Tag: tim blair

#rsrh Tim Blair on Australian overpopulation.

Again: wait, what?

Yes.  There are people out there worried about increasing the population of a country (population 21.5 million, 6.15% arable land, .04% under cultivation) that’s roughly the size of the United States (310.2 million, 18.01% arable land, .21% under cultivation) and is a major agricultural exporter.  Tim’s not one of them, so he’s his typical amusingly cruel self on the subject:

[Australian PM] Kevin Rudd – two sons, one daughter – is also alert to population panic. Two months ago he appointed Tony Burke – three daughters – as Australia’s first population minister, due to “legitimate concerns” over population growth. Rudd arrived at this decision via the usual Rudd method: a complete 180-degree flip. Last October, Rudd told The 7.30 Report he made “no apology for believing in a big Australia … I actually think it’s good news that our population is growing.”

We’ll take his subsequent appointment of a population minister as an apology. Still, you can understand the PM’s concerns about a bigger Australia. The fewer Australians there are, the fewer who can become crushingly disillusioned in him.

There’s some good quotes in Tim’s post.

Tweet of the day, lgf edition.

From Jim Treacher, via Tim Blair, via AoSHQ.  This is either going to be the funniest darn thing you will read all day, or you are going to scratch your head, befuddled; there is no middle ground.

Personally, I am more or less indifferent to the Charles Johnson saga: his demolishing of Dan Rather’s professional career aside (a rather big aside, admittedly), Little Green Footballs never really seemed part of the GOP/conservative ‘sphere,’ except by default.  Plus, he was always just a touch too shrill about Islam for my liking – and, honestly, I had him privately pegged as being motivated by fear after 9/11, instead of anger.

But he’s melting down entertainingly.  Although I do feel sorry for his readers, a lot of whom are trying to figure out what the heck is happening over there.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

‘Never mind.’

While I agree with Tim Blair that karma is… kind of entertaining, sometimes… I think that the most important thing that should be taken away from this video is the frustration and worry in our soldiers’ voices as they try to line up a shot that doesn’t endanger either a kid, or some guy just walking along.

By the way: using kids like this is an actual war crime.  I note this because those elements of the Left that are now calling for abandoning Afghanistan (a sentiment that I, like POWIP, do not share, and never mind who the President is) can always use this kind of moral and ethical calibration.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Robert Gibbs and the Carpetbag Steak.

Sort of like a point/counterpoint.

Palate cleanser, as Allahpundit likes to say.

It’s bad when the White House press pool can’t keep a straight face.

Anyway, you’ll need a palate cleanser in order to properly appreciate this recipe for carpetbag steak (via @EdDriscoll). I don’t even really like oysters, and this sounds tasty.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Flat World Watch: Australian pub-crawlers monitoring American borders.

[Insert “doing the jobs that Americans won’t do” trope here.]

Via Tim Blair, American border enforcement is apparently now a pub game:

The United States has unveiled an unlikely weapon in its battle against drugs gangs and illegal immigrants at the Texas-Mexico border – pub-goers in Australia.

The drinkers are the most far-flung of a sizeable army of hi-tech foot soldiers recruited to assist the border protection effort.

Anyone with an internet connection can now help to patrol the 1,254-mile frontier through a network of webcams set up to allow the public to monitor suspicious activity. Once logged in, the volunteers spend hours studying the landscape and are encouraged to email authorities when they see anyone on foot, in vehicles or aboard boats heading towards US territory from Mexico.

Continue reading Flat World Watch: Australian pub-crawlers monitoring American borders.