I was looking at Stacy McCain’s site and he quoted a stat from Douglas Murray that I recall Rick Santorum advancing during his quest for the 2012 GOP nomination which unfortunately he lost to Mitt Romney who lost to Barack Obama whose 2nd term is the primary source of a lot of the ills we are facing today.
However, one of the key insights Murray found from studying poverty statistics was that any young American had a 97% chance of avoiding long-term poverty if they accomplished just four simple things:
1. Get at least a high school diploma. 2. Get a job and keep working. 3. Get married and stay married. 4. Don’t have children before you’re married.
Is this too much to expect? Is this an impossible obstacle to overcome?
For dozens of generations these basis steps (with the exception of the high school diploma which only became common in the late 19th century) were considered so natural and so normal that they didn’t even have to be said. Then again during that same time nobody needed to be a biologist to define “woman” or “marriage” either.
The sad thing is the days when these facts were known by all are in fact still in living memory but my generation of baby boomers, unable to cope with the safe and secure world that their parents had given their blood sweat and tears to bequeath them ran away from these values and thus now their children and grandchildren are at a point where you have them idolizing a terrorist whose primary ambition was to kill them.
But the idolization of Bin Laden and even the Hamas Terrorists have a more basic source, the forgetting of just how lucky they are to be in the position they are in. All of this is achieved in erasing history and forgetting the collective acquired wisdom of millennia that were the building blocks on which their lives were made.
A journey, indeed it is. The Kinks are celebrating their 60th anniversary.
A big part of the revelry is the release, on BMG records of two double-CD or vinyl anthologies, the Journey Part 1, which was released in March, and the Journey Part 2, which was issued last Friday.
The Kinks emerged from North London and a year later they were at the forefront of the second pack of the British Invasion–or the beat groups, if you are reading this in the UK. Among those early hits were the power chord classics “You Really Got Me,” “All Day and All of the Night,” and “Till the End of the Day.” The Journey Part 1 kicks off with first two, The Journey Part 2 starts with the third one.
Looking at the compilations from the vinyl version, each side is represented by a theme, which I just couldn’t make sense of, so let’s just move on.
Each cut was selected by the Kinks–the surviving members are Ray Davies, rhythm guitarist and principal songwriter, his younger brother Dave, the band’s lead guitarist and occasional songwriter, and drummer Mick Avory. Among the many hits on the Journey, you’ll also encounter some rare tracks and alternative recordings.
Both are collections are essential collections for rock listeners with eclectic taste, and more importantly, a those with a strong sense of intelligence.
If you only have a bit of time and you want to know which compilation is best, then go with Part 1. A crucial reason is that amazingly, there are no songs from my choice as the Kinks’ second-best album,Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), on it. You’ll find “Australia” and “Shangri- La” on Part 1. Of the Kinks often maligned 1970s”theatrical” period, the best of that bunch isSchoolboys in Disgrace.Part 1 has songs from it, Part 2 does not.
The second collection delves surprisingly heavy into the Preservation Part 2 album, which even many Kinks fans dislike. Preservation Part 1 contributes a song to the Journey Part 1. Although through the flaws, I am a fan of both. Critics hated them, although the stage presentation of Preservation was better received by them. Preservation tells a civil war between a womanizing real estate developer-turned politician Mr. Flash (liberals will see him as Donald Trump, conservatives as Bill Clinton), who is challenged by the seemingly morally righteous Commander Black, a Jerry Falwell Senior-type character.
If you are British, you can think of Preservation as a 20th-century replay of the English Civil War, when King Charles I and his cavaliers battled Oliver Cromwell and his Puritans.
The Journey Part 2, includes some of the best tracks from Preservation Part 2 including a previously unreleased version of “Money Talks,” along with “He’s Evil,” and “Artificial Man.” Sadly, one of the worst songs from the second Preservation, “Scrapheap City,” which is flatly sung, literally, by Maryanne Price, is also on the Journey Part 2.
What were the Kinks thinking on that one?
While the Journey Part 1 has no live tracks, Part 2 does, three live cuts recorded in 1975 at the New Victoria Theatre in London, “Everybody’s a Star (Starmaker) one of only two good songs from the loathsome Soap Operaalbum, “Slum Kids,” a solid Preservation outtake, and another song–not one of the goods ones–from Soap Opera, “(A) Face in the Crowd.”
On the flipside, the other good song from Soap Opera, the 1930s-style “Holiday Romance,” follows the live tracks. You can think of “Holiday Romance” as the Kinks’ answer to the Beatles’ “Honey Pie.”
If you’re a Kinks fan–or of you think you might become one–then here’s a song for you, “I’m Not Like Everybody Else,” the B-Side of their hit “Sunny Afternoon.” The first track is on the Journey Part 1. The A-Side is on Part 2.
Is “Lola,” perhaps the best-known Kinks song besides their power chord nuggets, included on the Journey? Yes, it’s on Part 2.
One more bit of bad news–the Journey ends abruptly. There is no talk of a Part 3, and there are no songs from the Kinks post-theatrical era on Part 1 and 2. Some of those stellar albums omitted in these collections include Sleepwalker, Low Budget, Misfits, and Give the People What They Want. What’s the heck is with that? Contractual disputes with record labels?
Back to the Journey: Even with one collection being a bit better than the other, both compilations contain plenty of pleasing gems. Back-to-back, they are ideal road trip albums, a great complement to any journey, either cross town, cross country, or as a companion to your life’s journey.
God Save the Kinks!
John Ruberry, who saw the Kinks live twice in Champaign, Illinois in the 1980s, regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.
Ok let me start this post by noting two things up front:
I am an unabashed supporter of Israel’s response to what Hamas has done and am horrified that anyone believes that
Hamas’ attack on Oct 7th can be justified
That Oct 7th was a false flag (yes there are some of those)
Looking back at History over the last 75 years I conclude that other than the Jews there are no people the Arab/Muslim world hates more than the Palestinians. Consider:
They have been used and exploited by the Arabs since the first day Israel existed
They have been used as a wedge both by the eastern bloc during the cold war by Arab states against the Jews ever since.
Their own leadership (and others) have used them as a cash cow to wealth & power while letting them stay poor.
Countries like Iran have used them as expendable in order to advance their agenda
In every Arab country they have settled in they are treated at best as 2nd class citizens at least when they’re not being slaughtered
Any one of them who would actually be willing to make peace would have the life expectancy of a Jew in Gaza with no IDF.
Frankly if I was raised a Palestinian I’d be damn angry too.
Ok so let’s cut to the chase of this post. The word “anti-Semitic” has been out there a lot lately and if people want it to avoid it becoming as meaningless as the left has made the word “racism” it’s important to use it correctly and acknowledge that there is a difference between something or someone being “anti-Semitic’ and something or someone being “wrong” about something.
To this end I have made a small but likely not complete list:
It is a legitimate opinion that Israel’s response to Hamas’ Oct 7th attack is the wrong one. Holding that opinion doesn’t make one either a Jew hater or anti-Semitic. Now I myself think such an opinion is about as idiotic as the no cash bail business in US cities which reward bad behavior and create more of it, but that doesn’t make one anti-Semitic, it makes one, in my opinion a fool, but not anti-Semitic.
It is a legitimate thing to hold a march in favor of the Palestinians and rallies in support of same with speeches and signs both on campus and in large cities provided said marchers:
Obey local laws
Do not commit vandalism
Do not commit violence
Do not call for the extermination of Jews or the destruction of Israel
(If anyone sees the supports of the Palestinians manage these four things please let me know as that would be breaking news).
It is a perfectly legitimate opinion to argue that the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 was either a bad idea or caused more problems for the world then it solved. To argue that the Jews had no more right to a Jewish state in the land they were practically erased from 2000 years ago then the Aztecs have a claim to Mexico city because they had an empire there till the 1500’s is not anti-Semitic.
I don’t hold that opinion and one can no more predict an alternate past then one can predict the future. I can only note that for the Jewish people having a homeland in their ancestral lands has been a plus in terms of racial and cultural identity and given the horrors of the holocaust it has given them the power to ensure their survival as a race. That seems like a pretty strong case for the state of Israel, particularly when you consider how Arab Israeli’s have done, seemingly a lot better than those around them (at least those who don’t have oil).
That opinion btw crosses the line into antisemitism when it becomes an excuse to attempt to wipe out a firmly established internationally recognized state and slaughter the people in it.
It is not anti-Semitic to argue that the Arabs who have been in the land that is now Israel were there for hundreds or even thousands of years and while there have been multiple empires ruling over them from the Romans to the Byzantines to the Ottomans to the Brits to even the Crusaders for a time that their attachment to the land is just as legitimate as anyone else.
This frankly is the strongest point in favor of the Palestinians and one that I believe is not resolvable without their consent because they can argue that the UN mandate was carried out without their consent. It’s basically an eminent domain case.
It is not anti-Semitic to note that because the Muslim Arabs in the middle east have a different culture than the west it is perfectly legitimate for them to look Israel in general and all of these thing in particular in a different light than a person with a western culture and a part of western civilization does. That in itself is no more anti-Semitic or evil then a Hindu in India circa 1845 looking at the British rule differently than the west did.
Now once that cultural difference becomes an excuse to slaughter Jews in their sleep or murder them with impunity then I would argue that not only does it become anti-Semitic but both the west in General and Israel in particular have the right, indeed the obligation to treat such actions in the same way that Sir Charles James Napier treated the practitioners of Suttee in India.
It is certainly not anti-semitic to call for a Palestinian state not named “Jordan” which was to be the original Arab state established by the UN mandate. In fact given the way the Palestinians have been treated by all the Arabs in the area a state separate from both Israel and the Arab states that surround it might be the only solution for them to get a fair shake, provided those in charge of such a state are not either kleptocrats who rob their own people blind or killers who want to use such a state as a staging ground for attempt to destroy Israel or both
If you can explain any way to avoid having such people in charge let me know.
Finally it is not anti-Semitic to deny the existence of the God of the Jews or consider the Jewish religion as bunk. In fact there are plenty of Jews who think this is the case (the old Joke goes “Jews are a people who believe in one God or less”) Now as a Christian in general and a Catholic in particular I say such a denial is not only bunk but a great danger to the soul but having that opinion is no more anti-Semitic then saying that Mohammad is no more a prophet of God than my older brothers are is anti Arab.
Well this is my list, if you want an easier guide to if someone is anti-Semitic or someone just holds a different opinion I have a really simple rule of thumb.
If someone is lying to your face about things like:
Jews are colonizers and were never in Israel
there was never a Jewish temple in the holy land
There are no hostages being held by Hamas
The Jews are committing genocide against the Palestinians
Odds are you won’t go too wrong thinking “anti-Semite” although given what I’ve seen of students today if you want to go with “ignorance” you likely aren’t doing bad either.
Finally the discloser bit. I’m not a Jew, I’ve never considered becoming Jewish and my only connections to Judaism are:
1/8th of my nieces and nephews both from blood and marriage are married to Jews (both nephews who married Jewish women).
My Catholic faith is completely derivative of Judaism. My God is the Jewish God and I state that his son is the Messiah of the Jews. Or as I like to joke: The difference between Christians & Jews is:
Jews think we’ve jumped the gun
We think they’ve missed the boat.
So if you are Jewish and think I’m wrong about these evaluations of what is anti-Semitic and what isn’t feel free to leave your opinion in comments or write a post rebutting me at your site.
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.
Matthew 7:13-14
One of the things we have noticed from the left in general and from both the Biden administration and the pro-terror folks in media, academia and among the mob is that they are not on speaking terms with the truth.
Part of this, at least for the Arab mobs is understandable as they would have been indoctrinated their entire lives and you might even suggest that this would be the case for those in academic setting except for the fact that this would be a tiny part of their lives.
For a Christian this should not be a surprise, because as we are taught the devil, the father of lives is in fact the prince of this world and once people move away from the Judeo-Christian standard of false witness being sinful and wrong then words simply become another means to an end.
One of the things about living in Western Civilization particularly during the golden age of American power at it’s height as a Christian Nation a lot of people were convinced that Judeo-Christian values were the norm. If however you look at both history and the current age and of course scripture the church’s warnings about “the world” one must conclude that the values of Judeo-Christianity are completely contrary to human nature and that while in the long run these values used as a standard to live by, even if people fail lead to the kind of culture worth living in.
The irony of course is that that so many in the west reject these values not realizing that they are the bedrock on which their free and prosperous society is built while in the world who rush to migrate to the west in order live reject the values that make that society they are fleeing to possible.
In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.
