Happy Thanksgiving Day!

I hope all of you will have a very happy Thanksgiving with all your family and friends!

Sand Art Video

At the link below, you will find a video showing sand art, created as you watch, with a short explanatory article. The video runs about 8 1/2 minutes--well worth your time.

"Art for art's sake--Memory for the sake of memory"

What a Difference an Idealogy Makes

Lately the left has been accusing the right of all kinds of misbehavior at townhall meetings held by Congress members in their districts. Truth is, the right, while a bit noisy, is far more well-behaved than the left.

Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs and Michelle Malkin at Michelle Malkin have posted some comparisons and I place the links below for your edification.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/08/pelosis-leftist-lies-and-the-pimps-that-spread-them.html

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/04/this-is-what-mob-rule-looks-like/

And what about the beating in St. Louis that sent the victim to the hospital? That was leftists beating up a black conservative man.

If it was up to me, the townhalls would be much quieter because it is hard to hear what anyone says if a lot of people are yelling. I would rather see the conservatives asking pointed questions and making their comments one at a time into a microphone. Save the chants and yelling for the end if the Congressperson won't listen. However, a little well-behaved noise and signs making valid points are hardly mob mentality, nor are these people bussed in by insurance companies or the Republican National Committee. These are individuals who take themselves to these meetings, sometimes having to take off work to do it. These are individuals who are fed up with Obama and the Dems taking away our freedom and spending us into oblivion. They are also fed up with Obama's so-called foreign policy which consists of apologizing for America, making nice with our enemies, and betraying our friends.

It is the leftists who bus in groups and engage in mobbish thuggery. Then they project their own tactics onto peace-loving conservatives who are doing nothing worse than insisting that Congress represent their constituents accurately and remember that they work for us and not the other way around. That goes for President Obama and his czars and cabinet and everyone else he has surrounded himself with.

And what's up with the White House wanting American citizens to inform on one another?

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/07/whos-behind-the-internet-snitch-brigade/

America is a great country and many people recognize that it is past time to stop the politicians from wrecking it.

Uses of Language

At the Hoover Institution website is an article about George Orwell, his use of language, and why the preservation and use of the English language is important. The article is titled "Orwell's Instructive Errors" and was written by Liam Julian.

The article discusses what Orwell had to say in his essays about the use of language and also how Orwell himself used language in some of his writings. One of the essays referred to is "Politics and the English Language".

These two pieces are of interest for political reasons, but also for the use of both readers and writers.

I don't agree with everything Liam Julian said. For example, in the following paragraph he seems to think right-wing extremists are the same as conservatives, which is assuredly not true.

It is, certainly, not only denizens of the left who theorize and euphemize their way out of inconvenient situations. The staunchest apologists for the worst elements of British Empire were conservatives, and now, as in Orwell’s time, it is conservatives who lean most heavily on theory to explain away indigence and squalor as inevitable in a free society and thereby rid themselves of responsibility to alleviate the burdens of the impoverished. Certainly America’s foremost racists are found on the right, and they have all sorts of theories. And yet such justifications — whether of racism, imperialism, neglect of the poor, or even creationism — currently have but parochial appeal. The left is in power now, and so it is that today’s most influential and worrisome euphemizing comes from the left.

Regarding racism in particular, it is people like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and, yes, Barack and Michelle Obama who keep racism most alive in America. They are not found on the right in America. Nonetheless, the article has some interesting things to say about the uses of language.

Classical Music

Some thoughts about classical music and why it has lasted are linked at Arts & Letters Daily. The article is called "Is Classical Music Trying to be Fashionable?" by Andrew Clark.

Healthcare Legislation

Fortunately, it appears that the healthcare bills in the House and Senate will not be voted on before Congress' August recess. I hope that voters all over the country will try to learn as much as they can about said bills. I am posting a few links that can help you and if you want to suggest a link in the comments, please feel free to do so.

A link to the House bill (HR 3200) and a list of some of the provisions There is also a link to help you contact national reps about this bill.

"Trying to Talk Around the Facts"

"What to Ask Your Congressperson About Obamacare (First in a Series)" Some questions to think about

"CBO calls a TKO on the House health bill" includes charts and graphs

"Your Easy Guide to Democrat Health Reform" includes a chart of the bureacracy involved (the following article refers to this chart: "GOP Charges Dems With Censorship Over Sign" )

That is just a small bit of what's available out there. I would also suggest that you pressure your congresspeople to read each bill completely before passing it. They have no business passing anything that they aren't familiar with.

From the Archives: The Fourth of July

A happy 4th of July to you. This is America's Independence Day. Think of your freedoms and what it cost to obtain them.

The History Channel has a nice summary of the events surrounding our gaining our freedom. The article is here: "U.S. Declares Independence".

Another interesting article by George Will can be found at Townhall. It is called "The Valuable Self-Validating Tradition".

Enjoy the reading and enjoy the Fourth. Think about what it all means for us.

The Trouble in Iran (Updated)

The clashes in Iran have already started today, after the Ayatollah's speech yesterday warning against any more street protests. The Iranian people have apparently had enough and will not give up. Good for them! Obama has at least released a statement supporting the Iranian protesters, although it could have been stronger. Every little bit helps. Paul Kengor writes about how President Reagan handled this sort of thing here.

In my last blog post I wrote that I would be refraining from links, but that isn't always a practical thing to do. You can find information on the Iranian protests in many news outlets, but I would like to point out some that I think have good up-to-date coverage. One is Gateway Pundit, a blog that includes reports, photos, and videos. Two more are The Guardian and Telegraph in Britain.

I wouldn't say that Mir Hossein Mousavi is the ideal opposition leader. In the past, he has proven not much different from Ahmadinejad. He only got on the ballot because he was approved by the Guardian Council. Still, there is hope that he may go with the persistant rebellion by the people and can and will make needed changes. See here. See "Cracks Begin to Show in the Iranian Regime" by Ryan Mauro.

There is a lot at stake and I wish the Iranian people success in their rebellion against tyranny.

Updated to Add: Michelle Malkin has a blog post up with links to a twitter page and updates elsewhere.