COMensarations
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Be Prepared II
A Summer book reading list.
Books are great things to learn from. Even some of the fictional material can be highly useful. Especially if the writer has a technological or historical accuracy gene that is dominant.
Here are some things I recommend, if you have a mind to know what might happen if the bird flu jumps to humans....
First off, I recommend some historical background.
I think Tuchmann does a good job with history. However, in her tome A Distant Mirror: The Calamatous 14th Century, she’s VERY ‘dry’. She spends a lot of time talking about things that occured there—plague, schizims, revolt—through the perceptions of a mid-level noble; a count. [Note: The Dukes and above were high-level ones. Knights were low-level, in my opinion.]
However, her discriptions of the impact of the plague and how it swept across Europe in successive waves was insightful. The other historical aspects are interesting as well.
Then there is the novel by Camus, The Plague. It’s a classic. It’s rather ‘dry’ too. But the important message is that just doing your job, especially if your job is important to maintaining the fabric of society, is what one needs to focus on most. [Note: More on this aspect and where one finds the courage to do such things in such times later.]
Additionally, for those who want more action in their readings, we have Tom Clancy’s Executive Orders. This one gives you an idea of how the government might respond to a plague of the nature we’re thinking could happen over the next year or so. Not to mention the usual dose of interesting information about various aspects of our modern world and a thriller, to boot.
Personally, I think Clancy is darn near prescient. His book, Debt of Honor, which was published in ‘94, seems to have been the inspiration for 9/11. I would not put it past our friends in the Middle East to be following up his sequel to the two-part thriller, Executive Orders, now that they’ve got a new toy to play with.
I’m sure there are some other books out there that would be useful. If you know of some, please pass their titles and authors along in the Comments section.
Next entry: A Strange Disability Previous entry: Gotta Dance!-
Kind of surpising. You find Camus “dry”, but Tom Clancy seems to arouse you. I’ve just finished a couple that you might wish to append to your list of musts.
“Jesus Is Not A Republican”
“The Republican War On Science”I won’t bore you with a long-winded discussion here but you can read my reviews of these, and others, in forthcoming editions of The Match!
on 03/22 at 09:52 AM -
TO: Ape Danziger
RE: Different Strokes“You find Camus “dry”, but Tom Clancy seems to arouse you.”—Ape Danziger
Camus’ The Plague was like Sinclair Lewis reporting on the Black Death, a la Babbitt. At least to me when I first cracked the book open. But that was decades ago. My tastes may have changed enough since then that I’ll find it more interesting on another go-round.
RE: Good Books
“I’ve just finished a couple that you might wish to append to your list of musts.
“Jesus Is Not A Republican”
“The Republican War On Science””—Ape DanzigerNot sure what those would do to help people get a handle on what might transpire if Bird Flu goes human-y-human and ballistic.
“...you can read my reviews of these, and others, in forthcoming editions of The Match!”—Ape Danziger
And where might I find The Match?
Regards,
Chuck(le)
on 03/22 at 03:31 PM -
Try
The Match!
PO Box 3012
Tucson, AZ 85702Subscription free, but donations cheerfully accepted.
on 03/22 at 05:36 PM -
I don’t think Chuckles is hard-wired to savor the finer passages of existentialist literature. His taste runs to the pedestrian action novels of Mr. Clancy and his ilk, who, like Ludlum, write like they’re composing screenplays for pubescent boys. But then again, given Chuckles’ fondness for playing war, it’s not surprising. Most of us gave up re=enacting Pork Chop Hill in about sixth grade. Not so Chuckles. He’s still enthralled with anything having to do with death and destruction, particularly when it’s being inflicted in the name of Jesus on the “infidel” and low-life “terrorists” who don’t appreciate “freedom” as expressed in the diktats of der Patriot Akt. Give up, Ape, he’s rather hopeless. Charmingly out-or sync with the world, but hopeless.
on 03/22 at 05:54 PM -
Far more intriguing than Clancy’s fictionalized bio-terrorism are the accounts presented in the following non-fiction works:
Rats, Lice and History, by Hans Zinsser
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
The Black Death by Robert Gottfried
The Plague Makers by Jeffrey Fisher and
Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC by McCormick & Fisher-HochEnjoy, tovarich.
Makhno
on 03/22 at 06:48 PM -
TO: Ape Danziger
RE: The Match!Hey!
Are you that guy makhno used to mention? The co-author of some volitile mag from the good-ole bad-ole days of the late 60s/early 70s?
Regards,
Chuck(le)
on 03/23 at 11:51 AM -
TO: makhno
RE: Wired for Sound“I don’t think Chuckles is hard-wired to savor the finer passages of existentialist literature.”—makhno
Probably accurate there, compadre. Indeed, I don’t believe I’m ‘hard-wired’ for anything.
RE: Reading Habits
“His taste runs to the pedestrian action novels of Mr. Clancy and his ilk, who, like Ludlum, write like they’re composing screenplays for pubescent boys.”—makhno
Yeah…
...along with Fahrenbach, Tuchmann, Canton, Devlin, Keagan and such other historians. I don’t think I’ve read a single Ludlum book.
I readily confess to an interest in military history. I suspect it had something to do with my chosen profession.
I like Clancy because he affords glimpses into other aspects of contemporary life. For instance, consider Debt of Honor; the stock market, nuclear delivery systems, the modus operandi of the B2 Spirit, etc., etc,. Not to forget it’s being the inspiration for 9/11. Then there is Executive Orders, which does a good job of explaining how the Secret Service protects the president, biowar weapons development and the way the US Army fought Gulf War II. And it was written in ‘96.
RE: Lower Life Forms
“He’s still enthralled with anything having to do with death and destruction, particularly when it’s being inflicted in the name of Jesus on the “infidel” and low-life “terrorists” who don’t appreciate “freedom” as expressed in the diktats of der Patriot Akt.”—makhno
Not so much ‘enthrall’ to it. Rather, cognizant of it. Com’on. You know me. You know I was everything from a mere rifleman in a squad of paratroopers to a G3 deep-targeting cell chief, i.e., prepared to call down nukes on the Sovs. It’s a rather wide gamet. And rather interesting, too. Why shouldn’t I be ‘interested’?
As a politico-activist, albeit of the M-L form, you still tend towards your youthful interests. And you damn me for mine?
Besides, just to remind you, I frequently admit to being a lower-life-form myself. A ‘grunt’.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
on 03/23 at 12:03 PM -
TO: makhno
RE: Good Books“Rats, Lice and History, by Hans Zinsser
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
The Black Death by Robert Gottfried
The Plague Makers by Jeffrey Fisher and
Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC by McCormick & Fisher-Hoch”—makhnoI think I’ve already read the Gottfried item. Along with several others, to include Tuchmann’s A Distant Mirror.
As for Zinsser, I would think we might do him one better with Geese, Fecees and Future History.
In case you’ve forgotten, my undergrad work was microbiology, with an emphasis in epidemiology. I was going the pre-med route, but discovered, around ‘73, that my skin color was something of a deterrent to my getting accepted into Med School.
So, I fell back on an old and learned profession....defending the Constitution of the United States, against ALL enemies; foreign AND ‘domestic’.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
on 03/23 at 12:08 PM -
Uh huh. What about the Constitutional provision that gives one the right to confront one’s accusers and to a fair trial by one’s own peers? What about the Constitutional provision that protects one agains unreasonable searches and seizures? Your President is an enemy of both of those provisions. He has imprisoned, indefinitely, uncharged, untried, unconvicted “suspects” without allowing them a lawyer, a trial, or justice. He has used the NSA to spy on U.S. citizens within the borders of the U.S., in violation of law. He has invaded a foreign country illegally, in violation of international lw, in an unprovoked act of aggression. He is trying to set up a puppet regime there, following the style of the Soviet overlords who took over eastern Europe after WWII. And now he has created a “doctrine” that justifies “pre-emptive war,” a doctrine that would justify everything from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (I thought that day was supposed to live in “infamy;” now it’s just a case of the Japanese “pre-emptively” striking a war fleet that “threatened” their “national security”) to the invasion of Poland in ‘39. Too bad all those dead sailors on the Arizona were just “collateral damage,” to borrow another obscene euphemism from your glorious leader. If you are “protecting” the Constitution, Chyckie, you’ve failed, miserably. That asshole in the White House is still alive. Go shoot him.
on 03/23 at 01:04 PM -
With regard to Tom Clancy, why would anyone want to read his stale stuff when there’s John LeCarre to enjoy? Try his latest, Absolute Friends. Now there’s a scenario that is credible, plausible, believable. And he didn’t have to unleash a plague, fly a plane into the capitol building, or detonate an atomic bomb at the Superbowl to hold my attention. Clancy always writes as though he thinks his stuff is going to be made into a movie. Le Carre writes as though he enjoys using and exploring language, and his characters are not the flag-waving jingoists Clancy so much admires.
on 03/23 at 01:14 PM -
RE: history.
There is only one accaptable history, and it was written by Oswald Spengler.
on 03/23 at 01:15 PM -
TO: makhno
RE: Why Clancy?“With regard to Tom Clancy, why would anyone want to read his stale stuff when there’s John LeCarre to enjoy?”—makhno
Didn’t I explain that earlier? Soemthing about insights into realms of reality we generally do not come in contact with?
RE: His Latest
“Try his latest, Absolute Friends. Now there’s a scenario that is credible, plausible, believable.”—makhno
I’ll take that into consideration, as I’m about to run out the Ryan series of Clancy.
RE: What is Believable?
“Now there’s a scenario that is credible, plausible, believable. And he didn’t have to unleash a plague, fly a plane into the capitol building, or detonate an atomic bomb at the Superbowl to hold my attention.”—makhno
As for ‘believability’, when has anyone emmulated LeCarre....to the point of killing several thousand ACTUAL human beings?
As I said earlier, I think Clancy’s Debt of Honor was the inspiration for 9/11. The man is prescient, I tellz ya.
RE: The Literary Technique
“Clancy always writes as though he thinks his stuff is going to be made into a movie.”—makhno
I disagree. I think he writes as he sees fit and Hollywood follows, accordingly.
Unfortunately, some others follow as well.
RE: Language v. Reality
“Le Carre writes as though he enjoys using and exploring language, and his characters are not the flag-waving jingoists Clancy so much admires.”—makhno
Wake me when someone successfully puts into effect some plan Le Carre comes up with. Well...at least on a par with how Osama implemented a plan proposed by Clancy in his book Debt of Honor.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
on 03/23 at 01:41 PM -
TO: makhno
RE: Enemies“Uh huh. What about the Constitutional provision that gives one the right to confront one’s accusers and to a fair trial by one’s own peers?”—makhno
That applies to citizens, compadre. Not ‘illegal combatants’.
RE: Unreasonable Searches & Seizures
“What about the Constitutional provision that protects one agains unreasonable REsearches and seizures?”—makhno
That too, applies ot citizens.
RE: The President
“Your President is an enemy of both of those provisions.”—makhno
You’ve yet to prove that particular case (see above).
RE: He Has…
“He has imprisoned, indefinitely, uncharged, untried, unconvicted “suspects” without allowing them a lawyer, a trial, or justice.”—makhno
Actually, I’ve followed this rather closely over the last few months. Seems that this issue is part of the current high school debate topics. And, believe me, high school students are doing a better job than you are of arguing this particular point.
RE: The NSA
“He has used the NSA to spy on U.S. citizens within the borders of the U.S., in violation of law.”—makhno
What does “NSA” stand for? Anything to do with “national security”? Perhaps? And, please, be specific. WHAT ‘law’ has he violated?
RE: INVASION!
“He has invaded a foreign country illegally, in violation of international lw, in an unprovoked act of aggression.”—makhno
I do believe that the Congress approved his actions, prior to their implementation.
RE: Puppets
“He is trying to set up a puppet regime there, following the style of the Soviet overlords who took over eastern Europe after WWII.”—makhno
Is this anything like the ‘puppet’ regimes we set up in Germany and Japan after the Second World War?
Interesting how those became successful governments in their own right. Neh?
RE: Doctrines
“And now he has created a “doctrine” that justifies “pre-emptive war,” a doctrine that would justify everything from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (I thought that day was supposed to live in “infamy;” now it’s just a case of the Japanese “pre-emptively” striking a war fleet that “threatened” their “national security”) to the invasion of Poland in ‘39.”—makhne
Yeah. Just like the Monroe Doctrine.
However, unlike the Japanese. We tend to ‘telegraph’ our intentions, prior to actually making a strike.
Personally, I’m in favor of acting in a ‘pre-emptive’ manner. However, I caveat that with telling some dictator—and the people he rules over—we’ll take him down, probasbly much to the delight of ‘his’, i.e., the people we’re going to act.
I recall a report from an Iranian college student, shortly after the fall of Hussein in Iraq....
...graffiti on a wall....
....Freedom through American boots!
RE: Arizonans
“Too bad all those dead sailors on the Arizona were just “collateral damage,” to borrow another obscene euphemism from your glorious leader.”—makhno
Hardly ‘collateral damage’. I honor them every day I have reason to reflect on them.
And not only them, but every Marine who fell in the assault on Guadelcanal, Tarawa, Iwo Jima. Not to forget my comrades-in-arms who died in Normandy, Holland, the Bulge, Nam, Grenada, Panama, Iran, etc., etc., etc.
Everyone of them gave more for me and for you than either of us put together. Just so we could have this engaging conversation.
And thank you for giving me the occasion to remember them on THIS day.
RE: US Army Protection Service
“If you are “protecting” the Constitution, Chyckie, you’ve failed, miserably. That asshole in the White House is still alive. Go shoot him.”—makhno
Actually....
....the obligation is to shoot neither he nor you.
You’re entitled to your opinion. He is entitled to his. The disparity is that he seems to have more authority than you do, at the moment. And, as long as such authority is legitimately held....he’s ‘entitled’.
However, if you get yourself elected to his office, you’ll receive the same respect I afford him; Commander-in-Chief and all that rot, if you will. Heck....I even gave Clinton that respect.
I suspect it has something to do with stepping out of my personal ‘reality’ and recognizing that there is an authority greater than myself. Apparently not many people are willing to accept that sort of situation. You’re a prime example of that.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
on 03/23 at 02:06 PM -
Chuck, you and I will never agree on this, but I will point out that simply reclassifying a citizen as an “enemy combatant” is a cynical and criminal evasion of responsibility. You and I both know that the Patriot Act gives the President the authority to reclassify ANY citizen as an “enemy combatant.” Read the actual provisions. Moreover, such a reclassification cannot be appealed.
Hitler, too, stripped elements of the German population of citizenship as a “legal” first step to depriving them of their rights.
But even if the President did have the Constitutional authority to do what he’s doing, it would still be hypocritical of him to pretend he is advancing “freedom” and “democracy,” when he is doing precisely the opposite. The rest of the world is not blind – they see America bragging shamelessly that it is still a land of “liberty,” while its behavior belies any such claim. The arrogant attitude of this government, coupled with its belief that core values can be crammed wholesale down the throats of the uncooperative, via force; and the concomitant expectation that the world will thereby miraculously be transformed into an earthly paradise is not just naive – it is altogether stupid.
None of this makes the least impression on you, for you have it in your head that Iraq had something to do with the September 11 attacks, which it didn’t; and that Saddam Hussein constituted an immediate and dire threat to the united States, when he didn’t; and that the best way to “defend” liberty is to strip the Constitution of its teeth, and to define away all the protections that said Constitution once guaranteed, with the simple expedient of redefining who is a citizen and who isn’t.
I would point out that a prior document, the Declaration of Independence, does not make clever distinctions between “citizens” and “non-citizens.” It speaks of human rights, and attributes those rights equally to all men, irrespective of place or time.
In giving the President the authority to declare anyone a non-citizen, to label anyone as an “enemy combatant,” is equivalent to giving him the absolute power over granting or rescinding legal rights, and this is precisely the kind of despotism, tyranny and dictatorship that prompted the American Revolution. The President is not entitled, Constitutionally, to behave as a dictator. And yet he arrogates the “right” to decide at whim whether I am an American citizen or not?
Your defense of George W. Bush is so fraught with equivocations, rationalizations, and attempts to redefine core concepts, that I doubt that you will ever come to your senses. Unless there is an objective measure of what, exactly constitutes a “terrorist,” and unless accusations that one is a “terrorist” are transparent to inspection and open investigation, and unless the accused has a right to defend himself and to be defended in fair trial, and insofar as only the Chief Executive needs to decide who is and who is not a terrorist, without any appeal from his edict, without any review, then tyranny, not liberty, will be the state of affairs under which we labor.
The Founders – Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Paine, et al. – would be so horrified to see how your President has circumvented the law in annoiting himself Emperor that they would call for his immediate liquidation. George Bush does not – cannot, by the acts he is committing – have any accurate conception of political liberty. Your willingness and complicity in redefining terms – eloquently conceptualized by Orwell when he talked about Newspeak and the Memory Hole – is perhaps the most incomprehensible aspect of all this. to eye on this, but I will point out
on 03/23 at 02:33 PM -
Anyway, nice chatting with you again. For now, Makhno has spoken. He has a life to live and tasks to complete.
Adios.
on 03/23 at 02:37 PM -
TO: makhno
RE: Reclassification“...you and I will never agree on this, but I will point out that simply reclassifying a citizen as an “enemy combatant” is a cynical and criminal evasion of responsibility.”—makhno
Probably not, considering you have a vastly different definition of ‘citizen’ than I do.
A ‘citizen’ is readily identifiable. You should know the laws on this as well as I do.
As for ‘enemy combatant’, you should know the law on this as well as I do. However, there is a distinct possiblity you might not. On the other hand, I know it VERY WELL. Something to do with nearly 30 years ‘in harness’ vis-a-vis a grunt in the Army; enlisted as well as commissioned.
Then there is the other class. A class you failed to mention, i.e., ‘illegal combatants’.
There is no law addressing them, as far as I’ve been informed. Maybe you can correct me. However, considering a number of factors I’ve understood, I have my doubts. But, you have been know to surprise me on occasion.
RE: The Proverbial ‘Hitler’ Comparison
“Hitler, too, stripped elements of the German population of citizenship as a “legal” first step to depriving them of their rights.”—makhno
Actually, Hitler stripped Hebrew citizens of Germany of their right to own weapons with which they could defend themselves. Hitler did not strip other German citizens of owning weapons, as far as I can deterimne.
I’m still waiting for you to provide evidence that President Bush has done the same.
RE: The Declaration of Independence vis-a-vis the Constitution
“I would point out that a prior document, the Declaration of Independence, does not make clever distinctions between “citizens” and “non-citizens.””—makhno
Good point. Which document provides the basis for our current form of governance? The Declaration of Independence? Or the Constitution of the United States?
RE: Lasting Impressions
“None of this makes the least impression on you, for you have it in your head that Iraq had something to do with the September 11 attacks, which it didn’t; and that Saddam Hussein constituted an immediate and dire threat to the united States, when he didn’t; and that the best way to “defend” liberty is to strip the Constitution of its teeth, and to define away all the protections that said Constitution once guaranteed, with the simple expedient of redefining who is a citizen and who isn’t.”—makhno
Actually...everything makes an ‘impression’ on me. Sad that you can’t grasp that idea.
As for Saddam Hussein’s import, I’m still watching that. Is he dead yet?
RE: Stripping the Constitution
On the contrary. I think the Constitution needs MORE ‘teeth’. More tools the people can legitimately call upon to defend themselves against the averice of government.
I suspect that primary difference between the two of us is a willingness to deal directly with the issues involved here. I’ve been willing to lay down my life for yours and the defense of the ideals of the Founding Fathers. I am of the same opinion today.
What have you done for ME, lately?
Regards,
Chuck(le)
on 03/23 at 03:12 PM -
“Which document provides the basis for our current form of governance? The Declaration of Independence? Or the Constitution of the United States?”
Neither one. Especially since your President has no regard for the latter.
“Actually, Hitler stripped Hebrew citizens of Germany of their right to own weapons with which they could defend themselves.”
What I was referring to, Chuck was the fact that Jews were stripped of German citizenship as well. They were barred from most occupations, barred from holding passports, barred from the universities. What I actually stated, and what you are responding to, are two different things. I am not talking about gun ownership. I am talking about citizenship. The Patriot Act specifically gives the President the power to nullify your citizenship or mine, without judicial review, simply be declaring us “enemy aliens.” The point I was making, and I fail to see how I could have stated it any more clearly, is not that there is no distinction between a citizen and an enemy combattant, but that the power to define who is which is now given exclusively to the President.
“The Proverbial ‘‘Hitler’’ Comparison “
Yes, Hitler is an overused point of comparison, but in this case, if the shoe fits, wear it.
“Hitler did not strip other German citizens of owning weapons, as far as I can determine. . . I’m still waiting for you to provide evidence that President Bush has done the same. “
Where in my post did I ever talk about stripping “other German citizens of weapons?” You remind me of Bush – when he’s asked a direct, unambiguous question in a press conference, he answers an imaginary question that exists in his own mind and nowhere else.
“I suspect that primary difference between the two of us is a willingness to deal directly with the issues involved here. I’’ve been willing to lay down my life for yours and the defense of the ideals of the Founding Fathers. I am of the same opinion today. What have you done for ME, lately?”In the first place, Chuck, I never asked you or anyone else to “lay down his life” for me. That you freely and voluntarily took on that task, unbidden, is no entitlement to reciprocity, any more than if I were to show up uninvited at your house tonight, paint it chartreuse, and bill you for it in the morning. Your understanding of the “ideals of the Founding Fathers” is essentially flawed, as you fail to acknowledge that most of them were not even Christians, and not a few of them were flatly opposed to Christianity. If you’d ever bothered to inform yourself with respect to those “ideals” by actually reading the collected works of Jefferson or Paine, you’d know this. Your understanding of American history is shallow and superficial. As long as you want to inflict guilt trips by beating your military chest, let’s try this one out on you: I have ancestors, on both sides of my family, who fought the British in the Revolutionary War. One, Michael Roseberry, was hanged by the British in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, for attempting to get one Colonel Proctor’s men to defect to the rebels. What has your family done to contribute to the victory of the Continental Army?
So don’t pull that “I’m so much better than thou” bullshit on me simply because you wore a uniform. To me, that is an indication of severe retardation, not of honor.
on 03/23 at 03:59 PM -
TO: makhno
RE: Neither?“Neither one. Especially since your President has no regard for the latter.”—makhno
Interesting.
I know a number of high school debators that would like to contend that idea with you.
More on the rest of your most recent comment, later....
...I’m trying to prepare supper—rotissairie chicken with rosemary and garlic. And I need to pay attention to that at the momemt. No offense, I hope....
Regards,
Chuck(le)
on 03/23 at 04:06 PM -
P.S. I’m hardly ‘better than you’. Indeed, I think you’re more important that I am.
I’m just ‘different’....
on 03/23 at 04:07 PM -
P.P.S. Just as something of a clue.....
....do you recall what my Boss said? Something about, “Greater love hath no man than he who will lay down his life for a friend.”
You’re a great guy, compadre. Confused? You betcha. But no more so than I am.
It’s a paradox....
[For the power of paradox opens your eyes and blinds those who say they can see.—Michael Card, God’s Own Fool]
on 03/23 at 04:44 PM -
Chuck, when you say “What have you done for ME, lately?” and capitalize the “ME,” as you did, after insinuating that being willing to lay down your life for another makes you more valorous, you belie your motives. Your “altruism” becomes, in fact, a most selfish act inasmuch as you expect reciprocity and express astonishment when it has not been forthcoming. The nature of true compassion is the opposite: it is a willingness to sacrifice on behalf of others without expectation of reward.
But that’s just the moral analysis. In reality, what I have “done for you” lately is precisely this: I have paid taxes to support you. You, as military man, are entitled to a pension and free medical care for life at the V.A. Hospital of your choice. Who the hell do you think foots the bill for that? I find your arrogance rather typical of the military mentality. Soldiers always bray about how noble and self-sacrificing they are, but turn your back and they are molesting prisoners with dogs, making crude jokes about the civilians whom they are sworn to “serve,” or, like you, are complaining that their friends are not lying down on the road like cordwood for them to run over.
I thought you had better manners than that.
After alluding to an issue which I never even brought up (i.e., gun ownership in Nazi Germany), you fault me for failing to “prove” something which I never claimed to be a fact. You said: “I’m still waiting for you to provide evidence that President Bush has done the same.” This was approximately a half hour after I made whatever remark it was that you were trying to respond to.
Well, Chuck, I’ve been waiting THREE YEARS to a response from you to the question “Where are the weapons of mass destruction?”
Enjoy your chicken. Try rubbing some frest cracked black pepper into the skin al,ong with the garlic and rosemary. Use a little olive oil to help seal in the juices.
on 03/24 at 07:57 AM -
Chuck -
It sounds to me that you should forego Tom Clancy and perhaps delve a little more deeply into the thought of some of the great philosophers. Norman Vincent Peale should be about right for you.
With regard to your viewing and movie tastes, I’m sure you could find a buyer on e-Bay for that massive collection of excerpts from “The Big Picture”.
on 03/24 at 09:18 AM -
TO: makhno & Bruno Jorquera
RE: Not Ignoring YouJust been more busy than I care for today....
...including the SUV full of women and children that wound up upside down on my lawn after being smacked broadside for what amounted to ‘running a stop sign’.
Fortunately, no serious injuries as the kids were all strapped into their car seats. Gross injuries amounted to some bad cuts that got blood all over the sidewalk....just in time for Movie Nite.
More tomorrow....
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. An people wonder why I like to ‘be prepared’. Didn’t even have to look. Heard the crunch and crash sounds and immediately dialed 911.on 03/24 at 06:40 PM -
TO: makhno
RE: RepliesChuck, when you say “What have you done for ME, lately?” and capitalize the “ME,” as you did, after insinuating that being willing to lay down your life for another makes you more valorous, you belie your motives. Your “altruism” becomes, in fact, a most selfish act inasmuch as you expect reciprocity and express astonishment when it has not been forthcoming.
I don’t recall asking you to do the same for me when I raised my right hand and swore back in 1970. Heck we didn’t even know each other than.
The nature of true compassion is the opposite: it is a willingness to sacrifice on behalf of others without expectation of reward.
Hey! What did I just say? Thanks for the compliment....at last. It’s better than what those cretins from CPT did for their rescuers last week.
But that’s just the moral analysis. In reality, what I have “done for you” lately is precisely this: I have paid taxes to support you. You, as military man, are entitled to a pension and free medical care for life at the V.A. Hospital of your choice. Who the hell do you think foots the bill for that?
Wrongo, compadre. I donn get no money nor medical beenies.
I find your arrogance rather typical of the military mentality. Soldiers always bray about how noble and self-sacrificing they are, but turn your back and they are molesting prisoners with dogs, making crude jokes about the civilians whom they are sworn to “serve,” or, like you, are complaining that their friends are not lying down on the road like cordwood for them to run over.
They may bray. They’ve got the right.
As for the cretins in the ranks. Well...there are cretins everywhere. Even amongst the so-called ‘pacifists’.
However, when discovered, we tend to clean ours out better than a lot of others.
I thought you had better manners than that.
I think we’ve got a good gauge of each others ‘manners’ compadre. «nudge-nudge, wink-wink».
After alluding to an issue which I never even brought up (i.e., gun ownership in Nazi Germany), you fault me for failing to “prove” something which I never claimed to be a fact. You said: “I’m still waiting for you to provide evidence that President Bush has done the same.” This was approximately a half hour after I made whatever remark it was that you were trying to respond to.
Let’s see here....
You were the first one to bring up Hitler when you said....
“Hitler, too, stripped elements of the German population of citizenship as a “legal” first step to depriving them of their rights.”—makhno, 3/23 at 02:33 PM
Gun ownership IS a ‘right’ here. I’ve seen it. Hence my mentioning of it as a right vis-a-vis your argument.
I could have left the “still” off in my reply. But it’s of little consequence.
Well, Chuck, I’ve been waiting THREE YEARS to a response from you to the question “Where are the weapons of mass destruction?”
Tomorrow, compadre. Tomorrow....
Enjoy your chicken. Try rubbing some frest cracked black pepper into the skin al,ong with the garlic and rosemary. Use a little olive oil to help seal in the juices.
I think the blend from Sam’s Club does include a good dose of pepper. Maybe not frest, but good enough.
It came out superbly.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. Still and all........would you care to get back ON-TOPIC here? And save the OFF-TOPIC diatribes for places better suited? Say a topic to show up tomorrow?
on 03/25 at 10:23 AM -
TO: Bruno Jorquera
RE: That’s Entertainment“It sounds to me that you should forego Tom Clancy and perhaps delve a little more deeply into the thought of some of the great philosophers. Norman Vincent Peale should be about right for you.”—Bruno Jorquera
About the closest I’ve come to the Masons is to watch National Treasure. Besides, I get better inspiration from my comrades-in-arms and comrades-in-Christ, i.e., those I know and trust, than I can get from people I don’t know all that well.
I’m confident that you’re of a similar opinion. Neh?
“With regard to your viewing and movie tastes, I’m sure you could find a buyer on e-Bay for that massive collection of excerpts from “The Big Picture”.”—Bruno Jorquera
Don’t have that series yet. But we are watching Victory at Sea. Just got the series on DVD. Doing a episode a night, along with an episode of Cheers, Hill Street Blues, followed by a movie. Last night, Movie Nite was James Cagney in One, Two, Three.
We gave up on television back in ‘98. Now we’re expanding our collection of DVDs.
Hope that helps....
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Television is educational. Whenever someone turns one on, I go read a good book.—Groucho Marx]on 03/25 at 10:35 AM -
P.S. If that quip about The Big Picture is supposed to be some kinda ‘insult’, I’ve got another book for you to add to your reading list....
The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Pay particular attention to that business about “Know your enemy....” you could learn something there, I’m thinking.....
on 03/25 at 05:24 PM -
Of course I’m familiar with SunTzu. I was just wondering if you were able to tape all of those patriotic excerpts from “The Big Picture” back during your formative years. I recall that everyone was concerned about the Red Menace back then. Now, the fear being pandered by our “leaders” is centered upon “terrorism”.
I know my enemy. It is “law enforcement”. They are certainly not here (and everywhere else) to protect me, or you, but only to further the nefarious interests of the statists and the corporatists. Bring back the “Peace Officers”!!!
on 03/25 at 05:55 PM -
TO: Bruno Jorquera
RE: Sun Tzu“Of course I’m familiar with SunTzu.”—Bruno Jorquera
Good on you. Now, it just remains that you re-read those passages about ‘know your enemy’.
RE: Taping
“I was just wondering if you were able to tape all of those patriotic excerpts from “The Big Picture” back during your formative years.”—Bruno Jorquera
Lessee here. The Big Picture was available when? The 1950s? VHS tape recording tech was available at the consumer-level when? The 1980s?
I wish I HAD had that tech 30 years before it became available for everyone. Either that or the dollars to own the tech that WAS available in the ‘50s. I’d be a wealthy man today.
RE: The ‘Red’ Menace vs. the Current Menace; I Guess It’s a ‘Green’ Menace Now
“I recall that everyone was concerned about the Red Menace back then. Now, the fear being pandered by our “leaders” is centered upon “terrorism”.”—Bruno Jorquera
And before then it was the ‘Yellow’ Peril. Funny...isn’t it how we were warned about it by some people like Jack London, and yet we really didn’t pay much heed to it, until one find Sunday morning in December.
The perils only change their nature. They never really go away.
And as for ‘pandering’ the current menace, I’ll bet you’re a 9/11 denier.
RE: Knowing Your Enemy
“I know my enemy. It is “law enforcement”. They are certainly not here (and everywhere else) to protect me, or you, but only to further the nefarious interests of the statists and the corporatists. Bring back the “Peace Officers”!!!”—Bruno Jorquera
The way you were coming across, I thought that vaunted appellation was mine.
Now, I can agree with you on how too many of them are in the business to serve and protect themselves. We see it all too often. However, there ARE some that do a pretty fair job at what they should do. Met a couple of them the other day as they attended to that traffic accident that put a Cheve Blazor full of kids on it’s top at my ‘doorstep’.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
on 03/26 at 08:21 AM -
It’s tomorrow. I’m still waiting.
on 03/27 at 06:48 AM -
TO: makhno
RE: Target Fixation?“It’s tomorrow. I’m still waiting.”—makhno
Check out yesterday’s more topical entry on the main level.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
on 03/27 at 08:24 AM