They are darkness. We are light.

Unless you've been in a coma, you know about the massacre at Mumbai and of the Rabbi, his wife and the others who were killed at Mumbai's Chabad House.

The Rabbi at chabad.org is speaking of the Jews, but I think it fits all who takes a stand against evil, everyone who lives to create rather than destroy.

We knew beforehand that we are at war with an enemy. We knew that the world needs to be healed, that it oozes with a venomous darkness, and that darkness will not sit passively as we steal away its dominion. We knew that the more we fight this darkness, the harder it will fight back. We didn't fool ourselves. We decided we will fight and we will win. That is why Gavriel and Rivky went where they went. They went not as tourists, but as fearless soldiers.

Once you are at war, you don't stop to ponder all over again—can we win? Is this worth it? Maybe they're worse than we thought? That's deadly. If you would rather stay home and enjoy comfort while the rest of the world sits out in the cold, you should have decided that a long time ago. Now you are out there on the field of battle, you have already awakened the bear from its den, now there is no turning back.

They are darkness. We are light. They storm the shores with death in their eyes. We come to teach compassion and acts of beauty. They carry assault rifles and grenades. We carry candles for Friday night, a Torah of wisdom, joy and beauty.

Are we to surrender before them? Are we to stop and cry and ask, "maybe we're fighting the wrong battle"?

We will fill the world with light and wisdom and the spirit of darkness in men's hearts shall forever perish. They come with their guns and their might, with a god of destruction and terror, but we come in the name of the Eternal, the source of all life and healing. They and all memory of them will vanish from the face of the earth and our lamp will burn forever.

May the Almighty G‑d hear the cry of their blood from the earth and put an end to all sorrow. May it be very soon, sooner than we can imagine.

The New York Times has a Cow

So, in honor of them, and with Thanksgiving right around the corner, may I present...

GOBBLES!



I couldn't get a clip of just Gobbles adventure at the turkey processing plant, so enjoy some of Helen Keller: The Musical.

Lyrics Site

Found this site which allows you to embed scrolling lyrics from movies, TV shows, musicals, and cartoons.

In honor of the efforts of the auto industry to gorge at the government trough, and because I like this song:



Lyrics | Unknown - Canyonero lyrics

Liberal Fascism

Part Five of Glen Beck's six part interview with Jonah Goldberg. You can follow the link to see the other parts, but I thought this one was the most interesting. It talks about the Progressive movement in the 20th century and it's connection to fascism and evolution into modern liberalism.

The Tenth Day of NaNo

And I have exhibited each of the behaviors illustrated here:



It seems to be going in rotation. Right now I'm in the Charlie Brown phase. I'm going back to work, where I expect to segue into Lucy.

Perspective

This is interesting. And telling. I found this little tidbit in the middle of a blog in Power Line about the possibility we may be asked to bail out the auto industry too.

As early as the early thirties, Herbert Hoover was promising "a chicken in every pot, and two cars in every garage." Later that decade the Moscow commissars screened "The Grapes of Wrath" in movie theaters to prove how bad the Depression was in America, and to show the failure of capitalism. It backfired, to cite an auto phrase. In the movie, the poor Okies are shown migrating to California...in automobiles. Few in the USSR had cars. The Russian audiences thought the Okies had it okay.

Isn't it a shame we seem to be moving away from Capitalism.

Crappy Birthday

In a moment of intense self-pity, I wonder why my birthdays are so-so at best but usually suck big time.

And getting Obama for my birthday wasn't the worst part of the day.

Predictions

My prediction of the first consequence of the new regime:

Gas prices are going to begin to rise, now that OPEC knows the off-shore drilling ban will be reinstated, the coal companies will be taxed into bankruptcy, and new nuclear power plants aren't going to happen.

Welcome to the glorious new era of change. Guess we'll have to hope we don't freeze to death next winter. Time to investigate wood stoves.

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's off to vote I go

I have the day off, so I'm heading over to my local precinct to take part in this glorious experiment in Democracy.

From what I've heard, there's been quite a bit of experimentation this year. ACORN deserves a special nod. It has shown a great deal of enthusiasm, not to say imagination, in its quest to find the underrepresented voters of this country and give them a voice.

Senator Obama has been refining the process of gathering donations. Though his experiment with the honor system has led to one embarrassing incident where he had to give the money back.

But isn't it nice to know that someone who is a hair's breadth away from the Oval Office is so willing to trust? So willing to reinterpret our stuffy old ideas about this Republic?

So I'm off to do my part. I found a list of the candidates and questions which will be on my ballot.

Let's see. President. Wow, SIX different choices. I only knew about three of them.

Senator. Three choices, Democrat, Republican and Libertarian. Do I vote my conscience or vote someone who has even a slightly realistic chance of unseating the incumbent?

Moving on. Representative in Congress. My district. One. Democrat. Running unopposed. Not much of a vote there. Hmmm.... Out of ten districts, there are six running unopposed. All Democrats. Oh well, at least a lot of people will get practice filling in the little ovals thoroughly. Don't do that much after SATs.

Councillor(that's the way it's spelled on the site. My spell check says it's wrong, but I'll leave it). My district. One. Democrat. Running unopposed. There are eight districts here (why less than the Reps? It's a mystery, like why hot dogs come in packs of ten and buns in eight. Same numbers? Coincidence?).

I check. Out of eight districts, seven are running unopposed. All Democrats running for reelection. At least my state's saved a lot in campaign financing. Hope they didn't run up too many bills for posters and print ads.

Senator in General Court. My county. One. Democrat running for reelection.

A quick glance at the other counties reveals some races between two candidates. Nice to see the Socialist Workers Party has a candidate running in one of our capitol's districts. They are so underrepresented here.

Representative in General Court. This is more interesting. There are three different county districts for my city. Two of them are Democrats running unopposed, but one has a race. It's between the Democrat incumbent, and the other guy's listed as unenrolled and I've never heard of him. I've also forgotten which of the three I'm in. But that's okay. There's a place to check it. I did. I'm not in the district with the two candidates. Darn.

There are a few more minor categories, but you get the picture. I won't have to make too many tough decisions, aside from the most important one of all.

Then there are the ballot questions. The first one is a proposed law to eliminate the state income tax. The other two questions say they are, respectively, an "act" and an "initiative." So are any of them binding? I read online, and can't find the article, where someone in the state government said if Question One passed, it wasn't going to be implemented.

So does that mean it's not binding? Or it should be, but they've left themselves a loophole?

At least I'll have done my patriotic duty. It's a great day for Democracy in Danny-on-the-Wold.

THE FROGS WHO WISHED FOR A KING

Or: PEOPLE GET THE GOVERNMENT THEY DESERVE.

THE FROGS were tired of governing themselves. They had so much freedom that it had spoiled them, and they did nothing but sit around croaking in a bored manner and wishing for a government that could entertain them with the pomp and display of royalty, and rule them in a way to make them know they were being ruled. No milk and water government for them, they declared. So they sent a petition to Jupiter asking for a king.

Jupiter saw what simple and foolish creatures they were, but to keep them quiet and make them think they had a king he threw down a huge log, which fell into the water with a great splash. The Frogs hid themselves among the reeds and grasses, thinking the new king to be some fearful giant. But they soon discovered how tame and peaceable King Log was. In a short time the younger Frogs were using him for a diving platform, while the older Frogs made him a meeting place, where they complained loudly to Jupiter about the government.

To teach the Frogs a lesson the ruler of the gods now sent a Crane to be king of Frogland. The Crane proved to be a very different sort of king from old King Log. He gobbled up the poor Frogs right and left and they soon saw what fools they had been. I n mournful croaks they begged Jupiter to take away the cruel tyrant before they should all be destroyed.

"How now!" cried Jupiter "Are you not yet content? You have what you asked for and so you have only yourselves to blame for your misfortunes."

Be sure you can better your condition before you seek to change.