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Glenn Beck

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Moses and America

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Both classes of Creative marketing are really busy at the moment.

KM08 is making a marketing campaign for Tourism in Skåne under the watchful eye of their tutor Hans-Erik Duck in the course Lateral marketing. The class has been divided in to groups of four & five and they have their presentation at Thursday. It is the end of 7 weeks of hard work, long nights and careful studies of the market. From week 1-20 next year all the students are having internships and after that all that remains is the examination work that concludes the whole education.

KM09 is in the final weeks of the course commercial operation with Staffan Olofsson. Ten weeks has nearly past and I think they are all happy to start the next one! It is a very demanding course and some of them has been forced to confront their biggest fear; math! They have a presentation and one test to go next week. Next course is new media & technology with Anders Printz.

The format for Creative Marketing is focus on the business world. So far the students have been able to listen to Bodil Jönsson, Torbjörn Jörgensen and Stina Tjebbes. One class has visited TBWA in Copenhagen and listened to Paul Clements. Ivana Hrdlickova, information and communication manager at IKEA Försäljnings AB and Lars Carlson, senior advisor at Inter IKEA Systems have been giving lecturers. On their way in are Tina Kaikkonen, office manager at The Astonishing Tribe, Yacir Persson-Chelbat from the multicultural association, Sandra Nilsson, project assistant action marketing at Skånemejerier, Henrik Jansson, copy at Glenn and Patricio Silva, consulting director Interactive communication at Navigator ends this years guest lectures.

Donna

or: I’ll trade you civil liberties circa 1980, for the right to beat your wife circa 1920

or: If Glenn Beck were a decade, which one would he be?

For almost a year now, and even further back possibly, I have been fascinated with politics and punditry. I have become a self-proclaimed politico and I follow politics and media pretty closely, as closely as my tenuous hold on sanity will allow. In following politics my liberal mind has always been perplexed by the conservative party line of ‘returning to traditional American values’ and trying to recapture the ‘lost spirit of what it is to be an American’. In recent months it as been the loud ram’s horn call of Glenn Beck, and his ever growing audacity matched only by his ever growing audience, that has caused me to pontificate further on this subject. For the past few weeks this idea of lost values and traditional American fundamentals has led me to research where we might have gone wrong. Is there a specific time and place, a particular era that the GOP and other right-leaning hard-liners would want us to return to? If I can put my finger on the ethos that these guiding principles existed in, can we get back there? I delve in to this quagmire of American history to try and find “Glenn’s America”, so that he and others can stop preaching in general broad strokes and say, “we need to get back to what we believed in 19XX (or 18XX as it may be).”

When examining the general party ideas of what I understand to be the GOP’s fundamental idealogical structure I take my understanding from some 25 years on this planet, though you can’t count the first 16. I think that until you turn 17 and start trying to find yourself and begin to shape your views and identity in preparation for voting and contributing to society you are more of a blank slate in terms of personal free thought; up until this point you do not question a source but only try to fit in to the general parameters of ‘normal’ life as to not rock the boat and interfere with the indoctrination that American public schools instill in our youth. My true views have been shaped in my most recent years and as such I have adopted a view of the world quite different from my parents’, a direct result of informing myself for the first time in my life. In my home growing up as a small boy liberal leaders and democratic ideals warranted venom and crass, lewd criticism. The views I set forth will be of my own creation, independent of those I was raised on, either despite or in spite of them, I cannot tell. A crazy person isn’t crazy if he knows he’s crazy. Indeed.

The GOP seems to feel that gays should not marry, and are sinful. This makes no sense to me as sinful is a religious idea, not a political one; though it seems one position is quite often the result of the other. Gun rights should be protected at all costs to personal safety and public responsibility. Abortion is a no-no, ‘nuff said. They want smaller government, tax cuts, reform to let states decide things, though not gay marriage rights or any of the other items I just mentioned. They are for fiscal responsibility. GOP feels that a free market should regulate itself, again smaller government. They claim to fight for the middle class but public programs and universal anything is bad, that’s more government. They hate the environment as far as I can tell. Campaign finance reform (yeah right), education in America (no child left behind has gone so well after all). Prayer in school is ok, capital punishment and the death penalty are pretty much thumbs up, and the Ten Commandments should be at the steps of a courthouse flying the confederate flag. I am pretty close on this, right? So, basically it is a small government that has an abridged copy of the constitution, a cliff’s notes of the Bill of Rights, and a bible as it’s guiding principles. Hmmm, ok.

So, in American history, where can we find this utopia we strive for every day? This shangri-la we lost so long ago would obviously be the one saving grace for this country of godless sodomites. If we could only return to this point in time then everything would be fine. As far as I can tell it is the GOP that can save us if you believe the rhetoric. The liberals and the liberal media have scattered us across the nation and we are divided along partisan lines and are all doomed unless we jump on the Republican band wagon like some lifeboat after the Titanic sank. This is what self proclaimed “libertarian” Glenn Beck would like you to believe. I will give him credit for criticizing the government as a whole, even in the Bush days, though not in such inflammatory terms, but in reality he is like a Liber-publican. So, let’s take a step, Glenn, in to the way back machine and start a search for the time in American history you would like us to return to, as well as all of the Republican nay-sayers.

I want to start by saying that I am skipping the nineties completely being that he wasn’t happy with Clinton either, and it is far too close to the 21st century and the liberal progress this country has made; there is no way anyone wants to get back to how we were in the nineties, not even me and I loved my teen years in the nineties. And I am going to come back to the eighties later, they were too soon as well, but I will look at them briefly. We are sending our way back machine to a time when I think this country went bat-shit crazy and we were in maybe the most turmoil as a nation than anyone today can recall. I want to start out in the era that good old Glenn was born in, and that many of our current figure heads today, that make our decisions, can remember very ‘fondly’…the sixties.

Well I start here, in this decade of utter unrest by trying to illustrate that this can’t possibly be the America Glenn wants back. This cannot be the period in American history we want to recapture. This was a time that the late Strom Thurman must have hated with more zeal than any other period in history. It is hard to decide where to start. The sixties started out innocent enough, Kennedy beat Nixon and became the President, what followed was the Bay of Pigs incident, rumors about Marilyn, the meager beginning of Vietnam, the cuban missile crisis, then the man is assassinated. Further Vietnam BS, Malcolm X is killed, the Compton Cafeteria Riots in San Fran, then Nixon and all his Vietnam BS and his ‘secret plan to end the war’, the massive inflation crisis, MLK Jr. is killed, Bobby Kennedy is killed, the Stonewall riots of ’69, oh and a little thing who was named Manson did some killing. Great decade.

The sixties were a time of massive riots in the black and gay communities. Civil rights on all fronts tore the fabric of this country apart from women liberation, blacks, gays, even the Chicano revolution in this country. Outside of that was the acid wave of the sixties, a complete change in television, film, art, and especially music. The counterculture as it came to be known galvanized this country after the death of JFK, I think. The nice, homely manners of the 50’s were gone in a big way and now came very free thinkers, revolutionaries, protests exploded, demonstrations, inflation choked the middle class as they tried to compete with the changes in the landscape. The sixties were an ugly, hate-filled time, the emerging civil rights movement after the death of JFK was really the catalyst for it all. There is no way we want to return to the sixties as a country. America was in a violent turmoil and unsure of it’s identity and where the road we were on was going to lead us and people were strung out or scared for their lives, or both. I don’t think Glenn wants that back, so let’s move on.

How about we take a step forward and find Glenn in the seventies as a small boy, maybe these are the innocent and moral times he wants back…but I doubt it. Well in the seventies music really got good including the first ‘rap’ song, movies got weird, TV got lewd, and the country just got fucked up worse. This country started watching shows like All In The Family and the Brady bunch, dealing with some of the issues of the day. Vietnam choked the first few years while a little thing called Watergate slipped by the news press during Nixon’s re-election campaign and then killed him by ’74. It was the most embarrassing and shocking scandal in American political history, which in my opinion was the death of politics. I think that Nixon and his escalation of the doomed Vietnam war and his scandal killed the American political system. Outside of the US revolution was abundant across the world. Woodstock was a shining beacon of what drugs and music and mud can do for young people, a complete change from how we started the decade on the campus of Kent State where the National Guard gunned down peaceful protestors of the war on a college campus; unthinkable today, one would hope. The draft was the height of outrage, an unbelievable moment when Ali fought the draft and Elvis went in. Protest and anti-war sentiment was as widespread in this country as pant legs were flared. The Cold War ramped up a bit and this country got really scared, really fast. Our involvement in a few revolutions and military coupes as well as an assassination or two was a continuation of poor foreign affairs decisions. The middle east started down the road to where we are today with Israel, Egypt, Syria, the Soviet Union, and Afghanistan, all starting to kick each others asses.

The seventies brought women’s rights to the forefront as the sixties had civil rights for minorities eclipsing women’s rights to some extent. Vietnam ended finally, well our involvement, leaving the North to just wait for us to leave and drop Saigon to it’s knees and claim the country unified again. A sad end to a war we should have not been in and an end that was mostly our fault. Oh and lest I forget the massive recession we were in mixed with oil crises a couple of times resulting in rationing and further middle class stresses that included a very high unemployment rate. Then of course there was Jonestown, about 900 dead there. Idi Amin started his tyrannical, violent rule of Uganda as well. Is this the era we should return to? Hatred, war, violence, and tragedy pock marked this era. The seventies hold within their years scandal, racism, and fear-mongering, of the most epic scale one can imagine. There is no way we want to return to the moral or political views of this era. The seventies were the time for change for sure, but it came at great expense on the heels of a decade of radical change and upheaval. The 70’s continued the massive crime rate spikes that the sixties brought and the country still sat on the edge of it’s seat every day as nothing seemed to get better. Surely we don’t want the seventies back.

Ok, the eighties might be better, the days of Reagan and Bush, this might be the most likely time we want to return to. The eighties would be the most formidable years of Beck’s life; the decade of excess. The eighties brought the yuppie, and with it, all the coke, parties, and BMW’s we could handle. We saw great multinational growth and wall street was glamorous, they were kings then, still total scum, but they had better PR people then. Of course Reagan declared a War on Drugs, the Cold War raged to a massive scale. Sure, communism fell apart as did the Berlin Wall, but we saw the further mishandling of the middle east that is the source of our problems and involvement there today, can’t argue with that. Reagan put a major black eye on his presidency with the discovery of the Iran-Contra debacle that Oliver North was the mastermind behind. This country saw massive economic growth against the backdrop of very complicated and protracted battles all over the world including Asia, the middle east, central and south america, and ever Ireland with ‘the troubles’ brewing. (Only badass Irish would call a modern, religious civil war ‘the troubles’, an understatement to say the least)

The eighties, I think were a time of thinking that we could not be beaten, being the short attention span of Americans forgetting the seventies. We were coked out of our minds, living beyond our means, and we were kicking Commie ass. But the eighties, world wide, were complicated, painful growth, some democratic, but on the whole we saw massive famine and destruction abroad as the industrialized countries were making head way. The middle class of nations was being evaporated as the gap between rich and poor nations grew drastically. Domestic issues were tough though, as it seemed we were trying to use our power for good as a people with things like LiveAid and becoming more aware of issues in Africa and other countries, the eighties saw the rise of the religious right. They really got fired up on the gay issue and the discovery of AIDS, ‘the gay plague’. This country grew in many way, a decent decade I guess, I don’t really remember much of it but it seemed like a lot of people were having a lot of fun, safer fun.

Glenn probably liked the eighties, he used to be a liberal and an alcoholic, he draws a fine parallel between the two in a Katie Couric interview you should look up on YouTube, and this might have been his favorite time. Old enough to enjoy and understand it, he probably had a great time. Conservatives in power, strides made internationally, excess and money everywhere. The eighties were a wild party time, a decade that seemed to be a release of the past twenty years of hard work, growing pains, and controversial conflict. The 60’s and 70’s were going to lead inevitably to a time when we finally just cut loose and took a deep breath after so much bloodshed, upheaval, and serious talk. It was the decade we all remembered fondly on VH1. Music was weird, movies were great, TV was filled with classics we all watched, and standup comedians were making it big; the country was having a good laugh, a bump, and some beer. Not too bad.

I discount the nineties entirely so let’s jump back to a more general era I don’t think we can reasonably go back to, the 50’s to the 30’s. This was another era of massive wars, depression, civil rights injustice, bigotry, no women’s liberation, industrialization, organized crime, et al. These were times when blacks were openly hung from gallows, women were expected to be barefoot and pregnant in front of the stove, except when they were making tanks for the troops overseas for next to nothing wages. A time where minorities were rightfully scared at night of police or white boys out for a joyride. The prohibition, crime in the streets, Bonnie and Clyde, the Tommy gun, the B.A.R., saloons, speakeasy’s, and rampant bank robberies and crooked cops on the beat. This was a different time for this country and I don’t think we can agree with many of the ideals that were held to in this time and apply it today, the role of women alone is too much inequality to bare, let alone the rest.

OK, let’s take a big jump to my favorite era, the old west. You know the times, I’m talking post manifest destiny, pre-FBI. A time of no gun laws, showdowns in the streets, legal prostitutes, and riding in to town on a horse. Tombstone, San Francisco, Indian and cowboys. A time where gold was rushing and crazy white drunks ran amok and contracted TB and polio. Yes, when there were still a few Indians around, you had ranchers with thousands of acres, cattle drives, train robberies, and the men of storied legend lived and died by Winchester, Colt, and Smith&Wesson. I like to think I lived in the times with a town sheriff, shitty beer, floozies, and general martial law over most of the country. A time where you could shoot a man in the street in broad daylight in front of 50 people, and they might actually clap and then go about their day. The good times.

I think this might not be far enough back though. When I hear Glenn speak, he talks about the founding father’s principles. The true foundation of the country as he sees it with the men who earned America through blood, sweat, and tears. Jefferson’s America. OK, well let’s first examine the fact that we are talking late 1700’s and early 1800’s. These are pre-electric, pre-phone times. We are talking Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere, plantations, etc. If this is the time Glenn thinks we need to get back to I want to highlight a couple of things. First off, slavery was alive and well…need I say more? Secondly, this country treated women like shit, there were no civil rights, and it was unindustrialized. This country was populated and run by rich, white land owners, and then there was everybody else. I don’t want anyone to romanticize this era. This country was created, founded, and declared on the bodies of millions of natives and the death and suffering of minority races of people removed from their homes and treated worse than dogs in the time period.

America has never been truly righteous. We revolted for selfish reasons, nothing simpler than that. We turned against the imperialism of the Queen and her rule and declared our independence; the worst “dear John” letter ever. Up to that point we had slaughtered, tricked, infected, raped, and pillaged our way to the Mississippi and thought very highly of white skin and could kill a black man for any reason at any time, or sell them, whatever struck our fancy. What I am about to say is going to piss off the right, but if I could meet George Washington I think I would take the opportunity to shake his hand and then slap the wooden teeth out of his head. These were racist white bigots with an knack for the written word and hard on for ‘freedom’ by their definition as it applied to them as an emerging nation of first class citizens at the top of the shit pile. All due respect, but their ideas and principles were fundamentally offensive and their beliefs of equality were for themselves and those they agreed with. How many minorities or women were running around enjoying their freedom of speech or right to bare arms…or even read? I rest my case.

So maybe Glenn does have a time in mind. Maybe he wants the scandalous, violent 70’s, or the civil unrest and inequality of the 60’s. The old west certainly had smaller/non-existent national government, and the 40’s sure were good times to be a gangster, Nixon would have done well, that’s for sure. The eighties surely had the best coke, and some unprecedented growth, outside of post-industrialized America (without all of these pesky labor laws we got). Maybe he wants the great depression era, maybe to live amongst the greatest generation, or rub elbows with white men who raped their slaves on their plantation as a matter of principle and patriotism. The history of America is short, embarrassing, and seemingly without a lesson learned throughout. Glenn, I dare you and your constituents to point out that shining beacon in American history that is so much better than now, ‘cause I must have missed it. All those moments have led up to now, and I’ll be damned if where we are isn’t a hell of a lot better than where we were; you can pry this progress from my cold dead hands, pal.

Vanmorgen ging de wekker zowaar af en wel om 6:30 want we wilden uiterlijk om 7:45 in de auto zitten. We zijn begonnen met tanken en na even gerekend te hebben van gallons naar liters en van mijlen naar kilometers blijkt dat we een ‘extreem zuinige’ auto hebben, hij rijdt 1 liter op 6,4 km. En we rijden hier echt niet hard. Na getankt te hebben rijden we naar het huis van Glenn om hem op te halen.

We gaan samen met Glenn naar Busch Gardens vandaag. Om 9:30 komen we in de community aan waar hij woont. Hier staan echt prachtige huizen hij woont samen met iemand anders in een klein huis van 2400 ft² (~ 800 m²) en is echt prachtig en typisch Amerikaans. Het is gebouwd bij een klein meertje met een alligator erin en heeft een veranda met schommelstoelen. De woonkamer is enorm en de keuken is uitgerust met een Amerikaanse koelkast. Meer Amerikaans kan niet. We eten een paar donuts en vertrekken dan richting Busch Gardens maar eerst bekijken we nog het community center. Hier is een groot zwembad, een fitnesszaal, een outdoor amphi-theater, kinderopvang, bar en een activiteiten programma. Dit is voor elke bewoner die in de community woont, ze betalen daar allemaal voor in de community fee. Dit was echt bijzonder om te zien.

Hierna gaan we dan echt naar Busch Gardens waar we pas om 11:45 aankomen. We hadden het idee niet alles meer te kunnen bezoeken maar ja beter iets dan niet zullen we maar zeggen. We beginnen met de Gwazi een Woodie (houten achtbaan) en die is echt ruig we doen hem frontrow en we vliegen regelmatig van onze stoel. Na dit leuke begin lopen we gelijk door naar de Sheikra, de achtbaan der achtbanen. Het een is een achtbaan van 3 rijen met 8 stoelen achter elkaar en een drop van 90 graden, recht naar beneden dus. Verder is de coaster floorless dus je hebt niets onder je, dit geeft de ride een extra dimensie. En voor je valt blijf je ook even (paar seconden) hangen. De baan is echt geweldig en frontrow is hij echt te gek.

Bij het naar buiten lopen na de Sheikra komen we uit bij 2 waterattracties. Glenn roept dat we naar de Tanganyika Tidal Wave gaan. Net als bij de eerste 2 coasters is er geen rij dus we zijn gelijk aan de beurt. We zien de volgende waarschuwing: “You might get soaked” Het is ruim 25 graden dus die paar spetter water maken niet uit. We stappen achterin in het bootje maar dit helpt niet veel. Er komt een flinke golf binnen en mijn broek is nat. Bij Daan en Glenn valt het nog mee en mijn broek zal ook wel opdrogen.

Na deze ride hebben we nog een boomstammen attractie, de Stanley Falls. Nu ik toch al nat ben kunnen we die beter gelijk doen. Danielle zegt dat ze voorin het boomstammetje gaat en dan kunnen Glenn en ik achterin. Helaas blijkt dit geen goed plan. We hebben achterin een relatief diepe ligging, we raken regelmatig de bodem van de bak. Het water komt ook redelijk dicht bij de rand van de boomstam en wat we al vermoeden bleek waar na elke drop kwam er een flinke golf water binnen. We waren tot onze onderbroek aan toe soaked en dit zonder een waarschuwing. Bij Danielle viel het wel mee met nat worden ze had wel de grootste lol om ons… De River Rapids waren helaas dicht voor onderhoud dus we konden niet een derde manier vinden om nat te worden.

Na het nat worden wilden we de Kumba in maar deze was dicht in verband met een storing dus het werd de Scorpion, dit was geen succes het is ene coaster met een schootbeugel en een looping. Ik vindt hem heel schokkerig en kom er met lichte hoofdpijn uit. We nemen even wat gas terug en doen de Rhino Ralley een survival door het dierenpark gedeelte van Busch Gardens.

En dan vervolgen we onze weg met een ritje in de Kumba die weer is geopend en sluiten het rijtje coasters af met de Montu een coaster waar je in hangt met 7 keer een inversie (over de kop). Echt een geweldige coaster. Dan lopen we naar het Crown Colony Café voor een lunch. Ik kies een broodje Pulled Pork with BBQ sauce en Daan kiest een Seafood Salad Platter. Beide erg goed te eten en de pulled Pork blijkt een plaatselijke specialiteit te zijn.

Na het eten gaan we met de Sky Ride in de richting van de Sheikra die Danielle en Glenn nog 2 keer frontrow doen en waar ik foto’s van maak. Helemaal enthousiast komen ze eruit en ik heb foto’s van hun gemaakt en mijn hoofdpijn was al bijna weg. Busch Gardens is een leuk park het is echter geen Disney park en dat merk je op verschillende fronten (schoon, sfeer, afwerking) maar zeker ene park wat men zou kunnen bezoeken als de drang naar coasters groot is.

Na het park rijden we naar een grote Mall in Tampa waar we een paar mooie kerstbomen zien die een goedkope kopie voorstellen van het Osborne Specatacle in de Hollywoos Studio’s. Het is prachtig gedaan en gratis. Het is ook heel druk in de Mall. We kijken nog wat rond en we testen nog even de Sleep Number bedden uit dat zijn de heerlijke bedden waar we nu op slapen. Of deze in Europa bestelbaar is kan niemand vertellen dat gaan we dus nog eens rustig uitzoeken. In de winkel raken we via Glenn met een Yankee fan in gesprek en al snel wordt er gesproken over 9/11 wat ze beiden redelijk intens hebben meegemaakt, heel bijzonder om naar die verhalen te luisteren.

Na de Mall nog te hebben doorgelopen hebben we een uitnodiging op zak om bij vrienden van Glenn Thanksgiving mee te vieren. Dit is op onze voorlaatste dag in onze vakantie dus helemaal zeker zijn we nog niet maar waarschijnlijk gaan we, kunnen we kalkoen eten.

Nu kregen we om 20:30 redelijk trek en besluiten we naar een Grieks restaurant te gaan. Na de Valet Parking (auto wordt geparkeerd dooor iemand anders) gaan we naar binnen en met nog 10 minuten wachten zitten we aan de tafel. Het menu is vergelijkbaar met een Nederlandse Griek enkel de namen van de gerechten zijn anders. We eten alle drie wat anders en om 22:00 komt een buikdanseres langs, erg leuk om te zien en dat is typisch voor de Acropolis, het restaurant waar we eten. Na uitgegeten te zijn brengen we Glenn terug naar de Villa en rijden we nog 1,5 uur met de auto terug, Danielle slaapt het grootste gedeelte van de weg en ook nu slaapt ze al.

Ik ga ook snel slapen en de foto’s komen er later op jullie dag bij te staan. Sorry voorde vertraging.

Joe Biden: donated $369 last year to charity, and Barack Obama donated 1 % of his salary.

These stats were taken from Glenn Beck’s revision and addition to Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

Posted by Audiegrl

The American Family Association attacked Gap for not using the word ‘Christmas‘ in its advertising — but in fact it does, and in a big way too

Los Angeles Times/Dan Neil—The Mississippi-based American Family Assn. last week issued a fatwa against Gap Inc. — the retailing giant whose brands include Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic — calling for a “two-month boycott over the company’s failure to use the word ‘Christmas’ in its advertising to Christmas shoppers.”

The War on Christmas season has officially begun.

Gap “does not use the word ‘Christmas’ to avoid offending those who don’t embrace its meaning,” writes Buddy Smith, executive assistant to the president of the AFA, on the organization’s website. “Christmas has historically been very good for commerce. But now Gap wants the commerce but no Christmas.”

“I interpret Gap’s decision as a warning sign to Christians to get out there and tell people about Jesus Christ,” writes Smith.

And they say nobody likes fruitcake.

It would be easy to get sidetracked into debating the merits of the War on Christmas. Why, for example, is the phrase “Happy holidays” so insufferable to Christian fundamentalists, but not the vulgar, surfeiting exploitation of Christ’s name to sell smokeless ashtrays, dessert toppings, Droid phones and trampolines? I’m not a theologian but I think the Gospels are pretty clear that Jesus was no fan of merchants.

And since China is in the news this week: Why not go after Gap and other retailers for trading in Chinese-made goods, since the Chinese government actively oppresses the Christian faith? Seems like building a case on religious tolerance would have more resonance. Oh, wait. Never mind.

But here’s the real question: Why attack Gap for not using the word “Christmas” in its advertising when in fact it does, and in a big way too?

Surf on over to YouTube and watch Gap’s latest 30-second spot, titled “Go Ho Ho” (Crispin Porter + Bogusky). The spot — which is in heavy rotation on network and cable TV — features a group of insanely athletic dancers leaping and twirling and stomp-cheering around a white log-cabin set. They chant, “Go Christmas, go Hanukkah, go Kwanzaa, go Solstice. . . . Do whatever you wannukkah and to all a cheery night.”

There it is, right up front, enjoying pride of place: the C-word.

More @

In one of the first lines of Gap’s new holiday ad, the dancers yell, “Go Christmas! Go Hanukkah! Go Kwanzaa! Go Solstice!” Check it out, its got great dancing too!

Get Ready For Holiday Cheer – visit cheerfactory.com to send some personalized digi-cheer to your friends.

IMHO, this entire drama could be avoided by simply educating people on the origins of what we know today as “Christmas“.

Several years ago a family member gave me the DVD “Christmas unWrapped- The History of Christmas“. It examines each of our holiday traditions and explains where they came from. Many people who believe we should “keep Christ in Christmas“, will be surprised to learn the historical facts. Its a very interesting documentary, that I highly recommend.

Click here to purchase

People all over the world celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th. But why is the Nativity marked by gift giving, and was He really born on that day? And just where did the Christmas tree come from? Take an enchanting tour through the history of this beloved holiday and trace the origins of its enduring traditions. Journey back to the earliest celebrations when the infant religion embraced pagan solstice festivals like the Roman Saturnalia and turned them into a commemoration of Jesus’ birth. Learn how Prince Albert introduced the Christmas tree to the English-speaking world in 1841, and discover how British settlers in the New World transformed the patron saint of children into jolly old St. Nick.

This documentary explores the origin of Christmas and how it came to be the way we know it today. The documentary also incites the thought as to how Christmas is on one hand a result of social, cultural, and political influences (hence somewhat obscuring the apparent purpose of the festival: Christ’s Mass), and on the other hand a influence over people’s lives (particularly consumerism). Youtube links to the first three parts of the show are below.

I highly recommend purchasing this DVD.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Glenn Beck – Network Consultant Extraordinaire
While enjoying my copy of “Arguing With Idiots” this morning, I noticed on page 98 this nifty piece of advice, in jest, provided by Glenn Beck to NBC and MSNBC.

Who knew that the Liberal Main Stream Media would go there?

Glenn, your audience growth is phenomenal and now includes other networks. All this and a historic mark on the New York Times Best Seller list. Awesome!

Unfortunately NBC didn’t get the whole message: “…Pro-Ethanol Segments…” However it’s a sign that while POTUS is away the MSM might really try moving into the Main Stream by learning with patriotic cliff notes aka Glenn Beck’s “Arguing With Idiots”.

***Also forwarded to The 912 Project Fan Site for use.

“Face it – your a lackey, Mackey!”

Cartman actually makes a good Beck.

Vandaag hebben we afgesproken met Glenn. Glenn was Cast member in Florida tijdens ons vorige bezoek en we hebben sindsdien regelmatig contact gehad via de mail. En vandaag hebben we afgesproken voor de World of Disney Store in Downtown. Het enige wat we gepland hebben is een bezoek aan ICE! in het Gaylord Palms Resort, dit een tentoonstelling van ijssculpturen gemaakt van 2 miljoen pond ijs. Verder is er niet gepland.

Voordat we naar Downtown Disney gaan zijn we nog kort langs de Dunkin’ Donuts gereden voor een dozen verschillende donuts. Ze waren weer heerlijk. En om stipt 9 uur kwamen we Glenn tegen te midden van allerlei krijttekeningen op de grond. Dit vanwege het Festival of Masters waar kunstenaars hun kunsten vertonen. Na even te hebben gepraat gaan we op weg naar Epcot.

Epcot is de plek waar we Glenn hebben ontmoet en hij wees ons op Base21 de VIP Lounge voor Siemens medewerkers. Nu wilden we hem daar graag mee naar toe nemen om te laten zien waar het is. We hebben de interactieve wall uitgeprobeerd en we zijn naar de observatie ruimte geweest waar je over Future World uitkijkt. Bij het verlaten kregen we nog een cadeautje van de hostess, een VIP Entrance ticket voor Testtrack. Dit is een kaart waarmee je een week lang zonder wachtrij bij Testtrack naar binnen mag. Echt handig dus want daar staan vaak lange wachtrijen. Deze proberen we daarom gelijk uit.

Na Testtrack rijden we via Downtown Disney (Glenn wilde zijn handschoenen en muts ophalen) naar het Gaylord Palms Resort voor ICE! Het hotel is erg imposant en gigantisch groot. Eenmaal binnen lopen we naar de exhibit ruimte en trekken we een Parka (lange winterjas) aan voordat we de ruimte van –13°C betreden. In het begin was het echt heel erg koud maar na een tijdje raakten we (Daan en ik) eraan gewent. De stap van 28°C naar -13°C was denk te groot. De tentoonstelling is werkelijk prachtig en de ijsglijbanen zijn erg leuk. We zijn bijna een uur binnen en bij buitenkomst halen we snel een warme chocolademelk en lopen we door het Resort. In het resort zijn alle regio’s van Florida terug te  vinden.

Na het bezoek aan ICE! begonnen onze maagjes te knorren en zijn we naar een Applebees gereden. Hier hebben we genoten van een geweldige hamburger en hebben we een uitleg over het tip systeem (fooi-systeem) gekregen. Erg leerzaam. Vlakbij deze Applebees zat een House of Beers, dit is een café met bier van rond de hele wereld. Dit wilden we wel eens zien. Daan heeft een Kriek gedronken in een Champagne glas voor $5 en Glenn en ik probeerden een Hefeweizen van Tucher uit. Ook voor $5, niet heel duur voor een Hefeweizen dachten we. Ware het niet dat ze in Amerika Hefeweizen glazen hebben van 0,3 liter in plaats van de  0,5 die we gewend zijn.

We vervolgen onze weg en stoppen bij de Mall at Millenia omdat ik nog even wilde kijken in de vernieuwde Apple Store voor de TomTom Carkit, helaas niet beschikbaar. Het is innmiddels 15:15 uur. We besloten om te gaan minigolfen, de keuze valt op de Fantasia Gardens baan waar we genieten van een leuk spelletje voor slecht $6 per persoon. Dit door de 50% korting als Annual Pass houder. Ik sla 2 keer een Hole-in-one en de officiele einduitslag is als volgt:

1. Sander (48 slagen)
2. Glenn (58 slagen)
3. Danielle (62 slagen)

Na het mini golfen rijden we terug naar Epcot omdat we graag Illuminations willen zien. We komen om 7 uur het park binnen en het is erg rustig deze dag. We rijden eerst Testtrack en lopen daarna naar de Worlshowacase. We stoppen bij America’s Adventure en kijken daar de show. Om 20:50 uur id deze voorstelling afgelopen en zoeken we een plaatsje op om Illuminations te kijken. De keuze valt op Duitsland want daar kan ik de Gorillapod nog mooi wegzetten om wat foto’s te maken. En wat is het toch een prachtige show Danielle geniet er zichtbaar van en ik probeer ondertussen foto’s te maken.

Na Illumionations zet ik nog de kerstboom in Epcot op de foto alvorens we naar de auto lopen om te gaan eten bij een Chick-Fil-A. Wat we echter niet wisten is dat deze keten om 10 uur sluit en  uiteindelijk eten we een hamburger bij Wendy’s.

Na het eten rijden we terug naar Downtown Disney en nemen we afscheid en besluiten we om volgend weekend richting Tampa te rijden voor een mooi strand of vanwege Busch Gardens. Na tot ziens te hebben gezegd rijden we snel terug naar het hotel het was immers kwart voor 12 en we zijn best moe.

Het was echt een superdag en we hebben veel gelachen. Zeker voor herhaling vatbaar.

A special Thanksgiving edition! Thank goodness for improvised music! This month there are three sets:

the Karl Evangelista Trio: Karl Evangelista, guitar; Cory Wright, saxophones; and Jordan Glenn, drums.

the Science Quartet: Michael Coleman, wurlitzer; Jacob Zimmerman, alto saxophone; Matt Nelson, tenor saxophone; Jordan Glenn, drums.

Blenderhead: Loren Benedict, voice, Matt Nelson, saxophone; Erc Vogler, guitar; Sam Ospovat, drums.

November 23, 2009
9:00 PM, No cover, donations accepted.

Kingman’s Ivy Room
860 San Pablo Ave
Albany, CA

Glenn returned to work this week without celebrity fanfare and has continued to dig and delve into the continual confusions of the current administration and its missteps to mistakes.
For the first time ever, I wrote three separate articles within one week dedicated to one person, and that was Glenn Beck:

Glen on the Mend

Glenn Beck’s History Making Debuts on the NY Times Best Seller Lists

Glenn Beck Makes a Big Splash with Video Contest and Best Sellers

For a Non-Journalist, Glenn Beck is doing everything right and does so with integrity. The Liberal MSM could learn volumes from this man. I have a thought for the MSM, read just one of his Best Seller books. They are primers full of real, cold, hard, truthful facts.

Abortion is murder!!  Abortion should not be paid for with our mo—Oh God.  You’re foreshadowing something aren’t you?

Source: Fox News

Oh man!!!  Yes, the Republican National Committee released a statement Thursday admitting that the health care plan for their own employees covers elective abortion. Stupid Cigna!  This just days after the Stupak amendment was added to the health bill that passed the House of Representatives which would eliminate all federal funding for abortions other than those in cases of rape or life-threatening medical harm to the mother.  According to the RNC spokeswomen Gail Gitcho the policy has been in place since 1991, you know, only 18 years.

Of course this RNC policy isn’t that big a deal. There were no reports so far of anyone actually using the provision for this coverage.  So it’s not really that hypocritical.  And besides Stupak and the others who supported his amendment, including nearly all Republicans, did the right thing.  I mean, as we know the majority of Americans are against abortion, which is why American tax dollars shouldn’t go to fund, you know…the legal…constitutionally backed…right of women.  But, if the majority of our citizenry are backing a pro-life stance, isn’t it our government’s job to listen, ya know, to the majority of Americans and give ‘em what they want?

Source: Pew Research Center (Oct. 9th 2009)

Ok wait, that is completely off topic.  Surely with the long and deliberate debate about health care reform we have gotten a good sense of what Americans want.  And with headlines like this it’s pretty easy to know what the right thing to do is:

Glenn has a point.  If the American people speak we should really back them.  After all America is about the people, and if the people decide something we should listen, accept it, and then move forward.  So if, you know, the very fabric of our country’s founding doctrine breaks down and the American people go all crazy n’ shit and start supporting some evil dictatorial system where the government encroaches on our freedoms and civil liberties; if the American people do go crazy and want “Socialism” we should give it to them.

Source: Gallup

Devil’s Magic!!  Yea, ok fine, but 50% to 46%?  Really?  I’m not a mathematician, but I know that is not statistically significant.  There is much broader general support for abor—

Source: Gallup

Oh God.  Hmmmm, I wonder if public opinion flip-flops to 47%-46% in favor of a pro-choice stance if we have to rewrite the amendment to put government abortion funding back in to the health care bill.  After all, it’s about the American people isn’t it?

COMING UP SOON! its the GLENN DOUGLAS PACKARD special edition! PLEASSEE check it out! ill post the date of the show when i can! thanks

Posted by TheLCster

Eric Cartman is the new Glenn Beck. Last night on “South Park” the chubby youngster took over morning announcements and turned them from standard bullet points into long screeds about the student class president. Turns out Eric hates her and as a result devotes all his time to creating and promoting crazy conspiracy theories about her time in office. Sound familiar?

Glenn Beck’s Radio Webcam Reaction To South Park’s Cartman Turning Into Him

You know when you eat an apple that has a worm in it? It just ruins the whole thing. America is that apple, and Glenn Beck the worm.

And although he uses big words like “prayer” and “God” in his rants, he in no way embodies the same religious zeal he attempts to conjure up in others – he merely uses those words as showpieces to rally other “religious people” to his cause. But, one must remember that Glenn is not representative of all “religious people” or all Mormons (his religion) or all Christians (there’s a big difference between the two), and therefore one cannot blame “religious people” for Glenn Beck. He is his own creation (and one of the media’s creations), and his ideas are not representative of the ideas of “religious people.”

And “religious people” would do well to truly PAY ATTENTION to who Beck is and what he says. I’m sure most would find there is a bit of a disconnect between their particular religious beliefs and the extreme things Beck says and does.

I particularly like how he elevates America above the place of God in his 9-12 Project (http://www.the912project.com/the-912-2/). In fact, most of what is written on his 9-12 Project page can be classified as ONE of these four things: (a) can be overturned by Scripture, (b) is counter to what Jesus taught, (c) has not been demonstrated or lived out by Beck, or (d) has been radically disproven as fundamental to Beck’s core beliefs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n3QeHtSOfM).

So, “religious people,” please don’t feel that you need to loop yourselves in with Glenn Beck just because he talks about “God” on a nationally publicized media program. And “media people,” please don’t assume that all “religious people” or conservatives fall into the same narrow category that Beck has taken it upon himself to occupy.

He’s just a little worm burrowing down into the apple of America, with enough space and a loud enough voice to ruin that apple for everyone.

You know when you eat an apple that has a worm in it? It just ruins the whole thing. America is that apple, and Glenn Beck the worm.

And although he uses big words like “prayer” and “God” in his rants, he in no way embodies the same religious zeal he attempts to conjure up in others – he merely uses those words as showpieces to rally other “religious people” to his cause. But, one must remember that Glenn is not representative of all “religious people” or all Mormons (his religion) or all Christians (there’s a big difference between the two), and therefore one cannot blame “religious people” for Glenn Beck. He is his own creation (and one of the media’s creations), and his ideas are not representative of the ideas of “religious people.”

And “religious people” would do well to truly PAY ATTENTION to who Beck is and what he says. I’m sure most would find there is a bit of a disconnect between their particular religious beliefs and the extreme things Beck says and does.

I particularly like how he elevates America above the place of God in his 9-12 Project (http://www.the912project.com/the-912-2/). In fact, most of what is written on his 9-12 Project page can be classified as ONE of these four things: (a) can be overturned by Scripture, (b) is counter to what Jesus taught, (c) has not been demonstrated or lived out by Beck, or (d) has been radically disproven as fundamental to Beck’s core beliefs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n3QeHtSOfM).

So, “religious people,” please don’t feel that you need to loop yourselves in with Glenn Beck just because he talks about “God” on a nationally publicized media program. And “media people,” please don’t assume that all “religious people” or conservatives fall into the same narrow category that Beck has taken it upon himself to occupy.

He’s just a little worm burrowing down into the apple of America, with enough space and a loud enough voice to ruin that apple for everyone.

Posted by Audiegrl

Perfecting the Paranoid Style in 500 BC and 2009 by Peter Struck

Socrates

From Buckley to Beck

by Peter Struck Back in 1996, I had a correspondence with William F. Buckley, Jr., who, like many of those on the Right at the time, had a habit of claiming ownership over the ideas and spirit of the classical past. So it wasn’t altogether surprising to see him on television aligning himself with Socrates and pressing for the triumph of absolutes over relativism. What did catch my ear was that Buckley was arguing in favor of the death penalty, and was using Socrates to make his case. I couldn’t resist writing the man about the cruel irony of holding up as a poster boy for the death penalty the Western Tradition’s most famous victim of it. Buckley responded promptly, but never really engaged the most challenging issue: that Socrates, the paragon of classical rationalism, was deeply suspicious of that other signature legacy of his countrymen, democracy. He saw it as a system of government whose weakness was precisely that it rewarded those who could most artfully whip up a bunch of hot-headed boobs with the power to kill whoever displeased them. At its worst, it was rule by mob.

It Was Cleon Who Shouted the Loudest

The 2,400-year-old temple of Ifestos, which sits in the ancient Agora of Athens, where ancient Athenian statesman Cleon placed shields captured in a victory over Sparta

The archetype for Glenn Beck is a fifth century B.C. Athenian figure named Cleon, our first well-documented populist. Cleon represented a new class, made possible for the first time in democratic Athens. The notion that the whole people of Athens should participate in decisions collectively allowed for the rise of figures who presumed to speak for them. Cleon became wildly famous and successful not by coming from a powerful family, or by serving in regular office, but by delivering fiery speeches to thousands of Athenians in public. The Greek sources leave behind an unsparing portrait of an impulsive, histrionic bully. Aristotle tells us that “he was the first to use unseemly shouting and abusive language in the public assembly; and while it was customary to speak politely, he addressed the assembly with his cloak lifted up.” In Thucydides’ version, Cleon’s own lack of a pedigree provided him a plentiful source of resentment against those that had one, and he cast every self-aggrandizing gesture as a motivated by a love of the people over the aristocrats. He flattered his audience as being more capable of governing than the supposed experts in power. He personalized politics and under his influence those who disagreed with the state were referred to, for the first time in ancient Greece, as “haters of the people.” The comic playwright Aristophanes vividly portrayed him on stage as a man in a constant state of anger, his voice resembling the squeal of a scalded pig.

From Beck to Buckley

William F. Buckley, Jr. and Glenn Beck

In the line from Cleon to Beck there is hardly a wiggle. Less obvious but telling is the connection between both these figures and Buckley. Driven by an unyielding sense of their own correctness, all three are experts in the trade of absolutes, always pressing toward a higher-contrast world of black and white. While it has become utterly common to see people in the public sphere assume such a posture, it does not stand to reason that they must. Among Republicans, for example, one used to see a strain based on intellectual modesty, of resistance to grand theories and attempts to explain everything. Eisenhower built a coalition around such principles that held up for decades. Obama may well be up to doing the same. In order to get on with fixing what it was possible to fix, they recognized the usefulness of an ability to live with a degree of uncertainty, a quality that Goldwater, and later George Bush and Karl Rove, vanquished from the Republican Party.

Tea Party Protesters in Washington,DC

This Republicanism of certainty has had a good run, but it has likely reached the end of its appeal. David Brooks, whose sympathies attune with refinement to Eisenhower Republicanism, sounded its death knell in a recent column in the New York Times. If Beck’s days as the center of attention are numbered, as Brooks claims they are, it will not be because of his coarseness or his rejectionism, but because of his imperviousness to doubt. Intellectual hubris is tiresome in any case, but it is an especially odd standard to use to rally people who understand themselves as conservatives. Certainties are what one needs to upend things, and at a some point conservatives grow uncomfortable with that sort of thing. Cleon, that ancient voice of certainty, was not among the conservative lot at all, but a radical through-and-through.

While Buckley was of course right to point to Socrates as someone who endorsed the idea that there are absolutes, he missed the most important part of the story. The Greek philosopher was equally convinced that only a fool and a demagogue would claim to know them. If only Buckley were around to teach this lesson too.

More @

Founded and edited by Lewis H. Lapham, Lapham’s Quarterly is a New York-based journal of history that seeks to revitalize both our excitement and familiarity with the past. History, as Mark Twain supposedly said, may not repeat itself—but it does rhyme.

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Mocking Politicians Has An Ancient History

A joyous day..

2pm: Edward’s daughter 1st year birthday!

Father & Daughter

Good time to catch up with Edward’s colleages who are my friends..also, had lots of “take-away” as in, good information about properties & cakes…

7.30pm: M Hotel, Thomas’ wedding dinner!

Chubby us

Forgot to take a pic with Bride and Groom! Argh.. hopefully, they will post pics on FB.

Thomas, the groom put in tons of effort to propose and make this wedding dinner a wonderful one for his lovely bride. He’s done it! My heart was warmed with indescribable joy as the couple marched into the ballroom.. as I could feel the long waiting happiness from Thomas & Wendy!

Next wedding dinner is tomorrow night! Miss Chiewling’s, my sec volleyball mate.

Posted by Audiegrl

The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart discovers the sinister (socialist, marxist, communist, government) plot to steal Glenn Beck’s precious bodily organs. Seriously, Jon fears for Beck’s digestive and immune systems!

Warning NSFW: This will have you laughing so damn loud your boss will fire you…

…is that they are incapable of accepting criticism. Here is an article that actually tries to say its Glenn Beck and Sarah Palins fault that the democrats won the replacement seat in district NY-23, because they criticize moderate republicans.  This lead to Scozzafava, the republican candidate, dropping out. The conservative candidate subsequently lost by aroun 49%/45%, and the democrats took the seat. Howver, Scozzafava, in her indignation over not being favored over a real conservative, WENT OUT AND ENDORSED THE DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE.

What the Republican party needs is not to get rid of the likes of Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin. It is to get rid of republican candidates that are so corrupt and politicized that they’d rather endors the democrat candidate then see some change in congress.

Here’s an example of the problem, from AmericanThinker

or: Let’s all take a breath, let’s not go all ‘9/11′ on this thing

What happened today in Texas was an absolute tragedy. This act of violence is nothing short of a national day of mourning and awe at the fact that soldiers died at home, on American soil, in a military installation, it truly is a shocking moment where questions arise and concerns run rampant. What is going to come out of this though might turn in to a very ugly national moment. I can already foresee what is to come in the next few days. I fear that taste, discretion, and respect are about to go out the window. Decorum will be left by the wayside for one reason that it pains me to highlight as a firestorm word that everyone is going to rush to judgement on. Hasan, the man’s last name. There is not a doubt in my mind that some ideas will be pontificated upon and inferences will be made by certain persons about this fact and a few others that the NY Times ran in an article. As a journalist I know what is to come, and it pains me to have to watch as fingers are pointed, the administration policies, and closet bigotry comes out.

My disappointment in the Times for their article is deep. I feel that discretion is the better part of valor and a lack of evidence does not stand as evidence unto itself. There are three facts the Times could have done without. Two actually, but when linked with his name, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, all three of these things have nothing, I mean fucking NOTHING to do with the tragedy. What the Times has passed off as an unbiased report on a tragedy is nothing less of passively inflammatory commentary.

(This just in this very second, early reports he was dead are false. The Army says he is alive and in stable condition. How this will turn out now is unseen. If he were dead we could just infer and slander all we want, now that he may live, face charges, and public scrutiny, it might just end up worse than if he were dead.)

Item one is that the soldier listed ‘no preference’ as his religion. ‘No preference’ is an invitation for people to fill in the blank. A lack of a religious affiliation, in these times, says to the public, especially with his name, that he might have just been a crazy zealot, maybe even a terrorist that infiltrated the Army. People will begin to call in to question Army recruiting policy, background checks, religious disclosure as mandatory. Every single little detail and policy will be called in to question. The Times reporting that he had no religious preference is reporting a lack of a fact. They reported that there was nothing to report in that detail. Disclosure of this information can do nothing to help the situation or help us find meaning and answers in this wild moment in American history. All this is going to do is leave the barn door wide open for all of the animals out there to run amok and point out a Godless sodomite, a possible Muslim, and a man without a maker shooting up these people. What does his religion have to do with his actions? Christians kill people all the time, we’re pretty good at it, but in sniper shootings, college massacres, and high school shooting tragedies I don’t remember the religious interests of the accused coming up for review. Tasteless, sensationalized reporting, shame.

Item two, his parents came over from Jordan. Really? Does this have anything to do with the 12 dead and 31 wounded? How about this, let’s look in to their past and see if they ever had tea with a Muslim, or prayed at a mosque, this way we can make outlandish connections to how they lived their lives and how a 39 year old man was influenced. While we’re at it let’s look through their family photo albums and see if he ever wore a fanny pack as a child so we can claim he might have been gay, too. What his parents did, where they came from, or what they may or may not believe has nothing to do with a man nearing forty. I am nothing like my parents, and I am guessing you are nothing like yours, so let’s go ahead and agree that unless his parents came from the center of the Earth or fucking Krypton, we can leave that out. They are American citizens the emigrated from another country…don’t think that actually makes them different, this is America, we all came from somewhere, this is the reality version of the ‘Island for misfit toys’ for christ’s sake. No that is here was here very long ago besides a few Native Americans; where his family came from has nothing to do with the atrocity that this country is dealing with.

Third item was the statement that the Major ‘took a lot of advanced training in shooting.’ Well I hope to Christ he did, it’s the Army, they shoot shit. I hope he took a ton of shooting training. I hope that he, and every other soldier we got can shoot every type of weapon from a Derringer to an RPG with pin point accuracy beyond the designed range for the weapon. I want my soldiers, medical, active duty, inactive duty, desk job, field work, translators, et al, to be able to shoot stink off shit at four hundred yards. I want my men and women willing to pick up a gun in defense of this country to be able to use that weapon like they grew up in Tombstone. I want bad fucking asses, and if all they do for months at a time is learn how to use a weapon, I am all for it. By stating he took a lot of advanced shooting training makes him sound like some whack job with a penchant for gun play and a weird obsession with his weapon like Private Pile in Full Metal Jacket. Don’t make him sound like a crazy based on the fact he took extra training the military offers to its soldiers, it is unnecessary and inflammatory. He killed 12 people at an Army base in Texas, he’s crazy enough already.

These three things, linked with the fact his name could not be more Jordanian if he tried, leave the gate wide open for the pundits, conservatives, anti-military sectors, opponents of the war, etc., to run their mouths and turn this tragedy in to a weapon with which to fight their policy battles. This man could become a symbol that the military has gone too far, twisted their soldiers too tight, and review of every policy the military has under a microscope. People out there will call for regular psych evals, mental acuity testing, and weapons policies on bases will be reviewed with pressure leading some to change their policies. This isolated incident will send shock waves through the military branches. You can bet your ass ‘Iran-Contra Oliver’ will be on the tele tomorrow chatting up everyone.

What also is going to come out of this is something I think that we all can see I know is going to happen. If you read my blog often you know that I am not a fan of the right, specifically FOX News, and you can bet your ass I think some awful things are going to be presented, hinted at, and straight out said, that will drop your jaws. Look for a FOX News personality to say something to the affect that this incident, since the man was about to deploy to Afghanistan or Iraq, is the direct result of poor foreign policy and a poor handling of the War on Terror and that Obama is to be indirectly blamed for this incident. It is his poor policy in Afghanistan, his poor work in Iraq, and his inability to keep our boys safe, that led to this man killing 12 and injuring 31. ‘Obama might as well have pulled the trigger.’ It sounds crazy, but hey, they’re crazy. Obama and his administration will be called at fault of letting our men and women be put in danger on American soil. Fingers will be pointed at policies and the fact this didn’t happen when Bush was around, our men and women were safer since 9/11 with him in charge.

The Major, if he lives and goes to trial, is seen in public, or does an interview will be grilled on his religion, or lack there of. His life will be in danger as well, believe that. Every transfer from transport to the courthouse will be tense and fraught with danger for this man, rightly or wrongly so. He is now the most hated man in America, and in the quest to find answers the country’s insecurities and closet bigotry and intolerance will come up to the surface. In the heat of the moment reporters will dig up a Muslim cousin, uncle, friend from his parent’s homeland, something, hell their doing it right now, as we speak, finding a juicy friend or source who will say something, hell even not comment on his background leading the reporters in to backhanded accusations. “It is unclear at this point if Major Nidal Malik Hasan (they will say his full name and rank every time, it makes him foreign and crazy in these troubled times of zealots) was Muslim or had any affiliation. When reached for comment on his religious past and possible ties to the Muslim world friends and family would simply not comment.” Something like this will be said. Not a big deal you say? Well in saying unclear, Muslim, no comment, in the court of public opinion the man was trying to be a martyr and would rather be fucking 71 virgins than sitting in a hospital under serious guard and protection. They literally reported not a single thing, but in the act of just talking for the sake of filling 24 hour news coverage words connected to strong feelings have popped in to the mind and run rampant, might as well have said he was a terrorist by their simple non-reporting statement. It is the power of passive suggestion that will fear monger the public in to uproar when the acts played out today should be more than enough.

It is awful what happened, and the next weeks and months, hell maybe years with a possible public trial, will be tough, terrible, and a thing like this won’t soon be forgotten. What is going to make this an agonizing cluster-fuck to watch will be the tasteless inference, speculation, and unsubstantiated ‘unclear facts’ that will pass as coverage. What the public needs to do is take a deep breath, try to be level headed, and not rush to judgement as the newsertainment flows forth. I do not forgive, condone, or empathize with this man. I cannot begin to think of how I would deal with the news I was being deployed in to hell on earth in the middle east. I cannot begin to cope with the idea that Fort Hood has lost more soldiers to the war than any other military training ground, it’s like Tigerland during Vietnam, the last stop before the real thing. I can’t pretend to know how he rationalized the acts he committed today. But before we get all hot and bothered, let’s stay focused on the event, the loss of life, and how to get up off the floor and wipe away the tears. Don’t turn this fiasco that surrounds this event in to a witch hunt or any more of a circus than the events require. At least leave his family alone, they had nothing to do with this. My prayers and thoughts go out to those affected by this and those that will suffer in the aftermath.

Another fantastic video from the Onion. I always love their uncompromised assaults on specific persons, and the latest Glenn Beck attack does not let me down at all.

Hysterically over-the-top, very well acted and beautifully produced. Anyone not subscribed to the Onion really ought to fix that.