Empty Pews At The Church Of Truth

EMPTY 'RESERVED MEDIA SEATING' AT ABORTION DOC GOSNELL'S TRIAL

Read more: link

Kermit The Frog*

linkage

Peace Frog lyrics were Morrison's own, culled from unpublished poetry/verse entitled "Abortion Stories"

There's blood in the streets, it's up to my ankles
She came
Blood in the streets, it's up to my knee
She came
Blood in the street, the town of Chicago
She came
Blood on the rise, it's following me
Just about the break of day
She came and then she drove away
Sunlight in her hair
She came
Blood in the streets runs a river of sadness
She came
Blood in the streets it's up to my thigh
She came
Yeah the river of red down the legs of the city
She came
The women cryin' red rivers of weepin'
She came in town and then she drove away
Sunlight in her hair

Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding
Ghosts crowd the young child's fragile eggshell mind 

Blood in the streets in the town of New Haven
Blood stains the roofs and the palm trees of Venice
Blood in my love in the terrible summer
Bloody red sun of fantastic L.A. 

Blood screams the brain** as they chop off her fingers
Blood will be born in the birth of a nation
Blood is the rose of mysterious union
There's blood in the streets, it's up to my ankles
Blood in the streets, it's up to my knee
Blood in the streets, the town of Chicago
Blood on the rise, it's following me

I linked the YouTube version of Peace Frog that also includes Blue Sunday because on the vinyl edition of Morrison Hotel they ran smoothly together. The latter song is a love ballad juxtaposed with the horror of Peace Frog.
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**pain?

Titanic Centennial: Did Chivalry Go Down With The Titanic?

Just three days after the Titanic tragedy, Dr. Henry van Dyke, professor of English at Princeton University, penned a newspaper editorial which became the introduction to Logan Marshall's "The Sinking of the Titanic and Other Sea Disasters."  I've chosen a selection for discussion. The entire text is here. Whether you agree or not, here it is:

But there is more than this harvest of debts, and lessons, and sorrows, in the tragedy of the sinking of the Titanic. There is a great ideal. It is clearly outlined and set before the mind and heart of the modern world, to approve and follow, or to despise and reject.

It is, 'Women and children first!'

Whatever happened on that dreadful April night among the arctic ice, certainly that was the order given by the brave and steadfast captain; certainly that was the law obeyed by the men on the doomed ship. But why? There is no statute or enactment of any nation to enforce such an order. There is no trace of such to be found in the history of ancient civilizations. There is no authority for it among the heathen races to-day. On a Chinese ship, if we may believe the report of an official representative, the rule would have been 'Men first, children next, and women last.'

There is certainly no argument against this barbaric rule on physical or material grounds. On average, a man is stronger than a woman, he has a longer prospect of life than a woman, he is worth more than a woman. There is no reason in all the range of physical and economic science, no reason in all the philosophy of the Superman, why he should give his place in the life-boat to a woman.

Where, then does this rule which prevailed in the sinking Titanic come from? It comes from God, through the faith of Jesus of Nazareth.

It is the ideal of self-sacrifice. It is the rule that 'the strong ought to bear the infirmities of those who are weak.' It is the devine revelation which is summed up in the words: 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'

It needs a tragic catastrophe like the wreck of the Titanic to bring out the absolute contradiction between this ideal and all the counsels of materialism and selfish expediency.

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There is no statute or enactment of any nation to enforce such an order. There is no trace of such to be found in the history of ancient civilizations.

There is the story of Damon and Pythias as told by Aristoxenus in which Damon offers to be put to death for the crime of Pythias. This seems to antedate John 15:13.

There is no authority for it among the heathen races to-day. On a Chinese ship, if we may believe the report of an official representative, the rule would have been 'Men first, children next, and women last.'

This could be seen as inflammatory, but the heinous practice of sex-selective abortion (de facto not de jure) supports van Dyke's rhetoric.

There is certainly no argument against this barbaric rule on physical or material grounds. On average, a man is stronger than a woman, he is worth more than a woman, he has a longer prospect of life than a woman, he is worth more than a woman. There is no reason in all the range of physical and economic science, no reason in all the philosophy of the Superman, why he should give his place in the life-boat to a woman.

Van Dyke is clearly referring to Nietzsche with his Superman reference.

Where, then does this rule which prevailed in the sinking Titanic come from? It comes from God, through the faith of Jesus of Nazareth.

The Old Testament has the flood story in which a pair of each species is saved. But notice that the entire range of species was saved--the boat of salvation was not loaded with women and Noah's children--just his family.

The origin of "Women and children first" has its own Wikipedia entry: link The concept is linked to that of male disposability which is an interesting idea. Arguably, in an evolutionary sense at least, a population threatened with extinction can more quickly repopulate with fewer men and a surplus of women.

It is the ideal of self-sacrifice. It is the rule that 'the strong ought to bear the infirmities of those who are weak.'

Could this notion have any bearing on the modern interpretation of healthcare reform?

It is the devine revelation which is summed up in the words: 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'

John 15:13. I am reminded of the Mike Monsoor story, as portrayed in "Act Of Valor."

It needs a tragic catastrophe like the wreck of the Titanic to bring out the absolute contradiction between this ideal and all the counsels of materialism and selfish expediency.

A New Idea Is Born

Suppose we consider a new life to be like a new invention, which under our patent laws must be both new and useful.* The novelty of a new life (identical twins aside) is self-evident in its genetic code. Inventions occur (again under our law) following conception and reduction to practice.  The two events may be connascent or sequential. Conception is the fixed and permanent idea of the invention, while reduction to practice is the embodiment of the idea. Like parenting, only an inventor can contribute to conception.

New life indeed does begin at conception, but it's not fully embodied until some indefinite point in time.
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*As for the usefulness of a newly conceived life or idea -- that requires time. The following anecdote may apply.  Sometime in the 19th century, a delegation of government dignitaries visited Michael Faraday to view his electric motors and other inventions. One said "This is all very interesting, but of what possible use are these toys?" Faraday responded: "I cannot say what use they may be, but I can confidently predict that one day you will be able to tax them."