Liberty and Tyranny

Mark Levin's new book, Liberty and Tyranny, was released yesterday and is already a top seller on Amazon. The New York Times today include some snarky New Yorkers, or at least New York Times readers, so totally enamored with their Leftist view of the world that they can't see how idiotic they are -- attacking the likes of Levin and Bernard Goldberg, when Obama is sending the country to hell without even a handbasket to ride in.

Looking a Gift Horse's *** in the Mouth

UPDATE!
What DVD collections should Obama have given to Gordon Brown, to help bring up the value of his cheap gift to that of the Prime Minister's to him? This is providing, of course, that they are available in Region 2 PAL coding (take note, White House Staff!) or he also provides Gordie with a new DVD player:
#1. 24, will confirm the Brits assumptions about the U.S., but maybe give them something to think about.
#2. The Gilmore Girls, good show, interesting characters, with enough liberalism thrown in to make the White House happy.
#3. House, since that great Brit, Hugh Laurie, who was well known in the U.K. for Black Adder before the Yanks ever heard of him, is the star attraction. This is both very funny and deeply moving at the end, with the memorial to those who died in World War I. The British need to regain that fighting spirit to rid themselves of Londanistan.
More later.

Original Post of 3/9/09

Just wonderin'...Did anyone in Team Obama bother to find out if the DVD collection that President Obama gave Prime Minister Gordon Brown is actually compatible with DVD players in the UK? In case Rahm and the Gang don't know it, DVDs are coded by country, and unless Team Obama took special care to ensure that the DVD collection was coded for the UK (yeah right), Mr. Brown -- or whichever American film afficianado at Downing Street that he dumped the movies on -- won't be able to watch them. Obama should have supplied a DVD player, too.

All that said, some of us are movie buffs even if Gordo is not. Here are some of my suggested DVD collections: See the update above.

New Info on the Embarrassing Obama Gift

Well, I was right. It seems as if I know more about the ways of the world -- when it comes to watching DVD's from country to country, anyway, than Team Obama. The DVD collection that President O so thoughtfully gave to Prime Minister Gordon Brown was coded for the United States. CAN'T BE WATCHED ON A U.K. DVD PLAYER! How dumb can you get? The least they could have done would have been to also get him a universally coded DVD player, easily and cheaply (being the operative word to the stingy multi-millionaire Obama)from Overstock! I know because I have one. Can't watch Father Ted, or Harry's Game, or Man about Dog -- great DVD's from the UK -- without it! You can watch them on your computer, but only a couple of times, or else the computer changes its codes to the foreign region, and then you're sunk when you want to watch American DVD's.

A Taste of Human Rights Policy Under Obama

Arrests, torture, imprisonment, forced abortion, repression and oppression of all kinds -- that is China. Add to that China's cynical promotion of the genocidal, radical Islamists in Khartoum committing genocide in Sudan, and its forced repatriation of North Korean escapees to certain death or vile imprisonment, and you have one of the worst human rights situations in the world today.

Every time President Bush visited China, or the President of China visited President Bush, Bush made a point to bring up the persecuted church in China, the dissidents fighting for democracy and freedom, and even meeting with dissidents, church leaders, and worshipping at churches in Beijing or elsewhere. Both Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke publicly while in China about the longing of the human spirit for freedom, and the desire of Americans to see all people enjoy the same freedoms that American (used to) enjoy. Of course, the way things are going now, the Chinese could be on the path to freedom and democracy while we are on the path to a socialist republic.

Now we have a new administration, of the party that is assumed and touted as the party of human rights, and U.S. foreign policy has taken many turns for worse, including the turn on China. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shocked human rights advocates when she announced to the Chinese Communist-controlled media on her recent trip to Beijing that U.S. advocacy for human rights could not "interfere" with policy on the financial crisis, the GLOBAL WARMING CRISIS, and the security crisis. Gee, reminds me of another Clinton we used to know -- some of us better than others.

Anyway, here is an article about the response of some great defenders of human rights, members of Congress who have done more for human rights than most of the rest of Congress combined, and of courageous Chinese dissidents -- men of valor.

Equal Time for the Faith of My Fathers

Amazing euphonium solo by The Salvation Army International Staff Band's Derick Kane. I remember seeing Derick do this number, and feeling my jaw drop open as he skipped so easily through all the runs.

Noah: Why Lie?

The extremely appropriately-named Noah Wyle is spreading lies about polar bears. In a PSA for the World Wildlife Fund, Wyle says that GLOBAL WARMING is threatening the polar bears with extinction.



But here's the truth about polar bears. The National Center for Policy Analysis reveals that not only are polar bears not marching or swimming towards extinction, their number is increasing. There are actually more polar bears now than any time in the 20th century.

Deliberately Choosing to Promote the Culture of Death

Today Barack Hussein Obama reversed yet another of President Bush's policies that promote the culture of life. He signed an Executive Order forcing taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research.

He and Team Obama have lied about stem cell research policies under President Bush, as well. They portray the Bush Administration as Luddites who thwarted scientific advancement. The truth is that President Bush spent hundreds of millions of dollars on stem cell research -- the most fruitful and effective stem cell research, and that which does not involve the destruction of human life.

Read more about it here.

Missing Moses: The Dog Who Loved Snow

Our beautiful, noble Black Labrador was called Alleghany's Moses, otherwise known as Moses or Moishe. Moses died in August 2008 at the respectable age of 13. I miss him every day, but especially this past week, when we had a snowstorm.

Moses loved the snow. And especially, he loved to eat it. Did you ever know a dog who could take the place of a snow shovel and clear the walk for you by consuming the snow?

When we were out walking, I swear he tried to eat his way through the walk. It didn't matter if the snow was light and fluffy, the kind that won't stick together to make snowballs; great packing snow, the ideal snowball creating kind; or icy, crusty snow, the kind you think you could actually walk on top -- if it weren't for that big plate of spaghetti the other night -- Moses wanted to eat it.


But as much as Moses loved snow for consuming, he was not a fan of snow in the shape of a snowman. The only time he ever barked and growled when I had him on a walk was one winter evening, during a full moon, when Moses caught sight of a snowman in the middle of the lawn. The hair stood up on his back and he began to growl and then to bark ferociously at the unassuming snowman.



Anyway, that was our darling Moses -- who adored us and who loved to be loved. I saw a great training program for dogs that we shall definitely keep in mind for our next puppy, but just seeing it makes me miss Moses all the more.

Looking for Cú Chulainn - The Beginning

I've been listening to Horslips the brilliant '70's Irish rock band's CD, The Tain (1974), which AMG (All Music Guide) says was possibly the "most successful rock concept album ever done." Horslips' The Tain is based on 'Tain Bo Cuailnge' (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), which is the centerpiece of the 8th century Ulster cycle of heroic tales. The critics of the written translation by Irish poet Thomas Kinsella in 2002, call 'Tain Bo Cuailnge' Ireland's greatest epic.

One of the main characters, the hero, of The Tain is Cú Chulainn, whose name means "the hound of Culann, and known today as the Hound of Ulster. More about hounds later.

Cú Chulainn was a legendary Irish hero -- part god and part man -- who singlehandedly defended his homeland, Ulster from invaders. He was only seventeen when he defeated champion after champion of the invading troops of Queen Maeve of Connacht, attempting to steal a prize bull, the Dunn. More about bulls later, too.

When Cú Chulainn met his death, through the machinations of the vindictive Maeve, he lashed himself to a large rock, so that he would die on his feet. His ferocity and skill, his valour and courage as a warrior, and particularly his brave death , made him such a hero to the Irish that a statue of dying Cú Chulainn commemorates the Easter Rising of 1916.

Seems to me that we could use a Cú Chulainn today.

Dinner with the Devil and Several Mainline Church Leaders

It wasn't enough to host the former president of Iran, Killer Khatami, at the National Cathedral, or for a group of mainline church leaders to eat dinner with the Iranian dictator and wisher of the destruction of Israel, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad! No, now our new Administration is attempting to kiss up to the Iranian Islamic Republic in every way possible, from the "new respect" remarks of President Obama, to the attitude of Secretary of State Clinton, to the selection of the proposed new Intelligence man, Chas Freeman.

Last year the Mennonite Central Committee, World Council of Churches, Society of Friends (of Dictators), Religions for Appeasement, and others, including the Episcopal Church (natch) broke the fast of Ramadan (who knew mainline church leaders fasted for Ramadan? Glad to hear they fast for something) at an Iftar with Ahmadinejad. The auspiscious dinner delight is took place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York, September 25, 2008.

Keep in mind that the Hyatt hotels are owned by the family of little Penny Pricker, Obama's chief fundraiser during the presidential campaign.


Also, keep in mind that during the 70's and 80's the majority of Christians martyred and murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran were Anglicans. Shame on the Episcopal Church for breaking bread with such a dictator. While the American church leaders were dining with Mahmoud, the Islamic Republic of Iran's Parliament voted in favor of making apostasy a death-sentence crime. That means that if you are an Iranian Muslim who comes to Christ and leaves Islam, committing apostasy, you're sentenced to death. Pretty sucky religion that can only keep people in by force, threat of death, and death!

But, with all that said, at the anti-Ahmadinejad rally in Washington, DC, it was a lovely Iranian Muslim man who was the only speaker to not scrupulously avoid partisanship. He declared the love of the Iranian people for, wait a minute, are you ready? President George W. Bush! He said that it was President Bush who had made the distinction between the Islamists of Iran and the Iranian people. Sounds like he believed that President Bush showed respect to the Muslim people of Iran! That same old respect that Obama says he is bringing to the Islamic world for the first time.

The Iranian speaker also said that President Bush was fighting to bring freedom to the Iranian people, AS HE HAD TO THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ. Ahem. What? No occupation? This dear man elicted cheers from half of the participants at the rally, including me. The other half of the participants were strangely silent.

My sign at the rally, which as my friend Richard pointed out was "quite personal" said,


HEY DHIMMI: YOU CAN'T DIALOGUE WITH JIHAD. So who is the Dhimmi? The U.N.? The Episcopal Church? Obama? Hillary? the Emergent progressive evangelicals? If the shoe fits...

Happy Arrest as a War Criminal, General Bashir!

Yesterday, March 4, 2009, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant of arrest against Sudanese President Omer Hassan al Bashir. He was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the genocide in Darfur, the region of western Sudan with which the world is well acquainted. But in every corner of Sudan – north, south, east, and west – Bashir’s National Islamic Front regime has committed crimes against humanity, crimes that have shown how little regard that regime has for the humanity of others.

On January 29, 2009, Sudanese friends, Muslim and Christian together, held a demonstration at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, DC. The date marked the fourth anniversary of a massacre of innocent citizens in northeastern Sudan by their own government.

That day in 2005, the Beja people of Sudan were in the city center of Port Sudan holding a peaceful demonstration, similar to the one which we were holding at the embassy in Washington, DC. With signs and speeches, they were calling for democracy, equality, and development of a region that had been neglected and abused by the National Islamic Front government in Khartoum. In response, government security forces shot to death twenty-one people and wounded hundreds more.



Killing innocent people is just business as usual for the National Islamic Front regime. The world has become all too familiar with genocide in Darfur and the death of over 2.5 million people in South Sudan and the Nuba Mountains. Even now, the arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court hangs over Sudanese President Omer al Bashir and those who have aided and abetted him in genocide. But the world is less familiar with the injustices of that same regime against the Beja, a people indigenous to northeastern Sudan’s Red Sea State for over four thousand years.

A statement presented to the United Nations records the events of the Beja massacre. The successful completion of the North/South peace agreement had energized other marginalized people groups of Sudan. And South Sudan leader Dr. John Garang’s vision of a New Sudan with peace, justice, and secular democracy for all Sudanese had inspired them. So on January 26, 2005, the Beja of Port Sudan submitted a petition to the governor of Red Sea State demanding true democracy. One of their complaints, incidentally, was that all of the government officials of the region, including the governor of Red Sea State, had been “imported from the center of the country.” The Beja had been exempted from any high-ranking ministerial or civil service positions in their own region.



Three days later, says the report, special security forces flew from Khartoum “and started shooting at people . . . in Beja populated neighborhoods.” The neighborhoods were several miles from the demonstrations in the city center. The report therefore concluded that the purpose of the killing was to intimidate the Beja into submission and to punish them “for their political ideas and ethnic background.”

In truth Sudanese citizens from every corner of Sudan are victimized and marginalized by the ruling Arabist Islamist elite in Khartoum. The Beja are one more African people group that inconveniences the National Islamic Front government by existing, and especially by existing on mineral-rich land. So even though they constitute fifteen percent of the entire population of Sudan, the Beja are marginalized. Their Beja language is suppressed in favor of Arabic.
Northeastern Sudan contains gold mines, oil, natural gas, and other resources. Port Sudan, Sudan’s main port city, is a strategic harbor location on the Red Sea. But in the midst of an area providing great wealth in resources and revenues, the Beja are neglected and discriminated against by the Khartoum government that does not want to share the riches with black, African Sudanese.

Jihads of many sorts have been waged by the National Islamic Front government. Even when a peace agreement ends military action, one way Khartoum has of waging warfare might be called “the jihad of neglect.” In South Sudan’s Eastern Upper Nile Province, hundreds were allowed to languish with undiagnosed and untreated leprosy (Hansen’s Disease) until South Sudan’s new, autonomous government came into existence and allowed Servant’s Heart Relief, the Christian ministry that first identified the leprosy, to treat the people. Similarly, malnutrition, anemia, tuberculosis, high infancy and maternal mortality, illiteracy, and poverty rates for the Beja are some of the highest in all of Sudan, in spite of the richness of resources. A Beja Congress report submitted to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says that the “racist policy of the ruling Arab elites in the Central and Regional Governments is destroying the life of the indigenous populations of the eastern Sudan.”

Like other marginalized people groups in Sudan, the Beja are slated for displacement from their land. Khartoum intends to completely colonize northeastern Sudan with outsiders from the Islamic world that support its efforts to Islamize and Arabize Sudan. For decades Khartoum has settled the Rashaida, a Bedouin people from Saudi Arabia, in what have traditionally been Beja homelands. More recently, the provisions of a negotiated peace agreement between the government of Sudan, the government of Eritrea, and the Eastern Front – a coalition of Sudanese rebels including the Beja Congress – seem to have compounded the injustice towards the Beja. Khartoum is now selling the Beja’s land out from under their feet to outside investors.

The massacre in Port Sudan was just one more day of brutality in a nation where brutality is commonplace, but it points to a much larger and more worrisome reality. With the support of fellow Arabist Islamists around the world, Khartoum wants to permanently alter the face and culture of Africa’s largest country. The National Islamic Front regime has, as a part of its overall agenda, the marginalization and ultimate extinction of the indigenous black African people groups from every corner of Sudan.

For decades Khartoum pitted one group against another and fueled the flames of fear and religious conflict to promote division. But the Sudanese who have been victims of this marginalization have come to see that they have more in common with each other than they have with Khartoum. Like my Sudanese friends in Washington who gathered in solidarity with the Beja at the embassy, Sudanese of many people groups are uniting against Khartoum’s racism, imperialism, and religious persecution. They want the New Sudan, a Sudan of peace, justice, and religious freedom for all.

The rest of world should take notice of this example of legitimate, non-appeasement-based Christian-Muslim reconciliation and cooperation. And regardless of the decision rendered by the International Criminal Court tomorrow, we should acknowledge the crimes across Sudan for which Bashir and his National Islamic Front regime are responsible and marginalize those who have marginalized their own people for so long.