Lamest little twit of the 2010 elections

Failed GOP candidate sues Facebook over his loss in the primary.

Did you know that dining is UNESCO-listed?

The gastronomic meal of the French is on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. I was not aware; thanks to Joe Ray's blog for the clue to this small piece of fascination.

The archetypal French dinner joins other manifestations of human behavior, including:

• The watertight-bulkhead technology of Chinese junks
  
• Falconry, a living human heritage
  
• The Mediterranean diet
  
• Grand song of the Dong ethnic group
  
• The scribing tradition in French timber framing
  
• Gingerbread craft from Northern Croatia
  
• The Maroon Heritage of Moore Town
  
• The scissors dance
  

I did not make any of those up.

Interestingly, it appears that there are no behaviors from or associated with the United States or Canada on the list. Ah, probably because neither are on the list of "States Parties." Probably because the role of States Parties requires that: Each State Party shall: (a) take the necessary measures to ensure the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage present in its territory ... “Safeguarding” means measures aimed at ensuring the viability of the intangible cultural heritage, including the identification, documentation, research, preservation, protection, promotion, enhancement, transmission, particularly through formal and non-formal education, as well as the revitalization of the various aspects of such heritage.

I don't think much of that made it into the various proposed budgets this year.

Simple government for simple people

Huckabee courts the anti-snail-eating vote -- actually, the criminally stupid vote. Wait ... it isn't a crime to be a complete imbecile? What about Kilpatrick? Spitzer? Edwards? Oh, they did actually have to do something stupid, not just be stupid? Pity. Wonder how long it'll take Huckabee to join that club?

Listen, punk, if you don't like it here ...

... move to Burma! Now, that's a government!

More juxtaposed headlines

On MLIVE's Detroit page:

• Woodward Light Rail: Essential to Detroit's future or another boondoggle in the making?
  
• Woodward Light Rail: A proven investment in Detroit's future
  
• Woodward Light Rail: Repeating the mistakes of Detroit's past
  
• Birmingham police: Body found on Woodward Avenue
  

Admittedly, the body was in Birmingham, not Detroit, but it does highlight a shortcoming in the planned system: cow catchers need to be installed on the leading cars to avoid running over the casualties. My favorite comment on this project comes from the "repeating mistakes" article, cited above. "Detroit has many problems, but they are not the kind that can be solved with one more flashy project. The city’s high taxes, burdensome regulations, poor schools and dysfunctional city government are holding Detroit down, not a shortage of subsidized boondoggles."

A bit of civility, please

The author of this article hasn't heard that American political discourse is supposed to have regained a level of gentility and moderation. This quote sets the tone:

"... you've got a little brain, you're permanently paranoid about all these meat-eaters around, and you're trying to protect your young."

Seriously, that's no way to talk about Michele Bachmann.