Meme-y Christmas

Thanks for the Memory to Uncle Sam's Cabin.


You are 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing'. You take
Christmas very seriously. For you, it is a
religious festival, celebrating the birth of
the Saviour, and its current secularisation
really irritates you. You enjoy the period of
Advent leading up to Christmas, and attend any
local carol services you can find, as well as
the more contemplative Advent church services
each Sunday. You may be involved in Christmas
food collections or similar charity work. The
midnight service at your church, with candles
and carols, is one you look forward to all
year, and you also look forward to the family
get together on Christmas Day.


What Christmas Carol are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Well, yeah. Reading the description of Silent Night people at Sam's blog, I would have been ok with that result, too.

Heartwarming, Heartbreaking

How sad. How sweet.

Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Man (Except Those Nasty Christians)

Thanks for the Memory to Daniel at Daniel's Political Musings.

The first day of this month, I mentioned how excited I was by the Lars Larson-backed Christmas Cross project, which was intended to respond to Pioneer Courthouse Square's "Holiday Tree" by reminding people of why we celebrate the birth of Christ.

So I'm heartbroken to report that the Cross is being cancelled due to threats of violence. Apparently the folks at Portland Indymedia took exception to this "Fascist Christian" activity, and there were threats, among other things, to crucify Lars on the Christmas Cross. I'm not sure how much of it was hateful, ignorant jackasses blowing smoke, and how much of it was real, but apparently it was bad enough that Lars has decided to cancel the project.

Am I the only one who notes how ironic it is that a group of people threatening to use violence to suppress an expression of an opinion they disagree with would refer to their OPPONENTS as "Fascists"? Maybe the thugs commenting at PI should head for their bathroom mirror nexct time they want to go looking for parallels to oppressive political movements.

UPDATE:

Lars just sent me an email regarding an incident that reinforces just how willing some of those who oppose the current President and his supporters are to resort to illegal action:

The Air Force Reserve plans to discharge a lieutenant colonel accused of
defacing cars that had pro-Bush bumper stickers, the military said
Friday. Lt. Col. Alexis Fecteau, a pilot with 500 combat hours in the
first Persian Gulf war and the Balkans, is charged with criminal
mischief for allegedly using paint stripper to write a profanity about
Bush in 18-inch-high letters on cars at Denver International Airport.
The cars had bumper stickers supporting President Bush and conservative
talk-show host Rush Limbaugh...

The next step down the path is into violence, and I'm quite sure there are those willing to take it.

UPDATE II:

Lars' email to me was in response to discussion that's currently going on via email among several Oregon conservatives, myself included. I won't go int othe details of who said what, but the gist is similar to the question raised by Patty-Jo in the comments section of this post: Why is Lars giving in to the bullies?

I have to side with Lars on this one. There's a lot at stake here, and if things got ugly, innocent bystanders could be harmed and Lars and his employers held liable. If people want to direct the criticism anywhere, direct it at the Indymedia commenter thugs and the innefective city government of Portland who inspire so little confidence in their ability/willingness to enforce the law that Lars had to make this decision.

A Real UFO

Thanks for the Memory to Admit One.

Actually, it's a UOO - an Unidentified (for now) Orbiting Object. It rotates once a minute and orbits the earth once every 48 days.



Check out the article at the NASA website. Too cool.

Speaking the Truth to Power

Thanks for the Memory to Admit One via Y-2-DRAY.

You know, maybe there is some merit after all to the argument that the solution to the problem of terrorism is to understand our enemies, to find common ground from which to dialogue.

If you don't believe me, and before you criticize me, go read this story, full of hope for all humanity.

The Press and Hanlon's Razor

Thanks for the Memory to Bluto posting at Blogfather Rusty's.

Press passes pulled from Pilot's Iraq duo

NORFOLK -- The military this week pulled the press credentials of an embedded reporter and photographer for the Norfolk-based Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Kuwait, saying they had violated ground rules by photographing battle-damaged military vehicles.

Virginian-Pilot Editor Denis Finley said the incident arose from a misunderstanding. Military escorts had taken reporter Louis Hansen and photographer Hyunsoo Leo Kim to a compound in Kuwait where they worked on a story about a unit whose job was to clear battle-scarred Humvees and other vehicles for shipment home. Under those circumstances, the journalists believed they were allowed to photograph the vehicles, Finley said.

But after the paper published the story and photos on Saturday, the Kuwait-based Coalition Forces Land Component Command, Forward, pulled their press passes, noting that one of its ground rules prohibits video or photos of battle-damaged vehicles.

Finley said the incident happened on the final day of the men's two-week trip to the Middle East, "so we were done anyway." He said he was waiting to hear the full story from the two, who were in transit back to the U.S., before deciding how vigorously to protest.

-- Bill Geroux

The journalists shouldn't have assumed anything. If they were not given explicit instructions that the rule about damaged vehicles was suspended, they should have stuck to the rules. As for the editor, how vigorously he protests is a direct indication of what an idiot he is.

Look, this isn't about Freedom of the Press. These reporters aren't being arrested, aren';t being told they can't be reporters, and aren't being punished for their opinions. They agreed to abide by a set of rules in exchange for the privilege of accompanyong the troops and having access to them and their facilities. The broke those rules, they lost the privilege. It's as simple as that.

And the rule isn't about the negative propaganda value of the photos. As Bluto pointed out, those photos could provide useful intelligence to our enemies. The extent of the damage, the way in which the damage occurred, the part of the vehicle where the damage occurred, all can provide insights into the strengths, weaknesses, and design of the vehicle, thus making them more vulnerable to a better informed enemy, and eventually increasing the risk to American soldiers.

Since the Vietnam War, people have complained that the press has been in bed with America's enemies, acting as a de facto propaganda organ for them (a view I do hold to some extent), while others respond that the press is merely enforcing the people's "right to know". But this goes beyond providing propaganda to providing tactical intelligence to the enemy. Considering the level of duplicity with the enemy this would require, I am inclined to apply Hanlon's Razor to this case. Hanlons Razor states:

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Which means this incident raises the meaning of the term Useful Idiots to a whole new level, don't you think?

Classroom Scrooge

Thanks for the Memory to Lars Larson. Yet one more reason to home school The Lad:

Teacher to first-graders: There's no Santa

RICHARDSON - Guess what, kids? There's no such thing as Santa Claus!

That was a Richardson music teacher's holiday message to first-graders Monday -- a remark that angered parents and prompted the school district to issue a pro-Santa statement.

The rest can be read here.

The issue of Santa Claus is one that has generated much discussion between me and The Feared Redhead. We're still not exactly sure what we'll tell The Lad about Father Christmas, or how we'll tell him, or when. But one thing is for certain: Despite what the Ninth Circuit Court or Planned Parenthood or some asshat in a Houston grade school think, that's up to US to decide as his parents, NOT them! Is that clear?

Good.

Planned (Attack on) Parenthood

Thanks for the Memory to gopbloggers who link to the following press release from American Life League:

American Life League Says Planned Parenthood Conceals Rape of 11-year-old and Brags About it on Web Site

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- "People may be skeptical when pro-life groups accuse Planned Parenthood of violating the law and protecting rapists," said Jim Sedlak, executive director of American Life League's STOPP International. "However, when Planned Parenthood itself seems to brag, on one of its official web sites, about doing just that, it is time law enforcement agencies in every state address the situation."

In the "Shared Stories" section of the Planned Parenthood Golden Gate web site, the group published a letter in which a young girl praises Planned Parenthood for not telling her parents that she was raped by her 17-year-old boyfriend when she was just 11 years old. Neither the letter itself nor Planned Parenthood made any mention of Planned Parenthood alerting law enforcement to this sexual abuse of an 11-year-old child.

"Attorneys general in several states are trying to get records of young Planned Parenthood clients to see how widespread this practice of protecting rapists is at Planned Parenthood." said Sedlak. "Planned Parenthood is fighting each of these efforts using its high-priced lawyers.

"An in-depth expose done a few years ago by Life Dynamics Incorporated seemed to show that more than 90 percent of Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation clinics around the country routinely advise underage girls how to avoid the mandatory reporting requirements of the various states," Sedlak said. "It is time that authorities everywhere addressed this threat to our children. STOPP calls on pro-lifers nationwide to do all they can to get local district attorneys to investigate local Planned Parenthood offices."

The original comment can be found at Planned Parenthood here.

This is disgusting. We're talking about RAPE, folks. Let's set aside for a minute my disdain for their willingness to provide Birth Control and Abortions to CHILDREN without parental notification. This isn't little Jenny getting pregnant during "Consensual" sex (though how "consensual" sex can be for an 11-year-old is dubious, unless you're Ruth Bader Ginsburg), this is RAPE. And there's no indication they ever reported it to the POLICE EITHER. So how many more little girls did that boy rape while this 11-year-old "coped in her own way"?

The girl, now a teenager, goes on to write:

I've been with my current boyfriend for about two years. During that time i've been HIV and STD tested four times. Right now I'm sitting in the waiting room while my boyfriend gets the results for his HIV test. We love each other so we're responsible and Planned Parenthood helps us to do that.

Apparently you're not THAT responsible, or don't trust that your boyfriend is, or you wouldn't have needed more that ONE HIV test, now would you?

But that's beside my point.

It's scary that PP is able to further their agenda of completely eliminating a parent's right to have any say in the upbringing of their children, while cloaking themselves in a mantle of "Responsibility" and "Compassion". Anyone who knows the story of MArgaret Sanger knows that PP has been all about Social Engineering from the very beginning, and not all of it has been of a kind that their modern "Liberal" supporters would be pleased with, if they would open their eyes and see.

'Strine Times

Thanks for the Memory to Russell Wardlow at Mean Mr. Mustard.

Wretchard at The Belmont Club is "Boots on the Ground" in Australia, and gives an excellent account of what's going on with the riots over there. Go gove it a read, and follow the comment thread (if you have the time), where he answers reader's comments and gives insight into what 's happening that you won't hear from the American media.

The Natives are Restless

NW Republican has an interesting pair of posts up here and here. They started when Ron Saxton's campaign manager, Felix Schein, wrote NWR an email regarding MWR's post Saxton Redu(pe). The gist of Schein's email was to try to defend Saxton's credentials as a Republican, and to question the commitment of Jason Atkinson to the OR GOP. The first post above was originally just a reprint of Schein's email. But after a response from Atkinson, NWR edited the post, then added the second, to address several inaccurate claims in Schein's email. TRhe exchange, and the comments, have been interesting.

But here's the part I would like to comment on:

In Schewin's email, he tells NWR "However, your posting on December 4th (Saxton Redu(pe)) requires a response, both because it was factually inaccurate and unusually personal."

Yeah, right. NWR has been posting for some time on the campaign, and has been openly critical of both the Mannix and Saxton campaigns, but this one particular post just stuck out? I find that hard to believe. Here's what I think is really going on:

Remember that yesterday I mentioned the debate between Oregon's three Republican Gubernatorial candidates and linked to others who had been there and reported on it? If you do, you'll recall that we were fairly impressed with Jason's performance. To be fair, we're a pretty biased bunch, being Atkinson supportes. But I find it interesting that this email came in the same time frame as the debate. Could it be, perhaps, that Saxton is starting to recognize Atkinson as a valid threat? I can understand feeling a need to defend ones own candidate, but why combine it with an attack on Jason, if he's not a real contecter.

Saxton and Mannix are both canny veterans of the political arena who have tried painting Atkinson's inexperience as a reason to not take him seriously. Well, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt about their own wile and guile. But that merely reinforces my suspicion. A canny political candidate is not going to waste time and resources attacking an opponent who has no chance of beating him -- especiall not an extraneous candidate in a three way race. If Atkinson was as insignificant as their supporters might have you believe, they would be ignoring him and going toe-to-toe.

No, I think they, or at least Saxton, take Atkinson more seriously than they let on. I think they recognize the groundswell of support he's getting, the attraction of the grassroots nature of his campaign, the advantage he has in having so many blogging supporters, and the strength of his message and his qualifications. I think they think he has a shot. and I think that means they'll be gunning for him more and more.

I think he can take it, and I think he gan give it right back.

Oregon GOP Gubernatorial Debate

Thanks for the Memory to Gully at Resistance is Futile!

NW Republican attended the first debate between the three front-running Republican candidates for the upcoming gubernatorial race, Here and Here.

The more I hear coming out of Jason Atkinson's mouth, the more I'm sure that, win or lose, he's the guy I'm voting for. I was particularly impressed with his response to this question:

Questions from the crowd -
"Where do you stand on abortion and right to die?"

Atkinson -
I'm prolife. I'm against right to die. I will uphold right to die and work toget the voters to undo it. As governor I will fight for right to die because I believe in states rights and disagree with the Federal government telling us what laws we can pass. I will fight for this on principle though I will also work to undo it. Same with initiatives as the people's will should be done by their public servants.(This is paraphrasing in a nutshell).

Exactly so -- Pro-Life, Pro-Rule of Law/Separation of Powers, and Pro-Small Government, all in one fell swoop. Good on ya, Jason.

I Walk the Feline

TFR rescued a small, wet, very scrawny kitten from the rain yesterday. We're not sure we can afford to take it in, so we're probably going to try to find someone to adopt it. If any of my Eugene readers want a cute, predominantly white tortoiseshell kitten, drop me a line.

Spooky Synchronicity

Last night I watched a documentary on the sinking of the battleship USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. The documentary followed the progress of a commission that was investigsting just what type of attack caused the sudden, fiery death of such a huge ship. The conclusion was that the Arizona had not been struck by torpedo, nor had a bomb gone down her stack to take out the boiler. The explosion seen spouting out the stack is secondary -- the death blow was a single armor piercing bomb that penetrated her decks and exploded directly in the forward magazine, setting of the powder supply for her main batteries.

Here was the spooky part: The investigators gave their final report on their findings at 7:30 AM Eastern Time, September 11, 2001.

American Hostage Murdered?

Thanks for the Memory to The Jawa Report.

Blogfather Rusty is reporting that the terrorists have made good on their threat to murder the latest American hostages -- or at least one of them.

Rusty reports:

Reports have begun circulating that Ronald Schulz has been murdered.
The website used by The Islamic Army in Iraq, though, has not carried
this message. Instead, it was posted at an Islamic bulletin board. It
sometimes takes a few hours for these messages to become 'official'.
We had earlier reported that the deadline had passed without word from
the group.

Tune in to the Jawa Report for details as available.

It Was An Awesome Dream

Night before last I dreamed that Chevrolet took a cue from the new Ford Mustang and Dodge Charger, and redesigned the next model Camaro so that it was stylistically reminiscent of a 1967 Camaro SS.



Now THAT would be boss!

WAY Too Much Time on their Hands

Thanks for the Memory to Careful Thought via The LlamaButchers.

Dear Canada,

If you're this bored:

Margo Lillie, a doctor of zoology at the University of British Columbia, and her student Tracy Boechler have conducted a study on the physics of cow-tipping.

Ms Boechler, now a trainee forensics analyst for the Royal Canadian Mounted Corps, concluded in her initial report that a cow standing with its legs straight would require five people to exert the required force to bowl it over.

A cow of 1.45 metres in height pushed at an angle of 23.4 degrees relative to the ground would require 2,910 Newtons of force, equivalent to 4.43 people, she wrote.

Dr Lillie, Ms Boechler’s supervisor, revised the calculations so that two people could exert the required amount of force to tip a static cow, but only if it did not react.

“The static physics of the issue say . . . two people might be able to tip a cow,” she said. “But the cow would have to be tipped quickly — the cow’s centre of mass would have to be pushed over its hoof before the cow could react.”

Newton’s second law of motion, force equals mass multiplied by acceleration, shows that the high acceleration necessary to tip the cow would require a higher force. “Biology also complicates the issue here because the faster the [human] muscles have to contract, the lower the force they can produce. But I suspect that even if a dynamic physics model suggests cow tipping is possible, the biology ultimately gets in the way: a cow is simply not a rigid, unresponding body.”

I'm sure I can find something for you to do. The garage needs to be cleaned out, and I haven't weeded in months.

Silent Night, Watchful Night

Thanks for the Memory to Subsunk posting at Blackfive.

One of my favorite quotes is this one, often attributed in different variations to Orwell:

"We sleep peacefully in our beds simply because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."

We would do well to remember that truth during this season when we celebrate Peace on Earth. There are those who will never show Good Will Towards Men, and as long as there are, the only way we will have any Peace is thanks to the efforts of those who go in harms way so that we need not. It is with that in mind I share this poem, found at Blackfive's:

A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS POEM

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
a lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light.
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam,'
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?"
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Merry Christmas to all, and especially to those manning the thin red line between us and all we fear.

When the Karma Runs Out of Gas

Thanks for the Memory to Lars Larson.


An excellent essay on why Tookie Williams should die. And from an Oregonian, no less.

Air Marshal Shoots Passenger on Flight from Columbia to the US

Thanks for the Memory to The LlamaButchers.

The flight was headed to Orlando, but was diverted to Miami-Dade. The passenger was reportedly shot while the plane was on the ground.

As pointed out by the LB's, there's a reason we arm Air Marshals. Don't push it.

UPDATE:
Apparently, the passenger claimed to have a bomb.

Infamy

December 7, 1941.

It's more than a defining event, it's a defining date. It's one of those few events in history that most people recognize just from the date itself. December 7th. July 4th. Now, September 11th.

This particular date marked the US entry into World War II, an entry than most historians agree was inevitable. It roused the US from an isolationistic fantasy that ignored the ever-shrinking nature of the world, and it brought us into direct conflict with an enemy with whom we had been inexorably shifting into conflict. This was an enemy whose culture was completely different from ours, who viewed its way of life as inherently superior to ours, and who had no mercy for those who opposed it. Its goal was total domination of all lands it viewed as its by Divine Right. It believed that the only options were victory or death, and neither asking for nor offering quarter. In the end, only its complete devastation and utter defeat eventually brought about an end to the conflict.

No, I'm not comparing Hitler to Hussein -- that is another discussion for another day. I'm talking about the uncanny similarities between the Bushido-driven Empire of the Rising Sun and modern Wahabist Islam. The parallels to the modern day are startling, from the use of beheading as a means of execution to the glorification of suicide attackers as holy martyrs. The most uncanny parallel, of course, is between the devastating acts of treachery that brought each conflict home to America. I hope that the similarities need not extend to the means required to end the conflicts.