Joe
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Posts posted by Joe
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An absolutely wonderful read, beautifully written; it brought a tear to my eye and I suspect it will to others as well.
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I apologize for sounding off twice. It was my inexperience with the site coupled with the absence of my technical advisor (soon to be 11) that caused the problem.
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But the abuses of the Christians didn't stop centuries ago. Many of them are of quite recent origin which helps keep the memory of the older abuses fresh and vibrant. It is interesting and ironic to note that during the Middle Ages, many Jews fled the Inquisition and the pogroms in Christian lands and lived without persecution in Muslim lands. Not too long ago, during my lifetime in fact, the US and Great Britain combined to overturn the democratically elected prime minister of Iran and replace him with a tin pot autocrat of the worst possible sort, the shah. Why two democracies would do this seems incomprehensible until,of course, we remember oil. A recurring theme for many of the other abuses were on the same theme. I continue to wonder what were the real reasons for the war in Iraq. Either the leaders of the US were inept bunglers of the worst sort, or there was another reason than WMD and nuclear fantasy, and those require the acceptance of massive ineptitude bordering on applied stupidity. One could go on, but I'll mention only one more, that being the creation of the modern state of Israel. This was the last spasm of the colonial mentality that seemed to feel it was perfectly okay to give the land belonging to one group of people, to another, just as it were, because.
Muslims who oppose this, an overwhelming majority I suspect, are frequently labeled 'Holocaust deniers' and dismissed. But they're not really holocaust deniers (there are plenty of those in 'Christian' countries too). Rather, they don't quite understand why a Holocaust perpetrated against Jews and others by the nationals of Christian countries should result in the seizure of Muslim lands and the exile of a Muslim population that had been in place for generations.
Now is when we hear a lot of Bronze Age religious arguments. But, even if one wants to lend credence to those arguments, it must be remembered that the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judea did not last long, the kingdom of Jerusalem did not last long, and the modern state of Israel faces the same inexorable demographic forces that those earlier nations faced. There are some twenty million Jews in the world (and I'm frequently told that number is too large). There are some one and a half billion Muslims in the world. It is estimated that there are one hundred million young Muslim men of military age. These are the numbers that kept Ariel Sharon awake at night and they've not gone away. The modern state of Israel must figure out a way to wage peace with her neighbors if she is to survive.
And as for those who seek solace in religious arguments, it is well to remember that God "is on the side of the big battalions." As God has always been.
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That is a fact of human affairs that we tend to forget. We like it when Atticus Finch tells Scout about trying to see a situation from another's point of view. But how often do we really try to do it? Not nearly often enough, I suspect. And, I hasten to admit, I'm not blameless either.
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The working title is now: 'An Owl on my Sceptre'.
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Nigel is completely accurate in his assessment "of the establishment of Israel." This was one of the last gasps of the dying colonial world and it was, as with most gasps, incoherent, and convulsive. And there was certainly no consideration given to the peace of the neighborhood when this last spasm occurred. The problem with alleged Holocaust deniers is not so much that they deny the Holocaust, it is that they note that the perpetrators of the Holocaust were from allegedly Christian nations. Why, then, was it Muslim land that was stolen to atone for this crime? A question as yet unanswered. Now is the time when someone will start dusting off an assortment of Bronze Age arguments to demonstrate that the Jews have some special claim to that acreage. If we accept that, well, let's see, perhaps we should give Georgia back to the Cherokee and see how that works. Mind we have to do it the same way, the current property owners have to be expelled, their rights obliterated, and then they can be second class minimum wage laborers. That'll work well I'm sure we would all agree.
Finally there are what might be called the 'realpolitik' considerations. There are somewhere in the vicinity of twenty million Jews in the world (I've been accused of inflating the number); there are somewhere in the vicinity of one and a half billion Muslims in the world and it has been estimated that one hundred million of those are young men of military age. These are the demographic facts that haunted Ariel Sharon and haunt the modern state of Israel. As with the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judea, and the medieval kingdom of Jerusalem, it only requires a capable commander and some temporary unity and all these countries came crashing down. For the modern state of Israel to survive, she must figure out a way to wage peace. There is no other option and God is not going to do anything about it.
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I live out in the boondocks so I don't really have much of an option with respect to the print media. I do know what our county supervisors are up to because of my local paper, but I can't grapple with the concept of a regular newspaper the majority of which would go unread into the recycle bin.
For what it's worth, I think the best broadcast news is Al Jazeera: they cover a lot of territory that network news stations seem to be unaware of; I do watch Rachel Maddow from time to time but I've pretty much relegated most of the opinion channels to the ignore file as I'm sick to death of hearing about Trump's latest bad hair moment.
I wish we had something comparable to the BBC which is every bit as good as AJ. I remember listening to it in the Red Sea, among other spots, and it always was informative. A friend of mine, of an evangelical persuasion, insists that the BBC never gives the weather in Israel. Does anyone know if this is true. I find evangelicals to be fact free by and large.
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I was absolutely devastated to see the picture of this accident. I had a teary moment and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
I've been a fan of horses all my life. Part of the result of growing-up with one foot in a cowboy boot and the other in a deck shoe. I don't have one now, but I'm getting a little fragile so that's probably just as well. My most satisfying job, in my 26 years as a copper, was my time with the mounted unit. I would have remained with that unit longer if my horse had not developed what they described to me as 'equine leukemia'. I was with him when he left. I cried then too.
I would have a difficult time describing the feeling you get when your horse decides to 'trust' you. But when it happens it involves your heart and it is very real. I don't want to be accused of anthropomorphizing, but we need to use words to describe situations. So when my horse stood calmly at Commercial Row & Virginia and watched the Southern Pacific roar by with air horns and rumbling and the crossing guard clanging and flashing, my pal had surrendered his 'flight' instinct and was clearly trusting me. I'm not really doing this topic justice. And in fairness, I should report that he was always highly suspicious of the 'Sparkletts' water truck.
In one of the comments sections, someone, probably with the best intentions, thought that horses ought not be out and about in traffic as it was too dangerous. Well it's dangerous for people too. Horses are an integral part of our history and they should be a part of our world other than at the race track.
There was a great painting done by an artist during the Great War. It shows a young cavalry trooper bidding goodbye to his horse who is dying of wounds sustained in battle. I'd have a print of the painting except that every time I see it I cry.
Okay, so I'm a wuss. Wanna fight about it?
Thank you for letting me vent. Love to all.
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I signed. The hell with him.
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Trump will not be elected should he obtain the nomination. You can elect a US president from the center-left, or the center-right; but you must have the center and Trump will not capture that.
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I think Merkin is basically right.
But it's also worth remembering that when the 2nd amendment was written, guns were muzzleloaders with flintlock actions. Even Scalia has indicated that the government has the right to regulate weapons and we need to start doing that.
I grew up in the wilds of Eastern Nevada, so I agree with ChrisR too. I had a gun rack in my pick-up (Studebaker)with a Model 97 Winchester shotgun and a 30-40 Krag cavalry carbine on display. I seldom used them. My friends were similarly equipped and, likewise, seldom used their weapons.
It's interesting to remember that, in the old West, the first civilizing action regularly taken, was to make people check their guns at the city limits.
Guns can be regulated and they should be.
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Thank you for all your very kind comments.
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Almost six years ago some odious cretin abandoned a tiny black kitten on my front porch. My first reaction was to dash to the supermarket for food and litter. And so the Lady Artemis came to take charge of my household and she has managed it with calm efficiency to date; a year ago a friend begged me to adopt another kitten and so the Lady Beatrice moved in. Yesterday, when I was taking out the trash, the Lady Beatrice accompanied me and I'd swear she was dancing the whole way. She wasn't in pursuit of anything, she was just hopping, and jumping and dancing along with the trash can and I. She made my day.
She and Artemis aren't exactly cordial, but relations appear to be thawing. It used to be that one slept on either side of me, but lately they've both been on the same side of me and there's been no growling or nastiness.
I've loved cats, and dogs, and horses in my life and I think they've loved me. I know my life has been the fuller because of them.
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What a glorious creation.
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Charlie is so Cool Like is also fun when he does science as well as being very attractive.
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I enlisted in the Navy before the war got rolling. You didn't want to get caught then, but it was pre don't ask-don't tell, so you could tell them to go to hell if they had no evidence. A good friend of mine did just that and was ultimately the recipient of an Honorable Discharge. They never got close to me, but my one real affair was with a sailor in the Royal Navy so it would have been difficult.
Don't you just want to cry sometimes. There was not even one sound reason for us going to war in Vietnam. But we did at an enormous cost in blood. And then, while veterans of that war are still alive and well, we go to war in Iraq where, once again, there was not even one sound reason for us to go to war. Talk about insanity on a national level.
I have always had a tough time with the "Big Picture" types. It's always been immediate and personal to me. Several friends with whom I'd grown up, did not survive that war; many of the ones who returned, were changed men, and not for the better.
I physically cringe when I hear some of our presidential candidates glibly bantering about going to war, here, there and everywhere. I would without hesitation tell the young men in my world to go to Canada before I'd want them to fight in one of these whimsical wars.
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That's correct. There is something going on here, that we will learn more about as the story develops, but a warrant is not required to arrest, although a demonstration of probable cause would be required shortly after the arrest in court. (There are books devoted to this subject and we don't have time for all of that here.)
In the real world, ones rights are what the arresting officer says they are.
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Well I can't say I'm surprised.
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I just finished chapter one and it looks as if we're in for another excellent story. I'd say that no two cops could be as stupid as the two we meet in this chapter, but I see in the real news that two cops are indicted for shooting and killing a nine year old in Louisiana. Pretty scary stuff.
Looking forward to chapter two.
While I'm at it, I'd like to mention "Along Came a Spider" as a delightful story that I thoroughly enjoyed.
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As described in the attachment, this is not a crucifixion, only a slightly faster death by beheading, though it would appear that, in the best tradition of the 11th century, the body will remain on display and I assume the head will be on the Saudi equivalent of pike and likewise on display. So the penalty is bad, but the due process leading up to the murder is absolutely horrifying. The Saudi monarchy will ultimately fall and there will doubtless be even more blood shed when that happens.
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I, too, thought it a wonderful story. The Lady Artemis, who is in charge of my home and looks exactly like Snowy, was relaxing over the keyboard when I was reading the story, so I assume she read it too and we sent Pedro an email telling him so.
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Florida is seriously considering an open carry law so we may seeing guns everywhere. We have presidential candidates suggesting we should arm teachers to stop school massacres. But before you think those carrying guns won't use them at the drop of a hat look at this:
In the second incident I'd say the man in the bank may be able to plead self defense, but the woman shooting wildly in a parking lot? Since those with guns may be tempted to become vigilantes without any idea why someone is running away it won't be long before we have a dead person. What if the security guard had been chasing a guy who left his wallet in the store by accident.
Who deputized this woman to take the law into her own hands? I think she needs to be prosecuted for indiscriminate use of a firearm, at the very least public endangerment. Just wait until someone you know gets shot in one of these incidents.
Generally, the police don't shoot at fleeing felons and no one should be shooting at a fleeing misdemeanant.
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I'm not going to buy it.
Harper Lee agonized over Mockingbird and took a very long time to get it ready to publish. I think if she wanted this published she would have. It just doesn't smell right.
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I think the 2nd Amendment is bad policy and bad law. It was originally justified when the assault weapon of the day was a flintlock rifle and/or musket. This because a "well regulated" militia was deemed a necessary part of national defense. But the militia was hardly ever "well regulated". The few times it was effective was when it had been whipped into shape by a hard nosed general who'd been given enough time (New Orleans). More often, it was a comedic failure as in the Bladensburg Races (the defense of Washington DC) and the three invasions of Canada (note the lack of impact these invasions had on Canada's independence). There are many other examples of this.
However, the nation was expansionist and there were Native Americans to be slaughtered, and species to be rendered extinct or almost extinct. So for better or worse, we've become an armed society. But it's instructive to note that one of the first civilizing drives on the frontier was to have a place to check ones guns before going out and about on the town. The guns were not confiscated, merely regulated.
The proliferation of open carry and concealed carry jurisdictions will continue until there are a few more horrific slaughters. At some point we will realize that guns are serious business and there will be some common sense regulation of them that will require constant training as a requisite for being permitted to carry a weapon, open or concealed. Professionals who carry weapons on a daily basis are required to qualify with those weapons on a regular basis and the same should be true of non-professionals who think they should be lugging a weapon around.
By this time, I'll have been dismissed as a bleeding heart of the worst sort. But in fact, I'd have to take a few minutes to count the number of firearms in my house. The total would be in excess of 10. I carried a firearm professionally for years and used it four times. I'm not trying to confiscate weapons; I merely suggest that they are serious to the point of being deadly and need to be respected as such.
Now I'm sure there's some overweight, overage, pseudo-patriot out there who needs to think that he's going to fight the government over some alleged wrong with his personal firearms. Good luck with that if it ever came to pass. There, I've vented a bit. Thanks all.
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in The Bull Pen
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I'd be happy to forward you a chapter if you'd like to look at it. I just started on the 4th.
This is story is meant to be whimsical and humorous. No epic Manichean struggle, just some palace intrigue and a battle or two for Colin and GSM Aberhonddu.