Clipmarks | kenstipe's Pops

Ten Reasons that Thinking Americans Love Their Country

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:07:28 GMT

clipped by: missjackson

Despite the intellectual pretensions of those who practice it, anti-Americanism is reflexive and mindless. Patriotism, despite its bad reputation amongst the intelligentsia, is a rational sentiment for an American to hold.

No one is obligated to love their country. Yet Americans do-overwhelmingly. Why are Americans, despite the national self-hatred expressed by so many elites, still patriotic? Because America is a force for good in the world as no country has ever been.

Here are ten good reasons why thinking Americans should love their country:

What's So Great About America

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:49:07 GMT

clipped by: missjackson
clipper's remarks: The last paragraph: "Those who have tasted the exhilaration of freedom-which entails responsibility for one's own choices and one's own life-can hardly imagine living in any other system. The core American idea is the "pursuit of happiness," which means that happiness is not a guarantee, but that you have a chance to find it for yourself. No wonder that so many young people throughout the world are magnetically attracted to what America represents: they find irresistible the prospect of being in the driver's seat of their lives. So, too, the immigrant discovers that America permits him to break free of the constraints that have held him captive, so that the future becomes a landscape of his own choosing. "

Clip Source: news.aol.com

The forgotten truth is that America is still the most attractive society in the world, and its appeal is felt even by the children of the America-haters.

Whatever the flaws of American policy and American culture, let's remember that immigrants from every continent continue to brave dislocation and hardship to come to America

Only in America could Pierre Omidyar, whose ancestry is Iranian and who grew up in , have started a company like eBay. Only in America could Vinod Khosla, the son of an Indian army officer, become a shaper of the technology industry and a billionaire to boot.

America gives a better life to the ordinary guy than does any other country.

I was raised in a middle-class family in India .

By coming to America , I have seen my life break free of these traditional confines.

I cannot imagine any other country allowing a non-citizen to work in its inner citadel of government.

I found myself working in the White House, even though I was not an American citizen.

H. G. Wells Quotes

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:00:37 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: www.brainyquote.com

A time will come when a politician who has willfully made war and promoted international dissension will be as sure of the dock and much surer of the noose than a private homicide. It is not reasonable that those who gamble with men's lives should not stake their own.

H. G. Wells

Heresies are experiments in man's unsatisfied search for truth.

History is a race between education and catastrophe.

I must confess that my imagination refuses to see any sort of submarine doing anything but suffocating its crew and floundering at sea.

If we don't end war, war will end us.

Leaders should lead as far as they can and then vanish. Their ashes should not choke the fire they have lit.

Sailors ought never to go to church. They ought to go to hell, where it is much more comfortable.

You have learned something. That always feels at first as if you had lost something.

Three New Deals

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:05:03 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: books.google.com

Three New Deals: Reflections on Roosevelt's America, Mussolini's Italy, and ...

Today FDR's New Deal is regarded as the democratic ideal, the positive American response to the economic crisis that propelled Germany and Italy toward Fascism. Yet in the 1930s, these regimes were hardly considered antithetica...

More about this book

Shapeshifting Sun

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:47:11 GMT

clipped by: Rustee

Clip Source: virtual.finland.fi

Tags: photography

Where the Hell is Matt (Just Laugh)

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:32:48 GMT

clipped by: sahara
clipper's remarks: Where the Hell is Matt: a silly dance in 42 countries that will make you grin like a fool

...They were standing around taking pictures in Hanoi, and his friend said "Hey, why don't you stand over there and do that dance. I'll record it." He was referring to a particular dance Matt does. It's actually the only dance Matt does. He does it badly. Anyway, this turned out to be a very good idea.

A couple years later, someone found the video online and passed it to someone else, who passed it to someone else, and so on. Now Matt is quasi-famous as "That guy who dances on the internet. No, not that guy. The other one. No, not him either. I'll send you the link. It's funny."

The response to the first video brought Matt to the attention of the nice people at Stride gum. They asked Matt if he'd be interested in taking another trip around the world to make a new video. Matt asked if they'd be paying for it. They said yes. Matt thought this sounded like another very good idea.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Clip Source: www.boingboing.net

Matthew Harding spent 14 months visiting 42 countries in order to produce "Where the Hell is Matt?", a four-and-a-half minute video featuring Harding (and anyone else he could rope into it) doing an incredibly silly, high-energy dance in some of the most breathtaking scenery around the world. This may be the best four minutes and twenty-eight seconds of your week.

Matt is a 31-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. Matt achieved this goal pretty early and enjoyed it for a while, but eventually realized there might be other stuff he was missing out on

In February of 2003, he quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he'd saved to wander around Asia until it ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is.

A few months into his trip, a travel buddy gave Matt an idea

Tags: fun

Self-love doesn't happen by luck or the grace of God

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:46:37 GMT

clipped by: fewstingscorpio
clipper's remarks: I wanted to clip it all. Skipped over a lot.This is good to read several times. More of article:
They argue that it's not loving to tell a sick person they had anything to do with creating their illness," he says. "Yet, by not owning their power when they are sick, they are consigning themselves to a life of being a victim of any virus or circumstance that comes their way. This powerlessness is the source of most depression, and it leads to more illness and problems such as overeating."
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20021203-000002.html

Clip Source: www.psychologytoday.com

Self-love doesn't happen by luck or the grace of God. You have to create it. These are among the most important elements of it.

Honoring yourself and who you really are. Love is your birthright. As Teilhard de Chardin said, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience."

Telling the highest truth, which is that we are powerful beings capable of creating joy and success or pain and suffering in our lives

Honoring who you are becoming

Honoring your feelings and responding to those feelings.

Recognizing that the universe is literally made of love.

When things go wrong or goals don't materialize, most people blame their past, their parents, life in general or God.

All the great wisdom traditions speak of the unlimited power we have within us. Both quantum physics and psychology offer proof that our thoughts create our reality. Yet, Caine points out, many people strenuously object to the truth that we create our own reality.

Tags: "self -love", "unlimited power", "quantum physics", reality, forgiveness, wisdom, success, consciousness, acceptance, psychology

Taliban slit throats of "traitors" in public before thousands

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:04:11 GMT

clipped by: Charlie Martel 732AD

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Taliban use swords to slit the throats of Afghan 'traitors' in public executions before thousands

In a shocking display of hardline violence, Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan publicly slit the throats of two Afghans today after they were accused of spying for US forces suspected of launching a missile strike in May.

The two men, one of them a former Taliban fighter, were brought blindfolded before a crowd of several thousand people near the village of Damadola in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border before they were executed.

"They were spies. Whoever spies for the Americans will meet the same fate," Qari Zia-ur-Rehman, a Taliban leader in the area, told the crowd before another man slit the throats of the two with a sword.

The crowd shouted: "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) when the Taliban held up the severed heads of the victims who Rehman said were from the eastern Afghan province of Kunar.

Tags: islam, taliban, jihad

Top 10 Inspirational Quotes

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:53:34 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: "9. Nora Roberts
If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place.
10. Stephen Covey
Begin with the end in mind"

Clip Source: images.stockxpert.com

Clip Source: quotations.about.com

1. Mark Twain

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

2. Luigi Pirandello

In bed my real love has always been the sleep that rescued me by allowing me to dream.

3. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

4. Zig Ziglar

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.

5. T. S. Elliot

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

6. Buddha

All that we are is the result of what we have thought.

7. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

8. Peter F. Drucker

We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books about it.

Muslim Countries Holding 'Many' Danish Women Against their Will

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:30:54 GMT

clipped by: Smoke TNT

Clip Source: www.cphpost.dk

02.07.

In the wake of a Danish woman’s honour killing in Pakistan, crisis centres and the Foreign Ministry both say they are aware of many instances of women with Danish citizenship being held against their will in foreign countries

Uffe Wolffhechel, head of citizens’ services for the Foreign Ministry, said his office is routinely brought into cases where Danish women of immigrant background are forced to travel back to their families’ countries of origin - most often Muslim countries - and are never heard from again.

The murder of Tahira Tabassum 13 days ago in Pakistan is believed to have been an ‘honour killing’. Tabassum was killed by her brother-in-law for what friends and family in Denmark claim was her inability to have more children and her refusal to obey her Pakistani family members who told her not to leave the house.

around 1900 women in Pakistan are killed each year by their husbands, brothers or fathers.

Tags: islam, denmark, islamofascism, murder, muslims, women

Ignorant America: Just How Stupid Are We?

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:23:18 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Ignorant America: Just How Stupid Are We?

Millions of Americans are embarrassingly ill-informed and they do not care that they are.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." -- Thomas Jefferson

Just how stupid are we? Pretty stupid, it would seem, when we come across headlines like this: "Homer Simpson, Yes -- 1st Amendment 'Doh,' Survey Finds" (Associated Press 3/1/06).

"About 1 in 4 Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances.) But more than half of Americans can name at least two members of the fictional cartoon family, according to a survey.
"The study by the new McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpson family members, compared with just 1 in 1,000 people who could name all five First Amendment freedoms."

Believing Global Warming

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:43:16 GMT

clipped by: Rustee

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

Last week marked the 20th anniversary of the mass hysteria phenomenon known as global warming. Much of the science has since been discredited. Now it's time for political scientists, theologians and psychiatrists to weigh in.

The real place where discussions of global warming belong is in the realm of belief, and particularly the motives for belief.

The first is as a vehicle of ideological convenience.

Take just about any other discredited leftist nostrum of yore – population control, higher taxes, a vast new regulatory regime, global economic redistribution, an enhanced role for the United Nations – and global warming provides a justification.

A second explanation is theological.

A light carbon footprint has become the 21st-century equivalent of sexual abstinence.

Finally, there is a psychological explanation.

What's remarkable is the extent to which penance sells among a mostly secular audience. What is there to be penitent about?

International Muslim Matrimonials

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:54:32 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: How does one make their choice from these pictures? I'm not trying to be insulting. While the eyes can tell a lot, in a single static picture it really isn't much. What is the enticement to click through and get something from the text behind them?

Clip Source: www.photobasement.com

Irrefutable Tie Between Gitmo Techniques & Chinese Torture

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:19:12 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Isn't that special? BushCo is rife with criminals simply from the following of this path. HANG THEM HIGH!

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing the effects of “coercive management techniques” for possible use on prisoners, including “sleep deprivation,” “prolonged constraint,” and “exposure.”

What the trainers did not say, and may not have known, was that their chart had been copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners.

The recycled chart is the latest and most vivid evidence of the way Communist interrogation methods that the United States long described as torture became the basis for interrogations both by the military at the base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and by the Central Intelligence Agency.

The only change made in the chart presented at Guantánamo was to drop its original title: “Communist Coercive Methods for Eliciting Individual Compliance.”

The Sunspot Enigma: The Sun is “Dead”—What Does it Mean for Earth?

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:23:12 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks:

And here's the kicker--We may have an ice age while preparing for global warming---are you cackling in glee yet, Willhelm?

Geophysicist Phil Chapman, the first Australian to become an astronaut with NASA, said pictures from the US Solar and Heliospheric Observatory also show that there are currently no spots on the sun. He also noted that the world cooled quickly between January last year and January this year, by about 0.7C.

"This is the fastest temperature change in the instrumental record, and it puts us back to where we were in 1930," Dr Chapman noted in The Australian recently.

If the world does face another mini Ice Age, it could come without warning. Evidence for abrupt climate change is readily found in ice cores taken from Greenland and Antarctica. One of the best known examples of such an event is the Younger Dryas cooling, which occurred about 12,000 years ago, named after the arctic wildflower found in northern European sediments. This event began and ended rat

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Dark spots, some as large as 50,000 miles in diameter, typically move across the surface of the sun, contracting and expanding as they go. These strange and powerful phenomena are known as sunspots, but now they are all gone. Not even solar physicists know why it’s happening and what this odd solar silence might be indicating for our future.

Although periods of inactivity are normal for the sun, this current period has gone on much longer than usual and scientists are starting to worry—at least a little bit. Recently 100 scientists from Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and North America gathered to discuss the issue at an international solar conference at Montana State University. Today's sun is as inactive as it was two years ago, and solar physicists don’t have a clue as to why.

"It continues to be dead," said Saku Tsuneta with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, program manager for the Hinode solar mission, noting that it is at least a little bit worrisome