Category: America and the World
Posted by: an okie gardener
Born this day in 1874.
November 30
Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England to Lord Randolph and Lady Churchill (Jennie Jerome).
December 3
"On the 30th Nov., at Blenheim Palace, the Lady Randolph Churchill, prematurely, of a son." (The Times)
Link to the Churchill Center.
Churchill entry at the Nobel Literature site (he won in 1953).
Link to Blenheim Palace site, Churchill's birthplace.
Link to the Churchill exhibit at the Library of Congress.
Link to the Churchill Society, London, which has audio of Churchill.
Link to the Churchill Museum.
Link to picture of Churchill's grave at Bladon.
Tribute at GayPatriot.
Churchill was the epitome of English bulldog courage and tenacity, an indispensible man for Freedom in the 20th century. Let's remember that Courage (or Fortitude) is a necessary republican virtue for the preservation of liberty. Three cheers for Sir Winston.
November 30
Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England to Lord Randolph and Lady Churchill (Jennie Jerome).
December 3
"On the 30th Nov., at Blenheim Palace, the Lady Randolph Churchill, prematurely, of a son." (The Times)
Link to the Churchill Center.
Churchill entry at the Nobel Literature site (he won in 1953).
Link to Blenheim Palace site, Churchill's birthplace.
Link to the Churchill exhibit at the Library of Congress.
Link to the Churchill Society, London, which has audio of Churchill.
Link to the Churchill Museum.
Link to picture of Churchill's grave at Bladon.
Tribute at GayPatriot.
Churchill was the epitome of English bulldog courage and tenacity, an indispensible man for Freedom in the 20th century. Let's remember that Courage (or Fortitude) is a necessary republican virtue for the preservation of liberty. Three cheers for Sir Winston.
30/11: MSM Failure in Iraq, cont.
Gateway Pundit is still on AP like a pitbull. Here. The Mainstream Media failure to provide clear and accurate news from Iraq is a scandal.
28/11: Irony in Oslo
Category: America and the World
Posted by: an okie gardener
This year's Nobel Peace Prize entertainment has been set. One of the performers is the singer formerly know as Cat Stevens. Now, following his conversion to Islam, he supports censorship and the death penalty for "blasphemy." Among other things. Here. Only a well-educated elite could miss the irony. Hattip DhimmiWatch.
28/11: Religion of Tolerance Update
Category: America and the World
Posted by: an okie gardener
Arab Christians continue to flee the Palestinian controlled Holy Land, raising the possibility that Christianity will have no presence in parts of the region of its birth. From AP via The Tulsa World. Article here.
There have been Christians on the West Bank since the days of the apostles. Until the Arab conquests it was a Christian region. Now, after centuries of dhimmitude*, the increased violence against them is driving more and more Christians abroad.
*The prescribed condition of Christians within Muslim controlled lands: second-class citizenship, restrictions, special taxes.
There have been Christians on the West Bank since the days of the apostles. Until the Arab conquests it was a Christian region. Now, after centuries of dhimmitude*, the increased violence against them is driving more and more Christians abroad.
*The prescribed condition of Christians within Muslim controlled lands: second-class citizenship, restrictions, special taxes.
26/11: Chavez
Category: America and the World
Posted by: an okie gardener
Chavez of Venezuela may be a popular big-mouth abroad, but he may not be overwhelming popular at home. (And there are serious questions about the honesty of the last election there.) Gateway Pundit has pictures of a massive anti-Chavez demonstration in Caracas.
25/11: Farewell to France
Category: America and the World
Posted by: an okie gardener
Check out this website. Its title is ATLAS DES ZONES URBAINES SENSIBLES. It is a French Government site listing urban areas (with links to maps) into which it is not safe to go. (Officially these are sort of Economic Development Zones, not forbidden zones.) Last count there were 751 such neighborhoods. Hat tip DhimmiWatch.
The major riots by "Immigrant Youths" (aka young male Muslims) of the recent past were triggered by French efforts to reestablish the rule of French law. These efforts have not come to much. On an average night in France about 100 cars are set ablaze, mostly in these neighborhoods. And some of our politicians look to Europe for answers to our problems?
The major riots by "Immigrant Youths" (aka young male Muslims) of the recent past were triggered by French efforts to reestablish the rule of French law. These efforts have not come to much. On an average night in France about 100 cars are set ablaze, mostly in these neighborhoods. And some of our politicians look to Europe for answers to our problems?
In case you encounter some loon this week who asserts that all Islamic terrorism would stop if Israel or the US would do this or that, more news from Thailand.
7 Killed in Muslim South Despite Thai Peace Bid here
Islamic Jihadists in Southern Thailand Burn Teacher Alive here
Jihad Against Education: 300 Thai Schools to Close Amid Attacks here.
Hat tip Jihadwatch. Islam has almost always had bloody borders.
7 Killed in Muslim South Despite Thai Peace Bid here
Islamic Jihadists in Southern Thailand Burn Teacher Alive here
Jihad Against Education: 300 Thai Schools to Close Amid Attacks here.
Hat tip Jihadwatch. Islam has almost always had bloody borders.
22/11: The Foreign Policy Question
Several days ago I posted some material on US foreign policy from Tocqueville and A Waco Farmer here. Then I asked this question: "Question for discussion: In 2006/2007, should the United States follow the policy of George Washington as expressed by John Quincy Adams?"
Washington had called for the US not to get involved in the political/national struggles in Europe. JQA, writing in the context of the breaking-up of the Spanish Empire in Latin America wrote:
America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion only of her own. She will recommend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example. She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assumed the colors and usurped the standards of freedom.... She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit.
Since I posed the question: I suppose I should offer a few thoughts. (below)
Washington had called for the US not to get involved in the political/national struggles in Europe. JQA, writing in the context of the breaking-up of the Spanish Empire in Latin America wrote:
America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion only of her own. She will recommend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example. She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assumed the colors and usurped the standards of freedom.... She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit.
Since I posed the question: I suppose I should offer a few thoughts. (below)
18/11: Chinese Repression
Category: America and the World
Posted by: an okie gardener
How much do the cheap "Made in China" items really cost? Gateway Pundit on recent repression in China here.
Traditionally America followed a policy of Political Isolationism. We were active in the global economy with American ships sailing the oceans to trade, but refrained from political involvement abroad. Recently one of our frequent commentators, Tocqueville, gave us an important historic statement of this policy in the context of current political discussion.
Wilsonianism has run amuck in the GOP, which is a far cry from Bush's 2000 campaign for an end to peace-keeping and nation-building. The most thorough and persuasive critique of the Wilsonian strain in American history is Walter McDougall's "Promised Land, Crusader State." McDougall's guiding spirit is John Quincy Adams, who, by way of refuting the heretical doctrine of a crusader America, formulated once and for all the orthodox dogma of American Exceptionalism in his July Fourth address of 1821:
"America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion only of her own. She will recommend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example. She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assumed the colors and usurped the standards of freedom.... She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit."
A Waco Farmer then added some context:
JQA speaks as James Monroe's secretary of state (according to Samuel Flagg Bemis, and others, the very best to ever hold that position). The context is the unraveling Spanish Empire in Latin America. The other component is Henry Clay, who, outside the administration, is calling upon the government of the USA to lend military assistance to the fledgling republics. Henry Clay, in fact, takes a Wilsonian position nearly 100 years prior to Wilson. And JQA is promoting a rock-ribbed realism that he inherited from his political hero, George Washington.
Question for discussion: In 2006/2007, should the United States follow the policy of George Washington as expressed by John Quincy Adams?
Wilsonianism has run amuck in the GOP, which is a far cry from Bush's 2000 campaign for an end to peace-keeping and nation-building. The most thorough and persuasive critique of the Wilsonian strain in American history is Walter McDougall's "Promised Land, Crusader State." McDougall's guiding spirit is John Quincy Adams, who, by way of refuting the heretical doctrine of a crusader America, formulated once and for all the orthodox dogma of American Exceptionalism in his July Fourth address of 1821:
"America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion only of her own. She will recommend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example. She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assumed the colors and usurped the standards of freedom.... She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit."
A Waco Farmer then added some context:
JQA speaks as James Monroe's secretary of state (according to Samuel Flagg Bemis, and others, the very best to ever hold that position). The context is the unraveling Spanish Empire in Latin America. The other component is Henry Clay, who, outside the administration, is calling upon the government of the USA to lend military assistance to the fledgling republics. Henry Clay, in fact, takes a Wilsonian position nearly 100 years prior to Wilson. And JQA is promoting a rock-ribbed realism that he inherited from his political hero, George Washington.
Question for discussion: In 2006/2007, should the United States follow the policy of George Washington as expressed by John Quincy Adams?
