Ch-Ch-Ch- Changes!

" Time may change me, but I can't trace time." ~ David Bowie

It is with great sadness that I have finally dropped Tugboat Cap'n's blog from my blogroll. I have, thus far, stubbornly refused to delete it in hopes he would someday write some more of his insightful commentary, but, alas, it appears he has abandoned blogger for good.

In it's place, I've added Breitbart and the Drudge Report. Yes, it's an inadequate substitution, but it will have to do for now.

What's In My Head

A Crisis Of Culture

"A somewhat more liberal and sympathetic examination of mankind will convince us that the cross is even older than the gibbet, that voluntary suffering was before and independent of compulsory; and in short that in most important matters a man has always been free to ruin himself if he chose." ~ G. K. Chesterton

I found this on Facebook. I have no idea whether it is a factual letter. I understand that the letter was written to the editor of a newspaper and not President Obama, but the sentiment contained therein remains accurate.

Pictured below is a young physician by the name of Dr. Roger Starner Jones. His short two-paragraph letter to the White House accurately puts the blame on a "Culture Crisis" instead of a "Health Care Crisis".



It's worth a quick read:

Dear Mr. President:

During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.

While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"!

During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one pack of cigarettes every day, eats only at fast-food take-outs, and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer.

And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture", a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance.

It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me". Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.

Respectfully,
ROGER STARNER JONES, MD

Note from your humble friend and blogger:

I call this "Crisis of Culture" an "Entitlement Mentality", and coming as I do, from a substantially less elite background than your average physician, I have had considerably more experience observing this attitude, and it is much more pervasive than the good doctor could ever imagine. In fact, this "Crisis of Culture" extends well past health care, and permeates nearly every facet of the average welfare recipients life. They get, besides free health care, free education, free food, free transportation, etc, and it's all paid for by you. The American tax payer.

Of the hundreds of welfare recipients I have personally known, perhaps 1% or less have pulled themselves out of the welfare system by taking responsibility for themselves, and refusing to settle for the status quo.

Including yours truly.

It isn't easy, but with perseverance and hard work, it can be done.

The rest remain beholden to a Government which continues, through government hand-outs and entitlement programs, to keep the poor enslaved in economic chains. Unfortunately, these same slaves to the welfare system are the same people who continue to vote, year after year, election after election, for the very people who have oppressed them.

The cycle will not end until we educate the people and elect responsible, incorruptible, freedom-loving patriots to the positions of power in our government.

My Ode To A Mouse

"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley" ~ Robert Burns

Our vegetable garden has been neglected the last couple of months and was overgrown with weeds and prairie grass, which has long since choked out any life that once brought forth tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, squash, zucchini, green beans, and corn. And popcorn! Yes, we planted popcorn last spring. But, alas none grew. We just don't have the time or the energy to tend a garden.

So, today, I endeavored to take advantage of the pleasant Indian Summer-like conditions to mow the jungle we used to call a garden.

In so doing, I rousted a poor unsuspecting mouse from it's nest. As I watched the poor frightened little beastie scurrying to safety far from the mowers murderous blade, I was reminded of a poem written long ago by the Scottish Poet, Robert Burns, entitled, "Ode to a Mouse".

With apologies to Rabbie, I here present my own modern American English version of his masterpiece:

Small, frightened, timid beast,
O, what a panic is in your breast!
You don't need to run away so hastily
Scampering in such a hurry!
I would be loath to run and chase you,
With murdering lawn mower.

I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has disturbed your social union,
And justifies that ill opinion
That makes you startle
At me, you poor, earth born companion
And fellow mortal!

I doubt not, sometimes, that you must steal;
What then? Poor mouse, you must live!
One single ear in twenty-four sheaves
Is a small request;
I will get a blessing with what is left,
And never miss it.

Your small house, too, in ruin!
It's feeble walls the winds are scattering!
And nothing now, to build a new one,
Of coarse green grass!
And bleak December's winds are coming,
Both bitter and keen!

You saw the fields laid bare and wasted,
And weary winter coming fast,
And cozy here, beneath the blast,
You thought to dwell,
Till crash! The cruel mower passed
Through your cell.

That small bit heap of leaves and stubble,
Has cost you many a weary nibble!
Now you are turned out, for all your trouble,
Without house or holding,
To endure the winter's icy drizzle,
And bitter frosty cold.

But Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be in vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Oft go awry,
And leaves us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!

Still you are blessed, compared with me!
The present only touches you:
But oh! I backward cast my eye,
On prospects dreary!
And forward, though I cannot see,
Yet guess and fear!

Nine Short Years Later

"Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it." ~ Michel de Montaigne



I didn't need to post the preceding video. The images of that fateful day are indelibly etched into Americas collective mind. And yet...

We never thought it would come to this.

Nine years ago today, on September 11, 2001, A group of fanatical Muslim terrorists attacked America, and the entire country came together in solidarity.

We mourned together. We prayed together. We comforted each other. We stood together in defiance against America's enemies. We vowed vengeance together.

Every United States Representative and Senator in Washington gathered together on the steps of the Capitol, stood side by side, Democrats and Republicans, Liberals and Conservatives, and, together, sang "God Bless America".

We were a nation united.

And now. nine short years later, our nation is divided. We are divided over race. We are divided over religion. We are divided over ideology.

What the hell happened?

The religion whose adherents attacked us is now reviled by some, adored by others.

To be fair, most Muslims would have never attacked us. Most American Muslims are law abiding citizens, and wouldn't think of harming another individual.

This act of terrorism was carried out by a small group of fanatical extremists, certainly in no way representative of the whole of Islam.

So, just as there is no logical reason why all Muslims should be hated, there is no reason why all Muslims should be loved and respected.

But now, nine years later, we find, among the Liberals, an inexplicable and illogical love of all things Islam.

I fear this new found Liberal love affair with Islam is symptomatic of a phenomena author Shelby Steele labeled "White Guilt". While trying to be fair, some people are drifting too far in the other direction.

I liken this phenomena to the father who is asked to umpire his own son's little league baseball game. He wants to be fair to both teams, and not show favoritism to his son's team. Invariably, a situation will come up sometime during the game where he will have to make a close call, and he will rule in the opposing teams favor, sub-consciously, just to prevent any possibility of showing bias to his son's team.

Now, there is a whole new sub-culture of Liberal Americans who love all Muslims, regardless of their level of extreme fanaticism. All Muslims good. All Americans and Jews bad. Regardless of whether this is an accurate statement, it certainly appears to be their mindset.

At the same time, there is another sub-culture of Americans who hate all Muslims because of the fact that there still exist in this world, fanatical extremist Muslims who truly want to murder every non-Muslim on Earth. Their mindset appears to be, "The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim".

Neither of these two extremes are accurate. The truth of Islam is somewhere in the middle.

But, America is nevertheless divided.

Nine short years ago, we never thought it ever would come to this.

Cross posted at American Descent

What's In My Head