Brutally Honest

What's wrong with this video?

by guest blogger, BroKen

Gerard Vanderleun at American Digest put up a video called "This is Water". It is an edited version of a commencment address given by David Foster Wallace to the 2005 class of Kenyon College. It is fascinating. Take a look.

 

What do you think? Well, here is what I think...

There is a lot of very good stuff in there. Lots of great ideas and good advice. It is more and more the case that "the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about." But that is more because of how we have been taught to see and talk, than about the important realities themselves. Yes, the Water in which "we live and move and have our being" is there whether we see it or not. What that water is, is of vital importance. Unfortunately, this video leaves out what the water is.

Yes, there is a "default setting" based on our inherent selfishness; "everything is all about me". It is great that the video calls us to rise above it even though it is hard to rise and few, if any, of us do it very often. Yet what is the foundation of this call to rise above? "The only thing that's capital-T true is that you get to decide how you're going to try to see it.” Oh, so it really is about me, all about ME, after all. Hmmm.

Now, in the full speech from which this video is made, Foster does tell another "didactic story" which could point more to Reality. He tells of an atheist and theist arguing about God after a few beers in a remote Alaskan bar. The atheist says, "It's not like I haven't investigated the claims of God. Just last month when I was lost in the blizzard facing certain death, I prayed for God to help me and save my life." "Well, then you must believe. Here you are!" cries the theist. "No," replies the atheist. "That was just a couple of Eskimos that happened to be passing by and led me out." Foster says, "It is easy to run this story through a standard liberal arts analysis. The exact same experience can mean two totally different things to two different people, given those people's belief templates and two different ways of constructing meaning from experience. Because we prize tolerance and diversity of belief, nowhere in our liberal arts analysis do we want to claim the one guy's interpretation is true and the other guy's is false or bad. Which is fine, except we also never end up talking about just where these individual's templates and beliefs come from." (Emphasis mine) No, Mr. Foster, it is not fine. The fact that we don't talk about where beliefs come from and judge the reality of those beliefs is THE problem with modern education and this video. It is the foundational problem of modern liberal arts education which leads people to get it wrong every time. It is why you, Mr. Foster, fall right back into the "default setting" when you explain that freedom, education and right thinking is all about ME and MY CHOICE.

In the end, Mr. Foster cannot say with conviction, "GOD IS LOVE" and "In Him we live and move and have our being" for that is far too moralistic and judgmental. So, we are left with banal platitudes like, "Have a nice day". Just use your $100,000 education to dream up fanciful reasons to say "Have a nice day" even when, no, especially when you don't really mean it. Why? 'Cause if you don't you'll be miserable. (But don't think I'm moralizing like Dr. Laura!)

Come on, Mr. Foster! The "water" is God. Yes, He's hard to see and talk about nowadays. But it was not always so. May He help us lose this post-modern Liberal arts non-sense which is so fatal, and get back to learning and teaching what is really True and Good and Noble and Right. Yes, that means saying some things are wrong and bad and false. So be it.

“They said my name, and they said, ‘We’re here to take you home.'”

Jessica Buchanan tells of her harrowing abduction at the hands of Somali pirates and her rescue by Seal Team 6 after more than 3 months of captivity:

She was “completely surrounded” the moment she was seized by Somali pirates, she recalled Monday on TODAY. “Yelling, screaming, hitting windshields with AK-47s. Guns in my face, and then we just take off driving through the desert into God only knows where.”

Buchanan spent the next 93 days in conditions so unsanitary they ended up threatening her health. The former grade-school teacher wrote about her experience in “Impossible Odds,” a book she co-authored with her husband, Erik Landemalm.

Buchanan thought she would die every single day she was held, she told TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie.

“They were long and scary, sometimes incredibly boring,” she said about those days. “I worried that I was actually, maybe not going to necessarily lose my life, but lose my mind.”

Her abductors barely gave her any food – bread, some tuna fish, a bit of water.

“They never treated us humanely,” she said. “A lot of times I just felt like an animal put on display.”

Buchanan named her book “Impossible Odds” because of the outrageous ransom demanded by her captives. “It was a great title because it felt like the most impossible situation ever: $45 million. Where do you come up with something like that?” she said.

Meanwhile, Buchanan’s husband said he felt completely helpless, with very little information to go on.

“It was the worst kind of feeling that I have ever experienced,” he told Guthrie. “I just wanted to go in after her, but at the same time, I had to trust that the right people would do the right thing to get her back.”

The appropriate team did just that. President Obama had ordered the U.S. military to launch a secret rescue operation headed by SEAL Team 6, the same special forces group that took out Osama bin Laden. The team rescued Buchanan along with a Danish aid worker, while killing all nine of their kidnappers.

Buchanan said the rescue mission came as a total surprise. “Just complete shock and awe that these men risked their lives to come in and to save mine and give me a second chance,” she said. “They said my name, and they said, ‘We’re here to take you home.'”

But Buchanan has never had a chance to thank her rescuers since that night.

“They’re just like that,” she said. “They come in, they do their job and then they fade into the distance. Just incredible, incredible period.”

There's video at the link (if you can stomach the Obama cheering... I could but only barely).

If only the President would fade into the distance after these events.

Left To Die

Guest posted by tim, The Godless Heathen

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know what this is all about.

Remember this video, remember these lies. Uttered by a shameless and pathetic prevaricator in front of the caskets and the families of those brave souls who this administration LEFT. TO. DIE.

 

Actually, Hillary, it matters very much.

H/T Jawa Report Where there's more you may want to check out.

If only Tebow were gay

Maybe then he'd play again in the NFL... or at least get some favorable press.

Right?

What is becoming clearer is that the man is being blackballed.

So sez Michael Silver, Yahoo Expert (whatever that is):

As a journalist who has consistently experienced the wrath of Tebow Nation — mostly for passing along the slings and arrows voiced by various NFL players, coaches and talent-evaluators — I'm well aware that many devotees of the world's most celebrated unemployed quarterback carry a heavy persecution complex.

Yet as Tim Tebow's career wheezes to an underwhelming halt, with less apparent interest in his services than Massachusetts funeral parlors have in Tamerlan Tsarnaev's remains, something strange is happening. Against all odds, I'm starting to wonder whether the man who helped the Denver Broncos become one of the league's most stunning success stories in 2011 is getting unjustly blackballed.

Nine days after Tebow was released by the New York Jets, it has become increasingly clear that the ultra-popular quarterback who has hijacked many a news cycle has no viable landing spot. No NFL team seems to want him — as a starter, backup, converted H-back or fake-punt decoy — and it's not like he's fending off big-money offers from Canada, either.

...

Tebow, by all accounts, is a hard worker who radiates a relentlessly positive attitude. He has obvious leadership qualities and, as Broncos fans, 2011 opponents and "Saturday Night Live" aficionadosalike can attest, an uncanny knack for getting the stars to align in his favor. (Or, perhaps, his deep Christian faith really does translate into things like Marion Barber inexplicably running out of boundsin high altitude. After the weirdness I witnessed that season, I'm not ruling anything out.)

Clearly, even after shredding what was then the NFL's top-ranked defense for 316 passing yards in that Jan. 2012 playoff triumph, Tebow still has some serious refinement to do in order to bring his game to NFL-starter standards. That was evident in his final game with the Broncos, a lopsided playoff defeat to the New England Patriots.

What I can't understand is why no NFL team has enough faith in Tebow's upside to see if he's capable of pulling it off.

...

Since that defeat to the Patriots, the guy has been treated as dismissively as Kent Dorfman in the opening scene of "Animal House".

Which is why I believe Tebow ought to consider becoming a homosexual.

Or perhaps converting to Islam.

But not both.

That could be problematic.

Yet another Benghazi victim may turn out to be CBS News' Sharyl Attkisson

The news is wide and seriously damaging to the Obama administration and particularly Hillary Clinton.

There was this from The Guardian about Obama's recent treatment of whistleblowers.

Not really surprising to those who've been paying attention.

Then there's this must see video of Trey Gowdy's promise to the American people.

Mr. Gowdy's gained a new fan.

I doubt seriously I'm the only newbie.

Then there's this testimony from Greg Hicks describing how he was ordered not to talk to Congressional investigators.

In Watergate, when Nixon obfuscated and lied, nobody died.

Then there's the news that a request for Special Ops to come to Benghazi was denied.

It's clear that a travesty has occurred, one that cannot, must not be covered up.

And for those not paying attention, there's this lie that is arguably the first of many told since 9/11/12.

I finish with what I started with in the title of this catch-all post on a very news heavy day.

This from Politico is par for the course:

The Washington Post's Paul Farhi has written a glowing profile of Sharyl Attkisson, the Emmy award-winning CBS correspondent who has been the mainstream media's most persistent investigator of the events surrounding last year's attack in Benghazi, Libya.

Farhi's piece places Attkisson in a David-vs.-Goliath narrative, wherein the Obama administration is Goliath: "Attkisson, who holds a third-degree black belt in taekwondo, takes a fighting stance when she feels she’s being stonewalled. Which is exactly what she thinks the White House has done to her on Benghazi," Farhi writes.

But from where Attkisson is sitting, there are actually two Goliaths, one of which is almost entirely absent from the Post profile.

The second Goliath is CBS News, which has grown increasingly frustrated with Attkisson's Benghazi campaign. CBS News executives see Attkisson wading dangerously close to advocacy on the issue, network sources have told POLITICO. Attkisson can't get some of her stories on the air, and is thus left feeling marginalized and underutilized. That, in part, is why Attkisson is in talks to leave CBS ahead of contract, as POLITICO reported in April.

This cannot be covered up.

This will not be covered up.

People died.

For their sake, and the sake of their loved ones, we need to get to the bottom of it.

Carry on.

No Mo Tebow

At least in New York.

Stand by for ridicule and hatred as this fine man leaves town:

Tim Tebow couldn't get any playing time last season when the New York Jets had three quarterbacks on the roster. Following the selection of Geno Smith last week, they had six.

Well, now they have five.

Tebow was informed Monday morning when he arrived at the team's facility he'll be waived, and the team put out a statement:

"We have a great deal of respect for Tim Tebow," said Jets head coach Rex Ryan. "Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we all had hoped. Tim is an extremely hard worker, evident by the shape he came back in this offseason (losing weight). We wish him the best moving forward."

Tebow will now have to pass through waivers. Teams will have until 4 p.m. ET Tuesday to put in claims for him.

Tebow's NFL career is now in major jeopardy, unless of course he accepts a role as anything other than a quarterback. 

I think in the end leaving New York is a good thing for Mr. Tebow.  He's not the kind of guy that would get decent press coming from the country's cultural capitol and they've pretty much lived up to that reputation since his arrival.

And I find it interesting that on the day we find out Tebow is cut, another sports figure has stepped into the limelight.

Any bets on what kind of press he'll be getting?

“He had an anger inside. … I can’t explain what was in his mind.”

Interesting side note about the older Boston bomber:

The 26-year-old suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings who was killed Friday was kicked out of a Cambridge, Mass., mosque prayer service three months ago for an outburst against the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., two worshippers told the Los Angeles Times Saturday.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was thrown out of the Islamic Society of Boston after he stood up and shouted at the imam during a Friday service, they said. The imam had held up King as an example of a man to emulate.

One worshipper, who gave his name only as Muhammad, told the Los Angeles Times that Tamerlan stood up and began shouting.

“You cannot mention this guy because he’s not a Muslim!” Muhammad said Tamerlan shouted.

“He’s crazy to me,” Muhammad said, adding that the suspect had no further outbursts after that incident. “He had an anger inside. … I can’t explain what was in his mind.”

How about just, plainly and simply, evil?

Carry on.

One bomber killed, second still on the loose in Watertown

Sadly, a police officer has also been killed, another wounded after tangling with the terrorists:

One suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing was killed during a shootout with police and a massive manhunt was underway for the second suspect in the Boston suburb of Watertown, officials said on Friday.

Police were searching for the bombing suspect who was photographed wearing a white hat just before the explosions that killed three people and wounded 176. The blasts triggered security scares across the United States and evoked memories of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

"We believe this to be a terrorist," said Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis of the bombing suspect still at large. "We believe this to be a man who has come here to kill people. We need to get him in custody."

The massive police operation was under way in Watertown after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Thursday released pictures and video of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, enlisting the public's help in identifying two men wearing backpacks and baseball caps in the crowd minutes before bombs exploded near the finish line.

Massachusetts State Police warned people in Watertown not to open their doors while police conducting a door-to-door, street-by-street search.

HOW THE NIGHT BEGAN

About five hours after the FBI released the pictures of the bombing suspects, a police officer was shot and killed on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Middlesex County District Attorney said in a statement.

A short time later, police received reports of a carjacking by two men who kept their victim inside the car for about half an hour, the statement said.

Police pursued that car to Watertown, where explosives were thrown from the car at police and gunfire was exchanged, the statement said.

"During the exchange of the gunfire, we believe that one of the suspects was struck and ultimately taken into custody. A second suspect was able to flee from that car and there is an active search going on at this point in time," Colonel Timothy Alben, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, told a news conference.

The report of the second officer being wounded comes from Fox News:

The Middlesex district attorney said the two men are suspected of killing the MIT police officer on campus late Thursday, then stealing a car at gunpoint and later releasing its driver unharmed. Hours earlier, police had released photos of the marathon bombing suspects and asked for the public's help finding them.

The suspects threw explosives from the car as police followed it into Watertown, according to the district attorney's news release. The suspects and police exchanged gunfire, and one of the suspects was critically injured and later died while the other escaped.

During the pursuit, a MBTA transit police officer was seriously injured and transported to the hospital, the news release states. Details on the officer's condition were not immediately available Friday morning.

Lots of unanswered questions in the wake of all this happening, to include where these two men came from, who trained them, whether there are others with them, etc.

I trust that law enforcement officials and others will get to the bottom of it all.

Pray for God's justice for the remaining perp (and anyone he's partnering with), God's peace and comfort and rest for all victims and their loved ones.

Boston bombing suspects at large, FBI releases photos and videos (UPDATED)

Listened to portions of the FBI news conference today as I drove home from the office.  The realization that those the FBI believes responsible are still at large was sobering.

The Feds have posted pictures and videos at their site and I'll do my small part of disseminating the same here.

What seems clear to me, though I'll allow that my conclusions are presumptive at this point, is that David Sirota must be pretty upset that his hopes seem to have been dashed.

 

I pray for God's complete and perfect justice for these men, whatever that might turn out to be.

Carry on.

UPDATE: Rusty's grabbed all photos in case the FBI's site is swamped.

Obama administration offers missile defense concessions to China...

... this in the hope of gaining China's help with the North Korean situation:

In a news conference after meetings with China’s top leaders, [Secretary of State John] Kerry said the United States would reduce its missile defenses in Asia if North Korea abandoned its nuclear weapons program.

Kerry’s overture appeared aimed at addressing Chinese concerns that North Korea’s provocative actions were leading the United States to build up military strength in the region as China is boosting its own influence there.

‘‘On missile defense, we discussed absolutely why we have taken the steps that we have taken,’’ Kerry said, referring to efforts the United States is taking to defend Guam, Hawaii, and the United States’ allies in Asia against a potential North Korean missile attack. The United States has dispatched two ships capable of missile defense and said it would speed up land-based missile defenses for Guam.

‘‘Now obviously if the threat disappears — i.e. North Korea denuclearizes — the same imperative does not exist at that point of time for us to have that kind of robust forward leaning posture of defense,’’ he added. ‘‘It would be our hope in the long run, or better yet in short run, that we can address that.’’

...

China remains a linchpin to the Obama administration’s policy of holding a tough line on Pyongyang, a reversal from the past. Previous administrations used aid to mollify the North and gain concessions on its nuclear program, only to see the North’s promises evaporate once the aid had been delivered.

Kerry said the Chinese shared the US goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, although he declined to say what steps China said it would take to accomplish it.

Even if China were to take a harsher stance, North Korea might not fall into line. Under the new leader, Kim Jong Un, the North has snubbed China several times, including refusing Chinese entreaties to cancel its recent nuclear test that set off tensions on the Peninsula.

Kerry’s remarks are likely to stir concern among staunch advocates of missile defense in the United States, who also see antimissile systems as a means of responding to China’s growing military might.

It's not just Kerry's remarks in this instance but Obama's past showing of weakness that ought to stir concern from coast to coast and across this fruited plain.

Instead, it's likely not to garner any attention at all as too many Americans are more focused on American Idol, Dancing With The Stars and what the Kardashians are wearing.