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February 18, 2014

Elitist Left Shocked to Learn Poor People Like Junk Food

By Selwyn Duke

It seems that you can take the junk food out of the neighborhood, but you can’t take the neighborhood out of the junk-food mentality — or something like that, anyway.

You might have heard about the debacle of Michelle Obama-inspired school lunches, with children throwing away massive amounts of unpalatable fare and high-schoolers left hungry. Now another one of the First Lady’s dietary puppeteering schemes may be biting the dust. Writes NPR:

In inner cities and poor rural areas across the country, public health advocates have been working hard to turn around food deserts — neighborhoods where fresh produce is scarce, and greasy fast food abounds. In many cases, they're converting dingy, cramped corner markets into lighter, brighter venues that offer fresh fruits and vegetables. In some cases, they're building brand new stores.

Read the rest here.
February 15, 2014

Trader Joe’s Need Not Apply: Would Attract Too Many Whites

By Selwyn Duke

A certain business won’t be opening its doors in Portland, Oregon — it seems it would attract the “wrong kind” of people. No, it’s not a strip club or porn shop, or even a pawn shop. It’s Trader Joe’s, the unique grocery chain famous for offering health foods and exotic fare at reasonable prices. So what’s the problem?

It would attract too many white people.

Oh, it wasn’t put that way, of course. The most visible critics — activist group the Portland African American Leadership Forum (PAALF) — said in a letter to the local government that the store would “increase the desirability of the neighborhood” for “non-oppressed populations.”

Read the rest here.
February 12, 2014

Immigration and National Survival

By Selwyn Duke

When pondering our obsession with immigration, I’m reminded of how people in the ridiculous dystopian film Idiocracy were watering their crops with an energy drink called Brawndo. And even though the crops weren’t growing, the suggestion to try water instead was met with the following conditioned response in the drink’s defense: “It’s got what plants crave! It’s got electrolytes!” No one knew what electrolytes were. No one could explain why they were in Brawndo. It was all sloganeering.

And so it is with immigration. Why do we have immigration? “Because it’s got what America craves! It’s got people!” But why does the US, the world’s third most populous country, need more people? “Because they’re in immigration! It’s got what America craves!”

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February 10, 2014

America Has Lost Her Will to Live

By Selwyn Duke

Perhaps we should have chosen the turkey as our national bird, as Benjamin Franklin suggested. It would certainly be more appropriate for our times. But if any flying creature would do, a moth might be more fitting still — with political correctness playing the role of that devilishly irresistible flame.

America long ago lost her will to live. Historically, trespassing into another people’s territory could bring violence. And nations the world over secure their borders, sometimes at the end of a gun fondled by an itchy finger. But not the US. We place water stations in the Arizona desert for thirsty trespassers, offer driver’s licenses and in-state tuition for them, and now a Supreme Court justice has opined that calling illegal migrants “criminals” is insulting. I don’t know, what do you call someone who broke the law? Legally challenged?

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February 7, 2014

Divided We Stand: A Traditionalist Manifesto

By Selwyn Duke

Conservatives are generally very nice people — who never saw a culture war they couldn’t lose. That is to say, we often hear cracks about how Barack Obama and his ilk may “evolve” on issues, but conservatives exhibit that tendency, too, and their evolution goes something like this:

“Marriage is between one man and one woman, period!”

Five years later…

“I can accept civil unions, but marriage shouldn’t be redefined.”

After five years more:

“The states can do whatever they want, just keep the feds out of it.”

And 10 years further on:

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February 6, 2014

Why Putin is Right About America

By Selwyn Duke

As perhaps history’s most famous atheist, Friedrich Nietzsche understood that the death of Christian morality would usher in moral relativism and social breakdown. This truth is now largely ignored in an increasingly atheistic West, but it has found an unlikely — and, some would say, incredible — ally in Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Making the traditional concept of virtue a recent but recurring theme of his presidency, Putin has of late criticized the West for being decadent and godless. As the Washington Times reported this past Tuesday, “‘Many Euro-Atlantic countries have moved away from their roots, including Christian values,’ Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a recent keynote speech. ‘Policies are being pursued that place on the same level a multi-child family and a same-sex partnership, a faith in God and a belief in Satan. This is the path to degradation.’”

Oh, how the worm has turned.

Read the rest here.
February 5, 2014

Judge Says Boys Claiming Girlhood May Use Girls’ Restroom

By Selwyn Duke

America’s “firsts” aren’t what they used to be. Where they once included putting a man on the moon and heavier-than-air flight, now they’re trillion-dollar deficits, a trillion pieces of metadata NSA-processed, and six-trillion-dollar foreign military adventures. And coming to you straight from Maine is another fantastic first. Writes Yahoo News:

School officials violated state anti-discrimination law when they would not allow a transgender fifth-grader to use the girls' bathroom, according to a ruling by the highest court in Maine that's believed to be the first of its kind.

The family of student Nicole Maines and the Maine Human Rights Commission sued in 2009 after school officials required her [him] to use a staff, not student, restroom….

The court concluded that the Orono school district's actions violated the Maine Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Read the rest here.
February 3, 2014

Why Is the Southern Poverty Law Center Trying to Crush a Small Jewish Organization?

By Selwyn Duke

It seems as if certain purported civil-rights activists think homosexuals are like some organized-crime groups: you can join the gang, but the only way you can leave is feet first.

A case in point is a lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey against JONAH International — a Judaic organization that helps people overcome unwanted same-sex attractions (SSA) — and some of its associates by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). And what is the basis for the lawsuit? As co-founder of JONAH Arthur Goldberg explained to me:

[T]he lawsuit was filed under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act alleging the commission of a consumer fraud on the unproven theory that same-sex attraction is inborn and unchangeable. Therefore, the programs and counselors to which we refer people have allegedly committed a consumer fraud because those seeking such services allegedly cannot change. Their goal is to put us (and other small organizations like ours) out of business.

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January 22, 2014

Andrew Cuomo: An Extreme Statement From an Extreme Man

By Selwyn Duke

God’s moderation is man’s extremism. This occurs to me when considering the remarks recently made by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. As you may know, the governor addressed a Republican schism while a guest on the New York Public Broadcasting radio show “The Capitol Pressroom” and said, “Extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay … have no place in the state of New York — because that’s not who New Yorkers are.” And many observers think that this reveals who Cuomo really is.

In fairness, it appeared as if Cuomo was referring to how such individuals had no place in Empire State politics because they don’t have the votes in New York to carry the day. So while other commentators are busy condemning the governor for being, as late radio legend Bob Grant used to call Cuomo’s father, “Il Duce” (which does truly characterize him), there is so much more that can be said about Cuomo the Younger’s impolitic remarks.

First, everything Cuomo does must be interpreted within the context of his apparent 2016 presidential ambitions. They are why he visibly pushed radical pro-abortion legislation last year and signed the “SAFE Act” anti-Second Amendment law, and it may explain why he would say that “extreme conservatives” have no place in New York: He is positioning himself as Mr. Progressive-on-steroids in preparation for the Democratic primaries. As to this, I have a New York message for Cuomo.

Read the rest here.
January 21, 2014

Ducking the Real Issue on Duck Dynasty

By Selwyn Duke

This past December, the Duck Dynasty television show became “duck and cover,” with the forces of pinkness going nuclear on its patriarch, Phil Robertson, after he uttered some words about the most victimey of victim groups. For those who missed the story, the saga began when GQ interviewer Drew Magary asked Robertson what he considered sinful, prompting the bearded born-again Christian to say (as presented by GQ),

“Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he says. Then he paraphrases Corinthians: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers — they won’t inherit the kingdom of God.”

The response was quite predictable. While the Bill Clinton impersonators, W.C. Fields acolytes, gilded Gordon Gecko Wall Street warriors, and the idolater and swindler lobbies were mum, the homosexual activist group GLAAD was anything but glad (never mind gay), calling Robertson’s comments “vile” and extreme. The result was that A&E, the station carrying the Duck Dynasty reality show, did duck and cover and quickly announced an indefinite suspension of Robertson. To his credit, however, Robertson stood by his beliefs, and his family and formidable fan base stood by him, causing A&E to cave and reinstate him on December 27. And all’s well that ends well, right? Not so fast.

Read the rest here.