Archive for July, 2009

“Just one Minute” sets his tardis to 1961

Posted: July 25, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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One of the things that I enjoy about Doctor Who historical stories are the reactions of the Tardis crew to the mindsets of various ancient times and the clashes in culture that take place. One of the weaknesses that can take place is when a person taken from their own time ends up acts with 21st century reactions.

The Very good Blog Just one Minute forgets this fact when making his case for the president mother et/al having a motivation to provide false documents concerning her child’s birth. He says as follows:

My point, then and recently – Barack’s mom and maternal grandparents had a strong incentive to create a paper trail documenting Obama as a US citizen back in 1961 and it had nothing to do with assuring his future viability as a Presidential candidate. Alll they needed to do was imagine a day when the white Ms. Dunham would be engaged in a custody fight in a Kenyan court contesting the fate of a black Kenyan baby sought by the black Kenyan father and his African family, and their course would have been clear.

To us in the year 2009, a land where Gay marriage is debated and legal in some states, where Christianity is openly mocked on television cartoons to win awards, where 77 year old men are surgically altered to be 77 year old “women” and where father’s day affairs don’t drive governors from office and where an Anglican priest can describe Abortion as a blessing, that might fly….

However in 1961 Culturally all of those things would be impossible, rejected and scandalous. The concept of divorce itself was not very well excepted outside of Hollywood or the elites. Hell a pre-nup would have been considered off the wall. The thought particularly at the time of marriage that it was going to end in a custody fight just didn’t wash.

The US was at it’s height of self confidence as well. The idea that a US court was going to rule against a US citizen in a fight over a child, particular in favor of a non Christian Black African was far fetched. Cripes; Miranda rights didn’t even exist at the time.

It would be like going to 1896 and saying to someone “Michael Jackson is cool.” They would tell him to come closer to the fire. The idea that she was planning for a custody fight in 1961 would be a foreign to her as the idea of e-mail.

This is exactly the opposite of the mistake the AP is making with bloggers. AP is trying to win an argument using the norms of the past. This argument is applying the norms of today to a different culture. It just doesn’t wash.

Update: My own argument concerning this is here.

The President runs for cover on Gates

Posted: July 24, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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Suddenly the president has gone before the press to try to back off, suddenly instead of being stupid Mr. Gates and the police are both good people and might have over reacted.

The policeman in question has apparently been called by Obama and there is a great exchange over getting the press off his lawn.

It is interesting to note that it was after the Gates incident that his polls dropped below 50%.

This was actually a smart move by the president, this was going to bleed until they backed up, what will really be interesting will be how the liberal media which was all over the police over this will now react to the president’s sudden volte face.

This is now the only story on every Boston network.

Update: MSNBC is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen they are saying that Obama has handled this exactly right. I’m hope Patterico & Sister Toldjah weren’t drinking when they saw that.

Hotair comments it is a good distraction from Healthcare, but I don’t agree since it was a lead balloon to his popularity. 40 years ago Johnson figured if he lost Cronkite he lost middle America. Obama must have figured that if he lost Jon Stewart then it was time to cut bait, Rosa Parks not withstanding.

Question: If MSNBC and the other Obama media were all ready to lynch the police over this as little as a few hours ago, how are they going to re-spin themselves now that the president has backed off?

Update 2: Here is the actual video:

THE Best is Back: Tom Baker IS the Doctor!

Posted: July 24, 2009 by datechguy in doctor who
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Let just hope that this means we will be seeing him working with Big Finish sometime soon:Tombakerdoctor

Tom Baker is to return to Doctor Who in four new audio adventures for BBC Radio, reported to be airing from September.

Baker discusses his return to the role which made him a star in the latest edition of Doctor Who Magazine, which is in shops today.

You don’t get much more earth shattering in the Who-verse than this. Tv Squad says:

This is big news. Until David Tennant, Baker was synonymous with the role yet absolutely refused to do any performances related to it. Big Finish has been doing Doctor Who audio dramas for a decade with four of the other actors who played the part, yet the company was never able to snag Tom Baker for one.

Den of Geek provides Details:

The latest information on these new additions to the Fourth Doctor canon is that there will be five of them;

1. The Stuff of Nightmares (September 3rd 2009)
The Doctor recruits Mike Yates to help him defeat an enemy of enormous power.

2. The Dead Shoes (October 8th 2009)
The Doctor travels to Cromer’s Palace of Curios in 1932 and discovers the horrific truth behind…a pair of ballet shoes!

3. The Circus of Doom (November 5th 2009)
One hundred years earlier, the Doctor encounters a sinister circus that exerts a strange influence over the population of the town of Blandford.

4. A Sting in the Tale (December 3rd 2009)
A sinister Mother Superior is running awry in the Wintertime. It’s up to the Doctor to find out quite what’s going on.

5. Hive of Horror (December 3rd 2009)
The Doctor and Mike Yates and an unwilling accomplice must do battle with their fearsome enemy.

Something in Jay’s Dr. Regina Benjamin story that you might have missed…

Posted: July 23, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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…during today’s impromptus here is the whole section:

In preparing to write about this, I was looking at a news article, which had a photo of Dr. Benjamin. And I thought, “Hang on, I think I know this person.” I had forgotten her name. I had not forgotten her act. Some years ago, I was at a large conference, dominated by liberals. I was one of the handful of conservatives there. And, at a big plenary session, I made some statements about race: I said I thought the country was too soaked in race; that we could use a rest from race; that race-consciousness was killing us; that separate graduation ceremonies, and separate proms and so on, were heartbreaking and wrong; that we should not give up on the integrationist ideal; that we should cling to E pluribus unum; that we should not be black and white but Americans and human beings; etc. You know: my usual anti-racialist spiel.

These remarks fell pretty flat, I figured. And, when the session was over, I made a beeline out of the hall. And as I was leaving — racing — someone was chasing after me. Running, I think — in high heels, I think. It was a woman, and one of the few blacks in attendance. When I turned to greet her — not knowing what was coming — she said, “I just wanted to thank you. That was great. It really needed to be said.” Do you think I was touched?

And I realized, looking at the news article, that this was Dr. Regina Benjamin. Which has nothing — nothing — to do with my feeling about the “fat” controversy. Just so you know. I was going to write what I’ve written about the controversy before I realized that I had encountered this woman.

I must say, I will love Regina Benjamin forever.

Now this is a nice feel good piece about Dr. Benjamin and I’m very pleased that she had this reaction to Jay’s words, but when I read this two particular sentences jumped out at me, from paragraph 1:

I was at a large conference, dominated by liberals. I was one of the handful of conservatives there.

So we have a large conference of liberals with a token conservative or two and his remarks on race fell flat but as he was leaving one person rushed to say something to him about those remarks…

It was a woman, and one of the few blacks in attendance.

One of the few blacks in attendance.

So you have a statement suggesting that we should treat blacks not like “blacks” but like the Americans and human begins that all of us are and the mostly white liberal crowd didn’t like it, after all blacks are NOT like us, they need to be cared for, they need to be shepherded, and only only person to agree with the idea that all needed to be created equal was one of the FEW blacks in attendance.

The modern liberal would be the kinder gentler plantation owner, they would “care” for their blacks and provide them with a living wage as they support the owners, and to raise their standard of living they would make sure that abortion very available so that say 1/3 of the costly black children. And maybe the smartest who see things the owner’s way would be able to attend the big parties and conferences with the rest of the beautiful people.

It reminds me of the reference to Augustus Caesar in this poem from I Claudius:

He shall give Rome marble in place of clay
And fetter her fast with unseen chains,

Augustus governed wisely and temperately for his times and reconciled Rome to monarchy instead of a republic. Our liberal friends through their kind intervention are fettering people of non-white race to dependence on government so they will be able to take care of them from seats of power and privilege that they will be able to hold for life.

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