Weekly Wrap-Up

http://www.moveamericaforward.org/?Page=Petition Move America Forward, yet another one of the Conservative 527s we love, is sponsoring an online petition that demands U.N. offices, which have been used to support terror (read: Oil for Food) be moved overseas where this blogger thinks they belong. Click on the link to learn more and sign the petition that will be delivered to the President and appropriate government officials.

As introduced in Arutz Sheva, http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=72614, a former IDF spokesman has launched http://www.weaponsurvey.com to publicize "photographs as well as a variety of detailed information on the production and smuggling of weapons by local Arabs, ranging from landmines to missiles and rockets to chemical and biological agents."

Jewish Kids in Europe are fighting anti-Semitism, as detailed in this article http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull%26cid=1101547176289 from the Jerusalem Post. These kids can't even wear their kipot on the street for fear of attack. Hm, kinda makes one understand why young French Jews are making aliyah in higher numbers than ever before. Meanwhile, the same street thugs who attack the European Jews are also burning effigees of Bush whilst comparing him to HITLER. Riiight.

Nothing beats a column by George Will: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/georgewill/gw20041128.shtml. Here he discusses the last stronghold of liberal America: the Ivory Tower. Best quote:

But George Lakoff, a linguistics professor at Berkeley, denies that academic
institutions are biased against conservatives. The disparity in hiring, he
explains, occurs because conservatives are not as interested as liberals in
academic careers. Why does he think liberals are like that? "Unlike
conservatives, they believe in working for the public good and social justice.''
That clears that up.

Yes, that's right. I gave up my desire to be a college professor because I despise people and want them all to rot. Ironically, the truth is that I lost my desire to become a college professor when I realized that the totally false and polarized reality of the "smelly little orthodoxy" of the Academy was driving me to the edge of going postal. So, like many other words spouted from the mouths of academia, the exact opposite is true: if you want to do something for the public good, stay far, far away from academia. In fact, rail against its ideology and methodology with passion.

In a related note: I've been reading Ayn Rand's For the New Intellectual and while I can't say that I totally agree with her beliefs regarding faith and religion, I do believe she has a very clear and valid point regarding the failure of the intellectuals to properly fulfill their duties in society. She holds a very clear mirror up to the troglodytes of the academic world who manipulate their power to reasonably interpret events for the attentive public into a tool for political gain. You could say that Marx would be very pleased with the Ivory Tower dwellers-- of course, the irony would be totally lost upon these modern-day Revolutionary lapdogs. Fascinating and worthy read... I look forward to finishing it.

Book of the week: Intellectuals by Paul Johnson. A series of fascinating, concise case studies on some of the world's most influential minds, from Karl Marx to Noam Chomsky. Truly a book that proves that all that glitters is not gold. I just finished the chapter on Karl Marx in which Johnson invalidates Marx's theories line-by-line and gives an honest biographical sketch of the madman.

CD of the Week: Classical compilations, focusing on the Baroque Composers. Vivaldi, Bach, Canon and their counterparts provide excellent music by which to read.

Movie of the Week: Meet John Doe, in honor of President Bush's call for volunteerism during the holiday season.