Monday, June 20. 2005
Those Evil Boy Scouts The Left, not just the ACLU, has been in a fit about the Boy Scouts for years. I can only assume it is because they represent "honorable values," which are anathema to the Termites. Heck, the word "honor" itself seems to have disappeared from the lexicon of the Left, has it not?... if not from the lexicon of our culture. I am hanging on to it, although it ain't easy to do. Is the concept of the Boy Scouts innocent? Yes. Is it old-fashioned? Yes. Is it religion-based? Yes. Does it represent the traditional core of our nation? Yes. Does it represent a love of nature and wilderness? Yes. Does every American lad of today -urban, suburban, or rural - need this? Yes. Ernest Thompson Seton, of Connecticut, has been a life-long hero of ours. His books on the outdoors and natural history here. His "Woodcraft Indians League" has been an aspect of Traditional Scouting since the beginning. How evil is this: Campfires? Woodcraft? Arm-wrestling? Seamanship? Duty? Honor? Or is it all just too masculine? | Scout Oath | | Scout Law |
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On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.
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Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind | | Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean
Reverent |
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The EU Vote The problem was that the voters "got too much info" - MartiniPundit Sri Lanka taxing aid vehicles Truly disgusting, mercenary, and deeply wrong. Makes you want to say "the heck with 'em." Gay and Right. I (Heart) Gitmo Isn't capitalism something? The Band T Shirts Proudly display your excellent taste in music. From Riverdance to modern dance In CSM - Cool. What is your emotional age? Blogthings. Don't lie! Lying is a far worse thing than being immature, and self-deception is maybe the worst form of it. "Nuke the Jews" Rafsanjani: It doesn't bother the BBC? in LGF Maureen: Too much pressure No Maureen to kick around any more? Is she really leaving the Times? To start a blog, maybe? Anklebiter.
Three from Jose Ortega y Gasset: "A revolution only lasts fifteen years, a period which coincides with the effectiveness of a generation." "Effort is only effort when it hurts." "The metaphor is perhaps one of man's most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic, and it seems a tool for creation which God forgot inside one of His creatures when He made him."
A note on Ortega: Many of us read his Revolt of the Masses in college, but not everyone knows that this philosopher also wrote one of the all-time classics on the joys and ethics of hunting, Meditations on Hunting.
Sunday, June 19. 2005
Matthew 6, 1-4 Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they will have their reward. But when you give alms, let your left hand not know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees you in secret will reward you.
Saturday, June 18. 2005
The Hawk The deluxe super-duper ultra-stupendous and also real good Iowahawk is back. We hope all is well with him. Now back to the garden.
Friday, June 17. 2005
Turban Durbin, more From the Dartmouth guys at Powerline: "We give Durbin failing grades in attention, conduct, intelligence, knowledge, candor, logic, manners, loyalty and decency."
Al Franken is a jerk If Minnesotans have forgotten Jesse Ventura, they should start taking gingko biloba to improve what clearly is severe memory loss. The thought of electing Al Franken as senator is so bizarre it isn't funny. Although he will most likely entertain the senators, he would be doing so at the cost of making the senate a laughingstock. which lately is not such an arduous task. What's next -- Robin Williams for president or perhaps Whoopi as first black female Commander and Chief. UGH! In the NYT: MINNEAPOLIS, June 13 - The swells who showed up before Al Franken's speech at a Democratic fund-raiser to down finger food and punch were thrilled to see him, all the more so because he continues to make threatening noises about running for the Senate here in 2008. A former writer and performer for "Saturday Night Live" and more recently a radio host on Air America, Mr. Franken has used his outsider status to hurl humor-based invective and indignation at the powers that be, but he is considering becoming part of what he so frequently assails. Click here: Comedian for Senator? Don't Laugh - New York Times
Ankle-Biter Gets It This mini-tantrum coming from the excellent Ankle-Biter is what many of us feel whenever we encounter the news: It pains me greatly to have to say this because it makes me feel like a rightwing crank when I do, but there’s no escaping it: the Left truly does hate America. They hate everything about it; it’s Judeo-Christian heritage; the God-given rights it protects for its citizens; its free markets; you name it, they hate it. It’s a harsh judgment and normally I couldn't care less what these fools think, but just consider the two big stories in the paranoid, angry little minds of the extreme Left, also known as the moonbats. Indeed. Self-hating Americans. Where do they all come from? They are relentless, because they have a religious-like mission, fueled with hate and self-righteousness.
Waiting for the Revolution Eugene McCarraher, a thoughtful, earnest, but clearly impatient and irritated Christian Leftist from the old school (ie, appearing more passionate about politics than about saving souls), is awaiting an uprising from the pews to bring a Christian-socialist utopia to earth. Naturally, "corporations" and Bush are the main obstacles, plus that tired old bugaboo "American imperialism". You know how much utopians frighten me - wasn't Hitler a Socialist Christian? I always figure socialists want to own me and control me, crush my spirit and to make me a dependent. Tell me, who are the more worldly - the (few but vocal) members of the termite Christian Left or the traditionalist Christians? It's worth hearing about how they view the world, in Christianity Today: Click here: The Revolution Begins in the Pews - Books & Culture
So many blogs, so little time: three excellent blogs we have recently found: Atlantic Blog, by an American economist in Ireland
Ex-Donkey Blog, a fellow New Englander from Connecticut
Free Market Fairy Tales, from England And a site for the legal implications of blogging: EFF Legal Guide for Bloggers
Welfare State Demographics It's not a crisis yet in the US, but in Euroland it is. Ponzi schemes can only work if you have growing, working populations. If anyone but a government pulled this crap, they would be in jail. A piece in The Economist goes through the details of the population declines in Western countries, and the consquences.
 What's This?
A Full-Rigged Ship, a Bark, a Barkentine, a Brig, a Brigantine, or a Schooner? Well, you know she's not a schooner because of the square sails. Not a Full-Rigged or a Bark because she only has two masts. But what's the difference between a Full-Rigged and a Bark? Learn your Tall Ships here. They are among the most majestic, yet lovely, of all of man's creations. (She's a Brigantine, the UK's 132-foot Eye of the Wind)
Gentleman and Gentlewoman Farmers I know Dr. Joy Bliss gets Yankee Magazine, but does she know about Progressive Farmer? Fine site and fine magazine. No, it's not politically progressive.
"Turban" Durbin and Treason Excerpted from Scrapple-Man, but... "The unspeakable cruelties that Sen. Durbin decried on the Senate floor must stop before his own detention on treason charges," said Mr. Rumsfeld. "After all, Dick Durbin is an American citizen, not an ordinary enemy combatant bent on destroying this nation and increasing the danger to our troops by inflaming the passions of the Muslim world."
Termite Non-Profits: The International Committee of the Red Cross I have been assigned the cheerful task of following up on anti-American or America-undermining non-profits. The ACLU and Amnesty International are no-brainers - they have been dramatically outed recently. The ICRC has no direct relationship with the American Red Cross, but is 35% supported by US tax money. I cannot copy excerpts from the Senate Republican Policy Committee report, but you can read the whole report here:
Click here:http://rpc.senate.gov/_files/Jun1305ICRCDF.pdf Why am I paying for this?
The recent release of Crash is worthy of a Saturday night at the movies. Ebert: "Crash" was directed by Paul Haggis, whose screenplay for "Million Dollar Baby" led to Academy Awards. It connects stories based on coincidence, serendipity, and luck, as the lives of the characters crash against one another other like pinballs. The movie presumes that most people feel prejudice and resentment against members of other groups, and observes the consequences of those feelings.
Blogs akin to "unpoliced conversation" Huh? WTF? Well, according to the Archbishop ("Archdruid") of Canterbury...in Country Store Bernard Goldberg's new book The author of Bias has his new book, 100 People Who are Screwing Up America. Surely a book about the Big Termites. This will be a best-seller. No, the review won't tell you who the 100 are - I checked. Al Quaida in Canada Gee, Canadians are just so nice and tolerant. At some point, the famous "Canada nice" begins to creep me out. Is it nice, or is it sheer fecklessness and spinelessness? In Jihad Watch. Vast Left Wing Conspiracy An interview with York, at American Enterprise: Click here: The American Enterprise: The Empire Strikes Back Peace Studies for Jihad From the nation's Orkin man, Horowitz: Click here: FrontPage magazine.com :: Pacifists for Genocide by Eugene Girin
"Be careful, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." (I have also seen this translated as "Be kind,...") Philo
Thursday, June 16. 2005
Gay Patriot's Ordeal Gay Patriot, an excellent anonymous blogger, has been on our blogroll since the beginning, but it is only now that we realize what has been going on with him. LGF had the story in March, and now Gay Patriot tells part of the story of harassment by left-wing activists. It is an ugly story, judging from what his post implies.
Schiavo We hated the entire Schiavo story, but RWNuthouse has written a very thoughtful retrospective on the whole thing. Worth your attention. And, for balance, BlameBush has some tasteless black humor on the same subject: Malicious rhetoric from right-wing polemicists like the Pope has done serious damage to the Right to Die crusade, but there's still a glimmer of hope for those longing for death - either their own, or of a loved-one whose continuing existence has become an inconvenience to everyone. Read entire.
Too Cool If only Samuel Pepys had the internet. He would be thrilled to know that you can follow his diary daily or weekly at The Diary of Samuel Pepys. Don't miss the June 14th entry, about a hanging. This is the right way to read his wonderful diary, a day or two at a time.
Carnival of History Blogs On Spinning Clio
"Christers" An antique insulting term for believers, unearthed recently and coming back into fashion by Christian-haters and, presumably, Christ-haters. Bird of Paradise researched it. Call me a Christer - fine with me.
Germany prepares for more than the World Cup
The Gospel According To AmericaA book worthy of reading this summer or anytime but especially in light of the discourse occurring in the Capital, the MSM, and everywhere else in America. David Dark’s The Gospel According to America: A Meditation on a God-blessed, Christ-haunted Idea. A Review by Zachry Kincaid, director of The Matthew's House Project: G.K. Chesterton who wrote a series of newspaper articles some eighty years ago about his visit to America. Chesterton says that America is a country with the soul of a church. Based in the equality of all human beings principle, Dark relates this church soul to the Apostle Paul’s sameness in Christ. But, Chesterton reminds us that America is either entirely heroic or completely insane. Today’s version of gospel is closer to insane. The abuse of freedom has driven the Gospel out of serious public thought, reduced to Ten Commandments lawn signs and ichthus-marked SUVs. We should pause, Dark says, “as we consider how easily many Americans speak of their faith as a private, personal matter; a relationship somehow contained within the heart; an odd, airy thing called ‘spirituality.’” Ought Christians to rather act in step with the early followers who “are not of this world’s way of doing things, but their hope is still scandalously this-worldly. And the intensity of their passion for a socially disruptive, enduring freedom won’t be diminished, divided, or conquered by the prerogatives of any government.” (6) Freedom ringing from the mountains to the prairies, Dark argues, can be a corrupting factor to the definition of gospel in America. From Constantine making official the Christian faith as the Roman government’s faith, the West has been riddled with what to do with this system of faith that demands poverty and meekness. America is no exception. How do you take a “rogue” faith, as Dark says, and make it stately? One way President Bush has neatly tied Christianity to the American way is through rhetoric and terrorism and war. (As Dark references) Bush has framed America and Christianity as synonymous: Ours is the cause of human dignity; freedom guided by conscience and guarded by peace. This ideal of America is the hope of all mankind… That hope still lights our way. And the light shines in the darkness. And the darkness will not overcome it. (14
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