When I'm '64
As promised, here are photos from the wonderful (and exhausting) three-hour tour of the 1939-40 and 1964-65 World's Fair grounds in Flushing Meadows Park, led yesterday by Forgotten NY Webmaster Kevin Walsh. For more information about what's in these pics, see Kevin's meticulously detailed 1964-65 World's Fair page.
Kevin tells of the mosaics on the Shea Stadium side of the park, including the 1964 "EAT" one by pop artist
Robert Indiana—who would go on to greater fame with his tilted-"O" "LOVE" logo.
Beneath snow and ice lies this 1939 mosaic paying tribute to a star of that year's World's Fair,
Borden mascot Elsie the Cow.
Donald De Lue's statue of George Washington (actually put up between fairs, in 1959) shows him addressing a 1788 meeting of Masons—complete with Masonic apron.
De Lue also did the "Rocket Thrower" statue, which became a symbol of the '64 fair.
The column of Jerash dates from 120 A.D. and belonged to a temple of Artemis. The kingdom of Jordan donated it to the '64 fair.
You can't tell here, but this thing is
huge. Here's some perspective...
...the front-cover shot for
Coloursound, the first album by the fab
Anderson Council. Yes, that's me behind the Viewmaster. I don't perform on the album, but the group backed me on
my cover version of "They Don't Know" (MP3 link), which appeared on the Stiff Records tribute album,
The Stiff Generation (Groove Disques).
A '64 relic in sadly decaying condition, Theodore Roszak's "Forms in Transit."
I'll leave you with one more mosaic, which is actually right next to the Robert Indiana one above, memorializing Salvador Dali's exhibition from the 1939 fair,
"The Dream of Venus."Got any World's Fair memories to share? Leave a comment below.
2:03 AM
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Death By Chocolate
The Seattle chapter of NARAL Pro-Choice America is holding its annual fundraiser this week: "Chocolate for Choice." The event is billed as an "evening of utter decadence all supporting a woman's right to choose."
Nice sense of self-awareness there, wouldn't you say?
Towards the bottom of the invitation is the notice, "NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is accepting donations of deserts [sic] from Pastry Chefs."
Too bad I'm not a pastry chef. Even so, I have no doubt that the organization formerly known as the National Abortion Rights Action League will one day receive its just deserts.
Thanks to GetReligion for the tip.
1:39 AM
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Sunday, February 27, 2005
Faked Vatican Memo Less Than Pius
Dimitri Cavalli writes in today's Palm Beach Post that the supposed Vatican memo ordering that Catholic families not return baptized Jewish children sheltered during the Holocaust is false:
Two Italian scholars, Matteo Luigi Napolitano and Andrea Tornielli, revealed that this memorandum [on Jewish children] was written by someone in the apostolic nunciature in Paris that was headed by Monsignor Angelo Roncalli, who would become Pope John XXIII. The memorandum was drafted in response to an official dispatch, dated Sept. 28, 1946, that Father Roncalli received from Monsignor Domenico Tardini, the Vatican's secretary of the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. When he was elected pope in 1958, John XXIII appointed Father Tardini the Vatican secretary of state.
An English translation of the complete text of Father Tardini's letter was published by John Allen in his column for the National Catholic Reporter (Jan. 14). A comparison of Father Tardini's letter and the memorandum reveals substantial differences in tone, language and content. Father Tardini clearly affirms that baptized Jewish children should be returned to their relatives who ask for them. For reasons that remain unclear, the individual who wrote the memorandum went far beyond what the Vatican specified.
Wartime Pope Pius XII has come under a great deal of fire from some quarters for allegedly turning a blind eye to the sufferings of Jews under Hitler. Cavalli, who is a friend of mine, has been researching Pius for some time and has gathered an impressive collection of favorable press mentions of him by Jewish leaders and Holocaust experts, some of which he includes in his Palm Beach Post piece:Did the Catholic Church withhold or return [Jewish] children? In his book, Three Popes and the Jews (1967), the Jewish scholar Pinchas Lapide quotes Dr. [A. Leon] Kubowitzky [later Kubovy, the secretary-general of the World Jewish Congress], in 1964, as saying, "I can state now that I hardly know of a single case where Catholic institutions refused to return Jewish children."
In an interview published in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz (Jan. 20, 2005), Serge Klarsfeld, the French Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter, also disputed the charge that the French church kept baptized Jewish children.
Pius XII himself personally intervened in several individual cases. For example, in his book, Avenue of the Righteous (1980), Peter Hellman writes that Leokadia Jaromirska, a Polish Catholic woman, was unwilling to return a Jewish girl she protected back to her father after the war. Ms. Jaromirska wrote to the pope, asking for his blessing to keep the child. "She was instructed by the pope to return the child to its father," Mr. Hellman reports. In fact, the pope told Ms. Jaromirska that it was her duty as a Catholic to return the girl to her father and to do so in goodwill and friendship.
When Napolitano and Tornielli announced their discovery of the memo showing the Vatican's alleged position against returning baptized Jewish children, it was international news. Now that the memo has been debunked—silence.
9:48 PM
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Fr. Rob Johansen—who is currently in Florida aiding Terri Schiavo's parents, the Schindlers—writes about a Vatican cardinal's forceful statement against starving Terri. Check out the link he offers to the Florida bishops' incredibly lame statement on Terri; as Johansen notes diplomatically, they "seem to be unwilling to actually apply Church teaching to what is known about Terri's case."
8:29 PM
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With all due respect to you who are graciously stopping by, I should not be blogging this early a.m. I should be doing other reading and writing, and getting a good night's sleep for today's
Forgotten NY tour of the World's Fair grounds, which I'll be attending (and playing hooky from Our Saviour, sorry to say). I should not be trying on my new extra-shiny, extra-cheapo NYC & Co. lip gloss, and I should not be photographing myself in the bathroom mirror, with the camera wedged all the way up to the shower curtain.
Blogging should resume in earnest later tonight. In the meantime, I wish you a beautiful Sunday. If you're spending your free time websurfing, the aforementioned
Forgotten NY easily contains an afternoon's worth of enjoyment.
12:47 AM
Saturday, February 26, 2005
The AP has a good story on Pope John Paul II's using humor to get through health crises, including his current one. My favorite quote in it actually comes from John XXIII:
"It often happens that I wake at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the pope about it," John XXIII once said. "Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the pope!"
11:48 PM
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Tediously Dahl
Will Duquette revisits one of my favorite childhood reads, Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, and finds it full of cynicism about the office of the U.S. president. No surprise there—the book came out in 1972. But it's funny to realize how normal such cynicism appeared to me when I read the book for the first time at the age of six, in 1975. I probably had already picked up that cynicism from adults and the media—and from bitter disappointment at how my favorite cartoons had been pre-empted every afternoon by something boring called Watergate.
3:35 PM
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Terrisfight.org Is Back
Good to see Terrisfight.org back online after problems with limited bandwidth (due to the great interest in Terri) shut it down for a short while. Make sure you scroll down the main page to see the videos, if you haven't already.
UPDATE: The American Family Association offers an easy way to e-mail Judge Greer and ask him not to sentence Terri to a slow, agonizing death by starvation. (Thanks to Video meliora, proboque... for the tip.)
1:24 PM
Singularly Wrong
Last week, I posted an entry that used a course in "Living Single" as a jumping-off point for describing the difference between being single and being singular.
Today, I've added a correction and clarification from course instructor Ken Lawson, who writes that—as some commenters on the post suspected—the course is in fact about being singular.
How did Ken find my blog? By Googling my name—just as I found the "Living Single" course by Googling his. You see, he's a professional career counselor, and I was doing due diligence before seeking out his services to help me prepare for job interviews.
Did I display far too much chutzpah in poking gentle fun at the work of a man whose services I planned to employ? Absolutely. But I couldn't resist the opportunity to highlight the difference between using singlehood as an opportunity to be cynical, and using it as an opportunity to grow in one's walk with God.
Thankfully, Ken is a singularly good sport.
2:38 AM
Hacked
This post has been updated—see below.
I believe that this blog may have been hacked. I was offline for a few minutes and when I tried to log back on, Blogger would not accept my password. I managed to change my password and get back on, but it's possible that posts may have been removed or altered, or that additional posts may have been added, or that my blog's settings may have been changed. If you notice anything different, including broken links to previous posts, I would be grateful if you would please notify me at dawn -at- dawneden.com. Thank you.
UPDATE, 2/26/05: I just had the same problem again, and then again just a few minutes later. It seems unlikely (though certainly possible) that someone could have divined my new password in a matter of minutes. I think it may likely be an internal Blogger error—their system-status page says users have been experiencing many errors. When I did what Blogger says to do, reloading my browser, my password worked fine. Still, if you see anything that looks off, please let me know. Thanks.
1:22 AM
Friday, February 25, 2005
The Weekly Standard's Joseph Bottum has an excellent piece on Fatima that should interest anyone who's read the book I'm carrying in the caricature at left (the one above the donation button); it tells of the important role the visions played in communism's downfall. (Thanks to Dimitri Cavalli for the heads-up.)
11:03 PM
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I'm With the Teenage Lesbian
Stupid things like this are why I couldn't wait to get out of high school.
I can also relate to the girl because when senior-class photos were taken at my school, I read the caveat—"must wear collared shirt"—and did just that. How was I to know it was just for boys?
9:19 PM
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Yudt Better Believe It
A big hello to Teenwire editor Susan Yudt, who's been perusing The Dawn Patrol, according to my site statistics. The header of the e-mail she received that led her to this blog was the enigmatic "RE: Teen Wire and Anti-Blog-3." That "3" probably means she and her editors have gone back and forth about The Dawn Patrol three times.
Ms. Yudt was probably concerned over my exposing how Teenwire led its young readers to a site for pedophiles. Within hours of the Dawn Patrol post's going up, the Teenwire article that inspired it was rewritten and reposted to omit the offending link.
If she'd like to read more exposés of Teenwire, a good place to start would be the list of links I made up when Michelle Malkin linked to one of my Planned Parenthood watchdog entries. From there, she could move on to the article I penned on Teenwire for Crux magazine, "Everybody's Doing It."
Or, if she would rather read about herself, there's my entry inspired by an article Yudt wrote about the joys of masturbation, "Planned Parenthood: Always Ready to Give Children a Hand." It features this bit of sage advice from the Teenwire editor:Some people masturbate every day — or even more than once a day. That's fine. So is there such a thing as "too much" masturbation? According to counselors, it's only when masturbation gets in the way of daily activities — like going to school or work, or meeting friends — that it would be considered "too much." And not many people have that problem.
I'm amazed that Yudt finds time to read my blog! (And thankful that I don't have to use her computer keyboard after her.)
8:24 PM
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See the Gates, for Fox' Sake
Mansfield Fox has an inspired photoblog of Christo's Central Park installation, The Gates. It's a real you-are-there experience—all the park's sights, sounds, smells, and—best of all—dueling mallards.
8:09 PM
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The entry "F--- the Children": Planned Parenthood's Teenwire Sends Kids to Pedophile Site" has been updated, thanks to new information from readers Paul and Saint Kansas.
8:02 PM
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Visiting the folks tonight and tomorrow morning, so there'll be little or no blogging 'til the late afternoon. In the meantime, there's a well-hidden blogroll down the lower-left side of this page for you to peruse, the most frequently updated members of which include Kevin McCullough, Alarming News, and Dustbury. See you later.
11:21 PM
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Marriage Goes to the Dogs
Reader Cindi sent a link to this twisted tale of anthropomorphism, adding, "So much for the sacredness of marriage!" Do you think it is indeed a sign of a deeper disrespect for the nuptial sacrament? Or is it just one of those insane things one would expect from people who love animals so much that they follow them and pick up their feces?
(No, I am not a dog person. Cats are OK if someone else feeds them, changes their litter, and takes them to the vet.)
10:46 PM
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I'll Pass on This Commercial
I can't help it.
I do a double-take whenever I hear the chirpy girl singing the radio-commercial jingle for a utility company:
"Intelligent Energy, 1-877-I'VE...GOT GAS!"
3:35 PM
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If you're in or around the Chicago area next month, Captive Daughters, an organization that fights sex trafficking, is sponsoring a conference at DePaul University: "Pornography: Driving the Demand for International Sex Trafficking." The group's approach appears designed to bring together liberal feminists and conservatives on this pressing social issue.
3:12 PM
At the request of a few readers, I've scanned George Gurley's New York Observer article on me and put it online. I will remove the link to the scanned piece as soon as the article becomes available in the Observer's online archive. If you read it, please see also my comments and corrections on it.
5:16 AM
"F--- the Children":
Planned Parenthood's Teenwire Sends Kids to Pedophile Site
UPDATE, 2/25/05: It seems likely that The Dawn Patrol is one of the Teenwire editors' morning reads. [UPDATE #2: No kiddin'!] Within hours of the following post's appearance, Teenwire took down its original "Does Age Matter?" article and reposted a radically altered version. The new version has a different author's name and does not contain the link to the pedophiliac "Age of Consent" Web site referred to in this post.
Unfortunately for Planned Parenthood, while Teenwire's socially irresponsible editors can run, they can't hide. Dawn Patrol reader Paul has posted screen grabs of the article as it originally appeared, including a close-up of the section of the article referred to below, where it says, "Check out Age of Consent for more about the laws in your state..."
DP reader Saint Kansas writes that "the Age of Consent folks also apparently run [a site called] loveworks, which (ho hum) sells sex toys." (See the site's WHOIS entry for details; a loveworks employee is Age of Consent's technical contact.) The "ho hum" is because the news comes as no surprise—as I write below—Teenwire sends readers as young as six years old to Scarleteen, a Web site whose shopping portal sends the kiddies to a pornography/sex-toy outlet.
Planned Parenthood's sex-ed Web site Teenwire—where children as young as six may register and ask "Experts" sex questions—currently features the article "Does Age Matter? When Girls Date Older Guys," which invites readers to visit a pedophile-run Web site.
The article tells little girls that besides the possibility of an older man's being too "controlling," "a girl who's hooking up with an older guy needs to think about something else, too—the law....Check out Age of Consent for more about the laws in your state."
The words "Age of Consent" in the Teenwire piece link to a Web site which is very clearly run by pedophiles.
Although the link opens up a window that first shows a disclaimer saying Teenwire does not "necessarily" endorse the site, it offers no warning of Age of Consent's actual nature. That nature may easily be discovered by anyone clicking on the words highlighted beneath the banner atop each of the site's pages: "Cool Teen Sites." The "Cool Teen Sites" that the Teenwire reader will find through Age of Consent include a page of shots of teenage girls stripping or kissing one another for webcams.
But that's the least of it.
Age of Consent's main page has a prominent link to its "Editorials"—dozens upon dozens of articles offering justification for having sex with children and viewing child pornography.
One of these editorials is titled simply, "Possession of Child Porn Should be Legal." It begins (deletion mine):
F--- the Children
Plain. Simple. Blunt.
The possession of child pornography should be legal.
Again, this article is accessible directly through Planned Parenthood's Teenwire. All the child—as young as six, by Teenwire's own rules—has to do is click on the link to Age of Consent, and then click on "Editorials."
Voila. "F--- the Children."
How can parents trust an organization that, with all the money it gets from taxpayers—over a quarter-billion a year—can't pay someone to check the links for children on its own Web site?
The truth is, this is not an aberration. Teenwire already links to Scarleteen, a Web site founded by a lesbian pornography writer, whose store enables children to purchase pornography from a sex shop. Scarleteen volunteer bulletin-board moderator Tim Adams, writing to me to complain about The Dawn Patrol's Teenwire/Scarleteen exposé, has stated, "In regard to pornography as itself, I am of the belief (as well as a great many who...support comprehensive sex education) that pornography isn't as 'harming' as you'd like to portray it." That is Teenwire's attitude as well (link features graphic images).
So remember, when you hear Planned Parenthood educators rail against abstinence-only education in favor of "comprehensive sex education," this is what they mean by comprehensive: "F--- the children." God help us.
I've closed the comments section for this post because it's grown too unwieldy. (For some reason, Blogger wouldn't let me close the comments unless I hid them all—sorry. Thanks very much to Paul, Saint Kansas, Jivin J., Gormuu, and others who wrote with helpful information.) If you have additional information to add on this topic, please send it to me at the address at left (several inches down from the ol' tip jar) and I'll put it up if the mood takes me. Thanks.
3:17 AM
At Least She's Morally Consistent
UPDATE: I've corrected the source for this quote.
Jeff Grimshaw sends a quote from actor/opinion-journalist Michael Moriarty:
My recent obituary of playwright Arthur Miller and my estimation of his place in world history provoked a pro-choice woman to defend her acceptance of abortion. When I remarked that the advocates for a New World Order firmly believe no one exists until they are aware they exist (cf. philosopher René Descartes), and that since the first trimester of gestation may not yet enable thought, this "scientific" fact justifies early abortion, the lady replied that destroying the fetus is no more insensitive than taking a brain-dead patient off life support. Of all my encounters with the pro-choice lobby, this was the most shocking and yet revealing comment I'd ever heard.
2:24 AM
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University of New Hampshire's Class Whore-fare
Lance Salyers of Ragged Edges has a finely argued piece depicting the University of New Hampshire's "Sex Fair" as gender politics run amok:
Does anyone else see the irony in a group advocating for gender equality sponsoring a fair that glorifies the kind of mindless, responsibility-free, "satisfy MY basest of appetites" view of sex that, in the end, perpetuates gender inequality? If sex becomes nothing more than the art of using another to scratch my itch, it is women who lose. So long as men are stronger than their female counterparts and are the active half of the dance card (one gives while the other receives), recreational sex will always turn women into objects and men into the powerful owners of those objects.
Read the whole thing.
1:54 AM
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Praise the Lord and Pass the Remuneration
The donation request that I put up a couple of days ago looks mighty low-tech compared to Michael Bates's full-scale, multimedia, 1970s "Hour of Power"-style leisure-suit-and-cheesy-sideburns telethon. He says it's in memory of w. euGene Scott. Make sure you click on the "I Wanna Know" song—it grows on you.
1:37 AM
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Planned Parenthood Imitates The Dawn Patrol
Last month, I noted that the discovery of a so-called "gay gene" would spell trouble for Planned Parenthood. Sure enough, Margaret Sanger's organization is up in arms over a Maine Republican's attempt to protect the homosexual unborn should a "gay gene" test ever be developed.
Commenters, please read the comments rules at left. Your cooperation is appreciated. Profane and abusive comments will be deleted as soon as they come to my attention.
12:36 AM
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John Bambenek must be having a slow week at work, because he's been blogging like mad. Lots of interesting, below-the-radar items about culture-of-life issues and crazy lefties.
12:09 AM
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
A Quick One
Some mindless fun courtesy of my British e-mail pal Geoffrey Littman. I have tried this, and he's right:
This is so funny! No matter how many times you try it, you just can't outsmart your foot!
1) Whilst sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.
2) Now, whilst doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand.
Your foot will change direction - and there's nothing you can do about it!
2:45 PM
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The 'Eye' Has It
Kudos to CBS Radio for getting the Terri Schiavo conflict right in 20 seconds. A national newscaster just said that Michael Schiavo is arguing that Terri is in a vegetative state, while her parents want tests to determine if she is in fact in a "minimal state of consciousness," in which case she should be kept alive. Having seen videos of Terri, I'd argue with "minimal," but at least CBS had a grasp of the issue—not like NPR yesterday.
1:02 PM
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"Complete"? Nonsense!
The message of many self-help books on relationships may be found in the title of one recent tome: You Didn't Complete Me. These books instruct single women that they have to stop looking to a man for fulfillment, and instead find life's meaning through other means—within themselves, or within their relationship to God.
It's a very nice message for those who are lonely, and I fully support it, with the exception that its basic premise is completely false.
We all want to believe that we can be complete without anyone else. But that's silly.
At the beginning of Genesis, God creates one thing after another and pronounces it "good"; He creates man and pronounces him "very good." When He finally pronounces something "not good," it's solitude: "It is not good for man to be alone."
You show me a single person who ultimately wants to be married but is currently "fulfilled," and I will show you someone who is desperately trying to convince himself that he does not feel a very present vacuum in his existence.
That's not to say that You Don't Complete Me and like-minded books don't make an important point. They just don't go far enough.
It's true that no one can be completed by another person. But it's true only because no one can be completed, period.
Another person's love and companionship can bring me a kind of fulfillment that I can't get on my own. But I will never be completed, because it is not in the human nature to be completed. We can hope to grow closer to completion in this life, but the only thing that can truly complete us is heaven—where we will fully become who we are in God.
The Apostle John writes in 1 John 3:
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
We are works in progress.
St. Augustine is best known for two sayings addressed to the Lord. One is, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You."
The other: "Let me be chaste—but not yet."
Those two lines are intimately connected. Put them together, and you have the human condition. We long for fulfillment in our relationship with God, but we are tempted instead to seek it in relationships with others. In that "but not yet," I especially hear the desire to not only be unchaste, but to avoid taking the long view of any potential relationship. It's much easier in the short run to dive in without thought to the spiritual and emotional consequences.
I believe the answer is to seek in our relationships with others—especially with a spouse or hoped-for future spouse—the kind of relationship which we could bring before God and not be ashamed. The kind that would be to His glory.
Even in that kind of relationship, I'd still be incomplete. But a truly complete person doesn't require someone else. Jesus said, "At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage." Our very need for human companionship makes us incomplete. So I'm glad I have that vacuum that's never quite filled. What I seek is the right person to not quite fill it.
2:04 AM
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Mark Kellner writes of the first-ever campaign from the Committee to Protect Bloggers: an effort to persuade Iran to release two bloggers jailed for speaking out against recent arrests of cyberjournalists and bloggers.
1:55 AM
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Many thanks to those who answered yesterday's call for donations. I have to go to sleep shortly, but will thank each donor personally via e-mail later today.
1:30 AM
To the Max
UPDATE: The following event has been canceled. I'm leaving the item up just to tell the world about Maximilian Kolbe.
Via Culture of Life comes word of an event that I won't miss: a free showing of "Maximilian: Saint of Auschwitz" this Friday, February 25, 7 p.m., at St. Mary's Hall, 440 Grand Street, Manhattan. What I've learned thus far about St. Max's life has touched me deeply. He is the patron saint of journalists and pro-lifers, and I identify with him as a role model. He's also influenced me to take a stronger interest in the Roman Catholic Church.
The film showing, sponsored by the Catholic young-adults apologetics group Defenders of the Holy Trinity, will include a talk by Paul Vastola from Knights Of the Immaculata on the topic, “Grace Abound In Me: My Life With Christ," giving a personal testimony of how St. Maximilian Kolbe brought him closer to Jesus.
12:33 AM
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Tuesday, February 22, 2005
NPR's Persistently Deceptive State
Just heard on NPR's "All Things Considered": "Doctors say Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state." Then the announcer added, in a clearly incredulous tone of voice, "Schiavo's parents are fighting to prevent the removal of her feeding tube."
The media keeps repeating this "persistent vegetative state" canard. Never mind all the doctors—including a Nobel Prize nominee—who deny that she is in such a state.
Watch the videos linked on the right-hand side of the TerrisFight.org multimedia page. This woman is not a vegetable. NPR should be ashamed.
For updates, visit BlogsForTerri.com.
5:02 PM
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"Father of the Fetus"
It is amazing to see just how far news organizations will go to avoid the term "unborn child." They'll mangle the language in every other way, just to avoid that loaded phrase.
My friend Peter spotted this latest example, from an Associated Press story about a pregnant woman who was murdered:
"Jones said he didn't know who was the father of Underwood's fetus."
The word "father" means the male parent of a child. Yet the AP would rather use that word outside its normal context—creating the ludicrous "father of [the] fetus"—than risk the suggestion that an unborn child is just that.
2:02 PM
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Pray for Terri Schiavo. Her feeding tube could be removed at 1 p.m. today. For updates, visit BlogsForTerri. To see videos of this vital and engaged woman whose husband is trying to have her killed, go to the right-hand side of the TerrisFight.org multimedia page.
2:03 AM
Planned Parenthood's Racist Roots
Planned Parenthood currently has a feature on its Web site honoring black politicians who support the organization. It's headlined, "Celebrating Black History Month: Choice Champions."
To those who know Planned Parenthood's history, the organization's flattery of blacks is nothing but a sick joke.
Brian Clowes, PhD, of Human Life International, has compiled a remarkable collection of nearly 1,200 quotes from the Birth Control Review, published between 1917 and 1940 by the American Birth Control League, forerunner of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The sheer breadth of the quotes from magazine, edited by Birth Control League/Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger until 1928 and continuing to represent the views of her organization thereafter, show that Planned Parenthood's philosophy is grounded in disgustingly obvious racism and eugenics.
All of the quotes were taken from the 1970 unabridged collection of the first edition of the Birth Control Review by Da Capo Press (a division of Plenum Publishing Corporation). Clowes precedes each one with a helpful coding system, including:
[ABO]—Pro-abortion quotes
[ADU]—Pro-adultery, pro-fornication and pro-prostitution quotes
[COE]—Quotes advocating forced abortions, sterilization and contraception
[EUG]—Pro-eugenics quotes
[FAM]—Anti-child, anti-marriage and anti-family quotes
[ILL]—Quotes advocating illegal Activities
[INF]—Pro-infanticide quotes
[RAC]—Racist quotes
[REL]—Anti-religious quotes
Following are some typical examples, but I invite you to peruse the archive yourself (read the introduction first). As you read them, keep in mind that Planned Parenthood flat-out denies that Sanger was a eugenicist, though it grudgingly admits that some of her "progressive" ideas—such as placing illiterates in concentration camps—are "objectionable and outmoded."
"We hear a great deal about preserving our institutions of democracy and the traditions of liberty, free speech, free press and all of these ideals for future generations. Rather should we be concerned as to the quality of life that we are passing on today. What type of people are we breeding to form future generations? These institutions and traditions will take care of themselves if the people of future generations will have the intelligence to use and appreciate them. We have got to revalue our own human values...Birth control can be used as a means to raise the level of the intelligence of our population; to lower infant and maternal mortality. It can be used to improve our general health and well-being and it can curb the pressure of population which explodes into war."
—Margaret Sanger, "Doors to a New World." Birth Control Review, Volume XXIII, Numbers 5 and 6 (New Series, February-March 1939), page 168.
"If it is necessary, and hence legitimate, for the government to control production and distribution, income and wages, why is it not equally necessary for it to control the number of the beneficiaries of all this? In other words, why is not birth control as necessary to the welfare of the state as any of these others?"
—Theodore Dreiser, Birth Control Review, Volume I, Number 4 (New Series, January 1934), page 2. [Yes, that Theodore Dreiser. "An American tragedy," indeed.]
"Eugenics without birth control is simply a castle in the air, a beautiful vision in the clouds, no doubt, but not to be brought to earth. Birth control—in the wide sense which includes sterilization and some day perhaps even more radical measures—is the chief instrument vouchsafed to civilized men wherewith from the infinite possibilities of brutal procreation to carve the great future of the race."
—Havelock Ellis. Quote from his book More Essays of Love and Virtue, Birth Control Review, Volume XV, Number 12 (December 1931), page 357.
This last quote requires an introduction. It appeared one year before Sanger began her notorious Negro Project, which Planned Parenthood calls a "unique experiment in race-building and humanitarian service to a race subjected to discrimination, hardship, and segregation," and black leaders like the Rev. Johnny M. Hunter call simply "genocide.""... the low incomes which Negroes receive make bachelorhood and spinsterhood widespread, with the naturally resultant lowering, in some cases, of sex standards. On the other hand, the mass of ignorant Negroes still breed carelessly and disastrously, so that the increase among Negroes, even more than the increase among whites, is from that part of the population least intelligent and fit, and least able to rear their children properly.
"There comes, therefore, the difficult and insistent problem of spreading among Negroes an intelligent and clearly recognized concept of proper birth control, so that the young people can marry, have companionship and natural health, and yet not have children until they are able to take care of them. This, of course, calls for a more liberal attitude among Negro churches. The churches are open for the most part to intelligent propaganda of any sort, and the American Birth Control League and other agencies ought to get their speakers before church congregations and their arguments in the Negro newspapers. As it is, the mass of Negroes know almost nothing about the birth control movement, and even intelligent colored people have a good many misapprehensions and a good deal of fear at openly learning about it. Like most people with middle-class standards of morality, they think that birth control is inherently immoral.
"Moreover, they ["Negroes"] are quite led away by the fallacy of numbers. They want the black race to survive. They are cheered by a census return of increasing numbers and a high rate of increase. They must learn that among human races and groups, as among vegetables, quality and not mere quantity really counts."
—W.E.B. DuBois, Professor of Sociology, Atlanta University. "Black Folk and Birth Control." Birth Control Review, Volume XXII, Number 8 (New Series, May 1938, the "Negro Number"), page 90.
Yes, it's that W.E.B. DuBois—the founder of the NAACP.
Planned Parenthood is quite aware of DuBois's quote. In fact, on its Web site, it refers to the sentence beginning, "The mass of ignorant Negroes still breed carelessly and disastrously," and states: "Taken out of the context of his discussion about the effects of birth control on the balance between quality-of-life considerations and race-survival issues for African-Americans, Dubois' language seems insensitive by today's standards."
You now have the full context of W.E.B. DuBois's infamous quote. Does it mean anything in context, other than an utterly abhorrent argument for reducing the numbers of blacks in the population? Why can't Planned Parenthood simply admit it has a racist past?
Maybe because it still is a racist organization—both in its targeting its clinics in poor neighborhoods so as to kill a disproportionately high number of black babies, and in its unfair treatment of minority employees.
Happy Black History Month—from Planned Parenthood.
1:06 AM
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Dishwashing Liquid Seeks Furniture Polish
That's right. Dawn seeks Pledge. It's the return of the tip jar (see the "Make a Donation" button on the upper left-hand side).
I've never been comfortable with having a tip jar, because I like the idea of having a labor of love, plus I believe there are always charities more needy than myself (like Priests for Life, or the St. Gabriel's tsunami-relief effort). The one time I had a tip jar before, to make up for unexpectedly high Web-server costs, I took it down as soon as I'd raised the amount I needed.
But times have changed. I'm out of a job now. Every little bit helps.
Please know that I am grateful to you just for reading my blog. If you feel moved to give, wonderful. If not, I won't think any less of you.
In case you hear of a job that might be right for me, I'm looking for a mid-level one that would draw on my expertise as an editor, copy editor, and writer. I'd consider a media company or a nonprofit; before I was at the New York Post, I worked as an editor for nonprofits such as the Jewish Book Council and the College Board. Until the right full-time position comes along, I'm available for freelance copyediting and writing—just last week, I had an op-ed in National Review Online. And while New York City's my preferred locale, I'd be open to relocating anywhere I wouldn't have to drive—especially Washington, D.C.
12:10 AM
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Monday, February 21, 2005
Op Dread
Irate home-schoolers wreak revenge on clueless editorial cartoonist.
What I want to know is, where did the cartoonist go to school to learn how to draw pervert parents? His abusive father looks like Richard M. Nixon reimagined as a vinyl-record store clerk.
5:22 PM
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Barlow Farms notes a New York Times piece that uses faulty theology to knock intelligent design.
For solid theology and cogent defenses of intelligent design, visit Wittingshire.
4:16 PM
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My post about "The Day the Earth Stood Still"'s representing Hollywood's fantasy of Alger Hiss's bringing world peace is now on Crux magazine's pop-culture blog, Situation Critical.
3:59 PM
Chesterton Leads the Savant-Garde
Reader Joseph E. sends this fascinating G.K. Chesterton-related news item from The Guardian:
Daniel Tammet is an autistic savant. He can perform mind-boggling mathematical calculations at breakneck speeds. But unlike other savants, who can perform similar feats, Tammet can describe how he does it. He speaks seven languages and is even devising his own language. Now scientists are asking whether his exceptional abilities are the key to unlock the secrets of autism....
Like ["Rain Man"] Peek, Tammet will read anything and everything, but his favorite book is a good dictionary, or the works of GK Chesterton. "With all those aphorisms," he says, "Chesterton was the Groucho Marx of his day." Tammet is also a Christian, and likes the fact that Chesterton addressed some complex religious ideas. "The other thing I like is that, judging by the descriptions of his home life, I reckon Chesterton was a savant. He couldn't dress himself, and would always forget where he was going. His poor wife."
3:00 PM
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First-Person Singular
UPDATE, 2/26/05: In my eagerness to make a point about singlehood, I made the NYU course out to be something it's not. See the end of this piece for the course instructor's correction and clarification.
Perusing the spring offerings at New York University's School of Continuing Education, one finds, amidst such trendy fare as "The Queer Kiss in Modern Literature," a course called "Living Single—By Chance or By Choice."
"Now, more than at any other time, the single lifestyle is viewed as a viable, desirable choice for men and women," reads the course description. "Whether they find themselves single again, or single still, many adults are not completely comfortable flying solo—or confident in their ability to do it successfully. Topics include: viewing the contemporary world; relating to couples; the dating scene, how to be part of it (or not); and battling the blues that sometimes arise. Enrich your life with resources on what to read, pursue, reflect on, and talk about to gain confidence with single living."
As a final note, the description adds, "No grades are given for this course."
Phew. What a relief. Wouldn't you hate to have to tell some lust interest in a bar that you got a D-minus in "viewing the contemporary world"?
This is clearly a course for singles weaned on "Sex and the City." It assumes that singlehood in New York means "the single lifestyle," one that can be boiled down to a single word: lack.
The paradigm for modern singlehood is yin without yang. The modern single's goal, as with "Sex and the City"'s Carrie, is to be a happy single person—to relate to others as someone who is single, and to have fulfilling single relationships with them. Fulfilling single relationships are to be found via attaching oneself to a partner who provides pleasant companionship for "dates," as well as what Dr. Ruth holds up as the all-important "good sex." It's the Bridget Jones merry-go-round, revolving around the hope that the ever-distant Mr. Darcy will come along one day and stop the music.
I find this terribly stifling. I think most singles do—they complain about it enough. Yet they seem helpless to find an alternative.
But there is another way. While it alone doesn't alleviate the essential loneliness at the heart of singlehood, it does make a major psychological difference, in that it gives one a sense of control—and relief at no longer carousing emptily on the carousel.
To contrast against the lack-centered singles, let's call the alternative individual a "singular."
A single bases her (or his) identity on her lacking a relationship with another person. A singular bases her identity on her having a relationship with God.
A single bases her actions on how they will or won't affect her single, lacking state. She goes to parties based on whether or not there will be new men to meet. She chooses friends who are also single and lacking—again, think Carrie's gang in "Sex and the City"—who will reinforce her own cynicism.
A singular bases her actions on how they will enable her to be the person whom she believes God wants her to be. She trusts that God has a plan for her and that—assuming she longs to be married—a husband is only part of that plan. Moreover, she trusts that God will provide a husband for her if she follows His will for her life, making the best use of the gifts that He has given her.
A single, in seeking a husband, will behave coyly, slyly, or deceptively. She will likewise tolerate superficiality on the part of her love interest, taking it as a given that dating is a game and one plays it to win.
A singular has an honesty and lack of guile that will appear arresting and off-putting to the love interest who expects a superficial relationship—as well it should. Yet the very man of integrity who would be a truly desirable husband is the man whom such behavior will attract—for he will see that it is rooted in deep respect for him as a man created by God.
I spent many years of my life being single. I have nothing to show for it except the ability to toss my hair fetchingly, and a mental catalog of a thousand banal things to say to fill the awkward and unbearably lonely moments between having sex and putting my clothes back on. Those are moments they never showed on "Sex and the City," because they strike to the heart of the black hole that casual sex, even—no, especially—when done in the hope of marriage, can never fill.
I may spend many more years being singular. But not a single day of them will be wasted. And that, of course, will be a singular achievement.
UPDATE, 2/26/05: "Living Single" course instructor Ken Lawson responds:
Thanks for inviting me to follow up on your blog entry re "Living Single." It's true that the course seems to imply that singlehood today is characterized by a nagging sense of lack, or deficit. In fact, many singles do experience that -- especially if they feel the "essential loneliness" that singlehood can produce. The course was (and is) designed to address that issue, and help single people make different choices. It's about experiencing singlehood as a positive, productive way of living -- a proud choice rather than an unfortunate accident. It's also about learning to navigate a solo life with confidence and enthusiasm. (Can't speak credibly about "Sex and the City," since I've never seen it.) My hope for the people who choose to take the course is that they'll affirm a view of singlehood that connects with being in the world fully and contentedly. And to gain a view of themselves as unique, special and...well, singular. I appreciate your thoughtful and knowing distinction.
12:19 AM
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Sunday, February 20, 2005
