Saturday, 21 January 2006
The Erosion of Values in Society
I suppose at first glance, there will be some who expect a Sodom and Gomorrah polemic about our Society and Culture Today.
In a sense this will be true, but I will NOT speak of consensual activity, between adults, nor non-victimless crimes.
I DO have certain opinions on the concepts of "adult" and "consent".
I consider it a primary Duty of Adults to "Protect Children".
I consider it THE primary Duty of Society to "Protect Children".
Failure by either Society or any Individual to recognize and respond to this Primary Responsibility, is in my eyes a Crime against Nature on the one hand and a Abrogation of the Social Contract between the Individual and the State on the other.
In the current era it has be de rigeur to "redefine"
the concepts of "consent", "adult" and "children" to shirk these duties.
This must stop if we do not wish the Present Civilization of the West to descend into Oblivion.
In my last article I wrote on the Story of Dyan Purdu.
I find it totally obscene that California Law finds that the lack of saying "No" constitutes "consent".
(you will recall the reason given for Dylan not saying No was that she was unconscious at the time)
But passed that fundamental objection of justice I find something even more obscene.
That the Law expected a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD LITTLE GIRL to be able to give consent at ALL!
Adults are responsible for children, children are NOT responsible for such as this.
We have made it so, by the perverted erosion of our duty and the introduction of the disgusting concept of "Age of Consent"
A minor should not be able to give Consent period.
That was the way it used to be.
What is the rationale for now giving them consent on those matters which can be the most damaging to them??
Sex, Rape and Abortion??
I understand that the Supreme Court has just returned to a lower Federal Court a Law
informing the parents of a minor of an impending abortion.
Say what?
A minor cannot even be given an aspirin in most jurisdictions, without parental
consent but one assumes by the direction of the Law that now this most serious medical procedure, which could scar a young girl with guilt for the rest of her life can be given, and the parents need merely be
informed?
The rationale for the Lower Federal Court striking down the New Law was the lack of consideration for Medical Emergencies.
OK I will stipulate in a medical emergency, when the life of the Child is at Risk, physicians need to be able to render such aid as they deem fit.
How many abortions fit this ?
The State has NO right to take away the Parents primary responsibility to protect their own Child.
But the State does such these days, the State has redefined and blurred the concept of adult and minor with the introduction of "Age of Consent" this is wrong.
This is in fact a Statement by the State that it no longer "chooses" to protect these children, but instead gives to them the responsibility.
In other areas the State has fallen even further into what can only be described as perversion.
In several recent case in New England, Judges have given sexual predators, a mere slap on the wrist, because,
they do not believe in PUNISHMENT?How about protecting the Children on our Streets from being raped and abused by degenerates?
No Folks this erosion of the most BASIC Values of our Society, must cease.
From this day forward, you must think of each election, as the Most Important Election in your Life and do what you can to ensure that those who would leave the most vulnerable of our Society, our Children, defenseless, do NOT assume the mantle of Political Power.
We have on the Supreme Court of the United States today, a Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who thinks that the Age of Consent should be lowered to 12.
We cannot afford any more like her deciding the Fate of the Nation.
From Michele Malkin comes yet another story of the Failure of Society to protect one of our children and indeed an attempt by the State to prematurely bury it's failure!
BLOGGING FOR HALEIGH
Here's the latest in Haleigh Poutre's fight for her life: The Massachusetts Department of Social Services, which last week won court-ordered authority to remove Haleigh's feeding tube, is now under fire for failing to detect and act on signs that Haleigh was abused:
Our very Civilization is under Attack these days. The Obvious threats are those who speak plainly in public that they wish to rain total destruction upon us. The less obvious ones are those who come to us with a smile and offer to lift from our shoulders the heavy burdens of responsibility and choice.
I do not believe the First has the Power to destroy us, I DO believe the Second can if we are not vigilant.
Linked to
OTA Weekender at The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns
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Thursday, 19 January 2006
Not Saying No,
is NOT Saying
Yes!
If anyone finds the above statement confusing?
You are not unique, the Legislature of the State of California has not been able to figure out that Consent, requires Acquiescence and not just the inability of a 14 year old girl who is unconscious, to say No, to the advances of a rapist.
I suppose using the same logic, if you are asleep when a burglar enters your house no crime is committed?
As I understand it this young lady a few years older since the incident wants verbiage put into the Law to make the rape of an unconscious, women or girl illegal.
I am trying to understand the problem with this logic.
Of course this is NOT what the media, except for Fox calls News.
I put her name into a Goggle News Search and got this.
![](dylon.JPG)
Yep except for a certain Media that tries to make the News Balanced by being all by it's lonesome, the only links I found about this story, was, you guessed it Blogs.
Here is one Big Bubba's Big Blog
Now Big Bubba and I see to be equally disgusted by the confusion of the California Legislators (why am I not surprised?)
Again, I am not sure, don't remember, the details, but it seems the girl, her family, and supporters believe that the boy did not receive deserved punishment. Why? Because the charge of rape could not be prosecuted because she did not say no. Never mind that she couldn't say no because she was drugged and passed out. She didn't say no so the boy received a hand slap.
Something is very WRONG with this picture.
Folks we HAVE to take back our Country and our Courts, things have gone too far!
PS I would say Big Bubba would fit right in with anyone who reads here regularly. Stop by his Blog and Say Howdy. ;-)
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Tuesday, 17 January 2006
Where my Readers Come From
Well it does look like I have spread to a few more countries since the last time I assembled this map in Dec? Eighty one different Nations now have come to this website and I thank everyone for the kind attention and the fact that my comments here where they do occur have been courteous and friendly natured.
On another note, it was nice being a Large Mammal for a while but I am now back to being a Marauding Marsupial.
![](18161208-182.gif)
![](http://www.world66.com/community/mymaps/worldmap?visited=CAUSAGCRDOGTJMMXPALCVIARBOBRCLCOPEDZEGCINGSNZATGADATBEBGHRCZDKEEFIFRDEGRHUISIEITLVLTLUNLNOPLPTRORUYUSKESSECHUAUKBHCYIQILKWQASASYAEBDCNINIDJPMYMMPKPHSGKRTWTHVNAUNZ)
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Decembers Map
![](worldmapdec2.gif)
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My First Map
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Follow The Money
I, like quite a few, I would wager, at times ponder the shift in political power over the last few decades.
Some maintain that the public has shifted to the Right, like Zell Miller,I am more of the mind that "I never left the Democratic Party; they left me."
One thing is certain that as the DNC shifted more and more Leftward, they became more and more dependent upon funds raised by massive Transnational Progressive NGOs.
It is moot now, which was cause and which was effect, it is so. To the extent it is broadly proclaimed, not by their detractors, but by the very NGOs themselves.
Liberal powerhouse MoveOn has a message for the "professional election losers" who run the Democratic Party: "We bought it, we own it, we’re going to take it back."That is true in a manner, never before seen. It has been a golden age for fund raising for the Orgs on Left.
The reason is not too hard to understand. No Grand Inquisitor was ever able to raise a howling mob with cries of "HERETICS!".to the extent that the mere whisper of the word Bush, can rouse the Faithful to a frothing frenzy and -- mail in checks.
If anyone thinks I exaggerate? Consider the "Therapy Sessions" after the last few elections where traumatized Bluebloods gathered to shriek, foam and spew at the photo of the man they did not want to be President, and in doing so illustrated their manifest fitness to hold the Fate of the Nation in their hands.
Yes, it has been a golden age for fund raising on the Left. Their coffers overflow with donations and a tithe of that bounty goes to politicians they support.
But one wonders, what happens if the Democrats succeed in their efforts? What happens if the Evil Repugs are driven from the Seats of Power of the Nation?
Simple, the overflowing river of donations dries to a trickle. Where there is no threat, there is no desperation, there is instead a danger of complacency.
The politicians will still need campaign funds, might they not turn to and listen to more moderate sources?
PERISH the THOUGHT
So one is left with a question.
Is it wise for a Party to be so financially dependent on a source of funding,in whose best interest it would be for them to Fail?
I have a picture in my mind of the NGO Fund Raising Gnomes, gathered , plotting how best to maximize their donation efforts.
Smiling and thinking of the Golden Rule.
"He who has the Gold Makes the Rules."
And then explaining to the candidates how they want their money spent.
Telling themselves, "at the end of the Day, when the bitter reality faces our candidates, we can ALWAYS blame it on Karl Rove." ;-)
Bear in mind, for maximum effort the carrot must be placed just beyond the donkey's reach.
Linked to
If it's Tuesday, it must be Open Trackback Day at Those Bastards!
Funny Stuff at The Conservative Cat
Tuesday Open Trackbacks at Right Wing Nation
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Monday, 16 January 2006
The Cultural Matrix
of Zealots
For most, the term Zealot brings to mind Religious Extremism. The shabbily dressed sweating figure clasping a Bible and pounding on a podium, A Puritan all in Black burning witches or a Muslim Extremist cutting off a victims head to the Litany of "God is Great!".
Those are indeed examples and few of us have not heard someone pronounce pontifically that ALL the Death, Destruction, Mayhem and Discord through Centuries can be more laid at the feet of Religion than any other cause.
Those who are satisfied with surface impressions and shoddy logic, will be nodding in agreement at this point.
Of course to make the above case one must ignore all the GOOD that has been the result of Religious Practices. It is true that Religion has been used in the manner I described above. It cannot be otherwise.
Religion IS one of the most powerful motivating forces on the Face of the Earth. Power cannot be a source for Evil without being a source for Good in the same order of Magnitude.
This little fact is blithely ignored by those who rail against Religious Zealotry.
They also ignore the fact that Religion is not THE most powerful motivation force in human history.
Sex is. Sex in fact is probably responsible for MORE Death, Destruction, Mayhem and Discord than any other motivator in all the Ages.
I however am unwilling to give it up, to create a More
Perfect World. I find some positive aspects in it despite the intense suffering it has caused me in the past, as have we all, I would wager to say.
All of the above would be moot if the Zealots of both extremes were willing to disavow what they deem the Ultimate Evil themselves, and leave the rest of us to make our own decisions.
BUT the main characteristic of the Zealot, despite ANY surface differences caused by the direction of their fanaticism is---
The total rejection that individual choice is the right of every human being. Individual choice is an anathema to them.There is no difference between a Christan, Muslim or Socialist Progressive Zealot, except for the Chance of Birth, which landed them in their particular group. They think, in the same manner they act in the same manner.
No clearer example could be given than that of the philosophical journey traveled by
a man named Bruce Bawer, an openly gay American ( from
David's Medienkritik)
"A few years back, after a prolonged immersion in American Protestant fundamentalism (I was writing a book), I moved from the U.S. to Western Europe, ready to bask in an open, secular, liberal culture. Instead I discovered that European social democracy, too, was a kind of fundamentalism, rigid and doctrinaire, yielding what Swedish writer Johan Norberg calls "one-idea states"?nations where an echo chamber of insular elites calls the shots, where monochrome media daily reiterate statist mantras and shut out contrarian views, and where teachers and professors systematically misrepresent the U.S. (millions of Europeans believe that free public schools, unemployment insurance, and pensions are unknown in America). The more I saw of the European elites' chronic distrust of the public, and the public's habitual deference to those elites, the fonder I grew of the nasty, ridiculous rough-and-tumble of American democracy, in which every voice is heard?even if, as a result, the U.S. gets capital punishment and Europe gets gay marriage.
How did Western Europe come to be ruled by monolithic ideologues?"I encourage to read further the works of this man, he is by no means a member of the Religious Right Fascist Movement. ;-)
I have a good friend who worriea about what the Religious Right might be up to. I do not recall if he has as some described them as the American Taliban, but it is a source of concern for him.
Compared to the other sources of repression, of freedom of thought, belief and expression, I find the case totally exaggerated. Americans are to a great extent immersed in egalitarian ideals. That cannot be said of elsewhere in this world
President Bush has been mocked over and over again when he stated that our enemies hate us because we are Free.
The TRUTH is that there are other Talibans far more dangerous to the concept of Libery, Freedom and Individual Choice and they make no bones about publicly stating their desires.
There can be nothing plainer than the words of
Abu Musab al-Zarqaw"We have declared a bitter war against democracy and all those who seek to enact it----"Democracy is also based on the right to choose your religion," he said, and that is "against the rule of God"Those sentiments are amply echoed by Transnational Progressives.
One example,
the British columnist Will Hutton," The essence of Hutton?s argument is that ?all Western democracies subscribe to a broad family of ideas that are liberal or leftist? (note the sly conflation here of ?liberal? and ?leftist,? which in Europe, of course, are opposites), and that first among these ideas is ?a belief in the primacy of society? as opposed to the insidious ?American belief in the primacy of the individual.? Hutton traces the prioritization of society over the individual back to medieval feudalism, which he holds up?hilariously?as an ideal. The trouble, he explains, started when Puritan individualists ?who passionately believed that they could individually establish a direct relationship with God? emigrated to North America and invented ?an explosively new and radical ideology? that justified ?an individualist rather than a social view of property.? This led to the American Revolution, which Hutton compares unfavorably with its French counterpart of 1789, since the former put the individual first (bad) while the latter introduced a ?new social contract? (good). Indeed on of the problems Mr Hutton sees with America is the very concept of Freedom of Expression and the Press.
?European governments and the EU,? because they?re ?aggressive in their regulation of broadcasting content? and ban, for example, ?racist expression.? He favors, in short, allowing government bureaucrats to decide what is and isn?t racist (or, for that matter, sexist or homophobic) and to punish transgressors. "
While American broadcasters,? he notes, ?plead the First Amendment?s commitment to absolute free speech, making public interest regulation almost impossible??the knaves!??Europe acts to ensure that television and radio conform to public interest criteria.? Public interest criteria:As it turns out the best cure for European propaganda is for them to actually visit the US.
As a polar opposite to Mr Bawer
"Jean-Francois Revel?s L?obsession anti-americaine, which has now appeared in the U.S. as Anti-Americanism.16 Revel?s earliest opinions of America, he tells us, were formed by ?the European press, which means that my judgment was unfavorable?; yet those opinions changed when he actually visited America during the Vietnam War. Decades later, he notes wryly, the European media still employ the same misrepresentations as they did back then==Western Civilization IS under attack in the 21st Century by Zealots. To call them terrorists is simplistic, terrorism is but one tactic.
The world is divided into two camps as
Robert Heinlein once stated
Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surely curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sortI have stated this time and time again, and it bears repeaing, the only difference between the Muslim Taliban and the Transnational Progressive Taliban,is over WHO gets to Control Society, their goals and aims and idealized structure of Society is the same.
Linked to
Open Trackback Day at Pirates Man Your Women
Open Trackback Monday - OzzPoll at The Land of Ozz
Monday's Pun & Open Post at Bloggin' Outloud
Monday's Best Bets at Don Surber
A Day in Honor of a Great American from Peakah's Provocations...
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The Open Trackback Alliance X
For Monday
For your listening pleasure while you browse
Cajun ZydecoMaking Love
In The Chicken
Coop!!!
the world thinks they know all about Americans, I intend to present music each week in this post illustrating our extreme diversity When I first started upon my journey through the blogverse I created a
Statement of PurposeNow upon reading it, one can realize that I did not hold to every detail of that original statement, but from it's basic premise, I have never swayed, in my belief that the Blogs are in fact the Committees of Correspondence of the Second American Revolution.
And that it is a Revolution of Information, no longer can we afford and allow elite gateways to control what we can see, hear and discuss.
One of the most important discoveries I make in those early days was the website of Samantha Burns, which included a unique informal community of bloggers, who not only linked to each other but actually browsed and read the blogs they linked to.
Later I was honored to be allowed to join another more formal blog community. At that time I decided that while I welcomed blogs that wanted to link to me, I was not that interested in simply joining blogrolls to add links. After that I made no more attempts to join any blog alliances. I have been kept busy supporting the linkages I have and at times I feel guilty that I cannot get around to all the websites on my blogroll as I could when it was smaller.
So why do I welcome this recent invitation to join the Open Trackback Alliance? Have I reconsidered my former decision?
No I am posting and joining this Alliance because it is RIGHT for me to do so.
Because it FULFILLS my original Statement of Purpose that the Blogs are indeed the 21st Century Committees of Correspondence, whose duty and honor it is to SHARE information, thoughts, ideas, news and to discuss the same. To diligently search for the truths that lie behind the distortions and half-truths of the Legacy Media.
What the blogs associated with the Samantha Burns site did informally, and without structure, this Alliance only aids and structures. There is in fact no conflict between what I do now, and what I decided to do sometime ago.
For I believe that those bloggers who find their way, here and in particular from the Blogs associated with Sam.
HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.
Some of us are more Serious, some of us are more lighthearted and some post the common ordinary things that make one smile and recall that Life without the simple things to treasure is meaningless.
And it is important that all have a platform from which to speak.
As I understand this process you can link to this post and trackback to this post on ANY subject or post you think important. It is open. I will repeat this every Monday.
The Committees of Correspondence welcomes your intelligent comments. And also welcomes you to join the
OPEN TRACKBACK ALLIANCE
Blogs that Trackback to this Post:
On Monday
A flood of startup money may enable a flood of pro from Mister Snitch!
Latinos Unidos Fights New ICE Office in Colorado from Freedom Folks
Green Eggs And Rice from Don Surber
Scotland Yard Loses Discrimination Case from third world county
MLK day. from ★imaginekitty★
Y'al come back now, Y'heah? ;-)
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Monday, 9 January 2006
UP THE COUNTER REVOLUTION!!!!!!
Libertarians of the World UNITE!
Yes I realize that statement is an almost impossible goal for individuals who pride themselves on rugged individualism.
Unite? When they pry my economic text from my cold dead hands! I can just hear them say.
But I have found an issue that any Red Blooded Libertarian (at least surely all the male ones) can stand behind, and beside and in front of to tell the truth.
Yes Guys our MOST SACRED INSTITUTIONS have been threatened, indeed, abandoned by their previous mainstay and driven into the wilderness.
Of what am I speaking? I speak of and FOR
THE SWEDISH BIKINI
TEAM
IN EXILE!!!
Yes I am here today to report The Sordid Tale of a Craven Beer Company which has surrendered to the Feminist TransNazi hordes and driven those Fair Maidens into the wilderness!
Their Viking Ancestors must be looking down from Valhalla and howling with SHAME!
But I cannot go on. I am too choked with emotion.
Turn you now over to their present defenders for the full revelation of this venality.
![](hdrExile.gif)
![](letsgosurfin.JPG)
"Not so long ago, from a land not so far away, five gorgeous, bikini-clad beauty queens came forth into our land and descended upon outdoor man-places. They brought cases of ice-cold beer, gourmet camp food and festive music. Their parties pushed the native men-folk to the boundaries of their pleasure quotients. It really didn?t get any better than that! The Swedish Bikini Team beauties had no qualms about showing off their womanly virtues to worthy men; they had it and they flaunted it: in beer commercials, Playboy Magazine, live appearances, on Married With Children. These babes were born to party. Then, the dark forces of NAAG, the National Association of Angry Gals, an anti-armpit shaving, feminazi organization, mobilized?god, were they abnormally plain-looking?and set out to stop the original Swedish Bikini Team from making any more beer commercials. The final blow came when the Beer Company pussied out and left the beauty queens high and dry. They were ultimately forced into permanent exile by this gaggle of so-called "feminists". They shut down the entire original Swedish Bikini Team media campaign. NAAG also infiltrated the Beer Company that sponsored the television ads. This is part of an overall NAAG plan to eliminate all normal male-female relationships. They were disturbed by the fact that gorgeous bikini-clad babes sold their beer on TV. One of the NAAG hags, Gloria Allwet, even refuses to admit in public that there are any differences between men and women. How ridiculous! She refuses to differentiate between a slot and a tab! Get real, Gloria! Anyway, the bottom line is, unfortunately, the original Swedish Bikini Team is in permanent exile and will not rise again.
Not to be outdone by Politically Correct NAAG hags, I have decided to found a New Swedish Bikini Team and get revenge on those pathetic souls who caused the demise of the original SBT. The war is on.
Now that the new official Swedish Bikini Team has emerged from the friendly fiords of Scandinavia, it is time to pay our respects to the original Swedish Bikini Team. May they rest in blissful harmony in permanent exile and may they lead healthy, wealthy, happy lives."There you have it Guys the Die Has Been cast,A Line Has Been Drawn in the Sand. The Barbarian Hordes are at the Gates!
It is time to take a STAND!
To paraphrase the words of on of the Founders of the American Revolution during the crisis in his day,
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace.
The war is actually begun
The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field, and our sisters are in Exile!
Why stand we here idle?
What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?
Forbid it, Almighty God!
I know not what course others may take; but as for me,
Give Me Beer and Bikinis
Or Give Me Death!
Note: anyone know where I can get an audio file of the Deguello to put with this post?
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The Open Trackback Alliance IX
For Monday
For your listening pleasure while you browse
La Bamba!! the world thinks they know all about Americans, I intend to present music each week in this post illustrating our extreme diversity When I first started upon my journey through the blogverse I created a
Statement of PurposeNow upon reading it, one can realize that I did not hold to every detail of that original statement, but from it's basic premise, I have never swayed, in my belief that the Blogs are in fact the Committees of Correspondence of the Second American Revolution.
And that it is a Revolution of Information, no longer can we afford and allow elite gateways to control what we can see, hear and discuss.
One of the most important discoveries I make in those early days was the website of Samantha Burns, which included a unique informal community of bloggers, who not only linked to each other but actually browsed and read the blogs they linked to.
Later I was honored to be allowed to join another more formal blog community. At that time I decided that while I welcomed blogs that wanted to link to me, I was not that interested in simply joining blogrolls to add links. After that I made no more attempts to join any blog alliances. I have been kept busy supporting the linkages I have and at times I feel guilty that I cannot get around to all the websites on my blogroll as I could when it was smaller.
So why do I welcome this recent invitation to join the Open Trackback Alliance? Have I reconsidered my former decision?
No I am posting and joining this Alliance because it is RIGHT for me to do so.
Because it FULFILLS my original Statement of Purpose that the Blogs are indeed the 21st Century Committees of Correspondence, whose duty and honor it is to SHARE information, thoughts, ideas, news and to discuss the same. To diligently search for the truths that lie behind the distortions and half-truths of the Legacy Media.
What the blogs associated with the Samantha Burns site did informally, and without structure, this Alliance only aids and structures. There is in fact no conflict between what I do now, and what I decided to do sometime ago.
For I believe that those bloggers who find their way, here and in particular from the Blogs associated with Sam.
HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.
Some of us are more Serious, some of us are more lighthearted and some post the common ordinary things that make one smile and recall that Life without the simple things to treasure is meaningless.
And it is important that all have a platform from which to speak.
As I understand this process you can link to this post and trackback to this post on ANY subject or post you think important. It is open. I will repeat this every Monday.
The Committees of Correspondence welcomes your intelligent comments. And also welcomes you to join the
OPEN TRACKBACK ALLIANCE
Blogs that Trackback to this Post:
On Monday
Belafonte Speaks, But What Does Brenda Lee Think? from Don Surber
The Knuckleheads of the Day award from The Florida Masochist
OTIM Open Post from The Florida Masochist
Sex & Love Book Review from Lyn at Bloggin' Outloud
LInkfest Haven from Linkfest Haven
Well, I may actually watch 20/20 on Friday... from third world county
How Congress Will Exploit The Abramoff Scandal from Don Surber
Deportation? from Freedom Folks
They both take money for a favor from The Florida Masochist
Your click is important, please hold from NIF
Y'al come back now, Y'heah? ;-)
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Monday, 2 January 2006
As seen in today's New York Daily News, by 9/11 family members Anthony Gardner & Particia Reilly
This just in
![](https://www.angelfire.com/ky/kentuckydan/TBTM.jpg)
As seen in today's New York Daily News, by 9/11 family members Anthony Gardner & Particia Reilly:
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com |
Memory lapse By ANTHONY GARDNER and PATRICIA REILLY Monday, January 2nd, 2006
Congress and U.S. taxpayers gave the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. $2.78 billion to redevelop the World Trade Center site, entrusting them with the duty of building a magnificent memorial to the victims of Sept. 11, 2001. Just months before construction of the memorial is slated to begin, the LMDC is offering the American public a bargain basement version of Michael Arad's "Reflecting Absence."
The LMDC's latest iteration of Arad's design is one that is 31% smaller than the original, and the central waterfalls - the most powerful design feature - will only operate nine months out of the year. LMDC continues to shrink the memorial despite the fact the original design was too small to accommodate the estimated millions who will make a pilgrimage to the site. The memorial is being built with only one way in and one way out, putting the safety and security of future visitors in peril.
It is insulting that with all of the financial resources at its disposal the LMDC would try to foist an ever-shrinking memorial on the American people and then ask them to pay for it.
The fact that LMDC failed to consider the extra costs involved with heating the memorial's massive waterfalls so they may flow in the winter months reflects its gross mismanagement of the redevelopment. As reported in the Daily News, LMDC has misspent millions in tax dollars on projects completely unrelated to Sept. 11, such as giving $10 million to SoHo's Drawing Center and funding the pet projects of wealthy elites who serve on the LMDC board as they continue to shrink the memorial and refuse to pay heating bills.
Take Back the Memorial, an alliance of major Sept. 11 family groups, began at a time when LMDC's lack of focus nearly led to the placement of the International Freedom Center on sacred ground. Now, to the detriment of future visitors to the memorial, it appears that money has followed LMDC's misplaced priorities as evidenced by the allocation of $50 million to an unrelated cultural facility. Millions have also been spent on the Snohetta building design and we still don't know what it will contain, if it is even built at all.
We would like to be able to say that the WTC Memorial Foundation should take over, but some changes need to be made first. The foundation has said that the memorial is the priority, but actions speak louder than words. Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg, both members of the foundation's board, have yet to make a personal donation to the memorial.
It seems evident that the cultural facilities, not the memorial, are the true priority of some individuals who have been charged with building the memorial. The majority of Sept. 11 families are withholding donations until America gets a memorial design it deserves, one that preserves our national heritage, provides for the safety of visitors and honors the dead by telling their story without distraction.
We want a memorial that isn't crammed into a basement space, hidden from the light of day. We want public access to the physical remains of the twin tower footprints at bedrock.
The WTC Memorial Foundation must focus its attention on the Sept. 11 memorial. Board members whose priority is not the memorial must be replaced. As long as their focus remains on extraneous cultural matters they will continue to have difficulty raising funds.
LMDC, which must get its priorities straight, would benefit from new leadership. If changes aren't made fast in both the LMDC and the WTC Memorial Foundation, they will not only fail to honor those who died at that site on Sept. 11, 2001, but they will continue to fail us all.
Gardner and Reilly, who lost family members in the World Trade Center attack, are co-organizers of the Take Back the Memorial campaign. |
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The Open Trackback Alliance VIII For Monday
When I first started upon my journey through the blogverse I created a
Statement of PurposeNow upon reading it, one can realize that I did not hold to every detail of that original statement, but from it's basic premise, I have never swayed, in my belief that the Blogs are in fact the Committees of Correspondence of the Second American Revolution.
And that it is a Revolution of Information, no longer can we afford and allow elite gateways to control what we can see, hear and discuss.
One of the most important discoveries I make in those early days was the website of Samantha Burns, which included a unique informal community of bloggers, who not only linked to each other but actually browsed and read the blogs they linked to.
Later I was honored to be allowed to join another more formal blog community. At that time I decided that while I welcomed blogs that wanted to link to me, I was not that interested in simply joining blogrolls to add links. After that I made no more attempts to join any blog alliances. I have been kept busy supporting the linkages I have and at times I feel guilty that I cannot get around to all the websites on my blogroll as I could when it was smaller.
So why do I welcome this recent invitation to join the Open Trackback Alliance? Have I reconsidered my former decision?
No I am posting and joining this Alliance because it is RIGHT for me to do so.
Because it FULFILLS my original Statement of Purpose that the Blogs are indeed the 21st Century Committees of Correspondence, whose duty and honor it is to SHARE information, thoughts, ideas, news and to discuss the same. To diligently search for the truths that lie behind the distortions and half-truths of the Legacy Media.
What the blogs associated with the Samantha Burns site did informally, and without structure, this Alliance only aids and structures. There is in fact no conflict between what I do now, and what I decided to do sometime ago.
For I believe that those bloggers who find their way, here and in particular from the Blogs associated with Sam.
HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.
Some of us are more Serious, some of us are more lighthearted and some post the common ordinary things that make one smile and recall that Life without the simple things to treasure is meaningless.
And it is important that all have a platform from which to speak.
As I understand this process you can link to this post and trackback to this post on ANY subject or post you think important. It is open. I will repeat this every Monday.
The Committees of Correspondence welcomes your intelligent comments. And also welcomes you to join the
OPEN TRACKBACK ALLIANCE
Blogs that Trackback to this Post:
On Monday
John Kerry from The Florida Masochist
The Freedom Folks: Race Pandering Whore Award from Freedom Folks
The Knucklehead of the Day award from The Florida Masochist
Predictions for 2005 from Conservative Cat
Belated Xmas Gifts from Hugh from third world county
This is not Child's Play from The Florida Masochist
1 Your Electricity, Their Lives from Don Surber
The Knuckleheads of the Day award from The Florida Masochist
Last Week While I Was Gone
Treatment Time Open Trackbacks from The Uncooperative Blogger
Open Pun, er, Post from Bloggin' Outloud
Y'al come back now, Y'heah? ;-)
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