The Incredible Lightness of Being...of Late

From the NM website:

“New Mexico is rich in personality. No other state can claim our geographical or cultural diversity, or match our historic complexity.”

That statement contains more than a little hyperbole. Now I love New Mexico, which should be plain if you’ve hung around here enough to read more than a couple of posts. I’ll concede the web site’s claim of historic complexity; no argument there. But when it comes to geography, California has everything NM has (e.g., deserts, mountains, rivers, etc.) and more, simply because of its wondrous coast line. It’s arguably a toss-up when it comes to cultural diversity. But once again, I’d give California the edge. CA has waaay more moonbats than we do, even when you consider the significant moonbat penetration in Santa Fe and Taos. Proof? One word: Berkeley. All moonbat, all the time.

There. I’ve said something good about California. And they said it couldn’t be done.

Scant consolation…From an AP wire report published in the WaPo:

More than a week after Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.) claimed a razor-thin election victory, her Democratic challenger conceded yesterday, saying that a recount would cost too much and that there was no guarantee it would reverse the result.

Well, duh! Too much is $300K and there’s “no guarantee…” Yeah, I doubt if I’d wager MY money, either. But it took Madrid long enough to concede. And the “scant consolation” angle? Just that Republicans have won a few close races. But not nearly enough of ‘em, unfortunately.

A rather touchy subject, but this column by Carol Sarler in The Times (UK) contains some facts of which I was unaware:

By contrast, to have sex with somebody who has passed the age of puberty is merely to defy a law of Man — and a pretty arbitrary law at that. We cannot agree between one border and the next at what age a boy or girl is emotionally developed enough to give informed consent: Malta and The Netherlands think 12, Canada and Italy weigh in at 14, cautious Greece holds out for 15 and the good burghers of Iceland go as high as 17.

A lad in Dover with a girlfriend of 15 may not have his wicked way, but if they hop a ferry to Calais they’ll be fine. Meanwhile, in some American states not only may you have sex at 13 but you may marry at the same age, allowing for the theoretical absurdity that a man could marry in, say, New Hampshire but should he bring his bride to old Hampshire for their honeymoon he could be imprisoned for statutory rape.

The “age of consent” obviously varies widely and apparently has no underlying rationale, beyond the commonality of the woman being beyond puberty. That said, I had no idea that women (and I use the term very loosely) of 12 are legal in some parts of the world. The article is very interesting, in a sociological sort of way.

Also from The Times, this is a pretty funny article: “Go green. Look a complete idiot.” An excerpt:

Anyway, after almost 12 months of Vespa ownership, my provisional licence is about to expire and I must take the California motorcycle test. This has proved trickier than expected. I should mention that California’s Department of Motor Vehicles is one of the most efficient organisations on Earth. The first time I went to the DMV’s offices in Hollywood, I took three newspapers, a book, two copies of The New Yorker and a packed lunch. I was fully prepared to spend the rest of the day (and possibly the day after that) sitting on a plastic chair, waiting. In fact, I’d barely walked through the door when my appointment number came up on the overhead plasma TV. Forty-five seconds later, I was done (perhaps they should put the California DMV in charge of Iraq).

Well, the California DMV may be a model of efficiency, but the Texas equivalent sure ain’t!

The author could have (and should have) opted for another form of two-wheeled transport if his objective was to “go green.” Anyone who chooses to ride a Vespa should prepare him or herself for embarrassment, and lots of it, especially in the eyes of other bikers. Just sayin’.