text:
- Address:
685 Bancroft Avenue
San Leandro, CA 94577Neighborhood:
San Leandro
- Cuisine:
CalifornianPrice: $30 and under
- Dining Style: Casual Dining
- Website: http://www.paradiso-sanleandro.com/
- Phone: (510) 430-9310
- Hours of Operation:
Saturday & Sunday
10am - 4pm
Monday - Friday
11am - 4pm
Sunday - Thursday
4pm - 9pm
Friday, Saturday:
4pm - 10pm
- Payment Options: AMEX,MasterCard,Visa
- Cuisine: Italian, Fusion / Eclectic, Californian
- Executive Chef: Michael Wiesner
- Dress Code: Casual Dress
- Accepts Walk-Ins: Yes
- Additional Details: Banquet/Private Rooms, Bar Dining, Bar/Lounge, Beer, Counter Seating, Full Bar, Gluten-free Menu, Non-Smoking Area, Non-Smoking Restaurant, Personal wines welcome, Personal wines welcome (corkage fee applies), Private Room, Smoking Area, Takeout, Weekend Brunch, Wheelchair Access, Wine
- Special Events: Valentine's Day Menu
SHARED APPETIZER, SOUP or SALAD, ENTRÉE, & DESSERT SAMPLER —
Reservations now being excepted.
A word from Paradiso
Paradiso offers a contemporary atmosphere with an architecturalContinued
flair. The exhibition kitchen is a highlight.
flair. The exhibition kitchen is a highlight.
Foodspotting photosSee all photos
Awards voted by OpenTable diners
- Diners' Choice WinnerNeigborhood Gem
- Diners' Choice WinnerCalifornian
Paradiso - Best Restaurants in San Leandro ›
Paradiso reviews from OpenTable diners
232 reviews since August 1, 2014
- Food4.4Service4.2
- Ambiance4.1Noise LevelModerate
neighborhood gem (197)fit for foodies (127)special occasion (115)good for groups (83)great for lunch (79)romantic (47)great for brunch (43)notable wine list (39)hot spot (36)kid-friendly (28)vibrant bar scene (19)late-night find (9)scenic view (2)Show More
- Great food and serviceOpenTable Diner Since 2012Dined on 11/24/2014I have been to Paradiso a number of times. The food and service have always been outstanding. It is not too loud so conversation is easy.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Awesome variety of food in San Leandro NeiborhoodLinda4Dined on 11/21/2014Paradiso has a wide variety of dishes that cater to a foodie palate including brick oven pizza, pasta, seafood, chicken, meat, and salads. Desserts are amazing too. All served in an amazing friendly neighborhood atmosphere. If you want excellent service request Nassar and Francesco. All servers are of high quality! They have a banquet room in the back for larger groups and a nice bar and wine bar. We live in the neighborhood so we can walk to the restaurant especially in the summer. Don't miss this neighborhood gem.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Very very disappointed with ParadisoSandiDined on 11/21/2014I will still give Paradiso Five Stars but I am very disappointed with their customer service. I made reservations with Open Table one week ahead of our arrival for dinner I even called the night before to make sure my request for a window seat, request for Francisco as our waiter @ 7 p.m. was confirmed. "Yes, all confirmed see you Friday @ 7 p.m." We arrived early 6:20 checked in and went to the bar for a drink. At 7 p.m. My husband went to the front to let them know we were available at any time. At that time he was told they could not accommodate our reservation request due to two large parties that walked in!!!!!! We were very upset but hungry! So we were ushered to the back bar area where it was very crowded and loud. Our waitress was very friendly and personable which calmed us down and went on to order another amazing dinner, drinks and dessert. I don't know if I will trust making reservations there again but we love their cuisine.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Doesn't disappointOpenTable Diner Since 2006VIPDined on 11/21/2014Really crowded on a Friday night. Make a reservation! And try the salted Carmel ice cream for dessert! Wine and entrees (duck & salmon) were very good.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- DisappointingHerbDined on 11/21/2014We have enjoyed Paradiso for many years, however, by far the worst meal we've had here. Poor service, mediocre food. Disappointing.
- San Leandro gemSuziQDined on 11/20/2014As a new East Bay resident, I have been looking for very good restaurants that don't empty one's pocketbook. This is it! Paradiso has fabulous food, a varied menu and daily specials that are tasty beyond words. The wait staff is attentive but don't hover. We especially like lunch with it's full menu. Either lunch or dinner, I would encourage reservations. It's a popular place...for very good reasons.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Great neighborhood fine.LoveBaconDined on 11/16/2014I have frequented Paradiso many times and their food never is nothing but fantiastic.Special Features:
- Another great dinner at ParadisoNeneDined on 11/15/2014We enjoyed a delicious dinner with friends at a cosy corner table. The seafood pasta dish was perfect with scallops, shrimp and crab in a light cream sauce. Rich but not heavy. The ahi tuna was perfectly seared and the sea scallops were very fresh and well seasoned. Although the restaurant was super busy on Saturday night the service was not rushed and the food was served at an enjoyable pace. We selected a great white wine at a reasonable price.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Great neighborhood brunch place.LovetoeatDined on 11/15/2014I've had dinner here and I think dinner is so-so...a bit on the expensive side and ok food. Brunch is another story. I thought the food and service was excellent. I would definitely recommend for brunch. I had the chicken enchilada verde and it was delicious!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Thoughtful serviceKandLsayDined on 11/13/2014I mentioned that we were celebrating my friend's birthday and we were comp'd with dessert. very nice.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- OpenTable Diner Since 2013Dined on 11/13/2014It's hard to find good restaurants in San Leandro. This one is a gem. Service good, warm atmosphere, food is generally wonderful. Check it out!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- My overall experienceOpenTable Diner Since 2013Dined on 11/12/2014It was my husband's (Warren's) 62 birthday and I wanted to take him to someplace special. We've done the Jack London Square Scott's thing so many times and I wanted to have a different experience and different scenery. I've been hearing about Paradiso and kept saying I was going to go. As a matter of fact I've passed it a numerous of times. So after speaking to my sister (who frequents Paradiso) I said that's it. I went online and checked out the menu, and that's all it took. It was a go from there, I made our reservations right then and there. The food was magnificent, our drinks were delicious and our server Michael took extra care of us! After seeing the birthday cake being brought out to four different people ( his was #5) we looked at the two couples sitting across from us ( 2 birthdays at that table) and agreed that this is the place to be! Oh yea and my sister was texting me asking me how was it, how was the food? She couldn't even wait till our dinner was over so I could call her and tell her about my experience. Thank you again Paradiso for a wonderful experience!! See Ya Soon!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Excellent As Always!DavidDined on 11/10/2014You can never go wrong with Paradiso. They are very accommodating of request and the service and food is always excellent!Special Features:
- OpenTable Diner Since 2014Dined on 11/10/2014We had a great time. It was my wife's B-day and the food and the sevice was amazing. EdSpecial Features:
- Girls Night Out!Jean24VIPDined on 11/9/2014We went here this past Sunday to celebrate two of my gfs birthdays. There was 9 of us total so it was great for everyone to try different dishes! The dishes that stood out were the Avocado Crab, NY Steak, Double Pork Chops and the Crab Artichoke ravioli. Unfortunately I ordered the linguini with prawns. It wasn't a bad dish... I just wasn't wowed. I will definitely go back and order one of the dishes I mentioned above! It was a surprising find in San Leandro!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- DityTidyDined on 11/8/2014We were seated near the door and it was pretty noisy with patrons entering and exiting.Special Features:
- A Nice Birthday Dinner CelebrationBirthdayGirlDined on 11/5/2014Paradiso was a nice taste of Italy in the quaint neighborhood of San Leandro. Attentive, knowledgeable, and friendly waitstaff. Our group enjoyed a delicious apple, Gorgonzola sprinkled with whole pistachios salad, a beautiful mixed beet salad, and 3 mouth-watering small loin chops with sliced mini tomatoes and fresh mozzarella with vinaigrette dressing. We had linguini & bucket of clams. Linguini was uninspired but the abundant clams stole the show, plus had a scrumptious tender lamb shank with fluffy mashed potatoes, and delicious rigatoni with bolognese sauce. The waiter appeared with two complimentary tiramisu desserts with a glowing candle on each one. We also ordered the pecan pie with whipped cream on top. Desserts were yummy.Special Features:
- Consistent and ReliableCoopDined on 11/2/2014My wife and I eat at Paradiso at least once a month. The restaurant provides a nice mix of comfort food and foodie favorites. Also an awesome desert menu! The open kitchen turns out lovely meals, quickly and efficiently. There's something on the menu for everyone. If you want a simple pizza and salad - you're good to go. Twin Lobster Tails? No problem. Great wine selection and plenty of good beers to choose from too. Service is always excellent. The place can be busy and noisy at dinner hour but almost always quiets down after 7:30. We've brought family and friends here and they always love it. Like I said, it's our go-to dinner house and never disappoints.Special Features:
- A gem in San LeandroLoves2eatoutVIPDined on 11/1/2014My husband and I always plan to have dinner at Paradiso before we go to the Warriors game. The food is excellent and healthy. The wines by the glass are good and the servers are attentive. We would eat here weekly if we didn't live so far away.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- DityTidyDined on 11/1/2014Have eaten at Paradiso many times. I was pleased and excited to find out that they have a Saturday brunch! The choices were bountiful and hard to choose. The warm blueberry scones -delicious!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- happy halloween!mimiEATSDined on 10/31/2014my neighbor and I escape halloween'ers by going out to eat...seafood pasta for me, pork chop for my friend. we were both happy...especially after having a lovey well-made Sidecar cocktail. Service was attentive and friendly. A good go-to local spot for me!Special Features:
- OpenTable Diner Since 2011VIPDined on 10/30/2014Adore the Niçoise salad, don't change it! Live the large open and airy room.I would recommend this to a friend.
- Carlos is the bomb!CPGKDinerDined on 10/27/2014I always enjoy dining at Paradiso...it's a welcome edition to San Leandro. Enjoyed the beet salad; however, the tortilla soup left something to be desired (actually appeared to be made from the same base as the white bean minestrone!). The swordfish, however, more than made up for the disappointing soup. The most memorable aspect of the evening, by far, was the tremendous attention, humor and all-around good vibe we got from our server, Carlos...he's definitely worth 5 stars!!!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Rigatoni best ever...SandraVIPDined on 10/26/2014I loved the Rigatoni, The sauce was the best ever. We came back just for this...... All the food was presented lovely, and all 4 in my party were happy with their meals.Special Features:
- Wonderful restaurantOpenTable Diner Since 2011Dined on 10/26/2014Great food and service. Nice ambiance. Definitely recommend. Local gem in San leandroSpecial Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Enjoyable OverallWabisabiDined on 10/23/2014The service at Paradiso was great. Jo Jo helped us and was ever so attentive. Overall we all really enjoyed our meal. The only thing I didn't really think was great was the pumpkin gnocchi, since, in my opinion, it was too mushy in texture. The deserts we ate were also very nice. We had the "deconstructed" pumpkin pie and the bourbon pecan pie. The setting has an industrial ceiling with an open kitchen. We ate in the room located in the back of the restaurant. ...Yes, we will be going back again, and do recommend it.Special Features:
- Great Local EstablishmentEat2LiveDined on 10/22/2014I had dined here a few years ago but hadn't been back since- Too bad; my loss. Service was attentive; ambience is casual with an open kitchen yet classy with table cloths. Wine selection by the glass is substantial. Wine and menu prices seemed very reasonable. We had lunch this time. The Caesar salad was crisp, fresh and tasty. The swordfish and salmon entrees were equally delicious and vegetables were served just as we like them - al dente. For dessert, we enjoyed Tiramisu, which was very light and an excellent rendition of this classic, and two gelato flavors which were superb. We look forward to our next visit and intend to return much sooner than this time. We think dining at Paradiso represents excellent value and quality.Special Features:
- Friends for BrunchLunchtimefoodieDined on 10/19/2014We had a great time, Paradiso's is centrally located as we were from Castro Valley, Pleasanton, Hayward, San Leandro and San Mateo. The food was good, service was great! We had a great time visiting and never felt rushed. Perfect place and time for old friends to gather, eat and talk!Special Features:
- Always ExceptionalNickidesignmlVIPDined on 10/17/2014I have been to this restaurant several times for small and large gatherings from a small girlfriend Sunday brunch to the large party Graduation celebration and every time the service, food and experience have been outstanding. If you have not been to this restaurant it is a must, especially if you live in or near the area.Special Features:
- Paradiso is AwesomeEllejayDinesOutDined on 10/17/2014We recently celebrated our wedding anniversary at Paradiso, one of our regular and favorite restaurants. We took our 10-year old with us too. We were given a great window table and were treated to their usually excellent service, including a candle-lit dessert on the house. Pre-dinner drinks are not to be missed -- basil martinis are our favorite. So many good things to choose from on the menu. While this is a neighborhood gem, it is worth the trip even if you aren't from the area. We come to Paradiso for special occasions, but also for those non-occasions when we just feel like having a delicious dinner out. They don't have a kids' menu, but there are a number of things on the menu that a kid can love -- especially for the budding foodie.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- ScooterVIPDined on 10/16/2014Great neighborhood restaurant. Food and service was very good. Nice ambiance....a San Leandro gem.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Always a hitAcedVIPDined on 10/14/2014The sole special was very tasty, always great food and service
- Menu ChangeOpenTable Diner Since 2001VIPDined on 10/11/2014We love this restaurant but were disappointed that they had changed the menu and eliminated my favorite item, the Scallops! I was looking forward to ordering them tonight, but picked my 2nd favorite item, the Salmon!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- SuperDavDined on 10/10/2014Really enjoyed Restaurant, will have to take my wife for my next visit.Special Features:
- Great placeThirtyDined on 10/10/2014Great variety of food and wine, service always good.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
- Great Neighborhood Gemsunnyside1VIPDined on 10/8/2014I had not been to Paradiso for many years. It was even better than I remembered. The wine room is the best room if you want to talk.Special Features:
- MichelleDined on 10/3/2014Wonderful food. I brought three others from work for a special occasion, it was worth the bit of a drive from the office. Parking was difficult, but on a nice day the short walk in the cute neighborhood was fine. The service could have been better, I found myself looking for help a couple of times and they weren't trained to top standards.Special Features:
- Busy, busysantafeDined on 10/2/2014For good reason, this spot is very popular...be sure to have a reservation!Special Features:
- steve4200Dined on 10/2/2014Excellent, as usual. No matter what you order, you will be more than satisfied. I have been there many times and have never been the least bit disappointed.Special Features:
- One of my favoritesBug1947Dined on 10/1/2014We celebrated our anniversary here, and had a lovely evening. This is the best restaurant in town. We have tried many other places, but always seems to end up here for birthdays, anniversaries and an evening out with friends.Special Features:


text:
What comes with a $60,000-a-night hotel room?
Ever dreamed of renting out an entire island for your family and friends?
Sir Richard Branson's private home in the British Virgin Islands is on the rental market again.
MOBILE USERS: Tap right here to take a quick tour of the joint!
Copyright 2013 by WPBF.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Forward to the past 11
What does a conservative in the US most want to conserve? We would say: A commitment to liberty, the founding principle of his country. American conservatives may differ from each other on questions of religion, foreign affairs, entitlements and the economic "safety-net", homosexual marriage and abortion, even on defense, but if they are not loyal to the Constitution and the idea of individual freedom that it enshrines, they are not true conservatives.
In Britain too, conservatives are dedicated to the defense of the traditional and hard-won liberties of the people.
In Russia, being a conservative means something different. The very opposite. What Russian conservatives want to conserve is their long and almost completely unbroken tradition of tyranny. The quarrel within their ranks would now, in post-Soviet times, be chiefly over whether they want a return to the Red Tyranny of Bolshevism, or the older tradition of Tsarist oppression, where cause for national pride may more confidently be found.
Owen Matthews, author of Stalin's Children, writes in the Spectator (UK) about a conservative Russian military leader:
Strange times throw up strange heroes — and in Russia's proxy war with Ukraine, none is more enigmatic than the Donetsk rebel leader Igor Girkin, better known by his nom de guerre of Igor Strelkov.
In a few short months, Strelkov has gone from being an obscure military re-enactor to the highest-profile rebel leader in eastern Ukraine. But at the same time Strelkov's fame and outspoken criticism of Vladimir Putin for failing to sufficiently support the rebels has earned him the enmity of the Kremlin. Moreover, Strelkov's brand of sentimental ultra-nationalism, extreme Orthodoxy and Russian Imperial nostalgia offer a frightening glimpse into one of Russia's possible futures.
In the West, we are used to seeing Putin cast as a dangerous adventurer and nationalist. But to Strelkov, and to the millions of Russians who have come to admire him, Putin isn't nearly nationalist enough.
Within weeks of his arrival in eastern Ukraine in May this year, apparently on his own initiative, Strelkov quickly became the highest-profile rebel leader thanks to his discipline and military bearing. A veteran of wars in Bosnia, Transnistria and Chechnya, Strelkov is a reserve colonel in the Russian army and a former (and possibly current) officer in Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU. With his clipped moustache, pressed fatigues and careful charm, Strelkov styles himself on a pre–revolutionary Tsarist officer. In May he mustered a 2,000-strong local defence force in Slavyansk, banned his troops from swearing and ordered two of his own men to be summarily executed for looting.
He wrote a manifesto calling his troops "an Orthodox army who are proud that we serve not the golden calf but our Lord Jesus Christ" and declared that "swearing is blasphemy, and a Russian warrior cannot use the language of the enemy. It demeans us spiritually, and will lead the army to defeat".
Russian state television built Strelkov up as a hero. The nationalist writer Egor Prosvirnin praised him as the "Russian God of War" who "rinks the blood of foreign mercenaries to the last drop, and then asks for more". …
And then, in mid-August, Strelkov mysteriously resigned his post as "defence minister" of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic — along with two other Russian citizens who had been the civilian heads of the rebel Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. All three rebel leaders were replaced by Ukrainian citizens.
The most obvious explanation for the reshuffle is that Moscow is preparing a negotiated settlement where the Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine — or Novo-Rossiya, "New Russia", in Russian nationalist parlance — will be given some degree of autonomy within Ukraine. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary — from young soldiers' Instagram selfies tagged to locations inside Ukraine to the Russian regular soldiers taken prisoners of war on Monday by Kiev's troops — Moscow has also continued to insist that it is not a combatant in Ukraine. Clearly, having Russian citizens at the helm of supposedly autonomous rebel republics and their armed forces was a diplomatic inconvenience to the Kremlin which needed to be fixed — and pressure was put on Strelkov and his cronies to quit.
But there's another, deeper meaning to Strelkov's fall from favour. Though he's often portrayed as a stooge of Moscow, Strelkov has in fact been consistently critical of the Kremlin's failure to act decisively to annex eastern Ukraine as it annexed Crimea in spring. "Having taken Crimea, Putin began a revolution from the top," Strelkov wrote in June. "But if we do not support [this revolution] now, its failure will sweep aside both him and the country."
Strelkov's close associate Igor Ivanov, the head of the rebel army's political department, has also furiously denounced the "Chekist-oligarchic regime" of Vladimir Putin and has also predicted that Putin will soon fall, leaving only the army and the church to save Russia from chaos.
This mix of militarism, religion and a mystical faith in Holy Russia's imperial destiny to rule over lesser nations has deep roots. Ivanov was until recently head of the Russian All-Military Union, or ROVS, an organisation originally founded by the White Russian General Baron Pyotr Wrangel in 1924 after the victory of the Bolsheviks in the civil war. Its guiding motive was to preserve the Tsarist ideals of God, Tsar and Fatherland. For much of the 20th century, ROVS was the preserve of elderly emigré fantasists — before a new generation of post-Soviet nationalists like Ivanov breathed new life into the organisation as a home for Russian ultra-nationalists who hate Putin's brand of crony capitalism.
A similar outfit is the Narodny Sobor, or People's Assembly, which describes itself as an "Orthodox-Patriotic organisation devoted to fighting 'liberasts' and western values, to promoting Orthodoxy, and to preserving the traditional family", according to a recent study by Professor Paul Robinson of the University of Ottawa. In Russia, the Narodny Sobor has, along with the Russian Orthodox church, successfully campaigned for a tsunami of conservative legislation to be passed by the Duma, from banning swearing on television and in films to prohibiting the spreading of "homosexual propaganda". The head of the Narodny Sobor's Ukrainian branch is Igor Druz — a senior political advisor to Strelkov who has denounced the Kiev government as "pederasts and drug addicts".
On the face of it, Strelkov and his ilk and Putin should be on the same side. They share a nostalgia for a lost Russian greatness — indeed Strelkov has a degree in history and was until recently an enthusiastic military re-enactor, playing White Guard and second world war officers. And this year, in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis, Putin has abandoned years of hard-edged pragmatism and economic prudence and moved towards the kind of mystical, Orthodox nationalism so beloved of the ROVS and Narodny Sobor crowd.
Yet as Putin prepares to sign off on some kind of compromise peace deal with the Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, there will be millions of Russians brainwashed by months of state television's patriotic propaganda who will agree with Strelkov that Moscow is selling the rebels down the river.
Strelkov himself has little chance of becoming a serious opposition figure to Putin; he is too stiff and too weird for public politics. But Putin's main challenger, when he comes, will be someone of Strelkov's stamp.
We tend to think of Vladimir Putin as being most politically vulnerable from the left — from the liberal, western-orientated professionals who came out in their hundreds of thousands on the streets of Moscow and St Petersburg three years ago to protest at Putin's third term. But in truth Putin's real vulnerability is from the right — from the racist football fans who rioted unchecked through central Moscow in 2010; from prophets of a Russian-led Eurasian empire such as Alexander Dugin, who was in the radical nationalist opposition to Putin before falling temporarily into step with the Kremlin in the wake of the Crimea campaign; and from militaristic ultra-conservatives on the Russian religious right.
So for the countries of Eastern Europe emancipated from Russian servitude barely a quarter of a century ago, there is not only the growing threat of re-subjugation, but the probability that it will be applied according to the whims of a madman, a religious fanatic living out fantasies of Tsardom and limitless imperial expansion by military means.
The long reign of terror: Vladimir Putin and his predecessors 7
We took this excellent though horrifying video from Front Page.
We feel the need to comment on only one thing. At the end, Bill Whittle says that Obama is "up against" the mass murderer Putin. But we doubt Obama sees Putin as an opponent. Obama was raised as a Communist. We think he is more likely to see Putin – even now – as an ideological ally than as an enemy.
Left down, right up 1
A video made by conservative Rod Shelton in strong attack mode. ("God" is mentioned in passing, but is moved along briskly.)
(Hat-tip to our Facebook commenter Ramon Homan)
Credo 3
(We took this information from Breitbart, where Ben Shapiro adds his own cogent comments.)
On July 25, 2014, Senator Elizabeth Warren propounded, to an applauding audience, her "11 Progressive Commandments".
They constitute the CREDO of a contemporary Democrat: "I believe …" (Though as a passionate collectivist, she prefers of course to say "We believe …".)
Here they are, with our interpretations and comments:
"We believe that Wall Street needs stronger rules and tougher enforcement, and we're willing to fight for it."
Wall Street supports Warren's Democratic Party more than the Republican Party. So she won't actually fight it, though she postures as a Joan of Arc leading an army to glory or death. What she means is that, true to her collectivist ideology, she wants government to control the economy.
"We believe in science, and that means that we have a responsibility to protect this Earth."
Interpretation: We want you to believe that without government (preferably world government) controlling everything you do in your everyday lives, earth will turn into a raging furnace or the seas will rise to cover the land and then you'll be sorry.
"We believe that the Internet shouldn't be rigged to benefit big corporations, and that means real net neutrality."
We hate the fact that there is currently an area of freedom which government can't control. We must get control over it somehow or other.
"We believe that no one should work full-time and still live in poverty, and that means raising the minimum wage."
We'll force employers to pay more, whether the labor provided by their employees is worth more or not. If jobs are lost as a result, we'll blame the employers.
"We believe that fast-food workers deserve a livable wage, and that means that when they take to the picket line, we are proud to fight alongside them."
What an inspiring declaration of human vision and courage! It will surely ring down through all the ages to come. (We make no apology for our sarcasm. It wells up irresistibly when we're dealing with this shrill, blustering, trivial-minded demogogue.)
"We believe that students are entitled to get an education without being crushed by debt."
And if you don't, you're a nasty person.
"We believe that after a lifetime of work, people are entitled to retire with dignity, and that means protecting Social Security, Medicare, and pensions."
Ditto last comment.
"We believe — I can't believe I have to say this in 2014 — we believe in equal pay for equal work."
Ditto again, and you're also a sexist.
"We believe that equal means equal, and that's true in marriage, it's true in the workplace, it's true in all of America."
Well anyway it's true according to Aristotle's law of identity, A is A.
"We believe that immigration has made this country strong and vibrant, and that means reform."
She wants amnesty for all the illegal immigrants now living in the US, and all those likely to cross the southern border from this day forth and even for evermore.
"And we believe that corporations are not people, that women have a right to their bodies. We will overturn Hobby Lobby and we will fight for it. We will fight for it!"
Joan of Arc again! Fighting for the world to recognize that "corporations are not people". Huge odds against her there! Untold thousands have risen throughout the land to defend the notion that corporations are people.
And as for women having a right to their bodies – whoever heard of such nonsense? Whatever next!
And that's enough fun for today, folks!
R too D to leave you free 5
When all the news is depressing or fearful, it's great to have a good laugh. Even if the laugh is a trifle hysterical.
We laughed that sort of laugh at this story from the Washington Free Beacon:
The National Science Foundation has committed $10 million to build robots that will act as "personal trainers" for children, in an effort to influence their behavior and eating habits.
The government has spent $2.15 million so far for the five-year project, which is being led by Yale University. The project, "Robots Helping Kids," will ultimately "deploy" robots into homes and schools to teach English as a second language, and encourage kids to exercise.
The project will develop a "new breed of sophisticated socially assistive' robots, designed to help children learn to read, appreciate physical fitness, overcome cognitive disabilities, and perform physical exercises", according to a news release by Yale University …
"Just like a good personal trainer, we want the robots to be able to guide the child toward a behavior that we desire," said Brian Scassellati, a computer science professor at Yale and principal investigator for the study. "What we want to do is move these robots out of the laboratory and into schools and homes and clinics, places where we can directly help children on a day-to-day basis," he said. …
"The need for this technology is driven by critical societal problems that require sustained, personalized support that supplements the efforts of educators, parents, and clinicians," the [NSA providers of] the grant said.
Scassellati envisions the robots influencing nearly every aspect of children's lives.
"We want them to help children learn language, we want to help them learn better eating habits, we want them to learn new social or cognitive skills through their interactions with these robots," he said. …
Social skills with robots. Interaction with robots who must therefore, presumably, also have social skills. This truly is a brave new world!
Of course kids will probably love having a robot as a pet and companion. Better than a doll or a stuffed bear!
But will the robot be sending info back to a mad professor or the state? We guess so. "He didn't eat his salad today." "She quarreled with a classmate."
The kids will be in the constant presence of a spy. Nurturing a serpent in their little bosoms.
The project is seeking to create robots that could be personal companions to children for up to a year. Scassellati said he wants to "build a healthy relationship of trust and respect between the child and the robot."
Respectful robots! They may spy on you, but they'll do it respectfully.
"At the end of five years we'd like to have robots that can guide a child toward long-term educational goals, be customized for the particular needs of that child, and basically grow and develop with the child," he said. "We want the robot to be the equivalent of a good personal trainer."
The NSF has allotted $10 million for the study through 2017. The grant is one of the highest amounts the agency dispenses.
The University of Southern California, MIT, Stanford, and Tufts University are listed as partners for the project. Willow Garage, a personal robotics company, is also participating in the research. …
We bet they are. Most lucratively.
Scassellati said the robots would "not replace" humans, but provide additional attention and guidance for children. The research is focusing on both "regularly developing children and those with social or cognitive deficits." Some of Scassellati's prior research has focused on how robots can help kids with Autism.
Did you think the do-good factor, the "help" because "we care" factor would be missing? The state always exercises totalitarian control only for your own good.
"If we're successful in this, we think we can make a real difference in the lives of children," he said.
We don't doubt it for a moment. The personal robot scheme will serve the government's indoctrination purposes much better even than compulsory pre-kindergarten schooling could. Now the state will be with you 24/7. You'll have no secrets from it. It'll be in bed with you, at the table with you, in the bathroom with you, at school with you. And it will be fun! This is how you'll come to love Big Brother.
"And we think that we can produce some of the most interesting, the most engaging, and the most competent social robots that we've ever seen."
You could make them pretty too, Brian. The things could have the look of this or that Hollywood star, for instance.
Considering the official prurience of the state these days, they will very likely be programmed to teach the kids practical sex. No holds barred, of course. (Sado-masochism is strongly advised by state-supported institutions right now.)
Loads of fun for the next generation coming up! Who said that the age of American vision ended with the close of its space exploration?
And – parents – note that the interesting, engaging, competent companion of your kid will not need feeding. It won't consume the teeniest bite of the arugula, kale, broccoli, coarse bread and dandelion tea that it will prescribe for you and yours.
Brace yourselves for its constant (respectful) criticism though. It will be there to keep you in line too. Can't risk your preferences or bad influence of any sort undoing its good work.
Your tiny home is frozen 1
Believe it! There really is such a thing – and has been for nigh on 20 years – called the Commission on Global Governance. It is of course a bureau within the headquarters of evil, the United Nations.
This is from Canada Free Press, by Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh, an authority on the UN's baleful Agenda 21:
The UN Commission on Global Governance reported in 1995, "The concept of national sovereignty has been immutable, indeed a sacred principle of international relations. It is a principle which will yield slowly and reluctantly to the new imperatives of global environmental cooperation." (United Nations, Our Global Neighborhood, The Commission on Global Governance, 1995, Oxford University Press).
It seems that our national sovereignty is yielding quite fast on the southern border without Congressional input, under the guise of a socially engineered humanitarian crisis. They could not erase national sovereignty fast enough in the name of "environmental cooperation".
The progressives' social engineering projects implemented around the world are not limited to just destroying national sovereignty, language, and cultural identity. Those who grew up under communism are familiar with the Soviet style, mass movement of entire villages to high density urban areas.
Social engineers had decided that land was better used in co-operative farms owned by the communist government. Private homes located on farm land were bulldozed and people were moved into densely populated cities with grey concrete apartments of 400-500 square feet, mushrooming practically overnight. They could not build them fast enough. Often it necessitated moving two families into a 600 square feet apartment, sharing the kitchen and the bathroom. …
In this country, city planners who oppose urban sprawl and begrudge the average 2,300 square foot homes as environmental destroyers of the planet, have designed and built living units of 140-200 square feet, called aPodments in Sammamish, Washington. Resident Judy Green "shares the kitchen with seven other tenants on the second floor." To get to her loft cubicle, she must climb six flights of stairs. Because of non-existent global warming, cars and elevators are not allowed. The "micro-units" are smaller than a hotel room and rent for $600-900 per month. I checked with my favorite hotel chain – their average hotel room is 375 square feet. The average jail cell is 6 feet by 8 feet.
The "eco-progressives" use local government zoning to impose their ideas of "sustainable urbanism", "sustainable communities", and "equitable communities", by changing the counties' desired low density character and scale to high-density crime-ridden slums.
In Fairfax County, Virginia, the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission are crafting a plan to place Lilliputian slum dwellings in every area of the county. The Residential Studio Units (RSUs) will have a total surface of 220-320 square feet. Each high-rise will contain 75 such units and one parking space per unit. Locals object to the plan because it will reduce property values, change neighborhoods, increase population density, exacerbate the existing traffic congestion, and increase crime under the guise of "affordable housing" for the poor, low wage workers, and "diversity." …
Reality television is now indoctrinating Americans into accepting the idea of micro-dwellings with the July 2014 debut of "Tiny House Nation" on the FYI channel. According to their website, "renovation experts and hosts, John Weisbarth and Zack Giffin, travel across America to show off ingenious small spaces and the inventive people who live in them, as well as help new families design and construct their own mini-dream home in a space no larger than 500 square feet. From a micro-apartment in New York City to a caboose car turned home in Montana to a micro-sized mobile home for road tripping – this is a series that celebrates the exploding movement of tiny homes".
Perhaps "extreme downsizing" is the dream of retired people or the reality of young Americans who live with several roommates or in the basement of their parents because they cannot afford to buy a normal home on low wages driven by a mismanaged economy. What I do know for sure, this not an "exploding movement of tiny homes" and it has nothing to do with "financial independence". Most Americans have never heard of such tiny dwellings, love their spacious homes, and are not remotely aware that they are an intricate part of a larger plan of social engineering [to take] people off the land, out of suburbia, and into inner cities.
It is certainly not the new American dream; it is the new forced reality as envisioned and carefully planned by the elite's UN Agenda 21.
A book titled Utopias Elsewhere (in America, The Wilder Shores of Marx in Britain), by the wise and witty writer Anthony Daniels, chronicles his travels in five communist countries shortly before the Iron Curtain came down in 1991 – the year the book was published. One chapter is about Romania, the land of Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh's birth, where she lived under totalitarian oppression. It is a book which should be read by anyone who doubts that life under communism is unimaginably poor and miserable. We guarantee it as a cure for those afflicted with leftist ideology. A decent education in the West would include it as a permanently prescribed text.
In the chapter on Romania, Anthony Daniels notes that in villages that were "systematized" (ie where the villagers had been evicted from their houses and the houses swept away) –
Uniform blocks of apartments – of the same design throughout the country – had been built, in earnest of the Ceausescu dream of a nation living in bugged, ill-lit, cold, waterless yet damp cells, in total dependence on the state for everything they consumed.
As the UN's Agenda 21 dream for the world continues to be realized, the cells in America will not be quite as bad as that. Though they will be bugged, and not very well-lit or well-heated, they will almost certainly have some (rationed) water and they might not be damp.
But if the dream agenda is fully implemented, the tenants will be dependent on the World Government for everything they consume.
Libertarian conservatism 4
From time to time visitors to this website or our Facebook page query the idea – even the possibility – of there being such a thing as atheist conservatism. They are – almost always, as far as we can make out – Americans whose understanding is that the word "conservative" denotes Christian conservatism. To them, therefore, to speak of "atheist conservatism" is to commit a contradiction in terms. Some have called it an oxymoron.
In Europe too, conservatism has a Christian coloration. Conservative political parties usually declare themselves to be Christian – for example, the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) of Germany. But their support does not come only from Christians. And in Britain the established Church of England has been called "the Conservative Party at prayer", but the party does not exclude members of other Christian denominations or other religions, or the non-religious.
Yet it is an American conservatism that we embrace. It is faithfulness to the Constitution, to the essential idea that the United States was intended to embody as a nation: the idea of individual liberty protected by the rule of law.
The shortest answer we give to those who accuse us of being self-contradictory is to tell them what our prime principles are:
- individual freedom
- a free market economy
- small government
- low taxes
- strong defense
And we point out that those are core principles of American conservatism. The Constitution – southern state critics please be reminded – does not require citizens to be Christian, or religious at all.
Just as often, perhaps even more often, we are told that we cannot be both conservative and libertarian: that the two traditions are separate and even inimical to each other, to the point of being mutually exclusive. Even if that were true (and we don't think it is), we consider it unnecessary to take tradition into account. The issue needs to be looked at philosophically, not historically. Our conservatism, holding the firmly conservative principles we have listed, is manifestly a conservatism of liberty.
And we think it is now, more than ever before, that the libertarian view should direct the political agenda of conservatism. A heavy counterweight is needed to bring America back from its tipping over into collectivism by the Left. Individual freedom urgently needs to be saved.
What is stopping conservatives from accepting libertarianism as its future? The libertarians themselves. Frequently, their public statements reveal them to be inexcusably ignorant of world affairs. They often advocate naive isolationism. They seem to lack a sense of what matters. The legalization of drugs could be wise and necessary, but it is not worth making a hullabaloo about when jihad is being waged against us. A person should arguably be able to marry any other person or persons – or things – that they choose, but it is much more important that America should remain the world's sole superpower.
John Hinderaker also thinks that this should be "the libertarian moment". And he too reproaches libertarians with an underdeveloped sense of what matters to the existence, liberty, safety, and prosperity of the nation.
He writes at PowerLine:
Every major strand of American conservatism includes a strong libertarian streak, because the value of liberty is fundamental to just about all conservative thought. But today, especially, is said to be the libertarians' moment. What once was a fringe movement, politically speaking, has moved front and center in our political life.
And yet, in my view, libertarians of both the capital L and small l varieties punch below their weight. They have not contributed as much as they should to the conservative movement. This is partly because libertarians tend to founder on foreign policy, where many are merely modern-day isolationists. But it is also because they have tended to focus on secondary, or tertiary, issues of domestic policy.
A couple of years ago I was invited to a gathering on behalf of Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico who then was a libertarian candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. I was well disposed toward him, but when he started talking, his first subject was legalization of drugs. Now he is the CEO of a marijuana company. Rand Paul is probably the leading libertarian at the moment; he purports to take seriously the threat that someone drinking coffee in an American cafe will be struck by a drone-fired missile.
American liberty is indeed under attack, and a libertarian movement is needed more than ever. But the threat to freedom is not drug laws or drone attacks.
The principal threat is the administrative state, which increasingly hems in everything we do and depends hardly at all on the will of voters. …
Calvin Coolidge, who knew the Progressives well and understood how antithetical their vision of government is to America's founding principles [said]:
It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning cannot be applied to this great charter [the Constitution]. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.
Today we labor under an administrative state that has metastasized far beyond anything Coolidge could have imagined. It constrains our freedoms, it lays waste to our economy, it has largely rendered Congress irrelevant, and it threatens to make just about anyone a criminal, since no one can possibly keep track of all of the myriad regulations with which we are encumbered. And let's not forget that the administrative state is run by liberals, for liberals.
Despite the fact that it is antithetical to the Constitution and to American traditions, there is little opposition to the administrative state as such. Conventional politicians suggest that regulations can be made less irrational and less burdensome – a good idea, certainly – but hardly anyone questions the fundamental concept of Congress delegating its powers to unelected and mostly unaccountable agencies that are charged with managing just about every aspect of our lives. Nearly everyone considers the administrative state, as such, to be inevitable. …
Why don't libertarians stake out a "radical" position on domestic policy? Why not argue, not just for a moderation in the inevitable drift toward a more and more powerful administrative state, but for a return to the Constitution's central principle – the very first words of Article I – that "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States…", a Congress that is accountable to the people.
A battle is being fought for the liberties of the American people and, frankly, it isn't going well. The fight has little or nothing to do with drugs and drones. If libertarians are serious about preserving and expanding liberty, they should join the fight that matters. A libertarian movement that focuses on a rollback of the administrative state would be "radical," but it also would put libertarians in the vanguard, not on the fringe, of American conservatism.
Creating the global society 3
The most dangerous war in our history … a war against the existence, the concept of the USA as a nation-state.
That is what Diana West sees happening with the invasion over the southern border of tens of thousands of so-called unaccompanied children (UAC).
She states truly that -
A nation-state doesn't exist unless it controls its borders and protects its citizens. We, the People, do neither.
But the existential danger here comes not from the assault itself. Nightmarishly, it comes from the Obama administration, which, in its greatest betrayal, is leading, or at least supporting, the aliens' charge. …
A normal government – one with the best interests of its own citizens at heart – would have taken immediate steps to 1) halt these border crossings that pose a dire threat to public health and safety, and 2) set in motion the deportation efforts necessary to return these illegal aliens to their home countries.
But the Obama administration is not a normal government. …
Every American should examine the Department of Homeland Security solicitation notice that appeared six months ago at the federal business opportunities site FedBizOpps.gov. The notice seeks "Escort Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children," describing exactly the services now required to process, not deport, this massive influx.
According to this notice posted back on Jan. 29, 2014, DHS was already gearing up to receive "approximately 65,000 UAC in total." …
DHS, the notice states, has "a continuing and mission critical responsibility for accepting custody of unaccompanied alien children from U.S. Border Patrol and other Federal agencies and transporting these juveniles to Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelters located throughout the continental United States."
"Resettlement," in other words, means these illegals are staying – at least if the Obama administration has its way. This may fulfill a "mission critical responsibility" for the Central American countries whose nationals, including gangbangers and drug runners, are crashing our border. There is nothing, however, in the American interest about it. Come to think of it, there's nothing in the American interest in the entire refugee resettlement mission – literally. According to the UAC services webpage of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the mission is to assist these minor illegal aliens "in becoming integrated members of our global society".
Not our "American" society. Big difference.
All the difference in the world. The difference between a world of self-governing nation-states and International Communism enforced by World Government.
Is a Global Communist Society really what a majority of US voters want? Probably not.
It's what Karl Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, Mao, Pol-Pot and Saul Alinsky wanted and what Barack Obama and his gang want. And it must be what the New York Times, the Washington Post and the addled brains of the other mainstream media want, because they helped Obama and his gang get into power with just such an aim in mind. They helped by concealing the aim from the voters.
They're still at it, while the first steps in the destruction of the USA as a nation-state are being taken – with no effective opposition.
Shameless 4
When future generations try to understand how the world got carried away around the end of the 20th century by the panic over global warming, few things will amaze them more than the part played in stoking up the scare by the fiddling of official temperature data.
– So Christopher Booker writes at the Telegraph. He goes on:
There was already much evidence of this seven years ago, when I was writing my history of the scare, The Real Global Warming Disaster. But now another damning example has been uncovered by Steven Goddard's US blog Real Science, showing how shamelessly manipulated has been one of the world's most influential climate records, the graph of US surface temperature records published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
[click to enlarge charts]
Goddard shows how, in recent years, NOAA's US Historical Climatology Network (USHCN) has been "adjusting" its record by replacing real temperatures with data "fabricated" by computer models.
The effect of this has been to downgrade earlier temperatures and to exaggerate those from recent decades, to give the impression that the Earth has been warming up much more than is justified by the actual data.
In several posts headed "Data tampering at USHCN/GISS",* Goddard compares the currently published temperature graphs with those based only on temperatures measured at the time. These show that the US has actually been cooling since the Thirties, the hottest decade on record; whereas the latest graph, nearly half of it based on "fabricated" data, shows it to have been warming at a rate equivalent to more than 3 degrees centigrade per century.
When I first began examining the global-warming scare, I found nothing more puzzling than the way officially approved scientists kept on being shown to have finagled their data, as in that ludicrous "hockey stick" graph, pretending to prove that the world had suddenly become much hotter than at any time in 1,000 years.
Any theory needing to rely so consistently on fudging the evidence, I concluded, must be looked on not as science at all, but as simply a rather alarming case study in the aberrations of group psychology.
Why the deception? The main reason (as everyone knows) for the creation of the theory is that it serves political interest; and the "scientists", and Al Gore, make a lot of money out of it.
(See our posts: The most powerful magician the world has ever known, December 21, 2009; Al Gore and the sale of indulgences, April 29, 2010; Mann-made global warming, October 17, 2013.)
* GISS – [NOAA's] Goddard Institute for Space Studies
For more on data tampering – and many more highly informative charts at USHCN/GISS that prove it – go here.
The measured USHCN daily temperature data shows a decline in US temperatures since the 1930s. But before they release it to the public, they put it thorough a series of adjustments which change it from a cooling trend to a warming trend. …
(Hat-tip our reader and commenter REALBEING]
The injustice of "social justice" 5
The Left is intensely immoral, as unabashedly unscrupulous as a wild beast. It will shamelessly blacken the name of anybody it perceives as a danger to it with baseless lies. Example: Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, publicly announced that the Republican candidate for the presidency in 2008, Mitt Romney, had not paid his taxes.
The Left will sacrifice any number of people, destroy their hopes, their health, their lives, if in their calculation doing so might give them an advantage. Example: Far-left President Obama is drawing tens of thousands of children over the Mexican border – to become, he hopes, future voters for his Party – by announcing that children who are in the US as illegal aliens will not be deported. All the children suffer. Many are ill. Some die.
The Left will deprive a law-abiding citizen, with armed force, of everything he has striven for in the name of some new oppressive regulation it has suddenly launched with a dim ideological end in view such as "environmental protection". Example: A man who made a pond is being fined $75,000 a day by the EPA for doing just that, on the absurd grounds that the little stretch of water on his property is contaminating a river miles away.
These are just three examples, picked at random from the top of our composite editorial head, of present-day Leftist immorality in America. (How to choose from among the misdemeanors of the Clintons? An embarrasment of riches!) ) The theme of the Left's iniquity is so vast that volumes could be written about it, and have been. In other countries, Leftist powers have committed mass-murder on an unimaginable scale by poison-gas, firing-squad, torture, overwork, and deliberate starvation.
And what compounds the evil and swells the monstrousness of it all is that they do it in the name of compassion. Their aim, they claim, is to better the lot of the the underdog. They will make the poor richer by taking riches from the rich and giving them to the poor until all are materially and socially equal. They do not want the only form of equality that is just – equality before the law. It offends them, they say (even the richest among them, and most of them are rich) to see inequality between the richest and the poorest.
With them, equality is not a moral principle but an aesthetic one.
They call the ideal of it "social justice".
Paul Mirengoff writes at PowerLine, in part commenting on an article by Peter Wehner defending "social justice" (though Wehner is not a Leftist):
Justice has always been understood in our tradition as justice for the individual, qua individual. When a person goes to court, either in a criminal or a civil case, our system strives to provide him with a result that is fair given what he has done or failed to do. This is what we understand justice to be. Thus, when we say that justice should be blind, we mean that it should be rendered without regard to a person's social status and without regard to the demands of this or that social agenda.
If justice is an individual-centric concept, then there is no room for the concept of social justice. The pursuit of social justice may lead to action that is consistent with justice, for example a non-discrimination statute. But the concept of "social justice" isn't required to justify such a law; nor is it invoked to do so, since arguments for simple justice are always more persuasive (for example, the sponsors of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 took pains to assure the nation, probably disingenuously in some cases, that the law would preclude racial preferences).
The pursuit of social justice may also lead to action that is inconsistent with justice, such as granting racial preferences or expropriating someone's property for "the greater good". Such action is not justice, but rather justice's antithesis. Thus, we should object when it is marketed as "social justice".
In sum, the concept of social justice has no value. In the first scenario, it is superfluous; in the second, it is false advertising.
[Peter] Wehner argues that "any society that fails to dispense some measure of sympathy and solicitude to others, particularly those living in the shadows and who are most vulnerable to injustice, cannot really be a good society". I agree. But vulnerability to injustice can be countered by the rigorous pursuit of simple justice. And sympathy and solicitude can be dispensed under these labels, rather than as a form of justice.
Wehner recognizes this when he concludes: "Whether this effort travels under the banner of social justice or some other name, to do justice and to love mercy is what is required of us, as individuals and as a society". But the banner under which the charitable project travels matters.
When it travels under the banner of social justice, it gains extra moral authority that it does not deserve. The genuine tension between our desire to do justice (as commonly understood) and to be merciful is elided because justice is subsumed under mercy.
The result will be confusion and mischief, such as the aforementioned racial preferences and expropriation of property for "the greater good". If rationalized as "social justice", such components of the redistributionist project become entitlements, not favors to be granted, if at all, in small doses and under limited circumstances.
As [Friedrich] Hayek, who (as Wehner notes) deplored the concept of social justice, understood, therein lies the road to serfdom.
Besides, we cannot believe that devotees of the Left (once grown out of the ignorant idealism of adolescence) give a fig for "sympathy", "solicitude", or "mercy". If they did they would take pains to find out what economic system really does better the lot of the poor (namely, the free market); and they wouldn't repeat as they do that "the end justifies the means" – their excuse for sacrificing any number of their fellow human beings.
In fact many of them have dropped even the pretense of sympathizing with human beings. The victims of their "compassion" were first the proletarians. Then, as the proletarians in the Western world became too prosperous (because they had a degree of freedom) to qualify as pretexts for vast destruction, they focused on the lumpenproletariat. That class also became too well-off to care about. So then they moaned about the lot of "women" – by which they meant feminists – and people of unconventional sexual preferences. Many of them moved on to animals. But their ever-restless avant-garde did not stop there. They are now working to sacrifice more people than ever before on the grounds that it will be good for the wilderness, for rocks and stones, and even the vast, spinning, molten-cored planet - the ultimate victim of "social injustice". (See our post, Fresh wild raw uninhabited world, January 2, 2012.)
It would be enormously laughable as a theory, if it wasn't colossally tragic as historical and contemporary reality.


text:
You Versus The Sea Lyrics - Daphne Loves Derby
Yes I swear bravery and strength go with her name, ooh
And she said all she had was the cross around her neck to keep her warm, ooh
I still remember how you tried to hold these walls through perfect storms
Ohh, you lost so many homes
You said hold on and everything will be okay
I've been confused, why can't we just run away?
Was it hope that kept you alive through the years and
Should I even call it living?
I've been dreaming that I found you staying in the sea
Then you told me that's where you've been
You said the water's cold but still warmer than your skin
I tried to help you but the closer I got, the further you walked away,
away into the deep
Was it hope that kept you alive through the years and
Should I even call it living?
Click here to submit the Corrections of You Versus The Sea Lyrics
Please Click Here to Print You Versus The Sea Lyrics
Thanks to Ronf for submitting You Versus The Sea Lyrics.
The following area is only for review, if you want to submit the lyrics or the corrections of the lyrics, please click the link at the end of You Versus The Sea Lyrics.


text:
BOSTON – Scientists are growing ears, bone and skin in the lab, and doctors are planning more face transplants and other extreme plastic surgeries.
Around the country, the most advanced medical tools that exist are now being deployed to help America's newest veterans and wounded troops.
In Los Angeles, surgeons used part of Michael Mills' forehead to rebuild his nose after a bomb disfigured him in Iraq.
In Pittsburgh, doctors used an experimental therapy from pig tissue to help regrow part of a thigh muscle that Ron Strang lost in a blast in Afghanistan.
In Boston, scientists are making plans for the first implants of lab-grown ears for wounded troops after successful experiments in sheep and rats.
In San Antonio and other cities, doctors are testing sprayed-on skin cells and lab-made sheets of skin to heal burns and other wounds. The ingenuity is impressive: One product was developed from foreskin left over from circumcisions.
Much of this comes from taxpayer-funded research. Four years ago, the federal government created AFIRM, the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, a network of top hospitals and universities, and gave $300 million in grants to spur new treatments using cell science and advanced plastic surgery.
The whole idea is to bring all these researchers together to develop these great technologies that were in early science to eventually be ready for the troops, said AFIRM's recently retired director, Terry Irgens.
Now those who served are coming home, and projects that once had been languishing in labs are making strides and moving into clinics.
Strang is among those benefiting. The 28-year-old Marine sergeant from Pittsburgh lost half of a thigh muscle to shrapnel, leaving too little to stabilize his gait.
My knee would buckle and I'd fall over, he said.
Now, after an experimental treatment at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, I'm able to run a little bit and play a light football game with friends, he said. It's been a huge improvement.
It's one example of the new medicine in the works for troops.
Growing new ears
Up to 1,000 troops might need an ear, and prosthetics are not a great solution. A rod or other fastener is required to attach them to the head. They don't look or feel natural and they wear out every couple of years. A matching ear grown from a patient's own cells would be a huge improvement.
People have been working on this for 20 years but haven't been able to overcome obstacles to making it practical, said Cathryn Sundback, director of the tissue engineering lab at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Her lab thinks it's found the solution. Using a computer model of a patient's remaining ear, scientists craft a titanium framework covered in collagen, the stuff that gives skin elasticity and strength.
They take a snip of cartilage from inside the nose or between the ribs and seed the scaffold with these cells. This is incubated for about two weeks in a lab dish to grow more cartilage. When it's ready to implant, a skin graft is taken from the patient to cover the cartilage and the ear is stitched into place.
Scientists in her lab have maintained lab-grown sheep ears on those animals for 20 weeks, proving it can be done successfully and last long-term. They also have grown anatomically correct human ears from cells.
Muscles, bone, skin
A soldier lucky enough to keep his arms and legs after a bomb blast still might lose so much of a key muscle, such as biceps or quadriceps, that the limb can't be used properly.
In some cases, the patient has lost so much muscle that there's nothing left for the surgeon to sew together, said Dr. Stephen Badylak, a regenerative medicine specialist at the University of Pittsburgh.
He is testing implants of extracellular matrix – connective tissue that holds cells together – to boost muscle mass. The matrix is thought to release chemical signals that promote regrowth of healthy tissue instead of scar tissue.
The material is supplied by a private company – ACell Inc. of Columbia, Md. – and comes from pigs. The immune system tolerates it because it doesn't contain cells. It comes in multi-layered sheets like slightly stiff gauze and can be cut or molded to fit the needed shape.
Strang, who lost half of a thigh muscle, is among the five patients treated so far in an 80-patient study.
In early testing, They've shown up to 10 to 20 percent improvement in strength of the muscle after treatment, said Irgens, the director of AFIRM, which funded some of the early work.
In other efforts, Pittsburgh and Rice University scientists are working on growing bone to fix jawbone and other facial defects. Researchers at Massachusetts General and Rutgers University are trying to grow eyelid muscles. Blindness can result from not being able to close an eyelid.
Doctors also are testing various ways to make skin. In one method, doctors take a postage stamp-sized piece of a patient's skin, process it in the lab and spray these cells onto a burn or other wound. The sprayer device that is used for this treatment is already licensed in seven countries, and AFIRM is sponsoring a study aimed at winning U.S. approval so the treatment can be offered here.
The second approach uses sheets of skin developed from cells in the lab that originally came from foreskin after circumcisions.
That's in clinical trials now and they're having tremendous results, Irgens said.


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How to Repair Your Cracked iPhone Display
We've all experienced those three seconds of dread as you bend down to pick up your dropped iPhone -- the sinking feeling of regret and loss when you see that spidery crack across your once unblemished screen. It's heartbreaking, tragic and it can happen to anyone. And if you don't have AppleCare+ or another warranty to fix the damage, you may end up with some bandaged fingers or the need to buy a new cell phone.


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Kit Bag
Romain Grosjean climbed the Burj Khalifa
The National staff | November 1, 2013
Lots of stuff going on with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend, including our running liveblog.
One thing we wanted to make sure didn't get overlooked was this report from our Graham Caygill about Romain Grosjean's extracurricular activities this week in the UAE, which saw him climb the Burj Khalifa.
Here's the report as it appeared in today's paper:
Sebastian Vettel was the talk of Yas Marina Circuit yesterday as he arrived in the UAE on the back of sealing a fourth successive Formula One drivers� title in India last weekend. Despite the German�s achievements he has not hit the heights that the Frenchman Romain Grosjean has. The Lotus driver spent part of the week, between the Indian Grand Prix and the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in Dubai, and while there he became one of the few people to have climbed to the top of the spire of the Burj Khalifa, the world�s tallest building. The challenge took the Frenchman three hours as he enjoyed the view from the top of the tower which soars 829.8 metres into the sky. Grosjean has finished the past two races on the podium with third places in Japan and India, and he said yesterday his regret was that he and the Lotus team had not found the sweet spot on the car earlier. �The start of the season was poor,� he said. �It�s a bit of a shame when we look at what we are capable to do right now but the car has been getting better and better.�
Grosjean, we should note, isn't the only one having fun at the Burj Khalifa this week.
- Dutch team comes first for Robin van Persie
- Galatasaray roll out the big bucks for Cesare Prandelli
- Dhoni and Cook both need to lead from the front when batting
- Nigel de Jong and Ron Vlaar train, lifting hopes of Dutch defence boost
- Take note of visionary Van Gaal
- Van Marwijk: 'Argentina have Messi, but we have Robben'


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