Motley Moose – Archive

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A great story from The New Scientist. Apparently the more religious or ‘red’ the state, the more online porn they were likely to consume…

Though this does go down on Sundays apparently.

This is a very brief diary to let you know that, thanks to lots of online agitation and protest, the inane and hateful Fred Phelps has been banned from entering the UK

Inspired by ItStands’ diary on the dangers of entitlement (among the super rich), I thought it might be worth exploring the nuances of American self-help ethic from the other side of the Atlantic with the help of some eye candy…

This pic is not entirely gratuitous. Two issues in the news (and hot topics on the Moose) actually help to illuminate where self help ends and subsidy or support begins: the success of British Theatre and USTV drama.

Hot on the heels of two excellent Flashbackgate diaries by Sricki on the Primary Wars, I thought that, in the spirit of sustainability, I would ask you to try to recall the best putdowns, comebacks and flames of those tumultuous times.

Why in the spirit of sustainability? Given the anger and insults that seem to dominate most of the liberal blogosphere in the last two weeks, a lot of these can and have been recycled. Especially the Kool Aid quips. So join in. Recycle some old flames. Come up with something better. All manner of logical fallacies and advanced banter over the flip…

That was the essence of Joe Biden’s important Foreign Policy speech at the Security Conference in Munich Today.

“I come to Europe on behalf of a new administration determined to set a new tone in Washington, and in America’s relations around the world… We will engage. We will listen. We will consult. America needs the world, just as I believe the world needs America“

More below the flip…

Out of politeness perhaps, or in search of a cure for insomnia, I’ve been asked several times to write a diary about current UK politics. That would be great if you’re fascinated by the sight of paint drying, grass growing, or traffic lights changing…

But fortunately yesterday, for her first foreign meeting with a European equivalent, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton chose to meet David Miliband, the fresh-faced UK Foreign Secretary and said.

“It is often said the United States and Britain have enjoyed a special relationship. It is certainly special in my mind and one that has proven very productive,”

For the US, for Obama’s administration, I think this is some great news. According to TPM, Samantha Power is going to be working at a high level in the NSC.

Samantha Power, the Harvard University professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author who earned notoriety for calling Hillary Rodham Clinton a “monster” while working to elect Barack Obama president, will take a senior foreign policy job at the White House, The Associated Press has learned.

Officials familiar with the decision say Obama has tapped Power to be senior director for multilateral affairs at the National Security Council, a job that will require close contact and potential travel with Clinton, who is now secretary of state. NSC staffers often accompany the secretary of state on foreign trips.

What follows is an edited diary sent to me by a friend, Chris Lincoln Jones, who has spent the last eight months in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He would have posted this himself, except for communication problems. Hopefully his account will help to inform and inspire debate about Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan.

The good intentions of writing lots of pieces about life here never really survived contact with the enemy; the enemy being a daily diet of office work involving constant writing. Yesterday was rather different, as I have taken on the rather grandiose title of Brigade Patrol Master.  

I am looking across Helmand and trying to identify the patterns we set that are subsequently exploited by our enemy when he lays his mines and I try to devise ways to counter his wickedness.

So yesterday I went out on patrol with J Company…

For some reason, thanks to these wonderful blogs, I often follow American media and newspapers more than English ones these days. Mostly it’s for the good. But I wonder if this would ever make it onto an American Network.

It’s from Channel 4 News which, along with BBC Newsnight, is the most respected current affairs show on TV. I actually only caught it thanks to the blogosphere. But there’s a big problem here…  

A brief diary inspired by an Andrew Sullivan piece today What Equality Looks Like.

He notes:

When I came to America from Britain, the gay rights movement was way ahead here of the old country. No longer. Here is a list of the most powerful openly gay people in Britain. The whole list is a staggering contrast with the US.