Mark Knows It All

For this month’s winner in the “Lord, you can take me now, I have seen it all!” category, I offer to you Animal Planet’s television show: “Who Gets the Dog?” I saw this piece of TV magic this morning while flicking through the channels for something other than infomercials and preachers. Don’t get me wrong. I like Animal Planet , and I am a fan of such shows as Pet Star hosted by Mario Lopez, who must be a candidate for sainthood as he is continuously upstaged by dogs who can dance on beach balls and acrobatic cats. I also like Animal Police , where we see the ASPCA seek out the dregs of humanity whose mistreatment of animals shakes my faith in human nature. Not to mention that the new Terri and Bindi Show . Bindi is the terminally cute daughter of the late Steve Irwin of alligator and sting ray fame. I don’t know, the promo picture shows this little girl with a snake wrapped around her neck. I thought they were through exploiting her after Mr. Irwin dipped her in the lake with snap...

The following article appeared in this week's edition of the The New Republic to coincide with the release of the movie A Mighty Heart, which deals with the death of Daniel Pearl, the journalist killed by Islamic terrorists in 2002. It was written by Mr. Judea Pearl, father of Daniel Pearl. When I started to read it, I initially thought here is a liberal trying to justify a conservative position on moral relativism. But when I finished, I concluded that this is an eloquent, albeit a tad heavy, statement on the problem of moral relativism as I have read. It is certainly much better written than anything I could do myself, and I feel worth reading by everyone. I am probably violating 50 laws by reproducing it here, but it is something that everyone should read, especially in light of recent events in Great Britain. Here are the links to THE DANIEL PEARL FOUNDATION and THE NEW REPUBLIC . Moral relativism and A Mighty Heart Back to Focus by Judea Pearl Only at TNR OnlinePost date:...

I have written several times about creeping freedom loss in our society. Baby-step by baby-step, we have acquiesced to the do-gooders of the world who use the guise of “reform” to stifle our freedom and hinder our ability to educate our children. Today, the Supreme Court of the United States struck a blow for freedom, and proved that our checks and balance system works...eventually. In a 5-4 decision, the Supremes reigned in the McCain Feingold Campaign Reform Act. Already upheld as constitutional in a previous decision, the Bush/Roberts court finally called it for what it is, censorship. A long time ago, Russ Feingold, one of the most liberal members of the Senate, decided he didn’t want Right to Life advocates running campaign ads against him in his re-election bid. Claiming campaign reform prohibiting “big” money from "contaminating" elections and "destroying" democracy, he and John McCain sponsored the “incumbent protection act”, which outlawed individual and/or...

The Iron Bridge is a restaurant located outside of Mercer, Pa. It is one of three restaurants standing in a row owned by the Springfield Restaurant Group on PA Route 19, and was the original restaurant in what is a strong regional and now rapidly growing national chain. But the Iron Bridge still stands on its own, and quite frankly is heads above its cloned Springfield Grill (good, but not great) sister establishments in quality and atmosphere. It is the best restaurant my wife and I have ever eaten in, anywhere, anyplace, and we have been to a lot of places. It is in the middle of nowhere. There are two ways to get there. One can hop on the freeway and it is about 40 miles from my driveway down I-80. The other way is to drive through Youngstown and Campbell to Ohio Rt. 422, then to PA 208, and take the winding road through West Middlesex, New Wilmington, and Volant to PA Route 19. That is the long way. Last night, we took the freeway there as I was really hungry, but we took the long ...

Sometimes the loss of liberty comes in one swoop. But more often than not, it is stolen away from you in baby steps. That is what is happening in the United States. Below listed are 8 threats to your freedom. These are already creeping up on you as they become accepted in our society. Is this what you really want? Voters Beware!!!! 1) McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act : This is arguably the most un-American power play that incumbent politicians have ever foisted on the American public. It also shows that slapping the label "reform" on something doesn't mean that the reform is good. This hodge-podge of campaign spending regulations was sponsored by Russ Feingold, one of the most liberal Senators in Congress, and John McCain, who likes to think of himself as a conservative. Purportedly passed to limit large soft money contributions to political campaigns, it is more aptly labeled The Incumbent Protection Act . The net effect is to prevent you and me from pooling o...

In April, PBS aired a series entitled America at the Crossroads . The subject was America’s relationship with the Islam. It was strongly criticized in conservative circles for its refusal to show a contracted segment about fundamental Islam. On the other hand, and to its great credit, PBS aired an outstanding and provocative segment on fundamentalist Islam entitled Faith Without Fear . The subject matter followed a young Muslim woman named Irshad Manji, whom the New York Times described as Osama Bin Laden’s worst nightmare. Born in Uganda, her family immigrated to Canada to escape the terror of Idi Amin. Ms. Manji is a person of letters who is an activist for feminism, gay rights, and deep reform to the Muslim religion. Among her many achievements, she is the author of the book The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call For Reform In Her Faith . PBS followed her as she traveled around the world challenging Islam to modernize. It showed heated debates with the Imams and Mullahs who c...

Remembering America's Bravest

Being the rich, elite snob that I am, I belong to a private club. Six or seven years ago, it decided to do a major “renovation” to its golf course to the tune of...let's just say it was a lot of money. The club was close to being mortgage free, and the golf course, as it then existed, was a classic golf course designed by a major course designer of historical repute. But the members of the club decided they wanted the best golf course and best club in Ohio. Visions of professional golf tournaments danced in their heads. At the club meeting to vote on the project, I opined that perhaps the figures ought to be re-examined and perhaps we ought to save some money first. This isn’t Palm Springs, and many of our members, contrary to popular belief, aren’t wealthy. Sooner or later, I said, we would have to assess the membership, and we would lose members, leaving those who remained holding the bag, so to speak, and paying the mortgage. I was booed. I was told that those who can’t afford t...

Here is the problem with education. Ward Churchill is a tenured professor at the University of Colorado who gained his 15 minutes of national fame by comparing pre 9/11 Americans to Germans following the Nazis and calling American leaders little Eichmann’s for the genocide promulgated against the citizens of the middle east. He is clearly a left wing whacko, and his obscene rhetoric initiated an investigation as to just how this guy became a tenured professor at a major state university. It turns out that Professor Churchill lives in a glass house and shouldn’t be throwing stones. He claimed that he was a member of an American Indian tribe, and that he was a descendent of same. He lied. In subsequent work, he misrepresented facts relating to the treatment of American Indians by the federal government; wrongfully claimed that Captain John Smith introduced smallpox into the Indian population during the 1600’s; and claimed that certain work done by a Canadian environmental group was done ...

When did being a conservative become a vice? How come people like me are treated like an adjective? He is a “conservative”. We read “conservative” publications. We watch “conservative” Fox News. He belongs to a "conservative" think tank. And horrors of horrors, we listen to the dreaded “conservative” talk radio. We are cold, uncaring, money grubbing, probably wealthy but maybe a red neck. Our houses are filled with guns and our women are barefoot, pregnant and subjugated. Most of all, we are morally and intellectually deficient for failing to be sufficiently insightful into the dreadful human condition and how it is aggravated by our economic and political system. Anna Quindlen, in her Newsweek editorial this week, unwittingly demonstrates the arrogance of those who consider themselves to be liberal. David Halberstam, a Pulitzer prize winning liberal guru, was killed in an automobile accident at the age of 73 several weeks ago. Ms. Quindlen used her editorial entitled “Still...

May is here and the temperature locally will be up in the 80’s tomorrow. Below are my recommendations for summer movie viewing. A word to the wise, these movies all pop up periodically on broadcast and cable channels. Watered down, cleaned up versions don’t cut it. Spend the 5 bucks and rent the movies. Happy viewing!! MEATBALLS (1979): Bill Murray as the camp counselor you hope your kids never experience. Light on the raunch and heavy on the laughs, Murray is the man in charge of the “counselors in training” and their attendant hi-jinks. I like the movie because of a sweet sub-plot about a scrawny kid with problems who ends up saving the day at the inter-camp Olympics. But mostly, it has three great songs: Mary MacGregor's “ Good Friend”, Terry Black's “Moon Dust,” and David Naughton's "Makin' It". The first two were composed by Elmer Bernstein . Summer movies don’t come any better. CAPOTE (2005): Philip Seymour Hoffman deservedly won the Best Actor Osc...

The following statistics, or various versions of them, have been bandied about relating to illegal immigration in Los Angeles County. 1) 40% of all workers in Los Angeles County are working for cash, paying no taxes. 2) 75% of the people on Los Angeles County’s most wanted list are illegal aliens. 3) 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans paid for by Medi-Cal and the taxpayers. 4) 25% of all inmates in California detention centers are illegal aliens. 5) 300,000 illegals in Los Angeles County are living in garages. 6) The FBI reports that ½ of gang members in LA County are illegals from south of the border. 7) 60% of the occupants of HUD properties in Los Angeles are occupied by illegals. 8) There are 5.1 million people whose primary language is English in Los Angeles. There are 3.9 million people whose primary language is Spanish. 9) There are 21 Spanish only radio stations in Los Angeles. 10) 90% of the current population growth in California, New York a...

One of the first rules of Political Science is that it is the perception of the truth, rather than the truth, that is important. In addressing any issue, one either has to get to the truth, or learn to manipulate the perception. Ronald Reagan understood this. A perfect example was the “Star Wars” nuclear missile defense system. We didn’t have the capability of building it back then, but the Soviets thought we did. And they definitely did not have the capability of competing with their perception of our capabilities. Hence, the beginning of the end of Communism. Race relations also deal with perceptions. The experiences I listed in the previous installment go to my perception of the Black community. The hip-hop antics of so called hip-hop artists are a large part of that perception. Have you ever watched some of these guys and gals perform? In the midst of their racial and sexist and violent tirades, how many times do they grab their crotch? I am so impressed that they have one. News fl...

I am so excited. I heard on the radio the other day that I have grown a new appendage. It is called a “carbon footprint.” Can anyone tell me where it’s located? I was so happy when, for just a minute, I thought it might be a replacement for my eczema ridden right foot with the festering ingrown toenail. Udder Cream and Vaseline Intensive Care have become my new best friends. But I didn’t see anything there. So I inspected myself when I got out of the shower today, looking for anything unusual or out of place. Everything seemed to be there, but nothing new. I heard that my carbon footprint was supposed to be green. I noticed a few green things, but nothing like that. Maybe I should see a doctor. Al Gore is supposed to have a huge carbon footprint. According to conservative talk radio, his is among the biggest in the nation. Good for him, and lo to anyone who goes up against him “mano a mano.” Who says size doesn’t matter? Of course it does. I am starting to lose sleep over this. Nancy P...

Seraphim, the community chorus in which I sing, performed last night for a small but appreciative crowd made up of members of the National Guild of Organists. Although we sang well at the performance, the rehearsal beforehand was magnificent. The venue was a big, modern Catholic Church with acoustics that made the music soar. It was the best we have ever sounded. Outside, the edge of the Nor’easter that has plagued the east coast, was blowing wind, rain, and snow. It was probably the most extended period of bad weather this area has had in a long time. The weather people said the winds were gusting at about 48 mph. Not where I was. It was much, much worse. At times I thought my car was going to flip over. It was difficult to open the car door to get out, and when I did, I thought it was going to blow off the hinges. When the show was over, we had to go out into the blowing rain. Driving home I thought how wonderful it is that in the of midst this really bad weather, I had been given th...

The Don Imus controversy has raised the issue of racism up a notch in the national debate. It's clear from watching the media coverage and listening to ordinary conversation, that there is frustration in the white community stemming from political correctness, hypocrisy, and the fear of being called racist if anyone speaks his/her mind. So now I am going to speak mine, and if it makes me racist, so be it. My undergraduate degree is in Political Science. While attending Ohio State University, one of the courses in my curriculum was Urban Studies. I signed up for the course that suited my schedule, and walked into a lecture hall filled with 200 blacks, a black professor, and myself. Our first assignment was to write a paper stating how we would define the issue of racism in the United States. I cited Edward Banfield, a noted conservative political scientist, known for his book The Unheavenly City, Revisited . His thesis states that while racism in its purist form does exist in the US...

I have never been a fan of Don Imus. I think he is obnoxious, and wonder where I can get a job consisting of sitting around for a couple of hours every day, smugly looking down one’s nose at everyone else and criticizing and belittling their every move. But this is America, and I know some of you are fans. Mr. Imus is known for his crude and irreverent remarks. He has made a career out of being outrageous. I would be surprised if Imus didn't make these types of provocative statements It is ironic that the biggest defenders of Imus are coming from the right. A caller into the Rush Limbaugh program the other day said it best. At the end of the day, who did Imus hurt? Sure, he hurt the feelings of great female basketball players on a great basketball team. But get real. Life is tough, and it won’t be the last time these folks are faced with these types of disparaging comments that we all experience from time to time. They need to toughen up a little bit, and continue to work hard and ...

A note to my readers: This article was written several days before the Virginia Tech massacre. Several news reports have stated that the shooter was bullied throughout his elementary school years. Obviously, that is not an excuse. But it certainly is worth thinking about. Several years ago, when my son was in 7th grade, he had an encounter with an internet bully. His classmate, who was somewhat of a computer whiz, had developed his own web page long before “My Space” had become popular. In addition to making unflattering remarks, he enjoyed posting unflattering pictures of his fellow students on his site, much to the delight of those who weren’t the object of his scrutiny, and to the chagrin of those who were. My son was among the latter. A confrontation finally developed in school. One thing led to another, and my son deposited this “Bill Gates” wannabe into a school locker. Within short order, I got a telephone call at work asking me to go the school immediately, and informing me my...

Joyous Easter and Blessed Passover Peace on Earth. Now More Than Ever.

Today is Palm Sunday, and the first day of Holy Week. The Judeo/Christian tradition treats spring as a time for reflection, renewal, and repentance. It is a time to make peace with your God, and to celebrate man’s deliverance from the evils that lurk in the shadows of men’s souls. The trouble is, where does one find God? These past several years it has become more difficult. 9/11 has reshaped our view of our country. We are prosperous, but we have to work harder than we ever worked before to maintain that prosperity. The divide between rich and poor, the computer literate and the computer illiterate, those with education and those without, is growing daily. Political rancor is at an all time high. The media is untrustworthy. We want to live moral lives, but it is a growing struggle. I saw an ad for the A&E Channel on television the other day for a new reality series that will air next week. It is called Sons of Hollywood . Its promo reads: “Our lives are better than yours. Drugs, s...