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One set of facilities should be built somewhere and used every four years. It is absurd that the olympics moves around constantly and requires this sort of expenditure.

The hysterical reaction to this movie is simply amazing"

Boy, have you got that right. I'm still astounded by the level of hatred and vitriol being tossed at Mel for making a movie that is, by what I can tell before seeing it, a fairly accurate depiction of the events surrounding the death of Jesus.

If Mel had made some insane movie depicting Jesus as a drug-addicted transvestite, these same liberals would be hailing him as the greatest film artist ever.

I especially love hearing the liberal critics complain about microscopic deviations from the Gospels that allegedly exist in the movie...as if the Gospels ever meant anything to them anyhow.

More than any single event in recent memory, the reaction to this movie has enlightened me to just how bad the situation in this country really is. In days gone by, a movie about the death of Jesus at Lent would have gone by unnoticed...like fireworks on the Fourth of July. Somewhere along the way, Christianity become unacceptable to a huge swath of our liberal media and cultural elite. Every form of degradation imaginable is perfectly OK...but the death of Jesus is not fit for public consumption.

Liberal theologians are the twin brothers of liberal judges. The latter look at the Constitution and ignore the actual words...they just make things up as they go along to fit their political designs. The former do the same thing to the Gospels.

Cash is the Mother’s Milk of Pop Culture
By Steve LaTulippe


Throughout human history, culture has served one major purpose: to inculcate the young with the values and customs of their people so as to prepare them to carry forward the work of their civilization. A casual glance at various traditional cultures demonstrates plenty of examples. American Indian tribes carefully instructed young men in their warrior and hunter traditions. Greek philosophers taught the political and literary ideals of their polis. Every previous culture has recognized the fundamental importance of this mission.

As the recent “Super Bowl breast scandal” clearly demonstrates, our culture is now functioning in the reverse. Instead of teaching the rising generation our values and traditions, our popular culture now feeds them massive doses of perversion and decadence. Rather than preparing them to carry the baton of civilization, they are being propagandized with hideously dysfunctional belief systems that are creating social havoc across the length and breadth of our nation.

To understand the genesis of this change (and to construct strategies to reverse the tide), it is critical to understand the forces that have brought us to this sad state of affairs. Since the 1950’s two trends have intersected to produce the sorry spectacle which popped out onto our TV screens last Sunday.

First, by the mid-twentieth century, young people in our society obtained access to money for discretionary spending for the first time in history. In previous eras, cultural products were mostly marketed to adults, since adults were generally the only ones with money to spend. The amazing wealth-generating abilities of our free market economy led to a situation where adolescents could purchase things on their own. Since teens are, by definition, somewhat immature, media moguls quickly learned that they could seduce youngsters to part with their new-found money by offering them music and movies which flaunted the accepted moral standards of their parents. Elvis’ hips, and the subsequent fortune that he made by swinging them, paved the way for others to quickly follow.

The second trend was the rise of electronic media. The invention of TV, radio, and movies created a mass marketing tool for moguls to by-pass parents and directly offer their wares to youths. Furthermore, nationwide electronic media allowed these industries to homogenize young people into one common taste. In previous eras, music was largely a local and regional affair. But once children could tune into one set of radio and TV stations across the nation, they could be propagandized into coveting the same set of products. This enabled the rise of a new phenomenon in history: mass youth culture.

The problem with marketing pop culture to youths is that it requires the industry to continually push the envelope. Shock value quickly wears off. A singer today who moves his hips like Elvis would go totally unnoticed in our current culture…things have plummeted way beyond that. Thus, there is now an “invisible hand of the marketplace” which motivates artists to engage in a race to the bottom (I should note at this juncture that Janet Jackson has a new CD coming out soon…which suggests an obvious motivation for her Super Bowl publicity stunt).

These factors lead to a sober dictum: The central reality of our current culture is that it no longer exists to inculcate youths with values, but rather to make money by marketing perversion to vulnerable adolescents.

Understanding this metamorphosis, which is actually quite a profound change in human history, is necessary before we can possibly hope to rectify the situation.

Having pondered the forces that brought about the exposure of Miss Jackson’s nipple ring, I believe that conservatives must accept an unpalatable fact: so long as the current sets of incentives are in place, the situation will only get worse. The race to the bottom will continue. This year’s breast will be replaced by next year’s penis.

Nevertheless, I believe that direct government action to suppress artistic expression, regardless of how debauched, is wrong. I am a First Amendment absolutist. The government cannot get into the business of censorship.

But keeping in mind the above set of motivating factors, I believe that the “chink in the armor” of this dynamic is the money. While I certainly do not disapprove of the profit motive, I do object to the exploitation of the natural rebelliousness of youths by addicting them to depravity. The very future of our civilization is at stake. The litany of adolescent pathologies in our culture is all too familiar, from sexually transmitted diseases to depression and suicide.

Having said this, I believe that conservatives should pursue the following strategy: We should militate for a reform of our copyright laws to remove the profit motive from the production of perverse art.

The Article I Section 8 of the Constitution states that the Congress shall have the power:


To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;


This statement leads me to two conclusions.

First, is that Congress has the power to grant copyrights…not the obligation. It does not say that Congress shall grant them, but rather that it shall have the power to grant them.

Second, it clearly states that this power is granted to promote "useful" arts.

Thus, I contend that the only way to clean up our culture and save future generations of Americans from the current depredations of our popular culture industry is for our elected representatives to judiciously withhold copyright protection from debauched art. Congress is permitted to grant it, and is therefore permitted to withhold it. I challenge anyone to convince me that gangster rap is a “useful” art.

In practice, we should encourage Congress to pass a simple set of standards which would be applied to all art (or at least all art for which the artist desires copyright protections). For example, the use of one of George Carlin’s “seven forbidden words” in a song or TV show would automatically remove copyright protection from that production. Songs which encourage shooting the police or raping women would likewise be left unprotected.

The important thing here is that no one would be forbidden to express anything in any artistic creation. P. Diddy could discuss his sexual practices in his music to his heart’s content. But anyone would be permitted to copy, swap, sell, or reproduce it without legal penalty.

The effect that this policy would have on our popular culture would be nothing short of amazing. Since, as I noted above, the whole thing exists to make money by seducing youths into rebellious depravity, the removal of the profit motive would short circuit the whole morbid affair.

The practitioners of our popular culture often state that they are merely expressing deeply held beliefs. They are venting their rage at an unjust society. They generally make a big deal out of their non-materialistic ethos. We should take them at their word. If they need to express themselves in this manner…by all means, do so. But stripping the profit from the art will be an interesting test of the sincerity of these stated motivations.

My hunch is that they are really just in it for the cash.

Exactly...I thought that Clinton had concluded a successful nation building mission there a few years ago...complete with NGOs and the UN.

Is it possible that this debacle represents the first known case of liberal social planning going awry?

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Things should be getting very interesting in Western Europe over the next couple of decades. Militant Islam will be colliding with the cultural decadence and residual tribalism of the Western European peoples...producing quite a lot of fireworks.

My guess is that there will be violence accompanied by the rise of nationalistic governments in many of these nations. It's a better than even bet that Islam will be expelled from Europe (again). The longshot is that Islam will be victorious and large swaths of Europe will become part of Arabic Islamic civilization.

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Immigration continues in this country because it benefits the ruling elites. The economic elites like it because it depresses wage rates (and thus increases profit margins) and the political/cultural elites like it because it imports vast numbers of big-government socialistic voters.

But perhaps something good can come out of the massive influx of Mexicans into the Southwest. It may be a poison pill which will transform our Republic in a positive direction.

Elites, Elitism, and the Fall of the American Republic

Liberalism continues its march forward (as it is doing under George W) because it benefits the ruling elites...regardless of what Middle America thinks.

Elites, Elitism, and the Fall of the American Republic

"She dresses almost exclusively in Chanel, has a private jet, the Flying Squirrel, and owns a collection of Dutch Old Master paintings so valuable that her insurance company will not allow them to be photographed. Some Washington wits have dubbed her and her husband Cash and Kerry."

It sounds like she'll fit right in with the northeastern, elite liberal crowd.

One of the things that never ceased to amaze me when I was a student at an Ivy League university was the extent to which spoiled rich kids spouted radical leftist BS.

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"Just for the fun of it... Here is a short list of Catholic teaching. See how many of you are real Catholics. If your are not a real Catholic, you should leave the church That way we won't have a priest shortage"

I didn't say he should "leave the church"...I said that the Church was perfectly within its rights to deny him Communion.

The "fools" (foreign governments) that buy the US Treasury Bonds at such rates do so to ensure that the US public (who never save) continue to buy foreign goods and ensure that foreign manufacturing employment expands. Admittedly... a wierd turn of events but it passes for economic policy these days!!!

Exactly, the world economy essentially consists of Asians loaning us money to buy things from them that we can't afford...money that they know we'll never be able to pay back. Its not a stable growth model,to say the least.

Thanks for the kind words.

This scientist was just the fall guy. The Paki govt has been selling nuclear technology everywhere, and they got caught. Rather than fessing up, the governing elites picked this poor guy on whom to blame the whole mess.

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There is huge trouble potentially ahead. The US finances its gigantic govt budget deficit with foreign money (since Americans are in hock up to their eyeballs and don't save any of their money). If the currency falls too far, it will be idiotic for foreigners (esp Asians) to continue to purchase govt debt (ie: govt bonds). Who would buy bonds with a 1-2% interest rate when you lose much more than that on the falling currency?

The upshot is that a continued weakening of the dollar will eventually force interest rates up as foreign investors demand higher returns for investing in dollar-denominated bonds. If this happens, not only will our govt deficit explode (due to having to pay much higher interest) but the economy will slow down, esp the housing market (can you say "bubble deflation"?)

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At least Hillary was intelligent, this gal has all of Hillary's mania for power and control, but is a sheer nitwit. She ramble's incoherently. The only thing that I've ever taken away from any of her speeches is that she believes herself to be a member of the "elite", and therefore has a right to use the government to tell everyone else how to live.

BTW, is she even an American citizen? I seem to recall seeing somewhere that she was from Europe.

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"We have to be cautious about this. These fears are most plausible when it comes to things like denying Catholic politicians Communion. That's a religious sanction. It's one thing to say we think Senator Kerry is wrong. But it's quite another to deny the means of grace because of a political position."

This is moronic. The Catholic Church has a set of beliefs. Abortion is one of them. If he chooses to defy the Church's teachings, he is free to do so. But the Church is then also free to act accordingly and deny him Communion. This clown is speaking as though Kerry has a "right" to have Communion.

The Latin Mass, A Cultural Counterattack

Pakistan may be the weak link that Osama needs. From the get-go, his aim was to destabilize muslim countries and replace their governments with ones controlled by radical Islamists. For some time, I thought that his goal would be to topple the House of Saud. But Pakistan seems ripe for the picking...and with nuclear arms to boot.

Folks should hope that Musharraf stays healthy.

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Multiculturalism and immigration are moving America on a dangerous path towards conflict. One of the critical stablizers in America which used help unify the country was the dominance of "broadcasting" in TV. There were only three stations, and each station tried to produce programming that would capture the widest possible audience.

And just when America's demographics is getting more diverse, TV is breaking up into zillions of stations. Many of these stations are "narrowcasting". They are focusing on one slice of the population as their business strategy.

Since the power of TV in promoting attitudes and values cannot be overstated, the appearance of narrowcasting TV is a dangerous development.

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I have heard rumors that the Saudis are actually negotiating with the Pakistanis to station a few nuclear missles on their territory. This way, the Saudis would have a nuclear deterrent but would not be in actual violation of any nonproliferation treaties. This arrangement would be similar to american nuclear warheads stationed on other nation's soil.

"Of all my American friends, I think one or two had two parents still married."

I graduated from an American high school in the early 1980's. My graduating class had 198 students, and 3 of them came from divorced homes. In retrospect, the speed of the collapse is absolutely stunning. My high school now graduates classes that have about 50% of the children living in divorced/single parent families.