Sam Harris defends Bill Maher

Yeah, not surprising.  The thing about the emergent secularists is their willingness to trumpet their own superiority and contempt to all those lower forms of life who fail to conform to their intellectual supremacy.  So if you're wanting otherwise hyper-liberal Maher, or radical secularist Harris, to sweep in and condemn the recent congressional hearings on radical Islam, you might be waiting awhile.  It used to be such notions of violence, warfare, government hearings would have been anathema to anyone not on the right.  But the new atheists are a new breed, strutting like peacocks under a self proclaimed superiority that would shame a Nuremberg rally, they have no problem saying religion has got to go.  Period.  It needs to go.  And the ways in which this is achieved has become the domain of polite discussion and debate within secularist circles. 

So Democrat and Muslim representative Keith Ellison may have thought he had a friend in otherwise liberal Maher, or potential support from otherwise secular leftist Harris.  But no.  The Secular Left is a new animal, advancing that which is appealing - we're all just animals so hie to the orgies!, while embracing some of the traditional tactics for dealing with those who simply refuse to conform to their superior enlightenment.  As Mark Shea points out, there is a reason that every time a nation dedicated itself to eliminating religion, it turned into one of the most murderous and barbaric cultures in a history of barbarism and murder.  Every. Single. Time.

Bonus note: Notice Harris's assumption:

"it's hard to know whether Ellison was actually lying or is merely unaware of the contents of the Qur'an."

As with most Secular Leftists, if you fail to conform to their dogmas and obey their pronouncements, you are either stupid, or evil, or both.  In this case, looks like Harris is willing to cut him some slack.  That Ellison could actually believe his dogmatic world view as passionately as Harris believes his own fiscal dogmatic world view is beyond Harris's grasp. In thousands of years of history, I have seen few cases more demonstrative of radical, fanatical, zealous fundamentalism than Harris.  But Maher comes awfully close.

I'm no economist or financial expert

But as I've watched the stock market soar one week, and plummet another, with no apparent rhyme or reason, I've concluded that the stock market is irrelevant to the well being of the average person.  Especially with our increasingly globalized economy, I have the sneaking suspicion that the Market doesn't need all Americans to be on their feet any more.  So whether it is soaring or tanking, I'll bet it does little to translate into how the average Joe or Jane on the street is doing.  I occasionally get a gut feeling that sometimes it is actually better for Wall Street when Joe or Jane American is struggling the most.  Though I could be wrong.

Target didn't get the memo

That homosexuality is the only thing in the universe that matters.  Despite attempts to cooperate with and support gay rights, Target has been found guilty of wrong-think, its efforts condemned as not-pro gay and anti-anti-gay enough.  Protesters are therefore demanding obedience and conformity by picketing and driving away costumers.  Target rather foolishly appeals to a sense of justice, that it has a right to carry on with business without worshipping at the altar of the gay lifestyle.  Gay rights groups, who hold a historically unprecedented level of disproportionate power and influence in our society are, of course, making with the David and Goliaths.  The irony is, they are now the Goliaths, who roam the lands demanding censorship, oppression, ostracising from the government, and conformity and obedience to the dogmas of non-heterosexuality at all costs. Priority One. All other priorities rescinded.  The proof:

"Target was seen as an ally of the gay and lesbian community before it gave money to MN Forward, which supported Tom Emmer, who lost the governor's race to Democrat Mark Dayton."

The thing about most ideological revolutions, they will accept nothing less than 100% conformity and obedience.  Target was seen as a friend of the LGBT community until it did one thing.  That's only 99% obedience.  And that dog simply will not hunt.

The boy can fly

So you remember this one, our 10 year old from the other day:

Well, here he is in action, vaulting a mid-air flip-around acrobatic maneuver under the watchful eye of Chet Snouffer, world champion boomerang thrower and gymnastics coach supreme: 

He may be a ham, but he does have style. Photo courtesy of my sister-in-law. 

Homosexuals demand censorship

And Apple complies.  In keeping with the growing love affair that the post-modern Left is having with Orwellian tactics, gay rights groups have once again demanded an end to freedom of thought in order to support the freedom of penetration choice.  Apple, being like most corporations, is more than happy to promote a culture of hedonism and narcissism, especially where sex is concerned.  As C.S. Lewis pointed out, "A man with an obsession is a man who has very little sales resistance." And if that obsession is sex above all other considerations, how wonderful for Apple's bottom line. 

Therefore, with a yell of 'censorship to the fore!', Apple pulled its Big Brother impersonation and pulled an App that dared suggests one doesn't have to follow one's homosexual desires.  After all, it is for sex. How else do we explain a culture that sees itself as enlightened despite the fact that most people work more than the average Medieval peasant just so they can buy the latest IPad that is now a whole 1/4 mm thinner than the last model?  One more than happy to toss freedom of thought, speech, and religion out the window in order to assure a sexually liberal culture? 

As I've said, I have no crystal ball to tell me what our country will look like in 100 years.  But I know it will look however gay advocates want it to look.

Liberal actor to portray John McCain?

Where's the news in that one?  Ed Harris, who I am a fan of in no uncertain terms, will portray John McCain in HBO's propaganda film Game Change, about the 2008 election. It will no doubt be god worship of Obama set to film.  The fun thing about movies today, whether this, or An American President, or the series The West Wing - they make it clear who the good guys (liberal Democrats) are, and who the bad guys (conservative/religious Republicans) are.  Watch an old film like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and the first thing that hits you is that the film attacks principles: Corruption, manipulation, lies, political machines, selling out on principles.  It doesn't place the good guys in one party, and the bad in the other.  It attacks bad ethics, not bad parties (loosely defined as those who aren't me).  My what a difference a few decades make.  As I've said before, we have become a nation of pundits, not principles.  My only fear is that we no longer realize its punditry.  I fear we actually think it's true.

Awesome snow pic

This was taken last night.  My sister-in-law is staying with us a couple of days.  She's in from Florida.  She couldn't resist taking this of a snow squall that flew through the area last night.  I held open the door and the snow belted its way into our house when she got it.  Cool stuff.

The weather outside was frightful

America's holocaust hits a snag

Looks like several bills across the country are making an attempt at halting the full blown government sanctioned mass slaughter of unborn children that has come to define post-Boomer American values.  Many feminists, elevating the whims of the woman above all other considerations, are chomping on their nails in fear.  The idea that a woman should be shown what a fetus looks like, or counseled with an emphasis on saving the baby (since, ostensibly, abortion is never the option anyone wants), or that abortions shouldn't be covered when anything and everything else may not be, or that abortions should be able to skate by with less oversight than a hangnail operation, seems repugnant to pro-abortion groups. 

And that's what they seem to be.  For years they have chafed at being called pro-abortion.  But as attempts have been made to legislate against choosing abortions, as attempts have been made to use education to dissuade women from choosing abortions, and as those attempts have been fought against with all the fury of a lion rampant, it makes one wonder just how much pro-choice advocates aren't really pro-abortion.  Why?  I can only guess.  Is it a power play, a way of women using the helpless life in their bodies to demonstrate power over the wimpy Western male?  Is it the last best bastion of defense for a culture still trying to advocate sexual freedom sans responsibility?  Don't know.  I just know people fighting to prevent any attempts at making the choice of life the preferred choice have lost their moniker of pro-choice, and have earned the label pro-abortion.  Thankfully, it looks like the winds of change are getting some traction.  We'll see where it goes. 

Where I'll be, blogging, and the near future

A 90th birthday and 70th wedding anniversary for my wife's grandparents will be our main focus over the next few days.  After that, spring break!  And without the fettering hindrance of a full time job, I will have plenty of extra time to hang out with my boys.  Things may change there soon, so I want to get what I can done in terms of fun and games.  I'll be blogging more once spring break is over.  Until then, it will be - as it has been for some weeks - a hit and miss.  In the meantime, enjoy this little tribute to our friend Bilbo Baggins (yes, that's Leonard Nimoy).  Perhaps it can help inspire Peter Jackson in his attempts to bring Tolkien to the big screen.  Perhaps it already has.  Take care, God bless, and TTFN.

Children visiting heaven in a cynical age

We are a cynical age.  We believe in nothing except what we choose to believe in.  We mock and snort derisively at those who believe in things we don't.  And we express shock and indignation at those who don't believe what we do believe.  Ah, that's enlightenment for you. 

Anyway, I stumbled on this little clip about a boy who has written a book in which he claims he visited heaven.  You can almost hear the beer blowing out of people's noses in laughter, particularly from our Brights who know there's no such thing as God or heaven.  Those are the ones who faint in awe at such stellar claims as those by Steven Hawking that the universe simply formed from absolute nothingness with the help of gravity - which keen observers quickly noted is not nothing. 

Now, I'm not saying I take his word for it.  The idea that his grandfather had wings in his vision suggests a certain level of informed interpretation of events.  I also know that when you are down, sick, and hurting you can envision things that can be explained in other ways.  Nonetheless, I don't know he is merely interpreting things.  And if he saw things he couldn't otherwise know, that's good enough for me to put it on the 'we can't explain it outside of the realm of faith and belief' shelf.  Being a believer in God, I am happy to say there are things we can't explain, that miracles happen, and that simply having a logical explanation - if there is one at all - doesn't mean the 'rational' theory presented is true.  It may be the kid went to heaven.  They are, after all, the ones who Jesus pointed to in order to illustrate how we must be to enter there ourselves. 

Here's hoping

Looks like filming has begun on 'The Hobbit.'  I've made it no secret that I'm only so-so with Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  Being a fan of the book, I understand that Tolkien's masterpiece brings certain difficulties with bringing it into the medium of film.  I also know changes have to be made between text and movie.  The important thing to remember is that the changes are supposed to utilize the medium and improve the text, at least insofar as its interpretation by film is concerned.  Jackson's vision of Frodo and Sam escaping the fires of Mount Doom, when edited between his comrades realizing the danger that Frodo and Sam were now experiencing even as they rejoiced in their victory was an example of changing for the better.  But far too many of Jacksons' changes did nothing at all, or made things worse.  Incoherent plot lines, inconsistencies in story, plot holes big enough to sail ships through, dialogue and drama dumbed down for the sake of cool one liners or CGI graphics - these all hampered the overall effect.  And while the eye candy was there, that was in part due to the use of artists who had already hammered out a vision of Middle Earth.  As I've said in the past, each attempt to bring Tolkien's vision has had hits and misses.  It almost seems doomed to be a mixed bag every time.  I'm not the only one to notice this, as I've posted before.  Hopefully this time around, Jackson will let Tolkien be Tolkien, and use the best of film to take the parts of the Hobbit where Tolkien envisioned it, not where Jackson thinks he should have gone.

When you live in a culture of narcissism

These are the questions that get asked.  For parents weaned on the ideals of narcissism and selfishness above all things, who have spent their lives watching quacks professionals and scholars on Oprah and cable TV insisting we owe it to our kids to focus on ourselves more than anyone in the whole world, then expect this to be a legitimate question that stumbles blindly in search of an answer.  Oh, and for a brief recap, lest you think that one might have suggested focusing on the kids more than one's self, no need to fear.  Why, at the bottom of the list, you have the most important thing of all!

1. Give yourself a break—you don't need to be so hard on yourself.
2. Just say no! What are your real priorities?
3. Take time to write it down. Journaling will bring clarity to your life.
4. Slow down and savor living in the moment.
5. Plug into your kids so you can really connect with them.
6. Don't forget about your husband—intimacy is life-affirming!
7. Reach out beyond your family. It will enrich everyone.
8. Make your physical and mental health a priority.
9. Is more always better?  Simplify everything.
10. Be a little selfish—you deserve it, and it will make you a better mother.

Because post-moderns need to be told to be selfish like a skunk needs to be told to stink. 

I just thought I would post a link to the Huffington Post's 'Christianity' page.

Just for fun.  Read through the stories, check out the headlines.  Then check out the basic demeanor and subject matter of its pages on Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism.  After you've done that, then watch this video and think of how it relates to the above subjects:

 


So did you figure out where the crabs were?  If you guessed they were at the Christianity page and that it was not like the others, then you are correct. Now it should be no secret to your average thinking person that the post-modern, secular Left hates Christianity more the sum total of existence itself.  I mean hate.  I mean hate with the white hot fury of a thousand suns.  I mean hating the rotten, putrid, slimy, loathsome, puss ridden guts of Christianity and all that comes with it.  So if you were able to notice that the Christianity page that was different than the others, in tone, in respect, in tolerance and understanding, you are probably right. 

The closest to the general tenor of the page on Christianity was that on Islam. And then only because, let's face it, Islam has been an umbrella under which people have done everything humanly possible to make Islam look as bad as it can.  But not to worry, much of the problems in the Islamic world, in the mind of most post-moderns, fall right back on the lap of the former Christian West. 

Anyway, thought it would be a fun exercise for Christian believers to see what some folks think of them and their faith.  And many of these folks are not holed up in log cabins in the back hills of Montana.  Rather, they are leading journalists, professors, educators, and pundits who have the eyes and ears of the 20th century's most dangerous weapon - mass media.

Americans: Dumb as hay rakes and proud of it

Or at least you would think so after reading this stellar piece of reporting by The Daily Beast.  As usual, it picks up on the progressive meme that Americans have always been a bunch of stupid hayseeds who stumbled and bumbled their way to greatness despite themselves.  Are Americans ill-informed?  Sure.   But notice the DB is careful not to include such things as the advocacy agenda driven curriculum in our schools and universities that focuses on indoctrinating our kids rather than teaching them actual facts about our government.  Notice it doesn't point to a vacant and dismal quality of journalism that prefers to suppress inconvenient truths for fear of compromising the mission at hand.  Notice it doesn't suggest that our culture is being dumbed-down by an entertainment industry's focus on sex, drugs, and bathroom humor at the expense of enlightened and profound contributions to the human experience. 

Notice none of that is touched on.  What is touched on is the progressive mantra that Americans are dumb, have always been dumb, and will continue to be dumb until we become more like...Europe.  You know, Europe.  Europe that is imploding, dying, and won't exist within a hundred years at the rate it is going.  Europe that conquered 2/3 of the known world for itself, launched two world wars, had one of history's worst genocides, gave birth to history's most murderous ideology (Communism), and resolved to deal with its past by embracing a never before seen level of narcissism expressed through hedonism.  That Europe is our goal.

No, America isn't smart.  But it's not because we never were.  Americans used to value something they called Common Sense.  Sure, education was important.  But so was commons sense.  Good old fashioned horse sense.  The kind of common sense that said 'maybe the fact that AIDS - a disease spread almost exclusively through sex, drugs, and promiscuity - is not so coincidental considering it exploded on the world stage within a decade of the generation that promoted sex, drugs, and promiscuity above all things.'  That's the type of Smart Americans had.  We've lost that, common sense not being favored by agenda makers because it is tough to gauge, and even tougher to manipulate.  Those things we read about and lament - the gas chambers, the gulags, the ruined cities - those happened in a civilization that valued its own intellectual and cultural superiority above all things.  America's problem is that we've gotten rid of the common sense, and replaced it with nothing more than shallow advocacy and punditry to advance ideals and agendas that one of those dumb moron types of old would have been hard-pressed to ever believe. 

As for the Left's continued yearning to be like Europe.  If the stories of social and economic implosions don't do it.  If the fact that Europe has all but committed demographic suicide through catastrophically low birth rates doesn't do it.  Then maybe this little clip, complements of the great James Garner, will help jar our memories a bit:

Time goes to bat for President Obama

Yes, why report the news when you can advance an agenda.  For those who get the feeling that President Obama is no leader, who is in over his head, and is basically reducing America to an also-ran nation - not so fast!  Turns out, Obama is simply so above us all, we are unable to comprehend the sublimity and profoundness of his plans.  It's all going according to his will, and his will is no doubt the hope of tomorrow.  At least that's how Time wants it to be.

Posting and my blog

I know, I've been out for most of several weeks, and my first post in days is about basketball?  Yeah.  With all that's going on in the world?  Yeah.  That's because this blog has always been a format for me to toss ideas or interests about and throw them out there - mostly for me to go back and read at my leisure.  Well, I've not had much leisure here lately, and little time to read.  I've also learned that if you don't have an official 'type' of blog, it's tough building a regular audience.  Even now, I notice my precious store of Followers has decreased.  Alas.  For those who are still hanging on, I plan to look it over in the coming months.  I have no wish to be another 'Catholic Blog.'  Nothing wrong with them, but there are enough already.  And as I have noticed, they can lend themselves to certain abuses.  Nor am I qualified to have a media watchdog blog.  Perhaps something more focused on history.   Don't know.  I'll kick it around.  I won't have anything too tight that keeps me from focusing on the important things in life, like my family, my Alma Matter's basketball prowess, or the latest hobby that has caught my interest.  But I realize that to really build a consistent readership - and please understand I appreciate those who have kept coming back, because quality accounts for something - I need to find a 'niche' in the net, or will more or less keep wandering around with many ships sailing by in the night.  In the meantime, I invite everyone to keep coming back.  Invite a friend.  Assure them that more insights, opinions, and fun will be forthcoming.  And please, please feel free to become a Follower.  Make up for those lost sheep who have gone astray.  I'll be back when things have finally settled, one way or another.  As you do meander about, please feel free to enjoy what gives me my motivation and gladness at times like these - TTFN:

The boys in action

Oldest and Youngest on swing

Not sure, but something was funny

What a ham

Our enigmatic second son

Happy to be exploring the big, wide world

No, they're not supposed to climb that tree

Teen contemplates smart phone, or perhaps college?

George Mason never knew what hit it

Despite some concern over the Buckeye's ability to back up their talk, it appears that at least for now, they are riding strong.  Of course they are up against Kentucky this weekend - no strangers to the NCAA finals.  We'll see.  But as of now, Go Bucks!  And well done with a little class. 

A note on posting

As can be seen, posting has been light over the last few weeks.  Again, there are many things going on right now, especially with family concerns, that demand my attention.  This has made it difficult to process things and take time to look things over.  Much less post anything that may be worth reading (or writing for that matter).  Hopefully things will slow down in the next few weeks.  But to those who keep stopping by, thanks.  Keep on coming back, and soon enough I'll have things up and running.  In the meantime, have a blessed and joyful St. Patrick's Day celebration - or as Catholics like to say, the Feast of Saint Patrick - remembering that he actually was a real, bona fide, honest to goodness Catholic saint, not just a poster boy for partying with green beer! 

St. Patrick's Breast-plate

I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever,
By power of faith, Christ's Incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan River;
His death on cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the Cherubim;
The sweet 'Well done' in judgment hour;
The service of the Seraphim,
Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,
The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, his shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart's idolatry,
Against the wizard's evil craft,
Against the death-wound and the burning
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name,
The strong name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Gay Rights celebrities to Obama:

You may be worrying about all this rigmarole concerning revolutions in the Middle East, America's floundering economy, and tens of thousands dead or dying in Japan, but we want Gay Marriage and we Want It NOW!  Ah, the generation that taught us that orgasmic pleasures trump all other considerations in the universe will no doubt be seen as the prime cancer that eventually ate away the civilization that once brought the world concepts of freedom, democracy, and liberty - the same things that the gay rights movement champions for itself, and yet yearns to deny to any who fail to conform.  Ironic and twisted.  That's the modern Gay Rights movement in a nutshell.

This may come as a shock

But it looks like Disney's Mars Needs Moms isn't doing well.  In fact, some are saying it's on its way to being one of the great box office bombs of all time.  Hard to imagine.  It looked so darn interesting.