Commentary Telling It Like It Is To Those That Might Not Want To Hear It & Links To News Around The Internet
Monday, March 03, 2008
Foreshadows Of The Beast & The False Prophet
Friday, February 29, 2008
President Confirms He May Be As Stupid As Suspected
This is an even bigger embarassment than the time Pappy Bush confessed to have never having seen a supermarket barcode scanner.
Kind of makes you wonder what other vital information the President is willfully ignorant of.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Highlander: The Source (No Wonder It Was Relegated To Saturday Night)
One of mankind’s fondest dreams is no doubt to live upon this earth in vitality and youth beyond the paltry 75 to 90-odd years the healthiest among us get to enjoy. As such, one of contemporary fantasy’s most compelling franchises has had to have been Highlander. The protagonist is himself immortal and gets to live indefinitely provided his head is not lopped by a fellow Immortal as these are destined to battle until there is a sole survivor among them as the catch phrase reminds the viewer “In the end there can be only one.”
It has been several years since an adventure of the legendary Scotsman, but if “Highlander: The Source” is any indication, it appears he is feeling his 400 plus years.
For several years as this film plodded its way through production and distribution, fans were given hints that they would finally at last be provided with an explanation as to how the Immortals came to be in the first place. This convoluted story delivers none of that as the Source does not necessarily refer to origins.
Though Highlander: The Source ultimately falls short in terms of the story, these shortcomings are compounded by the atrocious cinematography. Though broadcast in the early to mid 90’s, the old Highlander TV series had better quality effects than the latest film in the series.
For example, central to the milieu of the Highlander saga is the transfer of the quickening from the Immortal that has lost his head to the Immortal that has taken it. In the TV series, this was depicted by an impressive display of lightening bolts and electric shocks.
However, in The Source, these scenes are not nearly as impressive. The electric charges are now less distinctive artistically with the emphasis now on the head rolling away, something that was only alluded to and seldom seen in the older episodes.
Relatedly, in the TV series, the sword fights leading up to this dramatic exchange of life force were often depicted as elegant, almost dance-like encounters. However, in Highlander: The Source, these are now filmed with the same herky-jerky camera action used in many productions today such as the new Battlestar Galactica where viewers almost come away nauseated because the directors think they are too good to shoot images with a steady, smooth hand.
Highlander: The Source is such a disappointment that, if one did happen to be an Immortal, one might just very well be tempted to slit one’s own throat than rather spend an eternity watching this movie.
by Frederick Meekins
Friday, February 22, 2008
Piggy Banks Banned Becuase Over Fears Of Islamist Offense
If certain groups don't want a piggy bamk, then don't take it.
For that matter, if the West is such a pool of filth, then why are those from lands thinking we are continuing to overrun our borders?
Thursday, February 21, 2008
World Edges Closer To Revelation 6:6
Think things expensive now, likely to get worse:
"Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart* of wheat for a day's wages,* and three quarts of barley for a day's wages,* and do not damage the oil and the wine."
Media/Auhorities Insinuate Suspended License At Fault Of Roadrace Fatalities
Media and law enforcement authorities are trying to insinuate that a suspended license is at fault for eight fatalities at an illegal road race in Maryland.
Some might assume this driver was one of the participants, but that would be incorrect.
So unless police can show how a small piece of plastic would have placed some kind of inertial dampener around this unsuspecting automobile that happened upon the spectators afterwards, tell me why responsibility should not be placed solely upon the dimiwitted gawkers deliberately meandering into the street into oncoming traffic?
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Second Episode Of Jericho
The second episode of Jericho's second season is a vast improvement over the first primarily because of subtle points mentioned rather than major dramatic elements.
For example, one character alludes to the fact that the contractor rebuilding the town "barcodes everything", causing the astute viewer to wonder if the townspeople might be next. Also of interest was the revisionist history text, the pending Constitutional convention (making you wonder what liberties will be abolished in the name of national security), and that the security contractors (Blackwateresque mercenaries) that came to loot the town in season one in what had to rank amonng one of the most dramatic hours in television histroy have been put in charge of Jericho by the shadowy Illuminati-like cabal behind the conspiracy.
This show is so hitting on the truth behind the scenes, don't look for it to be renewed for the fall.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
More Things Change The More They Stay The Same In Leftist Suburb
In some systems of Eastern thought, the doctrine of recurrence teaches that everything that has happened will happen again. Western philosophy of history drawing inspiration from a Biblical understanding of the universe does not share in the same exact idea since the Judeo-Christian worldview sees history as moving towards its ultimate conclusion in eternity. However,. traditional orthodox theism admits there is nothing new under the sun, meaning all the schemes and frauds have all been around the block a few times and will continue to plague the human condition until the good Lord decides to step and put an end to all this nonsense.
In an essay in my underappreciated masterpiece “Yuletide Terror & Other Holiday Horrors”, titled “Holiday Tree, Holiday Tree, Thy Name Is In Need Of Serious Changing” I examined the propriety of holding a yoga class in the City of Hyattsville municipal building since the practice is inherently spiritual and wondered if the same courtesy would be extended to a Christian group wanting to hold a prayer meeting or Bible study. For at the very same time the town fathers were opening city hall to limber swamis, these weeping willows of tolerance bent to the whims of political correctness switched the name of their Yuletide evergreen from that of “Christmas” to “Holiday” Tree.
When published in the town newspaper, my comments were castigated by the course instructor, claiming yoga was merely physical exercise having nothing whatsoever to do with religion or faith. The more things change the more they stay the same and eventually both the yoga class and the trees name appeared in the local press again years later.
We are now well into the first decade of the new century and it seems some Christmas or I guess “holiday” traditions pretty much remain unchanged. Still a bastion of liberal foolishness to such an extent that many of the town’s elites are ecstatic that the once quaint suburb has for the most part been overrun by immigrants barely speaking a lick of English and over massive revenue outlays going to finance a so-called “arts-district” where average taxpayers who actually work for a living will be forced to subsidize the lifestyles of decadent beatniks thinking they are too good to hold down regular jobs, it seems about the only form of expression that won’t be supported is the utterance of the word “Christmas”.
According to the 11/29/07 edition of the Gazette, Hyattsville was to hold its “holiday tree” lighting ceremony. Since the festival was also to include “holiday music”, does that mean “Stars and Stripes Forever” was to be played as well since by definition the Fourth of July is a holiday as in such a leftist enclave such a blatantly pro-American celebration is probably as almost as despised as traditional Christian ones such as Christmas.
One might very well argue that the wording could have very well been an editorial; decision of the newspaper rather than that of the city. However, the 11/28/07 edition of the Hyattsville Reporter, the city’s official newsletter, is rife with the spineless euphemism with the only mention of the word “Christmas” being justification why the office would be closed on December 25th.
In the middle of the first page of the newsletter, it reads, “Enjoy The Holiday Activity Edition”. In the left hand column directly beneath this admonition is information regarding the “Sixth Annual Sonny Fraizer Holiday Toy Drive”. On page 2 , “Holiday Events” such as the tree lighting ceremony and “Breakfast With Santa” (multiculturalist fans of the program “Futurama” may wonder why Kwanza Bot wasn’t invited) are listed.
As frustrating as this issue is in terms of undermining both traditional liberties and culture, perhaps of even greater concern over the long run is another spiritual danger that never really went away, namely the matter of yoga. Regarding my comments about yoga, the instructor dismissed them back in the late 90’s by claiming yoga was simply physical exercise with no spiritual ramifications.
By 2003, this very same individual was singing a different tune. In a Gazette article titled “Yoga Class Stretches Into Hyattsville” published on 10/16/03, the guru who years earlier claimed there was nothing inherently religious about yoga finally admitted, “If you want it, [yoga] could be a spiritual journey.”
From the website of this instructor’s own yoga studio, one sees that this is something of an understatement. Prominently listed on the website are the spiritual benefits of yoga which include “increased feelings of forgiveness, feelings of connection to the Divine, ability to empathize with others, and contentment.”
One might say those are the very same things the believer sees as the benefits bestowed upon the individual through devotion to prayer and Bible study. However, the admission as to the spiritual nature of yoga doesn’t stop there.
According to the website, Anusara Yoga is “a powerful hatha system that unifies a Tantric philosophy of intrinsic goodness with Universal Principles of Alignment, Anusara embodies an uplifting philosophy, epitomized by a celebration of the heart that looks for the good in all people and things.” Seems to me that’s about a lot more than limbering up the old backbone.
Furthermore, though all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, is there all that much good in the likes of Adolf Hitler or Osama Bin Ladin to spend that much time looking for it and I doubt those that lost loved ones in the September 11th attacks would find much good in that tragedy either. Among the first things you learn in English 101 is to be careful about using the word “all”.
Of Kripalu Yoga, it says on the website, “It is a challenging approach to asana practice that emphasizes meditation and breathwork, encourages inward focus and spiritual attunement. Practicing Kripalu Yoga can initiate a gradual process of physical healing, psychological growth, and spiritual awakening.” Once again, things such as “spiritual attunement” and “psychological growth” are the benefits believers receive as byproducts of prayer focused upon the God of the universe as found in the person of His Son Jesus Christ.
Under the First Amendment, Americans are pretty much free to believe whatever they want. However, that fundamental operational principal of government and jurisprudence does not mean that those bent on subverting traditional principles should be allowed to have these foundations removed only to turn around and impose their own deceptive counterfeits.
by Frederick Meekins
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Female Referre Tossed Out Of Game As A Threat To Catholic Team's Masculinity
In all fairness, this type of nonsense is prominent in Evangelical circles also as I remeber hearing of a similar thing going on at AWANA sporting events.
If woman not good enough to supervise youngsters at play, perhaps they ought to refuse to serve the snacks afterwards as well.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
Friday, February 08, 2008
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Dining Rooms A Thing Of The Past
An excellent yet disturbing edition of the Albert Mohler discussing how many new houses aren't even designed with dining rooms as fewer families eating together.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Sermon Argues Grown Daughters To Be Coralled At Home
This sermon goes a bit far in insinuating that to avowed the dangers of the flesh that grown daughters in their mid 20's should be sequestered at home under the control of their father's until the father permits the daughter to wed.
Almost get the impression that women are to be traded almost like commodities and all the fun and enjoyment sucked out of life.
The way these potential marriages are arranged behind the backs of the young woman with the father and would-be groom haggling as to whether or not they are suitable, maybe the two guys ought to run off together.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Huckabee’s Fat Lip Yammering On About Your Gastronomic Business
Throughout his time in the public limelight, Republican Mike Huckabee has made obesity awareness one of his pet issues having lost over 100 pounds himself. However, as is typical of most fanatics having come to a realization or a cause a little later in the game than most, it is not enough for them to keep what they have learned to themselves but now they are out to impose their new way of life to such an extent that they are willing to appeal to the mechanisms of the state in order to enforce their vision of reality.
As part of an initiative to combat childhood obesity, as Governor of Arkansas, Huckabee implemented directives where each public school student in that state would have their weight cataloged by operatives of the educational system. From this assessment, a document similar to a report card would be generated and sent out at about the same time as the more traditional scholastic evaluation.
Those with their perceptions mired in what to them seemed more carefree times might respond, “What’s the big deal?” Perhaps they should stop and reflect for a moment.
As in the case of grades and such, once the state tabulates an individual’s weight,, it will become part of their permanent file and be used to track them for the rest of their lives. And don’t go around thinking the number will simply remain just another harmless statistic tossed into a file folder with no additional reference made to it.
In a FoxNews.com story posted 6/13/04 titled “Students To Be Graded On Weight”, the health coordinator is quoted as saying, “We’re going to know how many are overweight, how many are underweight, how many are normal weight.” It’s bad enough for the government to have such information in its possession, but it gets even worse when it serves as the basis for the implementation of concrete policies.
According to an article titled “Arkansas’ Battle Against Childhood Obesity Enters Its Second Year” posted on the website of the University Of Arkansas For Medical Sciences, at schools with a disproportionate number of obese students, “The incentives offered to students in some areas have changed from pizza or ice cream to yogurt parties or other more healthy food choices.”
Now what kid in their right mind is going to bust their hump for yogurt and carrot sticks? If that is all they have to look forward to, they might as well drag their feet and remain mired in mediocrity.
However, if readers still think this will be the only impact, they are still not waking up to the complete picture. For often with these kinds of government programs, using a carrot (an appropriate snack choice under the regimen of the food fascists) and stick approach, once the carrot has been dangled for a while, the stick is eventually brought out to whack those with a more independent streak. The director of the Arkansas Center For Health Improvement said, “We need schools, parents, and communities across the state to get onboard and become active in this effort that will make a profound difference in our children’s lives.”
These health officials might have say in how schools respond and even communities if once sees such social conglomerations as essentially under government control rather than as the organic dynamic relationships that develop uncoerced from the interaction of free people, but what if parents decide not to cooperate? One need only look at the last three words of the director’s statement to get a glimpse of where things are headed.
Unless he is referring to his own offspring when he says “our children’s lives” that statement is very revealing as to what this higher mid-level functionary is thinking. The state, ladies and gentlemen, according to this worldview, holds ultimate title to your progeny and you are merely a hired hand granted the privilege of overseeing them for a few years --- the number continuing to decrease as proponents of universal preschool and the like continue to make headway --- but who must ultimately raise them in accord with the will of the lord of the manor.
To those thinking they are so sophisticated in their moderation, don’t go dismissing with the flick of a wrist and the crinkling of a nose what I have to say. In this day and age, especially in certain Republican circles, you can pretty much get what you want by dressing it up in the name of national security or the war on terrorism.
That is exactly what Mike Huckabee has done. In comments before the Southern Governor’s association regarding what he perceives as an obesity epidemic, Huckabee said, “You’ve got a serious situation with a generation of kids coming up so unhealthy they won’t be able to pass the military physical. We keep talking about the war on terror --- who’s going to fight it if we don’t have enough people who are healthy enough to show up and pick up a backpack.”
Thus, it has finally been revealed why many government officials are feigning concern about the expanding waistlines of many Americans. They might initially start off claiming their efforts are for the purpose of increasing the expectancy and quality of life, but ultimately it is about nothing more than getting you healthy enough to die or toil for the glory of the Fatherland (or maybe rather “Homeland” as the aspiring totalitarians among us prefer to call it nowadays so much so that even Smallville producers are so frightened that they won’t speak the word preferring to call the agency “the Department of Domestic Security”).
Huckabee’s comments also reveal the kind of double standard being propagated by the ruling elites. According to Huckabee, the primary reason Americans must be compelled towards physical fitness is so that we might be able to fulfill our obligation of national service. However, it is quite obvious he exempts his own family from these expectations.
Normally, a person’s weight is the last thing I criticize as at about the age of 9 or 10 on a visit to the doctor’s office for an unrelated matter I was handed a diet plan with a rear-end of a hippopotamus splashed across it and even in Christian schools the vilest of taunts were often reserved for the overweight students. However, a man with a son the size of one of the Huckabee offspring (and the other two children don’t look like they have skipped many meals either) ought to be among the last to insinuate you are an unfit parent if your progeny happens to be bigger than Nicole Richie.
On the Drudge Report around 12/19/07 was featured a portrait of the Huckabee household. Standing behind his parents was a young man, it would not be an exaggeration to say, who was nearly as wide as his two parents put together.
Now, in this land of the free and the home of the brave, if the Huckabee spawn wants to be that big, that is his prerogative and most of the time, most of us should keep our mouths shut about it. However, I am not the presidential contender assailing the patriotism of those whose waistlines exceed the guidelines established by those implementing the New World Order.
But you see, it is not an obligation of those in the governing class such as the Huckabees to be ready at a moments notice to answer the call of the nation. Rather, that responsibility falls to you, ladies and gentleman, to hand over the lives of your children to sacrifice in wars the elites never intend to send their own children off into.
The Huckabee son is allowed to expand until his heart’s content or it bursts. Never will he have to face the embarrassment of being weighed in front of his classmates or his parents receive in the mail threatening letters on how this information was forwarded to government authorities Never will he face the embarrassment of having to be weighed in front of his classmates or his parents receive an intimidating letter in the mail from government authorities.
During the Christmas season, the media about had a coronary attempting to determine whether the intersecting boards of a bookshelf where a subliminal attempt to interject the cross into the campaign. Too bad they have not been as concerned about a plan that could potentially curtail basic liberties and bring yet another level of surveillance into the lives of the American people if applied at a national level.
by Frederick Meekins
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
ACLU Endorses Restroom Lewdness
The privacy of your own home might be one thing, but privacy in a public restroom?
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Are Some Forms Of Border Security More About Keeping People In Than Out?
Americans might be interested to know that to cross the Canadian border that the U.S. government will require them to be carrying a passport even if they have other legitimate forms of identification. However, most recall precious little is being done to stop the flow over our own borders of those with no proper reason to be here with no intentions of leaving.
Taken together, this dichotomy proves that the Orwellian notions of border security bandied about in the media and public policy circles have little to do with protecting the United States but are about controlling the American people.
These contradictions and inconsistencies not only have unsettling implications for the present but also even more startling consequences for the future.
Though not much is made about it in the mainstream press more titillated by Paris Hilton’s jailhouse fantasies, if one digs deep enough one uncovers increasing whispers about a so-called North American Union where the United States, Canada, and Mexico will be merged into a single world economic and strategic entity.
If those backing this geopolitical rearrangement are conspiring to allow millions to remain here that have no business staying as a prelude to a massive demographic realignment, kind of makes you wonder why all of a sudden elites are so eager to strengthen borders for those seeking to leave a specific jurisdiction while going out of the way to abolish them for those wanting to come in.
If the United States, Canada, and Mexico are on the verge of becoming a united continental territory while more tightly monitoring those with the intentions of returning home while doing little about those with no intentions of doing so, that can only mean that eventually if the borders between what were once sovereign independent countries are to become nothing more than the boundaries between states (or provinces it you happen to live in the land to the north), does that mean that eventually one will have to show one’s passport to cross the internal boundaries between states or provinces.
At this point in American history, such a possibility seems ludicrous since we are pretty much allowed to come and go as we please. However, police states such as the Soviet Union have been no stranger to the use of internal passports.
Some will respond, “But what does this have to do with the United States?” You’d probably be shocked to learn more than you might realize.
Following the 9/11 attack upon the United States, Charlotte Isberbyt in a number of columns posted at NewsWithViews.com titled “Former KGB Head To Help Spy On Americans” and “United States-Russian Merger: A Done Deal?” takes note of how a number of high-level administrators at the infamous Soviet security agency have been hired by our own government as consultants shuffled back and forth between various bureaucracies so as to maintain plausible deniability about having the scoundrels in any particular employ and to best share their perspectives on how to more efficiently control the population in terms of movement, travel plans, and all other sorts of activities we normally take for granted. Foremost among the proposals, Isberbyt notes, ranks internal passports (passed off to the American people under the slightly more palatable euphemism of “national identity cards” though just as odious when one considers how they will be used under the authorization of the Real ID Act).
Those lining up to come here legally, go elsewhere, or even citizens traveling within our own borders are not the ones threatening to undermine our nation nor the ones swarming here demanding we alter our way of life to suit foreign idiosyncrasies and proclivities.
By Frederick Meekins
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Politically Correct To Alter Santa Out Of Existence
Over the course of the past decade or so, leftist malcontents have set their ideological sites against Christmas no doubt as the holiday points to the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ who can often help or motivate the individual to work through many of their own problems without an over reliance on government aide and because many of the celebrations if not taken to extremes provide the individual with a sense of well being that undermines liberalism’s basic assumption that things are so miserable that the only hope of fixing them is handing control over to a state imbued with almost God-like powers.
Initially, many of these challenges and objections were couched in terms of the canard of the Separation of Church and State and all that other pluralistic mumbo jumbo about not offending other cultures even though the rest of us have the other cultures jammed down our throats the rest of the year to the point where if anyone objects to allowing hordes of radical Muslims or swarms of illegal aliens to settle here without question now you the one likely to be labeled a troublemaker or a threat to national security.
But now that the average American has just about enough of the efforts to banish the foundations of American culture even if they do not embrace the underlying worldview of these foundations, more crafty subversives are beginning to come out from beneath their dank rocks like cunning serpents to play on those abridgements of freedom already accepted by the good-natured but slightly dimwitted if they desire status as progressive members in good standing with the COMMUNITY.
Beloved by all but the most puritanical or revolutionary from either extreme of the socioreligious spectrum, even Santa Claus is no longer immune to postmodernist deconstruction.
In years past, some have sought to eradicate him as a symbol of the Christian ethos in which the icon either sprang up in or was grafted onto. However, rather than outright obliteration, the more crafty now want to alter his fundamental nature in such a way that most of us will no longer recognize him once our politically correct overlords have their way with him.
Those following the news first caught wind of this in a story from Australia where Santa Clauses from Downunder were forbidden from uttering “ho ho ho” because it might be “offensive to women” since other than a jolly greeting it is also slang for a woman of ill repute.
Though I’ll have to admit I have also used it as a double entede for comedic effect in a column about a strip club participating in a toy drive, frankly, if you are going to sit around and raise a fuss over this jolly phrase apparently the plight of women is so good here in the civilized lands of the West that there is nothing left to complain about.
As a recent country song laments there was a time when “a hoe was just a hoe.” The rest of us should not have to be punished because of the success of the Jerry Spinger and Maury Povich Shows in popularizing ghetto slang in the broader culture.
Most probably just stand back and scratch their heads at that one. However, the jolly old elf is now threatened by a new campaign those conditioned to blindly accept what those in lab coats and carrying clipboards will have a more difficult time countering.
Inherent to his accepted appearance along with his thick white beard and usually velvety suit is that Santa is renowned for being a bit on the stout or pleasingly plump side. However, in the attempt to pressure us all into being malnourished little minions of the New World Order, those now running a number of these agencies, regardless of whether or not the government even hold such influence, have declared war against Santa Claus.
The U.S. Surgeon General said in an interview to the Boston Globe, “It is really important that the people who kids look up to as role models are in good shape, eating well, and getting exercise.”
All Americans --- just not parents with children of Santa believing age --- should step back for a moment and cogitate upon this magistrate’s pronouncement. This statement not only applies to an icon trotted out once per year; for if the statement is taken to its logical conclusion it could be applied to anyone a little thick around the middle.
Should Oprah trot back up the scale again, does that mean she must forfeit much of her influence and stop playing her new role as “False Prophet” to Obama’s “Psuedo-Messiah”? More importantly, if this size bias continues to percolate, will there come a day when those deemed as overweight will be forced out of prestigious careers or professions? Even worse, will overweight parents lose visitation rights in divorce proceedings or even have children snatched from the home all together?
Furthermore, if the Surgeon General is going to come out against the impropriety of obese Santas, why doesn’t he also come out against supposed role models exhibiting other behaviors deleterious to health?
For example, if the obese are to be banished as role models, does this mean the same should be done about the sexually promiscuous in the media. Teens and adults, I think, would be more prone to emulate provocative behavior of that fashion since all physically healthy folks have lots more urges pushing them in that direction than a pre-school child would to want to look like Santa Claus who will just be an innocent playful memory too soon enough in a few fleeting years.
It seems the gift some could use the most this Christmas season is a little bit of good old fashioned common sense.
By Frederick Meekins
Friday, December 21, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Trilingual Beauty Queen Assailed As Linguistically Deficient
If she wasn't pale and blonde, I wonder if as much fuss would have been made.
With immigrant gangs taking over so much of the continent that that even police are afraid to go into some cities, I think Europe may have bigger things to worry about.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Mohler Says Can Only Leave A Church For Two Reasons
In his examination of the decision of a California diocese to sever ties with the Episcopal Church, Albert Mohler argues that the only justifiable reasons to leave a church are over doctrinal matters or ministry opportunities.
Therefore, according to this theologian, if your church that use to play hymns changes to ear-shattering rock music, you as a member are required to stay there.
Also, as one of those pushing marriage on the young, I wonder how he squares that with mandating single young adults stay in a congregation where there are very few to pick from with most of the members being septugenarians.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Ought To Make A Watergate Conspirator Blush
In Matthew 10:16, Christians are admonished to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. Often though, Christian organizations and ministries are the ones at the forefront of propagating the expectation in the mind of their respective supporters that sincere believers are --- in the words of the Washington Post --- to be uneducated and easy to command.
The Angel Tree Project is a program administered by Prison Fellowship Ministries where Christmas gifts are provided to the children of the incarcerated on behalf of their parents. While there is nothing wrong per say with such acts of charity even though Prison Fellowship mouthpieces such as Chuck Colson get heavy-handed at times that it is somehow the fault of the average American that these misunderstood souls are behind bars and that these convicts are the 21st century equivalent of Rousseau’s noble savage or somehow on par with Mother Teresa in terms of moral goodness as detailed in my column “A Big Helping Of Christmas Guilt” published in 2003, one way in which this charitable outreach markets itself to the broader Christian community might make some of Colson’s fellow Watergate conspirators blush in terms of its duplicity and slight of hand.
One of the techniques organizations across the religious and political spectrum use to get the unsuspecting and gullible to part with their hard earned money is direct mail fundraising where pity party letters are sent out laying the guilt on recipients that somehow if they do not respond with the requested contribution that the world is somehow going to come to an end. With such melodrama, the least one could ask for is at least a little consistency.
For the past several years and I offer as evidence the letters sent out in 2006 and 2007, though what prompted me to retain the 2006 letter in the first place was its startling similarity to the 2005 letter, that are worded almost identically each of these years. What’s the big deal, some may ask, as direct mail fundraising efforts don’t come cheap as those composing such epistles can command up to six figure salaries according to a classified employment ad that use to run in Human Events.
Maybe so, but for that price one should be able to get a letter where the errors and convenient oversights are not so easy to spot for the reader who has not left their discernment at the church house door as many have been conditioned to do in this age where it is assumed the statements made by Evangelical superstars are somehow above the scrutiny of we mere mortals.
Both letters center around the plight of an inmate named Richard --- the whys of his incarceration are conveniently omitted as most citizens of good conscience are usually adverse to the sob stories of ax murderers or serial rapists --- who contacted Prison Fellowship in the hopes of getting the Angel Tree Project to provide his daughter with a Christmas present. It is at this point the letters begin to breakdown.
The 2006 edition of the letter reads, “When he wrote this letter, Richard had not been able to send Jennifer a gift for four years.” In the 2007 edition of the letter, it reads, “When he wrote this letter, Richard had not been able to send Emily a gift for four years.”
So who is it? Is Richard’s daughter Emily or Jennifer?
If Richard has two daughters, when why isn’t that mentioned in the letter? Furthermore, why from one year to the next is the impression created that Emily and Jennifer are the same child?
Accompanying the more formal direct mail fundraising request was what looked to be a letter written by the convict mentioned in the letter. In both notes Richard writes, “For I haven’t been able to give her nothing for 4 years and I still have 9 years left.”
Which is it? If in 2006, Richard had not been able to give his daughter anything for four years with there being nine years left of his sentence, in 2007 wouldn’t he have not given his daughter a present in five years with eight years remaining on his sentence? I know jailbirds don’t usually have reputations as scholastic superstars, but it doesn’t take much mathematical aptitude to arrive at that piece of ciphering properly.
The minds of many are so clouded that they will probably be glad to accept just about anything they are told by the Evangelical celebrati. One might even give the benefit of the doubt that maybe the inmate has two children. However, there is one touch to the notes that goes beyond excusableness.
On the back of each of the hand written notes is a picture of a young girl. If the image of a child is to be used to elicit a sympathetic response in the hearts and minds of potential benefactors, shouldn’t marketers have the decency to use a different urchin each year? Is the girl on the letter Jennifer or Emily; for all we know she might be a child not even related to any of the parties in question even though the photo is passed off as such.
Though they mean well, the Breakpoint commentaries produced by Prison Fellowship Ministries have a tendency to make you feel guilty if one enjoys something less than highbrow culture. The very least the organization can do is to aspire to the same level of quality and excellence in the way it decides to raise funds.
by Frederick Meekins
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Monday, December 03, 2007
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Montel Threatens Violence Against Teen Reporter
Though the talking head has apologized for his remarks, I wonder if such words would be as easily dismissed if the youngster had made them against the celebrity.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Crayon Hurling Adolescent Charged With A Crime
So we remove corporeal punishment and now bring in the police because order cannot be maintained in our nation's classrooms.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
TSA To Rummage Through Emotional Baggage As Well
On an episode of South Park taking aim at the airline industry, Mr. Garrison (still a man at that point) invented a mode of transportation where riders had to have a metal prod inserted into their backsides in order to avoid falling off the vehicle. The response of those enduring such discomfort and humiliation was that it was still less than what passengers had to endure at the airport. While the bit might have been a bit over the top in terms of propriety, it was pretty much on target in terms of how most Americans feel regarding the bureaucratic procedures implemented in the name of “transportation security” since September 11th.
As fairly good natured people content with the social order even if they don’t like the way the process is handled, most Americans deciding to utilize this form of transportation simply keep their comments to themselves and bear with the frustration. However, according to a McClatchy newspapers article titled “New Airport Check For Danger In Fliers’ Facial Expressions“, it may no longer be enough to stoically endure these indignations but one must also have a smile on one’s face about it.
A new specialty within the Transportation Security Administration known as Behavior Detection Officers (one could not devise a more Orwellian sounding division of the government if one tried) has been given the mandate to scrutinize those exhibiting unapproved facial expressions
If proponents of the theory get their way, certain facial expressions revealing whether an individual is feeling anger or disgust and, when taken together with heart rate, body temperature, and verbal responses, will be enough to get passengers shunted aside for further forms of interrogation such as having their baggage rifled through or being asked where they are going.
While one may make a case as to why some voyeur with a badge may need to run his hand through your underwear bag, beyond the destination on the ticket it is no security officer’s business where anyone is going. Frankly, such intrusions into private affairs are enough to get anyone’s heart rate rising and a look of disgust scowling across their brow.
Though this technology is promoted as a way to make terrorism prevention more foolproof, from comments made as to its accuracy, it sounds as if it will be yet another tool to curtail the liberties of everyday Americans while doing little to catch real terrorists. The article notes, “Different cultures express themselves differently.”
In other words, 86 year old grandmothers holding their heads a certain way as they are ordered to hold their arthritic arms over their heads will get pulled aside for additional harassment even if they don’t make a single peep. However, if certain minorities more prone to violent geopolitical outbursts comport themselves in the same manner it can be dismissed with a “that’s just the way those people are anyway”.
If the government is intent on stopping terrorism, there are signs to look for other than whether or not people have a giddy brainwashed look on their face. However, since political correctness has been deemed more important than survival, it is doubtful this great nation will survive much longer anyway.
by Frederick Meekins
Extraterrestrails Demand Cultural Sensitivity
University Tracks Students Through Mandatory Cellphones
Students to pay nearly $500 to pay for the privilege of being tracked by authorities.
The Nephillim Imperative
PID Radio interviews prophecy researcher Terry James who ties together UFO's, Bigfoot and the End Times in a new fiction series.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
A Review Of Saucer by Stepehn Coonts
In most science fiction stories, extraterrestrial technology is unveiled to the world when it is piloted to earth by proverbial little green men or bug eyed monsters. However, in Saucer, Stephen Coonts presents a scenario where man’s initial exposure to a civilization from beyond the earth does not occur overhead but rather from beneath our feet.
In Saucer, Coonts details the account of a spacecraft unearthed in the Sahara desert and the international intrigue that results as various nations conspire to acquire the vehicle from an egomaniacal Australian industrialist.
Though the novel focuses primarily on the actions of the factions jockeying to acquire the saucer, Coonts brings up a number of intriguing questions that he raises even if he does not answer them directly.
Scattered throughout the novel are a number of comments examining the philosophical ramifications of evidence suggesting life beyond this earth.
Some seem to be more the opinions of the characters themselves. For example, in discussing the saucer with the President, an advisor says, “You have to do something about these saucers. The Bible thumpers were freaking out yesterday...Already some evangelicals say we are at the end of the world. In Revelation...” The passage continues: “’All right, all right’ the President said, cutting Willard off. He hated it when people quoted the Bible (166).”
Other comments are made as well regarding the epistemological ramifications of extraterrestrials. One character remarks, “The college professor says it is time to acknowledge the presence of other life-forms in the universe. The religious types are going nuts. There’s a mob of a thousand or so across the street in Lafayette Park, waving signs and making speeches talking about the imminent arrival of the Antichrist (187).” An advisor to the President responds, “This is another rightwing conspiracy.”
Such an exchange adequately reflects the dismissive and condescending attitude secularists would enunciate concerning the reaction of religious conservatives to nonhuman intelligent life. However, it is through the more altruistic protagonists that one must consider that Coonts is elaborating his own convictions regarding this highly speculative topic.
If so, the reader is led to believe Coonts is predisposed to the theory of panspermia, the idea life came to earth from outer space. According to the novel, the saucer was flown to earth by beings not all that considerably different than ourselves in terms of appearance or physiology.
Rather, the craft was sent here as part of a mission the occupants knew was a one way trip because a society complex enough to produce a vehicle capable of interstellar travel would have to transport nearly its entire civilization if the occupants hoped to replicate the accomplishments of their home world not to mention being able to make a return trip (195).
But even some wanting to get out from under God’s direct gaze still long for an origin a bit more meaningful than slime oozing up onto some rock even though a number of them still can’t seem to break free from the grip evolution has over the minds of those predisposed to a more mechanistic explanation.
When asked if humanity’s arrival from among the stars discounted the perceived legitimacy of the fossil record, Professor Soldi (the character brought forward to make the grandiose pronouncements pertaining to man’s place in the cosmos) responds that even though mankind might have replaced the earth’s original hominid occupants there is no need to worry that the entire Darwinian enterprise being one colossal scam since, to invoke the tautologies for which this theory of origins is noted “..evolution follows similar courses when similar conditions exist (270).” Basically, even though man might have moved in from elsewhere and never arose from the apes found here, we should still accept the scant fossil evidence that is claimed to exist anyway.
Yet this plot element raises more questions than it solves. For example, if mankind did not originate on earth but rather on another planet, who’s to say humanity originated from this proverbial planet X either but rather having migrated from planet Y or Z as the human race plays interstellar flip this house skipping from planet to planet across the cosmos. Apparently, Coonts doesn’t have that high of an opinion of the cosmological argument. For not only does the origin of man stem back through a potentially unending regression of planets, Coonts tosses in a bit of Eastern mysticism as well.
Apart from the saucer’s hardware, especially valuable is the spacecraft’s computer which contains more than directions on how to operate a flying saucer. Believed to unlock nearly infinite knowledge, one character asks another character that accessed the database through the telepathic interface how the universe ends, Coonts writes, “ ‘It will be reborn,’ Egg Cantrell told her, ‘again and again and again....’ (311).”
Overall, Saucer by Stephen Coonts is a very engaging book. The action will titillate the reader’s sense of adventure while speculation about man’s place in the universe will intrigue the imagination even if one does not accept the worldview underlying it.
by Frederick Meekins
Friday, November 09, 2007
Get It For Christmas: Providing For The Common Defense: Thoughts Concerning The Nation‘s Enemies
With what the naive considered the end of the Cold War and the fall of Communism, it was assumed the world would become a much safer and more peaceful place. Nothing could be farther from the truth as the danger has increased since the alleged demise of the Soviet Union. In Providing For The Common Defense: Thoughts Concerning The Nation‘s Enemies, political thinker and social theorist Frederick Meekins examines a number of these threats and exposes a number of the deceptions lulling Americans into a false sense of security.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Mohlerites Claim Beaten Wives To Remain Married
Granted, while they did emphasize that the woman could theoreticaly get out of the house, the made it known that it was up to the church to decide whether or not the couple was to remain together.
If the woman (or the man for that matter) is required to remain with such a scumbag of a spouse at least technically on paper, what is to protect the credit rating and finances of the innocent party since usually the debt incurred by one mate is also to be shouldered by the other.
Frankly, while one spouse for life is an ideal worth aiming for, I am not so sure I want a church body exercising that much control over my life or that of my loved ones.
by Frederick meekins
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
American Taxpayers To Subsidize Collegiate Whoremongering
Libertines (not libertarians mind you) will snap how dare you get into other people's private lives.
Maybe so, but their fornication stopped being a private matter when the rest of us had to start digging into out pockets to pay for it.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
The Law & Gospel Dynamic
In classical Lutheran theology and homiletics, a two part approach is often taken referred to as Law and Gospel. For it is through this dynamic duo that the individual is made to realize that he is a sinner in need of salvation and what the solution is for this vexing dilemma.
In old detective movies and police shows, when a suspect was interrogated often a tactic was used referred to as “good cop/bad cop”. In this approach, the suspect is at first confronted by a seemingly harsh officer whose task is to bluntly tell the suspect what the suspect is alleged to have done, that the evidence as to such is overwhelming, and that the best thing the suspect can do for their own sake is to confess to what they have done. Once the suspect has been worked over psychologically, the good officer arrives on the scene to offer the best deal possible in terms of the suspect’s interests in exchange for cooperation.
Though the analogy is not perfect, one can roughly think of the Law as the bad cop and Gospel as the good cop.
Used of the Holy Spirit, the purpose of the Law according to John 16:8 is to reprove of sin, righteousness, and judgment. As the codified precepts of a just and holy God, the Law represents the standards we are expected to adhere to but they also serve as a reminder of just how pitifully short we fall as a result of our own sin natures. Romans 7:7 says, “Indeed, I would not have known what sin was except through the law.”
Despite reflecting the goodness of God and the embodiment of the ideal by which man was intended to live, since man is in such a wretched state before he is regenerated, the Law actually points out to us the extent of our sin. Romans 7:10 says, “I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.” Of this predicament, Paul writes in Romans 7:22-24, “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”
Fortunately, God does not leave us in despair and the consequences of failing to keep His law in its entirety. And that is why this hope is called the good news or the Gospel.
The Gospel is succinctly summarized by I Corinthians 15:3-4, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” And whereas the Law requires that the individual must fulfill its every requirement if that is the contract through which one wants to seek entrance into the Kingdom of God (something no mortal human being could possibly hope to accomplish since to break one aspect of the Law is to break all of the Law according to James 2:10), under the terms of the Gospel, all that is required in terms of salvation is for one to believe on Jesus and be saved.
It is tempting to draw sharp distinctions between these concepts as diametrically opposed approaches. It must be remembered they are more like a team working together to cause the individual to realize that he is in need of a Savior, and once saved the principles behind the Law can prevent liberty from degenerating into license. Christ says in Matthew 5 “Think not that I come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
by Frederick Meekins
Uniforms Of The Beast
In the BBC series Hex, in the last season viewers were essentially given an interpreration of the Antichrist as a high school teen.
Though it's not quite the same, students at one British secondary school, according to a Yahoo News story, are getting a taste of what it will be like to live under that fabled tyrant's heal as a pilot program is being tested where uniforms have been fitted with RFID transmitters.
by Frederick Meekins
Monday, November 05, 2007
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Old Warhorse Losing His Kick
As the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell at one time (whether deservedly or not) had a reputation as a voice of sober realism in the arena of American foreign policy. However, as he ages and heads into his sunset years, he is so increasingly muttering to himself about assorted forms of appeasement that he is coming to remind the citizen cognizant of the efforts to undermine this great nation more of Neville Chamberlain than as a soldier the statesman most perceived him to be throughout the early 90’s.
During the 1930’s, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed a pact with Adolf Hitler granting the German tyrant Czechoslovakia as part of what Nazi doctrine referred to as Lebensarum or “Living Space”. For his part of this deal, Chamberlain has from that point forward pretty much been branded a coward for thinking such a policy would appease aspiring despots and those out to undermine individual liberty.
As disappointing as he was, at least it was some lesser power’s real estate Chamberlain was giving away. For today, his globalist descendants are such proponents of policide that they are no longer content to carve up the helpless corners of the earth but rather long to dismantle the strong nation-states in which they themselves reside in the hopes of accruing more power into their own hands and control over the lives of those under them.
Like the Pan-Germanists of previous eras seeking to expand their territorial claims into adjacent holdings, the Hispanosupremacists of today seek to infiltrate the United States in the hopes of subverting this geopolitical prize away from its primarily Northern European cultural base. And to the elites, since one group of slaves is pretty much the same as the other, many wishing to expand their power have decided to back these migrants as a way to bring about the end of the middle class and to reduce living standards to Third World levels.
As one of its most prominent mouthpieces and charismatic members, Colin Powell is reported as saying in a September 10, 2007 post on the USAToday.com On Politics Blog titled “Colin Powell: Terrorists Are Not The Greatest Threat To Nation” as saying, “America could not survive without immigration. Even the undocumented immigrants are contributing to our economy...That is the image we have to portray to the world: kind, generous, a nation of nations...That’s what people still want to believe about us... We’ve lost a bit of the image...And we can fix the image by reflecting a welcoming attitude and not by taking counsel of our fears and scaring ourselves to death that everybody coming in is going to blow up something.”
In other words, tolerance and diversity are more important than safety and survival. That is rather easy for someone probably with their own security detail to say.
Often concerns about immigration are couched in terms of preventing terrorism as often Americans have been so browbeaten in the name of preventing racism and the like that they are too afraid to raise other issues that hit even closer to home. For example, in his propaganda, Powell waxes on and on how America could not survive without illegal aliens referred to by the former warrior with the coward’s euphemism “undocumented immigrants”. One must ask if Mr. Powell would be as beaming about this demographic trend if it was his own standard and quality of living on the line.
For example, as a political superstar, Powell demands speaking fees of around $200,000 as he was paid in 2001 for a speech at Tufts University. How would Powell feel if orators were imported from abroad just as pivotal to events of the 20th and 21st centuries as he has been, just as entertaining, but who were willing to impart their perspective for considerably less? Are you going to tell me Powell is not going to want his standard of living protected if this is the only way he knows how to make a living?
Bigshots such as Powell do not care if property values are driven down or neighborhoods made less desirable by piling four or five families into single family homes with Mariachi music blaring well after midnight accompanied by conversation in a foreign tongue spoken so loudly that it sounds as if people are shouting it back and forth at each other across the Rio Grande.
One reader posted the following comment on the USAToday.com website about the article: “I think General Powell should publish his own social security number and let it be stolen by an illegal alien. Let his children be mugged, raped, and robbed by an undocumented worker. Let his neighborhood be overrun by flophouses with 45 people in one house and 15 stolen cars. Let his family members be killed by an unlicensed undocumented illegal drunk. Let his military retirement pay be taken from him and given to someone that did not earn it. It is amazing a man who supposedly respects federal law is encouraging the actions of those who violate our laws. Powell has been losing it since the Iraq War, but now he is total lunatic.”
America is, as they say, at a crossroads. Though a minimal level of human rights must be respected at all times, as a whole the nation must decide whether it wants to appear nice by the standards of grubby bums pandering for a handout or it can survive. Attempting to pursue both paths is an option whose time has about run out.
by Frederick Meekins
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Robosexuals The Next Perversion Demanding Recognition
In an episode of Futurama that delt primarily with downloading piracy, it was also suggested that in the future the prospect of human robot intimate relationships might be a bit of a moral problem.
Particulary humorous was the line in a health film endorsed by the Space Pope that all of cilization was an attempt to impress the opposite sex.
If allowed to go to far, this could very well become a problem because faced with the choice between a nagging wife and one that can be programmed to keep its mouth shut, who wouldn't be tempted if all other responses seemed the same?
And don't think this would be a male only temptation; what woman wouldn't want a man that could be programmed to hand over the remote or put the toliet seat down as demanded?
by Frederick Meekins
Who Really Owns Your Dog?
Those thinking of adopting a dog from an animal shelter should really think twice if they want the grief, as from this story about Ellen Degneres, it seems you may not be the one to ultimately decide what is in the pet's best interests.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Congress Implies Southerners Are Filthy & Diseased
Before going on a fact-finding mission to Talladega Motor Speedway, congressional staff were directed to get immunized against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria and influenza.
One must stop and ask would such a suggestion been made had the fans of NASCAR not been White Southerners but rather illegal aliens, the homless, and practicing homosexuals.
One is more likely to find these diseases epidemic among these more politically protected classes.
But since these are the ones more likely to rampage through the streets in violent protest or more likely to drag you into court if you don't applaud their particular lifestyles, nothing is dare said to warn the American people of the more likely source of these pandemics.
By Frederick Meekins
Church Of England Shills For Organ Harvesters
The ethics of organ donation aside, interesting how this borderline apostate ecclesiastical body takes a laizee faire attitude among its ranks when it comes to abortion and even sodomites in the pulpit but now like a bunch of salivating vampires and zombies foment the notion that even our very organs are no longer ours alone but belong to the COMMUNITY.
Where are the keep your laws off our bodies banshees now?
Libraries & Christianity
An excellent essay by Albert Mohler on the importance of libraries, both public and personal. in the life of the scholastically inclined believer.
On a related note, though probably little more than a tool for the Department of Homeland Security to keep tabs on what you read, here is a collection of books I have posted on an interesting website called Shelfari.com.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Is Jenna Bush Shacking Up?
From the account of Jenna Bush's marriage proposal, one almost has the impression that she is sleeping around, shacking up, and living in sin.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Was Charles Schultz Plagued By The Doldrum Of Creative Insight?
Simple minds apparently can't seem to grasp that this genius could have been happy yet sad all at the same time and seem intent on pinning him down to one emotional pole.
Mohler Advocates Breeding Oneself Into Poverty
Interesting how the rest of us are suppose to procreate ourselves into the poorhouse while Mohler enjoys a jet-set lifestyle and only two kids.
While his advice on debt is to be commended, I don't think he fully realizes just how expensive a bear minimum existence is these days.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Friday, October 05, 2007
Why Shouldn’t Hungerstrikers Be Allowed To Starve?
Often in the attempt to get their way, children threaten to hold their breath or refuse to eat until their parents agree to meet their demands. Usually, nothing much comes of it as most youngsters don’t have the will to resist the sway of their base appetites and most normally outgrow such juvenile displays as skills are acquired to navigate conflicts in a more rational manner or they learn to make peace with what they cannot change,
Of contrived social environments, among the most artificial and detached from reality is the college campus. Either as a result of having never matured as tends to be the case of many drawn to certain useless fields of study or the result of deliberate psychological regression on the part of academic faculty, a number of young adults often return to such behaviors during their college years.
Instead of employing the skills and knowledge they are sent to college to acquire such as communication and analysis that can be used to make the world a better place, some of those persuaded that they are so far beyond the rest of us along the continuum of enlightenment that they are not bound by the same set of expectations imposed upon the rest of us resort to behavior not all that much more advanced (and certainly less justifiable) then when they were toddlers.
Increasingly, protestors are coming to contend that it is not enough that they be given the opportunity to express their opinion as provisions have been made under the First Amendment so that they might be able to persuade the masses as to the correctness of their position. Rather, they contend it is the obligation of those of us on the other side of the political spectrum to not only listen to their ramblings and also to keep our own mouths shut if we happen to disagree.
To draw attention to the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act that would extend education handouts to illegal aliens, a group of largely Latino students went on a hungerstrike. In commenting on the foolish extremes to which some will go to coerce handouts from the American taxpayer, broadcast sage Michael Savage remarked, “Let them fast until they starve to death.”
For daring to say such, tolerancemongers have latched onto the remarks as an example as to why free speech needs to be abolished in favor of a system of regulations under the euphemism of “fairness” where nothing will make it onto the airwaves without first gaining the approval of leftwing subversives and moral degenerates. .
Recently in a column titled “Dark Ages Of Broadcasting Loom On The Horizon”, I warned that the conniption over the blather of Don Imus was merely the opening gambit in a stratagem where enthusiastic disagreement with the prevailing postmodernist orthodoxy will eventually be met with the same disapproval and censure as crude off-color comments. It would be easy to dismiss such a claim as an exaggeration since political speech is suppose to be protected by the First Amendment.
However, to a growing number of relativists, such legal niceties and moral courtesies apply only to those furthering the cause of the revolution. As such, one apparatchik from the San Jose Peace Center (a probable socialist front group) told the Mercury News in a 7/13/07 article titled “Student Protestors Want Talk-Show Host Savage Fired” that, “the airwaves should be reclaimed and the public shouldn’t be exposed to someone who spews hate speech.”
According to one shyster on the payroll of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle in a July 13, 2007 story titled “Immigrant Advocates Demand Radio Station Fire Host For Remarks”, Savage’s comments were as offensive as those made by Don Imus. In other words, Savage’s remarks are not even worthy of public consideration and debate.
However, upon closer reflection, Savage’s recommendation is the most rational policy to pursue in dealing with such malcontents and subversives. When dealing with hungerstrikers, they be allowed to starve to death? As free individuals, they themselves are the ones that have decided to deny themselves nutritional sustenance.
Ironically, these very same radicals have no problem with women who decide to have their unborn children hacked to pieces all in the name of the principle of having control over one’s own body. Then why are they getting all flustered about one individual endorsing the ultimate outcome of those deciding to make certain decisions regarding what they plan to do with their bodies. After all, unlike abortion, the only person harmed through self-imposed starvation is the person refusing to eat.
Though any hint of silencing those we disagree with is a political outrage an affront to the First Amendment and the greater truth that this statutory provision that the right to speak one’s mind is granted by God and by no human government, almost as disturbing is the assumption of those supporting the activists that the demands of the hungerstrikers should automatically be appeased. For in condemning Dr. Savage’s comments, one is saying one must do whatever is necessary to prevent hungerstrikers from starving themselves to death, and since it would be wrong to force nutrition on someone as the abortion and homosexual rights rackets have pounded into our heads relentlessly the impropriety of forcing a moral decision upon someone else’s body..
Just to what extent must society acquiesce to the demands of those threatening to starve themselves? For example, if a gaggle of Klansmen (or Klookies as they were referred to in Fletch Lives) threatened to go on a hungerstrike unless Separate but Equal was reenshrined as the law of the land, does that mean those opposing their foolish demands are hateful and insensitive and thus unworthy of the Freedom of Speech?
Others condemned Savage for likening the hungerstrikers to terrorists. But when you look at it, such a classification is not that far off target.
Though the September 11th attack brought terrorism to the forefront of the public’s attention, it also created the impression that in order to qualify for such a designation that the act in question had to involve massive loss of life and a catastrophic destruction of property. For since then, it seems officials simply refuse to apply the label to incidents smaller in scale such as when a lunatic shot up an Israeli ticket counter at an LA airport on July 4, 2002.
It use to be taught and accepted that terrorism was the use or threat of violence to achieve political ends. Though the only ones threatened with actual bodily harm are the hungerstrikers themselves, if those threatening to do themselves harm think we have some kind of ethical obligation to meet their demands, how is this all that different than what the terrorists expect if liberals claim their is no distinction between the harm inflicted upon the innocent and the harm fanatics might inflict upon themselves?
As a strategy, few tactics are as asinine as starving oneself. For only the most spineless are going to make a fuss and go out of their way to save an adversary willing to do themselves in.
by Frederick Meekins