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Decadence: a falling away; a decay; a deterioration; a failing of heart; a focus of self, on the here and now; the emergence of “What’s in it for me?” as a national philosophy; the lack of a goal; the disappearance of a shared sense of purpose. Russell Kirk was fond of quoting from C.E.M. Joad’s Decadence: A Philosophical Inquiry (1948). Here is Kirk in The Politics of Prudence: "Professor Joad wrote that a society or an individual that has become decadent has “dropped the object”; or, in terms less abstract, in a decadent state people have lost any aim, end,...

How does a society go about checkmating itself? There is no shortage of real-world examples, but real life is complicated, so here is a simple allegory. Let's suppose that there is a tribe called the Merkanoids, which remains quite ordinary for most of its history, but which at some point undergoes a strange cultural mutation. An accidental synergy between atmospheric electricity and chemicals in the water produces a strange effect on their minds that causes them to decamp from the towns and villages wherein they had hitherto happily dwelt, and take up residence in little huts scattered throughout the surrounding...

The U.S. Air Force admits that the chaplain's office at Andrews Air Force Base retracted an invitation to Family Research Council President Tony Perkins--a former Marine officer--to speak at a prayer luncheon held at the base on Thursday after the conservative leader criticized President Obama’s efforts to end “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell"--the military policy on homosexuality. “The Chaplain’s Office retracted Mr. Perkins’ invitation after his recent public comments made many who planned to attend the event uncomfortable,” the Andrews base public affairs office said in a statement issued late Thursday... Perkins told CNSNews.com he was invited last October by the...

WASHINGTON -- The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of right-to-life organizations in all 50 states, strongly opposes the abortion language contained in the "manager's amendment" filed today by U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nv.). Reid intends to press for Senate approval of the language during the days immediately ahead, without allowing an opportunity for any revisions to be considered. The following statement may be attributed to NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson: "The manager’s amendment is light years removed from the Stupak-Pitts Amendment that was approved by the House of Representatives on November 8 by a bipartisan...

Although more than 75 witnesses testified at the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics hearing Monday on a proposed voter initiative to define marriage in the District as being between a man and a woman, there were few legal arguments presented. Most who came before the board spoke based on emotion. And the majority of the witnesses were in favor of getting the issue before the District's nearly 400,000 registered voters. The push from the city's religious community comes as the D.C. Council considers legalizing same-sex marriage, with 10 of 13 council members in support of at-large Councilman David Catania's...

...Lori Roman (at Regular Folks United) brought up a few statements uttered by Jennings a decade or so ago~when he praised Harry Hay~of the North American Association for Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). This delightful organization promotes the legalization of sexual abuse of young boys by older men. Jennings even went so far as to pen the forward to Hay’s book, “Queering Elementary Education”. However, Obama’s connection to Hays through Jennings doesn’t end there. Another “acquaintance” of our current President wrote one of the endorsements on the book jacket: Bill Ayers, of the 1960’s Weathermen fame. Here’s a question, who is...

onathan Bray, one of the organizers of Southern Decadence, a celebration that has become known as the gay Mardi Gras, spent his time this week getting ready for the big party and watching weather reports. "I looked out in the Gulf and didn't see a storm," Bray said. "No Katrina, no Gustav. I'm so happy." In the almost four decades since it started, Southern Decadence has become a traditional Labor Day weekend, end-of-summer, event. But for two of the last four years, hurricanes crashed the French Quarter-centered party. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Gustav last year both generated evacuation orders...

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, an advocacy group in Los Angeles, filed a lawsuit against county health officials, accusing them of failing to regulate condom use in the pornography industry to protect actors and actresses from contracting H.I.V. and other diseases. The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court, comes one month after a pornographic actress in Los Angeles said she had contracted H.I.V. Health officials have since released data showing 18 positive H.I.V. tests in the industry and thousands of other sexually transmitted disease infections since 2004. County officials should “require condom use in the production of pornography,” according to a statement...

I met Viatcheslav Alexeivich when I was wandering around the socialist paradises of the workers and peasants during the 1990s; on a street, he had heard me speaking in English to someone, and was intrigued. He later told me he had been intrigued because he had noticed the absence of ears, and was startled to find someone like that "speaking excellent English." In America, I've always worn the hair long, so as to hide this particular absence, but because I was in a strange place among people strangers to me, I had decided it was better to make the absence...

Two women are filing a discrimination lawsuit against a Michigan McDonald’s that they claim refused to hire them because they wear the hijab, a Muslim headscarf. “These unbelievers insult our religion by insisting that we expose ourselves in order to get a job at their restaurant,” charged litigant Toi Whitfield of Detroit. “We will not submit to decadence.” “Our virtue should not bar us from employment,” fellow litigant, Quiana Pugh of Dearborn added. “We have a dress code at the restaurant,” explained Bud Bland, manager of the targeted McDonalds. “Everyone who works here wears a standard uniform—pants, shirt and hat....

The world's unofficially most-expensive burger made its debut in London today, costing nearly $200 for patrons with enough money to visit the fast food chain that makes it. That's right, the bourgeois burger is made by Burger King. After six months in development, Burger King today launched "The Burger," a limited edition hamburger selling for $190. Chef Mark Dowding, the director of new product development and innovation for the fast food chain, says his creation targets a certain type of consumer. "I call them burger aficionados," said Dowding. But this is Burger King. Are these "aficionados" really frequenting London's fast...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) - People in the United States are living in a world of pain and they are popping pills at an alarming rate to cope with it. The amount of five major painkillers sold at retail establishments rose 90 percent between 1997 and 2005, according to an Associated Press analysis of statistics from the Drug Enforcement Administration. More than 200,000 pounds of codeine, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and meperidine were purchased at retail stores during the most recent year represented in the data. That total is enough to give more than 300 milligrams of painkillers to every person...

Drug-addiction services have also grown massively. In our society, every problem calls forth its equal and supposedly opposite bureaucracy, the ostensible purpose of which is to solve the problem. But the bureaucracy quickly develops a survival instinct, and so no more wishes the problem to disappear altogether than the lion wishes to kill all the gazelle in the bush and leave itself without food. In short, the bureaucracy of drug addiction needs drug addicts far more than drug addicts need the bureaucracy of drug addiction. The propaganda, assiduously spread for many years now, is that heroin addiction is an "illness"....

When the timing is right, the two parades meet on North Rampart Street, one showcasing men in skimpy skirts and bouffant wigs, the other with high-steppers waving handmade umbrellas and beaded fans. Both parades -- one hosted by Southern Decadence, the other by Black Men of Labor -- strolled through the streets Sunday within several blocks of each other in downtown New Orleans. This year, Decadence, a three-day gay festival, lured nearly 125,000 visitors to the city, while the Black Men of Labor parade attracted thousands of local and displaced New Orleanians. Behind each parade's glitz and glamour, participants said,...

American Decadence—Part 4 of 4 The Characteristics of an Uncivilized People by Reginald Firehammer [American Decadence—Part 3] The Sign of a Child There is another feature of declining cultures, such as ours, which to many is quite bewildering—the sexual exploitation of children which I've documented in this article. The bewildering aspect of this is not just the horrors it inflicts on young boys and girls, which are bad enough, but what kind of people could be part of that horror and what attracts them to it. This, again, is nothing new, because most of the world has never been civilized,...

American Decadence—Part 3 of 4 The Characteristics of an Uncivilized People by Reginald Firehammer [American Decadence—Part 2] Is This Civilized? Civilized people have a certain look. It's a reflection of that dignity that comes from their values and their knowledge of what is and is not appropriate to human nature, that is, the kind of being a human being is—the way one dresses and presents himself is a reflection of who and what he is, of his values, and his sense of the importance of decency and integrity, of being the best he can possibly be. What is your picture...

American Decadence—Part 2 of 4 The Characteristics of an Uncivilized People by Reginald Firehammer Only a Savage Society Savages its Children What are we doing to our children? "The average age a child is first exposed to pornography online is 11 years old. Nearly all (90 percent) of kids aged 8-16 have viewed porn online." What kind society does that to their children? Probably the kind populated with people who see nothing wrong with dressing little girls as prostitutes, or those who provide, "thong underwear for 7-year-olds," or "pole dancing for girls on television." Such a society is comprised of...

American Decadence—Part 1 of 4 The Characteristics of an Uncivilized People by Reginald Firehammer In describing the character of the people who dominated the society of the 50s I used words like courtesy, decency, respect, reverence, and dignity. None of these words can be used to describe the last two or three generations except in the negative. Today's society can only be described as discourteous, indecent, disrespectful, irreverent, and; well, there isn't a word that captures what those with no sense of personal dignity truly are, graceless, or despicable, or contemptible, perhaps. I'm not attempting to characterize today's entire population....

In 1966, the Supreme Court was once again trying to define obscenity. Among other decisions, they revised an earlier definition to include the requirement that the material be "patently offensive." As usual, Justice William O. Douglas dissented, claiming that: "There are as many different definitions of obscenity as there are human beings, and they are as unique to the individual as his dreams." It so happened that I some leisure that spring, and therefore (malgré Justice Douglas) took it upon myself to formulate a universal definition of obscenity-thanks to some help from playwright Bertolt Brecht, artist Ed Kienholz, and fabulist...

Racism and Anti-Semitism—Part VI by Reginald Firehammer I mentioned in an earlier article that in America and the West, there is a minority, not the Jews, that is hated, vilified, and blamed for all the evils of the world. It is business men. I repeat an earlier quote from Ayn Rand: Other Persecuted Minorities "Whenever, in any era, culture, or society, you encounter the phenomenon of prejudice, injustice, persecution, and blind, unreasoning hatred directed at some minority group—look for the gang that has something to gain from that persecution, look for those who have a vested interest in the destruction...