Curtis Dahlgren
While Princess Summerspring Winter-Fall went on Spring Break - - -
By Curtis Dahlgren
"Communists must always consider that of all the arts the motion picture is the most important." – Vladimir Lenin
SPEAKING OF THE MEDIA AND HISTORY, someone call NBC quick and ask them if this conquest of Crimea is another "pivotal experiment" by Mother Russia (is this the third term of Jimmie Carter or what)? Jimmie boycotted the Olympics after the USSR invaded Afghanistan; now we pull out of Afghanistan, Boitano the Olympics, and freeze the assets of a legislator whose bill outlawed recruiting by homosexuals in Russia's schools (does the State Department think it's the IRS? Or what?). Is this what "Tell Vladimir that after the election I'll have more flexibility" meant?
At least we and the Ukrainians know now what nuclear disarmament looks like (imprisonment). Da Prez tells all of our friends that he has their back [in his crosshairs]. We're leading from behind now, remember?
Eastern Europe was not allowed to have a missile defense shield; now our Secretary of State announces that the Monroe Doctrine has been cancelled ("y'all come; we'll leave the light on for ya")! Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does geo-politics. From the Twilight Zone: If you see a 777 overhead flying low, head for the fruit cellar, Mabel! I'm not being just a smart aleck here; too many Christians are being slaughtered and it's beginning to look like a pattern.
MAKING HISTORY RELEVANT
Note the title of this column. It refers to the Summer of Love (Woodstock, where all this stuff got started); to the Arab Spring (which among other things has killed 150,000 Syrians); to the Winter of Our Discontent (the weather has us at our wit's end); and finally, to the FALL of the West. Is the Western world about to toss away thousands of years of evolving civilization? The sun still never sets on the English language, because the Brits were an early literate society. The Magna Carta ("Great Charter") was signed in the 1200s and Chaucer wrote in the 1300s. English translations of the Bible led to widespread literacy among the Commoners. The Colonies carried it all even further.
When George Washington was inaugurated in 1789, he kissed an open Bible and placed his right hand on Genesis 49 and 50 – according to Paul Gutjahr ("An American Bible," 1999). That's the passage that includes the blessing of Jacob's 12 sons just before he died:
"Gather yourselves together that I may tell you what shall befall you in the latter days . . . Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise."
Question: We all know the identity of Judah, but who are the brother today?
Answer: The people who generally "praise Judah" (you figure it out!).
BY THE WAY – Genesis 48 foretold a new kind of "empire" – sort of – that would be a "blessing" to the world, "to all the families of the earth." Think vaccinations and other life-saving Science. Can you say "Green Revolution" boys and girls (I'm talking plant-breeding and animal husbandry that helped FEED the world (as opposed to "save the planet" in the abstract)!
BTW, we just survived the winter of 2013-14 in the U.P.; on the second day of spring it was nearly zero in these parts though. Some of our ski hills had over 16 feet of snow and have half of that left yet. We may be able to drive across the local lake on Groundhog Day this year (we celebrate that up here on May Day). And I live in the Banana Belt of the U.P.!
P.S. What in the world just happened? Did America just give up control of the Internet? If so, you might as well start practicing saying "2 + 2 = 5" three times fast without making a mistake. Big Brother will want to be hearing that. And in accord with Common Core, he will want you to explain how you arrived at the right answer (at that point, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?). Somebody call Jay Carney and tell him there are no mulligans in geo-politics (even if you do well on the NCAA tournament brackets).
PPS: Corrections and additions.
Two weeks ago I started with the quote "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people." I agree totally, but I gave Mel Brooks credit for the line while it was by the great Dane, Victor Borge. I sure hate to slight a Scandinavian. Anyway, you will occasionally find typos in my column, not because I can't spell, but because I'm over 70 and sometimes forget to bring my glasses to town (I do my computing at the library). I don't have my glasses today, in fact, so I'd better quit while I'm ahead.
CONCLUSION
Speaking of the evolution of Freedom, here's the bottom line:
"The Founding Fathers established a system which meant a radical break from that which proceeded it. A written Constitution would provide a permanent form of government, limited in scope, but effective in providing both liberty and order . . . To this day, America is still the abiding alternative to tyranny." – Ronald Reagan
[BTW, I haven't signed any petitions to impeach the President yet.
I'm still hoping he'll take a Sabbatical for about three years! Isn't that the DREAM of every academic?
© Curtis Dahlgren
March 23, 2014
"Communists must always consider that of all the arts the motion picture is the most important." – Vladimir Lenin
SPEAKING OF THE MEDIA AND HISTORY, someone call NBC quick and ask them if this conquest of Crimea is another "pivotal experiment" by Mother Russia (is this the third term of Jimmie Carter or what)? Jimmie boycotted the Olympics after the USSR invaded Afghanistan; now we pull out of Afghanistan, Boitano the Olympics, and freeze the assets of a legislator whose bill outlawed recruiting by homosexuals in Russia's schools (does the State Department think it's the IRS? Or what?). Is this what "Tell Vladimir that after the election I'll have more flexibility" meant?
At least we and the Ukrainians know now what nuclear disarmament looks like (imprisonment). Da Prez tells all of our friends that he has their back [in his crosshairs]. We're leading from behind now, remember?
Eastern Europe was not allowed to have a missile defense shield; now our Secretary of State announces that the Monroe Doctrine has been cancelled ("y'all come; we'll leave the light on for ya")! Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does geo-politics. From the Twilight Zone: If you see a 777 overhead flying low, head for the fruit cellar, Mabel! I'm not being just a smart aleck here; too many Christians are being slaughtered and it's beginning to look like a pattern.
MAKING HISTORY RELEVANT
Note the title of this column. It refers to the Summer of Love (Woodstock, where all this stuff got started); to the Arab Spring (which among other things has killed 150,000 Syrians); to the Winter of Our Discontent (the weather has us at our wit's end); and finally, to the FALL of the West. Is the Western world about to toss away thousands of years of evolving civilization? The sun still never sets on the English language, because the Brits were an early literate society. The Magna Carta ("Great Charter") was signed in the 1200s and Chaucer wrote in the 1300s. English translations of the Bible led to widespread literacy among the Commoners. The Colonies carried it all even further.
When George Washington was inaugurated in 1789, he kissed an open Bible and placed his right hand on Genesis 49 and 50 – according to Paul Gutjahr ("An American Bible," 1999). That's the passage that includes the blessing of Jacob's 12 sons just before he died:
"Gather yourselves together that I may tell you what shall befall you in the latter days . . . Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise."
Question: We all know the identity of Judah, but who are the brother today?
Answer: The people who generally "praise Judah" (you figure it out!).
BY THE WAY – Genesis 48 foretold a new kind of "empire" – sort of – that would be a "blessing" to the world, "to all the families of the earth." Think vaccinations and other life-saving Science. Can you say "Green Revolution" boys and girls (I'm talking plant-breeding and animal husbandry that helped FEED the world (as opposed to "save the planet" in the abstract)!
BTW, we just survived the winter of 2013-14 in the U.P.; on the second day of spring it was nearly zero in these parts though. Some of our ski hills had over 16 feet of snow and have half of that left yet. We may be able to drive across the local lake on Groundhog Day this year (we celebrate that up here on May Day). And I live in the Banana Belt of the U.P.!
P.S. What in the world just happened? Did America just give up control of the Internet? If so, you might as well start practicing saying "2 + 2 = 5" three times fast without making a mistake. Big Brother will want to be hearing that. And in accord with Common Core, he will want you to explain how you arrived at the right answer (at that point, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?). Somebody call Jay Carney and tell him there are no mulligans in geo-politics (even if you do well on the NCAA tournament brackets).
PPS: Corrections and additions.
Two weeks ago I started with the quote "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people." I agree totally, but I gave Mel Brooks credit for the line while it was by the great Dane, Victor Borge. I sure hate to slight a Scandinavian. Anyway, you will occasionally find typos in my column, not because I can't spell, but because I'm over 70 and sometimes forget to bring my glasses to town (I do my computing at the library). I don't have my glasses today, in fact, so I'd better quit while I'm ahead.
CONCLUSION
Speaking of the evolution of Freedom, here's the bottom line:
"The Founding Fathers established a system which meant a radical break from that which proceeded it. A written Constitution would provide a permanent form of government, limited in scope, but effective in providing both liberty and order . . . To this day, America is still the abiding alternative to tyranny." – Ronald Reagan
[BTW, I haven't signed any petitions to impeach the President yet.
I'm still hoping he'll take a Sabbatical for about three years! Isn't that the DREAM of every academic?
© Curtis Dahlgren
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