Liberal Press Damages Self

The Guardian is an openly leftist news organization. They admit it openly and honestly. I respect them for that. However, I very rarely if ever agree with any point of view that anyone over there expresses. Nick Cohen has hit the nail on the head.

When Barack's berserkers lost the plot

For once, the postmodern theories so many of them were taught at university are a help to the rest of us. As a Christian, conservative anti-abortionist who proved her support for the Iraq War by sending her son to fight in it, Sarah Palin was 'the other' - the threatening alien presence they defined themselves against. They might have soberly examined her reputation as an opponent of political corruption to see if she was truly the reformer she claimed to be. They might have gently mocked her idiotic creationism, while carefully avoiding all discussion of the racist conspiracy theories of Barack Obama's church.

But instead of following a measured strategy, they went berserk. On the one hand, the media treated her as a sex object. The New York Times led the way in painting Palin as a glamour-puss in go-go boots you were more likely to find in an Anchorage lap-dancing club than the Alaska governor's office.

On the other, liberal journalists turned her family into an object of sexual disgust: inbred rednecks who had stumbled out of Deliverance. Palin was meant to be pretending that a handicapped baby girl was her child when really it was her wanton teenage daughter's. When that turned out to be a lie, the media replaced it with prurient coverage of her teenage daughter, who was, after all, pregnant, even though her mother was not going to do a quick handover at the maternity ward and act as if the child was hers.

And more...

Journalists who believe in women's equality should not spread sexual smears about a candidate, or snigger at her teenage daughter's pregnancy, or declare that a mother with a young family cannot hold down a responsible job for the pragmatic reason that they will look like gross hypocrites if they do. Before Palin, we saw hypocrisy of the right when shock jocks who had spent years denouncing feminism came over all politically correct when Bill Clinton had an affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Read the whole thing. Mr. Cohen goes on to discuss the effects of expressions of hatred by the liberal press on political campaigns in both the US and the UK.

UPDATE: A Rasmussen poll shows that the American people are not being fooled into believing that the liberal Press is anything like objective or professional.

What Sarah Knows

According to Rasmussen, fully 68% of voters believe that "most reporters try to help the candidate they want to win." And -- no surprise -- 49% of those surveyed believe reporters are backing Barack Obama, while just 14% think the media is in the tank for Sen. McCain.

Meanwhile, 51% of those surveyed thought the press was "trying to hurt" Mrs. Palin with its coverage.

Perhaps most troubling for the press corps, though, was this finding: "55% said media bias is a bigger problem for the electoral process than large campaign donations."

Obama Considered the Military?

I haven't been trying to keep track of all of the lies that the Left are spouting now. There are too many of them and other bloggers have the time and resources to track them. Still, while reading LGF, this gem caught my eye:

Obama Suddenly Remembers: He Almost Joined the Military. Two autobiographies and hundreds of speeches given over several years of political campaigning and just now he remembers?

“You know, I actually did,” Obama said. “I had to sign up for Selective Service when I graduated from high school. And I was growing up in Hawaii. And I have friends whose parents were in the military. There are a lot of Army, military bases there.

“And I actually always thought of the military as an ennobling and, you know, honorable option. But keep in mind that I graduated in 1979. The Vietnam War had come to an end. We weren't engaged in an active military conflict at that point. And so, it's not an option that I ever decided to pursue.”

A lie. Charles did the research, from Wikipedia;

On March 25, 1975, Pres. Gerald Ford signed Proclamation 4360, Terminating Registration Procedures Under Military Selective Service Act, eliminating the registration requirement for all 18-25 year old male citizens. Then on July 2, 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed Proclamation 4771, Registration Under the Military Selective Service Act, retroactively re-establishing the Selective Service registration requirement for all 18-26 year old male citizens born on or after January 1, 1960. Only men born between March 29, 1957, and December 31, 1959, were completely exempt from Selective Service registration. The first registrations after Proclamation 4771 took place on Monday, July 21, 1980, for those men born in January, February and March 1960 at U.S. Post Offices.

The Coming Collapse of North Korea

This has been predicted before, but a regime can be this dysfunctional for only so long before it can no longer be sustained.

HALLORAN: North Korean collapse?

An array of intelligence analysts, Asian and American scholars, specialists in think tanks, and workers in relief organizations have renewed speculation that the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-il is in danger of collapsing because that nation is on the brink of mass starvation and mounting isolation.

No one will even guess when this might happen - within a year, more likely within five years, and almost surely within 10 years? Will the collapse be a "soft landing" in which Mr. Kim's regime gradually falls apart with the pieces picked up by the South Koreans, or will it be a "hard landing" in which Mr. Kim's regime implodes and chaos sweeps the land?

The consequences of a regime change in Pyongyang could be staggering. Immediately, U.S., South Korean and Chinese troops could charge into North Korea to secure its nuclear facilities - and confront each other. Midterm, reviving North Korea could cost South Korea, Japan, China and the United States enormous sums. Long term, a reunited Korea would change the power balance of East Asia - but unpredictably.

Analysts everywhere point to a decade of hunger that has left 7-year-old North Korean children 8 inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter than their South Korean cousins. North Korean soldiers in a regime that gives priority to the military forces have been reduced to two skimpy meals a day. Factory workers nap on the floor for lack of food and energy.

That has led to conjecture that North Koreans, despite the pervasive controls in the Hermit Kingdom's police state, may throw caution to the winds. "We just don't think they can go along with this much longer," said an American official with access to intelligence assessments.

Mass Starvation - The Mother of Invention

I am sure that this is good food, but the story is pathetic and very sad. It is also an indictment of the incompetent and criminal regime that rules North Korea.

N Korea 'develops special noodle'

According to the newspaper, which is seen as closely linked to the Pyongyang leadership, the new noodles have twice as much protein and fives times as much fat as ordinary noodles.

"When you consume ordinary noodles (made from wheat or corn), you may soon feel your stomach empty. But this soybean noodle delays such a feeling of hunger," it said on its website.

The noodles would be available soon across North Korea, the newspaper said.

An estimated one million people starved to death in North Korea in the late 1990s after natural disasters and government mismanagement devastated the country's economy.

The Party of Cowardice

With the Russian invasion of Georgia many Eastern European countries, formerly satellites of the Soviet Union, are very concerned about their own security. Memories of Prague and earlier, Budapest, have not died.

Poland, quite understandably, is nervous and wants American missile sites and Patriot missile batteries. Although the missile sites would be useless against the Soviet Union Russia, they still send a message. And, the Patriot missiles would be useful even though they would be eventually overwhelmed by the volume of Soviet Russian missile in an attack.

So, it would seem the obvious thing to do...supply Poland with these things to help a fellow NATO country and ourselves. Remember, we are bound by treaty obligation to defend the territory of NATO countries as we would our own.

The Party of Cowardice (you know who they are) give a drearily predictable response to the signing of an agreement with Poland.

Some Democrats urge delay in building a U.S. missile system in Eastern Europe

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was scheduled to be in Warsaw on Wednesday to sign an agreement on the missiles with Poland, which agreed to the basing of 10 interceptors last week, after the Russian attacks on Georgia. Justified as a defense against a missile attack on Europe by a rogue nation like Iran, the installation has provoked outrage from Russia.

Even before the agreement was reached, the Bush administration had proposed spending $712 million in the coming fiscal year to start digging silos in Poland; installing a related radar system in the Czech Republic, another former Soviet satellite that is now a NATO member; and buying initial parts for the first interceptor missiles.

But Democrats are now questioning all that spending as premature.

"Go ahead and move on with research and development," said Representative Ellen Tauscher, Democrat of California, who is chairwoman of the House subcommittee that oversees the missile defense program. "But as far as putting holes in the ground in Poland, we are saying no."

These people will not defend the country.

Our Brothers and Sisters in Georgia

We must pray for our brothers and sisters in Georgia as they undergo a terrible time of trial.

Georgia is overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian, the Church there being one of the very oldest.

I have added the traditional Georgian Cherubic Hymn as an audio file in my profile. A selection of Georgian Orthodox music is available at Chant from the Orthodox Church in Georgia

Listen to the Cherubic Hymn. It is so beautiful that, as I listened to it tears were running down my face. Turn the volume up, turn off the TV and listen to the whole thing. You have never heard anything this beautiful in your entire life I assure you.


Read A Pilgrimage to Orthodox Georgia by Guy Wilson.

Pandering to China

Regardless of how tyrannical a government it is, or how poor its human rights practices are, China is very big business, and people who do business there certainly don't want to take any chance offending them.

kowtow: 1. to act in an obsequious manner; show servile deference.

Why I Can’t Put ‘Tibet’ in My Hotmail Address

Big American tech companies have given us plenty of reasons to be cynical about how far they will go to keep China’s leaders happy and keep their fingers in the Chinese market. And China’s leaders would prefer that everyone just not mention those unruly Tibetans, especially with the Olympics on the way. But would the Chinese regime really feel threatened by the creation of, say, ILoveTibet@hotmail.com? And even if it did, would Microsoft really agree to help perpetuate that insecurity?



A Microsoft spokeswoman had a different explanation. The company blocks usernames that include the names of various financial institutions. This is meant to make life harder for those seeking to impersonate a bank using an official-looking e-mail address in order to steal customers’ passwords. In this case Microsoft is blocking usernames containing “tib,” apparently to protect customers of TIB Bank in Florida.

Baloney

Culture and the National Defense

Amina and Sarah Said - both murdered by their Father in Texas.

National defense involves more than military action or border protection. It includes protection and maintenance of our culture, values, and governmental and legal structures. This is implied in the oath of office that one takes when entering the armed forces. We pledge to defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic. I would like to emphasize the foreign and domestic part.

We have people living in the U.S. who hate who we are and want us to be something else. These people are not only the Islamists, whom we have discussed many times, but leftists of every variety who want to limit or end free speech, expand government into every aspect of our lives, centralize the government and the economy, and turn our values upside down with gay marriage and pro-death actions like abortion, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

I would like to see those whom we elect to govern this greatest of countries stand up and really protect it instead of fecklessly pandering to those who want to harm it.

In Australia they have it right.

I received an email at work a year ago that I have never posted, but I want to share it now. It is one of those that gets widely circulated and are often hoaxes, but this one is true and is discussed at Snopes.com.

see Muslims Out of Australia!

Now, don''t freak out. I do not want to remove all Muslims from the US. But the views expressed below are common sense and are views that we should adopt here.

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown.

Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by parliament.

"If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on National Television.

"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia: one the Australian law and another Islamic law that is false.

If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option", Costello said.

Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country.

Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should "clear off. Basically people who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want, to live by Australian values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off", he said.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.

Quote: "IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture.

Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians."

"However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia .."

"However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand." "This idea of Australia being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. And as Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."

"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom"

"We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society .. Learn the language!"

"Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented.

It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture."

"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."

"If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from.

By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.

"This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,

'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'."

"If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted."

My Absence

I must explain that since Holy Pascha I have been extremely busy and under great stress. My employer, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, assigned me to the fire recovery project on USS George Washington. This has been a challenging assignment. In combination with the inconveniences of travel and trying to build a house through my cell phone, there has been no time for blogging. I am hoping to change that.

I hope that you, my faithful readers - who have never failed to come back after long breaks for my deployments - will forgive me this.

The Easter Sermon of St. John Chrysostom

This sermon is read every year at the end of the services that we celebrate for Holy Pascha. Read this beautiful sermon out loud. It is wonderful.

The Easter Sermon of John Chrysostom

If any be pious and a lover of God,
let him rejoice in this fair and radiant festival.
If any be a faithful servant
let him enter into the joy of his Lord.
If any be weary with fasting,
let him now enjoy his payment.

If anyone has labored from the first hour,
let him receive today his just reward.
If anyone has come after the third hour,
let him now be thankful that the feast is at hand,
If anyone has waited until after the sixth hour,
let him not be anxious, no loss shall be his own.
If anyone has tarried until the ninth hour,
let him draw near also, shedding all his doubts.
If anyone has come only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be fearful because of his delay.

For the Master is bountiful
and receives the last even as the first.
He gives repose to him who came at the eleventh hour
just as to one who labored from the first.
The tardy are shown mercy
and the timely are made whole.
To the one he gives,
on the other he bestows.
He honors the deed and praises the intention.

Let all therefore enter into the joy of our Lord,
(let both the first and those who came later receive their wages)
Let rich and poor dance with one another.
You sober and you heedless celebrate the day.
You who have fasted and you who have not
rejoice in this occasion.

The table is full-laden
let all enjoy the feast.
The calf is fatted,
let no one go forth hungry.
Let all partake of the banquet of faith,
let all partake of the riches of goodness.

Let none mourn his poverty,
for the kingdom stands before us.
Let none lament his failings,
forgiveness has risen from the tomb.
Let none fear death,
for the death of the Savior has set us free.

He quenched death when it had tasted his flesh.
He despoiled Hades when he descended thereto
Foreseeing this, Isaiah cried:
'Hell was embittered when it met you face to face.'

It was embittered for it was made void,
It was embittered for it was mocked,
It was embittered for it was slain,
It was embittered for it was despoiled.
It was embittered for it was led off in chains.

It received a body and encountered God,
It received earth and came face to face with heaven.
It received what it saw and fell where it could not see.

Death where is thy sting,
Hades where is thy victory?

Christ is risen and you are cast down,
Christ is risen and the demons are fallen,
Christ is risen and the angels rejoice,
Christ is risen and life is made free.
Christ is risen and there is none dead in the tomb.

For Christ is risen from the dead as the first fruits of those that
fell asleep.

To him be glory and power forever and ever, Amen.


Translated by Frank Dobbs

I pray that Christians everywhere are having a blessed Holy Pascha. God bless all of you.

Barack Obama - Jedi Knight

Found at Real Clear Politics, this gem was created by editorial cartoonist Grey Blackwell of the Raleigh News Observer.

Barack Obama: Jedi Master

Perfect

More Islamic Tolerance in Indonesia

A ransacked and burned Christian Church in Indonesia with ALLAHU AKBAR written in Arabic on the walls

I have written several times about the oppression of Christians in Indonesia and other Islamic countries. It is impossible for me to believe that any well meaning person who can read at the 5th grade level or better can view Islam as anything other than the oppressive, abusive, intolerant political ideology that it is.

And remember, Indonesia has a "moderate" Islamic culture and is (we are supposed to believe) a secular republic. Of course you can believe whatever idiocy that you want.

At The Christian Post: Indonesia: Over 100 Churches Closed in 3 Years

Islamic extremism and local governments closed more than 100 churches in Indonesia within three years, according to a persecution watchdog agency.

From 2004 to 2007, 110 churches were closed in Indonesia as a result of attacks from radical Muslim groups or by local governments coerced by these groups, reported Compass Direct News. Based on official numbers, a total of 1,025 churches have been closed or destroyed in Indonesia since the island nation claimed its independence in 1945. Notably, however, only two cases of church destruction or closures are recorded in the era of Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno (1945-1967).

...

High profile cases of Christian persecution in Indonesia include the 2005 arrests of three Christian Sunday school teachers who were accused of attempting to convert Muslim children. The Muslim parents had reportedly given full consent for their children to join Christian students in singing Christian songs, playing games and hearing Bible stories, but the court nevertheless sentenced the women to three years in prison. The women served two years and were released early for good behavior last June.

Also in 2005, Islamic militants on motorcycles beheaded three Christian schoolgirls who were on their way to school. The girls’ heads were dumped in villages nearby with and a handwritten note by the bodies warned of more killings in revenge for sectarian violence on Sulawesi Island.

“Wanted – 100 more heads,” read the letter, according to The Associated Press. “Blood must be paid with blood, lives with lives, heads with heads.”

Headless corpse being dragged through the streets of Banyuwangi with shouts of Allahu Akbar

Religion of Peace indeed.

Happy and Blessed Easter

Life has been very hectic and I have been under great pressure to satisfy the many roles that I have both at work and at home. As a result you can see that I have not posted in a long time. If either of my faithful readers should still pass by here, you have my apologies for that.

I wanted to take the time to wish all of my western Christian friends a happy and blessed Easter.

Matthew 28:

¹Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ²And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. ⁵But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you." ⁸So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."

¹¹While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. ¹²And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers ¹³and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' ¹⁴And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." ¹⁵So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

¹⁶Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (ESV)

Just a note, we Orthodox Christians will celebrate Holy Pascha (Easter) on April 27th.

The Disappearing Presbyterian Church

Some refuse to learn, and place themselves and their ambitions and desires over God. After seeing that a church that abandons any semblance of orthodoxy or understanding of sin is torn apart (see here and here), many wish to continue down that same path.

While many, perhaps even most within the Presbyterian Church sense that something is wrong, many others would rather execise liberal "progressive" politics.

Lesbian Moves Forward in Ordination Amid Debate

An openly lesbian minister's bid to join the clergy may be the first national test of a controversial policy adopted by the Presbyterian Church (USA).

After being denied ordination twice over the past couple of decades because of a ban on ordaining openly gay persons, Lisa Larges made some headway this past week when she gained support from a regional body of the PC(USA).

The San Francisco Presbytery voted Tuesday 167-151 to support Larges' application for ministry. The vote came after a long debate and despite warnings that the action violated the church's constitution and would be appealed.

According to its constitution, the PC(USA) requires "fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman" or "chastity in singleness" for its clergy.

And as they become more "liberal" they begin openly to abandon the Christian faith.

Following the 2006 General Assembly decision, several Presbyterian churches have taken steps to withdraw from the national church. The churches have opposed the liberal direction the denomination is going on homosexuality as well as other issues, including the singular lordship of Jesus Christ.

They are moving towards becoming just another liberal-progressive political organization.

How to Decide Who to Marry

The kids say it at Curmudgeonly & Skeptical²

How To Decide Who to Marry: By Kids

This is wonderful and funny - read it, you will be glad you did.

Jay R. Grodner - Lawyer

Jay R. Grodner - Lawyer, leftist moonbat™ and vandal

He will probably get away with it.

See also;
Confederate Yankee for this POS' contact data.

Liberal Arrogance

The arrogance of the Liberal Left is on clear display in a piece by Dave Lindorff in the Baltimore Chronicle;

Global Warming Will Save America from the Right...Eventually

After describing a scenario where much of "red state America" is destroyed or depopulated as a result of rising sea levels and drought, he concludes;

There is a poetic justice to this of course. It is conservatives who are giving us the candidates who steadfastly refuse to have the nation take steps that could slow the pace of climate change, so it is appropriate that they should bear the brunt of its impact.

The important thing is that we, on the higher ground both actually and figuratively, need to remember that, when they begin their historic migration from their doomed regions, we not give them the keys to the city. They certainly should be offered assistance in their time of need, but we need to keep a firm grip on our political systems, making sure that these guilty throngs who allowed the world to go to hell are gerrymandered into political impotence in their new homes.

There will be much work to be done to help the earth and its residents—human and non-human—survive this man-made catastrophe, and we can’t have these future refugee troglodytes, should their personal disasters still fail to make them recognize reality, mucking things up again.

It should be considered acceptable, in this stifling new world, to say, “Shut up. We told you this would happen.”

That is the state of Liberalism in America today. Do not kid yourselves, these people have no use for a free and open democracy, they want totalitarian socialism. If you doubt it, just look at what controls they wish to put in the people. They will even tell you what kind of light bulbs to buy.

And they do not want free speech for any but themselves. Dissenting opinions and those that offer them are to be crushed.

Remembering Cocoa

Two years ago today my beautiful little girl preceded me into Heaven.

I remember the first time we met her at Mary's (the breeder) home. We were looking at a number of Pomeranians. We saw Cocoa, Cocoa's sister, their mother and grandmother. Cocoa and her sister were beautiful little 8-week old puppies. Cocoa's mother was not available, of course, and nor was her grandmother. Cocoa's mother was the only one who was not chocolate colored. She was parti-colored, white and black. We were sitting in the kitchen by the kennel that the dogs would go in and out of. We picked up Cocoa's sister and looked at her. She was very well behaved and an entirely lovely dog. We fell in lover with her. We put her down and she went walking around the into and out of the kennel and the net room.

Then Mary handed Cocoa to us. My wife held her for a bit and then gave her to me. Cocoa was struggling to be let go. I tried to hold her but she was struggling so hard that she fell from my lap to the floor. We were mortified and Mary was not happy. Cocoa shook herself off and went into the kennel for a moment, then came back out. She still wanted our attention and wandered around our the area where we were sitting. She was not going to let any other dog upstage her. We loved her to.

As this would be our first dog, we got into a discussion about what personality of dog would be suitable for us. A dog who was too willful or demanding may not be a good match for us, and that would not be good for the dog either. It was a tough choice. We loved them all, particularly Cocoa and her sister. As we talked, we kept coming back to Cocoa (who continued to wander about in our presence). Although she may turn out to be difficult in the future, she was the choice. Her fiery personality was something that we could not resist. She was the choice.

We loved her very much, and she loved us. The memory of her bring tears to my eyes even as I write this. In a comment to my memorial post of her from last year Marguerite wrote,

I have a priest friend who thinks that man's ability to make friends with animals is a proof of God, perhaps he's right.

I believe that he is right.

I have two dogs now, Niko (a pomeranian) and Mikro (a long haired chihuahua) and love them. We almost lost Niko this summer and it was difficult for us. He is a good friend. He is doing well now, but he is 14 years old. That will be hard to.

Cocoa was exceptional and we miss her.



UPDATE: My wife reminds me that when Cocoa wanted to go into the kennel, she would just push any other dogs aside to go in. The kennel was large enough to hold four or five puppies or an adult and two or three puppies. When Cocoa wanted in, and if there were other puppies in there, she just pushed them aside to get where she wanted. Any other dog would look and see that there was no room and not enter. Cocoa, however, would not be denied.

She lived every aspect of her life with great gusto. She loved people and she loved us with that same gusto. Truely she was a gift directly from God to us and I thank God for her.

Anglo-Orthodox Saints

Our Lady of Walsingham and the holy Abbess Werburgh of Chester

Go and read this very beautiful blog.

Anglo-Orthodox Saints

Some Fallout of Appeasement

Appeasement, however seemingly "minor" will always have bad effects. These effects can be seen not only in the strengthening of the enemy but in the harm do to allies and to the relationships with allies who may be in trouble.

Both of you, my faithful readers, already know what I think of our weakness in the face of the Dear Murderer-Freaks crimes and provocations. Here is some more (it never stops).

Pyongyang Fallout

One unfortunate consequence of the Bush Administration’s about face-face on North Korea is playing out in Tokyo, where the new Prime Minister is struggling to deal with a string of recent insults from Washington. The sharpest slap may come today.

When Yasuo Fukuda visits the White House, President Bush is widely expected to tell him that he plans to take North Korea off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror, despite Pyongyang’s refusal to provide any new information on the Japanese citizens it kidnapped in the 1970s and ‘80s. Information on the abductees has been Tokyo’s top priority in he six-party nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea.

Until recently, the administration has made progress on the abductees issue a prerequisite for taking North Korea off the terrorist list. Last year Mr. Bush met in the Oval Office with the mother of Megumi Yokota, a 13-year old girl who was kidnapped by North Korean spies in 1977 as she was walking home from school in the western city of Niigata. He called it “one of the most moving meetings since I have been the President.”

so...

U.S. support for Japan’s position also goes to the heart of American credibility as a security partner. Some Japanese are already beginning to wonder why the U.S. is so eager for a deal that won’t truly de-nuclearize the North, which has hundreds of missiles capable of reaching any corner of their country.

North Korea has failed to declare the components of its nuclear program-seven month after the agreed-upon deadline for doing so. And there are growing doubts that the U.S. will insist on an accounting that includes the North’s nuclear weapons, its stockpile of plutonium, and a uranium program That Pyongyang once touted but now says doesn’t exist. Meanwhile, the Yongbyon nuclear reactor that is now being “disabled” too much fanfare may already be at or near the end of its useful life. No wonder Tokyo is nervous.

J. Thomas Schieffer, the U.S. ambassador in Tokyo, is widely reported to have sent Mr. Bush a private cable last month, warning that the pending nuclear deal with North Korea could damage relations with Japan. There are indications that may already be happening.

On November 1, Japan suspended its naval mission to supply fuel to U.S.-led coalition forces in the Indian Ocean. Mr. Fukuda’s government pushed through a watered down bill in the Diet’s lower house this week restarting the mission. The Prime Minister decided against using his authority to push through stronger registration in part, we are told, on the counsel of advisers who urged him to distance himself from the Americans. That kind of thinking could lead to a decision by a future Japanese government to go nuclear, rather than run the risk of relying on the unreliable Americans.

North Korea is winning due to our weakness and gullibility.

Kill the Innocent - Allow Heinous Criminals to Live

From the UN:

November 16 - Death Penalty Resolution Adopted Because of Concerns About Human Rights Says EU President

Ambassador Joao Manuel Guerra Salgueiro, President of the European Union, says member states of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly voted to adopt a resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty in part because of their concerns about human rights. The Ambassador rejected claims that the resolution sought to impose values [Although that is the entire purpose of it. - Photi] on all member states and noted the broad support for the resolution. Now that the third committee -- which addresses social, humanitarian and cultural issues -- has approved the resolution, the matter can be discussed in the full General Assembly sometime after mid-December.

From "progressive religious leaders":

A Faith-Filled Commitment to Development Includes a Commitment to Women’s Rights and Reproductive Health

As progressive religious leaders, we call on other religious leaders and policy makers to overcome the fears, taboos and stigmas associated with sexuality and reproduction, to accept that these matters are part of the legitimate scope of human rights and public policy and include these important human rights more explicitly in the struggle to end poverty. We call on the world’s leaders—religious, governmental, nongovernmental and those in multilateral and UN agencies—to incorporate the ICPD agenda and goals to ensure that all the world’s people have available to them the reproductive health services [read "abortion" - Photi] that will enable them to live healthy, dignified and financially secure lives.

About Those Bumper Stickers

Atomic Trousers has your bumper sticker review.

Bask in Bumper Sticker Wisdom

Thug Chavez gets Public Correction

I love this story. It is good to see that there are some who have not yet become deranged Chavez supporters.

Spanish King Tells Chavez to "Shut Up"

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - The king of Spain told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to "shut up" Saturday during a heated exchange at a summit of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

Chavez, who called President Bush the "devil" on the floor of the United Nations last year, triggered the exchange by repeatedly referring to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a "fascist."

Aznar, a conservative who was an ally of Bush as prime minister, "is a fascist," Chavez said in a speech at the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile. "Fascists are not human. A snake is more human."

Spain's current socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, responded during his own allotted time by urging Chavez to be more diplomatic in his words and respect other leaders despite political differences.

"Former President Aznar was democratically elected by the Spanish people and was a legitimate representative of the Spanish people," he said, eliciting applause from the gathered heads of state.

Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, but his microphone was off.

Spanish King Juan Carlos, seated next to Zapatero, angrily turned to Chavez and said, "Why don't you shut up?"

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Armistice Day

I know that we have now replaced Armistice Day, a remembrance of the men who fought and died during the human disaster that was WWI, and replaced it with Veteran's Day to remember all of America's veterans. I feel a little self-conscious about Veteran's Day and I remember seeing WWI veterans when I was growing up. That terrible conflict does not get enough attention now and, since it was the first major war of a warfare-filled century and really the war from which all of the others grew, I choose to remember it and the men who fought it. These men gave enormously to put the United States in a place where we could later defeat the Nazis and the Communists. That series of wars did not end until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

That is not to say that I don't respect Veteran's Day and all of America's veterans, but being one, I'll let others write about that, and I thank them very much for their kind words.

In 1923, on Saturday November 10th, Woodrow Wilson spoke on the significance of Armistice Day. (There is a link to an audio recording of the speech at the website.) It was a short speech and is reproduced in its entirity below.

The anniversary of Armistice Day should stir us to great exaltation of spirit because of the proud recollection that it was our day, a day above those early days of that never-to-be-forgotten November which lifted the world to the high levels of vision and achievement upon which the great war for democracy and right was fought and won; although the stimulating memories of that happy time of triumph are forever marred and embittered for us by the shameful fact that when the victory was won-won, be it remembered-chiefly by the indomitable spirit and ungrudging sacrifices of our incomparable soldiers-we turned our backs upon our associates and refused to bear any responsible part in the administration of peace, or the firm and permanent establishment of the results of the war-won at so terrible a cost of life and treasure-and withdrew into a sullen and selfish isolation which is deeply ignoble because manifestly cowardly and dishonorable.

This must always be a source of deep mortification to us and we shall inevitably be forced by the moral obligations of freedom and honor to retrieve that fatal error and assume once more the role of courage, self-respect and helpfulness which every true American must wish to regard as our natural part in the affairs of the world.

That we should have thus done a great wrong to civilization at one of the most critical turning points in the history of the world is the more to be deplored because every anxious year that has followed has made the exceeding need for such services as we might have rendered more and more evident and more and more pressing, as demoralizing circumstances which we might have controlled have gone from bad to worse.

And now, as if to furnish a sort of sinister climax, France and Italy between them have made waste paper of the Treaty of Versailles and the whole field of international relationship is in perilous confusion.

The affairs of the world can be set straight only by the firmest and most determined exhibition of the will to lead and make the right prevail.

Happily, the present situation in the world of affairs affords us the opportunity to retrieve the past and to render mankind the inestimable service of proving that there is at least one great and powerful nation which can turn away from programs of self-interest and devote itself to practicing and establishing the highest ideals of disinterested service and the consistent maintenance of exalted standards of conscience and of right.

The only way in which we can worthily give proof of our appreciation of the high significance of Armistice Day is by resolving to put self-interest away and once more formulate and act upon the highest ideals and purposes of international policy. Thus, and only thus, can we return to the true traditions of America.

The British War on Her Own Culture

The liberal elites of the UK continue to work toward the erasure of their own national identity. Britain's Escalating War on Christianity

The report's recommendations are probably the most radical that have been made so far by a body with real political influence for the destruction of Britain's Christian identity and historic culture.

However, the thrust of its recommendations are really nothing new, and are squarely in line with concerted and unremitting political/culture-war attacks on Christianity and Britain's historic identity which have been going on for at least a decade, not at the level of national Parliamentary government, where an electorate might show its displeasure, but in a shadowy, Gramscian way at quasi-govnmental (sic) level and in localized areas with entrenched Labour/left control of councils, Parliamentary seats and other institutions.

Not all of the British are happy about it. The Telegraph asks the question, Should integration work both ways? Fortunately at least a few Brits still wish to retain their culture against their government's wishes.

A Poet of Islam

Samina Malik is a British Muslim poet who writes from the deep well of Islamic faith.



British Muslim woman convicted of penning poems about beheadings

Described as a "committed Islamic extremist", Malik, a shop assistant at Heathrow, hoarded an extensive collection of terrorism manuals, the Old Bailey heard.

She was a member of an extremist group linked to Omar Bakri Mohammed, a hate preacher who fled to Lebanon from Britain two years ago.

Yesterday a jury found her guilty of possessing documents likely to be used for terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000, by a majority of ten to one, after deliberating for 19 hours.

Malik, who wore a black head scarf, wept as the verdict was read out.

She is happy to see other, innocent, people murdered in a horrific way. She loves watching the videos of people being beheaded while alive. These are a few of her favorite things. But, to have to answer for it, well that is another matter.

She also wrote of how she enjoyed video messages from Osama Bin Laden and "videos that showed massacres of the kuffars", or non-Muslims.

In one poem, called The Living Martyrs, she called for Muslims to rise up against the infidels.

In another, How To Behead, she warned that the victim should be bound and blindfolded.

Malik, who worked as a shop assistant airside in a branch of WHSmith at the airport, also owned an Al Qaeda encyclopaedia of Jihad, a Mujahideen poison handbook and a 'terrorist handbook' which explained how to make bombs.

On the hard drive of her computer police found a copy of a sniper rifle manual, a firearms manual, anti-tank weaponry, a document entitled How To Win Hand To Hand Fighting, and pictures of weapons.

Outside the court, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, said: "Malik held violent extremist views which she shared with other like-minded people over the internet.

"She also tried to donate money to a terrorist group. She had the ideology, ability and determination to access and download material which could have been useful to terrorists.

"Merely possessing this material is a serious criminal offence."

But she weeps for herself. Her hatred and self-obsession speaks for itself.

UPDATE:
A news clip. It seems that she just wanted to be "cool".

Meet the 72 Virgins!

This is an older piece, but still very funny.

From Steve Martin, Seventy-two Virgins

Demography and War

Every so often we will discuss demographics in the context of fertility. European fertility is down, Muslim nations have much higher fertility, and the Palestinians so called "right of return" is a political use of fertility in the continuing effort to destroy Israel.

Clark Whelton has written an excellent article on Gunnar Heinsohn's idea on the relationship between national demographics and war. A Demographic Theory of War - Population, power, and the 'slightly weird' ideas of Gunnar Heinsohn.

"LOOK AT IT THIS WAY," Gunnar Heinsohn said. "Your family is in a shooting war with a family across the street. Your forces consist of a father, mother and one child, perhaps two. The other family has a father, mother and seven children, perhaps eight or nine. For your family, the loss of one person would be devastating. The larger family can take casualties and continue fighting."

How important is this?

"My point," Heinsohn continued, "is that the strength of a nation's military is affected by the size of a nation's families. Falling birth rates in Western countries mean that even light casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan bring cries of pain in Europe and America. But Iraq and Afghanistan are growing rapidly. Their populations are swollen by youth bulges. Their average family has five or six children. They are in what I call 'extreme demographic armament.'"

Some of the points that he makes;

* The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will continue because "Western aid has enabled Palestine--where nearly every newborn is considered a refugee and provided with food and medical care by international agencies--to defeat Israel demographically." The population of Gaza jumped from 240,000 in 1950 to almost 1,500,000 in 2007. In 2006 there were 640,000 Jewish boys under 15 in Israel, against 1,120,000 Arab boys under 15 in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. The last cohort with a Jewish majority is the 30-44 age bracket--540,000 Jews vs. 410,000 Arabs--which is now past prime military age. And yet despite 60 years of fighting and violence, the overall Israeli-Arab death toll is relatively low. It ranks 49th on Heinsohn's list of fatalities in conflicts worldwide since 1948. The Israeli-Palestinian conflicts rank 67th.

* Colombia's return to peace and public safety was not brought about by tough controls imposed by the Uribe government. Peace is a result of the "ageing out" of Colombia's last big youth bulge, combined with falling birth rates, "which have simply dried up the recruitment pool for violent gangs." Similar drops in violence and political extremism have been seen throughout South America as youth bulges disappear into middle age.

* Turkey may become a more reliable partner of the West. Turkey's youth bulges have run their course and total fertility has fallen below the U.S. birth rate. This means Turkey can no longer afford to push its young people abroad to find jobs. It must encourage them to stay, "and feels reluctant to sacrifice them in war."

* Low birth rates in Russia and China place both countries in demographic capitulation.

* Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's top lieutenant, miscalculated when he encouraged Somalia to fight its war with Ethiopia by doing to the Ethiopian army what al Quaeda is doing in Iraq and Afghanistan--inflicting casualties that cause protest and dissension in Coalition countries. In 1993 U.S. forces fled Somalia after suffering 18 killed and 73 wounded. But unlike America and the UK, Heinsohn noted, Ethiopia is in strong demographic armament. It is unlikely we'll see peace marches in the streets of Addis Ababa or that Ethiopia will be deterred by losses on the battlefield.

* To compensate for falling birth rates and "to slow the ageing of its own populations, the Anglo-World--the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand--is trying to attract immigrants from a handful of European countries. But these European providers of manpower, such as Poland, Ukraine, and Austria, are in demographic capitulation and are desperately trying to attract immigrants themselves. By 2050, the total demand for foreign talent in the developed world will reach 150 million. The United States alone will realize growth by pulling in the best and brightest from everywhere else. For this reason, friends and allies may opt out of alliances with the U.S., not out of anti-Americanism but because they don't want to be demographically neutered."

As always, read the whole thing. There are numerous interesting and even surprising cnclusions here.

This is a great read covering very important material.

Explore the Qur'an - Taqiyya-Free!

Courtesy of TheReligionofPeace.com

Explore the Qur'an (Taqiyya-free)

Well supported with quotes from the Qur'an.

Go, read, and learn.

Columbia U - Hitler Yes, Gilchrist No!

Much is being made about the fact that genocidal maniac Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been invited to speak at Columbia University, one of the leading leftist cesspits universities in the United States. Columbia University Dean John Coatsworth says that even Adolph Hitler would be welcome to speak at his indoctrination center university.

Video: Of course we’d invite Hitler to speak, says Columbia dean

(Be sure to read the comments from the terrorist's "useful idiots".)

That's interesting because, while we are willing to freely discuss the merits and demerits of genocide, we are not apparently willing to discuss border security. In fact, anyone who suggests that we should have the same border controls that every other nation on this planet has is accused of racism.

Columbia U. Nixes Minuteman Speech

Columbia University students have abandoned plans for a speech by Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist, one year after their classmates violently interrupted an address by the illegal immigration foe.

The Columbia Political Union voted late Monday night to cancel Gilchrist’s Oct. 4 appearance, the New York Post reports.

The student group said in a statement that "it has become clear this event cannot take the form we had originally hoped it would and could not effectively accomplish the goals we had hoped it might."

Last year critics questioned Columbia’s commitment to free speech after Gilchrist was physically and verbally attacked by student protesters.

So for Columbia University and the American Left™ terrorism and Jew killing is ok, border security and the national defense is not.

Whistling Past the Graveyard

The Presbyterian Church (U. S. A.), of which I am a former member (it was the United Presbyterian Church back then) has suddenly come to the realization that something is wrong with itself. When I was a child it had a membership of more than 4 million and now has a membership of just under 2.3 million. So, I would have to agree with their assessment. In the below quoted article Joan Gray, moderator of the General Assembly during a Sept. 17-21 GAC (General Assembly Council) meeting in Louisville, Ky. says, "I recently spent time in the Midwest, and these areas are drying up. The people are not there any more. In Detroit, 3,000 people a day are leaving to emigrate elsewhere. That is just the tip of the iceberg.”

'Tsunami' Hits Presbyterians; Dramatic Changes Ahead

The PC(USA) has suffered continual losses in membership and now claims a little less than 2.3 million. More dissident Presbyterians and some historic congregations have voted to split from the PC(USA), citing that the denomination is not consistent with written theology in such areas as the singular saving Lordship of Jesus Christ and homosexual ordination.

Many are moving into the smaller and more conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

“Much of our discomfort is really about our coming to grips with the overwhelming change that is coming at us from all sides. The bottom line is that we simply cannot continue doing church the way we have been," said Gray, according to PNS.

"One thing I am seeing is that some of those churches and presbyteries who have come to the end of the string are making a choice,” she added. “They are letting go of what they had been doing and opening the way to what God is doing.”

The people are voting with their feet and going to churches that really do believe in the Holy (triune) God and in Jesus the Christ who was both fully God and fully Man - yes, orthodox Christianity. Many like myself have come to the Holy Orthodox Church, to the Catholic Church, or to other believing churches as mentioned in the article. Sadly, many others find that there is no point to membership in a church that doesn't teach that its beliefs are actually true and abandon Christianity. The children of many Presbyterian (and other liberal churches) do not continue church membership.

Look again at the table that is linked above;

% Change : Church
-57.6% : American Baptist Association
-56.4% : Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
-30.7% : Churches of Christ
-32.6% : Episcopal Church
-21.1% : Presbyterian Church (USA)
-35.9% : United Church of Christ
-23.6% : United Methodist Church

Granted, there are a couple of cases where conservative churches have lost members, but I believe that there were other factors at work in those cases. Also granted, the biggest gains have been for some very heterodox churches, most notably the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (3233.3%).

More regularly;
188% : Antiochan Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
188% : Armenian Orthodox Church of America
109.1% : Church of the Nazarene
25.0% : Greek Orthodox Diocese of North and South America
32.5% : Orthodox Church in America
57.7% : Roman Catholic Church

Yet, all Joan Gray can bring herself to say is that "change" is occurring.

Yep.

UN Human Rights Head Joins Anti-Semites

As if further indication were needed to demonstrate the evil supported by this organization, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour joined a human rights meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), currently chaired by Cuba this week. Here she is in the front row, far right, along with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left).



From Eye on the UN Anne Bayefsky writes, UN Human Rights Chief takes Front row seat to hear Ahmadinejad in Tehran

While Arbour was hobnobbing with anti-semites, butchers and anti-democratic forces from around the world, Iranians were being prepared for public hangings. Arbour was reported by the Islamic Republic News Agency as having "expressed pleasure with being at the NAM meeting and described Iran's representation office in the UN in Geneva as "very good." In an unusual move, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has so far neglected to put her official statement on their website.

The day after Arbour left Iran the government felt sufficiently buoyed by their UN stamp of approval, that they executed 21 prisoners. People are executed in Iran for charges like "enmity against God" or "being corrupt on earth."

Iran need not worry about the UN reaction after-the-fact either. Arbour is quoted by Iranian news sources as telling participants: "The new method of considering issues related to human rights is comprehensive and not selective and the UN Human Rights Council is ready to present technical and consultation assistance to Iran." "Non-selective" is UN code for refusing to name states that violate human rights, let alone taking action to stop them. "Technical assistance" is UN code for helping the state avoid criticism by pretending the problem is some kind of infrastructure glitch. It has been clear for some time that the new UN Human Rights Council is bent on eliminating all country-specific criticism, (not directed at Israel of course). Now, apparently, Arbour agrees.

And, not to put too fine a point on it, but;

The Iranians were delighted at Arbour's visit - crowing that the UN had "taken part in the conference at the highest level." They clearly understood her presence as support for their view that human rights are all relative, or as Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Mehdi Mostafavi put it, participants "indicated international resolve to uphold human rights in line with the cultural diversity in the international community."

As I have said many times before, there is only one reason for the United States to remain a member of one of the most evil, corrupt, anti-semitic organizations on Earth, and that is to veto all resolutions that would cause harm to the only decent, democratic country in the area - Israel.

Louise Arbour and everyone else involved with the UNHCR should be ashamed of themselves. But they are not, of course.

Another Music Great Lost

While at work yesterday, strolling through USS Ronald Reagan's aircraft hanger bays, I was thinking of the passing of Luciano Pavarotti. It occurred to me that during the period when I was away from my computer Beverly Sills passed away.

She was another one of those whose influence was so huge that she seemed to be everywhere, informing and defining interpretations of opera. When one wanted to hear how it should be sung, one listened to Beverly Sills.

She passed away on this past July 2nd. Her last performance was at a farewell gala held on October 27th, 1980. We have had time to listen to other fine performers since then. Still, it is difficult to imagine a musical world without her. Following her final performance she remained heavily involved with the New York City Opera, the Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera, and most importantly her charity work for the March of Dimes and other charities seeking to help children with birth defects.

She was truly a great American.

Beverly Sills Farewell - Her Final Performance

Maestra, the world misses you. Rest in peace.

UPDATE:
Here are two performances of "Una Voce Poco Fa" from Il barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini, the first from 1971, the second from 1976.

What a magnificent performer!

Beverly Sills - Una Voce Poco Fa!! (1971)


Beverly Sills - Una Voce Poco Fa!! (1976)

An Irreplacable Loss

As both of my loyal readers no doubt already know, Luciano Pavarotti died today. He was a great figure in music for nearly my entire musical life. He was like a mountain that you just know it's there without having to look at it. There are a few great tenors in the world, but none like him.

When he began to sing Neapolitan folk songs and sing in very large venues many music critics complained that he was cheapening opera - tarnishing its artistic purity.

That is idiocy. In Italy opera is a very popular musical form. It does not exist in some lofty inaccessible height, but it exists at the level of the people who love it so.

And we loved him.

Rest in peace, Maestro.


ITALIAN;

Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o, Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
guardi le stelle
che fremono d'amore
e di speranza.

Ma il mio mistero e chiuso in me,
il nome mio nessun sapra!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo diro
quando la luce splendera!

Ed il mio bacio sciogliera il silenzio
che ti fa mia!

(Il nome suo nessun sapra!...
e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)

Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincero!
vincero, vincero!

ENGLISH

None must sleep! None must sleep!
And you, too, Princess,
in your cold room,
gaze at the stars
which tremble with love
and hope!

But my mystery is locked within me,
no-one shall know my name!
No, no, I shall say it as my mouth
meets yours when the dawn is breaking!

And my kiss will break the silence
which makes you mine!

(No-one shall know his name,
and we, alas, shall die!)

Vanish, o night!
Fade, stars!
At dawn I shall win

And this;



HAIL MARY

Hail Mary!
Virgin of heaven,
queen of grace and holy mother,
ever receive a fervent prayer,
do not deny my tortured heart
relief for its distress!
My lost soul lies humbly before you
and at your feet, full of hope,
appeals to you and waits
for you to grant
the peace which you alone can give.
Hail Mary!

Pyongyang's Upper Hand

Here is another splendid piece from John Bolton, a man who has served, and continues to serve, our country well.

Thanks to feckless diplomacy, Kim Jong Il may preserve his nuclear program. (a hat tip to my beautiful wife, Sophia)

The Six-Party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program have now descended into a miasma of "working groups," one of which, on U.S.-North Korea bilateral issues, will meet this weekend in Geneva. It is worth paying attention to the outcome of this gathering.

North Korea wants to be taken off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and, as soon as possible, to enjoy full diplomatic relations with Washington. Pyongyang may well succeed, as many in the U.S. State Department seem more eager to grant full recognition to the Pyongyang dictatorship in North Korea than to the democracy in Taiwan. This would be a profound mistake on our part.

Nearly 200 days have passed since Feb. 13, when the Six-Party Talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program produced an "agreement" to eliminate that program. Despite encomiums about the virtues of diplomacy, little real progress has been made in eliminating Pyongyang's program. Negotiations in July ended without agreement on a timetable, despite repeated State Department assurances since February that the North would be held to strict deadlines [because we have given up - Photi].

The Yongbyon reactor is shuttered, but that reactor was not frequently operational in the recent past, and may well be at the end of, or even beyond, its useful life. The return of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to Yongbyon provides North Korea with a new patina of respectability, despite the near certainty that significant nuclear activity is happening anywhere but Yongbyon.

In fact, the key change is that economic assistance is once again subsidizing and reinforcing Kim Jong Il's hold on power. Heavy fuel oil, food and other "humanitarian" assistance from South Korea, and substantial unpublicized aid from China are all flowing North. Cheeky Pyongyang is once again demanding that the outside world supply it with light-water nuclear reactors. The second North-South Summit in Pyongyang, postponed until October--closer to South Korea's presidential elections-- will provide renewed legitimacy to the North Korean dictatorship, and may bolster the political chances of South Korean advocates of appeasement, in turn providing Kim Jong Il even more breathing room.

Kim is once again besting the U.S. in accomplishing his two central strategic objectives: staying in power and preserving his nuclear-weapons program. The working groups currently underway do nothing to achieve the proper ends of U.S. foreign policy. A few weeks ago in Shenyang, China, the "denuclearization" working group met without visible progress, even on permanently dismantling Yongbyon.

As always, read it all. Mr. Bolton points up several things that clearly need to be done and that clearly are not being done.

Memorializing the King

No, not that King, the King of Jazz - Louis Armstrong.

The Monster is Winning

With the Bush Administration in normalization talks with North Korea, preparing to roll over for Kim Jong-il (again) and give that monster everything that it wants, it is good to review this piece by John Bolton that I found some time ago.

Pyongyang Pussyfooting

Not only did North Korea thereby achieve at least one key objective before any performance on its part (contrary to the February 13 deal), Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill recently made a pilgrimage to Pyongyang where he said he was "buoyed by the sense that we are going to be able to achieve our full objectives." Undoubtedly, North Korea was buoyed by the visit, which marked yet another administration retreat--this one from the position that such a trip was impossible before performance by the North.

This Pyongyang visit symbolizes the full return of Clinton-era, bilateral negotiations with North Korea, and their predominance over the Six-Party Talks. The Bush administration has effectively ended where North Korea policy is concerned, replaced for the next 18 months by a caretaker government of bureaucrats, technocrats and academics. So complete was the transformation that putative Shadow Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke facilitated a number of Mr. Hill's bilateral contacts with Pyongyang. Kim Jong Il will now, in all likelihood, further his slow roll, waiting for America's 2008 elections, when the Clinton era may return de jure as well as de facto.

This is not a comment on partisan disagreements, but an important signpost that Bush's clear determination in 2001 to follow a different course has disappeared, replaced with the same flawed conceptual framework that failed so badly in the 1990s. New failures lie ahead.

Indeed they do;

U.S., N. Korea Officials Start Talks on Normalization of Ties

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. and North Korean negotiators begin two-day talks today on how to normalize their relations, as part of ongoing discussions on dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill will meet his counterpart Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan at the U.S. mission in Geneva, in a meeting on normalizing ties, one of five working groups that operate under the nuclear talks forum.

Of course this will require an end to the armistice between the United Nations Command (headed by the U.S.)and a peace agreement.

And if you don't believe that terrorism and blackmail can be used successfully against the United States, here is a document prepared by the Congressional Research Service for members of Congress;

North Korea: Terrorism List Removal?
Updated April 6, 2007

North Korea also may have increased the incentive for the Bush Administration to strengthen this linkage. The South Korean newspaper, JongAng Ilbo, quoted "a diplomatic source knowledgeable on the New York talks" between Hill and Kim Kye-gwan on March 5-6, 2007, that Kim asserted that if the United States took steps to normalize relations, North Korea could disable the Yongbyon nuclear installations within a year (i.e., March 2008). Kim specifically mentioned as a key step the removal of North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. (Yi Sang-il and Chin Se-ku. Yongbyon nuclear facility can be disabled within a year.JongAng Ilbo (internet version), Mar. 13, 2007)

And for all of those leftists™ out there who think that North Korea is somehow being falsely accused or put upon by the evil, imperialistic United States, here is another report to Congress;

North Korea: Chronology of Provocations, 1950 - 2003
Updated March 18, 2003

Read it all.