Being a Democratic voter in my neck of the woods is a lonely job, but according to Bark Bark Woof Woof the number of Democrats in Florida is likely to rise considerably, thanks to Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO).

Calling Miami a third-world city because of all of the foreigners living there and complaining about the appointment of Florida Senator Mel Martinez to head the RNC, is certainly a novel way of widening the appeal of the Republican Party in Florida. I don’t expect he’s met the First lady of Florida, or he would have complained about the fact that she is Mexican.

With people like Tancredo speaking publicly for the GOP, the minority status of the Republican Party is solidifying every day.

The problem with history is that you have to actually study it to find out how people messed up their lives, countries, and the planet with their stupid decisions so you can avoid repeating their mistakes.

EBD of Anecdotes from a Banana Republic doesn’t think the current Lebanese young people stayed awake for history class. She is concerned that people seem to be traveling down the same road that lead to the civil war in the 1970s and 80s.

Check Fallenmonk for the strange happenings.

My guess is that the Shrubbery is trying to build a case for the disaster in Iraq being the fault of Maliki. Let’s blame the victim is quite popular among people who refuse to admit any responsibility for anything. I don’t think Mr. Maliki is ready to sacrifice himself for the Bush legacy.

The Associated Press is reporting that: U.S. To Pay $2M For False Terror Arrest.

A lawyer the FBI wrongly arrested after the 2004 Madrid terrorist bombings because of a misidentified fingerprint has settled part of his lawsuit against the U.S. government for $2 million.

Brandon Mayfield, who said he was detained for two weeks in 2004, maintained that he was arrested because of his Muslim faith.

They made the guy’s life a living hell and they now have to pay for their incompetence.

This only settles part of the case. He is continuing his suit on the constitutionality of the PATRIOT Act which is at the root of what happened to him.

Thanks to skippy the bush kangaroo for putting up this picture which indicates that Borat is a fan of Discworld. I know about the hat he’s wearing: it’s only found in XXXX.

This BBC article on the Antikythera Mechanism describes a mechanical calculator from the first century BCE that predicted astronomical events using precision gears. It would be a millennium before we regained that level of technology.