The Brits are seriously wacko.

Nearly half of British men surveyed would give up sex for six months in return for a 50-inch plasma TV, a survey — perhaps unsurprisingly carried out for a firm selling televisions — said on Friday.

Electrical retailer Comet surveyed 2,000 Britons, asking them what they would give up for a large television, one of the latest consumer “must-haves.”

The firm found 47 percent of men would give up sex for half a year, compared to just over a third of women.

What the heck is wrong with this world?

I’m writing this post with brevity in mind because I am short of time, but this text and the accompanying chart are well done.  I’ve taken this from the reliably cantankerous Libertarians at the thought provoking U.K. blog, Samizdata.  I have been a loyal reader of theirs since 2001 and regard them as one of the last outposts of intelligent Western civilization on the British Isles.  I don’t necessarily endorse his recommendations, but do think he is dead on with the analysis.

Midwesterner of Wisconsin posted the chart above and the text below on Tuesday, February 5th at Samizdata:

The swing voters are on the ends, not in the middle. Take a good look at this chart.

Notice that the Democratic voter turnout is a steady trend. Not Ross Perot or Ralph Nader appears to have affected the Democratic base turnout. It looks quite reasonable to interpret that third party candidates do not pick off Democratic voters, but rather people who otherwise would not have voted or would have voted Republican.

On the other hand, look at the Republican voter turnout. During a time when the Democrats went from 37.4 to 44.9 million in a trend that projects in both directions, the Republicans went from 54.5 to 39.1 million. The explanation is a simple one. The Republican party does not have a ‘base’. If they do, it is so small that it is below the radar.

Put another way, Democrats vote for their party come what may. Republicans vote, or very importantly stay home, based on the candidates and their principles, not party loyalty. This comment thread on Rachel Lucas with well over 400 mostly thoughtful comments shows the depth of the division. Even here on Samizdata there are commenters who say things like:

… “true” conservatives pi## me off. And if there is one thing I can count on, it’s that McCain will knee them in the nuts when needed. Who the hell do these self righteous a## hats think they are?

My answer? We are individuals. We vote with our mind, not ‘our’ party. And you will not win without us.

I said some time back that the only Republican candidate capable of winning the big race was Thompson. Obviously, I did not make that prediction based on poll numbers naming him as their first choice. I made that prediction based on the poll numbers that did not give him an absolute negative. Well, that and the obvious fact that the swing voters are on the ends, not the middle. Had he been the Republican candidate, a popular majority would almost certainly have found him to be the preferred candidate. No other candidate can avoid the rejection of substantial numbers of voters that the RNC claims are Republicans. Because Republican strategists are forgetting something. Many of ‘their’ voters do not belong to the Republican party. We belong to ourselves. And that is how we vote. If Fred is still on the ballot in your state, it is not too late to vote that way.

Cheney’s going hunting!

Vice President Dick Cheney is returning this weekend to the South Texas ranch where he accidentally shot a hunting companion two years ago. Anne Armstrong said Cheney was expected to arrive today at the Armstrong’s 50,000-acre ranch.

“We have a wonderful quail crop, and he is a fabulous shot,” said Armstrong, a former U.S. ambassador to Great Britain and adviser to Republican presidents.

You know that old saying, “There will always be an England?” There won’t, if dhimmis like the Archbishop of Canterbury persist in undermining the legal foundations of Western civilization:

Certainly, no-one is likely to suppose that a scheme allowing for supplementary jurisdiction will be simple, and the history of experiments in this direction amply illustrates the problems. But if one approaches it along the lines sketched by Shachar in the monograph quoted earlier, it might be possible to think in terms of what she calls ‘transformative accommodation’: a scheme in which individuals retain the liberty to choose the jurisdiction under which they will seek to resolve certain carefully specified matters, so that ‘power-holders are forced to compete for the loyalty of their shared constituents’ (122). This may include aspects of marital law, the regulation of financial transactions and authorised structures of mediation and conflict resolution

But if what we want socially is a pattern of relations in which a plurality of divers and overlapping affiliations work for a common good, and in which groups of serious and profound conviction are not systematically faced with the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty, it seems unavoidable.

In other words, if Britain’s Muslim colonizers aren’t loyal to British laws and institutions, we must institute Muslim laws and institutions in piecemeal fashion. Jolly good.

UPDATE: Lest readers think I’m being a Chicken Little regarding the decline and fall of the world’s greatest empire:

A fifth of British teenagers believe Sir Winston Churchill was a fictional character, while many think Sherlock Holmes, King Arthur and Eleanor Rigby were real, a survey shows.

The canvass of 3,000 under-twenties uncovered an extraordinary paucity of basic historical knowledge that older generations take for granted.

Despite his celebrated military reputation, 47 per cent of respondents dismissed the 12th-century crusading English king Richard the Lionheart as fictional.

In saner times, a little boy who wanted to wear a dress to school would be corrected by his parents, or possibly given psychological treatment.

Now, the parents are demanding that society warp itself around their confused tyke, and the school is all too willing:

The issue of being transgender usually pops up with students in high school. However, a 3rd grade boy wants to dress as a girl and wants teachers and students to address him with a girl’s name.

“As a public school system, our calling is to educate all kids no matter where they come from, what their background is, beliefs, values, it doesn’t matter,” said Whei Wong, Douglas County Schools spokesperson.

Wong says teachers are planning to address the student by name instead of using he or she. The child will not use the regular boys or girls bathroom. Instead, two unisex bathrooms in the building will be made available. The school is handing out packets to parents who have questions. The packets contain information about people who are transgender.

Wong says mental health professionals will be available if students, staff, or parents have any concerns at all.

Got that? Public school policy is being shaped by a disturbed 9-near-old cross-dresser. If you have a problem with that, the doctor will see you now.

UPDATE: This case reminds me of the case of David Reimer. That one didn’t turn out so well.

“My goal in life is to become as wonderful as my dog thinks I am”

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