Yeah, don’t everybody?

After all, “Jones” is the most common last name in Wales, the second-most common last name in Britain, and the fourth-most common last name in the United States. These facts were apparently known to Gethin Jones, Cardiff-born TV presenter, who took it upon himself to host a…Jones extravaganza.

This event, properly entitled “Jones, Jones, Jones,” was a successful attempt to beat the world record for a gathering of people with the same family name. The record had been held by the Norbergs, who brought 583 people together in Sweden in 2004, but after Friday, November 3, the Jones had doubled the number and won the record. From as far away as Australia and the United States, 1,224 Jones gathered in Cardiff, Wales. Guinness World Record officials were present and made all the Joneses prove their identity to confirm the breaking of the record.

The event was watched closely by the Norbergs, but alas, they were not to keep their place in the book of world records. But then, who knows? Perhaps they have another get-together in mind.

In 2004, after narrowly defeating John Kerry, President Bush boasted he had earned political capital and he intended to spend it.

What political capital, then, have Democrats just earned?

The dust has settled, most of the results are now in, and for Republicans, the results are not good. Democrats have taken solid control of the House, capturing 27 Republican-held seats and leading in two other races. They are on the verge of taking the Senate as well, with Democratic wins in Virginia and Montana likely, although not yet certain.

Ultimately, one can point to two things that cost Republicans this election: Mark Foley and Iraq. Exit polls indicated many voters were unhappy with Bush, with the war in Iraq, and with what they perceived to be corruption in Congress.

The jury is still out on the corruption—that issue will undoubtedly come up again and again in the not so distant future—but clearly Iraq is not going to go away anytime soon. To paraphrase an old saying: Republicans made their own bed on that one, and now they have to lie in it.

The “good” news for conservatives? We’ve essentially been operating with a Democratic-controlled Congress since Bush became president. Republicans technically controlled Congress, but the result was out of control government spending and big government policies. Maybe now that they’re no longer the party in power, Republicans will make some sort of attempt to return to their fiscally conservative roots.

So reported major French newspapers on Tuesday, October 31. It seems the celebration of Halloween which was pushed in France in the late 1990s is losing popularity. The daily French newspaper Le Monde quoted the head of costume company Cesar who said that Halloween in France is “pretty much buried” due to “a cultural reaction linked to the rise of anti-Americanism.”

The holiday has always been controversial in France, and many have lacked interest because they do not understand what is being celebrated. The pushed trend is dying down now so much so that a group called “Non a Halloween,” established to fight the popularity of Halloween in France, has disbanded, their mission complete.

“Halloween was a marketing gimmick aimed mainly at children,” said former president of the group, Arnaud Guyot-Jeannin. “It’s a big festival of consumption selling outfits, masks, gadgets and it couldn’t last forever.”

Today President Bush signed legislation legalizing 700 miles of new fencing along the porous Mexican border to complement the meager 90 miles of fencing already present. The bill also authorizes an additional 1500 border patrol troops.

At the bill signing, the President urged Congress to find a solution for illegal aliens already in the country, namely by pushing his guestworker plan. “We must reduce pressure on our border by creating a temporary worker plan,” Bush remarked. “Willing workers ought to be matched with willing employers to do jobs Americans are not doing.”

Back home, citizens along the Texas border aren’t sure what to think yet. Large sections of the fencing will cut through residential and agricultural areas, cutting off access to the Rio Grande River, which farmers depend on. “It’s not going to work in Texas,” says ranch-owner Michael Vickers. “Who wants to close off the river to Mexico? The river is the lifeblood for a lot of cities.”

Cost estimates range from $2 billion to $9 billion over the next several years. The entire Homeland Security budget for this year was only $1.2 billion, which means Congress will have to appropriate more and more funds as the project progresses.

If you ever want an example of how the U.S. legal system and frivolous lawsuits have changed American life, look no further than school playgrounds.

The AP has written a recent article documenting how more and more schools are banning games like dodgeball, touch football, tag, and “any other unsupervised chase game.” The reason? School officials are afraid children will get hurt playing the games, and “hold the school liable.” Perhaps more accurately, they’re afraid parents will hold the school liable, and given recent history, one can’t necessarily blame them for being concerned about that possibility. It’s unfortunate, however, that some are responding by making silly, overprotective and idiotic bans on perfectly wholesome games such as “unsupervised” tag.

They’re Christian. They follow the Quaker faith. And they have something against clothes.

The Natura Christian Fellowship has 36,000 members so far and, according to an advisor of the fellowship, attracts Christians who want to live a “naturist” lifestyle. The advisor also said that their group has seen naturalist facilities that turned into sex facilities, and that their group is different—“We’re very family oriented,” he said.

The Quaker church has had nudist camps for 65 years, basing their practice off the book of Isaiah, and suggesting three years of nudity in order to convert others. But although the original group was Quaker, they have attracted many Catholics, Southern Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and more.

Opponents of the nudist community have concerns about Natura Christian Fellowship’s newest plan to build a 103.83-acre community of homes, townhouses, and a campground next to the city of Belton, South Carolina. Although the fellowship has insisted that they will keep the community’s common areas “clothed” and the “nude” areas hidden from non-members, the city council is trying to come up with ways to prevent the community from being built.

While some are hoping to collect signatures to try to change the zoning in the area, other members of the city council have some more…practical suggestions, such as importing yellow jackets and poison ivy. One man living in the county where the community may be built said it was hard enough having so many people today wear skimpy clothes. “You have to lead by example,” he said. “We’re supposed to be modest.”

Republicans are between a rock and a hard place right now. No one can defend Foley’s actions of course, but it would also be hard to defend the actions of any politician who knew what Foley was up to and failed to do his utmost to stop it. It’s also hard to defend the initial reaction to the Foley scandal (documented above), and that initial reaction itself now undermines Republican efforts to counteract frenzied Democratic attacks.

That’s one paragraph from my article “A Democrat’s Dream,” which appears in the latest issue of Civilized Revolt. The article deals with, perhaps obviously, the recent Mark Foley scandal and how Republicans should handle it.

Other articles include:

If I Were A White House Press Secretary by Jarret Mock
Accepting the Giants by Noah Stansbury
God-In-A-Box by Darcy Ingraham

So head on over and check it out. In addition, remember that a new issue of Virtue Magazine will be coming out next week!

“If you thought comedy was dead, you should have been in Britain after the pope cited the opinion of a Byzantine emperor who died 600 years ago.”

That’s how Taki Theodoracopulos (yes, that is his real name) began his column in the latest edition of The America Conservative. Apparently a 49-year-old man named Ronnie Hutton was jailed in Britain after, get this, he was accused of “revving his car in a racist manner.”

As Taki puts it, tongue delightfully in cheek: “Yes, in these politically correct times, engines too can be racists, especially if revved up.”

Maybe Hutton really was trying to intimidate the Libyan couple who were in tradional Arab dress and walking nearby. (He says he was trying to solve an engine problem by revving it, as the article linked to above eventually notes.) And we’re not defending his two-word response to a retired police officer who intervened. But the idea of getting in any sort of trouble for supposedly revving an engine in a “racist manner” still strikes us as ridiculous.

The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States by France in 1885, and it stands in New York Harbor as a welcome to all visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans. This copper statue is one of the most recognizable icons of the United States worldwide, and it is a symbol of liberty and escape from oppression to freedom. For over a century, the Statue of Liberty stood bravely extolling the American values to the world. Now, however, it doesn’t seem our lady of liberty stands quite so boldly.

Since the terrorist attacks on America a little over five years ago, access to the statue has been severely limited. The interior of the landmark was completely closed for nearly three years following September 11, but in 2004, the National Park Service reopened parts of the complex, though only allowing visitors to go as high as the pedestal on which Lady Liberty stands. The Park Service said letting people climb the cramped spiral staircase again is simply too hazardous, due to risks from fire and terrorism.

In Charita Goshay’s “This ‘n’ that: Statue of Liberty should remain a beacon of freedom to the world,” she writes, “…the National Park Service’s recent decision to keep closed the crown of the Statue of Liberty is disheartening. Officials say concerns about overall safety, but particularly terrorism, were factors. Wanting to ensure public safety is understandable, but what message does it send to the world that the single greatest public symbol of freedom isn’t exactly, well, free?”

Senator Charles Schumer also has concerns, “In this case, freedom has given way to fear,” said Schumer, D-N.Y. “One of my favorite memories as a child was going up to the top of the Statue of Liberty and looking out of her crown to what I thought were the ends of the earth. Now, generations of kids and adults will be denied that opportunity.” New York State Rep. Anthony Weiner called it “the final victory of the terrorists on Sept. 11.”

Is the Statue of Liberty still a symbol of freedom or has it been deprived of its very meaning?

Recently, something happened that changed the way most people view the universe—Pluto was demoted from its status as the last of the nine planets to a “dwarf planet.” My view of the world and the fallibility of the things that I learned at school were once more brought to mind as I mourned the loss of my favorite planet. It seems that not a day goes by where basic tenets that we hold to be true are challenged by the public eye and sometimes it can cause one to doubt. However, there are a couple of things that one must keep in mind as they ponder recent events.

God governs the affairs of men, as Benjamin Franklin stated so eloquently many years ago. This was true when the founding fathers wrote the Constitution and it is true today. In the world we live in today it is not at all uncommon for humans to declare themselves infallible. However, it is simply not true. Shocked? Well, I have got some news for you—only God knows the ways of the universe, because He created it and He knows every intimate detail about the stars, planets, comets, and anything else that is out there. Therefore, He is the only one that we can always trust to be infallible.