Curtis Dahlgren
Love Boat/Hate Boats; Beyond Petroleum, beyond Reagan, beyond Religion, beyond Hope?
By Curtis Dahlgren
"I am not influenced by the expectation of promotion or pecuniary reward. I wish to be useful, and every kind of service necessary for the public good, become honorable by being necessary." — Nathan Hale
"Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions. It might also be said that tolerance is the virtue of a man without salvation." — G.K. Chesterton and Mike S. Adams (www.TownHall.com)
"In religion we also are too willing to attach ourselves to those who have also cast their pearls not to the swine but to the wind. Perhaps while we're looking for a new Elliot Ness we might want to start a search for a new John the Baptist." — Michael Bresciani (www.RenewAmerica.com — June 3, 2010)
IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL THING. In the mid-80s I was staying with friends in a condo overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Ironically, the place is called Clearwater. I got up at 4 o'clock in the morning to see a bright light in the west. It was a full moon shimmering on a gently waving Gulf. I'll never forget it.
I was in Florida for a fall church festival. We have been preaching continuously since the 1930s that unless there is a spiritual awakening in America, this "last best Hope" would surely be overcome by foreign influence and powers. Now that these predictions are beyond dispute or speculation — they have been coming true for a decade or more — suddenly such warnings are labelled "hate speech" or "craziness" — or worse, "insurrection."
The blame-it-on-Bush people used to call "speaking Truth to power" the very epitome of patriotism. Patriotism is now a rubber stamp — "the tyranny of prevailing opinion" of official-dom. Free speech on the AM dial is now considered (by a minority) to be worse than the revolt against King George of England (to them, a King is supposed to make arbitrary edicts while holding grand balls in the palace).
WHILE MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF OIL SPEWED INTO THE GULF — and the U.N. condemned the state of Israel — the White House on the Hill was alive with the sound of music by Sir Paul. "Hey Jude — Na Na NA Na." Question: Is "Hey Jude" a code-word for "Juden"? I'm just wondering, "Sir" Paul. "There will be an answer"!
On another topic, in the week-that-was, media anchor-persons were shocked by Al and Tipper Gore's announcement of a separation. Some blamed it on Bush, of course (2000). Personally, I wasn't shocked or even mildly surprised. **
The Year-from-Hell for Algore began when "Mother Nature" gave him a frosty reception in Madison, Wisconsin last October — accompanied by "crazy" protestors. Then he went to Copenhagen and froze his obese butt. You can't fool "Mother" Nature, Al would have been better off staying home and chewing some Copenhagen from his daddy's old farm. I don't think Tipper is fooled about "global warming" either.
So far as I know, Mark Belling on the Rush Limbaugh show is the only person in the media to put his finger on the problem. He said that of the four — Bill, Sir Hillary, Al, and Tipper — the latter seemed the most normal, the most independent thinker. She was anti-vulgar rock lyrics when that wasn't cool. She doesn't seem to me either to be the kind of person to put up with the propaganda of man-made "climate change."
Who is brain-washing whom, Al? Belling said it's reasonable to expect that at some point Tipper said:
"You know, Al, maybe the earth isn't warming?"
She seemed like such a nice well-intentioned lady married to a man of unscrupulous — though highly "rewarding" — ethics. Not Hillary, but Tipper. I wish them all the best, but like America, any improvement in "fortunes" will require some 'change.' Wake up and drink the coffee everyone! It is obvious to most people that we have bigger problems than carbon dioxide.
The "yammering fearmongers" — in the words of Michael Crichton — were even yammering that the oceans were absorbing CO2 from the air and this might kill the [no longer rising] seas. And that was just before the "explosion" on the BP rig. Now, of course, the yammerers stand by and watch. Their "solution" is putting another tax on the people like a King George of England.
The spill itself is very "convenient" for fund-raising by enviro-mental groups and left-wing politicians. BP had dropped out of USCAP, and surprise, surprise — they are now Big Brother's number one villain. The spill is also a very very convenient distraction from foreign affairs and the "down- sizing" of our Defense Department (not to mention our deficits and national debt).
Mark Steyn says we might reduce the debt by selling billboards on Air Force One. Or maybe we can auction off the moon, since we planted our flag on it, or sell Peurto Rico. One thing we know with a certainty is that we'll be buying more oil from the Middle East since the moratorium on drilling in shallow water. Yes, it all begs a question:
ARE WE NOT ONLY "BEYOND" CHRISTIANITY BUT BEYOND SANITY?
By the way, the Prez proclaimed June our National Gay-Lesbian-Transgender, ETC Month — in case you want something to celebrate. Yes, we are now "beyond gender" as well. And gay weddings in New York are really going to "impress" the Arabs taking your gasoline money, eh?
Drill for oil in ANWAR or Montana or North Dakota, or off the east or west coasts? NOT A CHANCE, since the voters on the Atlantic and Pacific bought into the enviro-mental propaganda. In other words, put those oil wells (if any) off the southern coast where those Rednecks live. We got into this gooey mess by drilling 50 miles off the Gulf coast, 5,000 feet below the surface. I heard that there are more than a thousand deep-water wells in the Gulf of Mexico, and so far as I know, no wells in the wilderness of ANWAR yet.
Forcing geologists to "go deep" off the southern (read Republican) coast reminds me of a cartoon I saw years ago in a Western newspaper. It was titled "A westerner's view of an easterner's view of the United States." It showed the Manhattan skyscrapers in the foreground, with the Hudson River, and then a vast no-man's land beyond the Mississippi in the background. An arrow pointing to this wilderness was labelled "Please place all incoming missiles HERE."
That reminds me. In the week-that-was, Iran test-fired another long-range missile or two. We, on the other hand, have been cutting back on our missile defense programs. We've reneged on protecting Europe from Iranian missiles. North Korea sinks a South Korean naval vessel, and we go like YAWN. We take the side of terrorists in Gaza.
If Al Gore's Nobel is turning into a boomerang "prize," I shudder to think what the Prez' Peace Prize could turn out to be. The Bible sez that "when they shall say, peace and security, sudden destruction will come upon therm."
I'm not imitating rev-er-undt Wright here; I'm just saying that leaving our defenses to P.R. spin and fate — well, it could be a fate worse than death. Ronald Reagan said that none of the five wars during his lifetime were caused by America being too "strong."
But am I casting pearls before swine here? Let us pray NOT!
**P.S. This columnist was probably the first one to hint at trouble in the Gore household. Here's an excerpt from www.RenewAmerica.com/columns/Dahlgren/091217 — (Two major mistakes: Killing the golden goose and gilding the 'green' lilly):
"There is a 75 percent chance that the Arctic ice will disappear in five years." — Al Gore (before being corrected on his "statistics")
WHEN A POLITICALLY-CORRECT CAUSE IS INVOLVED, THE "NUMBERS" USUALLY LIE. The Truth is just a minor detail. The Leftist dialectic thrives on lies. Lefties don't lie; they tell whoppers — with a straight face.
"YOU'VE HEARD THE NUMBERS — 10% OF AMERICAN MEN ARE GAY, 2.7 million children are abused, one in eight women develop breast cancer. Politicians, activists, fund raisers, scientists and, yes, magazine journalists routinely unload such staggering statistics on a trusting public. The numbers are presented as though they carry all the weight of scientific truth. Don't believe it . . .
"The fact is, much of today's political and social agenda is built around flagrantly flimsy figures. Statistics on crime, poverty, homelessness, joblessness, drug abuse, toxic hazards, sexual harassment — indeed, any matter concerning sex — are notoriously suspect . . .
"But too often exaggerated figures are used deliberately to mislead, raise money or advance an agenda. 'Many statistics are generated by people who have a vested interest,' notes journalist Cynthia Crossen, who is writing a book on how numbers are manipulated . .
"Environmental organizations tend to present the most alarming scenarios to pump up the threat of global warming . . . "
BELIEVE IT, or not, those words came directly from TIME magazine! April 26, 1993 ("The shrinking ten percent" by Priscilla Painton and Anastasia Toufexis)!!
Hard to believe, but — the socio-enviro-wackos have been a-wishin' and a-hopin' for global warming for close to 20 years already! They not only have time and effort invested in the theory now, but some big bucks. They're going to hold their breaths until they get their money back. When Al Gore went to Copenhagen and made his "prophecy" about an ice-free Arctic in five years, the scientist he had been "quoting" said:
"It's unclear to me how this figure was arrived at. I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this." [I would add, especially not after seeing the global average temperature decline over the past 10 years, eh?]
The day that Truth-telling comes back into vogue, people will look back on the 90s and the "oughts" with disbelief, to say the least (though we still have one year to redeem the first decade of this century, since there was no Year zero; thus the years ending in zero are "the end of the decade"). Americans are terrible at math, and getting worse every year. It is simply surreal. On September 2, 2008 Laura Ingraham said:
"The door is opening on the Cantina scene in 'Star Wars.'"
Actually she was talking about the election campaign of 08, but the words were prophetic.
Within a week or so, right after 9-11-08, the "crisis" occured in the credit system, and we ended up with the first multi-billion dollar "Bailout." The 'October Surprise' had come early that election year. In 2009, Congress has been trying for months now to make Christmas come early. Some members of Congress are so uninformed and MIS-informed that they actually think they'd be doing us a favor by taking over our private health-care system.
An NBC poll posted Wednesday December 16th said that, "Just 32 percent say it's a good idea, versus 47 percent who say it's a bad idea.
"In addition, for the first time in the survey, a plurality prefers the status quo to reform. By a 44-41 percent margin, respondents say it would be better to keep the current system than to pass Obama's health plan."
I think there ought to be a movie made about this era that started with Ingraham's "Cantina scene." Call it "Roger and Me and Tiger and Bo" or something. It starts with a golfer trying to pick up one of the Star Wars babes and ends with the monstrously frozen winter of the early "teen years" (1912 or so).
We could title the movie "Santa Claus Goes to Washington." Or "Mr. Smith Goes to Copenhagen.." Or maybe "Honey, You Shrunk the Dollar." Or "Porkchop/Earmark Hill."
I don't know who the stars will be yet, but I have some ideas for theme music for the sound track:
- "Schmaltzing Matilda"
- "North to the Future"
- "It's a COLD World After All"
- "Take the Last Train to Nashville"
- "It's a Long Way to Tipparary" [end of excerpt]
PPS: Speaking of HELLthcare, I'm already seeing signs of rationing. I recently went to a clinic for a minor problem. All the care givers there used to be physicians, but the last two times there, I saw a P.A. (physician's assistant). She may be more competent than some doctors, but anyway, I thought while I was there I'd get a booster shot for tetanus. The P.A. left and came back saying, "You won't believe this, but maybe you will; we're out of the tetanus shots." We're talking a state-subsidized clinic here.
Enough said on that issue, but I almost forgot something. Peggy Noonan wrote something last week — she says a lot of things, not all of which make sense — but I thought this comment was "right on." Peggy cautioned the loyal opposition to temper their comments on White House mis-mangling of the BP oil spill response.
She said that the next time the other party is in the White House, California could get hit by the Big One, and they'll probably screw that up TOO.
Yes, these are serious times. More to come.
PPPS: I heard that there's a micro-beer in the U.P. called "2012." It's named after the movie "2012." I guess the implication is "eat, drink, be merry."
Or we could repent and ask for help from "the God of Israel." Or is that too much to ask?
© Curtis Dahlgren
June 5, 2010
"I am not influenced by the expectation of promotion or pecuniary reward. I wish to be useful, and every kind of service necessary for the public good, become honorable by being necessary." — Nathan Hale
"Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions. It might also be said that tolerance is the virtue of a man without salvation." — G.K. Chesterton and Mike S. Adams (www.TownHall.com)
"In religion we also are too willing to attach ourselves to those who have also cast their pearls not to the swine but to the wind. Perhaps while we're looking for a new Elliot Ness we might want to start a search for a new John the Baptist." — Michael Bresciani (www.RenewAmerica.com — June 3, 2010)
IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL THING. In the mid-80s I was staying with friends in a condo overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Ironically, the place is called Clearwater. I got up at 4 o'clock in the morning to see a bright light in the west. It was a full moon shimmering on a gently waving Gulf. I'll never forget it.
I was in Florida for a fall church festival. We have been preaching continuously since the 1930s that unless there is a spiritual awakening in America, this "last best Hope" would surely be overcome by foreign influence and powers. Now that these predictions are beyond dispute or speculation — they have been coming true for a decade or more — suddenly such warnings are labelled "hate speech" or "craziness" — or worse, "insurrection."
The blame-it-on-Bush people used to call "speaking Truth to power" the very epitome of patriotism. Patriotism is now a rubber stamp — "the tyranny of prevailing opinion" of official-dom. Free speech on the AM dial is now considered (by a minority) to be worse than the revolt against King George of England (to them, a King is supposed to make arbitrary edicts while holding grand balls in the palace).
WHILE MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF OIL SPEWED INTO THE GULF — and the U.N. condemned the state of Israel — the White House on the Hill was alive with the sound of music by Sir Paul. "Hey Jude — Na Na NA Na." Question: Is "Hey Jude" a code-word for "Juden"? I'm just wondering, "Sir" Paul. "There will be an answer"!
On another topic, in the week-that-was, media anchor-persons were shocked by Al and Tipper Gore's announcement of a separation. Some blamed it on Bush, of course (2000). Personally, I wasn't shocked or even mildly surprised. **
The Year-from-Hell for Algore began when "Mother Nature" gave him a frosty reception in Madison, Wisconsin last October — accompanied by "crazy" protestors. Then he went to Copenhagen and froze his obese butt. You can't fool "Mother" Nature, Al would have been better off staying home and chewing some Copenhagen from his daddy's old farm. I don't think Tipper is fooled about "global warming" either.
So far as I know, Mark Belling on the Rush Limbaugh show is the only person in the media to put his finger on the problem. He said that of the four — Bill, Sir Hillary, Al, and Tipper — the latter seemed the most normal, the most independent thinker. She was anti-vulgar rock lyrics when that wasn't cool. She doesn't seem to me either to be the kind of person to put up with the propaganda of man-made "climate change."
Who is brain-washing whom, Al? Belling said it's reasonable to expect that at some point Tipper said:
"You know, Al, maybe the earth isn't warming?"
She seemed like such a nice well-intentioned lady married to a man of unscrupulous — though highly "rewarding" — ethics. Not Hillary, but Tipper. I wish them all the best, but like America, any improvement in "fortunes" will require some 'change.' Wake up and drink the coffee everyone! It is obvious to most people that we have bigger problems than carbon dioxide.
The "yammering fearmongers" — in the words of Michael Crichton — were even yammering that the oceans were absorbing CO2 from the air and this might kill the [no longer rising] seas. And that was just before the "explosion" on the BP rig. Now, of course, the yammerers stand by and watch. Their "solution" is putting another tax on the people like a King George of England.
The spill itself is very "convenient" for fund-raising by enviro-mental groups and left-wing politicians. BP had dropped out of USCAP, and surprise, surprise — they are now Big Brother's number one villain. The spill is also a very very convenient distraction from foreign affairs and the "down- sizing" of our Defense Department (not to mention our deficits and national debt).
Mark Steyn says we might reduce the debt by selling billboards on Air Force One. Or maybe we can auction off the moon, since we planted our flag on it, or sell Peurto Rico. One thing we know with a certainty is that we'll be buying more oil from the Middle East since the moratorium on drilling in shallow water. Yes, it all begs a question:
ARE WE NOT ONLY "BEYOND" CHRISTIANITY BUT BEYOND SANITY?
By the way, the Prez proclaimed June our National Gay-Lesbian-Transgender, ETC Month — in case you want something to celebrate. Yes, we are now "beyond gender" as well. And gay weddings in New York are really going to "impress" the Arabs taking your gasoline money, eh?
Drill for oil in ANWAR or Montana or North Dakota, or off the east or west coasts? NOT A CHANCE, since the voters on the Atlantic and Pacific bought into the enviro-mental propaganda. In other words, put those oil wells (if any) off the southern coast where those Rednecks live. We got into this gooey mess by drilling 50 miles off the Gulf coast, 5,000 feet below the surface. I heard that there are more than a thousand deep-water wells in the Gulf of Mexico, and so far as I know, no wells in the wilderness of ANWAR yet.
Forcing geologists to "go deep" off the southern (read Republican) coast reminds me of a cartoon I saw years ago in a Western newspaper. It was titled "A westerner's view of an easterner's view of the United States." It showed the Manhattan skyscrapers in the foreground, with the Hudson River, and then a vast no-man's land beyond the Mississippi in the background. An arrow pointing to this wilderness was labelled "Please place all incoming missiles HERE."
That reminds me. In the week-that-was, Iran test-fired another long-range missile or two. We, on the other hand, have been cutting back on our missile defense programs. We've reneged on protecting Europe from Iranian missiles. North Korea sinks a South Korean naval vessel, and we go like YAWN. We take the side of terrorists in Gaza.
If Al Gore's Nobel is turning into a boomerang "prize," I shudder to think what the Prez' Peace Prize could turn out to be. The Bible sez that "when they shall say, peace and security, sudden destruction will come upon therm."
I'm not imitating rev-er-undt Wright here; I'm just saying that leaving our defenses to P.R. spin and fate — well, it could be a fate worse than death. Ronald Reagan said that none of the five wars during his lifetime were caused by America being too "strong."
But am I casting pearls before swine here? Let us pray NOT!
**P.S. This columnist was probably the first one to hint at trouble in the Gore household. Here's an excerpt from www.RenewAmerica.com/columns/Dahlgren/091217 — (Two major mistakes: Killing the golden goose and gilding the 'green' lilly):
"There is a 75 percent chance that the Arctic ice will disappear in five years." — Al Gore (before being corrected on his "statistics")
WHEN A POLITICALLY-CORRECT CAUSE IS INVOLVED, THE "NUMBERS" USUALLY LIE. The Truth is just a minor detail. The Leftist dialectic thrives on lies. Lefties don't lie; they tell whoppers — with a straight face.
"YOU'VE HEARD THE NUMBERS — 10% OF AMERICAN MEN ARE GAY, 2.7 million children are abused, one in eight women develop breast cancer. Politicians, activists, fund raisers, scientists and, yes, magazine journalists routinely unload such staggering statistics on a trusting public. The numbers are presented as though they carry all the weight of scientific truth. Don't believe it . . .
"The fact is, much of today's political and social agenda is built around flagrantly flimsy figures. Statistics on crime, poverty, homelessness, joblessness, drug abuse, toxic hazards, sexual harassment — indeed, any matter concerning sex — are notoriously suspect . . .
"But too often exaggerated figures are used deliberately to mislead, raise money or advance an agenda. 'Many statistics are generated by people who have a vested interest,' notes journalist Cynthia Crossen, who is writing a book on how numbers are manipulated . .
"Environmental organizations tend to present the most alarming scenarios to pump up the threat of global warming . . . "
BELIEVE IT, or not, those words came directly from TIME magazine! April 26, 1993 ("The shrinking ten percent" by Priscilla Painton and Anastasia Toufexis)!!
Hard to believe, but — the socio-enviro-wackos have been a-wishin' and a-hopin' for global warming for close to 20 years already! They not only have time and effort invested in the theory now, but some big bucks. They're going to hold their breaths until they get their money back. When Al Gore went to Copenhagen and made his "prophecy" about an ice-free Arctic in five years, the scientist he had been "quoting" said:
"It's unclear to me how this figure was arrived at. I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this." [I would add, especially not after seeing the global average temperature decline over the past 10 years, eh?]
The day that Truth-telling comes back into vogue, people will look back on the 90s and the "oughts" with disbelief, to say the least (though we still have one year to redeem the first decade of this century, since there was no Year zero; thus the years ending in zero are "the end of the decade"). Americans are terrible at math, and getting worse every year. It is simply surreal. On September 2, 2008 Laura Ingraham said:
"The door is opening on the Cantina scene in 'Star Wars.'"
Actually she was talking about the election campaign of 08, but the words were prophetic.
Within a week or so, right after 9-11-08, the "crisis" occured in the credit system, and we ended up with the first multi-billion dollar "Bailout." The 'October Surprise' had come early that election year. In 2009, Congress has been trying for months now to make Christmas come early. Some members of Congress are so uninformed and MIS-informed that they actually think they'd be doing us a favor by taking over our private health-care system.
An NBC poll posted Wednesday December 16th said that, "Just 32 percent say it's a good idea, versus 47 percent who say it's a bad idea.
"In addition, for the first time in the survey, a plurality prefers the status quo to reform. By a 44-41 percent margin, respondents say it would be better to keep the current system than to pass Obama's health plan."
I think there ought to be a movie made about this era that started with Ingraham's "Cantina scene." Call it "Roger and Me and Tiger and Bo" or something. It starts with a golfer trying to pick up one of the Star Wars babes and ends with the monstrously frozen winter of the early "teen years" (1912 or so).
We could title the movie "Santa Claus Goes to Washington." Or "Mr. Smith Goes to Copenhagen.." Or maybe "Honey, You Shrunk the Dollar." Or "Porkchop/Earmark Hill."
I don't know who the stars will be yet, but I have some ideas for theme music for the sound track:
- "Schmaltzing Matilda"
- "North to the Future"
- "It's a COLD World After All"
- "Take the Last Train to Nashville"
- "It's a Long Way to Tipparary" [end of excerpt]
PPS: Speaking of HELLthcare, I'm already seeing signs of rationing. I recently went to a clinic for a minor problem. All the care givers there used to be physicians, but the last two times there, I saw a P.A. (physician's assistant). She may be more competent than some doctors, but anyway, I thought while I was there I'd get a booster shot for tetanus. The P.A. left and came back saying, "You won't believe this, but maybe you will; we're out of the tetanus shots." We're talking a state-subsidized clinic here.
Enough said on that issue, but I almost forgot something. Peggy Noonan wrote something last week — she says a lot of things, not all of which make sense — but I thought this comment was "right on." Peggy cautioned the loyal opposition to temper their comments on White House mis-mangling of the BP oil spill response.
She said that the next time the other party is in the White House, California could get hit by the Big One, and they'll probably screw that up TOO.
Yes, these are serious times. More to come.
PPPS: I heard that there's a micro-beer in the U.P. called "2012." It's named after the movie "2012." I guess the implication is "eat, drink, be merry."
Or we could repent and ask for help from "the God of Israel." Or is that too much to ask?
© Curtis Dahlgren
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(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
