Saturday, April 22. 2006
Business news: Google is still on a roll. I sold all of mine already, but I try to be prudent with hot stocks. And guess who is back? McDonald's. Their food is revolting, but not their profits...except their fries - better than in France. I know people who pick up a load of fries there when they are grilling steak for dinner. What suckers! The Brits are moving their jail toilets to please Moslem inmates. Is there a better place to pray, or read, than on the old throne? It must be in the Koran, right next to "Kill the infidel": "Toilets must not face Mecca." Those Blairite Brits are turning into metrosexual saps. Katrina frauds don't want to give their money back. Huh? It's not their money. Go ahead, play the pity card. That card does not work with the IRS.
IowaHawk has outsourced his humor to India! Rooty toot toot! Protest season. Quote from NE Repub: How come when Clinton or Jimmy Carter, or any Democrat won a Presidential Election…..we don’t have Republicans protesting on the streets of Washington? Call me crazy…but I strongly feel it has something to do with “having to go to work”…………Conservatives need to go to work-right? They have kids, and jobs and all kinds of responsibilities..I mean, even I do.
How soon will Hamas collapse? The legal migration from the high-tax blue states to the red states: Why is it happening? Daily Pundit. The sky is falling. Justin on environmental hysteria. Russia's demographic choice: Suicide. Perhaps they might welcome 30 million Mexicans? Venezuela become a military camp. What a joke. I guess it keeps the population from getting pissed off at Chavez - plus gives them a job. Pathetic. Another quote from One Cosmos' confession (read it all here): While harping on my own shortcomings, mention should also be given to my intellectual arrogance and my moral superiority. Scratch any leftist and this is what you will find: a bottomless reservoir of conviction that they not only know more than you do, but that they are a better person than you are. You are greedy, or homophobic, or sexist, or racist, or hate the poor, or don't care about the planet, while I am the opposite of all those things. I am kind, compassionate, wise, generous and tolerant.
The reason why leftist ideas are so devoid of substance is that they often come down to a simple affirmation of these self-flattering adjectives, as in the example a couple weeks ago of Jimmy Carter's abuse of the innocent elementary school student. To summarize, it went something like this: "Are you a nice person?," asked Carter. "Yes," says the girl. "Then you are a Democrat." Easy.
Thursday, April 20. 2006
Second homes: They were 14% of the real estate market in 2004. Are they driving the real estate market? Clayton Cramer Georgia's new immigration law: details here at YARGB Free political speech and 527s. Coyote rips Repubs for their role in this mess. Carl Bernstein makes a case for impeaching Bush. Claims it's not partisan. I think it's just payback time. Rick Moran takes a look. What plants like to grow on beaches along the Atlantic coast? I have a project going, so I needed to check. Here they are.
The CEO of Tyson Foods manages to arrange a meeting with the Pope at the Vatican. After receiving the papal blessing, he whispers, "Your eminence, we have an offer for you. Tyson Foods is prepared to donate $100 million dollars to the church if you change the Lord's Prayer from "give us this day our daily bread" to "give us this day our daily chicken.'" The Pope responds, "That is impossible. The Prayer is the word of the Lord - it must not be changed." "Well," says the Tyson man, "We anticipated your reluctance. For this reason, we will increase our offer to $300 million dollars. All we require is that you change the Lord's Prayer from 'give us this day our daily bread' to 'give us this day our daily chicken.'" Again, the Pope replies, "That, my son, is impossible. For the prayer is the word of the Lord and it must not be changed." Finally, the Tyson guy says, "Your Holiness, we at Tyson Foods respect your adherence to your faith, but we do have one final offer. We will donate $500 million dollars to the great Roman Catholic Church if you would only change the Lord's Prayer from 'give us this day our daily bread' to 'give us this day our daily chicken.' Please consider it." And he leaves. The next day the Pope convenes the College of Cardinals. "There is some good news," he announces, "And some bad news." "The good news is that the Church has come into $500 million dollars." "And the bad news, Your Holiness?" asks a Cardinal. "We're losing the Wonderbread account."
Wednesday, April 19. 2006
Jetlag Cures: Water, darkness, and earplugs. The Chinese organ-selling story. Hey, why not? It is "rational", isn't it? Travel and Do Good: Adventurers bring cataract surgery to Indian villages. Only Americans would do things like this. An MD with a Medicaid practice: That ain't a medical practice - that's charity. God bless him. We agree with Pejman: Scott McClellan was never comfortable around the White House Press Corps. He was hardly what one would call an effective or charismatic spokesman for the Administration's interests. And at times, McClellan could just be clumsy. His successor will have a low bar to clear. As for Rove, it (embarrassingly) never occurred to me to think that the White House's political problems may stem from the fact that its chief politico took up policy matters in addition to his political portfolio at the start of the second term. Correlation is not causation, of course, but one cannot help but wonder whether the expansion of the Rovian empire might have detracted from the effectiveness of the Administration's political operations. In any event, Republicans will likely welcome the renewed attention that Karl Rove will pay to political matters. The midterms, after all, will be upon the country quite soon now.
The Boston Globe tries its hand at multicultural "understanding." Seems like they "understand" suicide bombers. Of course they do. Who could doubt it? As an essayist, I see Dinocrat rising to the level of the Great Right Wing Nuthouse. From a piece on multiculturalism: Modernity carries within it the seeds of its own destruction. Modern society, with its technology, ease, mobility, and wealth weakens the traditional bonds of tribe, religion, family and tradition that have been the bonding elements of human society over many millennia. One of the chief sources of internal rot in modern society is multiculturalism. Multiculturalism arises out of a number of factors, including (a) the lack of understanding and instruction about how our bountiful time was created; and (b) the guilt of Western elites. Multiculturalism both creates internal rot, and finds itself easily intimidated by and unable to deal with pre-modern societies with deep tribal and belief structures such as the sharia societies of Islam.
Raskalnikov, a Canadian Indian, is fed up with blogging. One quote from Manitoba (with comments from S,C and A, where you can read the whole piece): The white liberal guilt in this country has gone into overkill. It's like a dysfunctional family that buys new appliances when one son comes out of the closet, or the youngest daughter gets pregnant. Throw money at it, spend it away, ignore it under a pile of material compensation. Granted some if it does go to honorable ideas such as education, culture and health. These are vital aspects of life and the opportunities in them for us are now endless. The playing field may not be completely level, but it's much better than it was 50 years ago. Shit, 20 years ago. Any Indian not handcuffed by mental illness or addiction can be anything he or she wants to be. A doctor, a cop, whatever. It's sad most of them choose to keep on perpetuating the victimhood cult. In a society where we place such small value on thinking, is it any surprise the victimhood pimps use emotional fervor to brainwash future generations into whining and bitching? Mix this with the revolting, degenerate hip-hop destroying the minds of our youth and it sure beats having to take responsibility for yourself. And the welfare being handed to us by the Government only serves to put more value on the role of victim; not only does it appeal to baser human instincts, but you can get paid for it too.
As for our own Leadership, as much as I despise most Chiefs and Councils in this country, they are only human. How many of us could be handed endless streams of money, then find out all you need to do is cry racism when anyone asks what you did with it, and not be corrupted? This certainly doesn't pardon them, but I can sympathize with their fallibility. That being said, they are reprobate thieves and sawdust dictators for the most part. There should come a point when you recognize the errors you have made. We Indians are supposed to be so wise, especially our 'leaders". Yet we keep on making the same mistakes over and over, first and foremost keeping our lips tightly sealed on that big sweaty bleeding-heart progressive tit. Raskalnikov is tired- and has been, for a while. ...I expect more. I am, by nature, a very cynical and skeptical person, however as I got older I realized, of course, most of that was just my own crap to deal with, and life, and people, really aren't that bad.....then I read something or hear something that just verifies my cynical outlook and I get enraged. Wow. People really are that stupid. Life really is meaningless and nasty, solitary, brutish and short. All that Nietzsche and Schopenhauer and Camus I read isn't just adolescent navel-gazing. People really are dogshit on the sole of the universe. And I guess nowhere is this more blatant than in politics and current events.
From the Financial Times on Hollywood’s Pellicano scandal: “The scandal in Hollywood, by contrast, is about that community’s special currency, deal-making leverage. The leading man is Anthony Pellicano, a private investigator, who has been indicted for bribery, racketeering and illegal wiretapping. Mr Pellicano is alleged to have secretly listened in on celebrities and entertainment industry figures, including Nicole Kidman (when she was divorcing Tom Cruise), on behalf of industry big shots. At issue in the ongoing investigation is whether the agents and studio executives who hired Mr Pellicano to gain the upper hand in their negotiations and lawsuits understood his methods. “It may be far from routine for Hollywood bigwigs to stick spies on their enemies or send goons to intimidate prying journalists, as is alleged in this case, but the ruthlessness and aggression that prompted producers, agents and L.A. lawyers to hire Mr Pellicano are perfectly normal in Hollywood. This is merely a hyperbolic expression of the narcissism and paranoia that characterise the movie mogul’s relentless drive for dominance in pursuit of mediocrity.”
Indiana Federal Judge upholds voter ID law. How can that be news? How can anyone expect to vote without identifying themselves? Vote fraud in some of America's Democratic Machine cities is famous and well-known. There is no American who does not carry some form of ID, and I have always assumed you needed some to vote anywhere. The chutzpah of the Dems to angrily oppose this is an astonishing admission of devious intent. Working on a tow-boat. A romantic, macho, outdoor career with echoes of Mark Twain. CSM Some scientists need to determine to what extent the hot air from Al Gore's speeches contributes to global warming. I have become convinced that this "issue" is primarily ideological/political. The only good outcome of this movement might be to hasten the construction of new nuclear power plants. Like others of the limo liberals who don't need real jobs - Robert Kennedy Jr. comes to mind, these bozos, who couldn't pass Physical Chemistry - a highly cool area of rigorous study - march off with their junk science as if experts, to make themselves feel, and appear, virtuous. "Is a stay at home Mom a traitor to feminism?" Sort of a bizarre question, since it postulates 1) a war, of sorts, and 2) that having a career is the highest expression of being human, when what it mainly is is a way to pay the bills. Cathy Young at Reason takes another look at careers vs. Mommys. As a bit of a Momma's Boy myself, I side with the Moms. The Death Cult of Islam takes another step forward. Gateway. If you want to be a suicide bomber, get in line. They have 70 already waiting to get into Israel.
Tuesday, April 18. 2006
Whoops, Perhaps We Spoke Too Soon -- Worst Music Video Ever His name, and the name of his children--Jochi, Ogudai, Hulegu, Tolui, Chagatai -- struck fear in the hearts of the fiercest warlords. His mongol hordes, drinking the blood from cuts in their horse's necks to avoid stopping, swept through empires and tribes and established Khanates from the Caspian Sea to the Sea of Japan. The Chinese were child's play; the Great Rus to the north reduced to mere vassals. And now the Awesome and Terrible name of Genghis Khan has been reduced to this: My Spanish is a little rusty, but in the middle, they say "Kunta-Kinte says Hi!" I think that's what it says. I blacked out. Posted by Roger De Hauteville
The conservative divisions on illegal immigration: self-government vs. economic determinism. Auster. Kevin Philips is worried about theocracy. Bogus scare tactics, if you ask me. Why is it creeping theocracy when conesrvative religious folks offer an opinion, but not then leftist religious folks do the same? Enviros are finally coming around to nuclear. That makes sense. Instap. Big White House staff shake-up coming soon. Good idea. United 93. Prager says all Americans must see it, as an antidote to denial.
Monday, April 17. 2006
They worshiped Thor, Odin and Freija once. The very mention of their longboats struck fear in the hearts of Europe and Britannia. They held the Russian bear at bay for centuries. And now, it's come to this - (h/t, Derbyshire at NRO): Posted by Roger De Hauteville
Saturday, April 15. 2006
Johnson at Front Page has a fine piece on the doublespeak of immigration. A simple translation of the language of immigration "reform," at NRO. The Dems are abandoning the blacks for the illegals, says Gay Patriot.A look at past college sports team rape accusations, Revenge of the Nerds by Smerconish. Bob at One Cosmos has written his story of his conversion from liberal to conservative. I have no doubt that it will ring true to many, and it contains most of the themes about we have written over the past year - but Bob writes gooder than we do. One quote: Leftism continues to be a children's crusade against the adult world, and we are in desperate need of adults who will stand up to the children and not worry about trying to be their "friends." As a parent, you simply have to do what you need to do, because children don't really know how to raise themselves. (If I had more time, this would be a good place to expand upon this vis-a-vis Will's comment below on the spirit of rebellion that animates the Left. This rebellion is an inevitable artifact of childhood, and is oedipal to the core. To gratify it is to create a monster.)
Read it all. I agree with John at Powerline, re the trumped-up Rumsfeld pseudo-issue (my bold): JOHN adds: When you're President, you get lots of free advice. Some of it is well-intentioned; much of it is not. Here is why I think so many liberals are anxious for President Bush to replace Rumsfeld: they have staked a great deal on the proposition that the Iraq war has not gone well, and, in fact, has been a disaster. But they are troubled because they are not at all sure that is true. By any reasonable standard, casualties have been low and Iraq's progress toward democracy has been impressive. This doesn't mean the project couldn't still go off the rails; it clearly could. But it is also possible--likely, I think--that the Iraqis will succeed in forming a government, violence will continue to decline, our troops levels will be substantially reduced, and, in a year or two, the consensus will be that the war was pretty successful after all. This, I think, is what liberals fear most. They want President Bush to stipulate, in effect, that the war has been poorly conducted and has been a failure. That's the way in which firing Rumsfeld would rightly be interpreted. This would largely insulate liberals against the consequences if the war does, in fact, turn out to be successful. The same logic, I think, explains why liberals are always hectoring President Bush to "admit his mistakes." What they fear, deep down, is that the President's policies haven't been mistakes at all.
Friday, April 14. 2006
The inimitable Thomas Sowell has weighed in on the big-picture implications of mass immigration over at RealClearPolitics. While he does an excellent job skewering pro-illegal immigration cliches with his usual clear-headed rationality, the following excerpt represents a far greater and more important realization about the effects of millions of foreigners on American culture and society: Why is this a far more prosperous country than the countries from which most of our immigrants come? Many of those countries are well endowed with natural resources but are lacking an economic and political culture that would allow those resources to be used to produce better results than the poverty which drives their people to other countries. When you import people, you import cultures. Those cultures no longer give way to the American culture when "multiculturalism" is a dogma and its apostles and activists make it necessary for American laws, language, and culture to give way, or at least accommodate growing alien enclaves in our midst. A nation is more than a collection of whatever population happens to reside within its borders. Something has to unite those people if the country is not to degenerate into the kind of unending internal strife brought on by Balkanization in many countries around the world, not just in the Balkans.
The final paragraph above is not only anathema to liberals, but to modern liberalism itself (embraced by Democrats and Republicans alike), which likes to hold that as all men are created equal, any cultural/racial/religious differences are mere details and relatively unimportant when it comes to deciding who we should choose to grant the gift and privilege of American citizenship. Read the full article here. Image: The Central Balkans
Rumsfeld is the "near enemy." The real enemy is Bush. Belmont explains it. I also think that the "fire Rumsfeld" thing is due to his effectiveness: wars are always a mess but Rummy is about the most intelligent, incisive, confident guy in government, and I think his confidence and testosterone drive the Left nuts. (Do I detect a bit of jealousy of the guy's aggressive brain and masculinity, too?) The Duke lynch mob. No idea whether team members raped this stripper/prostitute, but I do not see much evidence for it yet. TalkLeft has some legal defence considerations.Apparently David Brooks editorialized in much the same manner as we did here: true or false, the story fits the Left's preferred fantasy of evil white racist/sexist brutal jocks. (Do I detect a little jealousy, again? Who would not want to play a Division 1 sport, if they could?) Is Moussaui a mainstream Moslem? Dinocrat thinks so. I have no idea. He sure is a mainstream Islamist. You have to read what Moussaui said at Daily Pundit, representing the Religion of Peace. Then scroll down at Dinocrat - he figures out the Dem strategy on immigration: it is to fool the Hispanics. Granny Get Your Gun. Rambo Granny takes care of business in England. Wow. FMFT. She sets a fine example for the country.
Thursday, April 13. 2006
Dems secret plans: race-based campaign against Steele in Maryland. Nice plan, guys. But it takes a little subtlety to run a racist campaign when you desperately need all black voters on your Dem plantation. More on the new missing link hominids, at Science Daily and also more here. Abdul Rahman killed in Pakistan. One by one, they are going down. Confed. Yank Danger: Coke has fizz. Michigan court allows lawsuit to proceed by woman who had fizzy Coke spray in her eye. Coke failed to warn that Coke was fizzy. h/t, Overlawyered. Note to scam artists and their lawyers: Carbonated beverages have fizz. Including beer. That's why you buy them: fizz is fun. Do not look at these images of late-term abortions in Conservative Life. I mean it. Nor can I imagine a physician who would do this. Fitzgerald gives false witness to New York Times. Charges will not be pressed against him. Newsweek warns: Strong economy may lead to weak economy. Hmmm. I don't recall such articles when Clinton was President. Ace.
Tawana Brawley redux, at Duke? LaShawn wonders. I will remain open-minded, but it was amazing, and disturbing, to see the widespread assumption of guilt because the story fit a leftist myth. Man, when this stuff happens, the Left just eats it up, with the MSM cheerleading all the way. You might almost imagine that they welcome such stories...but to think that would be "mean-spirited," would it not? The Medicare prescription plan: 8 in 10 are satisfied with it. Have you read that in the newspaper? Ca. Yank The Wishful Thinking Theory of foreign affairs. Maybe Iran will change its mind? Huh? Have you ever tried to change just one person's mind about anything? The WaPo has no fear of Iran. Kim du Toit announces a major immigration protest, to be held in November, 2006 and November, 2008. The reductio ad absurdum of affirmative action: DNA-based job and college applications. NE Repub. This could get good: Every male has one entire X chromosome, which makes them 50% female. Every person has some African blood - duh! Not some - 100%, when you think about it - it was just a while ago in history, before that strange skin mutation turned my ancestors to a pasty, sickly, blotchy pale color, but what does that matter? I am a little worried about my Celtic and Norman warrior DNA - nobody seems to care about them. But hey, Harvard - I am 100% African, and half woman, and my DNA proves it. My skin color? It's just a Michael Jackson thing. My genitalia? None of your business, you filthy-minded Admissions Dept. My character? Horrible: "malicious and so full of guile. Give it an inch, and he'll take a mile." It's a Human Thing. Wierd men, and why they should marry foreign women. By a wierd man: Marginal Rev. The Ugly Kid Crisis. What can the government do about this? If the government can solve the "Obesity Crisis" (shortly after abandoning the "Hunger Crisis") they can solve the Ugly Kid problem. I suggest we start with a $100,000,000 educational pilot program. Italy returns to instability. My opinion? Not a serious nation; nice place to visit, with the most beautiful women in the world. From Publius: Political instability is the result of political immaturity in a country that - in some respects - has still a fascistic mentality (statism, bureaucracy and wide corruption of politicians from both sides).
On Gambling, Stolen from News for Christians: From Agape Press -Apparently Americans have more money than they know what to do with. According to U.S. News & World Report's Kim Clark, each year Americans lose $80 billion to gambling in its various forms -- from casinos to bingo to online gambling to horse racing. Gamblers get plenty of opportunities to play. Forty-eight states have some form of legalized gambling, says Jeffrey Kluger of Time -- and that does not include the Internet, which is quickly becoming a wide-open portal for those with an itch to bet. Read the complete article here.
Wednesday, April 12. 2006
Too funny. New Orleans using school busses to bus voters for Nagin into New Orleans. The role of International A.N.S.W.E.R. in the pro-illegal immigration protests. Totaly ignored by the MSM. Driscoll 75% of Chinese like free market capitalism. What are the numbers for those of other countries? The Conspiracy "Instant Democrats"? Will on immigration reform. Excellent essay on the history of gunpowder.
Tuesday, April 11. 2006
Docks in winter storage. 
Look who is running for the Human Rights Council of the UN. Atlas Another view of the Mass. Health Insurance Law: Headed for an Iceberg? NE Repub. Moslems for open borders. See, the problem is this - open borders for Mexicans means open borders for anyone. And then you are no longer a country - you're just a place. Did global warming stop eight years ago? Ex Donk And this piece on how cleaner air adds to warming.
Monday, April 10. 2006
 Today is "Celebrate Illegal Alien Day." Let's make it a national holiday, GW. Michelle. Is this not a case in which foreigners, illegally in the US, are attempting to influence American politics? Does that make sense? My political intuition tells me that these protests will backfire, badly. Since when can you sneak into a country, and then make demands? As our reader comments, what is Spanish for "chutzpah"?
When I last returned from the US after a vacation in Italy, with a US passport, they put me through a meat-grinder. Easier to fly home to Mexico, and walk through the river. They would not have gone through my bags and done a passport check - not that there was anything to find. Well, I had an apple from the airplane in my pocket which I forgot to carry in my stomach - an illegal agricultural product. Shame on me. Here's the list of places where the protest marches will be occurring. These marches seem to be coordinated by the Center for Community Change. Auster points out that normalizing illegal immigration means, in essence, an open borders policy in which the US abandons the right to control immigration of any sort. In my opinion, that is an abrogation of nationhood because, as I have said, half the world would come here if all they had to do was wade across the Rio Grande.
In reply to our email, asking Borders to confirm that their cartoon decision was reported accurately, we received the following profession of dhimmitude, dated 4/9: Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for your expression of concern about our decision not to carry the issue of Free Inquiry magazine featuring cartoons depicting Muhammad. Borders is committed to our customers' right to choose what to read and what to buy and to the First Amendment right of Free Inquiry to publish the cartoons. In this particular case, we decided not to stock this issue in our stores because we place a priority on the safety and security of our customers and our employees. We believe that carrying this issue presented a challenge to that priority.
We value your thoughts and sincerely appreciate that you invested your time to tell us how you feel about the issue. I can assure you that our management team gave careful deliberation to this decision and considered all sides of the issue before reaching this conclusion.
I hope that this information is helpful. If you should have any other questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact us.
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Borders Customer Care
http://www.bordersstores.com
 It's vacation time again, in France. Watch the protests in France fizzle. What a country. The protesters will be at the beach in Spain with their parents! Vive la revolution des enfants.
Hey Sy Hirsch. We consider all options. That means consider. Can you consider anything other than reflexive anti-Americanism? S,C and A has had it with the "colonialism" theme. Me, too. Those ex-colonial countries are lucky. They were given a chance to come out of the stone age, but many of them do not appreciate the opportunity, and wish to return. A French econ professor tried the real world for a few weeks - and was converted. Of course. She was surprised to find out that people work fairly hard, with enthusiasm, and enjoy working. Why is the Left anti-work? Work is good. Work is fun. Work is interesting. Work is ADULT. Will the MSM ever admit that Saddam was supporting Al Quaida? No. It doesn't fit their theme. Don't bother me with facts. Lib. Leanings The economists at Marginal Rev. look at the Mass. Health plan. They sort-of like it. Uncle Norm does the 101 best screenplays. Reducing pollution is worsening global warming. Oh, man. Can we forget this yet? Whatever the cause, nothing effective will be done. Let's get over the hysteria. Ten years ago, the hysteria was the next ice age. Ed Rendell is a good ol' boy, but he has a problem with Lynn Swann. Swann will win. French "tribalism" is interfering with the Communism they need. Sheesh. What dopes. Hopeless. For Cape Codders and Cape Cod lovers: Cape Cod Today. Roots was a big deal. Fake, but accurate? Classical values takes a retrospective look at the TV series. Will is upset about Junk Science. So are we.
Saturday, April 8. 2006
The Mafia campaigns against Berlusconi. Sadly, in Italy that isn't a problem - it helps. In the US, we still got some towns like that, ay, Ton'? Hamas determined to eliminate Rotary Clubs. They are really getting serious, now. You would think killing all of the Jews would be enough for them. And now even the EU blows them off. Who are the really cool radicals of today? The Libertarians. Ed Driscoll. It is true. The Left is old, dusty, obsolete, rejected, and done. Trial lawyers and Vioxx and Merck: The doctors want Vioxx. Great drug. But all durgs have side effects. Duh. And guess what? If 500,000 people take Vioxx for arthritis, some of them will have heart attacks. They are mostly older folks, so some will get cancer too. This legal system remains corrupt as hell, while lawyers get rich with scams. Is that clear? Hunting and illegal immigration. The swarms of illegals are interfering with hunting in Arizona. That is not good. Linkzona. The Dartmouth Review got Mark Steyn. Wow. How can I attend? How can we expel San Francisco from the union? Wish they would declare war, like the Confederacy. We could just say "No, thanks. Keep it." Power, idolatry, Islam, etc. From One Cosmos: The worship of power is the source of all idolatry. Thus, let's not pretend there haven't been Christian idolaters. It's just that the worship of power is a human flaw, not something intrinsic to Christianity. Jesus emphasized this point time and again: "the meek shall inherit the earth," "blessed are the poor in spirit," "blessed are you when they revile and persecute you," etc.
Friday, April 7. 2006
A month or so ago we posted a snarky and unkind critique of a post by Mixing Memory, a blog concerning cognitive psychology which we read weekly because of our interest in the subject. Specifically, we erroneously claimed that his blog, or at least his post, ignored the religious and/or spiritual, and we also were ill-mannered in doubting the hard-science rigor of the post. I hope he will accept our apology. Here are some of his posts on religion. And here is his latest: How Motivated Cognition can Save your Marriage.
From an interview with Benedict: Asked by one student how he realized his own priestly vocation, the 78-year-old pontiff said that when he was young in Germany it was more "normal" to accept faith and vocations than it is today. "There was the Nazi regime," Benedict said. "We were told very loudly that in the new Germany 'there will not be anymore priests, there will be no more consecrated life, we don't need this anymore, find another profession."'
Looking for a "How-To" book on becoming a Manly Man - a review of a few books on the subject in the CSM: "A Guy's Guide to Being a Man's Man," is as full of practical tips as Mansfield's is devoid of them. He reminds men exactly how to behave with honor, respect, and gentlemanliness. That includes dating ("don't look too eager"), dressing ("no ties with animals, Looney Tune characters, or Spongebob."), dining ("order New York strip steak for three"), and listening to "man's man" music ("Sinatra was the ultimate"). His formula for men in 2006 is to get a manicure (but no pedicure), money clip (no Velcro wallets), and a DVD of "Saving Private Ryan."
Why aid doesn't work in Africa. It's a well-known fact, and even our State Dept gets it. Africa needs investment by bold entrepreneurs from all over the world. Samizdata. Rick Moran gets on a roll. One quote: There are even efforts in blue states to stop “trading” with people and companies who live in ordinary America, as if people who live, work, play, go to church on Sunday, take off their hat when the flag goes by, and get choked up when they hear the national anthem live in a different country than the urban sophisticates who dominate the culture and to a large extent, the national conversation. We are told what is proper to believe, what we should watch on television, what cartoons are blasphemous, and which European countries are better than we are. We are instructed in what is “good” and even what is funny and what is not. And when red state America rebels against this cultural tyranny by voting the way they think rather than the way they are told to, they are belittled as morons, mouth breathers, hicks, hillbillies, and dolts. And liberals wonder why they can’t win an election for dog catcher in most areas of the country? In truth, as we head into the silly season in politics, Democrats are going to have to find a way to put a lid on this attitude of loathing toward ordinary voters lest they be discovered for the insufferable elitist louts they truly are.
Thanks for that, Rick, from your loutish hillbilly friends at Maggie's Farm. Whole thing here.
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