Brutally Honest

"Today there is no social norm, so it's every man for himself"

Mark Steyn on societal decay in the wake of the Concordia sinking:

In the centenary year of the most famous of all maritime disasters, we would do well to consider honestly the tale of the Titanic. When James Cameron made his movie, he was interested in everything except what the story was actually about. I confess I have very little memory of the film except for Kate Winslet's lush full breasts and some tedious sub-Riverdance prancing in the hold, but what I do recall traduced the memory of honorable men: In my book, I cite First Officer William Murdoch. In real life, he threw deckchairs to passengers drowning in the water to give them something to cling to, and then he went down with the ship – the dull, decent thing, all very British, with no fuss. In Cameron's movie, Murdoch takes a bribe and murders a third-class passenger. The director subsequently apologized to the First Officer's hometown in Scotland and offered £5,000 toward a memorial, which, converted into Hollywood dollars, equals rather less than what Cameron and his family paid for dinner after the Oscars.

On the Titanic, the male passengers gave their lives for the women and would never have considered doing otherwise. On the Costa Concordia, in the words of a female passenger, "There were big men, crew members, pushing their way past us to get into the lifeboat." After similar scenes on the MV Estonia a few years ago, Roger Kohen of the International Maritime Organization told Time magazine: "There is no law that says women and children first. That is something from the age of chivalry."

If, by "the age of chivalry," you mean our great-grandparents' time.

In fact, "women and children first" can be dated very precisely. On Feb. 26, 1852, HMS Birkenhead was wrecked off the coast of Cape Town while transporting British troops to South Africa. There were, as on the Titanic, insufficient lifeboats. The women and children were escorted to the ship's cutter. The men mustered on deck. They were ordered not to dive in the water lest they risk endangering the ladies and their young charges by swamping the boats. So they stood stiffly at their posts as the ship disappeared beneath the waves. As Kipling wrote:

"We're most of us liars, we're 'arf of us thieves, an' the rest of us rank as can be,

But once in a while we can finish in style (which I 'ope it won't 'appen to me)."

Sixty years later, the men on the Titanic – liars and thieves, wealthy and powerful, poor and obscure – found themselves called upon to "finish in style," and did so. They had barely an hour to kiss their wives goodbye, watch them clamber into the lifeboats, and sail off without them. They, too, 'ope'd it wouldn't 'appen to them, but, when it did, the social norm of "women and children first" held up under pressure and across all classes.

Today there is no social norm, so it's every man for himself – operative word "man," although not many of the chaps on the Titanic would recognize those on the Costa Concordia as "men." From a grandmother on the latter: "I was standing by the lifeboats and men, big men, were banging into me and knocking the girls."

Whenever I write about these subjects, I receive a lot of mail from men along the lines of this correspondent:

"The feminists wanted a gender-neutral society. Now they've got it. So what are you complaining about?"

And so the manly virtues (if you'll forgive a quaint phrase) shrivel away to the so-called "man caves," those sad little redoubts of beer and premium cable sports networks.

We are beyond social norms these days. A woman can be a soldier. A man can be a woman. A 7-year-old cross-dressing boy can join the Girl Scouts in Colorado because he "identifies" as a girl. It all adds to life's rich tapestry, no doubt. But I can't help wondering, when the ship hits the fan, how many of us will still be willing to identify as a man.

Where have all the men gone?

Bolton disses Gingrich, endorses Romney

This is somewhat surprising:

Slowly but surely, Mitt Romney is shoring up his right flank. His campaign announced Thursday that he’s been endorsed by John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush.

Bolton, whose outspoken views on national security earned him fans among conservatives and critics elsewhere, briefly flirted with a presidential bid of his own. He also became strongly identified with the tea party movement as it rose to prominence in 2009 and 2010.

“Of all the candidates, Mitt Romney possesses the strongest vision for America’s leadership role in the world, and I am proud to endorse him,” Bolton said in a statement released by the Romney campaign.

...

The Bolton endorsement was a blow to Gingrich, who had pledged to make him his secretary of State should Gingrich be elected president.

Pretty much a done deal it seems, Romney will be the nominee.

Hurray.

Sigh.

Crossposted at Wizbang.

Most Admired? Seriously?

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are, by far, the most admired people in the country according to Gallup:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama continue to be named by Americans as the Most Admired Woman and Most Admired Man living today in any part of the world. Clinton has been the Most Admired Woman each of the last 10 years, and Obama has been the Most Admired Man four years in a row.

Here are the Top 10 for each list:

It begs the question does it not? What does it mean to admire someone?

Leave it in the comments.

Muslim assaults, rapes, “workplace violence” and dhimmitude

By tim, The Godless Heathen

Happened upon these three separate but related stories today. See if you can detect a theme, a line of correlation. The how and why things escalate. How political correctness leads to innocents being preyed upon and ultimately death.

JihadWatch:

A gang of Muslim women who attacked a passer-by in a city centre walked free from court after a judge heard they were ‘not used to being drunk’ because of their religion.

The group – three sisters and a cousin – allegedly screamed ‘kill the white slag’ as they set upon Rhea Page as she waited for a taxi with her boyfriend.

Miss Page, 22, was left with a bald patch where her hair was pulled out in the attack and was left ‘black and blue’ after suffering a flurry of kicks to the head, back, arms and legs while motionless on the pavement.

Ambaro Maxamed, 24, students Ayan Maxamed, 28, and Hibo Maxamed, 24, and their 28-year-old cousin Ifrah Nur each admitted actual bodily harm, which carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment.

But Judge Robert Brown gave them suspended jail terms after hearing mitigation that as Muslims, the women were not used to being drunk. The Koran prohibits Muslims from consuming alcohol, although Islamic teachings permit its use for medicinal purposes.

The rest.

Seraphic Secret:

Norway is suffering from an unprecedented wave of rapes that are largely being perpetrated by Muslim immigrants against local women, according to Yehuda Bello, an acclaimed Israeli blogger whose special interests include Norway.

Bello, who understands Norwegian and has Norwegian contacts, reports that from January to late October, 48 rapes were confirmed to have been carried out in Oslo alone, 45 of them by Muslims. In the first six months of 2011, 208 Norwegian women complained of rape and attempted rape in Oslo alone. In all of Norway, 929 rapes and attempted aggravated rapes were reported since the beginning of the year, he adds.

Bello notes that Norway is “the most advanced country in the world in granting rights to women.” However, he adds, the “politically correct rot” prevents the rape wave by Muslims from being reported. “They are called ‘non-western,’ ‘dark skinned,’ ‘Middle Eastern’ et cetera. After a police report in Oslo said that Muslims were raping Norwegian women out of a religious conviction that this was the proper thing to do, a stormy public debate erupted, reports Bello, and “the government ministers, most of them avowed anti-Semites, claimed that the report and its publication serve Israel and its policy of occupation.”

Norway’s justice minister defended the police report but also said that “Israel must be glad to hear about it.”

The rest.

FoxNews:

Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday blasted the Defense Department for classifying the Fort Hood massacre as workplace violence and suggested political correctness is being placed above the security of the nation's Armed Forces at home.

During a joint session of the Senate and House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, the Maine Republican referenced a letter from the Defense Department depicting the Fort Hood shootings as workplace violence. She criticized the Obama administration for failing to identify the threat as radical Islam.

Thirteen people were killed and dozens more wounded at Fort Hood in 2009, and the number of alleged plots targeting the military has grown significantly since then. Lawmakers said there have been 33 plots against the U.S. military since Sept. 11, 2001, and 70 percent of those threats have been since mid-2009.

The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, said the military has become a "direct target of violent Islamist extremism" within the United States.

"The stark reality is that the American service member is increasingly in the terrorists' scope and not just overseas in a traditional war setting," Lieberman told Fox News before the start of Wednesday's hearing.

The rest.

"They don't call them patients, they call them units"

Remember when they laughed off, ridiculed and otherwise denied Sarah Palin's assertion that Obamacare would usher in death panels?

Listen to this neurosurgeon, fresh from a seminar in Washington DC, tell about what it is that the HHS has in store for seniors:

The Anchoress calls it what it is. Evil:

So if you are a 70 year-old Nancy Pelosi, or Paul Krugman — with a potent private health insurance plan such as the one enjoyed by Members of Congress and other bureaucrats — you will get every appropriate surgery and treatment applicable.

But if you are a 70 year-old former bookkeeper or waitress on Medicare, well — you have swung your last golfclub or danced your last waltz, because the “ethics panel” that assesses your unithood will have no problem inventing a equation that goes something like, “Potential-Tax-revenues-minus-potential-cost-divided-by-social-and-political-value-equals…a negligible unit.

And you’ll be shuffled off to the room with the big screen full of daffodils and excellent speakers blasting Vivaldi, and made “comfortable.”

Assessing human beings as “units” is Evil. Period, full stop. It is a diabolical disorientation. The only people who do not understand that are people who also have difficulty with that inconvenient old “conscience thing“.

The caller to Levin’s show said he was a neurosurgeon, and of German descent. He mentioned his ancestry at the same time he discussed “units” and admitted he was distressed. The source of his distress was very likely his recognition of a the sort of ruthless efficiency someone in his family once knew first hand, either from one side of the ledger, or the other.

Tell me again that elections don't matter.

Video H/T to Wheat & Weeds.

Crossposted at Wizbang.

"Readin’, ’ritin’ -- and rubbers"

And that's the tame portion of New York's new sex ed curriculum:

A New York City education will now cover readin’, ’ritin’ -- and rubbers.

Sex ed, which becomes mandatory in city middle and high schools next year, is meant to stem unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases among teens. But parents may be shocked by parts of the Department of Education’s “recommended” curriculum.

Workbooks reviewed by The Post include the following assignments:

* High-school students go to stores and jot down condom brands, prices and features such as lubrication.

* Teens research a route from school to a clinic that provides birth control and STD tests, and write down its confidentiality policy.

* Kids ages 11 and 12 sort “risk cards” to rate the safety of various activities, including “intercourse using a condom and an oil-based lubricant,’’ mutual masturbation, French kissing, oral sex and anal sex.

* Teens are referred to resources such as Columbia University’s Web site Go Ask Alice, which explores topics like “doggie-style” and other positions, “sadomasochistic sex play,” phone sex, oral sex with braces, fetishes, porn stars, vibrators and bestiality.

Told of the subjects her son could learn about, one Manhattan middle-school mom said, “They seem pretty outrageous.”

Shino Tanikawa, a SoHo mother of two daughters, including a high-school junior, also was taken aback.

“I didn’t know how much detail they would get,” she said.

Lots of detail apparently.  And while that story covers what government is forcing on public schools in New York, here's what government may be disallowing in British Colombia:

A complaint by two homosexual men, who say they were “discriminated against” when an elderly retired couple refused them lodgings at their Bed & Breakfast (B&B) in 2009, was heard by B.C.’s Human Rights Tribunal yesterday. 

Smith, the Molnar’s lawyer, told LifeSiteNews that a decision had not been reached yesterday, and that it might take until the new year.

“All of the evidence is in and the arguments have been made and Madame Chair Enid Marion has reserved [judgment],” he said. “She indicated to us that they are very backed up and short of staff and she is going to do her best but it could be two to three months.”

In June of 2009, Shaun Eadie and Brian Thomas, two homosexual males, made reservations by phone at the Riverbend B&B in Grand Forks, B.C. operated by Les and Susan Molnar in their own home.

After Mr. Molnar learned that Mr. Eadie and Mr. Thomas were two homosexual men who had requested “one bed” for the night, he called them back saying: “I’m sorry I don’t think it’s going to work out.”

Mr. Eadie reportedly responded “wow,” and there was no further discussion between the homosexual men and the Molnars.

The two men filed a complaint under section 8 of the B.C. Human Rights Code, which states that it is a discriminatory practice to “deny to a person or class of persons any accommodation” because of “sexual orientation.”

While Mr. Molnar admits that he denied the two homosexual men accommodation, he argued before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal in March of 2010 that “[t]o allow a gay couple to share a bed in my Christian home would violate my Christian beliefs and cause me and my wife great distress.”

During the March 2010 hearing, the Molnars sought to have the cased dismissed arguing, “our private dwelling house should have a modified standard under the Code under specific restrictive circumstances because of our religious (moral) beliefs.”

Tribunal Member Murray Geiger-Adams denied the dismissal stating that while he understood that the Molnars were “responding in good faith to their perception of what would make all their guests and themselves comfortable, and what their religious principles required,” and that they did not have any “ill intent” on their part, at the same time, discrimination does not “require an intention to contravene this Code.”

“As the Tribunal and the courts have frequently held with respect to human rights legislation, it is not a respondent’s [i.e. the Molnars] intention, but the effect of their conduct on a complainant [i.e. the two homosexual men], which is relevant in considering whether discrimination has occurred.”

The Molnars opened their Bed & Breakfast in 2002. After the June 2009 complaint by the two homosexual men, the Molnars felt they had no choice but to shut down their operation, which they did a few months later, fearing that they might receive another request for lodging from a homosexual couple.

Cultural decay on the march.

Any questions?

Truther dare

Yesterday evening, after a long day of working on an RCIA presentation that's due in about a week and squeezing in some Redskins football, I logged into the Brutally Honest admin dashboard and noticed that Fr. D. had a draft post ready for publication.  I read the first couple of paragraphs or so, found an appropriate image, published the piece and moved on.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I find that Fr. D. had put up a comment to his piece, and in it, he was addressing none other than Ann Barnhardt, who had left her own comment about an hour earlier.

I was initially confused.  Where in heck did references to truther conspiracies get posted that would garner Ms. Barnhardt's rightful and righteous smackdown?

Right here... on my blog... by a guest blogger who has been publishing sermons nearly weekly on Sundays for two years... un-freaking believable:

When the 9/11 itself was over, there followed, of course, several more days of fire fighting and rescue efforts, and then a massive clean up and repair effort. As the time went by, the tensions of the day began to subside, little bit by little bit. But the big questions of How did it happen? Who did it? Why did it happen? all remained to be answered. This led us in the period, continuing right up to the present day, that I think of as the Great Cover–Up. This event had literally thousands and thousands of witnesses, each with some bit of evidence to contribute. The official report simply ignores the evidence of most of those witnesses and leaves unaddressed a lengthy list ofquestions. It says to the American people, “trust us, this is what you should believe if you know what is good for you.” What foolishness! To think that Americans would ever accept such instructions is really foolhardy, and they have not. There is strong evidence that points to an inside job, indicating that the lease holder of the World Trade Center had to have been at least complicit in the destruction of the buildings. This suggests that the US Government was also involved to allow the Pentagon attack to happen.

I initially felt the blood drain from my head, only to return quickly, most quickly.  My first reaction was to put up a comment followed immediately by a decision I knew I had to make.  And so I updated Fr. D.'s post:

UPDATE: It is with some alarm, with lots of surprise but with firmness and resoluteness that I do two things this morning.  Confess that I published this post from Fr. D. without fully reading it... and announce that as of this moment, Fr. D. has published his last guest post at Brutally Honest.  I'm an open-minded guy who will listen to perspectives that I don't agree with... however... there are limits to that oppenness and Fr. D. with this post has breached those limits.  To suggest that 9/11 was an inside job, to suggest that the American government was somehow complicit in the atrocities, and to do so on my blog as a guest blogger is to cross a line one cannot simply step back over.  

Carry on.

-Rick

That decision stands.  Fr. D. asked in email if he could put one last post up and I refused.  I told him to post a comment and he has... with more nonsense... complete nonsense.

Ann followed with a promise to send me something that rebuts the nonsense and I've put that PDF here.

To say that I'm stunned by this turn of events is to not give that stunning its due.  Fr. D., an Anglican (not Catholic) priest has, to my knowledge (and here again I confess to not reading every one of his sermons fully) never brought this subject up before.  He had reached out to me in email two years ago and asked if he could post his sermons and after reading a sampling, I agreed.

And two years later, he decided to take a figurative dump right in the middle of my figurative living room.

I sit here tonight incredulous... and wonder how I might've been so trusting.

The only silver lining in it all is finding out that Ann Barnhardt stopped by my little ole place.  Hope she plans on doing so again.

Crossposted at Wizbang.

And in other news

By Locutisprime

The president gave another speech last night on jobs and the economy and today the markets tanked (again). Seems to be a recurring theme. Of course, you would never know it by listening to or watching the media reports. Even FOX news has taken the spin that today's market decline, isn't attributable to anything to do with Obama's speech last night. No, it's because of fear in Europe of a possible Greek default.

Hang on... 

BREAKING NEWS - Obama's approval ratings are so low now the Kenyans are accusing him of being born in the United States....

 

 

 

The end of an era

By Locutisprime

Last night an era ended in America. An era that has gone on for decades and generations. Something that moved annually and rhythmically like clockwork. Something that has seemingly always been there with the end of summer and the changing of the seasons. So it was more than noticeable for those of us who remember, when the heart of it was no longer present last night.

Last night would have been the fiftieth anniversary of the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, but the anniversary was not celebrated by the man or those of us who have been along for the journey with him. For you see, those now responsible for the management of the charity somehow felt that the time had passed and that there was no longer any place available for the man who had led the March of Dimes for as long as most living could remember.

Jerry Lewis, the slap schtick half of the Martin and Lewis team set out over fifty years ago to do something for the children. What ever the motivation, something touched the man at a young age and he decided to take it upon himself to make a difference. Jerry Lewis decided to parlay his celebrity and his Hollywood contacts into a fledgling movement to help children stricken with a deadly disease.

A disease of atrophy and despair and a disease that seemed to favor children as it's victims. Most know the story of the annual Labor Day telethons. Most have sat through countless Labor Days watching the ticker slowly roll forward to reach the goal of surpassing the previous year. Most have watched as some of the most preeminent talent of our age performed for Jerry and the kids. We also watched as those who were up and coming and scratching to make a name, took the time to commit their time and talent to the worthy cause.

Jerry hosted his first MDA telethon Thanksgiving weekend of 1952. Jerry later began hosting the annual MDA telethon live nationally in 1966 and he continued hosting them year after year and decade after decade until last year. For decades the telethons were known as the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethons. But after last years telethon, Jerry made the decision and the announcement that this year would be his last. Having battled his own health issues for the past ten years, Jerry knew that time, age and the years had finally caught up with him and he simply couldn't carry the torch any longer.

So preparations were made for his final appearance this weekend. But that never happened. Those now in charge of the Muscular Dystrophy Association decided that Jerry's days were over and his presence was no longer welcome. Someone decided that it was time to change things. They would cut the telethon from its decades long 21 1/2 hour format, down to 6 hours and while they were at it, they were going to dump Jerry as the host.

The decision was made back in May to dump Jerry from the telethon and as the national chairman of MDA and while many in the entertainment industry and the comedy circuits across America attempted to intercede, a reconciliation was not to come. Yesterdays telethon came and went and the man that had made it tick and held it together and formed the catalyst for the annual pilgrimage of millions of Americans to their television sets and to their phones for over fifty years wasn't there.

Those that hosted attempted to offer up their faux condolences and appreciations and their equally shallow and transparent tributes, but in the end the reality was painfully apparent. The lasting tribute, the final honors were denied to the one man more responsible for the success of the March of dimes than any other in the history of the organization. The moments passed and millions of Americans sat in quite reflection on what once was and what should have been.

I have a saying that I believe is poignant to times like these. "You only get one chance to do it right." and last night the MDA foundation allowed that moment to pass and they did so purposely and in my opinion, with the utmost disrespect to the man most responsible for the billions that have been donated to "Jerry's Kids." Well, they are no longer Jerry's kids. They will always remain so in his heart that is certain, but the honor was forever more stripped from the man last night in what in my opinion is one of the most disgusting acts that I have ever seen play out on a public stage.

Jerry Lewis is eighty six years old now. He won't be with us that much longer, but one thing is for certain. There is promised love and justice in Heaven and in the life that comes after this one, Jerry Lewis will be showered with honors for his efforts here in this life. For he has stored up treasure in abundance by his actions here on behalf of those who weren't able to stand for themselves. Jerry's song "you will never walk alone" wasn't played last night, nor was the acknowledgement made (as it always had been) that a man never stands taller than when he stoops to help a child.

Reflecting on what came to pass this weekend saddens me. The end of an era unfolded and in doing so there was no celebration of the man's life, nor acknowledgement of all that he has caused to be given to so many through the decades. Just the bum's rush by those who's own self importance was elevated and used to trump the final moment of tribute as it should have been. As it was meant to be, but as it will no never be.

Many people have stooped to help the children over the years, but no one has bowed as low or traveled as far to do so than Jerry Lewis. For the man is truly a giant. A giant soul who bowed his character and his soul to a greater purpose and a truly deserving calling. Who else can ever replace this man and his love for the children. I for one will miss him. My sincere hope is that I am not alone in that feeling.

My sincere hope is that prayers will go up as a cacophony for this man now and in the future when he is called home to be with angels and children and all of those who he tried to help through his efforts over a lifetime of dedication to his cause. Jerry Lewis may be forgotten by many of those of present day celebrity, but the man is and will always remain a saint in my belief.

God Bless you Jerry.

GM defaults on its customers

By Locutisprime

Morning in America. This report speaks for itself. As does the look back attached to the end. I am interested to see how Messr. Obama intends to address this most recent wrinkle in reality as it concerns his promises. Perhaps in between golf rounds on the Vineyard this week, he will craft a witty and audacious response to these latest reports concerning GM.  I for one can't wait to hear the great one on this and all the other economic misery that this nation has descended into under his tutelage. 

General Motors Co. is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit over a suspension problem on more than 400,000 Chevrolet Impalas from the 2007 and 2008 model years, saying it should not be responsible for repairs because the flaw predated its bankruptcy.

The lawsuit, filed on June 29 by Donna Trusky of Blakely, Penn., contended that her Impala suffered from faulty rear spindle rods, causing her rear tires to wear out after just 6,000 miles. Seeking class-action status and alleging breach of warranty, the lawsuit demands that GM fix the rods, saying that it had done so on Impala police vehicles.

But in a recent filing with the U.S. District Court in Detroit, GM noted that the cars were made by its predecessor General Motors Corp, now called Motors Liquidation Co or "Old GM," before its 2009 bankruptcy and federal bailout.  

The current company, called "New GM," said it did not assume responsibility under the reorganization to fix the Impala problem, but only to make repairs "subject to conditions and limitations" in express written warranties. In essence, the automaker said, Trusky sued the wrong entity.  

Now, let's take the way back machine to March of 2008:

Obama's promise to America:

  In a bid to boost flagging auto sales, the federal government will pay for any warranty repairs on a General Motors or Chrysler vehicle if either company can't because of financial problems or a bankruptcy filing, President Barack Obama said on Monday.

"Let me say this as plainly as I can. If you buy a car from Chrysler or General Motors, you will be able to get your car serviced and repaired just like always," Obama said in a speech. "Your warranty will be safe. In fact, it will be safer than it has ever been. Because starting today, the United States will stand behind your warranty."