Month: April 2006

This is an open post. Link to this post and track back. Snowed right now. I intend to expand this post later, and I WILL check for any TBs that may get stuck in moderation (blame it on SPAM TBs forcing meaner TB filters *sigh*).

BTW, just to demonstrate my complete lack of papaphobia, here’s a belated “Happy Birthday” to Pope Benedict XVI. He was 79 yestersay… on Easter Sunday.

(Aside: Lovely Daughter will be celebrating “Easter” again on the 19th, since her birth was on Easter Sunday… April 19th the year of her birth.)

As I said, link to this post and track back.

And do check out the blogs listed at Linkfest Haven for more linkfests!

Cruci-fix

A springtime day; a windy hill:
A man had come to die.
Torture done, the crowd grew still:
He breathed out one last sigh.

Prince of life; Creator-Son–
Died on Calv’ry’s tree:
Lord of all creation,
Crucified for me!

Then all the shadowed sway of earth
Groaned aloud in pain–
That God, who came in humble birth,
Had died for mankind’s gain.

Prince of life; Creator-Son–
Died on Calv’ry’s tree:
Lord of all creation,
Crucified for me!

But as the heav’ns in darkness raged
And oceans foamed and roared,
Christ, the Son, would not be caged,
So, from death’s prison—soared.

Prince of Life; Creator-Son:
Victorious, the battle’s won.

©1993 David W Needham

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Yes, this is my weekend open post. Link to this post and track back through Easter Sunday.

Also note the other fine blogs featuring linkfests at Linkfest Haven.

Noted at TMH’s Bacon Bits, Stop the ACLU and Rhymes With Right

Below is an excerpt (of an excerpt :-)) from

The Islamic Question

by Roberto A.M. Bertacchini and Piersandro Vanzan S.I.

…as found in the article, “Oriana Fallaci Has Enrolled in the Society of Jesus”

Islamic terrorism is a rather complex response to the confrontation with the West, which Islam sees as a devastating, deadly threat.

At the end of the 1980’s, there was a pitched battle within the Islamist camp between the positions of Abdullah Azzam and the more extremist positions of Ayman Al-Zawahiri, a true ideologue of jihad in the form it has taken today, which includes in the category of enemy the “Herodians,” or those who collaborate with the West. On November 24, 1989, Azzam was assassinated in Peshawar, and Al-Zawahiri had an open field.

For the zealots, everything that comes from the outside is like poison to their traditional ways of life, so they hold that there is only one way to avert cultural catastrophe: expel the invader and hermetically seal off the borders, so nothing can pollute or corrupt their miniature world. This is, in part, the position of Osama Bin Laden, who is opposed to the American presence, not only in Iraq, but also in Saudi Arabia.

But this defensive program would never work against Western civilization. Unlike all previous civilizations, it is not localized or territorially circumscribed. The pervasiveness of the global village is such that there is only one way to escape its grasp: destroy it….

I have yet to locate theentire 30-page article on the web, but when (if) I do, I’ll post the link. Still, the article I have linked has much more than I noted here. Read it and return. We’ll talk, eh?

X-Posted from STACLU

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I thought it would be interesting and informative to illustrate what our Nation might be like if it caved into all of the radical ideals of the ACLU. It ended up quite scary, and if we were to follow the law of consequence to its end, I’m certain I have only scratched the surface.

On October 27, 1787, Alexander Hamilton predicted that a “dangerous ambition” would one day tyrannize the gangling young American Republic, all the while lurking “behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people.” It could almost be said that Hamilton had a prophecy of the ACLU.

Our nation would be quite a scary and dangerous place if it were left in the hands of the ACLU. Creating an accurate picture of what our nation would be like is complicated by the inconsistencies in the ACLU’s philosophy, but one can conclude that it would definitely be a much more dangerous society to live in.

Continue reading “STOP the ACLU”

I’ve not had a “Kipling Tuesday” in over six months, mainly because in the months of posting Kipling Tuesday posts I had only had two comments on them and figured I’d just keep on reading and re-reading Kipling myself–fugeddabout folks who stumble on a little verse, eh?

🙂

And this, of course, isn’t a Kipling Tuesday post, either, cos it’s Wednesday, already. So? I referred to this lil ditty in a post earlier today, and on the off chance that no one clicked the link to the poem (*cough*), here it is. It does of course, say MUCH more about another problem quite different to the tax issues I linked it with, and in fact its major thrust deals more with appeasement of barbarian savages…

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Dane-geld
(A.D. 980-1016)
Rudyard Kipling

IT IS always a temptation to an armed and agile nation,
To call upon a neighbour and to say:—
“We invaded you last night—we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away.”

And that is called asking for Dane-geld,
And the people who ask it explain
That you’ve only to pay ’em the Dane-geld
And then you’ll get rid of the Dane!

It is always a temptation to a rich and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say:—
“Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away.”

And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we’ve proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.

It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray,
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say:—

“We never pay any-one Dane-geld,
No matter how trifling the cost;
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!”

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“…For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!”

TB-posted at Diane’s Stuff.

That rumble you may hear coming from Sweden isn’t an undercurrent of growing Swedish displeasure with Muslim immigrants’ misbehavior. It’s probably Gustavus Adolphus turning over (at high RPMs) in his grave.

The country that once fielded one of the fiercest, most successful armies the world has ever known is being conbquered by Dar-al-Islam at an accelerating rate. Because the once fiece Swedes are now roll-over-and-whine puppies who will apparently submit to any abuse in order to appease their invaders conquerors. For example,

…85% of Sweden’s rapes are committed by immigrants or their unassimilated first-generation offspring. Most of the rapists, like most of those immigrants, are Moslems. The Moslems boast of Swedish society’s lack of will to stop them. And the Swedish establishment averts its eyes.

And this is what “progressives” in this country want for us, as well.

Read Eric Raymond’s (Armed and Dangerous) “Islam Is At War With Us”

And while you are reading that, load his Anti-Idiotarian Manifesto in a background tab. A (very, very brief) sample:

WE THEREFORE ASSERT the following convictions as the premises of the anti-idiotarian position:

THAT Western civilization is threatened with the specter of mass death perpetrated by nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons placed in the hands of terrorists by rogue states;

THAT the terrorists and their state sponsors have declared and are pursuing a war not against the vices of Western civilization but against its core virtues: against the freedom of thought and speech and conscience, against the life of reason; against the equality of women, against pluralism and tolerance; against, indeed, all the qualities which separate civilized human beings from savagery, slavery, and fanaticism…

(h.t. to Chaos Manor Musings/Mail for the link to ESR’s AIM.)

Sounding the alarm at Cao’s Blog, Blue Star Chronicles, Stuck On Stupid, and Outside the Beltway.

This is the FaitTax Blogburst for April 12. You know what’s coming. Most of y’all have already paid your Danegeld*, and those of you who have yet to do so are likely nearing the hair-pulling stage. I used to shave my beard on April 15th in acknowledgement of this “National Day of Mourning (Weeping and Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth)”. No longer. I’m simply fed up, now.

Here’s the blogburst text from The Right Track Blog and Publius Rendezvous

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By the time the FairTax Blogburst appears next week, millions of Americans will have succumbed to the Internal Revenue Service, dutifully filing taxes on their income by Monday, April 17 at midnight local time. Some will owe the IRS and might not have the money to pay. Others may get a refund, which means that the government used that money for a period of time and did not pay you interest. (Incidentally, if you do owe taxes over a certain amount, the government will not only fine you for having not paid your taxes on a quarterly basis during the year, but will also charge you interest on your money that you kept from them!)

Since this is the time of year where the IRS and the citizens of this nation are most at odds (not that the IRS is ever really “popular”), we thought we’d spend this weeks post highlighting a couple of the abuses mentioned in the Boortz/Linder tome, “The FairTax Book”.

• An AP story on March 22, 1985 was headlined “IRS Tries to Penalize Chemical Company $46,000 for Being a Dime Short”. The story detailed how Rohm & Haas of Philadelphia (they own the Morton Salt brand) sent in a check for payroll taxes in the amount of $4,448,112.88 (that’s almost 4.5 million dollars!). The only problem was that Rohm & Haas actually owed $4,448,112.98. The IRS informed the company that the penalty for failure to pay that dime would be $46,806.37. The company got out of paying that penalty to the IRS, but you have to wonder how much they spent on legal fees trying to do so.
• In the mid-1980s, author and radio personality Neal Boortz was informed by his accountant that he owed $50,000 with the filing of his taxes, $50,000 that he didn’t have. He dutifully filed on time, immediately contacted the IRS, and made arrangements to pay his taxes over the course of the next year. Some time later he received a windfall which allowed him to settle immediately. Contacting the IRS, he was informed that the agent who had brokered his year-long deal had been transferred, and was subjected to what can only be described as the IRS’s version of the Spanish Inquisition, complete with its own female Torquemada. Backing Boortz into a corner of her own design, she managed to file a lien on his office building even though he was attempting to pay his taxes in full before the lien was filed. FYI, if you ever meet an IRS agent, formerly of Atlanta, by the name of Sandra, watch your wallet or purse, this girl’s a go-getter.

There are many more stories of IRS abuses — perhaps you know one or two yourself, and would consider posting your experiences in the comments section of this FairTax Blogburst participant blog. Simply put, at least some in the IRS have morals that make Tony Soprano look like Mother Teresa, and the relentless tenacity of a French waiter pursuing a tip.

Contact your Senator and Representative now and ask them to support the FairTax. With luck, and working together, we can make April 15 “just another beautiful Spring day”.

The FairTax Blogburst is jointly produced by Terry of The Right Track Blog and Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous. If you would like to join us, please e-mail Terry or Jonathan. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll.

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Taking flight at TMH’s Bacon Bits (but likely only when the runway’s cleared by Brother TMH, who’s stuck in intermittant connectivity limbo today).

*Oh, why do I link the income tax to Danegeld? Oh, it just seems to have too many characteristics in common with that old protection/extortion racket.

Wednesday’s Open Trackback Alliance open post. Link to this post and track back. More info below the body.

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A sign of the times. Democraps and their ilk support breaking the law (and, since the image above was purportedly taken at a “demonstration” of illegal aliens, many of whom are “reconquistadores”) and joining with those who would invade and conquer rthe United States.

Do Democraps really hate their own country that much?

Uhm, apparently yes.

*sigh*

The dystopic view of the West, and of America in particular is obvious for anyone paying attention. From such as the handbill above, movies like “V for Vendetta,” politicians, Mass Media Podpeople, Academia nuts and the like embracing those who flaunt our immigration laws, throw hissy fits whenever commonsense measures like profiling terrorists and attacking nearly every foundational underpinning of Western Civilization and American society—from the family to Christianity—while embracing its enemies, we can plainly see that the wide array of folks generally considered to be left of center simply hate America.

(And likely themselves.)

For a longer, link-filled treatment of the self-loathing and fearful folk peopling much of Western society now, read “I’m a Terrorist Groupie, Hear Me Roar!” at The Brussels Journal. And follow the links. (The link to Melanie Phillips links to a particularly rich resource. Melanie Phillips is a rich resource.)

Meanwhile…

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This is Wednesday’s Open Trackback Alliance open post. Link to this post and track back.

Post URL: http://www.thirdworldcounty.us/?p=2006
TrackbackURI: http://www.thirdworldcounty.us/?p=2006

Also note the other fine blogs featuring linkfests at Linkfest Haven.

The Washingtom Post (WaPo! I’m still trying to get my head around this one!) in a real, live, genuine, official editorial Sunday, actually “spoke truth to power” as it were concerning the Plame Game.

After more than 2 1/2 years of investigation, Mr. Fitzgerald has reported no evidence to support Mr. Wilson’s charge. In last week’s court filings, he stated that Mr. Bush did not authorize the leak of Ms. Plame’s identity.

And yes, there’s more at the link.

I have to say, I’m almost as flabbergasted by this development as I might be if such an editorial appeared in the New York Slimes.

h.t. Big Lizards! for the link to a rag I almost never read… Dafydd has some good comments on this amazing *heh* development. I particvularly like Dafydd’s “that the charges were nothing but lies wrapped in falsehoods surrounded by mendacity” phrase referring to Joe Wilson’s lies.

Lest anyone think Islam has a lock on misogynist views of women…

“In fact, the donkey is a shade better, for while the housewife may sometimes complain and walk off to her parents’ home, you’ll never catch the donkey being disloyal to his master.”

Sounds like someone has skewed views of both women and donkeys. I’ve known a few donkeys (and even more jackasses), and none of them are even remotely comparable to housewives of my aquiantance.

Although there are quite a few other species (congresscritters come easily to mind) that do bear remarkable resemblance to jackasses, save for the fact that most jackasses are more intelligent by at least an order of magnitude, and have better morals and ethics.