| Topic: |
Science > Prophecies-Of-Nostradamus |
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"=?utf-8?B?LsK3OirCqMKoKjrCty7CtzoqwqjCqCo6wrcuICDimaUgeWVwcGVycywgeWVzIHNpcmVlIHllcyBpbmRlZWR5IGRvLCBpdCd6IHlvdXIgZGVhcmVzdCBvbGQgVW5jbGUgV2FsbHkgaGVyZSwgSE9PUk9PICEgIC7CtzoqwqjCqCo6wrcuIOKZpcKpwq7ihKI=?=" |
| Date: |
05 Jan 2007 02:58:05 AM |
| Object: |
U.S. enters 2007 on the brink, with two mortal enemies: Al-Qaeda and ourselves |
NB: AN UNCLE WALLY DISCLAIMER: Your Uncle Wally does not endorse the
contents of the following article...HOOROO !!!:
http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/editorial/16388971.htm
Posted on Fri, Jan. 05, 2007
U.S. enters 2007 on the brink, with two mortal enemies: Al-Qaeda and
ourselves
By Michael Goodwin
New York Daily News
(MCT)
To drive almost anywhere these days is to be shocked at the aggressive
and reckless road culture. But I saw something the other day that took
the madness to a new low.
Angered at an SUV that cut in front of him on crowded I-95 near the
George Washington Bridge, the driver of an 18-wheeler loaded with new
cars blasted his deafening horn and veered onto the shoulder space on
his right. Just as his cab drew even with the SUV, the trucker angled
left, cutting off the SUV. Had the SUV not darted into another lane,
the 18-wheeler would have crushed it. The driver of the big rig, his
crazy move successful, had his spot back. Point made.
"Might makes right" is more than just the ethos of the road in America.
As we leave 2006 in the rear-view mirror, the anything-goes attitude of
our highways is the perfect metaphor for our culture. We don't know
where we're going in Iraq or anywhere else, but damn it, we're in a
hurry and you better not try to stop us.
Call me a Gloomy Gus, but I think we enter 2007 facing two mortal
enemies: Osama bin Laden and our own decaying moral structure. One
wants to kill us from the outside and the other is chipping away at our
values from the inside. Sometimes it feels as though they are competing
to see which can finish us off first.
Will it be another terror attack on New York? Or will it be a wider
acceptance of pornography as mainstream entertainment? Pick your
poison, but either way, we may end up on the scrap heap of history.
Even if we beat back the terrorists, we cannot possibly remain the
leader of the world when calling someone a "porn star" is a compliment.
The immediate danger is that the mastermind of 9/11 has spawned a
global movement. As author Peter Bergen wrote, "BinLadenism" is an
ideology "that will live on long after he is gone." We are the target
of Islamic fascists from numerous countries willing to blow themselves
to smithereens if they can take some of us along.
That we are losing the first battle of World War III is beyond dispute.
There are no ties in war, so when President Bush says, "We're not
winning and we're not losing," you know we're losing.
It's beyond fair game to blame Bush, but that won't solve the problem.
Worse, the blame game obscures the real danger we face around the
world. The international order is breaking down as madmen from North
Korea to Iran engage in a nuclear arms race. And there are no cops to
call when the United States is hobbled and divided and the United
Nations is a corrupt paper tiger unwilling even to stop genocide in
Darfur.
Maybe a sense of hopelessness about the world explains why Americans
have become addicted to what's been called the "24-hour buffet" of
sexual suggestion. When the "family hour" of television is routinely
marked by jiggle jokes and "reality shows" are an excuse for
celebrating teen promiscuity, we're careening toward a crash of our own
making. Indeed, we may have already hit bottom with the recent rush of
trashy young women flashing their panty-less privates. Once upon a
time, less was more.
In that sense, things could be looking up. A Web site about Britney
Spears is closing because "Britney is unfortunately done," the site
creator told the New York Daily News, adding: "It's very hard to
maintain the respect needed to keep things going."
As hope goes, that's a very slender thread. But it's worth a toast as a
potential start for a happy New Year.
---
ABOUT THE WRITER
Michael Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York
Daily News, 450 West 33rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10001; e-mail:
Mgoodwin@edit.nydailynews.com.
=============================================
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| User: "Icy Wiener" |
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| Title: Re: U.S. enters 2007 on the brink, with two mortal enemies: Al-Qaedaand ourselves |
05 Jan 2007 03:38:27 AM |
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At least there's one good thing, Spears is a goner ah huh yeaaaaahhh
yeah yeaaaaah.
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