Alien Friends

To all my loyal alien readers:

This is to inform you that there is new content on the page to which only you have permitted access.

Snakfrug zimurgarb gobshi.

gryphon

Alterations

As I sat upon the toilet the first wave of mind-graying bowel contractions struck and I was left mute as the universe folded in upon itself and became reversed.  When the contractions subsided I became aware that the seams of the universe had been poorly stitched.  During the second wave, I sent it back to the tailor for alterations.

If it turns out to be an improvement, you have me to thank.

and we thank you for your support.

g

A God Unto Ourselves

Our state government is potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or ill, it teaches the whole people by example. [Immorality], as such, is contagious. If the State becomes [immoral], it breeds contempt for [morality]; it invites every man to become a [god] unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare, as here that in the administration of justice [that] the end justifies the means is to declare [that the State is superior in morality to the citizens who give it substance and meaning]. (1)

“Crime”, “lawbreaker”, “law”, and “law” are the four respective words that are replaced in the brackets above and highlighted in bold.

I chose to replace the words relating to Law with those of Morality with a lot of forethought.  It was not a decision that came lightly.  There is a danger when relating Laws of the State to Laws of Morality.  The danger is that it is a small step to stating that we can legislate morality as freely as we can legislate traffic laws.  But, under the United States system of justice, we do just that.  We equate morality with legality under the force of a guiding legal document–The Constitution of the United States of America.  The force that is given to the Constitution comes from an even earlier and more absolute set of moral principles–The Declaration of Independence.

In the Declaration it is stated that all people regardless of nationality are entitled to certain God given rights.  It states that government is constrained by absolute moral laws in the way it treats the citizenry of any state.  That they are absolute is declared by the word “unalienable.”  The rights themselves are listed as,

1. Life,
2. Liberty, and the
3. Pursuit of Happiness.

There are other rights implied, but these three are listed specifically as “among these.”  It is therefore to be assumed that these three should be afforded some form of primacy.  From this the Constitution was formed and written, after an initial false start under the Articles of Confederation.

The constitution itself was recognized to be an imperfect product being the creation of imperfect humans and it was granted within the constitution a means of amending it.  The first ten amendments of the constitution were passed very soon after the document itself and are referred collectively as The Bill of Rights.

As such we have instituted government and laws as the god of the state.  We have become a god unto ourselves. We cemented the deal by separating religion from the state in the first amendment by stating, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ..” In one sentence saying that there will be no state religion, which allows the state itself to assume religious stature, and simultaneously giving the people the right to practice any religion of their choosing.

We give our investment as gods the sanction of a power supreme and spiritual and even that is confirmed in our legal and precedented national practices.

1. The Declaration proclaims that our “unalienable rights” are “endowed by [our] Creator.”
2. Daily sessions of both the House of Representatives and the Senate are opened by a prayer from two separate chaplains who are appointed to their offices by the government.
3. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag includes the words “one nation under God.”
4. A prayer is read before and at the end of presidential inaugurations.
5. Our money is engraved with the words, “In God We Trust.”

Are more examples needed?

Making God a national guiding and controlling force, we have set ourselves up as His agents here on earth.  Danger, Will Robinson!  We are caught like a horse who when trying to jump a fence gets stuck with his crotch on the top rail.  He is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.

Whether we try to return to a more moral absolutist concept of government or go forward into a more moral relativist position, we are going to get hurt in the privates.  Someone (MANY “someones”) are going to be pissed regardless of the choice and remaining on the fence doesn’t work either because we therefore give sanction to the contradictions.

It is one of these contradictions that I will be addressing in an upcoming post on the practice of Capital Punishment and how it contradicts not only spiritual moral prohibitions but legal and religious ones as well.  It is a prime example of the effects of having our most sensitive goodies resting on a splintery rail.

See, Capital Punishment for the warning shot.

doc

(1)

State v. Noble

SUPREME COURT OF MONTANA.

DECIDED AUGUST 2, 1963.

THE STATE OF MONTANA, PLAINTIFF AND RESPONDENT,

v.

LLOYD JAMES NOBLE, DEFENDANT AND APPELLANT

Green Mountains

There is an aroma that is like no other in the world that I have experienced.

That is the smell of the earth in green hills and mountains during a rain with the sun shining.  The phenomenon itself is awe inspiring at the contradiction of precipitation while the sun is shiining, but that is easily enough explained as it is visible.

But, it is the actual smell of the steam being given off by green plants and trees baking under a warm sun that effects me more profoundly.

It cannot be found near the seashore–too much salt in the air.  It cannot be found in high and rocky mountains or high plains–no greenery.  Perhaps green river valleys sufficiently removed from the sea may compare, but I have not experienced that phenomenon.  Green mountains in a sun shower are something I have witnessed as recently as 3 minutes ago.

I fill my nose and head and lungs with the air and thank God that I live in green mountains.

gryphon

Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment is not punishment.  By the dictionary definition, it does count as punishment.  A penalty is being inflicted on a person thus sentenced.  But for practical reasons it doesn’t count.  There is no distress or loss of facility from the removed function (life) after the punishment is carried out.

If a driver loses his/her license due to infractions of the traffic code(s) then after the license is removed is when the person suffers.  And that is what we are talking about after all when we speak of “punishment.”  Causing the sentenced person to suffer in some way.

Capital Punishment causes the sentenced person to suffer only in the anticipation of the punishment.  The punishment itself hasn’t occurred and only in facing the possibility does the condemned suffer.  Once the punishment is effected all thought about it is immediately relieved and you can even say that the sentenced person is BETTER OFF after the infliction of the punishment than before.

This is the ONLY punishment I can think of in which the punished person is actually better off after the punishment.  O.K.  Sure, they no longer have the privilege of living.  But for whatever the crime the sentence of death was issued, what would be the alternative?

Life in prison?  That, to me, is “punishment.”  A person would be made to suffer through imprisonment for as long as the penal system could keep them alive.

Capital Punishment is retribution.  It does not act as a deterrent.  It is also morally wrong.

And it is not “punishment.”

doc

(It is accepted that a person cannot be punished for a crime after they are dead.  You cannot try a dead person in court.

The act of carrying out a sentence of Capital Punishment carries this idea to the extreme.  The sentence is not considered carried out until the person is dead, but they must be alive for it to be completed.  “Execution ” of the sentence occurs at the EXACT instant of the condemned’s death–by definition.

Why do they prevent people condemned to death from committing suicide?  Because suicide is not only an illegal act in and of itself but primarily because it deprives the state from performing the act.

How many more aburdities do you need before you are convinced that this is wrong?)

c.e.s.

News Overload

Severe News Overload!!

Mostly of the garbage sort.

I’ll get right back to you.

Must have Pepto Bismol.

*urp*

doc

I Seem Myself

Nigel Hawthorne as George III

“I’ve always been myself, even when I was ill, but now I seem myself.  I’ve remembered how to ’seem.’”

The Madness of King George

Dangling Modifiers

• Having been thrown in the air, the dog caught the stick.
• Smashed flat by a passing truck, Big Dog sniffed at what was left of a half-eaten hamburger.

1. Was the dog thrown into the air before or after the stick, or was it simultaneous?
2. Were they both airborne at the time of the catch or had one or both of them landed?
3. Were both indeed thrown into the air, or just one?  And, which one?
4. How was it biologically possible for Big Dog to sniff a half eaten hamburger in his truck-flattened condition?
5. How did the hamburger escape the fate of Big Dog, if indeed it did?

Things like this bug me.

The offending sentences were copied from elsewhere.  The questions are my own.

and we thank you for your support.

g

One Month and Counting

I became unemployed after my heart bypass.  My employer at the time terminated me for medical reasons because I exceeded my allowable leave by one week.  I was promised that I would be reinstated but never told when that would be.  That was three months ago.

I have been staying ahead on my rent and can continue to do so for another two months on personal savings and economies while I continued to search for employment.  But, my Best Friend in the World and landlord has told me in the eleventh hour that rent prepaid or not that I cannot continue to be a tenant if I am unemployed.  My best friend will put me out even if I am current on the rent if I have no job.  I’m still trying to figure out the logic and humanity on that one.

And, so I must prepare to leave.  If I am unemployed at the end of July then I will most assuredly be homeless.  When and if that occurs I do not know when or how I will be able to continue with this blog which has become an integral part of my life over the past 8 months.

I am at one month and counting.

gryphon

Completely Complicit . . .

. . . is great diction.  The more I reread it the more I love it.  Occasionally I unearth a gem.

No false modesty here.

It’s in

Iran Amok.

(and that’s not all there is to commend the post.  hint hint)

and we thank you for your support.

g

Obama and Daughters Share a Frozen Treat

President Obama and his 8 and 10 year old daughters visited a frozen custard shop on Saturday, in Alexandria, Virginia.

Why the hell they think I should care is completely beyond me.

Thanks for letting me share.

doc

Iran Amok

(New York Times, Saturday June 20, 2009)

After one week, protesters are still in the streets in Iran protesting the outcome of the presidential election.  Watching CNN yesterday I saw videos of crowds in the streets.  There was rock throwing and I saw people bloody.

There are reports of dead people, but unlike the little boy in Sixth Sense, I didn’t see any.

There are also reports of tear gas being used against protesters and in one of the videos someone was shouting, “They are using real bullets!”  All of this is unconfirmed.  Control of the media in Iran is, of course, near absolute.  Videos came from unnamed sources uploading them to the Internet.

The protests are over the disputed election results between incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mir Hussein Moussavi.  Just as I learned how to spell Ahmadinejad’s name without looking at my notes, they go and throw another one at me.  Oh well, that is the price of being a half-cocked blog commentator.

Moussavi and his supporters are claiming the election was a fraud and that Mir is the rightful winner.  Mahmoud and HIS supporters (not to mention the Ayatollah–which I will in a second) say, “Uh Uh!”

Head Holy Guy Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave what was called a “sermon” on Friday.  In the “sermon” he declared the election valid and warned of violence if protestors continued to demonstrate in violation of government prohibitions–which they did and there was.  The Head Holy Guy (it’s easier than typing out his name) said a bunch of things including; foreign agents are behind the protests, that it would be the responsibility of the protesters if violence ensued because they continue to defy orders and demonstrate, and the protests “means challenging the elections and ‘democracy.’”

Let’s take these one at a time.

1. Of course he is going to claim it’s the fault of foreign agents.  This accomplishes two goals, first, it is a refrain of Iran’s familiar song that others, including the Great Satan, are out to get them, and that no one of the Ayatollah’s blessed subjects are evil enough to have come up with this on their own.  The second goal, is to make the oppostion leader, Moussavi, look bad because it makes him the dupe of foreign agents at best and completely complicit at worst.
2. Yes, it is the responsibility of the protesters if violence comes about from their defiance of government orders to cease and desist the demonstrations.  So what?  Who says that is not what they want in the first place?  Mumbling and privately bitching isn’t going to get what they want.  By inciting the government to crack down on them they focus world attention on their issues and Moussavi could very well end up a martyr to the cause, and
3. “. . . challenging the elections and democracy?”  Kindly give me a break please.  Challenging the elections is prima facie.  That’s what it is all about.  They had an election.  The protesters say it was rigged and are “challenging” it–by marching in the streets.  It’s a given.  But, “democracy?”  No one is really fooled into thinking that Iran is run anything like democratically.  Their elections have always been a sham.  The sitting president is nothing more than a stooge for the Head Holy Guy and his inner council.  He serves completely at the pleasure of the H.H.G. who can and does “dictate” policy by decree.  The president gets to choose not only how many seats each “party” gets in the “parliament,” but he even gets to say who can and cannot run from any party.  If the HHG and/or the president don’t like you, then you don’t get to run.  There is no democracy here folks.

Well, the last I saw there were still demonstrations in the street and there were videos of fires burning in the streets of Tehran and guys were walking around with bloody faces and I saw some rock throwing.  That was about 14 hours ago.  A lot could have happened in the past 14 hours including a crack down a la the “Chinese Soultion” implemented in Tiananmen Square back in the late 80s.  I don’t know what the latest is, but I will soon turn on the tube and find out.  It’s Sunday morning here and I am sure George Snufflupagus has something to say on the subject.

But I DO know this–Whatever shakes down the incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is bound to suffer.  You don’t come out of this without hurting like hell.  Mahmoud was riding pretty high there for a while and he may have political capital enough to keep from it becoming a total rout.  He was the “Pretty Boy” of Iran for quite a while.  Strutting and Preening he stomped heavily on the earth in West Asia.  But, now his own people are protesting in the streets in opposition to what they claim is his stealing an election.  And if the republic clamps down on them, he is going to look even worse.

Not, that Iran has a great reputation around the world as it is, you know?  This gives the Iran’s old enemies an open invitation to put them down even more than they already did–which they are already doing . . ..

I am sure the first Ayatollah, Ruhollah Khomeini would be rolling over in his grave if he hadn’t been pulled apart by his mourners during the funeral.

doc

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Reputation

Iago

Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing;
‘Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.

Othello

Act III, Scene III

Shakespeare

Peter Parker and Clark Kent

I never would have guessed that Superman was gay, but then I was wrong about Rock Hudson too.

Spiderman though . . . . well he was definitely in my gaydar.

Look What They’ve Done To My Superheros, Ma!

(See Also: Batman and Robin)

Guilty

I feel so guilty.

Don’t ask why.

Thanks for letting me share.

Gryphon

Hawks

This is not a post about attitudes toward war, so don’t get your hopes up. 

It is a post about the bird and an experience I had with one (two actually).  Recently I saw one at work.  That’s what made me think of the story.  The city where I work is a small to medium university town–Charlottesville, VA (UVA)–and there is a lot of undeveloped land which makes for a great deal of wildlife, including the avian variety.  The hawk I saw was a garden variety sparrow hawk.  The one about which I want to tell the story was a Red-Tail

(Photo Note: the photo of the highway is the actual road I hiked.  I was on a stretch without shoulders or any lines–much narrower section.  Note the power line on the left side.  The power line on my section was directly next to the blacktop.)

About two years ago I was living in Colorado at the foot of the east slopes of the Rockies.  More specifically I was about 20 miles east of Colorado Springs on the high plains at the foot of Pikes Peak.  Cheyenne Mountain is there too (NORAD).  Population out on the plains, where I was, is the opposite of dense.  It was one house about every 3 miles.

It was summer and I was walking along a two-lane blacktop just enjoying the high, thin air and the beautiful rolling plains.  The sky was clear and the sun was hot.  I noticed two large birds flying in my general direction from out over the plains.  As they got closer, I recognized them as a mated pair of red-tail hawks.  About 200 feet ahead of me the female descended and came to rest on a power line.  The male (BEAUTIFUL bird) stayed at altitude and continued to fly–now heading away from me.

But he began to circle and he was getting lower.  I kid you not folks, this was a beautiful magnificent bird.  I had not stopped walking, but had slowed down  to observe and enjoy the show that God was giving me.  As the male circled around behind me I turned and slowed to a stop.  By this time I was about 20 yards from the spot where the female had lit.

It then dawned on me that I was watching the bird and he was watching me.  He came much lower and now was less than 30 feet above me and about the same distance in linear feet.  He was preparing to attack!  HOLY SHIT!

This guy had a wing span of at least four feet and if he were standing flat-footed would have been about 2 feet tall.  NOT A JOKE.  Combined with razor-sharp beak and talons, I was in trouble!  The female (now directly behind me) came to mind.  He was protecting her.  But I meant her no harm.  And I promptly told him so.

He was now at a near aerial halt and looked prepared to swoop.  I took my wide-brim Stetson off my head and began to wave it at him and yell.

GO AWAY!  I’M NOT BOTHERING YOU!  SHOO!  SHOO!  GO AWAY!

Satisfied he flew on over top of me.  You can bet I never took my eyes off him as he flew over.  I still had my hat in the air but had stopped waving it.  I didn’t want him to think I was taunting him.  He flew to the female and landed for a second next to her and then they both took off again still heading in the same general direction as before.

My heart was pounding but I was extremely grateful.  I said a prayer of thanksgiving.  I watched them out of sight and continued my walk.

That my friends is a memory and a story that I will carry the rest of my life.  Such a wonder of nature.

gryphon

Great Is Our Sin

If the miseries of our poor be determined not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.

Charles Darwin
Darwin was right.  If the miseries of the poorest of the world’s citizens are caused by institutions of industry and/or government then we have sinned against them and therefore against God and will be called to account for that sin.  But Darwin stated a great “if.”

How do we alleviate the miseries of our poor unless we globally redistribute wealth?  First you must have world government because it is impossible that those with more wealth will voluntarily surrender it to the point where the scales are balanced.  That will not happen.  And even were it to transpire it would have to be a form of socialist government.  That is even MORE unlikely to happen.  And even if THAT were to transpire, there would still be a gap between those who are in charge of the redistribution.

It has been tried on the local (nation-state) level and with devastating results.

I will not go into the arguments for Capitalism vs. Socialism.  You can click the link here for an excellent site for this purpose.

It should be warned that the idea that it is NOT the fault of our institutions added to the evolutionary theories of Darwin gave rise to the idea of social evolution.  Socio/cultural evolutionism has long been discredited.  In short, it posited that there was a scientific basis for poverty based on race and culture, i.e. that the poor were poor on the basis of the inferiority of their race and/or culture.  It gave justification for racism and prejudice and there is NO scientific proof for its theories.

But the miseries of the poor might be attributable to the laws of nature without blaming evolution.  We may go to Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, et. al. to discuss Man in a State of Nature.  In the State of Nature discussion there is a hypothetical premise that posits human society prior to political organization.  Society pre-political organization is, by definition, anarchy.

By examining the subject from the State of Nature viewpoint we find that there have always been those in poverty and those who have not.  There have always been “Haves” and Have-Nots.”  The question then is will or can there ever be a time when poverty ceases to exist.  My position is no.  There cannot be such a time.  Therefore we must assign it as a natural state.

There is nothing that can be done absolutely to remove poverty.  It will be with us always.  Does this mean that we can turn our backs on those in poverty?  May that never be.

Though we cannot be rid of the condition, we can do much to alleviate the miseries of those so afflicted.  And, much is indeed being done.  Does this mean that more does not need to be done?  Ditto. We are called to help those in need.  We are called to do unto others as we would have done unto ourselves.  We are called to love others as we love ourselves.  We are called to do unto others as THEY would have done unto them.  We are called to give of our resources and our lives as the spirit instructs us.

“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’”

Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’”

The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”

Matthew 25: 35-40

But, don’t be fooled.  It can never be abolished absolutely.  Not on this earth.

doc

How Like An Angel

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how
infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and
admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like
a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet,
to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me—
nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.

Hamlet Act 2, scene 2

Not Such a Bad Guy

The next time you think of yourself as having an active, outdoor lifestyle, get over yourself.  By this definition so did Attila the Hun.

Not such a bad guy, huh?