They are not murderers nor have they been found guilty of aiding and abetting the enemy. We're talking about the common shoplifter and lunch time imbiber found to have been behind the wheel at around point-oh-eight. They are not threats to the Republic but as a society we have found them wanting in social grace and have determined to make them pay. As they have committed offense to the community we find it just that they perform a service to the community in return.

My friend Gail has just returned from a trip to the Southeast where she witnessed a chain gang, I believe she said in Georgia. I remember from my childhood driving from Jersey to Florida with my parents on the Disneyland route and seeing the same thing. How much could the contrast be- a three-day pass to the happiest place on earth or working in the hot sun chained to the fella next to you? Here in California we are chain-free, but I'm guessing that the gang in Georgia might include an offender of a slightly higher caliber.

Today, people aspiring to rule our country, want to turn us all into a virtual chain gang. They want to require our youth to be legally committed to community service for a certain number of years. Aside from the insane economics of it all I would personally like someone to explain to me what part of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" that this addresses? In what sense is this liberal or progressive? How is this conservative? Is this really the middle of the road or moderate position?

These are rhetorical questions of course, for as a society we've gone beyond what the communists and socialists had planned for us. We're calling for our own mass enslavement, and liking it. We have a duty to the State, not for the defense of our nation and our way of life, but for the principal of it. That the State exists is reason enough to serve it. The same folks who said the draft was wrong and are repulsed by our volunteer military yet call for obligatory service to the State for other correct purposes.

It's not a joke anymore. I see us looking at a critical mass where we will need to fight for every scrap of liberty we have left.

Am I going over the top on this? Is it hyperbole? I personally don't think so, but I do feel like Cassandra. As a small demonstration as to how mainstream this movement is I offer the following criticism of John McCain for his lack of zeal in this regard by Ben Adler published on the Politico web site on July 13th of this year:

John McCain, who’s predicated his presidential run in no small part on his distinguished military record, frequently exhorts Americans — and especially young Americans — to serve their country. Despite that appeal, he has yet to offer any proposals to expand or transform national service outside of the military.

Barack Obama, by contrast, has proposed dramatically expanding Americorps and the Peace Corps, adding 65,000 members to the military and creating an annual $4,000 tax credit for post-secondary education in exchange for 100 hours of community service.

Ouch, that must have hurt, because it rated a response:

"John McCain has constantly spoken to the need for young Americans to serve a cause greater than their self-interest," said McCain spokesman Joseph Pounder. "McCain's campaign is all about a cause greater than yourself," echoed Jessica Colon, chairwoman of the Young Republican National Federation.

If you don't see the twisted logic of this yet, please allow me to introduce you to Service Nation.

ServiceNation [sic] is about an America that is ruggedly idealistic, compassionate, and above all committed to the idea of shared sacrifice in pursuit of America’s boldest promise: liberty and justice for all.

America's boldest promise: shared sacrifice in pursuit of liberty and justice for all. Sorry, that's not my country, that's not my vision and those aren't my ideals. I'm all about the original idea of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Is that selfish? If you think so you are my problem.

What to do? I haven't a clue, but I've only just touched on this lemming like movement to mass self-flagellation. For those of you who think we have a choice in all of this I would direct your attention to the first of this year's Presidential debates scheduled for September 11th in New York City. The forum will be called "A Nation of Service" and will be sponsored by the previously noted and linked Service Nation organization. John McCain is quoted as saying:

“I am pleased to be participating in the ServiceNation [sic] Summit in New York City. The Summit will be an important remembrance of those that made the ultimate sacrifice serving their country and others as we focus on how to inspire others to serve causes greater than their own self-interest through national and community service."

Perhaps McCain calls out "those that made the ultimate sacrifice" because they're not here to defend themselves anymore. I know that I certainly didn't volunteer three years of my young life so that I could force others to clean bedpans and such, but then I'm not dead yet so I lack moral superiority.

So much for the Republican position, so, where does our Democratic candidate stand on this issue?

On July 2, 2008, in a speech at Colorado Springs, Barack Obama (as presumptive Democratic Party nominee) made another reference to such legislation when he called for the creation of a "national civilian military service" by saying: "We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded." Obama then went on to explain his vision of a national service program similar to the one he outlined in the MTV/MySpace forum, saying he would make federal assistance to schools contingent to school districts establishing service programs, with a goal of 50 hours of service per year for middle school and high school students, and 100 hours of service per year for college students.

So that, my fine feathered friends, is how it begins. A vote for Obama is a vote for enslavement, or more properly, for indentured servitude, for our publicly educated youth.

To the youngsters that may one day stumble across this lost diatribe you'll now know that if mommy or daddy can't buy your way out by sending you to a privately funded school you will be a tool of the State. A little baksheesh may get you a plum position lording it over your fellow tools, but you'll still be a tool.

What was your offense that got you here? You were born to a wannabe tool.

For my Republican friends I would like to ask how the hell is throwing your support behind McCain going to make any difference with a Democratic congress when he's ready to bend over for these people on September 11th? Is this what being a "Maverick" means? There's a place where the sun don't shine and I hope you're all comfortable up inside there. You will deserve it.

From a Telegraph UK story Computer virus infects International Space Station laptops.

08/24 14:30PM
Men's Gold-Medal Game - Game 76
Spain vs United States
Alert me
Preview
Scheduled

Yeah, no kidding it's scheduled. But that is China time, how about a little help for back here in the good old US of A? So counting backwards I get 11:30 PM the night before (tonight 08/23) Los Angeles time. And what is it about 14:30 PM? Is there such a thing as 14:30 AM? In case the rocket scientists at NBC missed it you can either say 14:30, or 2:30 PM.

Now, considering this is the NBC web site how about a little info on which channel, eh? So jumping through the hoops punching in my zip code and satellite provider, then to which sport, and then to which event, I get this:

Men's Basketball
Gold-medal game: USA vs. Spain.
9:00p - 9:00a (8/24)

OK, so sometime between 9PM on the 23rd and 9AM on the twenty fourth there will be a game in there. But this is listed on the 'Basketball Channel', not the local NBC affiliate. For that station I find this:

9AM to 3PM
Daytime
Women's basketball gold-medal game: USA vs. Australia (LIVE ET/CT). Also, gold-medal finals in individual rhythmic gymnastics, team synchronized swimming, boxing and flatwater canoe/kayak.

For CNBC I get this:

9PM- 11PM
Men's Basketball
Bronze-medal game: Argentina vs. Lithuania (LIVE ET/CT).

Why all the complications Pete? Why don't you just go to the TV Guide on the web where you usually go? OK, but I tried that back at the beginning of the Olympic coverage and found it so frustrating that I just gave up until today when I really want to watch the basketball thing like every other person in the world.

11:30PM
Olympics: Men's basketball, boxing, mountain biking, table tennis.

Get that? And that schedule runs to 4AM. Now, if you click on the listing:

Kobe Bryant faces Los Angeles Lakers teammate Pau Gasol as the U.S. "Redeem Team" meets Spain in the men's basketball final. Also: medals are awarded in boxing; track and field (men's javelin); men's table tennis; and men's mountain biking.

One might forgive my naiveté in assuming that at 11:30PM (remember my earlier math) I would turn on the TV to find the US men's basketball team, but nowhere does it tell me in the listing that the game is 'live.' This might be an important bit of information, especially considering that the other listings note (LIVE ET/CT).

So, is NBC going to screw us again like they did during the opening ceremonies? That is where my money is going. It would be a delight if they prove me wrong.

Update: 11:44PM- All is forgiven. Great game so far.

Omayra Leeflang, Sports Minister for The Netherlands Antilles

Usain Bolt from Jamaica had just stunned the world with a record-breaking victory in the 200 meter foot race followed by Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles and Wallace Spearmon of the United States. During the celebrations the Olympic officials were reviewing the race and noticed that third place contender Wallace had stepped out of his lane and was therefore disqualified. So far, so good.

Our offense happened while our own officials were reviewing the reviewers and found that the second place contender from the Netherlands Antilles also stepped out of his lane. Oops.

T. Boone Pickens has been an oilman for nearly 60 years, but all that experience counted for little last month as the well-schooled octogenarian tycoon took a beating on oil and natural gas bets, The Post has learned.

It's not that I don't feel sorry for him, after all congress was seriously floating a windfall profits tax and a crucifixion scheme for speculators and he had to position himself somewhere, but—windmills? C'mon.

What's worse is that the Russians might actually have realized what was coming, which goes a long way to explaining their most recent excellent adventure. One may want to remember the entire current oligarchy is based on maximizing oil profits.

So what was the news on Friday August eighth? Besides My Silk Pony massaging the timeline of his adventurous penis?

Light, sweet crude for September delivery settled down $4.82 to $115.20 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the lowest close since May 1, when oil finished at $112.52.

Oh yeah, Russia invades Georgia while Putin enjoys the opening ceremonies in China.

So as the American electorate wakes up to find that Peak Oil has lost its appeal (with the seemingly daily discovery of more dinosaur juice, a good portion of it in our own back yard), the markets decide to yawn while W talks tough and Vladmir looks ill. It's a topsy turvy woild.

So I think it's time for the Café's first ever cheesy online poll.

Global Labor and Politics: "Who sent Obama?"

In Chicago politics a key question has always been, who "sent" you? The classic phrase is "We don't want nobody that nobody sent" - from an anecdote of Abner Mikva's, the former White House Counsel (Pres. Clinton) and now retired federal judge. (And someone I campaigned for while in high school when he ran, unsuccessfully, for Congress in the early 70s.) As a young student, Mikva wanted to help out his local Democratic Party machine on the south side of Chicago. In 1948, he walked into the local committeeman's office to volunteer for Adlai Stevenson and Paul Douglas and was immediately asked: "Who sent you?" Mikva replied, "nobody sent me." And the retort came back from the cigar chomping pol: "Well, we don't want nobody that nobody sent."

So it is reasonable to ask, who "sent" Barack Obama? In other words, how can his meteoric rise to political prominence be explained?

Now that's entertainment.

See, I'm from Jersey and started paying my union dues to the Teamsters just a couple of years after Jimmy Sr. disappeared into the Meadowlands- and I know guys that talk like that. Sometimes I still talk like that. I laughed till I cried when I first saw Goodfellas.

Of course, one must be interested in this type of thing in the first place.

This 'news' is based on the 'opinion' of the economic consultancy firm Global Insight, and is a bit more nuanced than the headline would make it appear.

The fact that Global Insight's

value-added data are arrived at by subtracting “inputs” – such as purchases of materials, parts and services – from raw “gross output”

adds a certain amount of voodoo to its prediction and dovetails with the caveat in the last paragraph which reads:

If inflation adjustments are used to put the numbers in constant prices, the expected US position looks better, because its inflation over this period is predicted to be lower than China’s.

Better than what? They don't say. This kind of reporting reminds me of the Two Americas variety (thank you again John Edwards) as explained here, where:

"a 1.5% growth rate in Germany is described as blazing" and an "American rate below 2.75% is sluggish" or "Any [American] rate below 1% is a recession."

Googling around a bit for Global Insight's past performance doesn’t overly impress me either, especially as contained in this same article is the fact that:

As recently as last year, Global Insight economists predicted that the US would retain the top [manufacturing] position until 2013

So what we take away from the Financial Timeses self contradictory and meaningless article is that Global Insight had some kind of press release so it could get its name in the paper to try and drum up business and the Times needed filler that had the added benefit of belittling the US economy.

Sorry about the recent overuse of the 'f' word, I'm just flabbergasted. I think we're about to see how toothless NATO has become.

As the fourth estate continues to run around with its collective head up its ass yakking about windmills and Democrats shut down congress in a most cowardly fashion the most brutal geopolitics is ramping up.

Update: My bad. It looks like Georgia is not a NATO member but has an 'individual partnership action plan' with NATO. Still, this is a big slap in the face here.

But please, I know this thing was recorded earlier so why oh fucking why couldn't they edit the idiotic commentary? I am embarrassed for them. They are not from my tribe. I haven't yelled at the TV so much since I stopped watching CNN.

Update: I'll stick with my original assessment except to paraphrase one of the announcers at the end, 'has the olympic coverage always been so crappy?' There was a dedication to Jim McKay at the end, who I remember pretty well, so no, it hasn't always been. NBC did the bare minimum here and just didn't 'get' where and when this is. A certifiable historic moment and they blew it.

Update 13 August: It's even worse than I thought. Via Deceiver here is TV Barn:

The invasion of Georgia was broken by the AP mid-Friday afternoon in the U.S. With the 13-hour time difference between Kansas and China, that would mean the reports were received in Beijing around 4 a.m. Saturday — hours after the ceremony was over.

So how did Lauer get a mention in? As with everything that emanated from NBC on Friday night, it was all done with voiceovers after the fact. Think "DVD commentary track" and you're not too far off — two guys in a room commenting on pre-edited video ... and cutting to commercial right on cue. Indeed, the opening ceremony that took place in 50 minutes of real time was magically elongated to 1 hours 17 minutes on NBC. (Of course, no such luxury was afforded the Parade of Nations, which was speeded up.)

You'll notice that Costas spent almost as much time discussing doping issues with the Russian team as Lauer did discussing a military battle with "significant casualties." I think the doping talk could have waited. I think NBC could have cut away for a brief update from Brian Williams or Tom Brokaw. This was an OK cover, but given the gap between the parade and the actual broadcast, NBC could have and should have done more.

I somehow avoided heartbreak last week as they dumped Chelsea over my future ex-wife Courtney G, but I'm pretty sure I'll be crying in my Guinness tonight unless Katee suffers an onstage aneurism.

Ok, ok, so what it is is that Obama is promising free money to people who make believe they are helping him get one million hybrid electric cars on the road by 2015, a seriously low ball number that has got to have lobbyists salivating. It wouldn't be politics without the cheese so the old "entire White House fleet" would be magically transformed upon an Obama win as well.

What I missed was that Reynolds's post turned into one of his rare 'long' pieces as a reader asked "Great. Just great. Where the heck is he going to get all the electricity from?" Tragically I'm just recovering from the muscle sprain I suffered twisting to pat myself on the back for addressing this theme way back in nineteen… I mean on July 22nd.