Counting Down... A Few More Predictions

Coors, Anheuser Busch, Miller's and Old Milwaukee will avoid US Bankruptcy Court again.

Despite being renamed 'dried plums,' prunes will not outsell potato chips as America's favorite snack food.

The Dalai Lama will reveal his penchant for a medium rare porterhouse.

A scholarly book published by Dr Sanity, Shrinkrapped and the Assistant Village Idiot, will reveal that dressing toddlers in sailor suits or forcing them to wear short pants and knee high socks at formal affairs where family is assembled, is the primary cause of Liberlism among boys. Included in the paper are photos of Howard Dean, John Kerry and Teddy Kennedy all so attired.

The book will become a number one best seller.

Photos will be revealed of Al Gore in ballet class (sans bulge), as a child. The Dr Sanity, et al, book, will be amended in subsequent editions. Naomi Wolf will commend his ability to reach his feminine self and attribute that to those early dance classes.

TV shopping channel hosts will admit that really do not own and use every single item they sell.

Lawyers will file lawsuits by those who ordered clocks nested in imitation conch shells, based on the recommnedation of the TV hosts. Punitive and pain and suffering damages will be sought.

It will be revealed that since the 2000 election, Al Gore has knit 3800 scarves and 3444 pairs of mittens.

300 women will go shirtless to promote peace or veganism or animal rights or bagel over production, somewhere, on any given day.

The protests will have no effect. The protestors at each event will be supported by 800 guys looking to get laid.

Osama bin Laden's son will ask to date his niece. You know the one.

Maybe more, later.

A Look Into The Future: No Crystal Ball Needed

Dr Sanity has an interesting post up, Thinking Outside The Ideological Box Of The Left, in which discusses a Victor Davis Hanson premise that 'suggests that we are being plagued by success'.

Dr Sanity wades into the conversation and discusses the culture and the failed educational systems that have, in effect, assaulted the intellectual underpinnings of our society.

Once again, I am struck by the incredible failure of our current educational system to turn out rational, thinking adults with a modicum of knowledge about the world. This system's failures are not so much in the area of the sciences (contrary to what the brouhaha about Intelligent Design suggests; and contrary to the stem cell controversy); as much as they are in the humanities--history, language, art, philosophy.

In other words, those areas of the curriculum that are predominantly controlled by the pseudo-intellectuals of the Left, who scorn reason and embrace feelings. More and more we are seeing the terrible consequences of a lack of intellectual diversity in a K-12 educational system that promotes a false self-esteem and a cultural relativity that becomes the foundation for self-indulgence and emotionality instead of scholarship. By the time most of these kids get to the college level, they are ready to be subsumed into the intellectual conformity mandated by Leftist elites.

The last thing these "elites" want is someone who is able to reason or have independent thoughts; or able to put current events in historical perspective; or to (god forbid) think outside the ideological box of the Left.

It is here Dr Sanity draws the line in the sand- Enough is enough. At some point, we have to deal with reality. A culture and society that is predicated on the feelings du jour, is a society that will implode from within. Shallow, emotional reasoning and responses are what fueled every single 'peoples revolution', none of which succeeded and all of which ended up keeping entire populations in the dark, literally and figuratively.

It is enslavement to ideology that many on the Left and radical Islam share, today. The truth and reality are enemies of that ideology.

It was the ideologies of communism and socialism that were shared by many on the Left of the last generation, an ideology many have refused to abandon when communism fell and was kicked to the curb by the those who actually had to live under those dictatorships. They pretend that the term 'useful idiots' really apply to them. The generations of 'useful idiots', past and present, must exert all their might to negate the truth- and reality. That hard left cannot afford to look in the mirror and see their own failures and deceit.

Raskalnikov On the Couch put it very succinctly, when asked about the current government in Canada (the kind so many would like to see here) :

Lies. Fear. Promises of Utopia. Just like any other dictatorship. Cover up their corruption and project it onto others, make you fear others as alien bodies in the organic world they created for you, and keep that organic world afloat with excessive promises and endless miles of swampland. The only difference between Liberal Canada and the Soviet Union, Fascist Italy or Cuba is that we have freedom of speech to complain about it, and money has actually been spent, albeit mostly without success, on those Utopian ideals, which has turned out to be almost as bad as not having spent the money at all (emp- SC&A).

He noted earlier that

They use either abstract ideas like 'tolerance', which they then contradict by being Anti-American or anti-Conservative, usually in the same breath, or else they fall back on sterile, impersonal Soviet-style, government-based identity -- we are 'Universal Health Care" and "Unemployment Insurance". Sorry, but my national identity, if I had one, wouldn't be based on various government services that have encroached on my life. Christ, only a country as insecure and soulless as this one could define themselves using government service departments as metaphors.

We don't need a crystal ball to see the future. All we need is a compass heading pointing 'North'.

Dr Sanity's post can- and should- be read, here. See this post, too. The Crichton article she links too is an eye popper.

*UPDATED 1* Now, It Is Our Turn For Predictions

SC&A predictions for 2006:

Sex will continue to be an activity enjoyed by many, but not all, Americans. If you have young children, this does not apply to you.

Bagels and lox, coffee and cheese danish will remain on NY menus, despite the threat posed by Thai, Ethiopian and other revolting third world cuisine.

Hillary Clinton will lock the drawer containing the FBI files of her political enemies.

Chicago will retain it's also-ran status in the Pizza wars.

The next baseball dynasty will based in San Francisco.

Donald Trump will not enter a Greek monastery on Mount Athos.

Neither will Sigmund, Carl or Alfred.

The UN will not relocate to Omaha.

Omaha will remain a good luck town.

The Palestinians will renounce violence, suicide bombings and the Keffiyah just as soon as Israelis renounce education, family, their faith and civilized behavior.

The French will continue to celebrate the Palestinians.

Quebecois will continue to feel the French language and culture will remain safe, because the 's have been been removed from McDonald's, Wendy's and Bennigan's.

Albertan's will continually defy Quebec by using 's as often as they can.

Wisconsin license plates will continue to display 'The Dairy State' with pride.

No one cares about Wisconsin license plates.

George Bush will not be impeached and Kos, et al, will demand the vote be rescinded for anyone who voted Republican in the last election.

Tipper Gore will admit that she voted for George Bush- in the last two elections.

Al Gore will trim his manly beard.

Iraqis will deny an entry visa to Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean and the entire, 'get us the hell out of here now crowd.' "With friends like, you who needs enemies?'

John Kerry's family will be unable to secure billion dollar contracts in Iraq, as they did with Vietnamese, with Kerry's help. Heinz may not be able to own a ketchup factory in that Arab country, as they have done in Vietnam.

The Heinz claim that the factory in Vietnam was necessary because ketchup needed to be 'fresh, will prove to be untrue.

Heinz will open new factories in Vietnam, where wages are a steady 11 cents a day and will offer a generous take home policy of three ketchup packets a day.

Finally.....SC&A will remain...SC&A. Lucky, lucky, you.

Yes, there will be more.

Blame The Anchoress. She started this.

*UPDATED*

More Predictions.

Pork will remain non kosher.

Howard Stern will remain hated by every woman in America.

Howard Stern will watched and listened to by every man in America.

There will be no Imams dressed up as Rabbis this coming Halloween.

There will be no illegal mass crossing of the Rio Grande by Americans.

The WWF will be found out to be 'not real'.

NASCAR will get get into the merchandising business.

Native Girl's blog will continue to grow by leaps and bound.

No one will have a clue as to why.

Yes, more later.

WE WON! WE WON!

The Council has spoken. In yet another confirmation of their fine taste and otherwise brilliant minds, they have selcted The New, Updated Alice In Wonderland as the post of the week.

Be sure to read the other posts, as they will serve to highlight what you, too, can aspire to.

Naturally, we like to thank the Academy, our agents, and especially our staff, without who we could not have done this. As gesture of appreciation, the beatings will be postponed until tomorrow. A special thank you is extended to the rare talent that selected our spectacular gem from the thousand or so posts of mindless drive that needed to be sifted through.

Ah, the burden of brilliance is hard to bear- but as always, we will excel even in that barely earthly endeavor.

We are, SC&A.

Next Year, Send Bricks

The following is a story, told to me by my grandfather when I was a very young man.

There was a man who died. His time on this earth had come had come to an end. His soul was to stand in judgement, before the Almighty Himself, a frightening thought, indeed.

The moment the man's soul left his body, it ascended to the Heavenly Court. This was to be Divine Justice. There are no excuses, no more 'skating by'. The events and intentions of a lifetime were to be examined, counted and measured. Afterward, the verdict from on High would be passed.

The evidence of a lifetime was presented and as is always the case, final judgement would be rendered.

Soon, a voice loudly proclaimed,

"This man has lived his life according to the Law. His place in Heaven is assured."

Within moments, two angels swooped down and carried the soul to the Gates of Heaven. They were to accompany that soul to it's reward.

As the massive Gates of Heaven swung open, the man was astonished. He could not believe the sight before him. On either side of a street paved in diamonds, were castles made of the same, glistening and blinding in their brilliance. As the angels escorted the soul down Heaven's wide boulevard, the castles became mansions, smaller and made of gold.

As they progressed further, the mansions were smaller still, fashioned of silver. Further down the road, the homes were built of marble and then of stone, then of wood. The angels walked on. They walked and walked down what was now a dirt road. There were no homes on either side of the road, but still they walked on. The dirt road finally ended, and on one side was a mud hut, small and low- so low, in fact, that the man would have to have to crawl, just to get in.

The man wailed and pleaded,

"You heard the voice from on High! I lived my life to the letter of the Law! Why can't I live in a palace or mansion of gold? Why must I be here, in a mud hut, alone?"

One of the angels turned slowly, and pointed an accusatory finger at the man and thundered:

"You did live your life to the letter of the Law, but you lived your life with no love in your heart. You did the things you were supposed to do, because you were supposed to do them- but no more. You did nothing for anyonewith love. Whenever you do act of kindness for others, you send up a brick.

You sir, sent up no bricks. "

Happy New Year. May you send up many bricks in 2006.

This post was inspired by this post.

The Love That Kills: On The Couch With Raskalnikov

Not a lot of collaberative effort blogs work- certainly not as seemlessly as Dust My Broom, the Canadian blog that includes writers that hail from Canada's indigenous populations.

Raskalnikov, the subject of todays On the Couch interview is a very private person- and after reading one or two responses to our queries, it isn't hard to understand why. He is everything the aboriginal community loves and hates, at the same time. He is well read and a cogent thinker. He is also brutally honest and abhors the deceit necessary to maintain victimhood- or power bases, of any kind.

To be clear, he isn't the poster boy 'whitey' might hope for in their efforts to show 'progress' within the native community. His disdain for deceit, political and otherwise, extends deep into those who would use his community for selfish purposes. He calls it as he sees it and his colleagues are culled from those with like mindedness. It is interesting to note that in truth, Raskalnikov and co author Darcey (See our OTC here), are probably the least bigoted people you might find anywhere- no small achievement from people that have seen the underside of a bigots boot- literally and figuratively- up close and personal on more than one occasion.

It is easy, as many have done, to infer that they are 'self hating' aboriginals, but that is both untrue and a shallow charge that comes from people unable to deal with the truths and realities as presented. They are on a mission. Their community is being eaten from within by a cancer that has sapped them of their strength, dignity and self reliance. They see the need for surgery to rid the spreading cancer as being of far greater importance than the obssesion with the inevitable scar. They are addressing that cancer and don't care about the flowers well wishers send.

Raskalnikov's message is layered. On the one hand, he addresses his own community and the community at large, is clear. 'We know you love us. Stop loving us. Your love is killing us.' That same message is also addressed to Canadians of all stripes, as he speaks of the Liberal Party stranglehold on Canadian politics.

The message is powerful, clear and unforgettable.


At times, you seem almost obsessed with stupidity of the political arena. Why such strong reactions?

Mainly because I expect more. I am, by nature, a very cynical and skeptical person, however as I got older I realized, of course, most of that was just my own crap to deal with, and life, and people, really aren't that bad.....then I read something or hear something that just verifies my cynical outlook and I get enraged. Wow. People really are that stupid. Life really is meaningless and nasty, solitary, brutish and short. All that Nietzsche and Schopenhauer and Camus I read isn't just adolescent navel-gazing. People really are dogshit on the sole of the universe. And I guess nowhere is this more blatant than in politics and current events.

Is western Canadian separatism a real ideology? Could it ever come to pass?

Probably not, at least not as vehement as Quebec separatism. I truly believe that Ottawa would send in the Army to stop Alberta from leaving. Too much at stake, too much oil. There you go, it's all about the oil, right under our noses.

I can't see it happening. Saskatchewan and Manitoba are too dysfunctional. Manitoba has the energy resources to be it's own frickin' continent let alone country. But we have no one with the balls to properly harness it and use it as a bargaining tool. Between hydro and oil, Alberta and Manitoba could rule this country. Alberta sees that, but Manitoba is still clueless.

I guess a part of me expects this from "everyday" people, so when I see our 'leaders" doing it, it infuriates me because I expect better. At least ape the behavior of someone evolved. I always thought part of the political dance was pretending to be Plato sitting on a rock waxing deeply. I obviously couldn't be more wrong. I laugh sometimes because for someone so jaded and bitter, I can be surprisingly naive. Too many romantic, idealistic books in university. And to my surprise they still have a hold on me.

What is a bigger problem for the aboriginal communities- the federal government or local leadership? Why?

Both. It may have began centuries ago with the colonial crimes we all hear about, but today we Indians have taken over control of the yoke that's around our neck. The cult of victimhood, the incessant demand for monetary compensation from people who supposedly need nothing more than a return to a 'traditional', more humble way of life to regain our selves and our pride, the knee-jerk whines of racism when something doesn't go our way. How worse is that than residential schools and infected blankets? It's certainly less dignified. Being beaten by a stronger force is one thing, and can carry a certain nobility if you went down as a man and not a bitch; beating the shit out of yourself and then blaming everyone else for your woes is just
disgraceful.

Many people think I'm a bootlicker to whitey and that he can do no wrong. I know the historical record of my people and I get angry just as much as any Indian radical when I see injustice. Unfairness and bullying, that pisses me off more than any bad words or stereotypes. That is a true crime, being unfair to someone and not allowing them to be themselves, to even find themselves. I realize the government did that for a long time, however those days are over. Unfortunately, the bleeding heart governments in this country have made the same mistake every bleeding-heart government has ever done in history -- they overcompensated.

The white liberal guilt in this country has gone into overkill. It's like a dysfunctional family that buys new appliances when one son comes out of the closet, or the youngest daughter gets pregnant. Throw money at it, spend it away, ignore it under a pile of material compensation. Granted some if it does go to honorable ideas such as education, culture and health. These are vital aspects of life and the opportunities in them for us are now endless. The playing field may not be completely level, but it's much better than it was 50 years ago. Shit, 20 years ago. Any Indian not handcuffed by mental illness or addiction can be anything he or she wants to be. A doctor, a cop, whatever. It's sad most of them choose to keep on perpetuating the victimhood cult. In a society where we place such small value on thinking, is it any surprise the victimhood pimps use emotional fervor to brainwash future generations into whining and bitching? Mix this with the revolting, degenerate hip-hop destroying the minds of our youth and it sure beats having to take responsibility for yourself. And the welfare being handed to us by the Government only serves to put more value on the role of victim; not only does it appeal to baser human instincts, but you can get paid for it too.

As for our own Leadership, as much as I despise most Chiefs and Councils in this country, they are only human. How many of us could be handed endless streams of money, then find out all you need to do is cry racism when anyone asks what you did with it, and not be corrupted? This certainly doesn't pardon them, but I can sympathize with their fallibility. That being said, they are reprobate thieves and sawdust dictators for the most part. There should come a point when you recognize the errors you have made. We Indians are supposed to be so wise, especially our 'leaders". Yet we keep on making the same mistakes over and over, first and foremost keeping our lips tightly sealed on that big sweaty bleeding-heart progressive tit.

In the US, the perception is that Canadians are very antagonistic towards America and Americans. Is that an eastern Canada phenomena only?

God no. I see it everyday here in Winnipeg. I can't speak for Saskatchewan and Alberta, and I can only assume that B.C., being such a granola-belt, would be very anti-American. It may seem an 'Eastern phenomena' only because the media is so Torontocentric. But it certainly isn't very hard to find locally.

As I've tried to show repeatedly, The Winnipeg Free Press is a classic example of that. The Universities in this city are another case study. America is anathema to the The U of Winnipeg. Sure, there may be a few closeted right-wingers there, but for the most part it's basically a radical hothouse, almost a parody of those rad-left, prog schools you read about on FrontPage mag and other places devoted to sniffing out these turds. And it's not even about classroom discussion or syllabus material. It's embedded in the very administration of the school, as seen in Axworthy's frequent hissyfits against the US.

This is a man paid a few hundred thousand a year for a position that should ideally entail a nonpartisan approach to current events. Christ, as I said above, even to ape the illusion of fairness would be a treat. Yet he can go and write editorials that are pathologically bias and crude, and no one raises a fuss. It's just taken for granted that the President of an institution of "higher learning" is against the United States and is free to write uncontested op-eds that overstop every possible boundary of impartial, professional behavior. It's breathtaking. The Uof Manitoba is only a bit better. The non-radical student body certainly is higher, but the main instruments of communication and political power are all in the hands of the radicals -- the Manitoban, the radio station, the student council. Try going on UMFM and discussing the positive reasons for the Iraq war, or how feminism has become bankrupt. Let's see if you get a second show.

What was it about Carolyn Parrish that so incited so many Canadians?

For the anti-US crowd it was hateporn. It may have been 'tongue-in-cheek" and so on, but like any spectacle that features underlying aggression, there was a certain titillation factor that Parrish's fans lapped up. I'm sure the catharsis was amazing for polite Toronto ESL teachers or frustrated Vancouver poets. The big leather boot, the Amazonian Parrish stomping. There's actually a whole fetish community that revolves around crushing and foot fetishes and leather boots. I have absolutely no doubt many radicals of that bent got all hot and bothered by Parrish's stomp-play. I'm being sarcastic, but not completely.

As for the Parrish-haters, it was another example of the infantile behavior of our 'leaders". The progs and lefties that deify Parrish are the same ones that take others to task for being impolite or writing harsh comments in their blogs. Meanwhile they apparently have no problem with Parrish's language or behavior. They got called on it, plain and simple. And if there's anything a prog hates, it's being called on his or her hypocrisy.

Was that oft quoted poll about 40% of Canadian teenagers believing Americans to be 'evil', for real?

Who knows? I despise polls. I studied research techniques in university enough to know what a farce they are. If it is 'true', I guess that goes to show how influential the America-haters are. Teenagers will believe almost anything if you say it properly. If they believe this, the radicals are doing their job well.

What will it take to repair the relationship between Canada and the US

I think it's beyond repair. I think the chickens will definitely come home when the dirty bomb goes off in Toronto or Ottawa and we are left holding our dicks while the Keystone Cop armed forces dust of their canoes and potato guns. Canada right now is the smug teenager rebelling against his parents. Just wait. Wait until reality hits home and Junior finds himself in trouble. Guess who that one phone call will be to? And I have absolutely no doubt that when America comes to save us, we will be ungrateful, rude whiners. And as soon as we get back to 'normal" the absurd bitterness will rise again. Look at Germany and France. They'd be physical and social wastelands right now if it wasn't for the Americans. And for their troubles, the Americans get backtalk and sass from ungrateful little pricks who easily forget who put the roof over their head and the food in their stomach, maybe not literally, but certainly historically.

Realistically, what should Canada's role be on the world stage?

Polite doormat? Our moment in the sun as a world power to be reckoned with is long over. I'd like to believe that we could be that way again, but not even I am that naive. Canada deserves what it gets. And right now it's a doormat. That's what you get when a country is based on negative first principles, on being anything except like it's bigger brother to the South. That's one thing I love about people who say Canada needs to be it's own person and have it's own values etc. They love to rant about how unlike America we are, but can't forward any real concrete definition of who we are, not even component parts let alone a whole. They use either abstract ideas like 'tolerance', which they then contradict by being Anti-American or anti-Conservative, usually in the same breath, or else they fall back on sterile, impersonal Soviet-style, government-based identity -- we are 'Universal Health Care" and "Unemployment Insurance". Sorry, but my national identity, if I had one, wouldn't be based on various government services that have encroached on my life. Christ, only a country as insecure and soulless as this one could define themselves using government service departments as metaphors.

How did the Liberal Party come to have such a grip on power in Canada? What will change that?

Lies. Fear. Promises of Utopia. Just like any other dictatorship. Cover up their corruption and project it onto others, make you fear others as alien bodies in the organic world they created for you, and keep that organic world afloat with excessive promises and endless miles of swampland. The only difference between Liberal Canada and the Soviet Union, Fascist Italy or Cuba is that we have freedom of speech to complain about it, and money has actually been spent, albeit mostly without success, on those Utopian ideals, which has turned out to be almost as bad as not having spent the money at all.

Is Quebec a part of Canada, or is that illusory? Why?

Technically yes. Any other way, no. They have set up a distinct society that has little or nothing to do with the rest of the country. Saskatchewan might as well be Tanzania for the average Francophone. Nice place to visit for a week but I can't wait to get back to my own hemisphere. As much as I despise the hardcore Frogs for their disloyalty and hypocritical behavior on almost everything, I have to admire the ability to maintain their own little world. The terrorists and radicals, as well as immigrants in general who see Canada as the doormat I mentioned above, could take a few pointers from Quebec on how to setup your own mini-universe as a base to tear the rest of the country apart.

What will Canada look like in 100 years? Why?

The exact same. Quebec spinning its wheels and shaking its fist; Alberta tax-free with gold-paved sidewalks grumbling about moving out on its own but not wanting to raise a fuss; Legions of Indian doctors, lawyers and millionaires enjoying their success while the victimhood cult, now a national political party, keeps up the bitching about now-600-year-old crimes. Maybe a burnt-out building or a memorial crater where part of Toronto or Ottawa used to be before the one tile in that wonderful, polite, charming cultural mosaic set off a nuke or dirty bomb. Otherwise the same -- no identity, no balls, no presence in the world.

You Loved Him And Then You Dumped Him

Go ahead, click through. You used to love him- and then you dumped him.

He hasn't changed a bit.

He deserves another look.

Post Of The Year

Read Dr Sanity, right now.

It's a short post, written in english, has pictures and will provide the AHA! moment of the year.

Seriously, it is a superb bit of insight. Dr Sanity manages puts into words the truths we know, yet cannot define. Her post is sublime in it's truths and elegant in it's presentation.

Read it here.

The Fight For Your Soul, Round Two

The Anchoress hits a nerve as she posts on an interview with the New York Times and Peter Watson, author of Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, From Fire to Freud, in which the self assured Mr Watson dismisses those who profess faith:

NYT: On the other hand, not all big ideas are good ideas. In fact, most big ideas are probably terrible ideas. What do you think is the single worst idea in history?

WATSON: Without question, ethical monotheism. The idea of one true god. The idea that our life and ethical conduct on earth determines how we will go in the next world. This has been responsible for most of the wars and bigotry in history.

With a simple wave of his hand, Watson, by virtue of his very being and having been blessed by a healthy dose of 'self esteem', deems all those that have professed faith, past and present, as irrelevant bigots. Another idea of Mr Watson's is that 'true innovation has disappeared from our society. Fortunately, Mr Watson is around to tell us.

Neo neocon, too, addresses Watson. She pointedly remarks

Watson is somehow ignoring the vast good that ethical monotheism has done in setting up our entire "inner-directed system of morals." It is indeed extraordinary that Watson can call it "the single worst idea in history," whatever suffering has been inflicted, at times, in its name.

In fact, Neo indirectly- and rightly, asks that we draw the comparison between the legacy of ethical monotheism and that of those that derided and fought faith.

Yesterday, Julie, of Happy Catholic, was kind enough to include a post of ours in her Favorite Post Countdown II. We were most grateful- Julie is someone who knows what she is talking about, to say the least. She says of our post,

"The Fight for Your Soul" puts into sharp focus the reason that religion scares so many but why it is also so very vital to our welfare. Short, to the point, and inspirational.

In fact, her post was rather serendipitous (or, divinely inspired?), indeed, because the post, The Fight For Your Soul, addresses the some of the same issues raised by Peter Watson. Below, is that post.

The Fight For Your Soul

What is about about religion that scares so many people? The vast majority of people who express their faith, do so quietly and in a community of like minded believers. They, like most Americans, hold the concept of 'live and let live,' dear. Most Americans do impose their belief on others nor do they support those who do.

Nevertheless, there seems to be a deliberate attempt to lump all believers together, regardless of their affiliation. We talk about the 'moderate' right, or the 'moderate' left, but when we talk about religious people the word 'moderate' is never spoken or implied. Religious people, it is assumed, are, well, religious. Enough said.

Religious people, as we note, are for the most part, perfectly happy to live life in happy obscurity. Unfortunately, religious people are dragged into a debate- or, they are excluded from debate, simply because they are religious. Faith, seems to infuriate some people. Not all faith, of course. The religious beliefs of those from far away places or beliefs that are to be regarded as suggestive only, are fine. The faiths, beliefs and believers that are familiar, of course, are subject to ridicule.

Why? The faiths, beliefs and believers make demands of us. Faith demands morality, not just of a community, but of and from the individual. Faith demands sacrifice. Saturday or Sunday prayer instead of Saturday or Sunday sports or shopping. Charity, on a regular basis, without the need to be prodded by guilt or by images of disaster.

Most of all, those who profess hatred toward God, reject the notion that there is something more important than the self- that something being accountability and a living up to higher expectations, to a higher self.

It is the battle for the soul- a battle that scares a lot of people, because if there is even the possibility of a soul, everything changes.

The atheist says, “I don't believe in God.” In truth, people of faith don't believe in the God the atheists reject, either.

Non believers cringe at the words 'Fear of God' and other similar expressions. They only see fear as a negative expression- the fear of the powerful intimidating the weak. They rightly understand that 'fear,' as they understand it, is a negative expression. They use that expression, as a mantra- because without it, the argument weakens.

The right expression and description of a believers relationship with God is Awe. When we stand and behold the magnificence of nature, we are in awe. When we gaze upon an artist's work that reaches us, we are in awe. There is music, sounds created out of thin air, that make us cry or can evoke memories, for decades. That too, inspires awe.

In fact, the awe we experience is a manifestation of human dignity. We see and understand ourselves to be a part of a greater scheme. We understand ourselves to be a part of the masterpiece that is Creation. We- each of us, have a starring role in the play of life- Creation. It is an unfolding drama, comedy and musical- with our best efforts and intentions a part of the script. We are not meant to ad lib our way through life. We are obligated and meant to make Creation an even more magnificent expression that It is, and we each of us have lead role in doing just that.

It is clear that when standing in Awe of God, we recognize what the gift of life means.

When we acknowledge the gift of life, we acknowledge that we have a purpose. We may not understand or even clearly understand our purpose, but we don't have to, any more than we have to clearly understand nuclear physics or organic chemistry. We know they are there and they impact our lives. That is enough.

It is man's objective to seek- it is a natural instinct. It is what we look for that to a very large extent, defines us. It is our charge to discover and celebrate, not our basest selves, but rather, that part of us that is as majestic as anything in nature or art. We are charged to take center stage in God's creation. We seek the majesty that is in each of us- we seek to know our own soul.

It is not easy. It is not easy at all. We must acknowledge that even if we are to take center stage, we share that stage with everyone else- and sometimes, that may go against our very nature. It is then that we must put in that performance of a lifetime. Like the athletes that play beyond their capabilities in that last game, we must reach inside to our souls, to pull from within the very best of ourselves, especially when it seems the odds are stacked against us.

Al gardens need tending. If we can remove the weeds in life- those things that restrain and contain us, distort the reality we know exists and remove the doubts and fears that hold us back, we will thrive.

We may indeed, be small in the eyes of history and Creation. That doesn't mean we can't be great.

Sometimes, center stage can be a very scary place- and that is why so many people fear having a soul.

Dumb Doctors, Cops, Kids, Cellphones And IPODS

Would you turn your father in to the cops?

Check your phone for messages

Read about it again. He's smarter than you

Labor? What Labor?

"And so, as it is written in Jeremiah..."

Fightin' Words For The Centers Of The Universe

Alexandra, at All Things Beautiful, writes about a simmering brouhaha in the political blogosphere. Her post, The Controversy Over The Anatomy Of A Conservative Mind, is a look at the response to an article by Jeffrey Hart in the Wall Street Journal, in which he opines that, simply stated, conservatives are dumber than liberals. He writes that

conservatism has stood for many and various things in its history. The most recent change occurred in 1964, when its center of gravity shifted to the South and the Sunbelt, now the solid base of "Republicanism." The consequences of that profound shift are evident, especially with respect to prudence, education, intellect and high culture (see the link at ATB).

Hart goes on to note and concoct an anti intellectual mindset in the south and is supported by (with appropriate, but barely restrained) liberals and pseudo-intellectuals.

With all due respect to Professor Hart, Dartmouth English department guru, his thesis is no watershed in understanding the American political landscape. His ideas are no more than a lightweight effort. While those ideas may appeal to college sophomores (on the east coast), they are essentially without merit.

A look at the the New York Times Bestseller list, for example, reveal that only one of the authors on that list grew up in proximity to a large east coast center. Only one.

In fact, if you were to look at the artists, writers and actors in New York- or any other large city- it is clear that a disproportionate of them come from outside the area. A classic example of that is the author, Kate, of Small Dead Animals. We have noted that truth here, in our review, The Art of the Blog:

While we tend to think of urban areas as the origins of the arts, a fair argument can be made that the notion is illusory. In point of fact, great art and artists for the most part, have their roots in rural areas. In other words, it is the views and perspectives from those outside major coastal urban areas that seem to have a profound impact on our collective psyche. It is true that the arts proliferate in those urban areas, but as we said, many of the most influential artists were born or grew up in rural or decidedly 'second class' urban areas, a long way from the bright lights of the great white way.

It is quite understandable that artists from around the country would gravitate to larger cities- that is after all, where the finest arts schools are to be found. That in turn, is a function of population and centers of immigration, and not a matter of geography.

The real questions that need to be addressed by Professor Hart are as follows:

• If the population centers of the northeast/west coast are the centers of intellectualism and the arts, why are so many from outside the area so successful?
• Along those same lines, why aren't there more 'home grown' success stories?
• Why are the education levels in these centers and bastions of the arts, so poor?
• Why do so many business leaders and government leaders hail from small towns?
• Why are do many Nobel Prize winners come from decidedly non 'center of the universe' towns and cities?

There are a thousand and one similar questions- a lifetime of research for a cultural anthropologist.

Residents of the 'center of the universe' cities do not patronize their arts institutions. There would be no Broadway, or even Off Broadway, if the tourists couldn't make their way into town. The lights on the Great White Way would be turned off if Aunt Mary from Omaha couldn't make her way to see Bob from Sioux Falls sing his heart out at the Wintergarden. The same holds true for the museums, tough admittedly, in the NYC mating ritual, a pre coital ritual museum tour is mandatory. That said, with each dollar rise in the 'suggested donation', the number of local visitors declines.

What passes for high art in 'centers of the universe' do not necessarily pass muster elsewhere. At some point, the authors of the Vagina Monologues, as someone noted, will not share a bookshelf with Shakespeare, Miller or Dr Seuss.

That hallowed NYT Bestseller list wouldn't be worth a damn if people outside the 'centers of the universe' didn't purchase and read those millions and millions volumes. Actual NYC book sales aren't all that impressive.

In the end, it seems as if the red states contribute mightily to the blue states artistic and intellectual pursuits. Certainly, red staters are appreciative for the bagel shops that blue staters brought to the south and elsewhere.

The Controversy Over The Anatomy Of A Conservative Mind- Read it, and think.

Buns, Grilled Cheese And Sweet Potato Portraits

First, there was the NunBun.

Bongo Java became world famous in December 1996 for the discovery of a cinnamon bun that many believe looks like Mother Teresa. The Music City Miracle was featured in media outlets as diverse as Washington Post, CNN, BBC, Paul Harvey, David Letterman and (so we've been told) a Calcutta newspaper. The bun has been preserved and is on continuous display at Bongo Java.

Then there was the Virgin mary in the the grilled cheese sandwich.

A woman who said her 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich bore the image of the Virgin Mary will be getting a lot more bread after the item sold for $28,000 on eBay.

OK, so you're following along here, right? Now pay attention: The Assistant Village Idiot can be seen on sweet potato (click on the image).

That's me on the left, there. Sadly, it really does look like me.

Mother Teresa, Mary and The Assistant Village Idiot. Even you can see the emerging pattern, right?

While your there, scroll down and read. Apparently, there's been too much inbreeding and as a result, everyone else besides you is running things.

Martyrs For Peace And Other Narcissists

There was a time when the censorship of history entailed waiting a 'decent interval' of time.

No more. Even as the events of the day are being played out, the place and meaning of current events is being rewritten, reinterpreted and even denied, at times. It is not enough that we can, via technology, see events as they occur. For some agendistas, that is a dangerous business, allowing us to determine for ourselves what it is we are seeing. Everything happens in 'context', we are told, and and bad things or even evil is 'relative.'

While we may debate past history, discussion of current events is becoming increasingly verbotten. To even suggest there may be justifications or explanations for certain events is a matter of treason. The War on Terror is a good example. No matter what we do to defend ourselves, there are those that will find fault with any of our efforts. Shrinkwrapped says in The Suicidal Pursuit of Perfection

They insist that the world should be the way they want it to be, and further, try to force others to collude with them in imagining the world is the way they wish. If they win one victory, they need to escalate; this is the logic of the pursuit of perfection. Thus, if the administration agrees to allow lawyers to visit inmates in Guantanamo, they cannot be satisfied, but then must escalate to demanding full rights of access to the American legal system. If they ever were to become successful at getting people to agree with them, their logic insists that the West effectively disarm; we must stop all NSA intercepts, stop monitoring Mosques and other locations, and maintain the inviolability of personal privacy from any government intrusion. Because their true demands are so extreme, they can only face marginalization by pressing their agenda; further, if they truly cared about civil liberties, they would find a way to compromise because the greatest risk to civil liberties would be posed by a second attack on the scale of 9/11 or worse. Were such an attack to occur, all notions of acceptable limits of governmental intrusion would be jettisoned, with the agreement of the vast majority of the American people. In either case, whether they win or lose the current argument, they ultimately must lose.

It is also curious to note that those who would deny us effective measures so as to protect ourselves, also are the greatest apologists and supporters of those who have already done us harm- and would do so again, given the chance. In conjuction with their attempts at hamstringing our efforts at self preservation, current events are immediately recast so as to as to limit the magnitude of the threat.

There is a more serious aspect to the recasting of events. In addition to the clear deception and propaganda efforts (see Dr Sanity, here, for clarification), there is a more subtle and sublime effect:

The fact that those who cry loudest about the Bush administration abusing civil liberties (in the absence of any real evidence for specific abuses) are doomed to lose no matter what the outcome, is evidence that they are expressing, through often elegant and elaborate rationalizations, a true self-destructive wish which is hidden and unrecognized. The fact that they are willing to risk the lives of others in order to hold onto their ideological position is further evidence of the aggression that contaminates their purity of vision(em-SC&A).

For the left, these self destructive tendencies are the westernized version of Jihad and martyrdom.

Dr Sanity seems to agree. She challenges much of the Left to self examination, though she remains pessimistic:

...that would require insight and a willingness to examine their own motivations--and the revelations that would result are unacceptable to their self-concept.

In other words, just as the Muslim Jihadis reflect no more than a superficial (and simplistic) expression of Islam and pride, so too do those western Jihadis who express hatred for all things western and express their 'solidarity' with those who share their hatred. It is a myopic belief system with shallow roots. It is all the same pointless Jihad, fueled by the same self loathing.

In their topsy turvey world, even in the worst and most tragic of possible scenarios, many on the Left are sure they would be 'forgiven', because they really 'meant well.' They would be martyrs to the cause of peace, they believe, no matter how many bodies might lie at their feet.

It is this reason that Israel has become reviled by so many on the Left. This generation of Jews will defend themselves- an unheard of notion. This generation of Jews will no longer, to paraphrase the Psalmist, 'Lift eyes unto the mountains, asking from whence shall come help?' This generation of Jews will defend themselves- just as Americans will.

Sadly, for many on the Left, there is nothing more noble and meaningful than a Holocaust- not even preventing one, at home or anywhere else.

The Top 10 Things New Yorkers Can Do to Stay Sane in '06.

SC&A and other blogosphere psycho-therapist luminaries were approached (naturally), by Shrinkwrapped, with a proposition: Suggest the "Top 10 Things New Yorkers Can Do to Stay Sane in '06".

Apparently, a person believing themselves to be a New York Daily News honcho suggested the project, promising publication of the best efforts. In the spirit of Three Christs of Ypsilanti, we at the SC&A Institute will extend Shrinkwrapped a professional courtesy and participate in the therapy.

The Top 10 Things New Yorkers Can Do to Stay Sane in '06.

10) Reinforce Self Esteem

You are a New Yorker, you are special. You have never bought frozen pizza. You are too smart to believe that such a thing exists. Frozen pizza is a Hollywood creation, eaten by people with big hair, for 'effect'.

9) Retreat to that 'Special Place'

Close your eyes and think back to your very first NYC apartment- the one where rent was less than a first class ticket to Auckland. See? You feel better already.

8) Surround Yourself With Like Minded Friends

Even if you aren't a native New Yorker (you come from a place where your grade school actually had a name), you can pretend you are one in the company of like minded friends. You can swear up and down that you couldn't possibly live anywhere else and that cars are overrated. Close your eyes, pretend to shiver and say, "the people back home are just so...". Then, invoke the Deity- "God, I can't believe I made it out of that hellhole".

7) Surround Yourself With Art

New Yorkers have unequalled access to some of the finest art in the world. That of course, doesn't matter. You can pretend to be ahead of the curve by rolling your eyes whenever someone says, 'Boticelli' or 'MOMA'. For you, art is found downtown. It doesn't matter where downtown- as long as you have to get on a train and head south. If you live downtown, there is always 'Lower Manhattan'. The key to fine art is taking a train south.

6) Community Participation

It doesn't matter the cause- get involved. If the 1970's elevator doors in your building are scheduled for replacement, start a petition to 'save the doors'. Get involved, organize meetings and work yourself into a frenzy. Be sure that everyone knows that you are so upset about the elevator doors that you are considering therapy. Losing those doors is just another bit of NY history being lost forever and there is no greater impending disaster that New Yorkers and all Americans face.

5) Go Native

Spend $44.00 at Fairway on veggies and fruits that will go limp in your refrigerator, buy a $3.00 bunch of posies at the Korean green grocer (because you support the neighborhood merchants) and spend $9.00 on a lunch special at Stage deli. Laugh at the tourists that order sandwiches with mayo. Issue mayo warning to visiting family before entering the deli.

4) Shop

First, go to high end boutique, feign disdain and then purchase that one of a kind item. Ask for a larger bag than necessary. When walking home, keep the side of the side of the bag with the name of the pricey boutique facing inwards, to avoid any possible damage to the logo image. Make sure bag is discreetly displayed when hosting guests. Repeat every 4-6 weeks.

3) Shop Some More

Determine the next 'must have'. Examine the item up close and personal, at the authorized distributor. Carefully note the exact name, serial number and model number and then head downtown.

Spend the day negotiating with the owner of every single discount and gray market outlet. Seriously consider knockoff's, but resist the temptation. Return to the outlet that offered the best deal, pretend to waffle- and then finally buckle at the last offer.

Take the train back uptown. Do not look as if you are auditioning for a Viagra happy customer spot. Be sure to recount the tale of your efforts endlessly, like Kevin Costner retelling the kahtanka story in Dances with Wolves.

2) Have An Opinion

You are a New Yorker. It is irrelevant that you have not read the latest NYT bestseller, seen the latest Woody Allen masterpiece, Broadway or Off Broadway box office smash, or have a clue about the next NYC budget. You have an opinion and that trumps anything anyone else might have to say, no matter how well informed and literate they might be. Anyone who disagrees with you on anything is an evil idiot and ought to have their right to vote revoked.

And Finally, The Number One Thing New Yorkers Can Do To Stay Sane...

Surprise A Stranger And Surprise Yourself

Remember how you felt when someone did something nice for you, for no reason at all? Remember how you felt when you did something nice for someone, 'just because'?

Well, do it again. Do your part to help keep New York great.

Gun Control, Gangs And Of Course, Blaming America

The Lost Budgie reports on a wild shootout in Toronto, the 'civilized' North American paradise:

Welcome to Toronto, Canada - where gangs run freely, shooting it out in the middle of Boxing Day crowds, nightclubs or at the nearest convenient day care centre...

Toronto: Where an off-duty police officer wounded in last night's gunfire was unarmed because police are prohibited from carrying their weapons off-duty. Mayor Miller doesn't trust police officers that much.

Toronto: Where Mayor David Miller seems surprised "that such a brazen act of senseless violence would be perpetrated on Toronto's main street,"... despite the fact that gang shootings in Toronto occur almost exclusively in public places...

The Lost Budgie goes on to recite a long litany of what is political correctness gone wild. While many Canadians smugly assert their superiority, they are incresingly doing so from behind the safety of thick walls, afraid to go out.

Toronto, Canada's largest city, is under seige. Dozens have been shot to death and there is no end in sight- because addressing the problem isn't as important as maintaining that famous illusion of the Canadian paradise. Addressing the problem would mean having to deal with some hard truths. The Lost Budgie addresses those truths in his post. See the links he provides.

Toronto is Beginning to Look a Lot Like Ramallah, is a look at the situation by another Toronto native, the Last Amazon.

Call me whatever but I don’t give two shits on the root causes of crime. I could not care less on how troubled the backgrounds of the perpetrators are who turned Yonge Street into the OK Corral. I don’t care how young the perpetrators of this crime are but I do want them jailed, post haste, for a very, very, very long time. Five to ten years of their life isn’t going to do it for me nor do I care if they are only 12 and at the beginning of their criminal malice. I say, now is the time to cut them off at the root.

I have absolutely no patience left to listen to another sob story while a mother’s son or daughter dies. The theme of their lives is old now, and frankly, it’s the same old shit it’s always been with the only difference being a name change. At my root, I have my own sob story and it is enough to last me a life time. But at no time have I ever been compelled to wallow in my misery or use it as an excuse to pick up a gun and fire randomly or carelessly into a crowded public street without thought or care to those whose only crime is that they share the same street with me.

The Last Amazon is always a good and cogent read. She's smart, sharp and pulls no punches. In an earlier post (we have lost the original link) she says quite clearly,

Firstly, to characterize the recent gun violence in Toronto as the work of "Jamaican gangs" is far from accurate though I will acknowledge that Canadians find it far easier to blame violent crime in Canada on Jamaicans among us rather than look at the mote in our own eye. And if we can't blame the Jamaicans there are always the Americans and their guns.

Though among certain circles to pretend to be Jamaican is considered radical chic these days. I often pass Somali and Canadian black youths in the downtown who pretend to speak a Jamaican patois. Mostly they have heart failure when a middle aged white woman corrects their lingustic fobbles though at least I do have Jamaican citizenship. She also says, forcefully, I object to this characterization of Jamaican matriarchal families being the root cause of violent crime in Toronto. I don't see it as a Jamaican/Canadian problem but a societal problem in Canada. There are far more two parent Jamaican homes than not - even in Canada. Furthermore this idea that Jamaican society is based on the matriarchal society is absurd. Certainly single headed female homes are common among a certain sub-class of Jamaicans but I would not call it a cultural characteristic. My home is in the interior of the island. Crime even in Gimme-me-bit is explosive but mostly the rise in crime is the direct result of what Jamacians call "broke foreigners". Meaning those who were born in Jamaica but raised and schooled in Toronto, London, Manchester, New York and South Florida who have been deported from those countries for violent criminal behaviour and returned with absolutely no ties to the communities that they find themselves in other than a piece of paper.

SC&A quoted Kateland, here.

Finally, Canadians are nothing if they aren't predictable: The rise in crime can be blamed on the US- and not on the criminals actually comitting the crimes. As an aside, the 2 billion dollars (CDN) and 10 years spent on a gun control registry, has yet to impact crime. See this, from the Official Opposition's Associate Justice Critic on Firearms Issues.

Finally, there is this bit of sunshine.

With Canada's reported violent-crime rate of 963 per 100,000 in 2003, a rate about twice the U.S.'s (which is 475), Canada's politicians are understandably nervous.

While it is always easier to blame another for your problems, the solution to crime is often homegrown.

Loyal Lynch Mob Beware: A Day Of Reckoning Is Coming

There was a time when being a part of a political loyal opposition was noble endeavor.

Being a part of that opposition meant that the party in power would be challenged and scrutinized, so that the best possible government would be the rule of the day. The role of the loyal opposition was to make sure the people were represented and protected in the best way possible. Sadly, those days are gone, having been replaced with the hubris and hypocrisy of those who don't give a damn about representing the American people or there constituents.

Being a member of, or supporting the opposition party today, means being a part of the Loyal Lynch Mob- no more and no less. Of course, the Loyal Opposition has one agenda and one agenda only- get George Bush.

You see, the Loyal Opposition has been busted- and they can't stand that. They tried to blame the 2000 vote on fraud, and failed, NYT's Paul Krugman efforts at reporting deceit as truth, notwithstanding (no surprise- Krugman was an Enron 'advisor', a fact left out of his NYT bio). Then, after the largest turnout of democrat voters in history, the Loyal Opposition understood that they didn't just lose the 2004 election- they, and their agenda, were repudiated at the polls.

They had made it so. They wanted the election to be about George W Bush, alone. There was no pretense at anything else. The political game was redefined and made clear. Bush was stupid, Kerry was smart. Bush fudged his service records, Kerry was a bona fide hero. Bush lied, Kerry was honest. The Loyal Opposition could not get beyond the personal. It was enough to demonize Mr Bush, they believed, and that would carry the day.

Like a college frat house skit put on after a Friday night Drunkfest, the only ones who thought that political strategy was smart were the drunken frat boys themselves. The rest of America understood that simply calling the President stupid, or reducing his presidency to a tagline would only prove just hoe shallow the Loyal Opposition really was.

To make matters worse, the now impotent Loyal Opposition decided that rather than looking at good governance as cure for their political dysfunction, they would engage in a propaganda campaign, designed to distract voters from their aforementioned impotence.

Dr Sanity talks about propaganda, defined as follows:

As stated in the definition, propaganda seeks to deliberately use certain ideas, facts, or allegations to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause.

Clearly, that had become the game played in Congress by the Loyal Opposition. In her post, Fight or Flight/Confrontation or Appeasement, Dr Sanity also notes that the distortion of the truths that America is in danger, fighting a war on terror or that the 'invasion of privacy' of some Americans is a new, never before seen frontal assault on our liberties and identities as Americans, are ridiculous- and deceitful assertions, designed to bolster propaganda and not truth or good governance.

...they are both examples of propaganda, because they deliberately are slanting information in order to further a particular point of view and denigrate the opposition point of view. This is how most propaganda works. This is also why bad/frightening news tends to cause more of a response than good news ("if it bleeds, it leads")...

...whenever people are reminded of 9/11 by the President, it is denounced as "warmongering." Or, more recently, the revelations that the military pays for their side of the story to come out in Iraq. Both are roundly denounced (and twisted into propaganda, I might add, by the Leftist/antiwar crowd who use this to claim that we are headed for a police state--something I would call "fearmongering"). This is how it has come to pass that only antiwar propaganda and pacifist "truth" are able to be headlines in our media.

...This strategy is also used today by the Islamofascists who actively encourage war against Jews and other infidels. Again, the psychological motivation of both these these scapegoating actions are to explain their own cultures' failures in the real world. It is propaganda because its intent is to deliberately foster a certain point of view (one that blames others instead of themselves).

The latter strategy is being used by the Democrats, the Left, and the antiwar crowd.

In fact, the strategies described by Dr Sanity were actually designed to replace good governance by the Loyal Opposition with propaganda. Howard Dean can make the most outrageous remarks about the Bush administration, referring to the White House as 'racist' and barely a word of protest is uttered by those of the Loyal Opposition. We are to believe that Dean's claptrap is a part of good governance.

The Loyal Opposition is about 'getting Bush', no more and no less. We have noted in To Those Idiots Who Want Our Troops Out Of Iraq:

You don't care about the reasons we went to war. If it means screwing the President of the United States, you're all for it. You will lie, misrepresent and even commit terror to do just that. It has nothing to do with the war. You just want to screw over the President and his supporters. This is about you and what you believe...

You don't give a rats ass about the Iraqis. You never have. As a matter of fact, you don't care about anybody, except yourselves. You didn't give a damn when Saddam was gassing people, you didn't give a damn when Uday was raping women at will and you didn't give a damn when Qusay was pushing people through plastic chippers...

There have been no revocations of civil rights and no martial law. There aren’t millions of people in concentration camps, put there for their beliefs or ethnicity. There aren't people being rounded up, never to heard from again, as much as you wish for all those things to be true- so you can say George Bush is Hitler. You pray for all of those things to be true, don'’t you? Wouldn'’t it be wonderful if all those terrible things came to pass? That you make those references speaks volumes about you.

How the Loyal Opposition wishes those things were true! That would be the prayed for cure for their impotence. Once more, their manliness would be on display for all to worship!

Of course, the Loyal Opposition has come a long way from their days of glory. They cannot even recognize the truth for what it is- and when they face that truth, they need to deny it loudly- and with the hope that no one recognizes their shameful behavior. The Loyal Opposition must now even deny these truths, as stated by an Arab intellectual:

"Some believe that describing the Iranian Islamic regime and the Ba'th Party's Syrian regime as fascist is offensive, provocative, or, at the very least, exaggerated. In actual fact, there is no exaggeration. I call a spade a spade, in accordance with the scientific definition of the terms 'Fascism' and 'Nazism.'

"Italian Fascism, like German Nazism, was a racist movement that discriminated among human beings on the basis of their racial or national affiliation, and had a totalitarian ideology which intervened in every aspect of one's life...

"The common denominator defining an ideology or policy as Fascist or Nazi is discrimination among human beings for reasons that the victims can do nothing about... After all, I inherited my affiliation from my parents and from the environment in which I was raised; I did not choose it...

"Since both the Iranian and Syrian regimes discriminate among the various groups within their peoples on the basis of religion and ethnicity, they are no different from any other fascist or Nazi regime. These two regimes are therefore fascist in the true, literal sense of the word, not metaphorically...

"Politics operates on the basis of interests, and is the art of the possible. The American interest is to spread democracy and [wage] a war against the tyrannical governments in the region, and the national forces should take advantage of this opportunity. However, those infected with the disease of hatred and hostility towards the West, and with stagnation in matters of faith, do not understand this. On the contrary, they are willing to fight against the democracy they yearn for, and to support tyranny, merely because they hate America, even if such a rash policy brings calamities upon them and their peoples.

The writer errs only in lumping all Americans together. The Loyal Opposition cares not a whit about the fight against tyranny or the possibilities brought by freedom and democracy. The Loyal Opposition cares only about 'getting Bush', governance be damned. This Loyal Opposition would have let Nazism march on, unchallenged.

The march of freedom and democracy will prevail, despite the machinations of evil despots and tyrants. Someday, members of the Loyal Opposition will be publicly taken to task by those they would have seen left behind and forgotten. They had best remember that.

This Loyal Oposition would be shunned by Patrick Moynihan, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and a host of other American patriots. Thankfully, they are gone- and will not have to witness that shameful day.

The Ten Worst Americans of 2005

Alexandra, of All Things Beautiful, has asked SC&A (among other, lesser shining stars of the blogosphere) for our year end list of the 'The Ten Worst Americans'.

Some of our choices may surprise you. Some may upset you and still others might give you validation as a functioning human being.

Here then, is the SC&A list of the Ten Worst Americans, in no particular order:

Dan Rather, The New York Times And Other Media Outlets

Rather remains a monument to mediocrity- and that is why we consider him one of the worst Americans, because we Americans, are the greatest defenders of a free press- and we deserve better from those we grant constitutional privilege. The argument that 'the free market' is oversight enough for the press is true- and irrelevant. We deserve better. The hypocrisy is stunning- that 'unproven, but true' is a standard we should settle for. Were that the case, we ought not to be still discussing WMD's in Iraq- for which there was far more evidence than the Bush National Guard story. Not even Rather or the Times could dispute Saddam Hussein's use of WMD's or his WMD programs.

The NYT makes the list because it refused, for weeks, to issue a correction after Paul Krugman deliberately lied about 2000 vote recounts. Apparently, the NYT is above correcting itself, if it isn't self serving. Like Pravda and Isvestia before, the NYT is answerable only to the party line.

Fred Phelps, the American Wahhabi

Mr Phelps is a spiteful, hateful man, posing as a cleric. His website, God Hates Fags (we will not link to pornography of any kind) is a reflection of his virulent homophobic beliefs that has caused untold pain to homosexuals and their families and anyone else he feels like punishing. For example, after Matthew Sheppard was tied to a fence and beaten in Wyoming, and left to die because he was gay, Phelps, masquerading as a Christian, and his entourage showed up at the funeral to taunt his parents, friends and family, saying that Matthew Sheppard deserved his fate. Mr Phelps never misses the opportunity to highlight the race or religion of those who oppose his beliefs. More info, here.

Michael Schiavo, et al.

Terri's medical condition had nothing to do with how she was treated, at the insistence of her 'husband.'

Read this: "The humanity of every society is determined first and foremost by how it treats its most helpless citizens, and a nation that is prepared to murder a feeble and vulnerable woman who can breathe but not eat on her own must take a deeper look at the source of its ethics."

We interviewed a health care professional at the time: "It is immaterial whether or not she can act with reason or control her environment or whatever the arguments may be. Life is valuable in and of itself and doesn't depend on the degree that it brings pleasure or well-being. And, she is alive. It is painful to see sometimes and we don't always understand why God permits such suffering, but suffering does not diminish the value of life."

Michael Schiavo took great pains to 'diminish the value' of Terri's life.

Ranking House Democrats, Hypocrites All

This has nothing to do with the war in Iraq, so quit squirming like a 15 year old in a strip bar.

While the Democrat Leadership has seen fit to excoriate Trent Lott, Strom Thurmond and others for remarks made, they refuse to chastise Robert Byrd, longtime Senator and former kleagle for the Ku Klux Klan. Byrd is on record as saying that he would, "never submit to fight beneath that banner (the American flag) with a Negro by my side. Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds." Among his staunchest defenders is Teddy Kennedy, who 'forgot' to call the police after Mary Jo Kopechne drowned in his car. The good news is that he did remember to call a lawyer, the Boston Democrat machine, a few judges and some friends, before turning in for the night. Somehow, fresh clothes made their way to the Senator's motel room by morning.

Ranking House Republicans, Hypocrites, All

The aftermath of Katrina is still being felt in the region and every day for many is a trial. Our fighting men and women in Iraq need equipment in order to complete their mission. Rather than streamlining the process of aid, House Republicans are tacking pork onto every single bill, causing untold delays, untold suffering and unspoken of and unnecessary deaths. This is an outrage. It doesn't matter which side started it- the Republicans hold the majority in both Houses of Congress and it is incumbent upon them to set the right example.

The American Teacher Unions

This one is a no brainer. These unions are opposed to teacher competency exams or merit pay. That's right- these are the idiots that we are supposed to entrust our kids.

There is a reason teacher competency is an issue. Study after study show that many teachers do not know the subject matter they are teaching and many are barely literate. Is this who you want teaching your kids? While many legislators are sympathetic (even degenerates have kids), teacher unions threaten to withhold endorsements or votes if the status quo is changed. In fact, all change can do is highlight the ineptness of the teacher unions.

Lawyers, pilots and dentists are all subject to competency exams. Sewer workers, trash collectors and bricklayers are not. Is it so hard to see why parents want school vouchers? Time to define yourselves, teachers

Cindy Sheehan

We don't care about her politics. She is entitled to believe whatever it is she wants.

We do find Ms Sheehan deplorable because she allowed herself to be used by those who never cared about her or her son. No matter how grieving, no matter how personally devastated, she allowed herself to be used- and reveled in her 15 minutes of fame, at her son's expense. She lied about being a gold star mother and she lied when she claimed to speak for all mothers with sons in Iraq. She and her supporters don't give a damn about our troops in Iraq and never did.

Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Ramsey Clark And Noam Chomsky

To be fair, these same persons would also win the Entrepeneur of the Year Award, for their ability to extort/make large sums of money and undeserved recognition from those they take to task.

However, since this list is the Ten Worst Americans, they have made this list as well.

Jesse Jackson's son is a beer and liquor distributor in the Chicago ghettos- a prize awarded to his father when he threatened to boycott Anheuser Busch. Toyota, NASCAR and others all paid up when confronted with the threat of 'action'. 'Hymietown' money has been good for Jesse Jackson

Al Sharpton too, uses threats to extort from the City of New York what he will- including a free pass on an alleged drug deal- caught on tape. Where there isn't racism, he will concoct it- as in the Tawana Brawley case. After a fatal traffic accident in which a child was killed in a Jewish neighborhood, Sharpton said, "If the Jews want to get it on,” he said, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house." In subsequent riots, an Australian student was surrounded by mobs screaming "Kill the Jews!" and was stabbed to death. No word from Sharpton on that event.

Noam Chomsky has made a name for himself much in the way Ramsey Clark has. They both have spoken out in defense of Slobodan Milosovic, Saddam Hussein, the butchers of the Rwandan Massacre and terrorists, wherever they might be. The each have accused the United States of unspeakable crimes (far worse than any other crimes comitted anywhere else, by anyone else) and of secret plots, conspiracies and ideas worthy of the tinfoil hat crowdNaturallyly, they are adored in the Arab world, tyrants, dictators of all stripes and by leftists in this country.

They have yet to ever publicly acknowledge the freedoms, support and hope brought to millions the world over by America.

Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans

Remember the busses?Do you Remember this- "It isn't as if New Orleans were a geographically remote location. It isn't as if New Orleans citizens didn't understand the inevitability of a massive storm. On the face of it, New Orleans should have been one of the most disaster prepared cities in the world. Instead, it was one of the most complacent.

There was never a culture of disaster preparedness. If there were, the citizens of New Orleans would have better heeded the warnings. Why were liquor stores allowed to remain open? Why was the French Quarter a hub of hurricane party activity? It was up to the city and state to impress upon people the importance of hurricane preparedness.

The fact is, Mayor Nagin thought he would skate by, like he always has. The fact is that Mayor Nagin thought the democrat political machine and Governor Blanco would cover his sorry ass. The fact is, mayor Nagin tried to make his failings as mayor about racial inequality- and he even failed at that. Much to his surprise, people aren't as stupid as Nagin- or Blanco, think.

George Steinbrenner

He own the New York Yankees. That is reason enough to make this list.

Tragedy And Tragedy And Outrage

Dan, at Riehl World Review, posts on an unimaginable tragedy.

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) -- A woman backing out of a driveway to get Christmas candy accidentally ran over her 6-year-old daughter and killed her, police said.

Read it all, here- and count your blessings. "There but for the Grace of God, go I."

Meanwhile, as the world remembers the tragedy of the tsunami, Kate, over at Small Dead Animals, remembers Tsunami: Wave of Silence, a post that will break your heart or send you into outrage. She quotes,

Up to about a third of the $590 million U.N. fund spent for the Indian Ocean tsunami relief may have gone to pay for overhead.

The Financial Times says its two-month investigation showed the money appears to have been spent on administration, staff and related costs. The $590 million was part of the United Nation's $1.1 billion disaster flash appeal.

The newspaper also found several U.N. agencies continue to refuse to disclose details of their relief expenditure in spite of earlier pledges of transparency by senior officials.

Of course, none of this is really being picked up by the MSM, in Canada or here- no outrage, no concern, no nothing. Kate asks,

It wasn't until May that we learned that only $50,000 of the $425 million pledged had actually left Ottawa. One would think that such a story would be national news and a huge political scandal for Paul Martin.

Instead, we heard nothing.

Read the whole post.

If the nation can summon the energy and effort to get up at dawn for post Christmas shopping sales at Walmart, we ought to be able to muster enough outrage directed towards the politicians who asked us to step in and help- and then didn't do a damn thing other than find away to line their pockets, with 'administrative costs'.

The Day The Music Died

Steven Spielberg's Munich, according to a Village Voice review, has a particular voice:

...although made from an Israeli perspective, Munich doggedly seeks to humanize the Palestinian other...

...Palestinians are humanized as nice neighbors or caring parents.

The beginning of the review makes quite clear that

More than politics, it's predicated on Spielberg's faith in the redemptive nature of Hollywood entertainment, as well as his ongoing attempt to be all things to all people.

Simply stated, Spielberg believes that life ought to imitate art, truth and reality be damned.

Speilberg, according to the New York Times reviewer, in his hubris and out of touch with reality mindset, believes that,

A war on terror amplifies terror. Moreover, the movie teaches, opposing sides begin to resemble each other. Moral credibility is destroyed along with hope.

To the Steven Spielberg, fighting Nazism made us Nazis. This is the claptrap that passes for intelligent discussion nowadays. The Times reviewer takes Spielberg to the woodshed:

The theory asserts that terrorism is a violent and extreme reaction to injustice - the last resort of the oppressed. Typically, this injustice theory is used to explain left-wing terrorism. It not only coincides with the justifications offered by terrorists themselves, but it also accompanies a belief that a just cause lies behind the terrorist attack. The theory is never applied to right-wing terrorism - whether of the brown-shirt or Timothy McVeigh variety - and thus pre-selects its proofs.

Accepting the theory also leads to other convictions. If terrorism is solely the result of injustice, then without the injustice there would be no terrorism. So the best response is to work for justice. Threats, vengeance, security strictures - anything other than the addressing of legitimate grievances is ultimately futile. In particular, since killing terrorists does nothing to alter injustice, it will do nothing to alter terror. Instead, it only leads to more injustice, turning the victims of terrorism into mirror images of the terrorists themselves.

Here's the deal, plain and simple. Fighting injustice is one of the noblest calls of mankind. To fight injustice is to respond to that call. It is in how justice is fought that we can determine the validity and morality of those engaged in that battle.

Clearly, the Palestinians are not now moral equals to the Israelis or anyone else. There is only so long the world- and the Left- can ignore Palestinians school curriculums that advocate hate an violence perpetrated against Jews. There is only so long that religious calls to slaughter and rape can be ignored. At some point, Palestinian and Arab media must be recognized for what they are: Modern day reincarnations of Julius Striecher's vile and hate filled Der Sturmer.

Shrinkwrapped, wrote in a post, Maneuvering Between The Headlines, that clearly speaks of the reality Israelis face

The liberal credo has always been that if we treat people well and follow the golden rule, they will treat us well. It would be a wonderful world if this were true. It is an extraordinary leap into a blind abyss for a liberal to recognize that no matter how you treat some people they will always want to harm you. What the Palestinians have done is to convince the majority of Israelis that they will never accept the existence of a state of Israel; that they prefer murdering Jewish children to building a home for their own children; that they exalt the murderous suicides more than those who would try to teach liberal tolerance to their own people.

He isn't done:

The logic of liberalism is that it is better to accept more Israeli deaths if it will help foster peace than to risk inconvenience or humiliation of the Palestinians. Most Israelis have finally rejected this for perfectly valid reasons. The separation wall is a last ditch attempt by Israel to avoid following the logic of warfare. If the wall does not prevent an unacceptable threshold of Israeli deaths from being crossed, the war will devolve into an existential fight to the death not just for Israel but for the Arabs as well. We must all hope that events do not bring us to such a point.

The point cannot be made more clearly or succintly. To not recognize that reality that there are bad people out there, is to be a fool, living in the Ashram of Intellectual Irrelevance. Shrinkwrapped goes on to recall that

Golda Meir once said that she hated the Arabs, not because they killed Jewish children, but because they forced Jewish children to kill them. ... is a valuable and powerful indictment of the Palestinians for their success at breeding such feelings in Israelis, made all the more powerful by her heartfelt refusal to accept those very feelings.

The morality of the Israelis is very different from that of the Palestinians and their Arab supporters.

As we have said,

Irrespective of the cause, even a cause seemingly just, killing is never the goal. The cost of a military victory is understood. Eisenhower and other Allied generals visited the Death Camps and wept, and then went into the coldest rage a human can muster- unlike their German counterparts, who posed for pictures and laughed at the plight of the 30 million dead souls. The heirs to the Nazis, the Islamists have posed for pictures with the heads of those they have decapitated. Palestinians bare bloodied hands, some holding human entrails, of Israelis they have butchered. They have filmed themselves kicking a decapitated head about on a field, as if it were just another soccer field. All the while, mosques celebrate these barbarities with music and sweet pastries.

We do not kill with joy. We do not place civilians, or schoolchildren or the sick an infirm in harms way. We do not engage an enemy, hiding behind children. We develop weapons that are ever more accurate. Others develop weapons with labratory developed poisons that can be ever more widely dispersed- and they have used them.

To kill with joy and to celebrate death, is to disregard God. To commit terror and celebrate the deaths of innocents, is to dishonor God and to refute his Dominion. Those who disregard His message corrupt and debase His message. Those who find justification or apology for such acts, or blame the victim, disgrace themselves and their faith. In the assembly of believers, they accomplish nothing but to shame themselves and their communities.

Steven Spielberg is playing with fire. Moral equivalence may work in the movies, but it's a flop in real life, no matter how good it may make some people feel.

Spielberg himself says,

"We don't demonize our targets," Spielberg says. "They're individuals. They have families.

That's nice. Terrorists have mothers. While that is an absolute truth, it in no way means terrorists are nice people.

Israel doesn't need its morality assessed by condescending Hollywood movie producers, thank you. It is the only democracy in the Middle East and does an exemplary job of retaining its morality in the face of a relentless and immoral enemy. We punish every reported misconduct within our army's ranks. We have checks and balances that ensure the juggling of the security of our people with our compassion.