Saturday, March 15, 2008

Porn's Stranglehold

I don't think it needs to be an addiction to be destructive but we can have that discussion later..

...Porn is gaining a stranglehold on mainstream American culture. One reason is the false message that porn viewing is harmless and socially acceptable for the sexually frustrated. One reason it is not harmless is the number of casual porn viewers who end up sexually addicted. The term sexual addiction is only 25 years old. But it describes the very real problem of extreme sexual behavior that is destructive to self and others. In his research, John found that experts believe tens of millions of people are addicted to sex. ... (full article here)

Black Blocs: Upping the Ante at Protests

From StratFor

A small bomb exploded outside a military recruiting station in New York City’s Times Square in the early morning hours of March 6, causing minor property damage but no injuries. The New York Police Department said surveillance videos of the area show a single person arriving at the scene riding a bicycle and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt. Police say the blast was caused by a crude device made from a small, green ammunition container filled with black powder. In the video, the attacker appears to be acting alone, suggesting the person who planted the device was also the bombmaker. There have been no credible claims of responsibility for the attack, though police have lifted latent fingerprints off of what they believe to be the bicycle used by the perpetrator.
Although bombings are uncommon in Manhattan, several unsolved incidents have occurred that could be related to the March 6 attack:
(full story here)

Albania rocked by huge explosions

Explosions were heard over 100 miles away
At least five people have been killed and more than 240 injured in a series of huge explosions at an arms dump near the Albanian capital, Tirana. (incredible story here with pics)

Lesbian Ontario Education Minister Hires "Homophobia" Watchdog for Schools

The thought police are coming
....Catholic schools have increasingly come under government scrutiny under suspicion of being hostile to the government's insistence that homosexuality be accepted and taught as though it were the equivalent to racial differences and subject to "discrimination". Some Catholic schools in Ontario were criticised when they refused to participate in a questionnaire put forward by Canada's foremost homosexual activist organization, EGALE, to assess whether they were conforming to the new requirements to tolerate the "gay lifestyle". ...
(full article here)

Friday, March 14, 2008

A Lesson in Moral Equivalence

A Classic from Touchstone back on March 1. One worth framing.

Once a wolf, desiring to have a flock of sheep at his disposal, mounted a stone in the pasture and pointed out that while grazing they frequently took up and ate small animals--worms, insects, protozoans, and whatnot. This meant, he insisted, that they had no cause to avoid him, much less reproach him for flesh-eating, since the sheep did it too. (full article here)

Woman stuck after two years on toilet

I know it's old news but it's just so bizarre...

An American woman's body had became attached to her boyfriend's toilet after she sat on it for two years, police in Kansas said.

"She was not glued. She was not tied. She was just physically stuck by her body," said Bryan Whipple, the sheriff of Ness County...

"We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital," Mr Whipple said. "The hospital removed it."

On Feb 27, Mr McFarren called police to report that "there was something wrong with his girlfriend", (you can go here for the rest)

Ya think? I guess next we'll find out the boyfriend hadn't gone for two years.

Coming to a Park Near You

From the Telegraph

"Dutch council officials will permit gay sex in public areas but fine dog owners who let their pets off the leash in Amsterdam's Vondelpark...."

Oh well, as long as the dogs are on a leash... (should you want to read more it's here)

Obama struggles to downplay fiery minister

Obama's friend and mentor. From MSNBC

We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York, and we never batted an eye,” Wright says. “We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is brought right back in our own front yards.”
In a later sermon, Wright revisits the theme, declaring: “No, no, no, not God bless America — God damn America!"
(readthe rest of where "liberation theology leads us, here.)

Thursday, March 13, 2008

THE TORTURE MYTH

WATERBOARDING FACT & FICTION from the NY Post:

LESS than five minutes.
That's the total amount of time the United States has waterboarded terrorist detainees.
How many detainees? Three.
Who were these detainees?
(go here for the rest of the story)

...The relevant Democratic congressional leadership for intelligence - including current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Jay Rockefeller and former Sen. Bob Graham - were briefed on CIA operations more than once. ...

IRAN'S FEAR - IRAQ'S CHANCE TEHRAN NOW WORRIES ABOUT US EXIT

Curiouser and curiouser -The New York Post reports:

'I HAVE lost hope of liberating Iraq and turning it into an Islamic society." So said Muqtada al-Sadr in an open letter to his followers published last week....

... The real reason for Tehran's decision to withdraw Muqtada from active politics, however, may lie elsewhere.
In recent months, Tehran policymakers have begun to understand a crucial fact about Iraq: Any weakening of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government now could persuade the United States to throw its support behind an alternative, anti-Iranian coalition of Arab Sunnis, Kurds and secular Shiites openly hostile to Iran.
(full story)

Peacenik Thugs

Michelle Malkin reports:

From Pittsburgh to Berkeley, anti-war extremists have smeared recruiters as "death pimps" and "child predators." The militant Code Pink group continues to organize in-your-face protests to drive recruiters from major metropolitan areas.
The Times Square bombing wasn't an isolated incident, but a symptom of reckless tolerance for dangerous "peace" peddlers skating on the edge of sedition. Lone nuts? Here's a brief history of the anti-military recruitment movement's mounting acts of vandalism and violence:

more here

Gay Porn as Required Reading in Ill. High School, Media Silent

Coming soon to a school near you..

The story of an Illinois high school making a gay pornographic play required reading for seniors has been reported since March 7th, but it has been ignored for the most part with only a handful of news outlets having taken on this issue.... (full story)

Bishop wages war on ‘gay lobby’

A Prophet in Scotland...

".."We neglect the gay movement at our peril.
"I want to ask you if you are able to see the giant conspiracy that's taking place before our eyes?"
He said: "It's a very small group of people, but very active and organised, and extremely indulgent. The opposition know exactly what they're doing. We don't."..
full article here

What's new: Presidential race may be altered by rising support for Iraq policy

The danger of playing politics in war is that on some level someone is invested in defeat.

Form the USA Today Blog
The Politico -- Rising support for Iraq policy could alter dynamics of the presidential race: "American public support for the military effort in Iraq has reached a high point unseen since the summer of 2006, a development that promises to reshape the political landscape. According to late February polling conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 53% of Americans -- a slim majority -- now believe 'the U.S. will ultimately succeed in achieving its goals' in Iraq.

A Rose By Any Other Name

NPR quotes a Pentagon Report here. I'm just curious why we would care what the name a group of terrorists go by and not just focus on the fact that they are terrorists..

Pentagon Report Fails to Link Saddam, Al-Qaida
A Pentagon report concludes Saddam Hussein's regime carried out terrorist operations and provided sanctuary and aid to terrorist groups. But confiscated Iraqi documents show no direct link between the former Iraqi dictator and al-Qaida.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The Pentagon vs. Petraeus

The rest of the story behind Fallon's retirement...
From the WSJ

"Yesterday's resignation of Admiral William Fallon as Centcom Commander is being portrayed as a dispute over Iran. Our own sense is that the admiral has made more than enough dissenting statements about Iraq, Iran and other things to warrant his dismissal as much as early retirement. But his departure will be especially good news if it means that President Bush is beginning to pay attention to the internal Pentagon dispute over Iraq.
A fateful debate is now taking place at the Pentagon that will determine the pace of U.S. military withdrawals for what remains of President Bush's term..."

article here

Fallon didn't get it

The Los Angeles Times offers another view than the prevailing "Fallon as prophet/martyr" line of the MSM
The departing head of Central Command was wrong about the surge.
By Max Boot March 12, 2008
To see why Tuesday's "retirement" of Navy Adm. William "Fox" Fallon as head of U.S. Central Command is good news, all you have to do is look at the Esquire profile that brought about his downfall.Its author, Thomas P.M. Barnett, a former professor at the Naval War College, presents a fawning portrait of the admiral -- a service he previously performed for Donald Rumsfeld. But evidence of Fallon's supposed "strategic brilliance" is notably lacking. For example, Barnett notes Fallon's attempt to banish the phrase "the Long War" (created by his predecessor) because it "signaled a long haul that Fallon simply finds unacceptable," without offering any hint of how Fallon intends to defeat our enemies overnight. The ideas Fallon proposes -- "He wants troop levels in Iraq down now, and he wants the Afghan National Army running the show throughout most of Afghanistan by the end of this year" -- would most likely result in security setbacks that would lengthen, not shorten, the struggle...
(full article here)

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

An Inordinate Fear of Terrorism?

From the Wall Street Journal
In 1977, Jimmy Carter told Americans to get over their "inordinate fear of communism." This year, expect to be told to get over your "inordinate fear" of terrorism.
Among politicians, the case is still being made sotto voce. When Barack Obama lists the "common threats of the 21st century" as "nuclear weapons and terrorism, climate change and poverty, genocide and disease," the suggestion is that Islamist terrorism is one of many problems, and not, as John McCain insists, the "transcendent issue of our time."


I think Johnny has it right. Read the rest of the story here

Who Can Be Saved?

by Avery Cardinal DullesFebruary 2008 -->
From First Things
"Nothing is more striking in the New Testament than the confidence with which it proclaims the saving power of belief in Christ. Almost every page confronts us with a decision of eternal consequence: Will we follow Christ or the rulers of this world? The gospel is, according to Paul, “the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith” (Rom. 1:16). The apostles and their associates are convinced that in Jesus they have encountered the Lord of Life and that he has brought them into the way that leads to everlasting blessedness. By personal faith in him and by baptism in his name, Christians have passed from darkness to light, from error to truth, and from sin to holiness. " full article here

Yes, Israel is OK with Muslims destroying history

Posted: March 10, 200810:52 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein© 2008 WorldNetDaily
JERUSALEM – The Israeli government gave permission to the Muslim custodians of the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – to carry out construction on the Mount last week using a tractor, according to Palestinian Authority sources.
(link here)

Study finds 1 in 4 US teens has a STD

By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer 1 hour, 5 minutes ago
CHICAGO - At least one in four teenage American girls has a sexually transmitted disease, suggests a first-of-its-kind federal study that startled some adolescent-health experts.
(story here)

Take Him Away

From the Touchstone Blog March 10
So said the crowds that bullied Pontius Pilate into surrendering to their judgment a man he knew was innocent. Not that Pilate required much persuading. But I wonder now, suppose we do just what the crowds were crying for. Suppose we take Jesus away? What does the world look like, if we take him away?
full story

Sinbad Refutes Clinton Foreign Policy Cred

"One of the few episodes Hillary Clinton's campaign has cited as evidence of her superior ability to serve as commander-in-chief was a trip she took to Bosnia in 1996. The trip included Sheryl Crow, a Clinton supporter, and comedian Sinbad. In an interview today with the Washington Post's Mary Ann Akers, Sinbad says that the trip was hardly the harrowing experience Clinton has made it out to..."
full story

Sinbad for foreign minister!