Detroit Is Dangerous

On a positive note, Detroit is losing population like a European country so there won't be very many criminals and/or victims left before long.

More Detroit stats here.

Thwarted Attacks

Just because we haven't lost a battle since 9/11 doesn't mean were not at war.

H/T Instapundit

The Bad Old Days

I meant to point you guys to this yesterday. There are some people who reminisce and hope to change public policy around to relive the glory days. James Lileks notes:

Progress is a herky-jerky march, and it’s not always clear which way we’re heading. I tend to believe it all could be much, much worse, and I still have faith in the future, mostly because I am loath to abandon Youthful Optimism and settle into gouty disapproval. I do know that things are certainly cooler than ever. Things are just cool. When I first started doing the MYS concerts, I was writing on an iMac, calling up the baby internet on a 640X480 screen; last night I was looking over my script backstage, and I realized that I was introducing an opera about which I knew nothing. So I called up wikipedia on the iPhone, got some details a minute before I was supposed to go on stage, and added them to the remarks. And it felt cool.

Anyway. If there’s one conviction that afflicts the keenest mind as it ages, it’s the belief that Things Were Better Then, and Things Are Horrible Now, usually because no one has learned the lessons of your own generation and insisted on experiencing the world for themselves. (Frank Rich provided a neat example of this a few days ago, when he diagnosed Americans as “clinically depressed” and unable to capture the glories of his demographic, which Took It To the Streets, Man. And blew up a few buildings while they were at it, but you can’t make an omelette without breaking into a farmer’s coop, stealing his chickens, setting fire to the coop and running off with the eggs, all of which you later misplaced because you were high.)

I’m so used to being lectured by sour Boomers I’ve come to think of them all as the Gratingest Generation, but it was nice to see Keillor write about how things were worse, then.

Read the whole thing.

Thanksgiving Food

Friends of mine of the Gen X generation discussed the universally reviled squash. That orange blob of stringy stuff people of certain generations love.

So, I'm putting it to vote? Are you for or against Squash as traditional Thanksgiving fare? I think you know where I stand:

How do you feel about squash?
	I love it!
	It is disgusting and vile.
pollcode.com free polls

Live Free or Die Hard, Or Just Apathetically Let Freedom Slide Effortlessly From Your Disinterested Grasp.....It Used To Be Great

There's no livin' free in Europe these days. No one can watch Die Hard and even think about livin' free in Europe:

Yes indeed, two different titles for the same movie! I guess the "live free" part of the title was considered to be too sensitive outside of North America? I know that "Live free or die" is the state motto of New Hampshire, but that is hardly an excuse. A second difference is that The Statue of Freedom in the background on top of the U.S. Capitol is a lot closer to Willis' ear in the international version. Because the voice of freedom is much more faint?

There's no livin' free in Great Britain, either. Everyone is Salmon Rushdie according to Mark Steyn:

In 1989 Salman Rushdie went into hiding under the protection of the British police. A decade later he decided he did not wish to live his life like that and emerged from seclusion to live a more or less normal life. He learned the biggest lesson of all – how easy it is to be forced into the shadows. That's what's happening in the free world incrementally every day, with every itsy-bitsy nothing concession to groups who take offense at everything and demand the right to kill you for every offense. Across two decades, what happened to Rushdie has metastasized, in part because of the weak response in those first months. "Death is perhaps too easy"? Maybe. But slow societal suicide is easier still.

Maybe you think it can't happen here. It can happen. It is happening. Freedom gets taken away one little, subtle withholding of a point-of-view at a time. Guess which point-of-view PBS suppresses.

For a step-by-step manual on utopian socialist fantasies gone wrong, look to Venezuela (Via Fausta who has more excellent links). Daniel at Venezuela News and Views reveals this:

No more private property besides your personal belongings. That is, there will be some private sector allowed with business of reasonable size but the sate will have the right to expropriate or confiscate at will if it thinks it is necessary to its interests (NOTE: even if it is all made in the name of the "people", since it is the state that translates the "real will" of the people, well, you know which are the interests truly served).

The air borne media will have rights to emit only if they serve educative purpose. The state decides which are the educative goals.

The autonomy of Universities is done with. The state will be deciding which careers should be offered and which is the right curriculum to follow. You can decide on your own how creativity and free thought in a controlled university will prosper.

Decentralization will be done with. Governors and Mayors will be subordinated to special vice presidents. Mayors can be removed almost at will by the National Assembly. And anyway, elected Governors and Mayors will be gutted of most meaningful power they might have. That is, they will be left with picking up the garbage and be blamed for anything else that doe snot work.

Every day, people around the world trade their freedom for the proverbial bowl of soup. They sate their appetite for a day and spend a lifetime hungry.

Science gets subverted to serve political ends. Everything gets subverted for political ends and those doing the subverting do so to their own demise--they actually participate in their own destruction and only wake up when they too suffer outside of the increasingly narrow political correctness. They operate under the delusion that they will be spared. They will always be deemed correct. They are, of course, wrong.

How most excellent and honored and bureaucratic does this sound? United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Yes, a bureaucracy of scientists obfuscating and outright lying to promote the notion of climate change. From Newsbusters:

That is terrible! As a matter of fact, it is a falsification of the data set. Why? Because they know the answer. And there you come to the point: They “know” the answer; the rest of us, we are searching for the answer. Because we are field geologists; they are computer scientists. So all this talk that sea level is rising, this stems from the computer modeling, not from observations. The observations don't find it!

Pretty extraordinary, wouldn’t you agree? A "correction factor." Honestly, the way these folks manipulate data is nothing less than astounding.

Yet, Mörner wasn’t finished, as he later detailed an incident when IPCC scientists actually destroyed evidence which refuted their rising sea level claims:

This tree, which I showed in the documentary, is interesting. This is a prison island, and when people left the island, from the '50s, it was a marker for them, when they saw this tree alone out there, they said, “Ah, freedom!” They were allowed back. And there have been writings and talks about this. I knew that this tree was in that terrible position already in the 1950s. So the slightest rise, and it would have been gone. I used it in my writings and for television. You know what happened? There came an Australian sea-level team, which was for the IPCC and against me. Then the students pulled down the tree by hand! They destroyed the evidence. What kind of people are those? And we came to launch this film, “Doomsday Called Off,” right after, and the tree was still green. And I heard from the locals that they had seen the people who had pulled it down. So I put it up again, by hand, and made my TV program. I haven't told anybody else, but this was the story.

Lying to protect a greater "truth" that the data shows is false. Political correctness has infected all branches of science. Tread very carefully within the hallowed halls of science. A rotting stench from the carcases of hard data fouls the air.

So a failing society seeks the easy economic way, turns science into tools for delusion, and neuters itself. And the bureaucracy does it. In this case, teachers do it. This is getting more play these days. Eric over at Classical Values has a must read post:

Decadent bureaucrats mutilate soldiers
"Decadence" is the essential condition of "a society which believes it has evolved to the point where it will never have to go to war."
--Air Force Colonel Robert Wheeler

How do you feel about the state forcing boys to become eunuchs, metaphorically speaking? (Although, all their literal sitting in a class, drugged and acting bland could be deemed literal.)

For obvious reasons, the picture on the left is not getting much mainstream media play. I can't think of a better way to expose the anti-war bureaucrats than the boys' simple demonstration that the school bureaucrats had wounded the troops. No words can match the eloquence of the bloodied bandages!

I wrote several posts about eunuchs, and I think this is as good a place as any to add a few words about Phil Bowermaster's post about transmasculinity, which Glenn Reynolds linked yesterday. I have no problem with the idea of transmasculinity (or androgyny), and don't think it is remotely the same as state-enforced policies forcing boys to become eunuchs.

I actually disagree with Eric about the fall of Rome not being associated with sexual morés. How did the military get weak and soft to begin with? Could the same denuded approach to society self-protection be related to a laissez-faire attitude toward individual self-protection? Could the Christian conservatism be a reaction to a decadent society and yet elements of Christianity--deceived and morally corrupt themselves-- participate in the downfall because of doctrinal misunderstanding (think Episcopalians)? I think so. I do agree with him here, though:

We don't have early Christians taking over as they did in Rome, nor do we have a eunuch staff running the military. However, I think there may be parallels between Christians and socialists in the ecological niche sense (Christian theology is often interpreted as having a soft spot for socialism, which IMO has caused a great deal of trouble), and I think we could be experiencing tyranny at the hands of the modern equivalent of eunuchs (people who abhor masculinity and femininity and who, while they may talk the talk about sexuality, are in reality a bunch of unattractive, "spineless, ball-less wimps" if I may borrow the phrase.....)

This is absolute truth. The neuterization of society, the declining birthrates, the unwillingness to set a boundary against anything manifests individually and societally. There is a lot of self-loathing and other loathing sexually, and that makes for a confused bunch of people willing to make terrible compromises to feel good about themselves. Back to the bowl of soup.

I do not think it's an accident that the United States hesitates to create a boundary in its relationships. There is no sense of American self--or there is a danger in losing what's left of one. There will eventually be nothing to protect. The United States will cease to be the strong arms the world can count on for protection, if those arms are so weak they can't protect themselves. Worse, they will be too weak to extend in welcome either.

It won't matter. Without freedom, liberty and justice (and all that other stuff), no one will want to come here anyway. America will be just like every other place in the world. Confused, unsafe, economically constricted, limited, petty, tyrannical, consumed by conspiracy theories masquerading as science. Dark. As in Dark Ages.

Ann Althouse: The No Impact Lifestyle

A book is being written, of course. Althouse says,"I hope that book isn't going to be printed on, you know, paper."

I have an idea: Why don't Americans go back to the good old days? Be Amish. I bet they have a "no impact" lifestyle. No computers, though, so people couldn't write (on a computer anyway) a book about their "no impact" lifestyle. They'd just have to, you know, live it.

Do the Amish have printing presses?

Shari'a Coming to A Town Near You

Charles Johnson documents this outrage. So should a Target employee have to check out someone who buys pork or condoms or Greetings Cards? Frankly, the last offend me the worst. Stupid, trite sayings.

Butt Magnet

I heard about this on the news today and over at Blue Crab Boulevard, he has the link. I'm no security expert, but would you be concerned if a man of Iraqi descent tried to board a plane but-t was caught with a magnet and wires stored in his rectum?

Yeah, you're right. No big deal. Sheesh! Most people store things in their butt. It's just so convenient.

The Hook-Up Culture

PROFANITY ALERT...YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

A client asked me,"Do you know what friends with benefits is?" Oh, yes, I know about "friends with benefits". In college, it was called Fuck Buddies. I think that's a more accurate description. The friends with benefits moniker is a euphemism for spiritually devoid, emotionally empty sex for gratification. It is a step below masturbation--sex with benefits is a negative energy exchange. That is, two people take from one another to satisfy their animal needs. Masturbation at least is expends and receives the same energy. It may be a small, enclosed circle, but at least no other person must be used for a purely selfish pursuit.

The New York Times Stephanie Rosenbloom takes exception, as do other leftists to Laura Stepp Session's book “Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both” (Riverhead). It is unfeminist. It is unfair to women. It is a throw-back to the old days, when dating was en vogue. How passé.

Ms. Sessions Stepp said her goal is to retool, not reject, feminism. “Really, when you look at it, hookup culture is gravy for guys,” she said. “So how much are we winning?”

How much do women win in the hook-up culture? Who benefits in the "friends with benefits" equation? Do feminists recognize what the "benefit" usually is? It is usually a blow-job for a guy. How, exactly, does that interchange satisfy a woman?

Even if sex is mutual masturbatory, as a consequence of biology and spirit, women are bigger losers. They receive the energy, it stays with them, only a woman possesses the possibility of life within her. But she isn't the only one who loses.

I do think, though, that the loss to men is more significantly under-stated. Slutty men run around, try to plug the whole in their heart by the quick physical interaction of sex. Both men and women these days substitute casual sex for meaningful relating. A friend of mine who scoffed when I said that, "for women there is no casual sex". He insisted that he'd never paid any price for casual sex. It was all fun. "Really, what about your son?" "She told me she couldn't get pregnant!" He was exasperated. Yup, all fun, that casual sex.

Criticizing social trends that were so fought for in 1960s results in immediate rhetorical retribution. Sex isn't the only progressive taboo. A whole list of social trends should not be commented upon, lest one be branded a church lady. For example, there is a sub-culture where intelligence, especially for young black men but men in general, is scorned. Single-parent homes lead by women is just as good for kids as two parents. Ditto same-sex parents. Conventional wisdom is that children are better off with divorced parents rather than unhappy parents. Feminism has become equated with sexual freedom, i.e. sluttiness, and women are shamed if they express their sadness or regret. (A woman wouldn't have regret, if it weren't still a social taboo goes their argument.) Abortion does not have destructive side-effects. It's a good thing and should be encouraged rather than an unwanted pregnancy.

Don't believe that there is a taboo on criticizing all this liberation? In the above mentioned Salon article, Stepp critic, Kathy Dobie is quoted as saying this:

To my great relief, reviewer Kathy Dobie is spot-on with her criticism of the book: "The author resurrects the ugly, old notion of sex as something a female gives in return for a male's good behavior, and she imagines the female body as a thing that can be tarnished by too much use." Indeed, Stepp cautions that a guy "will seek to win you over only if he thinks you're a prize."

*****

As Dobie argues, for teens and 20-somethings, "sexual relationships are less about intimacy than about expanding our intimate knowledge of people -- a very different thing," she continues. "We learn less about intimacy in our youthful sex lives than we do about humanity ... Perhaps, this generation, by making sex less precious, less a commodity, will succeed in putting simple humanity back into sex."

How, exactly will rampant, casual blow-jobs put "simple humanity back into sex". And what does that mean? By acting like rutting deer, humans will put humanity back into sex?

Feminist seem absolutely determined to remove the spirit from the human. What was once viewed as a deficit in men, has been elevated to a noble trait--emotionally disconnected sex is good and healthy, even. There was a time when hound dog men were viewed negatively, too. But today's feminist isn't at all concerned with elevating the feminine. She is concerned with a woman being just like a man--thinking and behaving like the worst sort of man.

We'll know when women have really arrived societally, when typically female traits--emotional connectedness, relationship and nurturing aren't dismissed and diminished and replaced by aggressive, domination and self-gratification activities. Sex as sport was once viewed as the failing of men. Now, it's the failing of women, too. Isn't equality great?

So this book is shining a light on the negatives of being "unhooked". I'm waiting for the book on the benefits of sex imbued with spiritual meaning and integrating the masculine and feminine energies into the Oneness that comes from sex. Through sex, men and women can come to know God. The surrendering of heart and soul to another mirrors our relationship with God. It is mysterious and beautiful. Or, it can be. As long as sex is an endless string of fuck buddies, though, sex will be diminished into animalistic copulating. Not only will young people be unhooked from one another, they'll be unhooked from God.

Intimidation Moderate Islam Style in A Small County USA

Here is what is happening in and around Red House, Virginia (thanks to reader Carolyn):

As I reported on Wednesday, the Christian Action Network is planning a demonstration on February 20th in Charlotte Court House against the “Sheikh Gilani Lane” road sign at the Muslims of America (a.k.a. Jamaat ul-Fuqra) compound in Red House, Virginia.

But CAN is having ploblems attracting local Charlotte County people to the demonstration. Folks will be coming in from the adjacent counties and Lynchburg, but not from right there in Charlotte County. As Martin Mawyer, the president of Christian Action Network, told me, “The people over there are scared of those guys. They have to live next to them all the time, and they know that there are some bad people down there at the Red House compound. So they just don’t want to get involved.”

Why would average Americans be afraid of followers of the "religion of peace"? Here's why:

When I asked him about his friend who lives on Rolling Hill Road, a note of apprehension crept into Ray’s voice.

“Yeah, he used to be all gung-ho and say things like ‘we’re not going to put up with this crap’ — he was all ready to take ’em on. But not long ago he ran into one of those Muslims down at the convenience store [at the corner of Rolling Hill Road and SR 727] and got into an argument. And would you believe, that sucker went to his van and pulled an assault rifle on him. Ever since then he’s been keeping a low profile — he doesn’t want anything else to happen to him, so he’s laying low.”

This is a textbook example of mau-mauing in action. But it’s the most hardcore example of mau-mauing I’ve ever personally heard of.

The Great Jihad operates by stealth. The knife at the throat is not its primary weapon of aggression; it prefers to erode our defenses incrementally, using social pressure, legal action, media manipulation, subversion, and good old-fashioned intimidation.

The local government made a decision that this community was the economic savior while looking at empty tobacco fields and the loss of jobs. I would submit to them that they made a very, very short-sighted decision and will pay dearly economically. Who would move a business to a town coddling terrorists?

If you want to go protest this decision and stand against intimidation, do this:

The demonstration on the 20th will go ahead as planned, with or without Charlotte County residents.

On the very slight chance that someone who reads this blog is a Charlotte County resident, or knows a Charlotte County resident: see if you can find a retired marine, or a VFW member, or an Iraq war vet, or maybe an off-duty state cop. Someone who’s not easily intimidated by punks with weapons. Somebody who wants to stand up for this country before it turns into France.

Have that person make his presence known. The date is February 20th. The place is Charlotte County Courthouse, at the junction of VA 47 and VA 40, right in the heart of Southside Virginia.

I can't believe Americans are falling into that same routine as France, England and the rest of Europe. We know where this behavior leads. The more civilized people shrink back because they value life and they have something to lose. But the teachings of Islam promote death as a way to succeed. Intimidation and aggression are part of it. It's an abomination and MUST be nipped in the bud.

Burqa: LGF calls it "The Multi-Purpose Black Sack"

It’s a way to oppress women, an in-your-face political statement to the infidels, and a disguise for fleeing terrorists!

They must be banned. They don't belong in a Western society.

American Idol: "That's YOUR Opinion"--UPDATE

UPDATE: Talked to my mom today. She thinks that American Idol is heartless and she "can't stand to watch that show". I sighed indulgently (you know how moms can be--kidding, only kidding) and told her that I take the bigger view than any individual dopey kid looking for his big break that's never going to happen. Well, yes, some of the comments are mean. And yes, shows like American Idol are the modern gladitorial matches where the winner survives rounds with more vicious opponents. These shows bring out the base and degrading animal in all of us. I wrote about that here, before.

My point about last night's display, was not to heap more shame on disturbingly non-talented performances. My point was to bring up the fact that many contestents actually believed that they had a chance and would do ANYTHING to become famous. Like the one boy who cried into his mothers arms:

"I just want to be famous. I just want to be famous." (Boo hoo, crocodile tears, anguished sobs.)

And his mother retorted, "Oh, you'll be famous honey. You'll be famous."

Um, mom, no he won't--unless you consider a public display of lack of emotional control famous. Mom's indulging of her little no-talent will spawn a lot of therapy and/or jail-time in the future. How is he going to handle disappointment when he is so convinced of his own super-great awesomeness? Imagine the disappointment to find out he's meant to be....a middle manager.

One of these days, a contestent who is equally stunned to find he or she doesn't have what it takes will hang himself in despair. The show and Simon will be blamed, of course. No one will think to ask Mommy and Daddy what kind of celebrity gruel they fed their beaming ray of sunshine for eighteen years. But the answer would be this from a cooing mother,"Oooo, honey. You're so talented. I just know you'll make it in Hollywood. You sing great! You're the best ever."

Of course, mom and dad don't have to contribute to the completely delusional thinking. The popular culture is so infected with all things celebrity that an average family life looks dull and boring--and yet, that's how most people live. Happily, I might add.

********************

Randy: "No."

Paula: "No."

Simon: "Do you really think you can win American idol?"

Contestent: "Yes."

Simon: "But you kan't sing."

Contestent: "That's YOUR opinion."

We have a problem in America. Thanks to post-modern deconstructionism, where every person's own unique experience is as important as every other persons, a no-talent-ass-clown with no pitch, no tone, who can't sing, can't even hear the tune, has the looks of a Tolkien troll and the I.Q. of a slice of Spam, believes he is talented and has a future musical career and all the fame, glory and filthy luchre, not to mention hot blond babes, in his future all evidence to the contrary.

Heaven forbid the truth is spoken. It's not nice to state the obvious. The amount of vitriol spewed at Simon was shocking. Most of the time, I thought he was nice. He was certainly nicer than he could rightfully have been. Some of the offense was comical in it's delusion. "You don't know anything about music!" spat one wounded "artist". 30 million buys a lot of patience and Coca Cola, evidently. My head hurt.

It's not just the screeching. It's the full-throated belief in personal greatness. Is this what the self-esteem movement hath wrought? Everyone is special in his or her own way--and there is no such thing as "bad" singing--only "different" singing.

Well, there is such thing as bad singing. There is such a thing as ugliness. There is also such a thing as beauty. We know it when we see it, right? It's admitting to the notion of objective truth we have trouble with these days. And worst of all, we're deluding ourselves--staying trapped in a fantasy land of wasted time, wasted energy and wasted gifts trying to make something happen that just isn't happening.

And let me tell you, clueless contestent: It. Is. Not. Happening.

Oh, and there's this: Paula Abdul is either on muscle relaxants and pain meds or is drinking Rum-n-Cokes during the tedious process of listening to thousands of no-talents. I feel for her. I think I'd be hitting the sauce after listening to that garbage, too.

Shall We Invite the Taliban to Tea? We Shall.

Over at Brussels Journal:

The Dutch blog Het Vrije Volk wonders how the Dutch would have reacted if the Allies, instead of fighting the Germans in the 1940s, had decided “to have tea with moderate Nazis. There were many of them as well.” Methinks the Dutch might have preferred it that way, as would undoubtedly the French and the Belgians.

Methinks Paul Belian is correct. This was a week ago, by the way. In more Dutch news, "youths" are fighting all over the Netherlands. And it's getting worse. Neonazis and Islamofascist-wannabes are quarreling. It's lovely to see two fascist groups beating each other to hell, isn't it? Warms a multi-culturalist's heart. Go read it all and try not to throw up.

When the moral equivalence crowd pretends that all beliefs are equal, and some perceive a threat where there is an actual threat, those threatened people tend to take the law into their own hands. They become extreme, themselves. They can't trust the government.

In a sense, the morally retarded leadership creates the terrorists. Isn't that interesting? Just another example of the Leftist projection (here in America). This will happen here, too. If the Left gets their way, if people fail to feel safe, they will take the law into their own hands. The youth will radicalize.

Assimilate, Muslim Taxi Drivers of Minnesota

Or choose another "less offensive" profession. Captain Ed tells the whole silly, multi-cult story. You know the saying, "Only in America"? Well, when it comes to this nonsense, the saying should be, "Only in Europe."

America thrives, in part, because rights are granted to minorities. Minorities who love freedom will come to America and know they can safely participate in the system. Muslims come to America knowing they will be free to practice their religion their way (as long as it doesn't interfere with the life and liberty of other Americans). This freedom is not granted in most Muslim countries, by the way.

And while minorities can flourish safe and sound, they may not thwart the rights of the majority. America doesn't work that way. Or, it shouldn't.

Americans should be sensitive and aware of these developments and fight them. They bode ill for everyone's freedom.

Pelosi Ushers in the Age of Ameritopia--UPDATE Scroll Down

Until today, you've had problems. You've worried about your health, your children, your future. No more. Today, The Age of Ameritopia arrived and not a day too soon given these troubled times. Now that we have a woman, yea a grand woman and mother, as Speaker you can expect the perpetual state of bliss--like a child nursing from the breast all day and all night. Not a moment of want, need, or desire. They will all be fulfilled and immediately, by the new Mom in Charge.

She says (and this is after she calls herself the "most powerful woman in America"):

"We will not just break through a glass ceiling, we will break through a marble ceiling," she said. "In more than 200 years of history, there was an established pecking order -- and I cut in line."

And all along, I thought she got the job legitimately--working hard, playing the game, doing what it takes. Maybe this was a Freudian slip?

And here is what she'll accomplish in the First 100 Hours:

Day One: Put new rules in place to "break the link between lobbyists and legislation."

Day Two: Enact all the recommendations made by the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Time remaining until 100 hours: Raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, maybe in one step. Cut the interest rate on student loans in half. Allow the government to negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices for Medicare patients.

Broaden the types of stem cell research allowed with federal funds _ "I hope with a veto-proof majority," she added in an Associated Press interview Thursday.

Like I said: Ameritopia. Can't you feel the whole world change? Reminds me of the old Coke commercial:

I'd like to build the world a home
And furnish it with love
Grow apple trees and honey bees
And snow-white turtle doves

Chorus:
I'd like to teach the world to sing
In perfect harmony
I'd like to hold it in my arms
And keep it company
(That's the song I hear)
I'd like to see the world for once
(Let the world sing today)
All standing hand in hand
And hear them echo through the hills
For peace throughout the land
That's the song I hear
(That's the song I hear)
Let the world sing today
(Let the whole wide world keep singing)
A song of peace that echoes on
And never goes away

(Repeat 1st stanza and Chorus)

Put your hand in my hand
Let's begin today
Put your hand in my hand
Help me find a way

(Repeat Chorus til fade)

Today, friends is the beginning of oxytocin-induced bliss. Feel the love.

UPDATE: Gateway Pundit shares the Pelosi love.

trackback

Ace Finally Recognizes Barack Obama Scary Possibilities

You know some people (myself included) have not written about Barack Obama obsessively. They (we) just don't get it in the way that really, really smart people get it. Well, now Ace "gets it".

Here are my other references to He Who Shall Save Us All: here, here, here. Some posts include Hillary so they're doubly exciting.

Ameritopia: The Fight for Culture

Another perspective about about what America faces by Father Jonathan Morris:

Some have said the outcome of this election was all about Iraq. I don't think it is so simple. Large numbers of Republicans have proven themselves untrustworthy in character and policy. In their tenure as majority leaders in Congress, they have done some good things, but they have vacillated in their stated priorities. They have failed to push forward the confirmation of important judgeships, truncated integral immigration reform, and most recently, were weak on social ballot initiatives like the Missouri stem cell research amendment and mandatory parental consent for minors seeking abortions.

The deeper problem is not policy. It is the superficial nature of political discourse. Republicans have set themselves up as the pro-life, pro-family party, and its platform promises to protect both. But much like the Democrats, its members have been unconvincing in explaining why they believe what they do. When is the last time you have heard a politician explain why life is precious, and why it is sacred? When is the last time you heard a politician give a discourse on the origin and foundation of human rights? When have you heard a Congressman or Senator lay out a reasoned explanation of a just war, given the new type of unconventional enemies?

This dumbing-down of politics is both a consequence and cause of cultural decline.

Amen, Father. This is what I've been trying to get at yesterday and today. While mired in the minutiae, big ideas ("A city on the hill"), big themes, and big reasons have given way to a mechanical and ideals-devoid series of policy arguments.

This is very un-American.

We went to Iraq initially to save ourselves preemptively from a ruthless man, with a record of nefarious behavior to those within and without. We stayed in Iraq because of a big idea: that people who are free are less likely to throw the blessing of freedom and life away for any ideology once they've had a taste of it. The Middle East watches Iraq. Secretly they hope for success even while they work for its failure. If it succeeds, what then? Iraq's neighbors must choose, too.

We keep the government small (low taxation, low pork, low entitlements) because we believe in the supremacy of the individual over the government. We believe in the common man and distrust lordship that comes with big government.

We believe in self-reliance. We know that doing for others what can be done for themselves is a soul-sucking endeavor that robs the individual the will to triumph over inevitable adversities.

We believe in taking risks. And, we believe in second chances. Punitive laws discourage risk-taking that forms the foundation of American entrepreneurship.

We believe that God created all men equal. That includes unborn babies, the sick and disabled. All life has value and must be preserved. That precludes certain "choices" like abortion, euthanasia, Embryonic Stem Cell research and cloning.

Because we believe that God created all men equal, policies like Affirmative Action must discontinue. Successful people of all races, creeds, genders and abilities find themselves diminished because of the assumption that they wouldn't succeed without unfair treatment.

We believe we are a country based on Judeo-Christian traditions. The Bible is the foundation of this knowledge. Our definitions of God, family, marriage, can be found in the Bible. This culture and tradition is not to be taken lightly--it has resulted in the most free and prosperous country in the world. That is no accident. We redefine America at our own peril.

Father Jonathan is right. Do we fight for our culture, of our shared ethos, or will it die? To live, one must have the will to live, one must have the reason to live and one must be willing to defend the self from predation.

America fights for a Culture.

The Age of Ameritopia--UPDATE

UPDATE:

Glenn Reynolds says, THE DEMOCRATS WIN, AND THE SUN STARTS TO SHINE! "Poll: Afghans express confidence in country's direction, security."

Poll: Afghans express confidence in country's direction, security
By Paul Wiseman
USA TODAY

Most of the 6,200 surveyed say they are satisfied with democracy, but corruption is a major problem

Despite a raging pro-Taliban insurgency, the people of Afghanistan say they are optimistic about the future, satisfied with their young democracy and rank security low on their list of everyday concerns, according to a survey out today.

Who knows what else will suddenly get better this week?

Why everything, of course! We now live in Ameritopia, Glenn.

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Ace has a contest you can win. Go over and check it out. Big prizes!!!!!! And it's FREE!!!!

Now that a new age has dawned in Washington, what wonderful things will happen that didn't happen for the last six years? The contest has already started. Here's a few examples:

• Unicorn parks. Kites flying in Iraq, again. And unlimited Chuck E. Cheese tokens for everyone.

• I sat down in the situation room this morning for my daily constitution when, much to my suprise, a rainbow shot out of my ass.

  It smelled of jasmine, lavender, and freshly cut flowers.

  After I finished (no cleanup!) I walked outside and three baby bunnyrabbits hopped up and sat in my lap while I scratched their furry little ears. One of them presented me with a small pot of gold bullion which I attempted to give to the homeless man on the corner, but strangely he was not there this morning.

• Thank God! No more hurricanes!
• Iran gives up bomb aspirations to take up kite flying.

• Holy crap. Raising me from the dead is even better then being able to make me walk again. Thank you Democrats.

  Posted by: Christopher Reeves on November 9, 2006 10:53 AM

Paradise for all ye fellow comrades! Are you enjoying it yet?