I am presently reading "The Highly Civilized Man...Richard Burton and the Victorian World" The book presents Sir Richard in different light than most biographies written of him. The author, Dane Kennedy, sees Burton as an observer and a critic in this age of proto globalisation. Burton finds, in his research of peoples, that other societies can and do find solutions to life problems as relevant or more relevant than standard British Victorian judgement. However, Burton still carried with him th
The dialogue that has been coming out of D.C. and out of various pundits gives me cause for alarm. The shooting of Rep.Giffords and killing of 6 people has provoked a variety of responses. In a post in the forum, I highlighted the need to better identify the whackos before the emerge from their larval forms. Others have talked of the need to implement stricter gun control. Some have sSPAM!!!ested a better monitoring and policing of the internet to help identify these thre
While we in the US of A sit around and throw tax dollars at an ever greedy Wall st while gasoline prices rise,Russia has opened a massive pipeline to transport Central Asian oil to China. Remember one reason Afghanistan was so important was because Unocal wanted a pipeline from the Central Asian fields thru Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian ocean. Well guess its too late now.
And why is it that Barak Obama said that economic recovery was going to be fueled by the technology and change ove
A quote from "A History of Islamic Spain" by W. Montgomery Watt and Pierre Cachia gave me a sense of deja vu. We've been here before. Talking here about the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Corboba( circa mid 11th century) one of the most civilized and developed cultures, not just at that time but in history in general.
"We know that wealth had greatly increased under 'Abd er Rahman III and it may be that the bulk of the population had become so materialistic in outlook that few were capabl
He interpreted religion in terms of human service and exhorted his disciples "to develop river-like generosity, sun-like affection and earth-like hospitality." The highest form of devotion, according to him, was "to redress the misery of those in distress – to fulfill the needs of the helpless and to feed the hungry."
OK we are due for a prophet,an avatar,a Buddha, Messiah or Madhi. There are two places ripe for the aMFearance of a prophet.The first is China. Long overdue in the prophet department. China doesn't spit out prophets like the Middle East does. Confucianism is really a system of social organization from family to empire. Taoism is the old Chinese folk religion refined by a great holy man named Lao Tze.As China enters the stage of global domination in this century,her people will demand a prophet.
Just read this little piece on al Jazeera. I'm just quoting part to make a point:"
The United States believes that China has "no morals" in its dealings with Africa, according to an assessment in a leaked diplomatic cable.
The cable quotes Johnnie Carson, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, describing China as a "pernicious economic competitor" whose investments prop up unsavoury regimes.
"China is a very aggressive and pernicious economic competitor with no mora
In a post in the serious discussion forum, The Scotsmans parapharsed James Carvilles comment about Hillary giving Obama one of her balls so he had two. Today the lame duck, democratic majority Senate shot down two bills on the soon to expire Bush tax cuts. The first renewed the cuts for those making less than $200G and 250 G for couples. It sunk like the Titanic. The second measure called for tax cut renewed for those who make under $1 million a years. It too went down in flames. Why the hell ca
I posted a rant about senior citizens being thrown under the bus by cuts, but after exploring todays news I see my priorities were wrong and we need to address more serios fiscal matters. Tax cuts for the wealthy! Oh yes mustn't hurt those fine folks who make over $250,000 God forbid well gotta go my ramen noodles are ready.
When ever I feel that phantom hand in my back pocket, I figure its the hand of unbridled capitalism or their allies the Garnd Old Party making sure the rich stay rich. When gas goes up,its speculators gambling on my mobility,when i don't get a cost of living on my social security, I know its the same guys who gave obscene bailouts to the banks. When my girlfriend strSPAM!!!les to find a job in her field, I know its all those Republicans who sent our jobs to India. Then c
I am curious. I post here frequently and I can see from the stats that some folks drop by. If you desire just drop a comment say hi, so I can see who reads this drivel. Thanks a bunch
Somalia is in the news again. Hostages ransomed,another big ship taken, areas of operations extended. So mostly we don't worry,Somalia is far off and none of this affects us, or does it? Somalia is a failed state ruled by warlords,we tangled with them once and got the hell out(Blackhawk Down war) So what's with these people that they won't play by the rules? Islamic terrorists? Well, we need to realize what haMFened to Somalia to make them this way. Mutlinational fishing concerns vacuumed up all
Being a product of the Woodstock/Vietnam era,(I attended both events) i have always been saddened that my countrymen could not mount an effective war protest against the conflict in Iraq. Things have really changed in 40 years. The generation of Aquarius now vote Tea Party,the media rarely covers war protest when items like Kim Kardashian's breast take the headlines. We are all too fat to get out of our couch, because we've been force fed addictive food(salt and sugar should be ranked with heroi
I have read numerous reports on non USA news sources saying the government and the EPA are lying to the people. Numbers are being fudged,tests are being watered down in order to "assure" the public Gulf seafood is OK. Its not, aMFarently, there are some heavy duty toxins that bio accumulate in the body. Of course we can't tell people the truth,the Gulf fishing industries would collapse and that would reek havoc on the unemployment figures.
Here is one such articleGulf seafood.
Last night the fear,hate and lie campaign bore fruit and the Republicans,Tea Party and Conservatives, have succeeded in gaining control of the house. While most of the people voted with their wallets, the Republicans now claim mandate. For politicians, mandate means their own(not the peoples) agenda. For Bush it meant war, for Obama it meant socialism, for these Republicans it means going back in time. They spend the next two years trying destroy what Obama has put in place. No thought of going
Holy books are wonderful tools. A combination of the divine and human,gods and prophets have worked hard to deliver a message. Lots of embroidery was put on the message laater on and new Holy books aMFeared. Holy books got crossed, good ideas and bad floated across the world of prophets.But in birthing these books,one thing became important, to provide comfort and answers for most of the people. With all the books around everyone's covered with just enough godtalk to make your journey. I draw f
Just bought another curved dagger, this one from India, same blacksmith that made my swordcane. I collect a couple of different thing and besides Balouchi carpets(dirt cheap cause of the Afghan wars), they tend to run towards weapons. Some flintlock guns,but mainly blades. Lately its curved Middle Eastern daggers called jambiya,kuommiya and khanjar. Some tourist junk, some pedigreed when I made agood buy. EBay is a gamble because its just pictures. My lady wonders how I buy stuff i can't touch.
I have a large bush right outside my gate and these monster hornets have been living there for years. They must have come from somewhere, because they were not around when i was a kid(50's) OK they seem not to be aggressive, but they are really BIG and look really mean. The tend to try to get in the house in the fall and 2 years ago one got in an stung me. Man they hurt as bad as they look. I don't like to kill things,I've given up hunting but two critters, both fall intruders have been given th
Well this morning I turned 65. i reckon thats a milestone like 21 is a milestone. Its a legal milestone in that it used to be retirement age for social security, now its later as the government has better uses for our money than we do. i might buy a new hookah, but the government can kill more people. Things have changed alot since my birth, but I was born a few days into the atomic age. i think of my grandfather who was born in 1880's in what used to be the Ottoman empire. He came to America to
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