Check out Occidental Intelligence Briefing to understand what America is up against in this war against terrorism. The Islamofascists' ultimate goal is to enslave us all. If they had their way, we would either have to convert to Islam or die. And the thing is, many of these people are here in this country right now, hating us, our freedoms, everything we stand for. Keep in mind, "Islam" does not mean "peace", it means "submission".
I have this problem every once in a while. It's usually brought on by stress and worry. I'm passing the time doing some reading. Check out Frederica Mathewes-Green for some great essays on spiritual and social issues. I remember her writing from when I used to subscribe to Regeneration Quarterly (or First Things, or maybe both). I find reading her essays this evening somehow comforting, since I'm in one of those moods where I feel like there's hardly any sanity or decency left in the Universe. I found the link to her writings a while back on Eve Tushnet's blog.
I was looking at my Lindsey-inspired rant of last night and I want to add one thing. My rant was directed at the American civilian population and certain parts of the government. I'm sure our military people who are fighting terrorism see the real dangers and are not complacent.
"Wish I was a Bible thumpin' fool ~ Yeah, from the old school ~ Mind as narrow as the road I walk ~ Always upright when I talk..." -- 16 Horsepower, "My Narrow Mind"
I didn't really like my blog description. I thought it was stilted and came off pretentious. The new description was inspired by a 16 Horsepower song. Before you assume the above quoted lyrics are a slam against Christians, you should know that David Eugene Edwards of 16 Horsepower, who wrote those lyrics, is a Christian. I think he may have been expressing envy for people who seem to stick to the "straight and narrow" so easily. I wish I was more like that myself. Nevertheless, I'm sure there are those who would think I have a narrow mind, and maybe they're right. Hence, the new description.
I posted the following rant on AmericanConservatives.net and I've decided to repeat it here. It was inspired mainly by reading this entry on Brink Lindsey's blog.
Right after 9/11, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. The anthrax scare, although scary, didn't seem to be the other shoe. But I realize now that the terrorists are waiting. They've been waiting for us to think things are back to "normal" again. They've been waiting for us to be lulled back into complacency. I agree with many who have said that the decision to not allow pilots to be armed sends a dangerous signal that we are not serious in this fight against terrorism. It is a sign of weakness to our enemies that people are still worried about PC bullcrap and "racial profiling", that the "federalized/professionalized" airport security are more likely to search little old ladies than middle-easterners, and that anybody still listens to anything CAIR has to say. Our enemies think we are weak and decadent, and as much as I hate to say this, we as a people are not doing much to prove them wrong.
How many more people are going to have to die before we buck up, get strong, tell the people who are spreading weakness in America to shut the hell up, and do what we need to do?
I go and post my current stats last night, and then I get in a 16 Horsepower kind of mood today. When I came home for lunch today, I grabbed Sackcloth n' Ashes and Low Estate to listen to this afternoon at work. My occupation? I'm an Application Developer (using Oracle). Actually, that's a fancy way of saying I'm a programmer, but we're not supposed to refer to ourselves as programmers. We're software analysts, designers and developers, which is supposed to be different from being mere coders. I still think of myself as a programmer, though. I really enjoy my job, because this is what I've always wanted to do. In other jobs, I was the techie, the e-mail administrator or the back-up network administrator. To put it nicely, this was not something I enjoyed. But I'm very grateful for the job I have now.
Reading: The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis.
Listening to: Steve Bertrand - jOYRIDE Demo, Benjamin Orr - The Lace, miscellaneous stuff by Steve Taylor.
In the VCR: MST3K - Quest of the Delta Knights.
This blog will include sporadic thoughts, rantings and recommendations. I'm more into reading other blogs than I'm into writing my own. My first recommendation: check out AmericanConservatives.net. This is a conservative forum with some really cool folks. I moderate the Blogwatch forum, where we discuss stuff we find on blogs. I also moderate The Entertainment Center, which is for showbiz-related stuff. We welcome anyone who wants a civil discussion of issues. Rude trolls need not apply.