The Ongoing Threat of Islam

As predicted we are seeing an uptick of articles on how we should all be afraid of Muslims. Austin Hill's latest article is particularly problematic. He references the Ft. Hood incident and another incident in which a Muslim Father ran over his daughter because she was living a sinful lifestyle.

Generally speaking, American non-Muslim fathers don’t run over their children with their cars and call it “honorable.” And American non-Muslim military personnel don’t intentionally kill their fellow soldiers. There is a pattern of very dangerous, deadly behavior with Muslims in America and around the world.

Americans must awaken to this reality, whether or not our President does.

Generally speaking, Muslims don't run over their daughters either. I mean Hill cites one incident, but that's not really a pattern, is it? Certainly I can cite some pretty awful things Christian Fathers have done to their children; would Hill then see that as proof the we need to awaken to a reality about Christians? Probably not.

I-Pod Ten - Morrissey

I have 169 Morrissey Songs. Here are 10 of them.

1. Now My Heart is Full (Vauxhill and I)
2. He Cried (Maladjusted)
3. Trouble Loves Me (Maladjusted)
4. On The Streets I Ran (Ringleader of the Tormentors)
5. The National Front Disco (Your Arsenal)
6. Certain People I Know (Your Arsenal)
7. The World is Full Of Crashing Bores (You Are the Quarry)
8. We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful (Your Arsenal)
9. How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel? (You Are the Quarry)
10. Wide to Recieve (Maladjusted)

A somewhat turgid mix.

The Muslim Menace

Obviously, given the events at Fort Hood, we can expect quite a strong of Muslim Menace articles over the next few days. At this point, let me note that I use the term Muslim Menace ironically, not seriously. It is to refer back to the Red Menace articles of the Red Scare.

At any rate Roger Chapin over at Townhallis a bit ahead of the curve in his latest article, calling for an enormous and unworkable plan to deal with radical Islam. Among other things we should end self rule in Afghanistan as it clearly hasn't worked. We should shut down all Madrasses. We should destroy Iran's Nuclear facilities and remove their leaders. We should threaten Saudi Arabia until they shut down their nuclear facilities. We should also destroy North Korea's nuclear facilities (easier said than done I would think). If we don't do this we are doomed.

If we citizens don’t very soon wake up and demand our incredibly blind, misguided and inept leadership decisively acts to rescue our nation from the abyss, nothing else we do will matter. America, the doomsday clock is ticking.

So there you go. I will only point out that this incredibly expensive and risky plan is unlikely to get the Islamic world on our side. Rather it seems more likely to create more enemies, while stretching our resources far past the breaking point.

I-Pod Ten - Pet Shop Boys

I have 322 Pet Shop Boys tracks. Here are 10 of them.

1. In Private (Stuart Chrichton Club Mix)
2. Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend
3. Jealousy (Extended Version)
4. Left to My Own Devices (Seven Inch Mix)
5. Hey Headmaster
6. So Hard (Single)
7. Psychological (Alter Ego Remix)
8. Yesterday, When I Was Mad (Jam & Spoon Mix)
9. I Made My Excuses and Left
10. We all Feel Better in the Dark (Brothers in Rhythm Mix)

A lot from Fundamental and Fundamentelism (the remix cd attached to Fundamental). And then number 10 was goign to be In Private, the album version, again. So I dropped it, and went to the next track, which was a particularly long and boring remix, so I skipped that as well, and went to We all Feel Better in the Dark which is a nice track.

A Good Article from Townhall

When I saw the title of Steve Chapman's latest article, "America Only Seems Polarized," I had certain expectations. This is, after all, Townhall. I anticipated Chapman explaining that Liberals are only a minor annoyance in reality and truthfully the country is very Conservative. We aren't polarized, we're conservative.

Well I was wrong. He takes a more realistic tack on the subject.

The average American citizen, contrary to myth, is neither very angry, nor very far to the left or the right, nor inclined to treat anyone with different opinions as a mortal enemy. In a cluttered media environment, the most extreme voices tend to attract so much attention that it's easy to forget something important: Most people aren't listening.

Makes sense to me.

News from the Past October 29, 1929

Two from the Denton Record Chronicle, although both of these stories cover lands far north of Denton Texas.

COYOTES INVADE ALASKA
NOME, Alaska—Coyotes, virtually unknown in Alaska until 1915, have migrated northward in such numbers as to threaten extinction of deer in some sections.

Poor Coyotes must get mighty cold in the winter.

Rocky Mountain
Region Is Covered
By General Snow
DENVER, Colo.. Oct. 29.— Winter paid a real visit to the Rocky Mountain region last night, leaving a general snow from Montana to New Mexico. Parts of Montana, Wyoming,Colorado and New Mexico reported snow up to five inches.
Air mail transportation on the transcontinental line was paralyzed when mountains between Salt Lake City and Cheyenne were blotted out by fog and snow. Air mail was sent by train through the region. Highways were reported open and passable though some in Wyoming were drifted.

Childish I know, but this one made me think of a bad Saturday morning villain named General Snow. That's pretty cold for early in the season, though.

I-Pod Ten - Bob Dylan and Moby

I have 184 Bob Dylan songs. Here are 10 of them.

1. Desolation Row
2. Ballad in Plain D
3. John Wesley Harding
4. A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall
5. Ballad of a Thin Man (Live)
6. Maggie's Farm
7. Barbara Allen
8. All Along the Watchtower
9. Bob Dylan's 115th Dream
10. Like a Rolling Stone (Live)

Both of the live songs are from the "Royal Albert Hall" performance, and in fact contain the famous Judas call. Barbara Allen is from the Gaslight Tapes.

I have 174 Moby Songs, here are 10 of them.

1. Dream About Me
2. The Sky is Broken
3. Lift Me Up
4. I'm In Love (The Shapeshifters Maximal Remix)
5. In My Heart (new mix)
6. The Rafters
7. Natural Blues
8. Alice (General Midi Mix)
9. In This World
10. Afterlife

That's not a bad mix. They Sky is Broken, Natural Blues, Lift Me Up, and Alice are pretty tight songs. But Moby has never really equaled Play, and at this point I don't really expect him too.

Who Want's Yesterday's Papers?

Reading around Townhall today, on the election. Some of these articles were written yesterday. Larry Kudlow seemed to think that Hoffman was a shoe-in to win New Yorks 23rd District (he in fact lost to the Democrat). Michael Medved on the other hand has written an article urging conservatives to vote for Republicans.

It is very much a plea to the base not to go looking at third parties or at staying home.

GOP victories, in off year elections like those on Tuesday, and especially in the fateful Congressional elections of 2010, can save the country from Obama’s most radical and destructive schemes.

Well nice to see. I think, though, that both Republicans and Democrats are fidgety going into 2010. Conservatives are feeling strong and are not going to want to compromise on a less than conservative candidate. Liberals are feeling let down by Obama and are going to want to see real progress on issues they care about before 2010. Still a lot can happen between then and now.

I-Pod Ten - the Cure

I have 393 Cure songs on my I-Pod. Here are 10 of them.

1. Lulluby
2. World in my Eyes
3. Adonis (B-Side to the 13th)
4. Purple Haze (Virgin Radio Version)
5. Sinking (Live)
6. Freakshow
7. Never Enough (Live)
8. The Only One
9. The Perfect Girl (Studio Demo)(Instrumental)
10. Numb

That's a pretty good list. I like the other version of Purple Haze a lot more (this one sounds like a straight cover, and isn't as good). Freakshow and The Only One are the first two singles from the latest album. Both are pretty good.

Personal Responsibility

Conservatoids like to pretend that liberals are opposed to personal responsibility. Take Ben Shapiro's latest article.

Here is how the free market works: open competition among sellers, informed bidding among buyers. Sellers are responsible for competing; buyers are responsible for informing themselves. When the government pledges to increase competition or keep buyers informed, the market is no longer free.

He argues that Wall Street types were happy taking bad investment vehicles because they assumed that the government would take care of them. You know like how people don't bother preventing fires because we have Fireman. "Why shouldn't I smoke in bed? If my bedsheets catch on fire, Dennis O'Leary will be in here like a flash to put me out."

At any rate, I personally am keen on personal responsibility, but am not keen on letting the crooks and frauds off the hook by blaming their victims.

Interesting but Badly Formatted Article by Cal Thomas

Cal Thomas attempts to declare health care unconstitutional in his latest article, using the 10th amendment to suggest that the states and the people have the power in this case, not the Congress. Kind of a slippery argument.

Roe vs. Wade, a decision he presumably disagrees with, stated that the privacy between a doctor and his/her patient should be kept safe from Federal manipulation. If a woman wanted to have an abortion that is between her and her doctor and no one else. Healthcare reform, of almost any stripe, will be more intrusive than anti-abortion laws. Or at least that is the theory. So if the Court said the state can't get between a patient and a doctor in regards to abortion, maybe the state can't get between a patient and his or her medical bill.

Like I say a slippery article, and it kind of depends on Thomas and other conservatives accepting the logic behind Roe v. Wade, which presumably they don't accept.

Americans who believe their government should not be a giant ATM, dispensing money and benefits to people who have not earned them, and who want their country returned to its founding principles, must now exercise that power before it is taken from them. The Tenth Amendment is one place to begin. The streets are another. It worked for the Left.

It worked for the left in regards to civil rights; hard to see where else it worked.

Does President think Americans are Good People?

Well, not according to Austin Hill's latest article.

. . . can anyone – even Barack Obama’s most ardent supporters – honestly say that our current President believes that Americans are, in a general sense, “good people,” and worthy of defense? Both his words and actions would suggest that America might someday become good, but only if he can first bring us to justice.

And he goes on in this vein. Obama speaking respectfully to the Muslim World, his desire to regulate American Industry, all show that he doesn't love America, doesn't much want to protect her, and is, in fact, inclined to judge and punish her. And us.

This isn't a rare view on the right. I find myself wondering what the implications of a large group of Americans who believe the President doesn't like America and wants to ruin it is. Particularly if they believe that he isn't a legitimate President.

A Generation of Sociopaths

Gosh that doesn't sound good does it? Fortunately it's the name to a lazy half-assed article by Mike S. Adams. In it he references Glenn Beck to agree with him (and to tie into a conservative commentator who is somewhat more famous than Adams himself). Apparently the current generation is pretty bad.

When we replace belief in objective truth with moral relativism we are telling people they are the one true source of morality. And that leads them to believe they are all, in a sense, little gods and goddesses who should not be told what to do. Pretty soon we are spending all of our time dealing with little sociopaths who believe they are the center of the universe.

Yep. And if that's not bad enough for you, here's further proof of our moral decline. Some students use cellphones in class. Horrors. And to make matters even worse, some of them have rap ring tones.

I'm not joking, Mike S. Adams holds these up as examples of our intense moral decay. As well as students using laptops and showing up late for class. And it's all liberalisms fault.

Liberal professors complain constantly about student conduct. And it seems funny that very few of them understand that they are simply experiencing the real-world consequences of their own liberal ideas.

Yep - because before liberalism college age kids weren't self centered.

I find myself fascinated by the concept that without a believe in objective truth, we automatically get sassmouth and sociopaths. So what is the objective truth that Beck and Adams wish us to believe in? I've noticed that Muslim students are generally well behaved; is that a good "objective truth?" Or what is the "objective truth" that we should all believe in?

Of course saying so long as you believe in an objective truth, whether that be the Koran, the Bible, the Talmud, or the Book of Mormon, that's good enough, is kind of like saying that objective truth is subjective.

News from the Past - October 28, 2009

File this under promising title, not as interesting an article. This is from the Daily Courier out of Connelsville PA.

NOVEMBER SET ASIDE
AS LOYALTY MONTH
AT CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Rally day at the Christian Church yesterday resulted in attendance 287persons at the Bible School. In order that the work may still be carried on the pastor ot tho church, Rev. K. N. Duty, has styled November loyalty month anrl tho Lilblc school campaign will go along, with the ultlnuite goal every member of the church a member of the Bible School.
There Is also In progress a drive to have 200 porsons at Prayer-meeting by Thanksgiving.
On November 15, at the church, there will be a dinner for till members
of tho church, to be served by women, at which building up the various departments will be stressed.

Loyalty in this case apparently means willingness to attend Sunday School. Which I guess is nice. But I was hoping it had something to do with fighting communists.

News from the Past - October 27, 1929

Apparently I did October 26 twice - need to change the headings on that. This one is from The Sandusky Register, Sandusky Ohio. Also of note, this was the 7th anniversary of the Fascist takeover of Italy, which this story obliquely references.

PRINCE ANSWERS
ITALY'S CHEERS BY
FASCIST SALUTE
MILAN, Italy, Oct. 26 (IP)—Observers of the mammoth reception, given Crown Prince Humbert today on his return from Brussels noted two facts as significant.
The prince for the first time answered the acclamations of the crowd from the balcony of the Royal Palace with a salute in the Fascist fashion of outstretched arm.
The other was that Podesta Marquis DeCapitanl concluded this short address of welcome with the shout "Long live imperial Italy." It was said this was the first time that the word imperial had been used in official utterances.

Well, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.

News from the Past - October 26, 1929 (bonus beats)

This is from the Jefferson City Post-Tribune, Jefferson City, Missouri. Among the other articles were a note that the "The University Is Literally Starved to Death Declares a Survey Board Member." I doubt that is literally true. But here's a touching story of why you shouldn't spank hostesses.

COST THAW $79,000
TO SPANK A GIRL
NEW YORK, Oct. 26 - (UP) - A jury has decided that Harry K. Thaw must pay $79,000 damages for administering what probably is the world's most expensive spanking.
The verdict was brought In late yesterday after the jury on the first ballot, decided that Marcia Estardus, night club hostess, was entitled to that sum for injuries she suffered when Thaw spanked her with a hair brush on New Years Day, 1927.

I kind of wonder what happened to Marcia Estardus. And how brutally do you have to spank someone to rack up $79,000 in damages.

News from the Past - October 26, 1929

And here we go - to the Olean Times, out of Olean New York. Lots of interesting headlines here.

NORMAL CONDITIONS
BACK ON NEW YORK
STOCK MARKET NOW

End Is Near
Is Belief Of
Clemenceau

Kahn Is Treasurer
Republican Senatorial
Campaign Committee

I wonder if Republican Treasurer Kahn is particularly wrathful. At any rate let's go with a story about Albert Einstein, still living in Germany.

Einstein Talks About
Claims Of Dr. Miller
Berlin, Oct. 28. (INS)—Prof. Albert Einstein. world famous scientist, today termed claims by Dr. Dayton O. Miller of Cleveland that he had discovered the drift of the ether surround tho earth resulting from "antiquated experiments."
"Miller's experiments arc antiquated," said Prof. Einstein. "They have been contradicted by later and exactor experiments of several other scientists. Professor Millikan of Pasadena. Cal. can furnish the details."

I love that tag. I could refute your claims of ether but I'll leave that to Prof. Millikan. That's what I like about Einstein - he's not a hog. He's willing to share the science around.

On the other hand, maybe he thought dealing with theories of ether was beneath him.

News from the Past - October 25, 1929

I am going to do several of these, catching up to the 30th by the end of the day. My initial goal was to show how things would progress up to the fateful date of October 29th. But fate intervened. Anyway this first story comes from a Trade Union Paper, the Ceder Rabids Tribune. I assume it's a trade union paper as all the stories seem to revolve around unions.

SLUGGING OF CHICAGO
GARMENT WORKERS
INSPIRED BY REDS
CHICAGO. Oct. 24,—(ILNS)—Circumstances surrounding the slugging and maiming of eight members of the international Ladies Garment Workers union while they were engaged in carrying on the organizing work recently inaugurated by the Chicago joint board of that union, indicate that the communists are working with and being paid by the non-union manufacturers in the dress, suit and cloak industry.
Shortly following the opening of drive to unionize large non-union dress manufacturing plants here the Communists opened an office near the headquarters of the joint board and began the distribution of scurrilous literature attacking the Joint board, the international union, the A. F. of L and the legitimate labor movement in general. These attacks, contained in circulars printed in both English and Yiddish were handed out at the entrances of shops which the union was attempting to organize.
Outraged at these unethical traitorous tactics, the union representatives protested to the Communists, and a fracas followed, which apparently was just what the Communists had hoped for. No sooner had the melee started than up drove several machines loaded with sluggers, who, fifty strong, jumped out and waded into the trade unionists with black-jacks, gun butts and knives.
Eight union members went to the hospitals and six of the thugs went to jail
Officers of the joint board say that none of those who participated in the attack have ever worked at the dressmaking trade.

Kind of interesting to me. My Masters Thesis was on the Communist Party in this period, and I would generally say that this is, in fact, possible. Yes the Communists were staunchly pro-union, but they also had the attitude that many of the unions were in fact on the pay of the bosses and were not really serving the interests of the working man. That said this account does seem a bit extreme. A communist party having 50 thugs ready to spring into action does seem a bit extreme.