Drink Upstream

Rockin' the Right: The 50 greatest conservative rock songs

Link: John J. Miller on Music on National Review Online.

Oh dear.  I'd forgotton that the Clash was so interested in tax cuts for the wealthy....

For Ascension Thursday

Nail in the Sky

by Howe Gelb from 'Sno Angel.

Doubt.

I can safely say that on the day following my first ever APNC onsite visit, there is little doubt in my head that I never want to be a Presbyterian minister.

Say some prayers for the APNC, the candidate, my church, and the PC(USA).  We all need them.

haiku magnets

this haiku is made possible by the haiku magnetic poetry box i got for my birthday a while back from an infamous eta mame fiend, irene.....

*

dream dawning between

spring evening summer morning

half-moon whispering

*

consequently, i've gotten back to updating copper moon rising more frequently.

Rhetoric Matters: Guess who's back!

Link: Alamo Nation: Kim Jong-Il's Girlfriend Laments Bush's Christianity.

Our good friends over at Alamo Nation have a long history of speaking in a pleasantly hyperbolic nature, and this article is no exception.   Let's have a look at what George has to say about Madeline Albright:

Notice the wording here.  It's displaying what I've maintained about leftist freaks all along - they literally hate moral absolutes.  They hate the acknowledgement of good and evil. Liberals prefer to live in a nebulous, more comfortable gray area where personal culpability is an elusive beast. Conservatives can look at a convicted murderer and say "Well yes - that convicted murderer deserves the death penalty." Leftists will defend said murderer with things like "Well we live in a racist society that drove said murderer to kill" or "Well said murderer's parent's didn't love him - clearly they're at fault."  Or maybe they will blame "the system" or "the man."

Also notice the first part of that statement: "President Bush's certitude about what he believes in." Being certain about what one believes is in is anathema to leftists, whose only core beliefs are 1.) the right to kill innocent unborn babies in the womb, 2.) higher taxes are the only way to solve society's ills and 3.) America is always bad and always wrong.

Leftist freak.  That warms my heart.

The thing that kills me about this rant is the fact that George misses the Albright's point entirely.  Let's look at her quotes one more time:

President Bush has alienated Muslims around the world by using absolutist Christian rhetoric to discuss foreign policy issues, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says.

"I worked for two presidents who were men of faith, and they did not make their religious views part of American policy," she said, referring to Jimmy Carter and
Bill Clinton, both Democrats and Christians.

"President Bush's certitude about what he believes in, and the division between good and evil, is, I think, different," said Albright, who has just published a book on religion and world affairs. "The absolute truth is what makes Bush so worrying to some of us."

Albright has no problem with the president's faith, and she's got no problem with his public profession of that faith.  Rather, she takes issue with the President's "absolutist Christian rhetoric". 

Albright takes issue with the fact that the President regularly reduces God to a cheerleader for the United States and I'm with her on that one.

Not the Land

I try not to get too personal on this blog. I've got lots of reasons for it...privacy, fear, etc... But I beg your pardon for this one personal indulgence....

I think most of you know that I've spent a good part of the last year or so traveling for my job, and I've spent a good bit of time lamenting the endless airports, restaruant food, and hotel beds. There are some upsides though, I find that my travel time is my music time. My iPod always gets a serious workout when I travel. I find that flights, hotel lobbies, and shuttle busses are prime music times. They give me an opportunity to listen to music. I mean REALLY LISTEN. Lyrics often escape me when I'm listening while at work, or driving, but when I'm stuck on a three hour flight to D.C. I can really focus, and I've come to enjoy that time.

So now, as I'm flying home yet again (This time from Raleigh/Durham International Airport), I decided to listen to my copious collection of Caedmon's Call tunes. I must tip my hat to Bill on this one. I had heard about Caedmon's Call in high school, but I wrote them off as one of many half-assed Contemporary Christian Bands that all of the Young Lifers were big on.

Bill convinced me that I had it all wrong.

These guys can play. And sing. And write good theology. It's really great stuff, both musically and theologically. Give them a shot...I'll bet you like it.

At any rate...

I fired up the old iPod radomizer on the Caedmon's Call playlist and this is the first tune that came out....

Not The Land

So many miles behind
Still I drive with the pedal down
I was off the map hours back
It's beneath the seat. I think
It's with two pennies and a match
And something else. I can't remember
But in the time that it would take to fish it out
I'll be another mile gone

And I feel so wrong
Trying to feel right
In light of all the things I've passed
You'd think that I'd have learned

Chorus:
This is not the land was promised me
Even as far as my eyes can see
I'm so wound up, Lord. I can't even breathe
And I don't want words
I just want some peace
Some peace. Some peace

It seems I've misplaced my faith
'Cause it's 11:12, nothing's changed
Well, nothing except the channel I'm afraid
And the number there
No. It's the same
Oh, this must be the Saviour of the month
And what I must have
Where's the night gone?
'Cause I'm so tired and out of shape
You've gotta get me up
But I can't get up today

'Cause it's been so long
Since I've felt right
All the rote, rehearsal, proof
You'd think that I'd have learned

Repeat chorus

Break me, break me, break me

This is not the land was promised me
Gotta get out of bed, get something to read
And i gotta feed my brother, not my eyes
If not, then I'll be all I despise

I think most of you that are reading this are aware of the lousy family health stuff I've been dealing with for the last year. Lots of folks have asked me, in earnest, "How are you doing?" or "How do you feel?". I think I've finally found my first good answer in a song written by a guy that I'll likely never meet.

Music is funny like that.

Thanks for the indulgence....I'll get back to something more Mattish next time.

playing around with pandora and another russian call...

so i finally got my ass over to pandora to see what that's like.  unfortunately i doubt you guys will be much interested in it... but i'm digging back into the few things "gothy" type that people had suggested to me.

and again, we're doing a desperate call for russia trip people.  i just tried to coerce bill to come along by waving phd programs in front of his face.  so any of you others know anyone who is peacecfully minded or interested in talking about violence, terrorism, and the response of church and state with other young adults from the russian orthodox church, then send them to the peacemaking website for info.  our final FINAL deadline is may 30th, tuesday.

A thought on a new feature....

I like weekly features on blogs.  I think that they provide some regularity and give authors something to focus on. 

Around here, we talk a great deal about tone and civility in political debate.  More accurately, we lament the general lack of it in the public square.   Glen Greenweld has an excellent story this week on some particularly harsh rhetoric aimed squarely at Jack Murtha.  Greenweld puts it succinctly when he says, "This type of rhetoric matters."

With that in mind, I'm going to do my best to put together a weekly post looking at one example of some over the top rhetoric that shows up on the Internets.  I'd love to be as balanced as possible, I know that many on the left can be as harsh and hyperbolic as those on the right, but I might need some help.  If you come up with something worthwhile, shoot it our way at drinkupstream@gmail.com.

Also, I think that the feature deserves a snazzy new subtitle and maybe a graphic....any thoughts?

For our premiere edition, we'll take a look at what well known, talk radio host Michael Savage has to say about Jimmy Carter.  From Media Matters for America

SAVAGE: The rockets are flying in, Israel does nothing, doesn't lift a hand. Israel offers to give back 93 percent of the West Bank, and Jimmy Carter, the communist, anti-American, anti-Semitic bastard that he is, comes out and says, "Israel is evil for giving back 93 percent of the West Bank. They've got to give back 100 percent." That anti-Semitic bastard.    

CALLER: Unfortunately, many of our senators are in the same --    

SAVAGE: Jimmy Carter is a Jew-hater through and through. Jimmy Carter is who caused worldwide Islamic terrorism to proliferate around the globe. Jimmy Carter undermined the shah of Iran. Jimmy Carter encouraged [Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini to come back from exile in Paris. As a result, Khomeini spread his Islamic poison around the globe. Jimmy Carter is a war criminal. Now, Jimmy Carter comes out and writes a letter today, and says that Israel, by giving back 93 percent of the West Bank, is being evil, it's the Jews again tricking the Palestinians. Jimmy Carter is like Hitler with the double talk on top of it all. I can't take this crap any more. Why is he even taken seriously? Why don't the Jews get up and spit in his face?

Questionable success part deux

Below is the text of my speech at the Texas Scholars banquet.  It's largely sentimental fluff that you guys have probably heard a billion times.

violence, paintball, and peacemaking

right, back from my absence.  papers turned in, classes over, summer job search commencing, with a little extra time to start posting again.

so, i had this conversation going on in the mccormick newsletter the last couple weeks of the semester that i was wanting to run by y'all.  now's my chance.

some mccormick folks got together to play go out to a paintball park nearby, but it caused some uncomfort with others in the community.  so, on march 7, jen hill wrote this article on page 8.

in response, i later wrote this article on page 6.

then, another mccormick student, sarah macdonald, who was serving in palestine with the christian peacemaker teams, wrote this response to my article also on page 6.

whaddy'all think?

also, i added another comment on felicitaciones!!! if y'all are interested.