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A Time to Remember “Leave it to Beaver” and the America We Left Behind

By Selwyn Duke

This past Saturday, Barbara Billingsley passed away at the age of 94. For those of you scratching your heads but acquainted with 1950s television, Billingsley played the ever-gracious and loving, hearth-and-home mother June Cleaver in the classic sitcom "Leave It to Beaver."

The show, a hit that ran from 1957 to 1963, is a true slice of Americana. It entertained audiences with the innocent mischief-making and misadventures of its main character, Theodore Cleaver (played by Jerry Mathers), an endearing boy who went by the nickname “Beaver.” With his mother, June; his brother, Wally (Tony Dow); and his father, Ward (Hugh Beaumont), they were the ideal American family.

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Online Society, Offline Civilization: How the Internet is Ushering in the End of the Age

By Selwyn Duke

When people discuss the overall effects of the Internet, they will weigh the good and the bad.  On one side, they may mention how the Web, along with talk radio, has broken the stranglehold over public opinion the mainstream media once enjoyed; on the other, they may cite the pernicious effects of pornography, cyber-bullying or the loss of privacy.  Whatever the analysis and verdict, though, it never truly captures how tangled a Web we have woven.  This is because seldom recognized is a simple and profound fact: The Internet is one of the most powerful forces ever unleashed by mankind.

And That’s All He Has to Say about That: Tom Hanks and Twisted History

By Selwyn Duke

Stupid is as Hollywood does . . . and does and does and does.  And the latest example is Forrest Hanks, who has just managed to graduate — in the Tinseltown U. way of thinking — from moron to imbecile.

The GAP's Relativistic "Holiday Commercial"

While many wouldn't classify this GAP commercial as an "attack" upon Christmas, it certainly is an example of the demotion of it. It begins and ends with relativistic sentiments (using relativism is a more clever way of diminishing faith than overt attacks are) and lends credence to "Kwanzaa," that Festivus-like "holiday" originated by the brutal criminal-cum-college professor Ron Kerenga. Here are the lyrics:

Two, four, six, eight,
'Tis the time to liberate!
Go Christmas!
Go Hanukkah!
Go Kwanzaa!
Go Solstice!
Go classic tree, go plastic tree, go plant a tree, go without a tree!
You 86 the rules!
You do what just feels right!
Happy do whatever you wannakkah and to all . . . a cheery night!

Go Solstice? Give me a break. Hey, Sensitivity Police, I think you forgot a few people there. The are eight million religious/cultural/do-whatever-you wannakkah traditions in this naked world, and you wouldn't want to offend anybody, you know (except for the people whose culture you're destroying, but who is worried about them? They're not voting for the socialist, new-world-odor types).

This commercial is a good example of how moral relativism permeates every aspect of our society, something I've written much about. You "86 the rules" and "do what just feels right"? Yes, that's exactly what this society needs to hear. This should end well.

It's a funny thing, though, when I did what felt right to me and ignored the dictates of the politically correct puppeteers, the SPLC put me on their Hatewatch page. Well, I guess we can't expect relativistic leftists to adhere to their own principles — especially since they don't actually have any.

Anyway, I'm starting to think that "GAP" refers to something situated between two ears. And I guess they won't mind if what "feels right" to me is to avoid shopping at their stores.

                       © 2009 Selwyn Duke — All Rights Reserved

Wild, Wild Kanye West

By Selwyn Duke

Everyone has seen the video of Kanye West running up onto the stage and snatching the microphone away from 19-year-old country music star Taylor Swift at Sunday's MTV video music awards.  West wasn't happy with the choice of Swift as winner and went into a rant about how Beyoncé should have won.  Now, just for the record, I've heard neither Swift nor Beyoncé sing and thus can't render any definitive judgments on this subject.  What I do know, however, is that I wouldn't consider it positive if an over-rated oaf like West was lobbying for me.

Soap Opera Actress Fired in Name of Homosexual Agenda

What happens when there's a clash between holy motivations and homosexual machinations in Hollywood?

By Selwyn Duke

If a recent allegation made against the ABC producers of "One Life to Live" is any indication, they could use some soap to clean up their agenda. Show regular Patricia Mauceri claims she was fired from the program because she refused to engage in pro-homosexual dialogue contrary to the religious convictions integral to her character — a character she helped create based on her own faith. FoxNews.com reports on the story, writing:

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Michael Jackson and Our Modern Celebrity Culture

By Selwyn Duke

Despite all that is going on in the world, the biggest story for the past week has been the death of Michael Jackson. In fact, it's reported that his funeral, now scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 7 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, will be watched by tens of millions worldwide and that his elaborate funeral procession will at least rival those of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy.

And as it was with Camelot, there has been no shortage of reactions to the King of Pop's untimely end. Fans have been saddened. Critics have, understandably, been muted. And the media have been reporting at a fever pitch, trying to capture television ratings and Web traffic. But my thoughts are a bit different: our reaction to Jackson's death — and life — speaks volumes about our society.

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Guest Piece: What Happens When CBS Goes Bankrupt?

By Bruce Walker

Government ownership of business will cause – as history has shown so many times – gross mismanagement and inefficiency.   We can expect that, of course, but those are recoverable calamities.   What worries me more is what happens when CBS goes bankrupt?  The network news audience is dropping like a rock?  http://newsbusters.org/node/29019/hmtl.  What happens when USA Today goes under?  The only major newspaper which has not lost readership, according to the latest audit, is the relatively conservative Wall Street Journal. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/US-newspaper-circulation-sees-apf-15039695.html.  Will Obama sit by idly while the workers at these companies lose their jobs?   Are these companies institutions which have to be kept from dying a natural death?

Saturday Morning Cartoons

By Selwyn Duke

I bound out of bed in eager anticipation of the start of the day. No one had to tell me to set the alarm last night — it's the only time I don't mind rising early.  It's the mid 1970s, and for me it's the days of Lego blocks and Tinker Toys, Estes model rockets and action figures (and no, in the boy world you don't call them dolls!).  My life is relatively simple; to me, the biggest problems on this earth are homework, the occasional bully and an always skimpy defense budget (you don't raise an armed force of hundreds of toy soldiers, ships, planes and forts from nothing, you know).  My greatest ambitions are winning the next battle on the living room floor and saving enough money to buy that ever elusive but oh-so-cool radio control plane I pine after.