Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Kerry Says His ‘Family’ Owns SUV, Not He: “Kerry Says His ‘Family’ Owns SUV, Not He “
Props to HH for this priceless headline.
Next: “Kerry Says ‘Theresa’ Owns the Humidor, Not He”
Kerry interview butt of GOP jokes: “‘I mean, you can go to New York City and you can be in a restaurant and you can meet a foreign leader,’ Mr. Kerry said. ‘There are plenty of places to meet people without traveling abroad.’ “
I was once in line to get a Diet Coke in New York City when Mrs. Thatcher came up behind me. “Hello!” I said in shock at seeing the prime minister of England.
“Have you seen Senator Kerry?” she asked, breathing heavily.
Being a well informed lad I said, “No, I have not.”
“Please let him know I was here waiting to tell him about the Plan.”
So it began: my discovery of John Kerry, International Babe-Leader Magnet and the first stages of his plan for global domination.
News/Activism | latest threads: “longtime disciple of the Dalai Lama took issue with what he sees as Dubya’s faith-based war in Iraq on Tuesday when the actor was honored by the American Museum of the Moving Image.”
Gere should visit Mongolia, where for some mysterious reason the Dalai Lama refuses to live, to see the results of his religion. Perhaps, he can also go there, a nation that loyally backs the USA in the War on Terror, and attack the USA again. That way nice young Christian children can be thrashed in school based on his hate speech. He has done it before, so why not? On the other hand, perhaps Gere should live in Mongolia and save them from the booming Church and free market that he hates so much.
The New York Times > Opinion > Disclosure by the Kerrys: “Why delight critics, and irritate supporters, with a bout of stonewalling that’s hardly worth the fight?”
Because even if he has nothing to hide, Kerry is an arrogant elitist that thinks he knows better than everyone else what is Good. After all, he served in Vietnam. All other deeds pale in the glow of that One Good Deed.
Kerry gets off to a bumpy start: “Kerry aides shrug off as unimportant his incorrect statement that he was required to disclose tax returns but his wife was not. However, making up things in response to an unpleasant question can signal trouble ahead. “
We are now in the fourth day without the tax returns. Forget the military record: I want the health records (JFK Jr.) and the money trail.
Does the American gigolo have something to hide?
In John 11, I am reminded of the importance of Martha. She gets bad press for being too busy at one point in Scripture to sit at the feet of Jesus. But if there was a lesson she needed to learn by John 11, she has learned it. It is Martha who comes out to Jesus and asks the right questions. It is Martha who makes a confession of faith every bit as robust as that of Peter. It is Martha who hears Jesus proclaim Himself and “the resurrection and the life.” There is hope for those busy people of our culture who miss a big chance through their business. Jesus will come by again in His mercy. If we have learned, then we too can see Him as He is, though it be by the death of all our expectations of Him. Severe mercy, indeed.
One of the Marines who went up country to Baghdad last summer has returned to finish his education at a state school. Classically educated at Torrey, he is finding the assumptions of the state university system amusing. His teachers are mostly to the left of Kerry and traditional religion is only considered if Islam. In pressing a point to a captive class, one aging socialist professor said, “Soon Bush will draft you. How would you like to go to Iraq?” Our gentleman warrior raised his hand and said, “I already went.”
Of course, the professor will learn nothing from this encounter. He will assume that his upper class students have not served and have no duty to serve. He will continue to denigrate our president in war time. He will keep on giving aid and comfort to a foe who would, oddly, kill him first of all if the terrorists win.
Parents of California need to stop sending their tax money and tuition money to a system that does not even pretend to reflect their values. The University of California system is socialistic in the worst sense of the word: bloated, not representative of the people, and less engaged in scholarship than in private ideological crusades. We should privatized the entire system with grants to the poor folk who could not afford a college education. Failing that, we should close those useless majors that are neither part of the liberal arts tradition nor lead to useful employment. There is no state interest in having a Women’s Studies (?) program. Entire programs at some of the Cal State campuses are a form of social welfare for aging hippies who simply rant for a few hours a week on whatever has crossed their mind. Either make good citizens, ladies and gentleman, through the classic liberal arts (history, philosophy, music) or give a useful job skill. We don’t need the number of law schools we have. Let’s let the free market decide and get the government out of education altogether. I bet Torrey survives.
FOXNews.com - Foxlife - Fox411 - Richard Gere: Don’t Trust Bush
Here is the truth about Gere: when I visited Mongolia to speak at the University of Mongolia shortly after Gere, I heard from Christian friends there. Mongolia was just recovering from half a century or more of Stalinism. Gere said nothing about the Stalinism.
What did the pretty boy do? Gere attacked the United States, mocked Christianity and Christian values, and lauded the religion that has held Mongolia back for centuries. What was the result? He placed my friends in physical harm from his “peaceful” religion. Some of them were beaten up. Richard Gere is not just a Hollywood blowhard. He is an irresponsible, anti-American, Hollywood blowhard.
FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Deadly Blasts Rock Basra Police Stations
Kerry’s “other voices” in Iraq are heard.
Never trust a man that gets angrier at Bush than Bin Laden.
Those of you who did not have to grow up in the seventies did not know the horror that was animation. What had they done to our super heroes? We had to watch, because it was all there was and after all you had to watch cartoons on Saturday morning. Didn’t you? It was our part of winning the Cold War. They placed our heroes in animation done in slide show style. Actually, in watching some academic powerpoint presentations, I am reminded of this type of “animation.” Mouthing mouths with static bodies. Stock backgrounds. Who were the Wonder Twins? What marketing genius thought anyone wanted them? (”I know superkids the young folk can relate to.” Meanwhile the kids are thinking, “What goofs. Bring on Superman.”) Why have anyone else do anything other than Superman? Is Batman a superhero? And what good is Aquaman? These and other questions still torment me.
Amazon.com: Books: The Complete Stories
O’Connor is difficult for me. She challenges every notion I hold about race, women, and the culture. She is such a clear writer and her work is dark without being morbid. O’Connor is the rare writer who is willing to parody the intellectual class without glorifying the anti-intellectual. She also writes in a thoughtful way about race relations. She is neither anti-Southern nor content to repeat modern “wisdom.”
What of race? O’Connor reminds us that the old segregated South had virtues. The system was evil and had to go, but it also was the system under which people had lived for several life times. It was the thing they knew. Because it was destroyed by a revolution from above (the federal government), individual attitudes were not changed and much that was good was lost. Racism remained, but was driven underground to thrive where it could not be found. As a result, it is plausible to believe that race relations are less advanced than they might have been if change in laws had happened in more local manners. Could this have happened in the segregated South? Could states with strong rights have been preserved and yet become socially integrated? It is hard to see how, so I am left supporting the Civil Rights Act and other things that brought rapid change and much pain. It also brought the end to an ability to talk openly about issues of race and racism. The racist I could see and shun yesterday learned code languages. As Bobby Jindal, Republican candidate for governor of Louisiana, discovered racists are not real conservatives. Though he is a social conservative, he lost the “Bubba vote” over his color.
Did federal intervention help in the end? Many people of color were allowed the liberty God gave to all men. This is a positive good. On the other hand, many if not most people were confused and harmed by the social disruption caused by such sudden change. It is hard to see that rapid change of long existing evils is good for a nation. As Burke points out, such things tend to breed contempt of the law and for the older members of society.
What should have been done in the South? The facile answer is to wish some organic change could have been brought by persuasion and change over time. That is easier to say when opportunities are not be denied to you. So I am left to wonder: was this revolution worth it? It made “diversity” a great god, when it is not even clearly a good (in and of itself). It disrupted much that was orderly and good in the South without replacing it with anything else. But great social injustices cannot long continue. . . just as revolution had to come to Iraq from without, because Iraq could not free herself. . . so the segregated South had for too long denied the rights that states cannot deny to part of her population. She had been given time and misused it. Therefore, the federal intervention seems justified.
It is just good to reflect for a moment on why conservatives might have had pause at the time.
MSNBC - Kerry rips Bush over gas price report
Kerry is shocked, shocked, to discover that doing good for the American people would be good news for the incumbent.
I have been asked to spell out more clearly when I think I can see a “tough” movie. Here some initial guidelines I use. I hope they start discussion. I am assuming that no one wishes to harm their own soul and that films can do this. At the very least, purchasing a ticket acts as a vote for the film. My other assumption is that film watching is in itself a neutral activity and that watching most films requires no justification. A film is difficult if and only if it seems to transgress Christian standards of decency.
When should a Christian see a “difficult” movie:
1. When like the Biblical book of Judges, a film exposes evil for moral purposes by showing the depths of its evil. It does this while limiting as much as possible, the need to depict the violence. On the other hand, a film that exalts evil is probably not a good choice, whatever the merits.
2. When like the Biblical book of Song of Solomon, sexuality is portrayed in a healthy way. On the other hand, even a “G” rated film that glorifies sin is difficult to justify.
3. When the film presents a non-Christian world view in a complex and respectful manner, but does not justify it. For example, a film might show the attraction of communism while also not becoming pro-communist propaganda.
3. Great artistic merit overcomes problems one through three. This is very rare. (One thinks of “Birth of a Nation.” The film is grossly distasteful, but sadly must viewing for historic reasons.) The viewer should be a person under authority who can check to make sure the film will not harm the soul of the person watching.
4. A person has the job of reviewing films and commenting on them. Even this would not justify watching some films.
Kill Bill: Volume 2 - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information - The Numbers
Are there some movies Christians should not see? No matter the artistic excellence? I think so and this one is a good example. It is violent for no good reason and assaults traditional Christian values directly. Amusement or art does not justify supporting evil. What is a good reason for a Christian to see this film?
MSNBC - Jesse Jackson rebuffed on mediation offer: “The family of a 20-year-old Army private has ‘respectfully declined’ an offer from Jesse Jackson to travel to Iraq to try to negotiate his release, Pentagon officials told NBC News on Monday. “
Jesse Jackson continues on his record setting quest to become the most useless man in America. What has he ever done other than thrust himself into the spot light based on other people’s achievements? Exactly who does he lead? For whom does he speak?
He can still command a story on MSNBC when his cry for attention is rebuffed. Compare his state to that of Jim Bakker of PTL Club fame. Both handled money in questionable ways. Jackson still does. For that, Bakker went to jail and Jackson keeps shaking down companies. Both suffered sex scandals, Jackson’s including fathering a child. Bakker was ruined. Jackson keeps pontificating. Jackson does not repent, he attacks his accusers.
Jesse Jackson is a hypocrite, the sort of white washed tomb that gives the ministry a bad name. It is not that he sins. God knows I have needed forgiveness for sin. It is that he goes on sinning without true repentance.
Come on gang: what level of Purgatory or Hell is Reverend Jackson headed for if he does not straighten up?