sea port of Poti, a staging post for oil and other energy supplies.

Reports last night also said that Russia had bombed the international airport in Tbilisi.

The Russian knife is pointed at Georgia's throat, but the artery belongs to the West. Yet the Democrats in charge of the American Congress refuse to allow a vote on allowing oil drilling off the American coasts.

Think about that.

UPDATE: No sooner hit the publish key and this came up over at Memeorandum from HuffnPuffPo. Now we know why the left has been largely quiet. They were trying to think up a way to blame it on Republicans. Sleazy, even for HuffnPuff.

Get The Joke?

The Telegraph (Tim Shipman reporting) notes that there's comedy gold - in Barack Obama. Or rather in Obama's extremely high opinion of himself.

The punchline is this: the more seriously he took himself, the more Barack Obama has become a laughing matter.

Only a month ago American comedians and satirists were complaining that they found it hard to get people to laugh at the first black presidential nominee. A New Yorker cover cartoon showing him as a Muslim extremist was roundly denounced.

But growing Obama fatigue among voters after his pseudo-presidential visit to Europe and the Middle East has unleashed a wave of satirical fire, mocking Mr Obama for his apparent belief that he has the election in the bag.

Last month Jon Stewart, host of the satirical news programme The Daily Show, had to tell his audience that they were allowed to laugh at Mr Obama after a joke fell flat.

But Mr Stewart made comedic hay during the Illinois Senator's international trip, mocking his progress through the Holy Land, where he said the candidate stopped "in Bethlehem to see the manger where he was born."

There are some very funny lines from American comedians about Obama and his Rushmore-sized head. But I love that line from Stewart. Methinks the emperor's new clothes are on full display. (Do go over and read the article. There are some real gems there.)

Fly Fishing

Another one caught by his fly. I have not written about the latest sex scandal involving a Democrat until today, when John Edwards confessed - under duress - that he had, indeed, had an affair with a woman his campaign paid a lot of money to. Money given by his ardent supporters. Oh, Edwards still denies he is the father of Lisa Druck's baby, but his word isn't exactly coined gold at the moment.

John Edwards repeatedly lied during his Presidential campaign about an extramarital affair with a novice filmmaker, the former Senator admitted to ABC News today.

In an interview for broadcast tonight on Nightline, Edwards told ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff he did have an affair with 44-year old Rielle Hunter, but said that he loved only his wife, Elizabeth.

Not exactly a great year for Democratic party politicians. Detroit's mayor, New York's governor and the left's early favorite for the Presidency. All caught by the same fly, so to speak.

Paternalism? No, Not Exactly

Steve Chapman notes the new trend of what he calls paternalism.

In Los Angeles, driving out certain businesses is not a potential side effect — it's a conscious policy. The city council recently prohibited the opening of fast-food outlets in the poor, 32-square-mile area known as South Los Angeles. If you're a global corporation selling inexpensive meals to go, Los Angeles has a message for you: Invest anywhere but here. Apparently a vacant lot is better than a Burger King.

Councilwoman Jan Perry believes the measure will assure the locals "greater food options." The Los Angeles Times reports she "said the initiative would give the city time to craft measures to lure sit-down restaurants serving healthier food to a part of the city that desperately wants more of them."

Of course, it could do that without punishing outlets that don't need luring. But if vegetarian and seafood restaurants didn't see the area as profitable before, this law won't change their calculations. It takes an Orwellian mindset to imagine that shutting out McDonald's and KFC will expand, not diminish, the range of dining options in South Los Angeles.

All it will accomplish, as several fast-food workers told the city council, is to deprive residents of jobs in the forbidden outlets. Does anyone think unemployment will improve their diet? Or that a community with fewer jobs will be a more inviting place for preferred restaurants?

As I said, Chapman calls it paternalism. I think it is authoritarianism, pushed hardest by the left these days. The same folks who howl the loudest about the "government in your bedroom" have no problem whatsoever with the government in your refrigerator or in your food choices.

High Tide For Green?

Alice Thomson, writing in The Telegraph, notes the sudden cooling of British politicians for "green" issues - regardless of party. A rather large number of green tax ideas have quietly been shelved and the politicians are running for cover from irate taxpayers struggling now to make ends meet.

But the problem for the green lobby isn't that it has been overrun by “toffs”: it's the chilly economic climate that has frozen the shoots of environmentalism. Espousing the green life, with its misshapen vegetables and non-disposable nappies, is increasingly being seen as a luxury by everyone.

Only a year ago, according to MORI, 15 per cent of those polled put the environment in their top three concerns. That figure has dropped by a third to 10 per cent this month. Now that people are fighting for their own survival rather than their grandchildren's, they put crime, the economy and rising prices at the top of their list.

According to Andrew Cooper, director of the research company, Populus: “There is a direct correlation between how people perceive the economy and the importance they place on the environment. When times are tough people resent paying more to salve their conscience.” This means that fewer people are now buying organic chickens from smart supermarkets when they can pay £3.99 at Lidl. With all food prices rising, the organic market is being credit-crunched. Demand for it grew by 70 per cent from 2002 to 2007; now it has stalled, according to the consultancy Organic Monitor.

The vast new organic Whole Foods Store on Kensington High Street in London is so quiet you can hear the cheese breathe in the specially designed glass room. Meanwhile the demand for takeaway pizzas and McDonald's has risen as people find the cheapest way to eat.

Funny, now that Thomson mentions it, a lot of our politicians are being awfully quiet about those issues of late, too. But there is a political drumbeat calling for increased offshore drilling. If the Republicans are smart, they'll keep pushing on that issue hard.