Rice Christians

As a callow youth your faithful correspondent used to hear spoken, by those of the atheistic persuasion, denigrating comments about Christian missions in pre-revolutionary China, and the term of "rice Christians" being used as descriptions of those Chinese who became Christians. The idea of a rice Christian was that during famines in China the Chinese would go to the Christian missions to get rice stored in those missions and either pretend to be Christians to get the rice, or that they would get rice only after having formally converted to Christianity.

I don't know how true these stories are. Not very, I suspect, especially in the case of China Inland Missions.

But consider the fact that there are very few instances of non-Christians being forced to convert to the True Faith since the Crusades. Hawaiians may have been bothered by missionaries, drunks on Skid Row may have to put up with a sermon and a prayer to get a meal and a bed from the Salvation Army and a Burmese may listen to a Christian missionary in order to get a new shirt, but in no case has a knife been held to the throat of an innocent, Buddhist, Mohammedan or pagan to make that person embrace Christ. ... On the other hand, Steve Centanni and his cameraman, during their captivity, were forced to convert to Islam. Mr. Centanni states, after his release, that he still has high regard for Islam. One wonders whether the poor man has learned nothing while being threatened and tied up in a garage. And one wonders if he has ever reported stories denigrating Christian missions and "rice Christians."

The Law of Bloody Tooth and Nail

To the right is a photograph of the American writer Jack London. London began life as a poor lad in Oakland, California and used his brains and experiences to make himself the highest paid writer in the world by the time he died. He was, as a man, what Hemingway aspired to be. A man of adventure, a man of rough culture and a damn good writer. In fact, in some ways London was a better writer than Hemingway for the simple fact that he wasn't afraid to lay his themes out in the open for the view of the reading public, while Ernie decided to cloak his themes with "art." This is an unpopular opinion among academics, but academics make their livings by spinning thread when there is no wool. And your faithful correspondent is not an academic. Academics love Woodrow Wilson (a pious pinhead despite his Princeton education) who lied worse than either Bill Clinton, or as is claimed by some, George W. Bush, and was as naive as Jimmy Carter. And they brush off Theodore Roosevelt as an American imperialist despite the fact that TR brokered the end of the Russo-Japanese War and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts and the fact that the only "imperialistic" thing that TR ever did was send the White Fleet on an around the world cruise to make clear to the world that the US had a claim to part of the Pacific Ocean. Most academics know nothing of the world simply because they have spent their lives in school, first learning from the age of five to sometime in their twenties, and then teaching in schools, colleges or universities. They live in a hothouse environment despite the fact they occasionally venture out to "study" during sabbaticals (and when was the last time you had a sabbatical? I'm due for four and haven't gotten one yet). Your average faithful and pious Roman Catholic priest has a better idea of the world than your average academic because the priest deals with people everyday outside the world of academia.

But I digress.

Jack London is an under-appreciated writer in this modern world. The reason may be due to the fact that he realized that much of life is dictated by the law of bloody tooth and nail. In other words, life is a struggle, civilization is a thin verneer that once scratched, reveals the basic savage or Adamic man, those who do not strive for dominance are crushed.

London was not a Christian. In fact, he had no use for Christianity. We here at Bloody Nib Manor are Christians of the old fashioned Protestant type. But your faithful correspondent sees the wisdom of London's stance. While we are willing to turn the other cheek once when struck, we expect our nation not to tolerate such a thing. Nations are different things than individuals. The purpose of a nation is to serve an protect its populace. If it does not do so, it has no purpose and deserves to be held in contempt at the least and overthrown at the worst. A nation that does not strive for dominace is a nation that settles for submission.

To take London's themes to the modern world, the nations of the world are like a wolf pack. There can only be one lead wolf. Other wolves are either trying to take the lead or are submissive. The only way a lead wolf can remain dominate is to show it by tooth or claw. Once an aspirant tries to take the lead the lead wolf, in order to survive, must re-assert its position by growl, claw or tooth.

But the leaders in the West, and in the United States in particular seem to have come to the conclusion that the nations of the world are not wolves, but a a herd of moose plodding "to the future and peace" while the Islamic world realizes that wolves control the territory. Until the Western powers realize this our lives and freedoms are at jeopardy. The West (and let's face it, there are really only two Western nations anymore that have the stuff to aspire to leadership -- the US and the UK -- the rest are termite ridden), in order to survive and not be submissive, has to get used to the idea that any nation or religion that tries to take the leadership of the world must be clawed or bitten. The Western world has to hold the knife to the Islamic throat just in order to get on with day to day life.

It's not nice, but the modern world isn't nice. The purpose of a national government is to make it possible for its citizens to be nice to one another while using not nice methods against other nations and cultures to make it possible.

What the Heck's Happening?

As those in the know know, Bloody Nib Manor is in Los Angeles County near the border of Orange County. .. As a wee laddie yours remembers growing up hearing Country-Western music as the sound track of the area. There were at least three Country-Western radio stations and not a few television programs dedicated to the genre.

This week it has developed that the only Country-Western radio station in the county has decided to change its format to some sort of boring mild rock thing. The radio station, KZLA, was the most listened to C&W radio station in the country. Now it will become one of the many mild rock stations that are half listened to. ... The San Bernardino based radio station, KFRG, will supposedly take up the disaffected C&W listeners. But KFRG's signal does not cover all of L.A. County.

Meanwhile, several Spanish language radio stations within the county offer Norteno and Frontiera music, which are the Mexican forms of country-western music.

Somebody's getting screwed and it isn't the illegal aliens.

Men in Hats

After a long absence, the feature, Men In Hats as returned.

To the right is a photograph of the English novelist and essayist G.K. Chesterton. For those not in the know, Chesterton wrote the novel The Man Who Was Thursday, the Father Brown mystery stories and was pretty much the man responsible for the serious appreciation for the writings of Charles Dickens. He was also an English apologist for the Roman Catholic Church and was, for many years, the most quoted man in the English language except for Shakespeare.

But being able to string words together does not mean good taste in hats. In the photograph Chesterton is shown wearing a trilby hat. Please note the shape of the crown and brim, especially the dent of the crown and the "V" shape of the front of the brim. It's a true trilby hat, not what some hat stores call a trilby (which run from porkpies to fedoras).

This particular hat was a bad choice for G.K. The hat appears too small and it is not a very good shape for his build. A much better choice for him would have been something along the lines of a properly fitted bowler, a deerstalker or even a skull cap as was worn by John Owen.

By the way, the name and shape of the trilby hat came from the novel Trilby by George du Maurier. This is the novel that introduced the character Svengali to the world.

Let's Get Rollin'

Some people live lives of great adventure. Other people have great adventures in otherwise bland lives. Adventure happens to some. Others look for it. To quote Thoreau, "most men live lives of quiet desperation." ... Your faithful correspondent has always been interested in people who look for adventure, whether great or small: Joshua Slocum and his around the world voyage in a small sailboat, Miles Smeeton and his recreation of Bligh's voyage from the Bounty, Sir Edmund Hillary. Those men had great adventures. Other men have had small adventures. Roger Bannister breaking the four minute mile was a small adventure, as is/was walking or bicycling across the United States or paddle boarding to Santa Catalina Island. Each man's adventure and sense of adventure is unique to himself. For some just getting to work unscathed is an adventure.

A man has decided to skateboard the 6000 kilometers (that's about 4,000 miles in real distance) across Australia: Brit to skate across Australia NEWS.com.au . Is it nutty? Probably. But the fellow is not only having an adventure, but is trying to raise money for charity while doing it.

If you're interested, check out his website:BoardFree: Rolling Around Australia 2006.

And to see the skateboard he's using look here: rolls rolls carbon longboard .

And finally, to keep track of his progress, look here: Elsa and I: the story of a man, a longboard and an awful lot of road...

Godspeed and good luck, Dave.

Islamophobic Round-Up

When you faithful correspondent first started this blog it was with the intention of dealing with light topics and emphasizing the more humorous aspects of life. After all, life here at Bloody Nib Manor is not all that unlike that as recorded in Wodehouse's book, Blandings Castle.

But life gets in the way and we find ourselves having to live under the reign of bone-headed, politically correct diversity freaks. The result of this bureaucratic we-are-the-world, I-wanna-buy-the-world-a-Coke love-in is that the government of the Grand Republic refuses to admit that the United States, in fact the Western world (hitherto known as Christendom) is at war with radical and fascistic Mohammedism. We are supposed to be at war against "terrorism." The "War on Terrorism". or "Global War on Terrorism" is a fake and a fraud. One can no more declare war on terrorism than one can declare war on, say, carpet bombing or naval engagements. Terrorism is a tactic. It is not an entity. And even assuming that terrorism is an entity, the Tamil Tigers in Ceylon have been getting damn little attention from the United States government. There have been not raids on the remaining elements of the IRA, the Basque separatists or the Shining Path guerrillas in Peru. All energy, such as has been expended, has been directed at Islamic triumphalists. So let's call a spade a spade and just say that the danger to the West does not come from Ireland, Pyrennes or the Sri Lanka. The threat is from Islam.

Winston Churchill, in his account of the River Wars in Northeast Africa (Sudan) stated that Moslems can be dealt with and can be quite friendly when dealt with one on one. But when addressed and confronted by a group they were hopelessly barbaric, violent and hostile to non-Moslems. One might as well try to hug a porcupine. ... Having said all that, here are a group of links about the "enlightened" faith in the modern world.

Walid Shoebat has an interesting story: Walid Shoebat - Former PLO Terrorist who speaks out for Israel .

Another piece by Melanie Phillips, this time from the National Review: Melanie Phillips on Londonistan on National Review Online We plan to buy her book and mourn the England that was.

The Baron and Dymphna always have something interesting to offer. This may explain why Corsica doesn't have a problem with Mohammedans: Gates of Vienna: Flying the “Islamophobic” Colours We'll have to see if we can get a flag like that of Corsica.

Mark Steyn . Nothing more be said about Mark.

The wonderful program of assimilation oadherentsts to Allah continues apace in Italy: Independent Online Edition > Europe For some reason there's a controversy about this incident in Italy. I can't think of a reason why.

Victor Davis Hanson is one of the best war writers and thinkers around. It's too bad that the gov't doesn't appoint him as special secretary to the war in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Mideast. But the man's a historian, and history, these days, is about as well regarded as a bad case of piles. Victor Davis Hanson on War on National Review Online .

And finally, as aexplanationon of the title of this entry, the word Islamophobic here means "fear of Islam." Not "dislike of Islam." Your faithful correspondent carries within him both sentiments, but the fear came before the dislike.

Something odd

Here's an interesting article from an English newspaper:Telegraph Opinion Americans will die for liberty ... And here's an interesting article from an American magazine: Victor Davis Hanson on War on National Review Online

U.N. Treaty?

If you have been watching the television or listening to the radio you doubtless know that the United Nations claims to have brokered a cease fire between Israel and Hizbollah. Actually, the claim is that the UN has brokered a cease fire between Israel and Lebanon.

Here's the problem: Israel is not fighting the nation of Lebanon. Israel is fighting Hizbollah. Hizbollah is not a state. Hizbollah is a terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel.

As much as many of the members of the UN would like, Hizbollah is no more a member of the UN than is the Loyal Order of Moose. The UN, in cases like this, is useless. It's a sad thing to see, but not unexpected.

The League of Nations, after World War One, made the ridiculous claim that it would be able to prevent wars. The results of their prevention was the Italian war on Ethiopia and the Spanish Civil War. The culmination was World War Two.

The UN is, in fact, an anti-Western and anti-Israel, organization. Many of the European members of the UN are so guilt ridden about their success in the world that they are not content with self flagellation. They want their "little brown brothers" to beat them.

We here at Bloody Nib Manor refuse to be beat by our cultural lessers. We refuse to feel guilt for our country's success. We refuse to let our Jewish (whether religious or cultural) brothers and sisters in Israel be eliminated by a group of people who have no more concept of right and wrong than a gopher.

The flag at the upper right of this entry is the flag flown by the Bosnia Nazi Divisions during World War Two. Their work resulted in a 90% reduction of Jews in Bosnia. Note that the right half of the flag resembles that of Hizbollah. .. Is that what you want?

Move along. Nuthin' happen' here.

Earlier this week we here at Bloody Nib Manor received the news, via the wireless, that a dastardly plot by British born Muslims, most of Pakastani descent, to blow up, using a form of liquid or gel explosive, aeroplanes traveling from the UK to the US over American territory. The last report we heard there had been approximately 24 people, both men and women, arrested in England and there is a search for more people with bad intentions.

The discovery of the conspiracy resulted in airports in both the Grand Republic and the Land of Green and Verdant Fields instituting a ban on liquids such as bottled water, duty free booze, and sports drinks, and gels such as hair gels, some toothpastes and mascara from being carried onto the planes as carry-on luggage. Flights have been delayed flights have been cancelled and lines at the airports have become long and slow.

It seems that most airline passengers have taken the new restrictions with good cheer. Some on the local talk radio stations have, on the other hand, taken the view that to place such restrictions on air travel have shown that the "terrorists have won" because the authorities have moved to restrict what is included in carry-on luggage. Your faithful correspondent has even heard cries that the liberties of the sons and daughters of the American Revolution have been violated because a traveler cannot take a bottle of Gatorade on the aerial conveyance. One radio yakker has even gone as far as to call the ban on liquids, gels, small electronic devices a case of "the further 'wussification' of America."

Besides the fact that said commentator's use of the word "wussification" when the more proper and stronger word "pussification" (or at least "bussification") the cry that the banning of certain materials as elements of carry-on luggage is a sign that the comptemporary opinion bender has become soft.

When your faithful correspondent was a laddie air travel was something done by the vulgar wealthy. Most people took the bus, the train or a car to reach their destination. Those going overseas booked passage on a ship. And, as an aside, a gentleman and gentlewoman still travel by sea instead of by air. Carry-on luggage on an aeroplane was unknown. And the carrying of bottles on water and sports drink was unheard of. Any air traveler expected to buy a gin and tonic or scotch and water to brace oneself for the unnatural act of flying and the drinks were brought to the passenger by a trim and lovely stewardess instead of a Denny's wait(ress) sporting a pair of wings on his/her chest. Business travelers worked out of notebooks instead of laptop computers. But then, it wasn't until about fifteen years ago that people became as attached to their bottles of water as they used to be attached to a pack of Camel. ...Here's the deal. We are at war. We are as much at war as we were during World War One or World War Two. The mistake that was made after September 11, 2001 was that the President and the government tried to play the game that there was nothing different and that we, as a society could just carry on as usual. This is not true. There are people both within and without the Republic who mean the United States no good. They mean to do us harm. They may even intend to institute Sharia law within the US. Just because we do not have massive armies and navies battling other massive armies and navies does not mean that we are not at war and that we do not have to make sacrifices both actual and symbolic.

During World War Two the civilian populace was subjected to food rationing, gas rationing, mandatory blackouts, racial and ethnic profiling, massive overtime in the defense industries and censorship. The result was the preservation of the liberties that we take for granted, and even abuse.

Now we're in a situation where the chattering classes try to foment a controversy about not carrying Dippity Do and iPods and Arrowhead water as carry-on luggage. How we have become to bitch about sacrificing water, music and hair gel for a few hours. It's enough to gag a maggot.

Sing "Jerusalem" While You Read It

There are times that one finds oneself sympathizing with the National Front in England.

We here at Bloody Nib Manor are not racists. In fact, the ever lovely Lady Nib is a daughter of the Rising Sun. But it seems that those in control of Albion are blind to the fact that they are allowing England to become something else.

Melanie Phillips has the scoop: Melanie Phillips’s Articles » England? No, Lemmingland

Read it and weep. And if you have a St. George's flag, run it up and pray for the land of yeoman farmers and shopkeepers.