Meetings of the 'Convention on Modern Liberty' are being held in London, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Cambridge, Glasgow and Manchester.

American journalist Jamie Malanowski has called for the UK to implement a Bill of Rights, modeled after the first ten amendments to the American Constitution.

AJH

Fidelity’s Edward “Ned” Johnson jumped into the controversial debate over President Obama’s “New Deal II” and what Johnson called government “make-work projects.”

“We can only hope that the government’s cure doesn’t further sicken the patient,” Johnson wrote in his annual update on Fidelity’s performance over the past year.

“During the ’30s, Congress - with guidance from the president and the same kind of good intentions - shifted the country’s cash flow away from productive businesses to government make-work projects, which most likely prolonged the Great Depression,” wrote Johnson, arguably Boston’s most powerful business executive.

Those policies helped make “money ridiculously easy to obtain and business people eager to comply with the policies,” Johnson wrote.

I love this opening from a story at Yahoo! News India, which is a good source for some issues not generally reported in the American media.

“Acting legend Clint Eastwood, 79, apparently believes that political correctness has rendered modern society humourless.”

Apparently Eastwood's comments left the writer somewhat unclear, thinking apparently that Clint might actually be a racist. Apparently political correctness crept into the writing a bit. Obviously there is no “apparently” about it; Eastwood does not like what has happened.

I have enjoyed most of his movies and love the fact that he, as he ages, the powers in Hollywood don't deter him from speaking the truth.

“People have lost their sense of humor. In former times we constantly made jokes about different races. You can only tell them today with one hand over your mouth or you will be insulted as a racist.”

“I find that ridiculous. In those earlier days every friendly clique had a 'Sam the Jew' or 'Jose the Mexican' - but we didn't think anything of it or have a racist thought. It was just normal that we made jokes based on our nationality or ethnicity. That was never a problem. I don't want to be politically correct.”

“We're all spending too much time and energy trying to be politically correct about everything.”

AJH

David Brooks is not “a conservative New York Times columnist” as Beth Fouhy of the Associated Press notes in her “Analysis” of Jindal and the reaction to his address (“Jindal draws flak from GOP, Dems over speech”).

Brooks characterized Jindal's arguments as “insane” and “tone-deaf” on The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.

“To come up in this moment in history with a stale, 'Government is the problem, you can't trust the federal government' is just a disaster for the Republican Party,” Brooks said.

Juan Williams focused on Jindal's delivery.

"It came off as amateurish, and even the tempo in which he spoke was singsongy," Williams said, adding that the content of the speech was "very simplistic and almost childish."

Rush Limbaugh defended Jindal on his radio show Wednesday while acknowledging that “stylistically,” Obama had outshined Jindal.

“The people on our side are making a real mistake if they go after Bobby Jindal. We cannot shun politicians who speak for our beliefs just because we don't like the way he says it.”

AJH

Like always, scientists are mulling the future and without a clue.

“Nine years of work disappeared in five minutes yesterday . . . Now climate scientists who worked on the ambitious effort to map the world's carbon dioxide are trying to figure out what comes next.”

AJH

The German 7th Army in World War I and its commander in 1917-1918, General Hans von Böhn....

http://www.worldwar1.com/atger.htm

AJH

Goodbye San Francisco! The Chronicle is in heap-big-trouble. Although the staff has a decidedly leftist bent, I enjoy the website and the design of the paper.

AJH

“It's irresponsible,” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, in response to Obama's speech tonight, said referring to the stimulus. It “grow the government, increase our taxes down the line, and saddle future generations with debt.”

“The way to lead is not to raise taxes and put more money and power in hands of Washington politicians,” Jindal said.

Taking advantage of his moment in the national spotlight, Jindal publicized his own web presence, what may be the beginning of an increasingly linked and savvy opposition (and viable alternative) to the Democrats.

House Republican leader John Boehner said Obama's calls for fiscal responsibility is “all talk and no action” and typical of Washington.

AJH

I usually don't write or talk much about the weather. However, after some weeks with rather pleasant days, especially given Oregon's reputation, I and perhaps others became somewhat spoiled. Today that changed.

A strong system with plenty of steady, heavy rain eventually accompanied by impressive winds during the evening let loose as I headed out on some errands and to visit my grandmother. For some reason I decided to wear my Nike flip flops and my feet became progressively wetter and wetter and colder, too. Near Winco I broke down and went into Sportsmen's Warehouse intent on buying some waterproof boots of some kind.

The sales guy, really just a kid probably still in high school or just out of it (in more ways than one), didn't seem to know much. He said snow boots, high end and expensive ones, wouldn't last in rainy weather as they were made for snow and ice. Doesn't make much sense to me, but I didn't find much worth trying. Most of the boots were well out of my budget for the day and the shoes were mostly unimpressive.

Yet, I did find some light, airy walking shoes for about $30 made by Columbia. This particular model was on sale, but the sales kid reported back only having certain sizes. So I have a slightly-too-large pair. Of course, it's not a problem for me as I like big shoes. I don't like my feet being crowded. I like a little room. This pair isn't as comfortable as other cheaper brands I have used. Perhaps they just need to be broken in a bit. We will see.

AJH

The state of Washington sent out $1 checks to the 250,000 people as part of the food stamp program. Genius Leo Ribas, says the $1 check is a one-time move and that next year the state will be able to trigger the federal assistance through a routine deposit into food stamp accounts. Check out his title: director of the Community Services Division for the Department of Social and Health Services.

AJH

In a seemingly juvenile political ploy, President Obama criticized the military program working on the replacement helicopter fleet for Marine One. The irony is about the size of Mars, given his lack of courage and utter disregard for responsibility on the multitude of pork in the stimulus package.

AJH

Spiraling out of control and spending money much like teenagers at the mall on spring break, Hillary and the Obama White House have promised nearly $1 billion to Gaza, which is controlled by the terrorist group Hamas. I have a feeling conservatives will be back in power before we even know it. I certainly hope so. (And hopefully they have learned a few lessons along the way.) Enough already! The revolution is coming.

AJH

Rick Santelli was on The Dennis Miller Show today and has regained some of the steam he had after his so-called “rant” on CNBC. He really laid into White House Press Secretary Gibbs and it was oh-so-nice to hear. It should be available as a podcast download for free later in the day on iTunes or directly from Miller's site.

AJH