We need Laws because peeples is crazy!

It is all Geek to me!

      So a friend of mine posted a little blurb on FB the other day that essentially read, "If more gun laws won't stop criminals from having guns, then why have laws at all?"  (Slightly paraphrasing there since I don't remember the exact wording.)  It reminded me of another post that occasionally shows up which (Paraphrasing again) "There are a lot of people alive today simply because I don't want to go prison."  I personally think that the second one neatly answers the first one.
     (Before I go any further, let me state that this is not an argument for or against gun control and stricter gun laws.  (Except for one monumental Foot in mouth moment right after Sandy Hook, I have pretty much avoided the whole situation because neither side shows any real interest in a real dialogue about ways to make things better.  Both sides are to busy preaching and making bad analogies to actually work towards anything constructive.)
     Nope, my rant today is essentially about Human Nature.   As I have stated many times in the past, the Human Race (As a whole, some individuals are exempt.) is a belligerent, cruel species who do not play well with others.  We tend to be easily offended and imagine enemies in every single nook and cranny of our lives.  In short, we aren't very nice.  Now take all of these short tempered, nasty people and jam them all into very crowded and inhospitable places like our major cities and what happens?

A Grim Situation indeed!

    Laws aren't there to prevent Real Criminals from committing crimes.  Bank robbers, Store Thieves and professional killers could care less that they are breaking the law.  It is kind of what they do.  To me, the laws are there for the people who, if they thought they could get away with it, would commit crimes.  You know, the folks who would love to "Beat the crap out of (Insert Person or Group of people here) but doesn't because they'd wind up in prison."  Or the person who would "Rob (insert name of Store here) blind if they weren't afraid of sharing a shower with 20 other guys."  90% of the people in the world don't commit crimes because they have at least some fear of being prosecuted for it.
     Ever notice how it seems like the vast majority of acts of violence you see on the news are either Spur of the moment types or are committed by someone who is obviously mentally unstable?  I think that is because it takes either a moment of rage/confusion or mental issues to allow a "normal" person to overcome the certain fear of punishment to commit a crime.
     So, IMNSHO (In My Not So Humble Opinion just in case you are just joining us), the laws we have aren't there to stop the Professional and Dedicated Crooks.  They are there to dissuade the borderline idiots from stepping over the line.  If we didn't have these laws and punishments, there would be no stopping them.

End of rant.

American Terror Attacks

     So while reading the various articles about the Boston Bombing, I have seen literally 1000's of comments that essentially say that Muslims are all terrorists and that Muslims are responsible for all the horrible acts of terror performed on American soil.  The suggestions for how to deal with this perceived problem range from "Send them all back where they came from" to other much less pleasant ideas.  So it made me curious as to how many terrorist attacks there have actually been on US Soil and exactly who perpetrated them.  The results did not surprise me, but may surprise many others out there.
    For my research, I omitted any acts that resulted in or were an attempt to end the life of a single man or woman.  I also left out any references to "persons unknown."  I also kept it to the 20th and 21st century even though there are many acts of terror that date back much further than that.  The number of attacks were staggering even omitting single man assassination attempts/successes.  Even more staggering was the simple fact that the Overwhelming Number of these attacks that were not carried out by Muslims.
     Everyone remembers 9/11 and everyone should.  It was one of the most horrific moments in US history.  Pretty sure everyone remembers the Oklahoma City Bombing too.  However, there have been so many more that people either have not heard of or have forgotten and the vast majority of these were carried out by non-Muslims.

Examples

1)  2010 March 4: 2010 Pentagon shooting occurred on March 4, 2010, when John Patrick Bedell shot and wounded two Pentagon police officers at a security checkpoint in the Pentagon station of the Washington Metro mass-transit system in Arlington County, Virginia.

2)   2009 May 25: 17-year old Kyle Shaw sets off a crude explosive device at a Starbucks at East 92nd Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, shattering windows and destroyed a bench at the coffee shop. There were no injuries. The attack was a "bizarre tribute" of the movie Fight Club, in an attempt to emulate "Project Mayhem", a series of assaults on corporate America portrayed in the film. Shaw took a plea agreement and was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in November 2010.  (had to include this one because I loath Starbucks)

3)  2008 July 27: Knoxville Unitarian Universalist church shooting: Jim David Adkisson enters the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee with a shotgun, killing two and injuring several congregants before being tackled to the ground. Adkisson stated to the police and in a manifesto that he desired to kill Democrats, liberals, African Americans and homosexuals. Adkisson pled guilty to the crime in February 2009 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole

4)   2001 September 18 - November: 2001 anthrax attacks. Letters tainted with anthrax kill five across the U.S., with politicians and media officials as the apparent targets. On July 31, 2008 Bruce E. Ivins a top biodefense researcher committed suicide.^[38] On August 6, 2008, the FBI concluded that Ivins was solely responsible for the attacks, and suggested that Ivins wanted to bolster support for a vaccine he helped create and that he targeted two lawmakers because they were Catholics who held pro-choice views.

5)   1996 July 27: Centennial Olympic Park bombing by Eric Robert Rudolph occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, during the Atlanta Olympics. One person was killed and 111 injured. In a statement released in 2005 Rudolph said the motive was to protest abortion and the "global socialist" Olympic Movement.

     There are many many more examples 

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States if you are interested in reading about all of them)  and don't me wrong, there is a sizable number of these attacks that are carried out by Muslims or People who might have been Muslim since the article doesn't give the Religious Affiliations for all of the attackers.  However, there is a huge number of attackers that are White, Hispanic etc.  Hells, the majority of them are not Muslims.

     It is okay to be pissed off at any Terrorists who harm our own and destroy our lives.  However, we should never be mad at all of one group because a small faction of it commits a crime.  We don't get pissed at all WASPs if one walks into a building and opens fire.   The Sandy Hook Shooter was as American as Apple Pie, but no one is saying all Americans are evil Terrorists.  Get pissed at the Criminals, never the people.

End of rant

Dungeons and Dragons is the Devil's Plaything!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/295102457/rpgs-are-evil-dark-dungeons-the-movie

(Let me preface this whole rant with this comment.  After watching this guy's 9 minute long promotion, I am 89% convinced that he is one of the greatest Trolls of all times and does not seriously believe the manure he is spewing.  However, whether he does or does not believe doesn't change the tone of the rant at all.)

(Preface the second:  For those who are unaware, a Troll in the modern sense is not some big hairy creature that lives under bridges and eats people.  It means someone who states objectionable, inflammatory remarks into a conversation in the hopes of pissing people off or making them look stupid.  Most often seen in Common Chat Channels in most Multi Member Online Role Playing Games.)

(Preface the third:  I am extremely tempted to donate to this guy's cause simply because I think any movie based of the Dark Dungeons Comics would be absolutely hilarious Especially if they use the actors shown in the promo video.  As a writer of Science Fiction and Fantasy, I can only imagine the amount of publicity this could engender as people tried to figure out where all the evil was.)

     Wow, that is a lot of prefaces.  Anyways, the concept that RPGs are evil and the work of the Devil isn't new.  Dark Dungeons http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.ASP (If you want to actually read it) was printed in 1984 and I recollect other such tripe as early as 1979.   Dungeons and Dragons was first printed in 1974 and the criticisms started flowing immediately afterwards.  As RPGs have grown in popularity so has the criticisms.  

     Besides the Mazes and Monsters movie mentioned in the video.  ( I actually saw that movie and thought it was kind of silly back then.) I remember one of those fake "Court" shows from the late 1970s where a kid chopped up his girlfriend because he was convinced that she was some foul monster from his game.  I also recall a book (Can't remember the name off the top of my head) where the main character loses his mind after his favorite character dies in a game and begins seeing monsters everywhere.  As long as there have been RPGs, there have been attacks.

     So the question becomes "Why these attacks?"  What about RPGs and Fantasy in general sparks this incredible fear in so many people?  Why do so many "Leaders" see this sort of thing as a threat against all they believe in?  Most will argue that it is because Fantasy RPGs focus on the supernatural.  They are filled with Sorcery/Demons/Devils/False Gods and that these can lead people down dark and dangerous paths.  Antagonists voice fears that doing things in the game will entice people to do them in real life.  

     I personally feel the answer is a little more simple than that.  The powers that be depend on people leading nice sedate ordinary lives without having too many questions about what is going on around them.  Politicians and Religious Forces want people to follow the rules without thinking too hard about them.  Role Playing Games like D&D, GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System in case you were wondering) and even more modern Online RPGs encourage people to use their minds and imaginations.  They teach problem solving and out of the box thinking.  They make players question the whys and wherefores of it all.  

     I think that this sparks terror in the stoney hearts of the people who would control our lives.  If everyone is questioning why you are doing what you are doing, then you might actually have to explain yourself.   A wise man once said, "A weak mind is an easily manipulated one."  The Powers that be don't want free thinkers wondering exactly WTF is going on.  Ignorance is bliss.  Well at least for the Ones in charge. 

     So read a book.  Go out and play a game with your friends.  Slay a Dragon and save the day.  Exercise the most dangerous weapon you have and keep it sharp.  (That is your brain parts btw.)  Never can tell, especially these days, when you might need it.)

End of rant

Automotive Discombobulations or A Pedestrian View Point

and surrender your booty!  Wait, that's Highwaymen.  Sorry.

     So those of you who read this column on a regular basis know two things.  One, I am a professional pedestrian who loves walking pretty much anywhere I can reach whenever I can and B.  that this has occasionally brought me into conflict with those who prefer motorized vehicular transport.  I also include biking in the same group with pedestrians since both are foot (Feet?) powered.   See http://sometimeass.blogspot.com/2011/05/right-of-way-wrong-in-head.html for an example of my many encounters.  Whelp, today gave me one of the prime examples of such conflicts.
     I was out front working in the yard.  I had cleaned up a bunch of limbs that had fallen during a recent storm and had just started mowing the yard.  It was a beautiful, sunny day with a nice temperature for working outside.  I was enjoying the physical efforts and generally in a decent mood.  First time in a week for that since I have just recently delivered my wife to her new job in our Nation's capital and will not see her for weeks at best.  I was happily humming a song and was just completing a lower cut close to the street when some asshole SCREECHED on his brakes and honked his horn at me.

That's not a targeting sight, peeples.

     ( Now before I continue let me explainify some things for those who don't live anywhere near me.  I live in a very quiet, old neighborhood.  I see maybe 10 or so cars on a given day all day.  Except at the very end of my yard, visibility can be counted in hundreds of feet and the speed limit is 15 MPH.  Okay back to the rant.)
     So this very cranky man leans out his window and starts yelling at me.  He claims that he almost ran into me and that I should be more careful.  He mentioned a few choice words about my ancestry and said "If I had hit you, it would have been all your fault." 
     Now let us ignore the ancestry part (Some of which was eerily accurate.  How did he know?) and focus on the last part.  If he had hit me, it would have been all my fault.  I admit that Pedestrians, Cyclists, Bikers etc share a chunk of responsibility for road safety.  Look both ways, check yourself etc.  If a pedestrian blindly walks out into traffic and gets hit by a car because the driver wasn't expecting stupid, then some of the responsibility rests on the walker.
    Hells, I might have accepted the fact that it could have been my fault except for one teensy little fact.  Folks, his brakes SCREECHED when he slammed to a stop.  That's right, screeched as in "OH CRAP I AM GOING TO FAST!"  Given the clearance on either side of where I was standing, the only reason he would have had to slam on brakes like that was to have been greatly exceeding the speed limit.  In other words, he was braking the law and in the wrong.

Why yes, I do believe he was a little on the slow side.

     So let us recap.  Asshole in car speeding very fast.  Asshole in car almost hits nice old white guy because Asshole is speeding very fast.  Instead of being grateful that he hadn't hit old guy while speeding, Asshole screams and yells blaming the old white dude for almost being hit.  Have no fear.  The old white man (That's me BTW) is just fine and I am sure Asshole is off somewhere else making some other person's day bright.
     Always remember, no matter how you transport yourself, you are sharing the road with other people and other modes of transport.  Take responsibility for your own actions and keep an eye on everyone around you.

End of Rant

A Prayer and an Apology

Amen.

     A horrible event has happened.  A Madman has killed and injured people.  The whole country is in shock and searching for answers and truth in the midst of fear and confusion.  This is not the time for finger pointing or blaming putting.  All of that can wait till tomorrow.  All we need to do right now is accept the fact that a Tragedy has occurred and lives have been shattered.
     I found myself coming to that realization during one of the usual lively conversations/discussions that I so often encounter with my friends on Facebook.  I climbed up on my O.D.D. (Oration Deployment Device) Mark III (shaped oddly like a soapbox) and gave forth my opinion on another person's comments.  Whether I was right or whether the other person was right isn't the issue.  This isn't a time for arguments.  All we need to do today is mourn our dead and pray for those who lived.  Everything else can wait.
     Whatever your faith, pray.  Whatever your beliefs, remember.  Never forget.

Hatred or fear? Wonder which it is?

     So I read an article about programs that teach English to young children who's first language is another tongue.  It talked about the difficulties these kids have finding proper instruction.  Now I personally feel (Having known people who were in this sort of situation) that the total immersion method is the best alternative as opposed to the Bi-Lingual Programs that some schools use to instruct students.  However, that isn't what this rant is about.
     As always, once I read the article I skimmed down to the comments sections to see what other people thought about the article and about the subject in general.  What I saw didn't surprise me, but it still shocked me.  Comment after comment was filled with hateful comments about Hispanics and any other race that didn't conform to the "American" way of doing things.  They raged on and on about how anyone coming to their country needed to learn the official language of English.  They stated that all of these Non-Whites needed to get with the program and do things the way Americans (See Whites) did.
     Now, folks.  Let's cover some very basics here.  First of all, despite what so many people seem to believe, America doesn't have a "National Language."  Our official language is not English, Spanish or Pig Latin.  For a very long time, our Dominant tongue has been English, but there is no Law or Statute that designates it as the official language of America.  The reason for this is that America has been a land of many different cultures and beliefs from day one.  Yes, the English culture and language dominated, but there were many more even before there was an America.
     Second, there is no American Culture for others to disrupt.  What we view as American has been borrowed from dozens of cultures around the world as Immigrants moved to these shores and incorporated their ways and beliefs into ours.  We are literally a nation of Immigrants (Yes even the Native Americans are immigrants, they just got here sooner than the rest of us.  30K years sooner but still immigrated.)  So this idea that, suddenly, these "Non-Whites" (Gods I hate that term.) are disrupting and destroying the "American Way" is a little silly.
     Sadly, I feel that all of this rage directed against Immigrants (Legal and Otherwise) is all based off the very basic emotion of fear.  Projections show that very soon, Whites will no longer be the largest chunk of the population of the US.  Other races and cultures will soon become the majority.  This scares the crap out of a lot of people and probably for good reasons.
     I mean, think about it.  For over 2 centuries, Whites have dominated politics.  They voted for the things that benefited them.  They held the reins and did the driving.  They were in CHARGE!  If other races and cultures benefited from it, cool.  If not, Meh Oh Well!  (As an author's note here, let me state that this has slowly been changing over the past 75 or so years where American Politics has slowly grown outwards to include other aspects and is still improving today...Slowly.)  Suddenly, the people that have been in charge are faced with the very real possibility that other people might begin to decide things might be in charge.
     A wise man once said, "Any group or culture will always vote to better themselves over others."   Basically, the dominate group in charge will always better the situation of the ones closest to it.  Our history is full of that happening.  I seriously doubt that any Native American felt benefited when the US Government came in and took their lands and forced them onto reservations.  We as a "White" culture are being forced to realize that someday our fates and rights are going to be decided by others and it terrifies some people because history is full of instances of the things we did to "others."
     So Fear sparks hate and hatred produces vitriol.  I suspect that the "worse" things get, the louder the ranting and hatred will become.  All I can say is, "Welcome to the Minority."

End of rant

I've got your number, RIGHT HERE!

http://www.av1611.org/666/biochip.html

     

     So a Facebook acquaintance posted yet another poster on how the new medical micro-chips being designed and implanted were proof of some grand conspiracy on the part of the Government.  The post says all the usual BS about how the chips can be used to track people around the world.  (They can't, a handheld scanner is needed and it only works from a few feet away.)  It said that the chip would hold all of your personal data including your financial information.  (It doesn't, the chip holds very very basic information. mostly reference codes that can be used to check your information on a computer.)  The ranting was pretty standard.

     Now folks, I have seen probably hundreds of these kinds of posts over the past few years.  I have even done a few blogs about them and done my fair share of ranting over this stupid idea.  So needless to say, I don't feel any urge to do another.  Stupid people will always believe stupid stuff.  Examples include: Faked Moonlandings, 9/11 Government Plots, Sandy Hook being a government conspiracy and so many more.  So I am tired of beating dead equines with a rounded piece of wood.  No, this little speech is about something else.

     What set the FB post off from most of the conspiracy posts was that it directly linked the micro-chip to the Biblical Endtimes and equated getting a chip with receiving the Number of the Beast.  (If you aren't aware of what any of this means, the linked article covers all of that too.)  So when I read the poster, I was curious.  I did some research on just how many conspiracy websites out there that preach (Pardon the pun) that the chips are literally a sign of the End of Times.  The number I found was staggering.  I read 25 long winded rants that went on and on about how the times of Revelations were at hand and that the chip (Among other things) was proof that we were all DOOMED!  

     So after reading all of these brain numbing speeches, I stumbled upon the above piece.  The gentleman who wrote it not only disproves the Chip/Number of the Beast conspiracy very nicely with technical information and diagrams, he also disproves the whole thing using the (wait for it) Bible.  That is right, folks.  The Author uses the same passages and quite a few more that others ignore because they contradict them to disprove a Grand Global Plot by the Anti-Christ exists.  He uses reasoning, research and Religion to prove his point.

     Conspiracy Theories will always exist.  They have always existed.  Pretty sure when old Noah was building his Ark, the Conspiracy Nuts believed he was trying create a naval super power to conquer them all.  The Human Animal is a paranoid, suspicious creature who naturally sees plots and sub plots where there aren't any.  It is like we have this overwhelming need to believe that our lives and our effect on the world around us is somehow dramatic.  We need to be important.

     However, I hold out hope that there will always be other people out there who use reason and intelligence to study the facts of any "Plot" and try to show how unreasonable our fears are.  

End of rant

No child should go hungry.

http://news.yahoo.com/food-workers-fired-mass-students-denied-lunch-235214235.html

     Now this isn't the first time this kind of article has come across my desk.  As it always does, the subject matter stirs mixed emotions inside of me.  I know the arguments for what occurred and the ones against what occurred.  Both sides have some decent points which I will go into momentarily. 

     The subject of the article and the others I mentioned is a group at a school refused to feed a group of children because their lunch card had run to low to allow them to afford the lunch.  The food workers have been fired and the company responsible is working very hard to fix what is obviously a PR nightmare.  

     There are those that will applaud these actions and there are those who will decry the actions.  Those for will argue that no child, regardless of their monetary status, should be allowed to go hungry at school.  It is every child's right to enjoy a decent (Okay decent maybe questionable since we are talking about school lunches here.) lunch no matter the circumstances.  

      The other side objects, usually very loudly.  They argue that giving free lunches to kids who don't have the money is unfair to the parents and families that do pay for their child's meals.  They say that giving free lunches to children only encourages others to cry poverty and try to get the same deal.  Basically they argue that such actions risk turning the Free/Low Cost Lunch Program into a true Welfare program.

   We will deal with the second argument first just because I am feeling contrary tonight.  The only real solid point that the naysayers have is the one about fairness.  In the truest sense of the word, giving something away to some for free that others have to pay for is unfair.  However this only becomes an issue if it is a chronic problem where the same kids keep showing up for lunch and conveniently never having the money to pay.  If the kids regularly pay and are just short on some occasions, then the argument doesn't have as much Omph behind it.  

     The first argument basically calls upon the power of common decency.  Let me state categorically that I feel that NO child should ever go hungry especially if it is within the power of others nearby to give them food.  When I was a young child, we were dirt poor.  We barely had enough food at times to feed ourselves, but I promise you that if anyone had showed up at our door hungry then they would have been fed.  So yes, if a child is hungry and the School has the power to feed them, then they should.  It is the Right thing to do no matter the consequences.

     Of course, I would like to inject an argument that I hardly ever see.  Having worked in School Cafeterias (Both Grade School and College Level) I can promise you that there is always extra food.  No matter how well planned School Menus are and no matter how efficient the preparers are, there is always a significant portion of food left over and discarded at the end of the day.  So there is no monetary reason for the schools to not give a child a lunch when they cannot pay.  (I use this same argument when discussing the massive amounts of food that most eateries throw out at the end of the day that could be donated to Halfway Houses and Homeless Shelters.)

     When all is said and done, I guess the question is this.  Is it better to feed Anyone who is hungry even if they don't have money to pay or refuse to help in the fear that negative consequences may ensue?  Conscience versus Consequences.  I know which one I will choose every time.  How about you?

End of rant

Safari So Goody, My final entry.

     This morning, my faithful guide, Paula and I rose from a brief and fitful slumber well before the sun could make its appearance.  We were beset with mixed feelings about what the day would bring.  This day would end our explorations of the wild and amazing lands that had been our home for the better part of a week.  However it would also mean that we were finally returning to more civilized climes after surviving off foreign and often unidentifiable foods.
     We carefully packed our gear and cleaned up our rough camp as best we could.  Then we met up with our native guide, Megs for the long journey back to the Aerodrome.  Our trusty steed performed as admirably as it had all week and after a grueling trip through the thick underbrush, we arrived well before our flight was scheduled to leave.
     For those who have not yet had the pleasure of traveling by Aeroplane, I highly recommend it.  Soaring well above the land like some exotic bird of prey is the most astounding sensation that I can ever imagine.  Call me foolish and a tad daft, but I truly believe that this primitive form of travel may one day become so popular and so dependable that pretty much everyone will have a chance to enjoy it.
     The flight was remarkably uneventful with nary a sign of engine trouble or foul weather the entire way.  Our flight landed at the closest Aerodrome to our permanent base.  Words cannot describe the sheer joy and exhilaration I felt when my feet once again touched the ground of my homeland.  Nothing can portray the overwhelming peace that I felt.
     We were met by my faithful guide, Paula's Mother because her clan dominates the lands around the Aerodrome.  We stayed long enough at her Parents' dwellings to wish her Mother a Happy Birthday.  After that we mounted our steed and headed back to our permanent camp deep in the heart of Georgia.  There we were greeted by old friends and our menagerie of animals.  We were finally home once more.
     Unfortunately this is but a brief respite.  As chronicled in the earlier parts of this journal, our purpose for traveling to those wild lands was to scout out a new site for the next permanent base camp.  From this new site, we will continue to explore everything we can find and chronicle it for our fellows to study and analyze.  Soon we will pack up our few belongings and make the long overland trek to begin a whole new series of adventures.  I pray that you will follow this adventures as we strike out into the unknown.

End of rant

The Other Side of the Coin

     For those who enjoy my insanity here at SIOTBAA, please feel free to check out my more light hearted Humor/Philosophy blog. 

http://ordinaryjoecoffeewisdom.blogspot.com/2013/04/retail-shock-therapy.html

     It is a little silly and sometimes a lot silly, but I think you'll like it.

Safari So Goody Day...Um I forget.

     After our exhausting trek through the bush yesterday, my faithful guide Paula and I decided that this would be a very good day to stay at base camp and rest up for the rest of this expedition on the morrow.  I figured that the day of rest would give me a chance to catch up on my notes and give my guide a chance to get some much needed and deserved rest.
     Much to my amazement, Paula awoke before me and went in search of forage for us to eat.  She returned with a few bits of bread that she traded a local for and some well cured and very delicious wild pig.  I tried very hard to convey my gratitude despite the language barriers that stand between us.  I am hopeful that my clumsy attempts at thanking her were interpreted correct.
     Now as I sit here trying to organize my notes, I am struck by the extremely militant and often warlike history of this strange land.  Almost every trail or village here bears a name that resounds with the beat of drums and the clash of arms.  Battlefields of almost unimaginable size and devastation dot the landscape and pretty much everyone here has some story about some ancestor that fought there.
     War in any form no matter the justification for it, is a horrible thing.  Brothers fight brothers and man dies by the thousands as blood flows over the trampled earth.  So, if war is so horrible and we fear it so then I have to wonder why we struggle so hard to commemorate so many aspects of it.  We carve monuments to the maimed dead and treat the places where they died with a solemnity that most do not give to places of worship.  If war is so horrible, one might wonder why we try to hard to remember it.
      Part of the answer might lie in the old quote, "Those who do not remember the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them."  Some might argue that we, as a race, are violent and cruel so we honor the scenes of the greatest blood shed  I think the answer might lie in a much simpler direction.
     We remember the wars and the horrible battles that took place as a way of honoring those who fell there.  We carve stone monuments to let us remember that so many sacrificed everything to keep our lands free.  We guard an unnamed tomb to remember that so many never made it back and so many will never be known for their sacrifice.
     In the end, we should never honor war.  War is a bloody and violent thing that any civilized man or woman should always work their hardest to stop from ever happening.  However, we should always do everything we can to remember that when war does come, many good men and women have and will lay down their lives.  WE MUST NEVER FORGET.

End of rant

Safari so goody, Day 3 or "What exactly are we eating again?"

     So as the sun rose over the majestic but oddly uniform horizon and shown down into our rough camp.  My Guide and I awoke to the sound of loud thumping coming from the native dwelling close to our tent.  I am certain that it was some sort of religious ritual because I heard a male voice yelling, "Oh God, Oh God" several times during the whole thing.
     After we had cleaned ourselves up,we broke our morning fast with rough, but filling fair provided by local cooks.  Despite the constant threat of Dysentery that can be caused by eating or drinking items performed under unsanitary conditions, we so far remain healthy.  I pray our luck holds because getting proper food such as Grits and Iced Sweet Tea is practically impossible in this primitive land.
     With the help of our native Guide, Magellan whom we affectionately call Mags, we managed to locate the Native who is helping us study the various native dwellings in the area.  Thus we spent a grueling day cutting our way through the thick undergrowth and observing different crudely built but serviceable huts.  Some had obvious infestations of possible dangerous insects and many others showed the serious effects of the horrendous weather conditions that often occur here.
     By the time we were too exhausted to travel any further, we had studied well over a half dozen native huts and narrowed down the possible sites of our future permanent Base.  Only careful study and pondering will tell us if we can indeed survive in these harsh conditions.  I have high hopes that we can live here as we study the flora and fauna here.  It will not be easy, but should be definitely possible.

Interesting foods, but no robins anywhere

    
As we returned to our temporary base camp, we ate a final meal at a Native's Eatery.  I was disappointed that, despite the name, no actual Robin was offered on the menu of any color.  Still, the food was actually palatable and very filling.  We may return there before we return to our homeland.
     Our return to base took a very long time because so much of the local wildlife was congregated along our path of travel.  I documented Impalas, Jaguars and other animals that seemed to gather together with surprisingly little animosity.  I can only think that the various predators had fed before wandering into the prey animal's territory.
     So now, my faithful guide, Paula and I are resting and planning our next course of action.  We are both exhausted and home sick for the civilized lands, but determined to learn as much as we can about the harsh lands that we will be living in over the next few years.  I remain confident that we shall return home alive.

End of rant

Honor, Courage and Commitment

     As I mentioned in yesterday's blog. Paula and I went to the USMC Museum today.  For anyone who has not been, you should make the effort to go at least once in your life.  It is a sombering and deeply emotional thin to experience.  By the time our tour was done, both of us were close to tears and deeply moved.
     My family has a long tradition of military service ranging from WW I all the through to Afghanistan.  You can hear all the stories but the intensity of it all just doesn't hit you.  It is just stories told about places and events you cannot really understand.  You listen and nod.
     As you walk throughy the museum. you see the actual equipment.se the actual places and hear the stories of the men and women who experienced it often times in their own words.  You walk through the dioramas that show some of the most violent moments of war.  All of these aspects combined should be able to move the hardest souls.
     Then, as if everything you have experienced before wasn't enough. as you are leaving you walk through the 911 display.  You see a chunk of shattered stone taken from the Pentagon.  You see a twisted steel girder from the World Trade Centers.  Finally you pause in front of the thousands of cards filled out by visitors telling where they were and how they felt when the attacks happened.
     Everyone knows, at least on an intellectual level, how much the men and women of our Armed Forces sacrifice to protect us.  Going to this amazing place and experiencing evert part of it will drive it all home physically and spiritually.  If you, make the journey.  It will be worth it.

No End of rant this time, just Semper Fi

Safari So Goody Day Two or "Made his house out of twigs"

     So as the sun rose over our primitive campsite, I ventured out into the wilds to try and find food to break our fast.  I lucked upon a watering hole where I quickly gathered a filling meal of Eggs and Pork.  I returned to our camp in time to find my trusty guide, Paula cleaning the camp and preparing our packs for the continuation of our travels.  We ate quickly and mounted our trust red steed.  I was more excited than the time I had hunted the Dreaded Foo Bird in the Pacific Ocean.
     Our plan was to scout the lay of the land while looking for a good place to set up a permanent Base Camp.  We hoped to search some of the local dwellings for suitable shelter.  The huts here are primitive, but should serve our needs easily enough.  Paula had made arrangements for us to meet with a Local Native Guide who claimed that she could help us locate suitable lodgings.

You could almost sense the sheer power of the structure.

         As we traveled along a fairly well beaten game trail that I hoped would lead to our new Guide's Village, I spotted a magnificent structure looking above the jungle tree tops.  As always, my faithful guide Paula was versed in the local tribal lore. She told me that the ancient temple was a holy site built to honor the Elite Warriors of the Local Tribes.  She told me that these "Devil Dogs" (Which oddly enough weren't dogs at all.) were feared and respected across the globe and were some of the fiercest warriors that jungles had ever seen.  I hope to arrange permission with the local Chieftains to actually visit the site one day.
     Our meeting with our native guide went very well.  Despite the rough terrain and occasionally unfriendly natives, she was able to show us many rude but serviceable huts that could very well serve as our permanent base.  We had hoped to visit more structures, but with the weather turning foul and Paula feeling the effects of the jungle, we decided to return to our original camp and get some rest.  These harsh environs can easily drain the very life out of you if you aren't careful.
     Come the Sunrise, we intend to set out on our own to explore more of this strange new land.  We have made arrangements to meet again with the native guide on the day after, but any seasoned explorer knows that sometimes you have better luck setting out on your own and seeing where the winds and trails take you.
     I will make further entries into my journal when (And possibly if) we return from our exploration tomorrow.

End of rant

Merging Issues

     So as we are driving to meet our new Realtor, we run into a major bottleneck on the highway.  As we inch along, I notice signs on both sides of the lanes that read "Left Lane Closed, Merge right" with diminishing distance markers that start at 2000 feet.  The whole time we are moving forward, I see dozens of cars racing along the left hand lane (You know, the one that is ending?  So when we finally reach where the lane ends, you have a line of vehicles a half mile long with their right blinkers flashing trying to cross over into the other lanes.  These lanes are full because the idiots ignored the signs and are now trying to change lanes.
     This is hardly the first time I have seen this and it always amazes me.  IF these drivers had just changed lanes back when the signs first showed up, there would have been less congestion.  Everyone would have made it to their destination much sooner.  However, the drivers rushed down the "faster" lane (Faster because more sensible drivers had already moved over a lane or two) because they could get ahead of everyone else.  So out of their own sense of urgency, they inconvenienced pretty much everyone else.
     Like I said, this is hardly the first time I have seen this happen and I really think that it all goes back to the incredible sense of entitlement that a lot of people have where they believe that their needs and desires are more important than everyone else.  THEY have to get to work or some other destination so THEY have the right to break the rules and ignore the laws.  Never mind that pretty much everyone else has the exact same need.
     I read in the news feeds every now and then how some person has injured workers or emergency personnel because they ignored signs, flags etc.  The excuse that almost always shows up is "Well, I was in a hurry and Needed to get somewhere."  The laws and regulations don't apply to them because their need is more important than other people's.
     I sometimes wonder exactly where this nearly maniac sense of entitlement that so many people feel has come from.  How did we, as a race and a culture, become so obsessive that we truly feel that our rights are more important than our fellows?  I see this Shift going on all around me and I just don't understand.
     No Individual's rights and needs are more important than others.  Maybe some people want that to be true, but it isn't.  Unless you are transporting someone who's arm has just been severed in a freak salad shooter accident, you aren't entitled to cut in line.  Unless you are rushing to disarm a Gazillion Mega-Ton Whoopie Cushion, you aren't allowed to swerve around road blocks or ignore flag waving type people.
     As I point out in my book, Driving is one of the few areas where practicing your inner Ass is not a good thing.  Try to be considerate of others out there.  Obey the laws and signage so that everyone arrives at their destination a little earlier and a lot safer. 

End of rant

Magic happens here

When I was  kid some of the things that so many people take for granted weren't even within the realm of fantasy.  Miracles that people use every single day without thinking would have been considered some form of magic.  Great examples of this are ultra thin portable computers and wireless phones that do more than mainframe computers did thirty years ago.

A good example of this is the device I hold in my hands to make this post.  It stores hundreds of books electronically, plays music and allows me to surf and post to the internet.  All this is done on a gadget the size of an old Readers Digest.  If you had tried to convince someone this was possible even tw odecades ago then they would probably have laughed at you or thought you were nuts.

So myy Kindle which even the most advanced model is proof that technology still has more than a few surprises left for the world.  I personally cannot wait to see what is next.  The mind boggles.

End of...well a non Rant