Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord your soul to keep;
And if He keeps it very well,
It's sure to find its way to hell.
I pray you get what you deserve,
I pray you get what I desire;
And with God's grace you'll keep your nerve
As you approach eternal fire.
But if you don't, it's no surprise--
A coward never lives his lies.
You've sent so many to the Lord,
It's only fair you face His sword.
And as I close my eyes tonight,
To contemplate eternal night;
I'd pray for you, I really would,
If only I could see some good.
May God have mercy on your soul;
And may all who suffered at your hand
Be waiting there to greet you
When you reach the Promised Land
May they show you mercy,
Of the type that you have shown;
And with caring and compassion
May you reap what you have sown.
Now I face the setting sun,
And dry-eyed, lay me down to sleep;
I know that when you're dead and gone
Some will cheer-- but none shall weep.
(Reuters article here)
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
The Mullahs Should Be Very Afraid
Because of this:
You go girl. That's telling them.
Secretary of State Rice yesterday warned Iran's "unelected leaders" that the day will come when their people will demand the same rights and liberties recently sought by Iraqis and Lebanese.
Speaking at the annual policy conference for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Ms. Rice said to thunderous applause, "Ladies and gentlemen, the Middle East is changing and even the unelected leaders in Tehran must recognize this fact. They must know that the energy of reform that is building all around them will one day inspire Iran's citizens to demand their liberty and their rights. The United States stands with the people of Iran."
You go girl. That's telling them.
Academic Dementia
Roger Simon has an excellent post on hardening of the arteries in Academia:
Please read it all. What is going on in our universities and colleges is a real travesty that will have implications for generations if something is not done now.
Hiding behind the concept of "academic freedom", the purveyors of thought oppression have gained control of education in this country. The first step in dealing with this situation is to reconsider the notion of tenure as Victor Davis Hanson suggests and put an end to the lack of real-world consequences for the academic endeavors. Once upon a time, tenure may have encouraged new ideas and stimulated vigorous, and even unconventional debate, but now the tenured professoriate all march in intellectual lock-step and make sure that noone with a different opinion ever gets into their elite club or rocks their club boat.
Next, the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of those overly-prized qualities of "diversity" and "multiculturalism" must be thoroughly and painstakingly exposed for what they are: the politically correct posturings of incompetent social engineers who wish to impose their own mediocrity on all aspects of society. They champion a new kind of oppression (the oppression of the competent) under the benign guise of "political correctness". If your ideas merely hurt their feelings, you can be sent to their gulags.
It is time to begin the painful task of treating this "hardening of the arteries"; this academic dementia; that has robbed the intellect from our once-flourishing scholarly institutions. What was once a brilliant flame that lit up all corners in the mind, has become a barely flickering candlelight casting dark shadows with only intermittant illumination. Like end-stage Alzheimer's, soon they will no longer be able to even understand or respond to the real world.
What we are dealing with at Brooklyn - and so many other colleges and universities today - is an ideological hardening of the arteries so rigid it threatens the ability to think. This naturally creates a "trickle down" into our high schools and junior highs, only made worse by the National Association for Teacher Accreditation. Here's history professor K. C. Johnson on how this works:The program at my own institution, Brooklyn College, exemplifies how application of NCATE's new approach can easily be used to screen out potential public school teachers who hold undesirable political beliefs. Brooklyn's education faculty, which assumes as fact that "an education centered on social justice prepares the highest quality of future teachers," recently launched a pilot initiative to assess all education students on whether they are "knowledgeable about, sensitive to and responsive to issues of diversity and social justice as these influence curriculum and pedagogy, school culture, relationships with colleagues and members of the school community, and candidates' analysis of student work and behavior."
At the undergraduate level, these high-sounding principles have been translated into practice through a required class called "Language and Literacy Development in Secondary Education." According to numerous students, the course's instructor demanded that they recognize "white English" as the "oppressors' language." Without explanation, the class spent its session before Election Day screening Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. When several students complained to the professor about the course's politicized content, they were informed that their previous education had left them "brainwashed" on matters relating to race and social justice.
Please read it all. What is going on in our universities and colleges is a real travesty that will have implications for generations if something is not done now.
Hiding behind the concept of "academic freedom", the purveyors of thought oppression have gained control of education in this country. The first step in dealing with this situation is to reconsider the notion of tenure as Victor Davis Hanson suggests and put an end to the lack of real-world consequences for the academic endeavors. Once upon a time, tenure may have encouraged new ideas and stimulated vigorous, and even unconventional debate, but now the tenured professoriate all march in intellectual lock-step and make sure that noone with a different opinion ever gets into their elite club or rocks their club boat.
Next, the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of those overly-prized qualities of "diversity" and "multiculturalism" must be thoroughly and painstakingly exposed for what they are: the politically correct posturings of incompetent social engineers who wish to impose their own mediocrity on all aspects of society. They champion a new kind of oppression (the oppression of the competent) under the benign guise of "political correctness". If your ideas merely hurt their feelings, you can be sent to their gulags.
It is time to begin the painful task of treating this "hardening of the arteries"; this academic dementia; that has robbed the intellect from our once-flourishing scholarly institutions. What was once a brilliant flame that lit up all corners in the mind, has become a barely flickering candlelight casting dark shadows with only intermittant illumination. Like end-stage Alzheimer's, soon they will no longer be able to even understand or respond to the real world.
GRAND ROUNDS
This weeks Grand Rounds is up at Iatremia: The Chaplin.News. Definitely go and check it out.Next week, Dr. Sanity is pleased and honored to host Grand Rounds XXXVI. I will be looking for submission on any medical topic from any bloggers.
Please send in your submissions before Monday the 30th, 6:00pm, Eastern Time, to "patsanty"at"aol.com" with the subject "Grand Rounds." You may contribute one of your own posts or recommend one you've seen. The Guidelines for submissions will be observed, except as noted above. Future Hosts are still being sought- so contact Nick at Blogborygmi. If you want to look at previous Grand Rounds, you can go here for a listing.
Enjoy!
Make 'em Laugh, Make 'em Laugh
Tim Blair: Baghdad giggles.
You know that advice that is given to nervous speakers to try to calm them down? "Just imagine the members of the audience in their underwear!" Well, maybe this is the key to helping oppressed people everywhere....Just get them to imagine their local despotic ruler in their underwear. The Mullahs! Saudi Princes! Kim Jung Il! Castro!
How can you take them seriously again, after you've seen them in baggy underwear?? It's a psychological impossibility.
Calanders anyone?
You know that advice that is given to nervous speakers to try to calm them down? "Just imagine the members of the audience in their underwear!" Well, maybe this is the key to helping oppressed people everywhere....Just get them to imagine their local despotic ruler in their underwear. The Mullahs! Saudi Princes! Kim Jung Il! Castro!
How can you take them seriously again, after you've seen them in baggy underwear?? It's a psychological impossibility.
Calanders anyone?
Monday, May 23, 2005
"What the hell are you doing?"
For the record, here is what President Hamad Karzai had to say about Newsweek and the Koran issue and the abuse of prisoners in Afghanistan.
QUESTION: Just to follow up on the treatment of the prisoners, Mr. President, you know, anti-American feeling is running high in the Muslim world. We've seen it in Afghanistan after the alleged disintegration of the Koran in Guantanamo.
After meeting with the president, how do you assure the Muslim world and Afghan people, that they've seen death as a result of the article, that this incident in Bagram and other treatment of prisoners isolated incident and it's not systemic?
[....]
KARZAI: Ma'am, yes, we discussed those questions.
On the demonstrations, or the so-called demonstrations in part of the -- parts of Afghanistan, you saw that government buildings were burned and private property was damaged, broken. Those demonstrations were in reality not related to the Newsweek story. They were more against the elections in Afghanistan.
KARZAI: They were more against the elections in Afghanistan. They were more against the progress in Afghanistan. They were more against the strategic partnership with the United States.
We know who did it. We know the guys. We know the people behind those demonstrations. And unfortunately you don't, here, follow the Afghan press. But if you listen to the Voice of America, the Radio Liberty and the BBC, the Afghan population condemned those acts of arson in Afghanistan.
Of course, we are, as Muslims, very much unhappy with Newsweek bringing a matter so serious in the gossip column. It's really something that one shouldn't do, that responsible journalism shouldn't do at all.
KARZAI: But Newsweek story is not America's story. That's what we understand in Afghanistan.
America has over 1,000 mosques. I have gone and prayed in mosques here in America. I've prayed in Virginia. I've gone and prayed in Maryland. I've been to a mosque in Washington.
And thousands of Afghans have been to mosques and, as a matter of fact, hundreds of thousands of Muslims are going, on a daily basis, to mosques in America and praying.
And this is what was also reflected in Afghanistan. People spoke in the mosques, the clergy, and said, "What the hell are you doing?"
There's a respect, there's this freedom in America for religion, and there are Muslims, on a daily basis, praying in mosques in America. And there are Korans, holy Korans, all over America -- in homes and mosques.
So it was a political act against Afghanistan's stability, which we have condemned, which the Afghan people have condemned.
On the issue of prisoners, I spoke earlier. It does not reflect at all on American people. On the contrary, it's an individual act, just like that bad Afghan kidnapped an Italian lady and is not the work of the Afghan people. In the same way, we treat this case.
I think the "What the hell are you doing?" could rightly be directed at the MSM, who seem to be fanatically (one could almost say, religiously) determined to portray both the Koran flushing (which didn't even happen) and the prisoner abuse stories as foolproof evidence of the decline and fall of the United States (don't they just wish).
IMHO, in this case--as in so many others-- the MSM are completely out of touch with reality.
QUESTION: Just to follow up on the treatment of the prisoners, Mr. President, you know, anti-American feeling is running high in the Muslim world. We've seen it in Afghanistan after the alleged disintegration of the Koran in Guantanamo.
After meeting with the president, how do you assure the Muslim world and Afghan people, that they've seen death as a result of the article, that this incident in Bagram and other treatment of prisoners isolated incident and it's not systemic?
[....]
KARZAI: Ma'am, yes, we discussed those questions.
On the demonstrations, or the so-called demonstrations in part of the -- parts of Afghanistan, you saw that government buildings were burned and private property was damaged, broken. Those demonstrations were in reality not related to the Newsweek story. They were more against the elections in Afghanistan.
KARZAI: They were more against the elections in Afghanistan. They were more against the progress in Afghanistan. They were more against the strategic partnership with the United States.
We know who did it. We know the guys. We know the people behind those demonstrations. And unfortunately you don't, here, follow the Afghan press. But if you listen to the Voice of America, the Radio Liberty and the BBC, the Afghan population condemned those acts of arson in Afghanistan.
Of course, we are, as Muslims, very much unhappy with Newsweek bringing a matter so serious in the gossip column. It's really something that one shouldn't do, that responsible journalism shouldn't do at all.
KARZAI: But Newsweek story is not America's story. That's what we understand in Afghanistan.
America has over 1,000 mosques. I have gone and prayed in mosques here in America. I've prayed in Virginia. I've gone and prayed in Maryland. I've been to a mosque in Washington.
And thousands of Afghans have been to mosques and, as a matter of fact, hundreds of thousands of Muslims are going, on a daily basis, to mosques in America and praying.
And this is what was also reflected in Afghanistan. People spoke in the mosques, the clergy, and said, "What the hell are you doing?"
There's a respect, there's this freedom in America for religion, and there are Muslims, on a daily basis, praying in mosques in America. And there are Korans, holy Korans, all over America -- in homes and mosques.
So it was a political act against Afghanistan's stability, which we have condemned, which the Afghan people have condemned.
On the issue of prisoners, I spoke earlier. It does not reflect at all on American people. On the contrary, it's an individual act, just like that bad Afghan kidnapped an Italian lady and is not the work of the Afghan people. In the same way, we treat this case.
I think the "What the hell are you doing?" could rightly be directed at the MSM, who seem to be fanatically (one could almost say, religiously) determined to portray both the Koran flushing (which didn't even happen) and the prisoner abuse stories as foolproof evidence of the decline and fall of the United States (don't they just wish).
IMHO, in this case--as in so many others-- the MSM are completely out of touch with reality.
The Mirror of Insight
I once had a very successful female patient named Susan, who was in her late 30's and was rising rapidly in her career; but who felt dissatisfied and fairly unhappy, not only in her career, but also in her personal life. In spite of her demonstrable capabilites, she felt inadequate and like she didn't deserve her wealth or status. Sometimes she felt like she didn't even deserve to live. Susan came to see me because she couldn't understand why she felt the way she did, and --unlike most of my patients--she didn't want medication. "Why can't I just be happy?" she wanted to know; so we proceeded to talk about her life to see if we could discover what might be going on.
Some weeks later, in a casual comment, Susan mentioned that she had never liked her younger brother when she was growing up. I looked up from my notes, surprised, because she had never mentioned her brother before.
"I didn't know you had a brother," I said. "Oh," she commented lightly, "he died. That's why I don't bring him up much."
Obviously she wanted to drop the subject, but I persisted. The brother who died was two younger than she was, and had died when he was 16.
"How sad for you and your family! That must have been terrible for you."
Susan shrugged. "It was a long time ago now," she said.
I considered whether I should pursue this further, since she clearly didn't want to talk about it. I asked her if it bothered her to talk about it.
"Not really."
"Could you tell me what happened to him?"
What followed was a dispassionate account of a family trip with the two parents in one car; and the patient and her brother in the other on their way to the family cabin in the mountains. The brother became tired, and went to the back seat to sleep. Susan, who was new to driving, misjudged a curve and went into it far too fast, causing her to lose control. The car slid off the road, and rolled over twice. My patient was uninjured because she had been wearing a seat belt. But her younger brother, sleeping in the back had been thrown from the car and died instantly.
I was stunned. This was serious stuff, and I knew it could be and probably was the origins of Susan's disabling guilt about her life. Yet the patient had never mentioned it in the weeks before as we had talked about her life, and seemed completely unaware that it could be linked to the very situation for which she had consulted me. Even now, while telling me the story, she sounded like a disinterested observer, rather than an intimate player in the drama she described.
"That must have been so awful for you," I said gently.
She smiled brightly at me. "Well, I guess I only did what every big sister really wants to do to an obnoxious brother!" Her laugh was rather forced.
"I suppose its natural for an older sister to feel very upset and angry with a rather trying younger brother--I have two of them, so I certainly know about that.... But I don't believe for a moment that you would truly want him dead or that you would deliberately kill him....it was just a horrible accident, wasn't it?"
She stared at me for a moment, then burst into tears, with great gulping sobs that went on for more than 15 minutes, as I tried to console her the best I could. Yes, the accident was her fault. She had made a mistake and it resulted in her brother's death. But she hadn't wanted him to die; and she hadn't deliberately gone off the road in order to make her childish and angry feelings toward him come true.
For years she had carried around the terrible burden of guilt about her brother's death, telling herself that she had killed him, feeling that her anger toward him made it deliberate. Her parents, grieving themselves, had never thought to absolve her of the accident.
As you might expect, her unhappiness with her life and her overwhelming feeling that she didn't have a right to live was tied to this traumatic incident in her life. What followed in the weeks after her revelation and sudden insight into her unresolved guilt and grief was the beginning of a cure for the inexplicable unhappiness she suffered in her life.
Her belief that she didn't deserve to live was tied up with her childish --and normal--sibling feelings about her brother. But what had sealed her fate was magical thinking--a belief that just because she had some negative feelings about him, those negative feelings had been responsible for the car accident. It was difficult for her to come to the realization that even if she had had uniformly positive and loving feelings toward her younger brother, the accident in which he was killed because she was an inexperienced driver would have still taken place.
With time, she moved from this dramatic insight, to accepting that, while she might have been a poor driver, she wasn't a murderer. And that also, if her brother had made other choices (e.g., used his seatbelt; waited for another hour to go to sleep; etc.)he too might have survived the accident. Some guilt was appropriate for her to deal with. But the life-destroying guilt she was experiencing was far more than she deserved.
Her insight actually gave her back her brother. Since the accident many years before, she had avoided thinking about him, and had psychologically banished all thoughts--both good and bad--about him from her life. For the first time in many years she could remember happy times with him, and finally appropriately mourn him.
Insight is a wonderful thing. The power or act of seeing into a situation and apprehending the inner nature or motivation of one's self--especially the why--can be extremely liberating, as it was for Susan. Only by being aware of these kind of hidden truths and inner motivations can a person gain control over them and correct the behavior that they generate.
But insight can also sometimes be devastating. Susan's insight freed her from a life of unhappiness and made her guilt over her brother's death much more bearable. But there are situations where achieving insight and understanding the motives behind one's behavior (as well as what one can and cannot control) can generate deserved guilt and shame. That is when such emotions can be productive and initiate a change in behavior for the good. While it is painful to acknowledge horrible truths--but truths nonetheless-- such understanding of one's self is essential for personal growth and normal personality development.
Interestingly, I thought of Susan when I was reflecting on the photos of Saddam Hussein in his underwear that were recently in the news; as well as his rage about it and his intent to file a lawsuit. At no time since he has been in custody, has Saddam expressed one iota of remorse or shame for all the murders and tortures he bears responsibility for; and I doubt that he has suffered a significant amount of guilt or shame because of them. When he looks in the mirror, he sees only a brave, heroic Muslim warrior, and not the pathetic human being he truly is.
Because of her insight and willingness to face her own inner truth, Susan demonstrated more integrity, honesty, courage and human decency than the former dictator of Iraq will ever be capable of.
Soon, Saddam will have his day in court. He will have lawyers arguing passionately for his lack of responsibility for the brutal deaths of literally thousands upon thousands of his own people. He will undoubtedly demonstrate the same arrogance and pride that beggared his people while making him a wealthy and powerful despot. Any suffering he is now experiencing; any shame or humiliation will not be due to the heinous crimes he has committed over the years, but only to the superficial wounds against his outward vanity and pride.
Saddam will never achieve anywhere near the personal growth and development that my young patient Susan was able to; because he is incapable of any real psychological insight into his own evil, malignant behavior. Nor is he capable of the inner courage required to look at yourself in the mirror and truly know the person looking back.
But then, that is what defines true evil, isn't it? The inability to acknowledge any degree of responsibility for their behavior; or to see clearly into their own souls. And that is the ultimate purpose of, and necessity for, Justice -- to impose insight; force awareness; and to reflect reality for those who refuse to look in the mirror.
Some weeks later, in a casual comment, Susan mentioned that she had never liked her younger brother when she was growing up. I looked up from my notes, surprised, because she had never mentioned her brother before.
"I didn't know you had a brother," I said. "Oh," she commented lightly, "he died. That's why I don't bring him up much."
Obviously she wanted to drop the subject, but I persisted. The brother who died was two younger than she was, and had died when he was 16.
"How sad for you and your family! That must have been terrible for you."
Susan shrugged. "It was a long time ago now," she said.
I considered whether I should pursue this further, since she clearly didn't want to talk about it. I asked her if it bothered her to talk about it.
"Not really."
"Could you tell me what happened to him?"
What followed was a dispassionate account of a family trip with the two parents in one car; and the patient and her brother in the other on their way to the family cabin in the mountains. The brother became tired, and went to the back seat to sleep. Susan, who was new to driving, misjudged a curve and went into it far too fast, causing her to lose control. The car slid off the road, and rolled over twice. My patient was uninjured because she had been wearing a seat belt. But her younger brother, sleeping in the back had been thrown from the car and died instantly.
I was stunned. This was serious stuff, and I knew it could be and probably was the origins of Susan's disabling guilt about her life. Yet the patient had never mentioned it in the weeks before as we had talked about her life, and seemed completely unaware that it could be linked to the very situation for which she had consulted me. Even now, while telling me the story, she sounded like a disinterested observer, rather than an intimate player in the drama she described.
"That must have been so awful for you," I said gently.
She smiled brightly at me. "Well, I guess I only did what every big sister really wants to do to an obnoxious brother!" Her laugh was rather forced.
"I suppose its natural for an older sister to feel very upset and angry with a rather trying younger brother--I have two of them, so I certainly know about that.... But I don't believe for a moment that you would truly want him dead or that you would deliberately kill him....it was just a horrible accident, wasn't it?"
She stared at me for a moment, then burst into tears, with great gulping sobs that went on for more than 15 minutes, as I tried to console her the best I could. Yes, the accident was her fault. She had made a mistake and it resulted in her brother's death. But she hadn't wanted him to die; and she hadn't deliberately gone off the road in order to make her childish and angry feelings toward him come true.
For years she had carried around the terrible burden of guilt about her brother's death, telling herself that she had killed him, feeling that her anger toward him made it deliberate. Her parents, grieving themselves, had never thought to absolve her of the accident.
As you might expect, her unhappiness with her life and her overwhelming feeling that she didn't have a right to live was tied to this traumatic incident in her life. What followed in the weeks after her revelation and sudden insight into her unresolved guilt and grief was the beginning of a cure for the inexplicable unhappiness she suffered in her life.
Her belief that she didn't deserve to live was tied up with her childish --and normal--sibling feelings about her brother. But what had sealed her fate was magical thinking--a belief that just because she had some negative feelings about him, those negative feelings had been responsible for the car accident. It was difficult for her to come to the realization that even if she had had uniformly positive and loving feelings toward her younger brother, the accident in which he was killed because she was an inexperienced driver would have still taken place.
With time, she moved from this dramatic insight, to accepting that, while she might have been a poor driver, she wasn't a murderer. And that also, if her brother had made other choices (e.g., used his seatbelt; waited for another hour to go to sleep; etc.)he too might have survived the accident. Some guilt was appropriate for her to deal with. But the life-destroying guilt she was experiencing was far more than she deserved.
Her insight actually gave her back her brother. Since the accident many years before, she had avoided thinking about him, and had psychologically banished all thoughts--both good and bad--about him from her life. For the first time in many years she could remember happy times with him, and finally appropriately mourn him.
Insight is a wonderful thing. The power or act of seeing into a situation and apprehending the inner nature or motivation of one's self--especially the why--can be extremely liberating, as it was for Susan. Only by being aware of these kind of hidden truths and inner motivations can a person gain control over them and correct the behavior that they generate.
But insight can also sometimes be devastating. Susan's insight freed her from a life of unhappiness and made her guilt over her brother's death much more bearable. But there are situations where achieving insight and understanding the motives behind one's behavior (as well as what one can and cannot control) can generate deserved guilt and shame. That is when such emotions can be productive and initiate a change in behavior for the good. While it is painful to acknowledge horrible truths--but truths nonetheless-- such understanding of one's self is essential for personal growth and normal personality development.
Interestingly, I thought of Susan when I was reflecting on the photos of Saddam Hussein in his underwear that were recently in the news; as well as his rage about it and his intent to file a lawsuit. At no time since he has been in custody, has Saddam expressed one iota of remorse or shame for all the murders and tortures he bears responsibility for; and I doubt that he has suffered a significant amount of guilt or shame because of them. When he looks in the mirror, he sees only a brave, heroic Muslim warrior, and not the pathetic human being he truly is.
Because of her insight and willingness to face her own inner truth, Susan demonstrated more integrity, honesty, courage and human decency than the former dictator of Iraq will ever be capable of.
Soon, Saddam will have his day in court. He will have lawyers arguing passionately for his lack of responsibility for the brutal deaths of literally thousands upon thousands of his own people. He will undoubtedly demonstrate the same arrogance and pride that beggared his people while making him a wealthy and powerful despot. Any suffering he is now experiencing; any shame or humiliation will not be due to the heinous crimes he has committed over the years, but only to the superficial wounds against his outward vanity and pride.
Saddam will never achieve anywhere near the personal growth and development that my young patient Susan was able to; because he is incapable of any real psychological insight into his own evil, malignant behavior. Nor is he capable of the inner courage required to look at yourself in the mirror and truly know the person looking back.
But then, that is what defines true evil, isn't it? The inability to acknowledge any degree of responsibility for their behavior; or to see clearly into their own souls. And that is the ultimate purpose of, and necessity for, Justice -- to impose insight; force awareness; and to reflect reality for those who refuse to look in the mirror.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Read It You Must !
A wonderful collection of hilariously negative Star Wars reviews can be found at Beautiful Atrocities! My favorite comes from the New Yorker:"A distinct improvement on the last 2 episodes, in the same way that dying from natural causes is preferable to crucifixion."
Read it all, you must. (I promise not to say anything more about the movie after this!)
Long-Range Planning
This is interesting. Especially if you look at a map of India and realize that it has a rather long border with China (and Pakistan for that matter). See here and here for some relevant analysis. Also, China's unwillingness to assist the US in reigning in North Korean nuclear ambitions is also to the point.
It's nice to see some long-range planning on the part of our leaders.
It's nice to see some long-range planning on the part of our leaders.
Carnival of the Insanities
Time for the weekly insanity udate, where the insane, the bizarre, the ridiculous, and the completely absurd are highlighted for all to see! This has been a week of rare idiocy (as always!). Calling all bloggers! Be sure to send in your entries to the Carnival, which will be posted every Sunday. Entries need to be in by 8 pm on Saturday to make their way into the list that week. SO MANY INSANITIES! SO LITTLE TIME!1. The ability to pick good fruit is almost magical!
2. Glenn Reynolds recommends this book to Newsweek editors. I concur. (I don't think the Instapundit needs my link, but here it is!)
3. Tom Lehrer said in one of his songs, "...and everybody hates the Jews." Seems he was correct.
4. I didn't know everyone hated these guys too! How perfectly satisfying.
5. They are definitely out of touch with reality if they imagine that anyone would pay for this.
6. This is good for a laugh. Personally I think they should spend it on education, but that's sooooooo 20th century.
7. According to this useful idiot, all reasonable people can see that the Gannon affair is FAR more evil than the little Newsweek factual error! The latter only caused the death of 17 people; but the former is the end of civilization as we know it. (Typical example of the priorities of the mainstream media!)
8. And this really signals the beginning of the end of civilization as we know it! Or, maybe not.
9. A real timewaster...and don't ask me the solution. I wasted several hours on it already this week! (courtesy of The Corner)
10. Feminism causes alcoholism? For some feminists, it causes insanity--but that's just my opinion.
11. Maybe this is reading a little too much into it, don't you think?
12. Some "dispiriting lunatic paranoia " --according to Ace. His diagnosis is correct.
13. How tragic! It should have been put out of our misery much sooner.
14. I really really really like the idea of a calendar with pictures of dictators in their underwear. Thanks, Athena, I'll treasure that image! (BTW, pictures here and here). I think it would be an excellent blogsphere project!
15. HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa. Maybe before his sentence is pronounced, the Kurds (and many others) should obtain similar legal relief?
16. Pajamas Media has definitely hit the big time in foot fashion!
17. AMEN.
18. The mullahs of Kansas.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
A Headline We'll Never See
Here's a headline from the NY Times (I don't really care about the story, the thoroughly obnoxious headline says it all for me):
"Guantánamo Comes to Define U.S. to Muslims"
Here is a headline I would like to see:
"Beheadings and Insanely Violent Behavior Define Islam to Americans"
Do you think we will ever see that? No, I don't either.
I am so incredibly sick and tired of the completely worthless mainstream media. It hardly seems worth the effort to critique them much anymore. Like Jonathan Pryce at the end of the movie Brazil, they are so into locked into this fantasy world they have created, they can no longer identify real evil--even when it is trying to kill them--let alone stand up against it. I used to think this was simply because they were ignorant and blind.
Now I realize that much of it is deliberate, with only a modest attempt to disguise their deep-seated hatred of western civilization and its values--America in particular (check out this letter from a Marine, especially the part about his interview with NBC-- if you have any doubts about what I am saying). And yes, they remain ignorant and blind.
May there be a special place in hell with 72 Jihadis waiting to behead [I mean...greet] them someday.
UPDATE: American Daughter has some really disturbing photos of beheadings smuggled out of Iran. If you want to know what kind of evil we are dealing with in the war on terror, you may want to look at them. CAUTION: THESE PHOTOS ARE VERY GRAPHIC. They show what the Mullahs do to their own people. But somehow, the media think we need to worry about America's image with Muslims.
"Guantánamo Comes to Define U.S. to Muslims"
Here is a headline I would like to see:
"Beheadings and Insanely Violent Behavior Define Islam to Americans"
Do you think we will ever see that? No, I don't either.
I am so incredibly sick and tired of the completely worthless mainstream media. It hardly seems worth the effort to critique them much anymore. Like Jonathan Pryce at the end of the movie Brazil, they are so into locked into this fantasy world they have created, they can no longer identify real evil--even when it is trying to kill them--let alone stand up against it. I used to think this was simply because they were ignorant and blind.
Now I realize that much of it is deliberate, with only a modest attempt to disguise their deep-seated hatred of western civilization and its values--America in particular (check out this letter from a Marine, especially the part about his interview with NBC-- if you have any doubts about what I am saying). And yes, they remain ignorant and blind.
May there be a special place in hell with 72 Jihadis waiting to behead [I mean...greet] them someday.
UPDATE: American Daughter has some really disturbing photos of beheadings smuggled out of Iran. If you want to know what kind of evil we are dealing with in the war on terror, you may want to look at them. CAUTION: THESE PHOTOS ARE VERY GRAPHIC. They show what the Mullahs do to their own people. But somehow, the media think we need to worry about America's image with Muslims.
Freedom! Freedom!
This speaks for itself:
Fidel is losing his grip on power at last. I'm glad.
And over in Syria, the same sort of thing is happening....
UPDATE: Stefania at Free Thoughts has lots of pictures from the Cuban protest; and a transcript of Bush's letter to the Cubans. Keep scrolling down!
In what organizers called an unprecedented event, dissidents from groups opposed to Fidel Castro's communist regime gathered publicly Friday and chanted "Down with Fidel."
"Freedom! Freedom!" the group of more than 100 delegates cheered in the yard of Felix Bonne, a veteran dissident, in a working-class section of Havana. Castro's regime would not allow the use of a theater or hotel for the assembly.
Participants included members of dissident groups that are sometimes at odds but share the goal of driving Castro from power.
"We think this is the first democratic assembly that has ever been held in Cuba," said organizer and former political prisoner Marta Beatriz Roque of the rare public display of opposition.
Fidel is losing his grip on power at last. I'm glad.
And over in Syria, the same sort of thing is happening....
UPDATE: Stefania at Free Thoughts has lots of pictures from the Cuban protest; and a transcript of Bush's letter to the Cubans. Keep scrolling down!
The Sith Hits The Fans
I have just a few words to say about Revenge of the Sith, which I saw last night:
1) Re: the phrase "only the Sith deal in absolutes"
I was under the impression that there was a "Light" side of the Force and a "Dark" side. No one has mentioned before that there was a "Gray" side. Bummer.
2) The dialog was uniformly lousy. I read the book and it was MUCH better than the movie in appreciating the characters' motivation (such as it was). For example, in the book, Anakin becomes jealously obsessed about Padme and Obi-Wan. This is barely in the movie at all, but it explains (for me) why Anakin becomes so enraged with Obi-Wan at the end. Also, I still can't believe that Anakin's abrupt and complete shift to the Dark side, even after 3 movies. The guy's an idiot.
3) I thought the flow of the movie was too jerky. He's had a number of years to get this right and I was disappointed.
4) The light saber duel between Obi-Wan and Vader was absolutely fabulous. It was the one part of the movie I truly enjoyed. My admiration for Obi-Wan went up a few notches.
5) Let me explain that I cry very very very easily at movies. Just the slightest hint of intense and honest human emotion makes my eyes well up involuntarily. Just ask my daughter, who regularly gets embarassed by my emotionality.
I didn't cry at all in this movie, despite the fact that I had a strong intellectual appreciation that it was a tragedy. Emotionally, it didn't connect to me at all. Except I was glad that Obi-Wan cut off his legs in the duel. He never had a leg to stand on anyway.
6) Finally, the Boo absolutely adored it, stated conclusively that it was one of the "greatest moments of her life" (of course, she said that about the Smallville episode this Wednesday, too) and intends to see it hundreds of times.
1) Re: the phrase "only the Sith deal in absolutes"
I was under the impression that there was a "Light" side of the Force and a "Dark" side. No one has mentioned before that there was a "Gray" side. Bummer.
2) The dialog was uniformly lousy. I read the book and it was MUCH better than the movie in appreciating the characters' motivation (such as it was). For example, in the book, Anakin becomes jealously obsessed about Padme and Obi-Wan. This is barely in the movie at all, but it explains (for me) why Anakin becomes so enraged with Obi-Wan at the end. Also, I still can't believe that Anakin's abrupt and complete shift to the Dark side, even after 3 movies. The guy's an idiot.
3) I thought the flow of the movie was too jerky. He's had a number of years to get this right and I was disappointed.
4) The light saber duel between Obi-Wan and Vader was absolutely fabulous. It was the one part of the movie I truly enjoyed. My admiration for Obi-Wan went up a few notches.
5) Let me explain that I cry very very very easily at movies. Just the slightest hint of intense and honest human emotion makes my eyes well up involuntarily. Just ask my daughter, who regularly gets embarassed by my emotionality.
I didn't cry at all in this movie, despite the fact that I had a strong intellectual appreciation that it was a tragedy. Emotionally, it didn't connect to me at all. Except I was glad that Obi-Wan cut off his legs in the duel. He never had a leg to stand on anyway.
6) Finally, the Boo absolutely adored it, stated conclusively that it was one of the "greatest moments of her life" (of course, she said that about the Smallville episode this Wednesday, too) and intends to see it hundreds of times.
The Council Has Spoken !
This week's winners in the Watcher's Council are now posted at the Watcher's site. Every week the Council nominates posts from the blogs of the Council members, and posts from around the blogsphere. The Council then votes to select the "Best" of all these posts.
BEST COUNCIL POSTS:
First Place
Please Don't Run, Newt Right Wing Nut House
Second Place
Intellectual Property and the Trade Deficit The Glittering Eye
BEST NON-COUNCIL POSTS:
First Place
I Got Your Desecration Right Here Pal Varifrank
Second Place
UPDATED: The Press’ Abu Ghraib: Newsweek Apologizes, After 15 People Are Dead Austin Bay Blog
Be sure to check out all the winners at the Watcher of Weasels site!
Friday, May 20, 2005
VDH - Not Soft Enough
Yet another thoughtful essay by Victor Davis Hanson. Take a look at it and see what you think.
I'll be back in form sometime tomorrow afternnon after our neighborhood garage sale!
I'll be back in form sometime tomorrow afternnon after our neighborhood garage sale!
The Real Enemy
I completely agree with Jeff Jacoby in yesterday's Boston Globe:
As I've said before, in a variety of ways, Newsweek (and the rest of the mainstream media for that matter) are a waste of time to worry about. They will eventually be driven out of business by their own incompetence and idiocy. They are enablers and co-dependents of the terrorists.
Instead, we must begin to focus on reigning in a religion where the most sick and twisted aspects have been taken up by immoral,depraved, and death-obsessed individuals whose fundamental primitivism is bizarrely countered by highly complex technology they hope to use to destroy us all. They are the real threat, and until they are dealt with decisively, Western Civilization and the institutions that support it --individuality, capitalism, freedom and democracy-- are in jeopardy.
IT WAS front-page news this week when Newsweek retracted a report claiming that a US interrogator in Guantanamo had flushed a copy of the Koran down a toilet. Everywhere it was noted that Newsweek's story had sparked widespread Muslim rioting, in which at least 17 people were killed. But there was no mention of deadly protests triggered in recent years by comparable acts of desecration against other religions.
No one recalled, for example, that American Catholics lashed out in violent rampages in 1989, after photographer Andres Serrano's ''Piss Christ" -- a photograph of a crucifix submerged in urine -- was included in an exhibition subsidized by the National Endowment for the Arts. Or that they rioted in 1992 when singer Sinead O'Connor, appearing on ''Saturday Night Live," ripped up a photograph of Pope John Paul II.
There was no reminder that Jewish communities erupted in lethal violence in 2000, after Arabs demolished Joseph's Tomb, torching the ancient shrine and murdering a young rabbi who tried to save a Torah. And nobody noted that Buddhists went on a killing spree in 2001 in response to the destruction of two priceless, 1,500-year-old statues of Buddha by the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Of course, there was a good reason all these bloody protests went unremembered in the coverage of the Newsweek affair: They never occurred.
Christians, Jews, and Buddhists don't lash out in homicidal rage when their religion is insulted. They don't call for holy war and riot in the streets. It would be unthinkable for a mainstream priest, rabbi, or lama to demand that a blasphemer be slain. But when Reuters reported what Mohammad Hanif, the imam of a Muslim seminary in Pakistan, said about the alleged Koran-flushers -- ''They should be hung. They should be killed in public so that no one can dare to insult Islam and its sacred symbols" -- was any reader surprised?
The Muslim riots should have been met by outrage and condemnation. From every part of the civilized world should have come denunciations of those who would react to the supposed destruction of a book with brutal threats and the slaughter of 17 innocent people. But the chorus of condemnation was directed not at the killers and the fanatics who incited them, but at Newsweek.
As I've said before, in a variety of ways, Newsweek (and the rest of the mainstream media for that matter) are a waste of time to worry about. They will eventually be driven out of business by their own incompetence and idiocy. They are enablers and co-dependents of the terrorists.
Instead, we must begin to focus on reigning in a religion where the most sick and twisted aspects have been taken up by immoral,depraved, and death-obsessed individuals whose fundamental primitivism is bizarrely countered by highly complex technology they hope to use to destroy us all. They are the real threat, and until they are dealt with decisively, Western Civilization and the institutions that support it --individuality, capitalism, freedom and democracy-- are in jeopardy.
Sith Happens
All day today, I was attending an intensive conference on dealing with the suicidal patient. I am scheduled to be there all day tomorrow, too. I will be posting a few things here and there, but after I finish at the conference tomorrow, I have to rush home to take the Boo to Star Wars: ROTS.
I'll be back to regular posting on Saturday!
I'll be back to regular posting on Saturday!
The Dawn of Hope on A Clear Bright Morning
There are two posts up today, both of which you should read in their entirety, that seem to suggest that the Left is on its last legs (one can only hope). The first is Wretchard at Belmont Club:
And the second is New Sisyphus, reporting on the recent summit of national victimhood in Venezuela:
Yes, the Leftists all over the world are getting desperate. No one on that side of the political spectrum can pretend anymore that they stand for anything but the enabling of tyranny and terror. What is totally amazing is that--abandoning whatever principles they may once have actually believed they had--they now firmly stand on the wrong side of almost every major issue today.
-Do they believe in Freedom. No. Freedom is only justified when they deem it so.
-Do they believe in and end to tyranny. No. Tyranny and oppression must be good if the US stands firmly against it.
-Is genocide evil. Not when its one of your own doing it!
-Do they condemn suicide bombings. No. targeting innocents is perfectly appropriate behavior, while going after military targets is pure evil. Nothing the Palestinians do could possibly be wrong. And everything that Israel does, is.
-Isn't chopping off the head of a captive a bit more depraved than causing them humiliation? Of course not. Hurting someone's feelings or religious sensibilities is a much more vicious act.
-Isn't "fake but accurate" a ridiculous statement? No. If we believe it, it must be true.
-Doesn't the Oil-for-Food scandal give you some pause about the moral authority of the UN? Not at all, it is the moral authority of the US that is at question here.
And so on and on and on. Wretchard mentions Martin of Canada's Left and Galloway of Britain's as perfect examples of the bluster and braggadocio that is all the Left has to offer. When someone like the paranoid nutcase Hugo Chavez becomes a not only a spokesman, but also a venerated hero and leader of the international Left-- then you can be sure they must be incredibly desperate indeed.
The jig is up. The cat is out of the bag. Hope is dawning in the world. It is a clear, bright morning and the dark ideologies and fanaticism of a Marx, Lenin, Hitler, Osama or Zarqawi cannot survive for long in a world where freedom and democracy thrive.
What characterizes much of the Left today as exemplified by behavior from George Galloway to Paul Martin is the increasing necessity to maintain their position By Any Means Necessary. While that is dangerous and infuriating, it is a reliable indicator that they have lost control of the system. Things just aren't working the way they used to. And that, despite everything, is cause for hope.
And the second is New Sisyphus, reporting on the recent summit of national victimhood in Venezuela:
But for sheer idiocy and victimology at its best, nothing beats the summit’s closing declaration. The entire text can be accessed and read here, but we offer a sample as follows for two reasons. First, there just isn’t enough humor on this blog. Second, because, from time to time in the dead of night, usually after we’ve read the day’s collection of leftist hate mail (keep those cards and letters coming, kids!) we sit up straight in bed and wonder: are we on the right track? Is Conservatism really an intellectually defensible stance in today’s world? Perhaps we’re missing something in the leftist critique? Perhaps there is something to be gleaned, to be learned from their positions? Maybe, just maybe, we are wrong about the basics and, therefore, wrong about the particulars as a matter of course?
And then we read declarations of professional victims like these and it’s as if clear bright morning has dawned. Don’t believe us? Read for yourself! The parties to the declaration:Express deep concern with regard to unilateral sanctions imposed on Syria by the government of the United States of America and consider that the so-called Syria Accountability Act violates principles of International Law and constitutes a transgression against the objectives and principles of the United Nations thereby establishing a serious precedent as regards dealing with independent states.
There’s that old “International Law” again, which apparently becomes law if a group of anti-Americans decide they really, really don’t like a sovereign decision we’ve made about who we will trade with and why. By the way, where is the parliament that drafts this stuff? Can we vote? Petition? Testify? Protest?
Yes, the Leftists all over the world are getting desperate. No one on that side of the political spectrum can pretend anymore that they stand for anything but the enabling of tyranny and terror. What is totally amazing is that--abandoning whatever principles they may once have actually believed they had--they now firmly stand on the wrong side of almost every major issue today.
-Do they believe in Freedom. No. Freedom is only justified when they deem it so.
-Do they believe in and end to tyranny. No. Tyranny and oppression must be good if the US stands firmly against it.
-Is genocide evil. Not when its one of your own doing it!
-Do they condemn suicide bombings. No. targeting innocents is perfectly appropriate behavior, while going after military targets is pure evil. Nothing the Palestinians do could possibly be wrong. And everything that Israel does, is.
-Isn't chopping off the head of a captive a bit more depraved than causing them humiliation? Of course not. Hurting someone's feelings or religious sensibilities is a much more vicious act.
-Isn't "fake but accurate" a ridiculous statement? No. If we believe it, it must be true.
-Doesn't the Oil-for-Food scandal give you some pause about the moral authority of the UN? Not at all, it is the moral authority of the US that is at question here.
And so on and on and on. Wretchard mentions Martin of Canada's Left and Galloway of Britain's as perfect examples of the bluster and braggadocio that is all the Left has to offer. When someone like the paranoid nutcase Hugo Chavez becomes a not only a spokesman, but also a venerated hero and leader of the international Left-- then you can be sure they must be incredibly desperate indeed.
The jig is up. The cat is out of the bag. Hope is dawning in the world. It is a clear, bright morning and the dark ideologies and fanaticism of a Marx, Lenin, Hitler, Osama or Zarqawi cannot survive for long in a world where freedom and democracy thrive.
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