This and That

When this writer was a sprite people (usually men) who wrote news stories for newspapers or reported the news on television and the radio were called either "newspaper men" or "news reporters." The word journalist was reserved for writers who had done a bit of research after an event and generally took the long view of a story or issue. Newspaper men wrote the first version of a story. Journalists usually looked at the story after the dust had settled.

Nowadays every damn one who can wield a pencil, pound a keyboard or text-message and get their scribblings published on paper, broadcast over the air or appear on an Internet site thinks that they are a journalist and are cultural descendants of Richard Harding Davis, Jack London or Heywood Broun. Of course they are not. They are akin to people who perform in pornographic films and then call themselves "actors." And the present day "journalist" sees him or her self as brave courageous and true and consider themselves akin to Ambrose Bierce covering the Mexican Revolution or Ernie Pyle covering the Battle of Saipan i.e., telling the truth in spite of danger for the sake of getting the story out to the reader. But when push comes to shove, the present day scribes are really not as brave or heroic as they claim they are. Is there really anything brave about questioning the President's statements or positions. It's not like the Secret Service is going to arrest the scribe for asking the One about why he didn't adopt a shelter mutt instead of getting a purebred as a gift from that paragon of morality Ted Kennedy (more on him later).

Most journalists claiming to try to get the scoop from closed societies end up modelling Walter Duranty, who spent the 1930s reporting from the Soviet Union that Stalin was a pussycat and that the average worker in Russia was living better than the average worker in the US. For an example of the children of Duranty just read any mainstream media story about Cuba, Vietnam or Mainland China. If the stories were printed in Excelsior in Mexico City or La Opinion in Los Angeles there would not be an illegal alien problem in the Southwest. All the wetbacks would be running to Cuba, Vietnam or China.

Recently three journalist with more ambition than sense have found themselves under arrest and, in one case, convicted of espionage while attempting to report from nations that are hostile, not only to the Western way of life, but to almost everyone except themselves:

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Why is Hollywood Silent on Roxana Saberi?

US journalists to face criminal trial in North Korea | World news | guardian.co.uk

All three women involved probably got into the situations they find themselves in for what they saw as the best of journalistic intentions; they wanted to report a truth from Iran or North Korea and they seem to have thought that their jobs as journalists would protect them from the bad intentions of the nations they hoped to write about. They forgot that in some nations a card stuck in the hatband of a fedora reading "Press" means to some people that they will report what the host country wants. Wielding a pen and notepad doesn't do much when one is in handcuffs. Refugees from Korea and Iran have told many stories about life in those two nations and none of them have been good. One wonders why these reporters decided that it would be a good idea to run to a place that other people risk their lives to escape. They did not seem to realize that not all oppressive governments are as friendly as Cuba.

But the lack of wisdom on the part of the three reporters is no reason for arrest and/or conviction. The reporters are now being used as tools by the Norks and the Iranians. And the only comment that your faithful correspondent has heard from the Obama administration concerned the case of Roxana Saberi ; "This is troubling." That's all. No outrage. No statements about the sanctity of the free press. No loud protests about the illegal arrests of American citizens. The lack of a strong stand on the part of the administration is troubling and makes one more convinced that our Chief Executive is a soft man willing to ditch three reporters in an attempt to make nice with our enemies. Even more troubling is the lack of coverage of the stories by the mainstream press. But the press has, for years, shown themselves to be the whore that we all knew they were.

The other day our Dear Leader declared that from now on September 11 will be federally recognized as a National Day of Service and that the signing of the proclamation would be known as the Edward Kennedy Act. The idea behind the proclamation is that every September 11 all citizens should volunteer to do something to make life better for the nation, whether it be cleaning a vacant lot, feeding the homeless, painting over graffiti, et al. It's a nice little bubblegum factory thought arrived at by a nice little bubblegum mindset. The problem is that the declaration of a National Day of Service come damn close to a mandatory volunteerism (an oxymoron if ever there was one) burdened upon the citizens of the United States. And the declaration shows a great lack of understanding of what the United States and the Constitution is all about. Historically, the citizens of this great nation have not been loath to volunteer to help their neighbors or the nation. But this volunteerism has been voluntary. It has not been mandatory. No one, in the past, held the threat of jail or a fine over some one's head to make them shore up a levee or work in a soup kitchen. Volunteerism is a matter of conscience, not law. Or at least it used to be. We are entering a new world with newspeak.

For some reason the One named the volunteer act after Edward Kennedy. Those of us of a certain age know that Mr. Kennedy is not exactly a paragon of virtue or morality. He has been in the past at least partially responsible for the death of a youth woman he is suspected of having an affair with, a drunk, a liar an, adulterer, a spender of other peoples' money while he sits on his own, a hypocrite and a bad Catholic pretending to be a good Catholic. Ted Kennedy is a living example that if one has the right name and lives long enough a scoundrel can become a saint in the public eye. One wonders how Errol Flynn would have been regarded if he had lived into his seventies. So, if you plan to live a long life and behave badly, don't bother to reform. You'll become known as a sweet old man or old woman with a past, and thus a colorful character like Charles Bukowski. Or Ted Kennedy.

This writer is a man and is able to write only from a male point of view, so if any women are unable to relate to the following he apologizes in advance.

Have you ever been walking or driving down the street and seen a pretty young woman walking down the street? In your dotage you say to yourself something like, "What a lovely young woman." Then she reaches into her back pocket or purse, pulls out a cellular phone and starts yakking on the damn thing, either receiving or making a phone call. For your faithful correspondent this particular action turns a lovely young woman into a yakker. Even worse is when she starts texting. And the reason is that such actions show that the young woman has no interior life. She is a person who feels the need to be "connected"n with her friends to such an extent that she is unable to go more than a couple of hours without telling her pals something like: "M @ Nordies lking @ shus" or hearing that her friend is at the library studying Pride and Prejudice. Can you imagine being married to such a woman? She feels that she has to share everything with her friends and share everything from her friends. God help the man who marries this woman. One can almost read the text message to her friends on the wedding night: "Had sex w/ Brad. Premature ejaculation! Again! LOL!"

Grumpasauris

Have you ever awoken one day in a bad mood and the bad mood seems to go on from day to day to day? After awhile the people you live with and work with start commenting that you are a grump and that you willfully refuse to see the good side of anything.

Let's face it. No one wants to be known as a grump or a curmudgeon for more than five minutes because to exceed the five minute limit is to pretty much close one out from invitations to lawn bowling parties, quiz nights at the local pub, and the attentions of young lovelies wearing tight sweaters and tight skirts (the latter does not apply in France where the young have been indoctrinated into Sartrean Existentialism, and thus a state of depression lasting from the ages of eighteen to twenty-eight). One finds one's self sitting in the corner of the local King's Head with other grumps and joykillers, both male and female, in an aura of too many too strong beers and pipe tobacco smoke talking to one another like the Finnish Debating Society i.e., "The world is going to hell." "Uhm." "Ah." "Ja."

No one wants to spend time with a grump, especially jeune filles wearing tight sweaters and tight skirts, and it ends up for the grump being a pretty lonely life filled with the conversations of other grumps. One becomes known as a "character" or an "eccentric." Truth to be told, one would probably be much happier and more appreciated by the public at large (especially by the local jung freulien wearing a tight sweater and tight skirt) if one decided to try to spool knit the longest spool knitting piece ever known to man or if one donned tan tights and leotard with brown hood and cape and called oneself Captain Beano: Super Hero.

It must be admitted by this writer that some thirty years ago he woke up one day in a bad mood and it has since that day thirty years of grumpiness. It hasn't been easy being the wet towel on the party, but, after so many years of the disease, this writer has finally realized that there is a value to being a grump. That value is a damping of irrational exuberance. Exuberance is fine when the dawn arrives with rosy fingers promising a fine day, but more often than not there are storm clouds that the optimist refuses to see. It's not the grump's fault that the optimist is soaking wet and cold by noon. The grump gave his warning. The grump realizes that in front of every silver lining is a cloud.
Burt Prelutsky, a writer this correspondent has read on and off for many years, seems to appreciate the value and the state of being a grump much better than the average Pollyanna:
Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » We Should All Be a Little Cranky

And if any lassies who like wearing tight sweaters and tight skirts and who ride Raleigh 3-Speed bicycles should read this entry, please do not hesitate to ride by the Manor to comfort an old grump. The fragrance of lilac or lavender on a woman has always managed to soften this writer's sharp edges.

Links Galore!

Here are some links from people how know more than your faithful correspondent does:
Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » You’ve Been Warned

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Apocalypse Near? Liberal Actresses Line Up to Star in ‘Atlas Shrugged’

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Are We a Nation of Serfs?

Regarding the second link, this writer's grandfather, Baron Bill of Talequa, was a man who liked women. He was a shameless flirt and asked every waitress. nurse or shopgirl he ever met for a date even after he was married, though it has been assumed that he was faithful to his wife. He just liked women and enjoyed talking to women. But one type of woman he had no use for was actresses. He liked movies and liked looking at actresses on the screen, but he had a low opinion of the species. When asked why he had such a low view of female thespians his reply was, "Because they're whores. They care for nothing but money."

Baron Bill was not an educated man, but he knew the score.

Marooned Without a Hope (But Lots of Change)

In the 1930s the character actor made a couple of films that took place during the Age of Sail.
The most famous film was Treasure Island co-starring Jackie Cooper as Jim Hawkins in which Beery played the part of pirate/mutineer Long John Silver. The second film was called Slave Ship co-starring Mickey Rooney.
In one of the films the character played by Beery, in describing when he and several other sailors were castaway or marooned, said, "All they left us was a bag of salt and a little black boy."
It is the opinion of this writer that, since the inauguration, we, the working citizen of this great Republic, have been left with a bag of salt and a little black boy. To make matters worse, our elected leaders have deigned to tax away our bag of salt and the little black boy has somehow taken command of the lifeboat.
As you faithful correspondent has written previously, we are a nation now led by children. Do you remember the student council elections in grade school. During those elections the students running for student body president promised that, if elected, they would have Kool-Aid squirting out of the drinking fountains. Our Dear Leader came close to promising the same thing and the result was that the voting population drank the Kool-Aid a'la Jonestown. Why wait for the Second Coming of Christ when we have the first coming of The One? What the Hell? We might as well party like it's 1999 and let our kids and grand kids pick up the tab.
Now O has decided that the nation is ready for "mandatory volunteerism". If the preceding phrase seems an oxymoron consider the fact that modern politics is a concrete oxymoron. Just prepare yourself for the sight of thousands of brown-shirted youth (more likely rainbow-shirted youth) coming into your neighborhood insisting that they help you even if you don't want the help. And all the time they will be chanting something to the effect of, "We're from the government and we're here to help you by the kindness of the Messiah whether you want it or not."
You have two choices: Build a deep moat and fill it with piranhas or pretend that you're not home when they knock on your door. There is one other option, if you're not willing to submit to the benevolent dictatorship of President Hopeandchange. Buy a sailboat and head to the Marquesa Islands.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Growing a Spine?

For some time this writer has wondered if the term, "the village atheist" should replaced with the term "the village Christian."
While you faithful correspondent is aware that most of the population of the United States is nominally Christian, he is also aware that the media, many popular Christian leaders and many vocal Roman Catholic clerics belong to the "kumbaya" school of Christianity , i.e. widely ecumenical with a view that traditional Christianity is oppressive, non-accepting, ignorant, blah, blah blah, while Islam is misunderstood, paganism is loving and atheists are just the cat's meow because they call Baptist idiots and Catholics tools of Rome.
Finally some Christian leaders are saying, "No pasaran!"
Bishop of Rochester resigns to become defender of persecuted Christians - Telegraph
Archbishop confronts BBC Director General over its treatment of religion - Telegraph
Now, a U.S. cardinal denounces Notre Dame's Obama invite | Top of the Ticket | Los Angeles Times
One wonders how long it will be before an archbishop or bishop or well-known priest or pastor will challenge PBS on it's religion coverage. Don't hold your breath.

The Czechs Get It. We Don't

As you watch these three videos ask yourself if such a story would be shown on American television.
Gates of Vienna: Undercover as a Muslim in Prague
And after you've watched the videos ask yourself, "What the Hell's happened to the culture of this country?" We can't even stand up for our values and heritage without some idiot trying to make us feel guilty for what we are and hold dear.

The Children's Hour

Many years ago the singer/comedian/television personality Tennessee Ernie Ford used to perform a comedy routine in which he would open a road map, find the route to his destination and then attempt to properly re-fold the map. The end result of the effort was an angrily balled up sheet of paper thrown into a trash can and a forgotten journey.
Something tells me that we are about to experience the same thing as a nation because we are being governed by impatient shallow thinking children. The accomplishment of small tasks reflect the ability to accomplish large tasks.
Our Dear Leader has shown himself to be able to insult our British cousins several times and attempt to brush it off by saying that he is tired and preoccupied:
Hot Air » Blog Archive » Great news: Obama fumbled Brown visit because he’s in over his head
Now, admittedly, The One cannot be expected to look after all matters of diplomatic protocol when dealing with foreign leaders. That's why he has a director of Diplomatic Protocol. But, apparently Mr. Obama hired a slacker for the job. His office's reaction to Prime Minster Brown's visit seems like an episode of King of the Hill i.e. " Peg! The Browns are coming over for supper. Rustle up some Hamburger Helper and I'll go by Wal-Mart and buy some DVDs for them and a couple of Tonka truck for their boys."
Meanwhile, our Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham-Clinton, has shown herself to be as clueless as her boss:
Hot Air » Blog Archive » Hillary competes with Geithner for competence nadir
When she's not forgetting the names of world leaders or using Babble-fish instead of a proper Russian translator, she's bemoaning the lack of privacy that she's allowed herself. She's not Tallyrandian. She's Oprahatic.
And that makes this writer sleep soundly at night because the only way he can sleep well with this bunch of jokers steering the ship of state is to take sleeping pills. Lots of them.

We're free (to act badly)

Your faithful correspondent has made it a point to avoid mentioning the policies and ideas put forth by Mr. Barack Obama since his inauguration as President of the United States. The reason for this reluctance to address President Obama's silliness is the same as giving a rookie a pass in baseball early in the season.
The normal period of time for the Presidential rookie pass is 100 days. But Mr. Obama has shown himself to be such a busy termite that yours has no choice but to comment before out Dear Leader decides to take control of the Internet and blogs.
So here's the deal from Nib Manor.
In the past month Mr. Obama has done a dire dis-service to the American people. In his desire to level the playing field of life he has denied the American people the freedom of personal responsibility. He has denied them the freedom to succeed and he has denied them the freedom to fail.
What more need be said?

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

When your faithful correspondent was a tyke one of the indications of moving from being a "baby" to being a "big boy" was the ability to tell time using an analog clock or watch. In those days there really was no such thing as an analog timepiece. A watch or a clock always hand the numerals 1 through 12 placed in a roughly circular fashion around the face and hand two or three hands to tell the hour, minute, and sometimes second of the day.
Telling time was a tricky thing for a kid; big hand, little hand, second hand were often confused. After all, an hour is bigger than a minute and a minute is bigger than a second, so the hour hand should be the longest hand (The second hand) the minute should be the middle length hand (the minute hand) and the shortest hand should be the second hand (the hour hand). But most kids got through it and learned that instinct, especially in measurement,was not always the best guide and that the resisting of instinct in favor of certain rules, whether man-made or God proclaimed, were, and are, the mark of a human.
This writer's first watch was awarded to him at the age of five. The watch was a Zorro watch. The face of the watch was black and the numerals and hands were white. Emblazoned just above the center of the face was the word "Zorro." Zorro was a popular children's television program starring Guy Williams at the time. And while yours, at the time of the receiving of the watch, was still a little shaky on the concept of time telling, he enjoyed wearing, winding and listening to the watch.
Upon graduation from high school, this writer was awarded a Gruen chronometer. which was a real prize. Four dials in one watch! It was used several times at the drag races to measure the speed of cars and was used in the Navy to estimate the distance of 5 inch guns being fired from nearby destroyers.
It was at this time that digital watches (first invented by Hughes Aircraft) became popular and it was assumed that the dreary display of numerals on an LED or LCD watch face would soon take over the the analog watch market. At first the digital watches were rather expensive, but new technology always starts out dear. The arguments for buying a digital watch were that the watches were more accurate than digital watches (whether spring driven or electric) and that they could (at least the LED watches) could be easily read in the dark.
At the time such watch companies as Timex (probably the maker of more watches than any other company in the world) and Seiko started tooling up to make digital watches and pretty much considered their analog watches as supply for a niche market. New companies such as Citizen and Casio popped up to make digital watches and seemed to fully expect that everyone would be walking around and telling time by looking at looking at their wrists and seeing LCD or LED numerals telling them that it was 12:35:54 instead of at an analog watch telling them that it was about twelve-thirty.
But guess what? The digital watch, as a wrist watch, pocket watch or even clock, lost out. Well, really it didn't lose out, but it took second place to the analog watch after a short period of supremacy. If one goes to a department store, jewelry store or watch store one will see that the vast majority of watches are of the analog type. Some of them are spring driven and others are electronically driven, but they have hands that point to numerals. Those digital watches that are offered are either very cheap (this writer has seen digital watches for as little as five dollars) or are specialty watches for sailors, runner or hikers. Or anal retentive geeks.
What happened to the great digital watch revolution? This writer posits that the reason is that digital watches are seen as cheap and that they are, in fact inhumanly ugly. Compare the the face of a Casio Yachtsman to a Movado or Rolex Submariner. Also, they represent nothing. They're displays are nothing more than bare numerals that really mean nothing outside the watch or clock. An analog watch, one the other hand, and in a sense, represents the rotation of the earth.
A wrist or pocket watch is a piece of jewelry as well as a time keeping device. The watch says something about the owner and most people are content to know the time of day within plus or minus five minutes and have no need to split seconds while they are driving to work.
This, to your faithful correspondent, shows the triumph of the common man. Despite the ubiquity of digital clocks in cars and on bank buildings, the average man and woman prefers an analog watch or clock to the geekness of digital display. It is a triumph of common sense over marketing, though one sees young people using the clocks on their cell phones instead of watches when one asks them the time of day despite the fact that they are wearing an analog wrist watch. But young people are foolish and are blinded by shiny things and one can only hope that they get some about time. Being within fifteen minutes of the correct time is good enough for most things.

Termites and termite fighters

Our Mussalman friends keep do a good job of keeping a bitch going and a good job of getting those who should know better consider their nonsense seriously:
Islamic fundamentalism promoted on websites at some Muslim schools in the UK, think tank finds - Telegraph
In the above article note that there are some UK officials who defend people who want to do nothing but bury the Union Jack under a pile of rubble.
British Muslims 'providing Taliban with electronic devices for roadside bombs' - Telegraph
One wonders if the British officials are looking for the British orcs who are cooperating with the Afghan orcs in trying to kill British soldiers and marines. Or are they bureaucrats afraid of hurting the feelings of the Islamic "disenfranchised" youth?
Meanwhile, there are several governmental agencies and politicians who are willing to take on the burrowing of the Islamic termite:
Man arrested who has possible tie to bin Laden | charges, authorities, taken, custody, immigration - News - OCRegister.com
Admittedly, the above arrest has more to do with an immigration violation than an attack on the traitorous nature and ramblings of one of our Islamic brothers, but it's a start on the right road.
Gates of Vienna: Viennese School Draws the Line at Schnitzel
Let's think a moment. Pretend for a moment that you want to make a living as a plumber. During your training in the program you are expected to learn how to install and repair toilets and sewage lines. You tell your instructor that you only want to repair sinks and bathtubs and that you find toilets disgusting. Do you think that you'd be receiving your journeyman's card anytime soon?
Gates of Vienna: Geert Wilders’ Speech in Rome
Wilders is one of the few Dutch and European politicians who seem to understand that Islam is a threat to the Western ethos, and he has been treated badly by the Quislings who run the EU. Recently he was barred entry into the U.K. because a Muslim member of the House of Lords pitched a bitch about a film that Wilders produced. Oddly enough, the film was made up of nothing much more than clips of Mohammedans making statements about the West and the Jews.
Sometimes it seems that all is lost, but occasionally there is cause for hope.

Juicers Up!

Professional football season has thankfully come to an end. Some team won the Superbowl game and another team has won the Pro Bowl game and now those with any lick of sense, and appreciation for beauty, drama and athleticism, can concentrate on the upcoming baseball season without being accused of being premature in our pondering of how will our favorite team do during this year's campaign. The intelligent person knows many things and one of those is that in team sports Only Baseball Matters. All others are chaff mistaken for grain.
But, as usual, modern life and and science have inserted themselves into the sublimity of the Great Game. It was revealed this weekend that Alex Rodriguez (aka A-Rod) tested positive for the use of steroids during the 2003 season. There's really no surprise in this revelation for those of us who have watched the man over the years. He's shown himself to be hungry for money and for glory, going so far as to attempt to make himself the unofficial leader of the Yankees during his first year with the team.
Mr. Rodriguez, in reply to a query from Sports Illustrated concerning the matter replied that the writers should talk to the players' union about the matter and that he had nothing to say.
In other words, he had neither the courage and honesty to 'fess up and claim that he made a youthful mistake nor the brass to deny the findings of the test and call the charges damnable lies. He, in effect, ran to Mommy and hid behind her skirts. He sees the players' union as his protector instead of manning up, getting on the horse and riding it until he defeats it or falls off.
Now, admittedly, A-Rod is not the most popular members of the Yankees. Noo Yawkers have long known him to be a preening would-be usurper of the Black Adder type without the humor. A-Rod now joins the company of Clemens, Sosa, McGwire, Canseco, Bonds et al who have been proven or heavily suspected of being juicers and thus who's hard work and talent are suspect because the relied on better living through chemistry. And he, and they, have helped to besmirch the great game.
One finds one's self wishing for the days of good, honest cheating: cheating that risked instant detection such as throwing spitters, using corked bats, not touching base. The use of steroids is more underhanded than physically cheating and is thus to be more condemned.
This writer has no solution to the problem. The club owners, in their search to pad their bank accounts, are loathe to enforce the anti-steroid rules. The only thing that would make the owners pay attention to the rule would be if the club were heavily fined for steroid use by its team members as well as the players being fined and/or suspended. But the union covers for the players and greed drives the owners to the expense of the game.
The only thing that the fans can do is shun and mock the juicers and praise and support the clean players. Instead of talking about Roger Clemens' record we should look at the heroic performances of Curt Schilling, razz A-Rod and praise Garrett Anderson, forget McGwire and remember Ted Williams.
Despite what one would think, baseball is not the property of the MLB, the Steinbrenners, the McCourts or the Morenos. Baseball is, and always has been the people's game from the days when it developed from rounders. We may not be able to control the professional game, but we can influence it. We can demand that the game be played clean. Otherwise, if the owners and the dirty players prevail our game will turn into professional wrestling.

The Baseball Fan's Prayer

Heavenly Father, most High and Powerful, all Knowing and perfect Umpire,
We confess to Thee our manifest fouls and errors and beg forgiveness through our most gracious Mediator and Advocate Jesus Christ.
We thank Thee for all the blessings Thou hast deigned to give us, especially for the game of baseball, which Thou mentioned in the first words of the Scriptures (In the big inning).
We beseech Thee to give us a season of good, clean baseball and pray that our ash wielding warriors of the diamond will fairly and cleanly defeat our enemies. Lead us not into the temptation of band wagonism, but deliver us from the evil ones called the Yankees. Give us patience during loss and humbleness during victory.
We ask these things in the name of our most blessed Savior, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
Amen and Play Ball

Some Are Starting To Get and Some Ain't

During the recent Gaza action by Israel resulted in demonstrations in the US, Great Britain and Europe. In Great Britain, France and parts of the US the demonstrations in favor of the Palestinians became violent against against both people and property. The French and the British handled the demonstrations badly. The usual burning of car in Paris and Orcs running through Golders Green in London threatening Jewish owned businesses and smashing windows. The usual Islamic run-a-mok.
In Italy, on the other hand, while there were demonstrations, they remained remained fairly peaceful. But the Orcs managed to push the Italian into taking action against the creeping infestation of non-verbal threats to the Italian way of life: Islam In Action: Italy:Talks of Deportations.
Great Britain, on the other hand, seems to be unable to recognize a threat to it's heritage and form of government. And leading the charge toward the English monarchy becoming a satrap to Mecca is the Church of England, as evinced by the following: Church vows to keep faith with its schools, despite Muslim majority - Times Online. Be not fooled by the title of the piece. The very fact that a C of E school would accept Muslim students and not carry out the religious instruction for all students, Christian or not, in deference to the Muslims shows that the C of E schools have become private schools and not religious schools. The parents of the Muslim students are using the frame work of a Christin education, without the Christianity to give their children superior educations while Christian students, who cannot afford the schools, are abandoned to the state school system.
To get an idea of the gravity of the C of E school problem imagine yourself the parent of a child who you have decided to enroll into a Catholic or Calvary Chapel school. Naturally you expect your child to be given religious instruction. That's part of what you paid for. But suddenly there is an influx of a large number of Muslim students who are not interested in learning the truth of Christianity, but only in the fact that their children will receive a better education than they would at a state school. The school, decides that they prefer the tuition fees instead of the stated goal of the school (Christian education). Religious instruction, Christian prayers and Christian ethos are chucked out the window in order not to offend the Muslim students. In fact, the Muslim students are given opportunities for prayer that the Christian students are not. One can only assume that the school will soon abandon all vestiges of Christianity (examples are Harvard, Georgetown and USC; all founded as religious schools and now secular)and will become nothing but money makers and perhaps elite alternatives to the awful state schools.
It must be remembered that in India, during the days of the Raj, the best educated Indians were educated at C of E schools and underwent Christian education. Not all the Indians who attended the schools became Christians, but they learned a Christian ethos that neither Hinduism, Buddhism nor Mohammedism have. Christian education, explicit Christian education, bears interest for society in a way that secular or Muslim education does not. Namely, the students are urged to behave like Christians.
One wonders if, in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, there were an influx of the children of Christians into madrassas the the religious education would change to avoid offending the Christians. Not likely.
While reading the article about the C of E schools note the statement of one of one C of E woman priest concerning the withdrawing of her child from the local C of E school and the third e-mail response to the article.
It appears that the C of E and the C of E schools are bound and determined to commit religious and cultural suicide.

3 Links

So this is what it has come down to:
1 in 3 'Christians' say 'Jesus sinned'
Christians are becoming social pariahs in Britain, claims Jeremy Vine - Telegraph
Obama prayer leader from group US linked to Hamas - International Herald Tribune
But after Jan. 20 everything will be "O-tay."
Back to the catacombs.

A Headline You Won't See in the Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times Raises Newsstand Price by 50%:
Minorities and Poor Most Affected!

This Is Your Enemy

For some reason there are people in the civilized world who support Hamas in the current military action by Israel in Gaza. These are probably the same types of people who adopt rattlesnakes and then are surprised when said snakes have the audacity to bite them despite the fact that the snakes have been fed a nice diet of mice.
Here are two videos showing what Hamas, and, indeed, Islam, is all about:
YouTube - Hamas terrorists kill innocent Palestinian in Gaza (Rare Video) (Must See)
YouTube - Hamas use UN ambulance to smuggle terrorists in Gaza
Also, an interesting thing happened in Italy. As you read the link ask yourself what your local mosque leaders' reaction would be is your church's youth group or prayer groups did the same thing as these people did:
Muslim apology over prayers outside Milan Cathedral - Telegraph
One sometimes wishes that the 1% motorcycle gangs would gather together at a mosque and give the Turks a big moon.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

For many years people in the Inland Empire (San Bernardino and Riverside Counties) in California have complained that people moving there from South Central and East Los Angeles to escape crime have done less than escape crime than bring crime with them. The opinion has been met with charges of racism against the Honkie McGills that used to be the mainstay of those counties.
Here is an example of the same thing happening faster in a smaller area. And the reaction is the same.
My Way News - Influx of black renters raises tension in Bay Area
It seems that everyone is wrong but the problem.
Go figure.

A Useful Idiot and an Escape From Idiocy

We here at the Manor have, for the past twenty years or so, considered Rosanne Barr (aka Rosanne or Roseanne Barr Goodman)to be a rather off-putting and stupid woman. She has shown herself to be a classic "celebutard" who thinks that because she has a platform addressing the public as an entertainer she should use the platform to express her political and social views. She has over the years claimed that she was a sexually abused girl-child (claiming that her father was the abuser) but has never taken any legal action, she has claimed to be a lesbian, but has never been seen in public with a girlfriend, she claims to be a practitioner of the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbala, but has never been seen reading any Kabbalistic books or even speaking intelligently on the philosophy.
With the current action by Israel against the Hamas Palestinians in the Gaza she has deigned that the world should listen to her views of the action.Roseanne Barr blasts Israel as 'Nazi state'
This writer will not bother to cast aspersions on her comments or thoughts. They speak for themselves and they reveal a woman who has the same ability to reach conclusions based on morality and logic as a nutria. In her comments take time to consider that Our Lord Jesus Christ was a practitioner of Kabbala without any supporting documentation. The woman is just plain dumb. And she hasn't been funny in years.
Meanwhile, the Vatican has made a move that is a compliment to it's role as a leader of Roman Catholics: BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Vatican divorces from Italian law To put it in short and easy words, the Vatican has decided that it will not automatically recognize all Italian laws. but will review them and only recognize them when they agree with Roman Catholic law and teaching.
Would that the Christian churches here, whether Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant do the same thing instead of making excuses to lick the hand of the secular master. Christians are to obey secular laws in their secular lives, but they are to hold to a higher law among themselves that is beyond the ken of the heathen.

Two Blogs Worthy of Your Consideration

Those who are personally acquainted with this writer are aware that Bloody Nib Manor is within shouting distance of the Mexican border. There was a time, during your faithful correspondent's youth, that it was not unusual for a person from the Southern California to travel to Tijuana (or Tia Juana or TiaJuana or just TJ) to have one's car re-upholstered, buy cheap junk like flocked ceramic bull figurines or velvet paintings of Mexican banditos, busty putas or Elvis, or look for a little under-aged drinking or to have one's photo taken sitting on a zebra-striped burro while wearing a comical sombrero.
Those days have long passed and the drug wars in Old Mexico have taken their toll on the cheap wallet/belt and strip show market in TJ. The finding of headless bodies in town squares and school yards tends to put a bit of cold water on the tourist trade.
Here's a link to a blog that keeps track of the Mexican Drug Wars: Blog of the Gods
If you do not think that the Mexican Drug Wars have anything to do with you keep in mind that the kidnappings and killings have moved north of the border.
There are some who claim that what Mexico needs to get the situation under control is a strong man on a white horse. Your faithful correspondent is of another opinion. What Mexico needs is nothing less than a moral and religious reformation. This is not to say that this writer thinks that Protestantism will save Mexico from anarchy. But the Mexican people will have to take their Christianity seriously and abandon the quasi-paganism that many of them practice.
We don't think of Russia much anymore except when Putin does something silly. But be aware that Russia and Eurasia are of concern to the US. Check this out and keep informed: WindowonEurasia
There is more to worry about than your shrinking 401(k). We have enemies within who are enemies because of their greed. But we also have enemies without who do not want us to be poor. they do not want us to be.

Indians Do Something that Liberal Americans Won't Do

Liberal Americans often, when they feel that their rights have been transgressed, ask "Where's the outrage?" Examples are such things are the rejection of homosexual marriage by the voters of California or "man-made global warming." Their interests are very insular and they seem to see themselves as not a part of the larger American culture. They expressed a bit of outrage for about two weeks after September 11, 2001, but it wasn't long before they started calling for the understanding of the terrorists' grievances. In other words, they seem to be bound and determined to commit slow motion cultural suicide. This is the result of people who feel guilty of their comfortable lives and one often wishes that the wealthy and comfortable would take the same stance as European aristocrats in regarding foreigners and other cultures as charming as long as they stay where they are.
During the Thanksgiving weekend a group of Muslim men wrought havoc in Mumbai (nee Bombay), and the Indian elite were not slow in condemning the action. They, and the government, named the men as Muslims and did not try to parse words by calling them "evil doers."
In this way the Indians have shown themselves to be much more men with chests than the average craven American politician. There's something wrong here. The American political and social elite have become so soft and so caring that they are useless for the maintenance of the nation. Everything goes as long as the Muslim hordes don't pee in their pool while the rest of us are subjected to law-fare from CAIR for proclaiming our traditional Judeo-Christian values.
But to get to the point, a group of Indians and Indian-Americans have protested in front of that cancerous institution known as the United Nations against the Muslims involved in the Mumbai massacre.
Atlas Shrugs: INDIA: Protesting Jihad at the UN
Note the placards pointing out the murders of the Chabad rabbi and his wife. And while looking at it ask yourself when was the last time you heard about Leonardo Di Caprio or Peter Coyote protesting the murder of innocents by radical Muslims? There are bastards by intention and bastards by default. American liberals fall into the latter category. They care more for a snail darter or an invert than they do for a family man or woman working an honest eight at a crappy job.
The reader may not care for country music, but there is something in old country music that speaks of the traditional American soul. Here's Granpa Jones singing a song that is more American than anything by Bruce Springsteen or any of the current crop of political singers because it addresses the American love of dogs (which Muslims hate) in an American style: YouTube - Grandpa Jones Old Rattler
The nation has, according to the media elite, become a nation that cares more for the feelings of our enemies than our dogs. That's not right. Our enemies are not only less than dogs. They are less than termites. And they are just as dangerous.

Scatter Shooting (Hoping to Hit Something)

As those who are familiar with us here at Nib Manor may be aware, we have always been Christians of the Protestant sort. Specifically, this writer is a hard shell Baptist and the ever lovely Lady Nib leans more toward the Evangelical Anglican version of Christianity.
This has not always been the case. A a young man your faithful correspondent was a member of the United Methodist Church. There was a time when the Methodist Church, in the United States, was a very conservative and Protestant church. They had no truck with Roman Catholic liturgies or Roman Catholic practice. The displaying of images of saints or members of what Catholics call the Holy Family (Baby Jesus, Joseph and Mary) on anything but lawn displays during Christmas or on Christmas cards, were considered as indications of idolatry.
Over the years things have changed. The United Methodist Church, in an effort to stem the flowing away of their members to other denominations, has decided to take a stand by not taking a stand. They have decided that sodomy is not such a bad thing, that divorce is just a part of marriage, that abortion is pretty much okay and that Jesus Christ is more of a role model than God Incarnate.
The UMC has also made an effort to attract Latin American immigrants to the denomination has undertaken to change the traditional Protestant Methodist practices to those of a more Latin American Catholic bent. In other words, the UMC is beginning to move toward a "Catholic Lite" theology and practice to attract Latin Americans instead of pointing out the traditional theology of the Reformation and its truth in Spanish. One wonders if the leaders of the UMC think that Latinos are not capable of understanding the Three Solas. Or perhaps the UMC is, in certain geographical ares, sailing under false colors.
What brings this up is that the church that this writer used to attend is now offering a La Posada celebration for its Spanish speaking members. La Posada is a uniquely Latino Roman Catholic celebration. It has never been part of Protestantism.
There used to be a joke that Methodists aspired to be Anglicans once they made enough money to buy a pew. Now it seems that they want to be Latino Catholics without the Pope. One wonders what Wesley and Fletcher would make of it.
Earlier this week a Marine Corps F18 jet fighter, while on practice maneuvers off the coast of San Diego, crashed into a residential neighborhood killing a woman, her mother and her two infants children. It was a tragedy, to say the least. The woman's husband made a public statement that he did not blame the Marine Corps for what happened; it was an accident. The two Senators from California, on the other hand called for an immediate and fast investigation of the incident in order to affix blame.
Here's the problem. Do these two women, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, not think that the Marines will not investigate the causes of the crash without their urging? And do they think that a fast investigation will be better than a thorough investigation? Is there a point at which a politician will not stop grandstanding?
Finally, today an Iraqi journalist threw a pair of shoes at President Bush. The throwing of shoes, in Iraq, is considered a grave insult. Mr. Bush handles the incident well and went as far as to joke that he thought the shoes were size 10. One wonders what Mr. Obama's reaction, as well as the American press' reaction, would be in the same situation. But this writer forgets: no one would throw a shoe at The One.