Author: VD

Saudi Arabia plans to set up a national council for tourism to promote the country in world markets. But on the Supreme Commission for Tourism’s website is a list of those who will not be allowed in the county.

* An Israeli passport holder or a passport that has an Israeli arrival/departure stamp.

* Those who don’t abide by the Saudi traditions concerning appearance and behaviors.

* Those under the influence of alcohol … .

* Jews

Here’s a thought. If Mel Gibson was truly a Jew hater – which is the original term for which the German Judenhassener substituted the less obvious term anti-semite – wouldn’t he, like the true anti-semites, ban Jews from his film? Also, he sure seems to have chosen a strange profession in which to avoid Jews.

Frank Gaffney writes on NRO: John Kerry wants a world in which the United Nations calls the shots and U.S. freedom of action, in the absence of the U.N.’s permission, is sharply circumscribed. Most Americans recognize that this would be a formula for disaster — a world in which the lowest-common-multilateral-denominator would routinely trump, and often jeopardize, our security interests.

President George W. Bush’s supporters believe that he rejects this Kerry-Clinton worldview. They look forward to a national election in which voters get to choose between his Reaganesque philosophy of peace through American strength and Kerry’s U.N. uber alles. So why would the Bush administration be pushing for the ratification of a treaty that will make a giant leap towards John Kerry’s world?

Occam’s Razor would suggest that this is because George Delano doesn’t actually reject this Kerry-Clinton worldview. You see, George Delano is a politician, and politicians have this habit of saying things that they do not, in fact, mean.

LOST creates the International Seabed Authority (ISA) — a supranational organization with unprecedented powers. These include the power to: regulate seven-tenths of the world’s surface area, levy international taxes, impose production quotas (for deep-sea mining, oil production, etc.), govern ocean research and exploration, and create a multinational court to render and enforce its judgments. Some even aspire to giving the U.N. some of our warships so it can have “blue hulls” — to go along with its “blue helmets” — to ensure that the ISA’s edicts are obeyed.

If he supports this treaty, the president will make it very clear that he has more interest in UN sovereignty than he does in defending the national interests of the United States. Once the UN tax arrives, global government will soon follow.

‘Passion’ Nails $26,556,573 on First Day. Audiences are rushing to see The Passion of the Christ at a record pace. The media frenzy and the religious fervor have contributed to the third biggest Wednesday bow ever

I rather doubt that independently producing a massively successful film without any help from the industry is going to harm Mel Gibson’s career in the least, regardless of what the New York Times might wish.

And it’s interesting to note the comments of various Hollywood gentlemen, presumably of Jewish extraction: Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, the principals of DreamWorks, have privately expressed anger over the film, said an executive close to the two men. The chairmen of two other major studios said they would avoid working with Mr. Gibson because of “The Passion of the Christ” and the star’s remarks surrounding its release. Neither of the chairmen would speak for attribution, but as one explained: “It doesn’t matter what I say. It’ll matter what I do. I will do something. I won’t hire him. I won’t support anything he’s part of. Personally that’s all I can do.”

I hope we learn who this particular chairman is. Once we find out, I think it will be interesting to see his reaction once Christians demonstrate that they’d prefer to demonstrate solidarity with Mr. Gibson than with this self-righteous, small-minded and officious prig. Sometimes it’s not hard to figure out why Jews often appear have so many enemies and so few friends. I have a feeling this man will be eating his words soon enough.

But as Rod Dreher of the Dallas Morning News points out, its rather strange that while it’s not okay to blacklist people working under the direct orders of Josef Stalin for the destruction of the United States, it’s perfectly okay to blacklist a Christian who takes his faith so seriously that he spends $25 million to give everyone the chance to witness an interpretation ofJesus Christ’s sacrifice.

Just fired next week’s column off to the editors. I suspect it will provoke a bit of a discussion, although possibly one a little less vehement than last week’s. Once again, I’m taking a position that is a priori somewhat contrary to what one might expect based on a cursory reflection, but this time I think I’ve made a case that is more methodical and logically airtight than last week’s admittedly more rhetorical argument.

It’s definitely a bit more work, though. Jonah Goldberg of NRO is so correct when he complains that the Internet is vastly overrated as a research tool. You can always learn something about the subject in which you’re interested, but the moment that you decide you need a particular piece of data, it begins to assume the prospect of a needle in a haystack, moreover, a needle which quite possibly may not be there. We have a long, long way to go before the Internet fully realizes its promise of becoming an easily accessible instant brain-data multiplier.

In any case, I like having a bit of variety, not only in subject matter, but also in how it’s presented. I hope most of you feel the same way too.

Peggy Noonan writes: It has been a big political week for the president, with his burly and more pointedly partisan than usual speech to the Republican governors on Monday, then his marriage announcement Tuesday. When he twitted John Kerry to the governors he signaled whom the White House not only assumes will be the Democratic nominee but prefers as an opponent. Those around the president think Mr. Kerry comes across as cold, aloof and a typical pol–“Al Gore without the charm,” as one of them put it this week.

But they are convinced it is going to be a close race. That’s not just spin to rev the troops; it’s their conviction. They don’t see us as a 50-50 country but as a 48-48 country, with the fight over the remaining 4% of the population. It took me aback when I heard this–not that it was surprising, but it reminded me of something Lee Atwater told me 20 years ago. Forty percent of the country will vote Democrat no matter what, he said, and 40% will vote Republican. Every presidential contest is a wrestling match for the 20% in the middle. That was true then, or at least the polls bore it out. Now that 20 has shrunk to four. I’m not sure what that means. No one else is either. But somehow it strikes me as both inevitable and not good.

The mistake that Peggy Noonan and both sets of political operatives are making is the assumption that the middle is where the votes are to be found. Consider that less than 52 percent of the electorate voted. Almost every day, I hear from people who have voted Republican all their lives who are turning to the Libertarian and Constitution parties, or considering simply staying home. Chasing the middle is counterproductive if you lose more from your right flank (or left, in the case of the Democrats) than you gain in the center.

I’m pretty much a lost cause where Republicans are concerned. But there are many who are just beginning to think about leaving the party for the first time. I think this is a positive development for future freedom; I’m merely surprised that it doesn’t appear to bother Republican strategists at all.

Many of the secular reviewers of The Passion of the Christ seem to be appalled, even stunned, by Mel Gibson’s seeming fascination with blood. There is nary a review that does not mention it, not merely in the sense of the extreme violence involved in the whipping, beating and crucifixion, but in the sheer quantities of blood involved.

Do they understand nothing? Of course there must be blood. There must be blood everywhere, oceans of it, enough to cover all the Earth. For this is the Blood of the Lamb, the very blood that washes Man clean!

JR writes: we live in an era of small men and small minds. I see no point in engaging the culture. If any of you could offer me words of encouragment they would be greatly appreciated. My 7 and 4 year old boys are playing under my feet as I write this, the depression I feel about the world I am preparing them for is almost overwhelming at times.

Go see The Passion of the Christ. You are thinking too much on that which required his sacrifice. Remember that you serve him, not the world, and he is mightier than the one that is in the world. Look to the light, never to the shadow. As Nietzsche wisely said, stare too long into the Abyss, and soon, the Abyss stares back.

You are preparing your boys to claim their great birthright as the sons of God, to be men who will stand fearlessly in the gap in the service of the One King. The fallen world will look on them in hate and fear, and tremble when it sees in them the One they serve.

Roger Ebert on The Passion of the Christ: Is the film “good” or “great?” I imagine each person’s reaction (visceral, theological, artistic) will differ. I was moved by the depth of feeling, by the skill of the actors and technicians, by their desire to see this project through no matter what. To discuss individual performances, such as James Caviezel’s heroic depiction of the ordeal, is almost beside the point. This isn’t a movie about performances, although it has powerful ones, or about technique, although it is awesome, or about cinematography (although Caleb Deschanel paints with an artist’s eye), or music (although John Debney supports the content without distracting…).

It is a film about an idea. An idea that it is necessary to fully comprehend the Passion if Christianity is to make any sense. Gibson has communicated his idea with urgency… Some will agree, but be horrified by the graphic treatment. I myself am no longer religious in the sense that a long-ago altar boy thought he should be, but I can respond to the power of belief whether I agree or not, and when I find it in a film, I must respect it.

4 of 4 stars

From Chronicles Magazine: Of necessity, much cultural commentary by conservatives and traditionalists has focused on what is wrong, as the popular culture over the last few decades has continued to expand the frontiers of degeneracy. In order to win the Culture War, however, we have to do more than point out the manifest defects in current movies, music, and fiction. We also must support artists committed to producing art that builds on our Western heritage rather than trashing it. Gibson is attempting to do just that.

That was a much nicer way of stating what I was saying a few days ago. If you’re concerned about the culture, stop whining about Dan Brown, Janet Jackson and American Pie 3. Go and buy a Christian fantasy novel, a Christian music CD and see The Passion of the Christ instead. It will have a much bigger impact. Christians have tremendous market power, but it is useless if they continue to wield it in support of Britney, Justin and MTV’s stella del giorno.

This post brought to you by Polemics and Evangelical Outpost.

In a dark corner of Andrews Air Force base on the outskirts of Washington DC, America’s war-wounded come home. The human cost of humbling tyrants. No ceremony, no big welcome. More than 11,000 medical evacuees have come through Andrews in the past nine months, the Air Force says. Most, we suspect, from Iraq. But that’s 8,000 more than the Pentagon says have been wounded there. Most of those wounded in action come through the vast Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington. The American public is, for the most part, unaware that the true casualty count of the war in Iraq may actually be higher than official figures suggest.

How is it possible for a republican people to make important decisions about the direction of the country when the truth is hidden from them? This is yet another reprehensible decision for which George Delano’s administration must answer. This isn’t some sneaking form of pro-Democratic attack, it is a simple matter of a demand for the truth. I no longer believe the Republican Party has any more dedication to the truth than the pathologically dishonest Democratic Party, which is why I don’t support it regardless of what its supposedly conservative leaders say. This sort of action on the part of the administration does nothing to convince me that I am incorrect in my skeptical assumptions.