Andrew Klavan makes a case for telling the truth:

The thing I like best about being a conservative is that I don’t have to lie. I don’t have to pretend that men and women are the same. I don’t have to declare that failed or oppressive cultures are as good as mine.

Nor do I have to say that everyone’s special or that the rich cause poverty or that all religions are a path to God. I don’t have to claim that a bad writer like Alice Walker is a good one or that a good writer like Toni Morrison is a great one. I don’t have to pretend that Islam means peace.

Of course, like everything, this candor has its price. A politics that depends on honesty will be, by nature, often impolite. Good manners and hypocrisy are intimately intertwined, and so conservatives, with their gimlet-eyed view of the world, are always susceptible to charges of incivility. It’s not really nice, you know, to describe things as they are.

This is leftism’s great strength: It’s all white lies.

That’s its only advantage, as far as I can tell. None of its programs actually work, after all. From statism and income redistribution to liberalized criminal laws and multiculturalism, from its assault on religion to its redefinition of family, leftist policies have made the common life worse wherever they’re installed.

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Sometimes I think I put up a few too many Jukebox posts, but then I note that they are often the most-viewed and commented-upon posts on my site. I have also been posting more recent hit songs and not necessarily been sharing as many tracks from my library, as I did when I first started this blog.

Well, the long and the short of all this hot air is that today I’m featuring another classic favorite from my stash. Anyone who knows me knows I am the biggest fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

This song was originally featured in the 3rd season finale and provided a very emotional crescendo to what was a very moving storyline. The song is a cover of the original Rolling Stones and is quite haunting and pretty in it’s own right.

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As always, my policy is that if anyone would like a download link for this song, just make a Comment below and ask – I’ll hook you up with a link in a comment-reply of my own (check back with this article).

Download links are automatically embedded in my RSS feeds.

Christopher Hitchens is rapidly becoming my new hero. From standing up to the baying hyenas on Bill Maher to slamming both liberals and conservatives alike for their craven cowardice in the face of militant Islam, he takes the best position in any argument: the reasoned one.

Enjoy this recent video captured from his speech at Hart House, University of Toronto. Hitchens speech is in opposition to a proposed amendment to criminalize hate speech. But the best part is when he gets a full head of steam towards the end, when it comes to addressing the truest threat to our way of life:

I know I’ve been cheating lately with a lot of these A/V Club posts, but between the nice weather and an ongoing SEO project, I’ve not really taken the time to write any personal updates.

Anyway, I really love this video. The girl singer is a Norwegian pop star and this is her biggest European single to date. It’s clever and catchy and, let’s face it, what’s cuter than a girl singing to herself?

This video has been all over the net since it debuted on the new video-sharing site funnyordie.com, earlier this week. Check out the video below to find out why Pearl is the toughest little landlord you’ll meet this week.

I heard this song at the end of Grindhouse the other day (great movie, by the way!). It was a typical end-credits track from Tarantino, who always finds the most quirky-cool songs for his movies.

I think you’ll love it!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

As always, my policy is that if anyone would like a download link for this song, just make a Comment below and ask – I’ll hook you up with a link in a comment-reply of my own (check back with this article).

Download links are automatically embedded in my RSS feeds.

Thought I’d share my most recent obsession with you. I have been playing this game on my Xbox 360 for the past month, almost every day, often for several hours at a time.

In that time, I’ve gone on countless quests and adventures within the world of Oblivion. The game is insanely engrossing and I can understand now how easily this game can take over your life like crack cocaine.

In any case, I may put up some info here on my character, Tammanastine of Melnibone. In the meantime, check out these great video reviews of the game:

Another fun review was done by girl-gamer Morgan Webb of G4. I feel G4 usually oversimplifies their reviews, but this one got it right:

Finally, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is actually the highest-rated video game for the Xbox 360 console, as compiled by Gamerankings.com.

Now you know why I haven’t returned your calls or answered your emails …or bathed ..or changed my clothes….

FoW is one of the greatest pop bands of the last decade and I have always been a big fan. Welcome Interstate Managers was a masterpiece, outdone in my mind only by their prior record, Utopia Parkway.

Sometime I should put up some Wayne tracks here. In the meantime, I’m going to check out their new album, Traffic and Weather. The advanced word is excellent and I have faith the boys will do it again.

Here’s what’s been said so far:

• Rolling Stone gives Traffic and Weather four stars
• Entertainment Weekly calls Traffic and Weather “a simply wonderful CD of songs about love, lust and loneliness.”
• The Los Angeles Times calls first single “Someone To Love” an “opening volley” in FoW’s “continuing quest for pop perfection.”

Just saw the first released image from the set of the upcoming Iron Man movie. It stars Robert Downey, Jr as the titular character and advanced word is that director Jon Favreau (Swingers, Elf, Zathura) is getting it right.

Below is the first shot we have of one of the suits in the movie. Apparently, this is the first armor suit Tony Stark builds – during his captivity early on in the story.

What do you think? Pretty cool, huh?

I’ve been publishing a lot of articles here lately regarding the threat of militant Islam (which is really ALL of Islam, if you’re familiar with the theology).

But this one hits a bit closer to home. I love Australia. I love Australians. Between Oz and New Zealand, there is no other place I’d like to visit or eventually live. The people and the culture represent what America ought to have remained – and no longer is: a tolerant and easygoing society of people who like to have fun.

So I’m concerned that what happened to France and Great Britain may one day happen Down Under: an ever-growing Muslim immigrant sub-community that would act as a “fifth column” to threaten Australia’s way of life.

And I’m not the only one. Read on…

Limit Muslim migration, Australia warned

Barney Zwartz
February 16, 2007

LIFE can become untenable when the Muslim population of a non-Muslim country reaches about 10 per cent, as shown by France, a Jewish expert on Islam says.

The Australian Jewish News yesterday quoted Raphael Israeli as saying Australia should cap Muslim immigration or risk being swamped by Indonesians.

Professor Israeli told the Herald that was a misunderstanding. But he said: “When the Muslim population gets to a critical mass you have problems. That is a general rule, so if it applies everywhere it applies in Australia.”

Professor Israeli, an expert on Islamic history from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has been brought to Australia by the Shalom Institute of the University of NSW. The Australia-Israel Jewish Affairs Council is co-hosting many of his activities.

He said Muslim immigrants had a reputation for manipulating the values of Western countries, taking advantage of their hospitality and tolerance.

“Greeks or Italians or Jews don’t use violence. There is no Italian or Jewish Hilaly [a reference to the controversial cleric Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly of Lakemba mosque]. Why?”

Professor Israeli said that when the Muslim population increased, so did the risk of violence.

“Where there are large Muslim populations who are prepared to use violence you are in trouble. If there is only 1 or 2 per cent they don’t dare to do it – they don’t have the backing of big communities. They know they are drowned in the environment of non-Muslims and are better behaved.”

In Australia, Muslims account for about 1.5 per cent of the population.

Professor Israeli said that in France, which has the highest proportion of Muslims in Europe at about 10 per cent, it was already too late. There were regions even the police were scared to enter, and militant Muslims were changing the country’s political, economic and cultural fabric, and demanding anti-Semitic and anti-Israel policies.

“French people say they are strangers in their own country. This is a point of no return.

“If you are on a collision course, what can you do? You can’t put them all in prison, and anyway they are not all violent. You can’t send them all back. You are really in trouble. It’s irreversible.”

Professor Israeli said that in Australia a few imams had preached violence. “You should not let fundamentalist imams come here. Screen them 1000 times before they are admitted, and after they are admitted screen what they say in the mosque.”

He said some Muslims wanted to impose sharia (Islamic law) in their adopted countries, and when propaganda did not work they turned to intimidation.

Professor Israeli said his task was to describe, not prescribe. He also said his warning did not include immigrants, including Muslims, who simply wanted to improve their lot. As long as they respected the law and democracy, their numbers — Buddhist, Muslim or Jew — were immaterial. It became material when a group accepted violence.

“The trains in London and Madrid were not blown up by Christians or Buddhists but by Muslims, so it is them we have to beware,” he said.

Keysar Trad, of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, said “Not only religious clerics need to be screened before entering Ausralia but also academics … this type of academic does nothing but create hatred, suspicion and division … We should review not only what the man has said but also those who have sponsored him, to see if they endorse those comments.”