Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of…Blowback?

The pirate has become a legendary figure in American pop culture.  Consider the recent Disney franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean” starring Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. 

It seems though, with the recent surge in piracy among poor Somalians, that piracy in and of itself is nowhere near as “quaint” as pop culture would have us believe.  In fact, it seems that only a certain sort of pirate is popularized.  (The romantic victorian era scallywag!)

The poor, uneducated Somalians, (on the other-hand) are two-bit crooks who have dared assault the United States of America!  With all the controversy surrounding recent U.S. action abroad, it is almost refreshing to have a solid “enemy” and visible “front” for a change.

But is the outpouring of righteous rage by Americans really justified?  To find out, we need to briefly consider the causes of Somalian piracy.

According to award winning columnist Eric Margolis, there are two basic reasons. (See his article here:  http://www.ericmargolis.com/political_commentaries/pirates-of-somalia_1.aspx )

Somalia is not even a nation really.  It is simply defined by where other nation’s boundries end.  It has gone through various civil uprisings, chaos and war very recently.  This has caused “dire poverty and desperation” Margolis says, leading to a rampant increase in piracy.

Another factor is the way the fish populations off the coast of Somalia have been drastically stripped due to Somalia’s lack of ability to adequately defend her resources from foreign fishermen.  This leads to further economic turmoil. 

The pirates have been very successful.  When the ability to build large amounts of wealth combine with the allure of adventure and glory….it’s hard to see how a young (starving) Somalian would pass it up!

If these factors alone were all that spawned the Somalian pirates, then I’d be “onboard” with the blind American outrage. 

However…consider an interesting tid-bit of info:

Somalia was controled (in large part) by the Islamic Courts Union (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Courts_Union ) until around 2006 when the radically anti-Islamic Bush administration backed an Etheopian war with Somalia which resulted in the loss of power by the ICU.  Anarchy has reigned ever since in Somalia as various warlords battle for power.

Why can’t Americans learn that we are not to police the globe?  In the end, the Bush regime’s attempt to keep Somalia from becoming an Islamic nation, has resulted in economic and political turmoil…

…turmoil that compells 16 year old boys to take up arms and attack American ships.

Let’s trade with Somalia…support socially stabilizing (and cohesive) elements (even if they’re Muslims) in the society…and by all means, let’s stop policing the globe and pretending that the idea of Messianic Statism doesn’t cause all sorts of political and economic ramifications (or blowback!)

News Alert: Subversion of French Culture Leads to Civil Unrest!

A recent victory of the Dreyfusards in France has established (in the minds of many Frenchmen) the possible existence of some sort of Jewish conspiracy.

Popular novelist, Andre’ Gide is friends with Leon Blum, a leader of Jewish Dreyfusards (who later becomes the French Prime Minister.)  Gide comments on Mr. Blum in his journal:

“…his apparent resolve always to show a preference for the Jew and to be interested always in him…comes above all from the fact that Blum considers the Jewish race as superior, as called upon to dominate after having been long dominated, and thinks it his duty to work towards its triumph with all his strength…A time will come, he thinks, that will be the age of the Jew; and right now it is important to recognize and establish his superiority in all categories, in all domains, in all the divisions of art, of knowledge and of industry.”

Historian Paul Johnson then paraphrases further objections voiced by Gide in his journals by saying that he “voiced his objections to what he saw as a Jewish takeover of French culture;  why could not Jews write in another language – why did they have to write in French?” Gide’s Journal continues:

“there is today in France a Jewish literature that is not French literature….For what does it matter to me that the literature of my country should be enriched if it is so at the expense of its significance?  It would be far better whenever the Frenchman comes to lack sufficient strength, for him to disappear rather than to let an uncouth person play his part in his stead and in his name.” (From the journals of Andre Gide, January 24, 1914.)

It would seem then that events in France demonstrate the truthfulness of Solomon ibn Verga’s (1450-1525) critique of the Jewish people in his book Shevet Yehuda (the Rod of Judah.)  (Some claim that this is the first work of Jewish history since Josephus’ Antiquities.  The book concentrates on the question “why do men hate Jews?”)  Verga concludes:

“I have never seen a man of reason hate the Jews and there is none who hates them except the common people.  For this there is a reason – the Jew is arrogant and always seeks to rule;  you would never think that they are exiles and slaves driven from people to people.  Rather, they seek to show themselves lords and masters.  Therefore the masses envy them.”

The French (of this time) believed that a group of non-French people had moved in and hijacked their culture, and furthermore, they believed that this group of people was conspiring with each other in order to bring about cultural domination.

Interesting story.

(Facts taken from Paul Johnson’s “History of the Jews.” pg. 390.)

Chivalry and the Death of a Nation

“From all that I had read of History of Government, of human life and manners, I had drawn the conclusion, that the manners of Women were the most infallible barometer, to ascertain the degree of morality and virtue in a nation. All that I have since read and all the observations I have made in different nations, have confirmed me in this opinion. The manners of women, are in the surest criterion by which to determine whether a Republican government is practicable, in a nation or not. The Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, the Swiss, the Dutch, all lost their public spirit, their Republican Principles and habits, and their Republican forms of Government, when they lost the modesty and domestic virtues of their women…

The foundations of national morality must be laid in private families. In vain are schools, academies, and universities instituted, if loose principles and licentious habits are impressed upon children, in their earliest years. The mothers are the earliest and most instructors of youth….The vices and examples of the parents cannot be concealed from the children. How is it possible that children can have any sense of the sacred obligation of morality or religion if, from their earliest infancy, they learn that their mothers live in habitual infidelity to their fathers, and their fathers in as constant infidelity to their mothers?” – John Adams.  Autobiography IV: 123. (Thanks to Iron Ink for bringing this quote to my attention!)  http://ironink.org/index.php?blog=1&page=1&paged=6

In the above quote John Adams shares with us the importance of observing the attitude and treatment of women when determining the moral status of a culture.   I was first introduced to this concept by Otto Scott and R.J. Rushdoony in many of their “From the Easy Chair” discussions.  I specifically remember hearing it in their discussion on “Masculinity” as well as in the “Cultural Decay” episode.  

After hearing these great men discuss it, I wasn’t at all surprised to find the Adams quote.

I think the truth of this concept can be clearly seen in the Columbine school shootings.  In light of the recent memorial of the event, the Council of Conservative Citizens posted this article:  http://cofcc.org/?p=4415

You see, after the Columbine shootings, we were all told that the two depraved individuals were some sort of right wing extremists neo-Nazis.  Vigilantes amped up on too much violent music and Matrix videos who were intent on striking out against the “popular kids” in school who may have picked on them in the past. 

This portrayal in the media couldn’t have been further from the truth (as the Concil of Conservative Citizens article linked to above demonstrates.)  

The two boys displayed homosexual activity.  The so called “Trench Coat Mafia” was considered a homosexual group by other students.  The two shooters seeped themselves in radical left-wing rock music.  The “mastermind” of the duo, Klebold was from a Jewish family.  These boys were intent on gunning down white Christians, especially white Christian women.  The article describes statements the boys made in a recording, (clips of which can be found on the net.)

And how does our nation react?  The media scurries to spin it for their own political gain. 

Meenwhile…the death throes of chivalry can be heard even here in D.C.

(Thanks to Incog Man for initially posting the article.  http://incogman.wordpress.com/2009/04/20/columbine-10-years-of-jew-media-lies/ )

(Additionally, while googling a good picture for Chivalry, I ran across a great discussion of the issue from a woman’s perspective:  http://sisterskeepers.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/part-2-a-girls-response-to-chivalry/ )

Exalt The Morning!: A Poem by Shotgun

 

From whence I come, I know not where,

 

confusion in my exasperation.

 

Calling out to God, “Are you there?”

 

Sunlight brings me exaltation.

 

But is this just confusing banter?

 

The ebb and flow of chemical relation,

 

My brain to cease from thinking candor?

 

Sunlight brings me exaltation.

 

For know I well the things that haunt me,

 

Wake me in the mid of night,

 

Casting their tall eyes about me,

 

I shiver from their horrid sight!

 

Just when sleep regains its place,

 

And dreams once more return,

 

Once again, I am haunted,

 

Conscience seared and freshly burned.

 

My sins attempt to overwhelm me, (I am undone!)

 

In the darkest part of the morning, (demons run!)

 

Its then my nightstand yields a treasure, (Byzantium?)

 

Dust falls from a precious warning! (Oh the victory is won!)

 

I raise my sword aloft and measure, (the time is almost come!)

 

Victory, oh Victory in Jesus! (The Sunlight brings me exaltation!)

Alive for Five!

1830. April 20, 2009: Alexandria Virginia, Waterfront Park:

It was a rainy afternoon in Alexandria Virginia.  Waterfront Park was usually crowded with business women walking their dogs.  Small children, (delighted with their after-school freedom) would run to the edge of the Potomac and hurl stones across in the hopes of skipping them to Maryland.  Elderly men would pace the boardwalk with lost looks on their faces, and every once in awhile…my contact would walk to the water and stare across for a few minutes.

The rain had driven the usual cast of characters indoors.  That was fine with me; I don’t fare well with the dogs and children.  I looked favorably at the overcast horizon.

It had been weeks since my contact had last shown up at the park.  I decided that the rain would keep him away as it had the other humans and longed for the safety of my nest.

In a hopeless gesture, I glanced up at the steel mountain a few blocks away.  My contact walks out of that mountain everyday just as the sun begins to set.  I can’t imagine what goes on inside but it must be some sort of torture.

An awful light shines out of the windows. (The humans call these “fluorescents.”) Men look like zombies when they walk in, and look even worse as they walk out. Their eyes are bloodshot, their clothes are disheveled, and they have no smiles.

I volunteered for the Waterfront Park station because it’s my hope that one day we animals can rescue our brother…our contact, from the torture of this place.  It’s dreadful to see him in the afternoons…looking like all the other zombies.  I can’t smell the wind on him any longer. The situation is getting frantic!  I may need backup…

I stopped spying and decided to go.  But just as I turned toward the Potomac, I saw him. He was looking downcast (as always) and heading to his car.  It seemed like he was heading home. He opened the door and got in…but then he stopped. (I quacked with surprise!)

He slowly climbed out and shut the door.  Something was stirring…the fog was clearing from his blue eyes.  His muscles relaxed and a faint smell of the wild wind drifted from his shoulders!

He walked towards the water.  I quacked with delight and scampered off to a nearby bush to get a better look.

I saw was a glorious thing.

He breathed in deeply…the sweet smells of April were augmented by the light rain and he caught every one of them. The beauty of the fading sunlight over the Potomac cleared away the haze from his eyes.  He stood alone on the banks, taking in the sights and smells made for him by the Creator.

Yes…my fellow animals…for five minutes…our contact was alive!

Dandelion Wine!

Byzantium, I come not from,

But from another time and place

Whose race was simple, tried and true;

As boy

I dropped me forth in Illinois.

A name with neither love nor grace

Was Waukegan, there I came from

And not, good friends, Byzantium.

And yet in looking back I see

From topmost part of farthest tree

A land as bright, beloved and blue

As any Yeats found to be true.

So it is that Mr. Ray Bradbury describes life in his hometown.  I purchased the book “Dandelion Wine” a few years ago seeking out a master story teller, (hoping for a teacher) and expecting an adventure.  I’m happy to say that I found all of these things as well as an unusual amount of nostalgia.

My hometown is far more colorful and aromatic than Waukegan though I doubt I’ll ever present it as artfully as Mr. Bradburry.  In reading “Dandelion Wine” I realized how blessed I was as a child.

I’ll not let this blessing go unsung! (Even if the song isn’t a very pleasant one!) I’ll write!

In the meantime; while visiting my parents this Easter weekend, my sister and I spent about an hour harvesting the ingredients required to make a batch of Dandelion wine.  It takes three, maybe four weeks to cure and so I’ll have to wait until then to say if this recipe was successful or not.  It seems to have gained a more pleasant smell over the past few days.

Here is the recipe we used to make our Dandelion Wine; (and though the recipe doesn’t explicitly call for it, I suggest a reading of Mr. Bradburry’s book just prior to mixing the ingredients!):

INGREDIENTS:  (For 1 gallon of Dandelion Wine)

1 package dried yeast

1/4 cup warm water

2 quarts (half gallon) of Dandelion blossoms

4 quarts water

1 cup orange juice

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

8 whole cloves

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

3 tablespoons coarsely chopped orange peel

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped lemon peel

6 cups of sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Dissolve the yeast into the 1/4 cup of warm water and set it aside.

Wash the Dandelion blossoms really good.  Many ants or otherwise nefarious insects will object strongly at this point, however you must stay true to the recipe and carry through with a proper washing!

Get a large pot capable of holding the 4 quarts of water.  Mix in the orange, lemon and lime juices.  Add the dandelions.  Add the cloves, ginger, orange and lemon peel, and sugar.  Bring the water to a boil and continue boiling it for an hour.

After the hour is up…pour the mixture through a series of filters to make sure you get all the specks out.  We used cheese cloth and coffee filters though the coffee filters will take up a lot of time.

While it is still warm (but not TOO hot…) stir in the yeast.

Let the solution stand overnight then pout it into bottles (or mason jars) the next morning.  Let it sit for three weeks with access to air.  After three weeks you can cork it, or close it up tight.

Enjoy, and hopefully the wine will help various memories from your hometown come flooding over you like the ghostly whale-winds that swim through the forrests of Illinois.

A Highly Controversial Proposition…

Could it be…maybe…unthinkably true…?

President Bush made statements intending to “frighten” people into accepting the fascist type bailouts.  Afterwards, rumors of “marshal law” were circling around (if the bailout was not passed.)

Now, as we hear more and more outcry against fascism (and socialism), and as we see Tea Parties springing up all over the country…could it be that the “conspirators” (allegedly) feel like the initial fear and chaos caused by the market lows is beginning to wear off? 

And, suppose these conspirators, realizing this…begin engineering a series of “shootings” across the country…shootings where just before the gunman offs himself, he manages to blame the economy for his angst.  (Either that, or he was just recently fired from his job, or is otherwise suffering financially…so that the audience and news media automatically assume economic woes are to blame for the violent rampage…)

Could this (frankly textbook) case of Machiavellian slight-of-hand possibly be the cause of all the recent shootings?

I bet people would rather blame it on the full moon…

The End of Christianity in America?

(A recent Newsweek article has the Christian world abuzz with doubt.  A friend of mine sent me the article which can be seen here:  http://www.newsweek.com/id/192583?GT1=43002  Afterwards, I was having a discussion with some woman in Australia who thought that the death of Christianity was undoubtedly a good thing.  In fact, she considers me a moron, unworthy of intelligent discussion.  She has refused to even civilly discuss our differences.  Well, I thought of the wrath God must feel for those arrogant blasphemers who reject His law and I also thought about how righteous His judgement will be.  I left the discussion and wrote this song.  I haven’t decided on the exact chord progression yet, and so I’ll just post the words for now.  When writing it, I was playing it in G, with the C,D, and F chords in different combinations.  If you’re interested, just let me know and I’ll tell you the exact progression I used.  Enjoy, and Soli Deo Gloria!!!)

The Day Christianity Died – By Shotgun

Sing the death of Christianity?

The words flow so perfect from you,

The things you’ve said; they cannot free!

So typical an imperfection (of you)

So hurtful and so mean to me!

So articulate your perilous phrases,

Such nonchalant simplicity.

Too bad I know how dumb your talk is, too bad I know hypocrasy!

CHORUS:

I can see your buildings tumbling, I can see your world fall down.  Where is it your god has brought you?  Far away from solid ground!

Insensitive to all your crying, you’ve pushed away the perfect law!  You made the magistrate your comfort and forgot that Christ is Lord of All!

So gnash your teeth in violent anger!  My God will NOT be in the dock!  Quickly to condemn His righteous, quickly will you flee the Rock!

(This last verse is meant to sort of be talked while the same chord progression as the first verse goes in the background.)

You’re 30 and you’re all alone, the kids you didn’t slaughter have grown and left home, your welfare check has been postponed, and you’re crying to your friends on the telephone;

wondering when the government is going to step in; take you by the hand, be your friend, and make everything nice again…

But when it doesn’t happen you’ll hang up quick.  All your hope disappears, you’ll start feeling sick and then maybe you’ll remember that guy you despised, the one you terrorized, who tried telling you of the most excellent side of God’s glorious law if in it you would only abide.

But you didn’t abide, you had too much pride!  So I hope you fondly remember your celebration:  the day Christianity died.

More OLF Nonsense

I linked to an article yesterday that discussed the steps NC was taking to protect itself from the Navy’s “OLF” proposals.

Mr. Rebels2 responded to the article.  He had this to say:

I can not think of any reason that the people of Gates County would not want a OLF . Maybe one reason is that they do not want anything new comming to the area . Or is it that the jet noise may upset their deer hunting or the growing of their drugs .My father was a pilot in the Navy and I am sure if he was still alive today ,he would welcome the Navy to the area with open arms . I hear the noise from jets (Navy ) everyday .I do not complain about it .To me and to many it is the sound of freedom .So get you head out of the sand and wake up .

I responded:

I can think of a good many reasons why the freedom loving people of Gates county would like to stay true to their Southern roots by upholding and defending their agrarian and rural culture from an oppressive federal government.

While I certainly applaud your patriotic sentiments, I cannot support the further expansion of a statist war-machine, especially when the Government is raping the paychecks of our grandchildren just to stay afloat.

We need to return to the foreign policy of our fathers…reduce the policing of the world, shrink this massive federal government, and preserve the dignity of rural communities.

It’s talk of this sort that “sounds like freedom” … not loud and oppressive “Jet-noise.”

Another American Victimized By Orwellian Police

Steve Bierfeldt is a hero for liberty lovers everywhere!

The lesson here is, when you’re being interrogated, it’s not going to be a fair, intellectual debate.

You will be surrounded by at least three officers who are all using demeaning and intimidating language.  (One of the officers in the above clip was accusing the hero of being “childish” for failing to yield to tyranny…the officer himself using a bastardized form of English…as if he were somehow morally or intellectually superior???  Are you freakin’ kidding me?)

The hero stuck to his guns.  You see…Mr. Fascist, Moronic, Officer…here in America, we have something called “rule of law” because we are a “Republic.”  I know these are foreign concepts to you; but once you look up their meaning, you’ll see that courageous Americans have no fear of the DEA, or the FBI if they’ve done nothing wrong.

It’s only when the law becomes shifty and constantly arbitrary…depending on the instant whim of a dictatorial and tyrannous body (be it one man or a large group of men) that it is no longer fit to govern men.

Thank God our founders and forefathers fought and died for this Republic;  the effects of which still manage to instill courage in the heart of a young man being unjustly and unfairly detained.

All freedom lovers had better begin preparing for what they would do, and how they would act in a similar situation.