Last Saturday, following Hartford’s West Indian Festival, shooting broke out and, in separate incidents, seven youngster were shot.   Among them, a 21-year old was killed,  a 7-year old shot in the head, and a 15-month old toddler was shot in the leg.  Saturday was distinguished only by its concentration of the behaviors and pathologies that grind on more slowly, year after year, in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport and any other urban sinkhole of Progressive social policy.

This time, the city of Hartford has enacted a curfew, which naturally is under legal assault from the ACLU.   But that’s a natural coordinate on this map of misery, and also not the subject of this post.  There is no subject of this post, just desperation.  The ACLU is a freak liberal offspring of value-free rationalism.  It’s too late to kill it.  There could be dozens of other pests described here, too, all injecting their amoral poison into the bloodstream of the lost individuals and families snared in the web of the helping professions and that ludicrous system called “the schools”. 

Hartford spends between $11000 and $17000 per student depending upon your source, and has a graduation rate of 29%.  New Haven, as I recall, is higher by a few points.   The figures are always misleading, because the parasitic organisms that attach themselves to school funding today always consume a huge portion of the cash available for TEACHING.  On that subject, read this and this.  The City of Hartford carries only about 20% of the educational financing, while the State of Connecticut provides the rest.  

Among the moral absurdities of this distribution of responsibility is that the bureaucratic weight of the entire State of Connecticut is useless on the subject of school performance, and its reflection in pools of blood on asphalt.  The Devil has a sense of humor, however, in that he gave us the ludicrous Nanny-figure of Governor Jodi Rell as the bug-eyed, mocking gargoyle on the ethical rubble of  Connecticut’s capital city. 

Rell cares so much she’s regularly heard in PSA’s on the agony of 911 operators, or the use of child safety seats, or fuming about the tragedy of  pampered, upper-middle class kids killing themselves with the reckless use of high-performance automobiles.  Meanwhile, the walls of civilization are crumbling around her, and her smiles, bottle-blond coif and freckles console the already dead.

Activists link Vt. to sweatshops

Preventative bill awaits Douglas’ signature

MONTPELIER — At least three companies that contract with the state of Vermont for clothes and other materials are linked to overseas sweatshops, according to human rights advocates.

Several U.S. companies that recently supplied the state with shoes, boots, uniforms and other work-related clothes have some of their materials made in factories where there are reports of forced overtime, poor ventilation, union busting and even death, activists said.

“It does appear that the state of Vermont contracts with companies that are linked to sweatshops,” said Martin Cohn of Brattleboro, the owner of a public relations firm that conducted the research. “That means our taxpayer dollars are going to subsidize overseas sweatshops.” [snip]

[snip]
Several young prostitutes interviewed by the AP said they were having sex without condoms to attract customers now that so many more girls are on the streets. [snip]

She was paid about $18 and used the money to buy food for her parents and six siblings. She tells her family she has a job in town and they don’t ask her specifics.

“My parents were poor even before the violence,” she said. “Now that I’m on the streets, on good days, I get up to 2,000 Kenya shilling ($40) after sleeping with five or six men.”

She has no hope of returning to school. Her parents are out of work, and Janet’s contributions are vital to her family.

“At first, this job was torture to me,” Kimani said. “Sleeping with these men is terrible, and sometimes they are rough and hurt me. But with time, I have gotten used to it.”

Prostitution has long been a problem in Kenya, particularly on the tourist friendly coast. [snip]

The good news is, they don’t have any sweatshops in that part of the world. Instead of earning $0.75 a day, these children move in big money circles.

Thank you Vermonters and all you caring liberal New Englanders for saving the children from a fate worse than…than a sweatshop.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission will have to look at the facts to see if the perp is:

Knife-wielding man beheads fellow passenger on bus

A passenger traveling on a bus across Canada’s vast Western plains stabbed, gutted and decapitated a man seated next to him in an unexplained attack, a witness told media Thursday.

The victim had been sleeping before he was repeatedly stabbed in the chest by a man with a large knife, witness Garnet Caton told public broadcaster CBC.

If the victim is not Muslim, the Commission must determine is he dreamed an infidel thought besmirching the Prophet. You know of course, in Canada, mere thought is punishable by fines and public scourging, ask Mark Steyn. Beheading is however a bit stronger than a fine.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they were investigating a “major incident” that occurred at 9 pm Wednesday (0200 GMT Thursday) on a Greyhound bus traveling eastbound from Edmonton to Winnipeg, but offered no details.

Makes one glad the Canadians have strong gun control laws. Uh Oh, just like England, they’re using BIG knives. How civilized of them.

Glad too this is only a major incident, but what constitutes a horrible incident?

There is, after all, only the Numinous, the Godhead, The Barack Obama, The One who transcends mere, earthly, names. 

(UPDATE:  HEY GUYS!  GET A ROOM WITH A SHOWER!  ESPECIALLY YOU, MATTHEWS, CHANGE YOUR UNDERWEAR!)

The world has changed, but the grotesque historical aberration of Western liberalism marches on unaltered and forever deluded.  We saw it in Berlin this week…the rush from reality that fueled every European calamity of the last two centuries, now feeding upon the nauseating platitudes of an American pol.  But just remember, Barack: 

The Germans are either at your feet or at your throat.

(Winston Churchill)

The bad guys of the world are taking The Obama’s measure, and I am not reassured.

ADDENDUM:  While I think most Americans couldn’t care a whit about what the Germans/Europeans think on any subject (the remainder, who do care, are cosmopolite liberals like Obama) the foreign policy trip is a one phase of the Obama campaign’s plan to keep the celebrity mode going until the clock runs out in November.  Obama’s polls are static, even WITH the foreign sideshow, and some even show slippage where the gilt has rubbed off.

Expect more histrionics and costume drama from the Obama campaign.  It’s absolutely essential for them to keep the sales job blazing away, and the dramatization of their facile, even mediocre, candidate from being examined too closely. 

Teenager among four fatal stabbings in London in 24 hours

• A teenager is among four victims of separate fatal stabbings which took place in London over the past day, as a fifth man fights for life.

• His death brings the number of teenagers killed in the capital this year to 20 and comes just days after the Metropolitan police announced that knife crime had usurped terrorism to become their top priority.

• In Walthamstow, north east London, a man in his 20s was fatally stabbed in an attack in St David’s Court yesterday evening.

• In Tottenham, north London, a murder inquiry was launched after a man was found stabbed to death at the rear of a disused pub in Tottenham High Road.

• Four people remain in custody today after a 20-year-old man was fatally stabbed in Leyton, east London.
  The man, named locally as Adnan Patel, died from a stab wound to the chest after crashing his Ford Focus in Downsell Road, Leyton.
  Detectives are investigating whether he was fleeing from the occupants of a van who stabbed him in an apparent road rage attack moments earlier.
  Paramedics were called as passers-by gave emergency first aid and tried to stem the bleeding but Mr Patel died at the scene.

• A fifth man is in a life-threatening condition after a knife attack in London Willesden, north west London at 4.20am this morning.

All of these individuals are were upstanding citizens, who avoided fighting back which breaks the law. Instead, they calmly left all this unpleasantness up to the police.

Police officer dies of heart attack after being diagnosed with indigestion

From NHS, we get news of this money saving treatment. Brits better hope this doesn’t become the new medical rage.

A policeman with a family history of coronary disease was sent home and told to take indigestion remedy when a hospital failed to recognise he was having a heart attack.

PC Brian Burnett, 49, a dog handler, was three months away from retiring when he was taken ill with severe chest pains.

He went to Lincoln County Hospital’s accident and emergency unit where he was examined by a doctor and given an electrocardiogram (ECG) test to check his heart.

But he was told to go home and take Gaviscon, over-the-counter treatment for heartburn and indigestion.

PC Burnett collapsed and died 34 hours later from an atherothrombosis, a condition which leads to arteries becoming blocked.

His widow Christine has now been awarded a six figure sum in compensation three years after his death, with United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust accepting negligence.

Of course, a tidy sum to be sure at first glance. Think of the tidy sums saved by not having the surgical costs on the NHS and savings on his pension.

National health care does save the system money.

Anna Temple, of United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, said: “We offer our condolences to the family of Mr Burnett.

How wonderful and sensitive of them to care.

Here’s a group of bright bulbs, eh?

A group of teenage girls made a solemn pact - not to be friends forever, go to the prom together or try out for a sports team.

They agreed to get pregnant. And they kept their promise.

Seventeen girls at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts are expecting babies, Time.com first reported.

None of the mothers-to-be, who are planning to raise their babies together, are over age 16. One of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless man.

My first reaction was they’ll learn soon enough about the consequences of stupid decisions.  But then I thought about it and that’s not true.  Because the fact is we’ll suffer the consequences.  We’ll pay their rent.  Buy their clothes.  Feed them.  Give them free healthcare.  Finance some form of education for the mother.  And more than likely, we’ll keep paying for the next generation who are much more likely to become welfare wards too.

And all the while, big government types will tell those of us who work, pay taxes, and take care of our families why they need more and more of our money.  This is why Deval can’t give us tax relief.  He has to take care of all the people who need reminders to keep breathing.

Yes, we’re all fathers-to-be and mothers-to-be, but I don’t feel much like celebrating.  How about you?

The Logo of Efficiency Vermont is Camel’s Hump as seen from the western side. After reading this article it looks more like a shark cruising for idiots.

We’re From Efficiency Vermont And We’re Here To Help You

I recently contacted my electric company concerning high electrical usage at my residence. After converting from an 80-gallon electric hot water heater to a 95 percent efficient propane indirect unit, my usage went up. My electric company said to contact Efficiency Vermont and they could “help” me. I thought, “Great, finally I will get some value for the extra money being paid out of my electric bills.” Upon review of this government’s Web site, I realized they offered up to a $ 1,000 incentive for converting from electric hot water to other efficient fuels. I contacted the organization and asked if I qualified. [snip]

Country club Republicans, led by Bush and McCain, look they’re on the road to Waterloo this fall. Continuing red district special election losses don’t bode well for the November elections. Abandoning conservative principles for liberalism-lite will keep them in the minority for years to come.

I have no idea of the political bend of the “Left in Lowell” blog, though the name and the word progressive in the banner might be indicative.

Seems that one of the posters had a dustup with the local powers causing worry that this might occur to “less influential” citizens.

She came home last Tuesday to find a “cease and desist” order posted on her front door. [snip]

Those of us who write on this blog and those of us who are involved in politics understand the impact of power, influence and authority. I am not worried about Kristin she can take care of herself. But my concern is for the average resident who is not an activist, who has no connection, who does not have a voice. What is he or she to do? [snip]

I believe they got what they wanted: more government. Tough when your pet bites you isn’t it.

The big “guns” write:

Sen. Hillary Clinton’s mailing attacking Sen. Barack Obama’s record on guns appears to include a striking visual gaffe: The image of the gun pictured on the face of the mailing is reversed, making it a nonexistent left-handed model of the Mauser 66 rifle. [snip]

The Mauser 66, released in 1966 and no longer manufactured, is a high-end hunting rifle that found military use as a sniper rifle. In Clinton’s mailing, it’s pictured with a double-set trigger, a customization that’s popular in Europe but “almost unheard of in the United States,” Forgett said.

“It’s a $2,200 German import — it’s hardly typical of what the average workingman in Indiana uses,” he said.

The left is really “on target.”