Abraham Lincoln - Quote of the week
03/September/2010 10:11 Filed in: Quote of the week
All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reaches us, it must spring up amongst us. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865); 16th U.S. President
Brute' says that humans should look to God for redemption of the world.
01/September/2010 16:38 Filed in: Et tu Brute'
Our Sin-Cosmos Demise
“Nobody likes me, everyone hates me, I guess I’ll go eat worms!”
When I was just a wee lad, when forced to sit on my mother’s knee, because of one of my passing pouting natures, I was given the opportunity to repeat with her the above little limerick.
Until I began this article I did not know there were a number of verses in various renditions from both the United States and the United Kingdom. Nowhere have I found a reliable source for the history of this song.
A week ago Friday when I headed to Spokane for a yearly family reunion, I had Monday’s article, “The Specialization Racket” somewhat outlined. With a couple of introductory paragraphs, utilizing president Barack Obama as the world’s and history’s best political specialist, I believed I could knock it out in no time. I also had a topic for Wednesday’s Weekly Column.
As the weekend progressed nothing seemed to come together and for reasons unrelated to Wonder Springs, on Monday I needed to go to the headquarters of the Spokane Indian tribe in Wellpinit. Having not been to Wellpinit in recent memory, I decided to drive in through the back road, which crosses the Spokane River at the Little Falls Dam and then heads upland to the Spokane Reservation headquarters.
The reservation occupies a southern portion of Steven’s County bordering the Spokane River on the south, Lake Roosevelt (Columbia River) on the west, and Chamokane Creek on the east, a bastardized rendition of the name for the Tshimakain Mission that was established in 1838 on the east side of the stream. To the north the boundary seems to be a literal line in the sand to provide a buffer zone between the reservation and the upper reaches of the fertile Colville Valley. The topography of the reservation is essentially alluvial sand and gravel deposits created between the Pleistocene ice sheet and glacial Lake Columbia. What that means in a practical basis, is that the reservation is basically open Ponderosa Pine forest with vary little arable land.
After finishing my business at the tribe’s headquarters, I headed out the main highway, leaving the reservation at Ford. By then I was thoroughly depressed. My thoughts were basically, if you want to see the future of the United States under a system of government handouts and transfer payments just visit your nearest Indian reservation — but be sure to get a few miles beyond the casino, if one exists. (The Spokane Casino is located near Chewelah, along US 395 on tribal allotment land in the Colville Valley.)
The forcing of North America’s indigenous peoples, onto essentially worthless land, began about 180 years ago under the direction of president Andrew Jackson (1829 - 1837). When the Spokane Reservation was established some forty years later, you could probably eke out a living by hunting and gathering, with ample stocks of salmon from the Spokane River. Today, with no salmon, because of Grand Coulee Dam, you would quickly starve to death, without the government subsidies.
If there is any good thing in all of this, Indian tribes have been forced to not assimilate into American culture and as a consequence provide educational opportunities for us today. That is true, at least for those who are able to move beyond the stereotypes, and look at a culture that may have been less technological than the European settlers, but in many ways much less savage. That however is for a discussion at a later time. Read More...
When I was just a wee lad, when forced to sit on my mother’s knee, because of one of my passing pouting natures, I was given the opportunity to repeat with her the above little limerick.
Until I began this article I did not know there were a number of verses in various renditions from both the United States and the United Kingdom. Nowhere have I found a reliable source for the history of this song.
A week ago Friday when I headed to Spokane for a yearly family reunion, I had Monday’s article, “The Specialization Racket” somewhat outlined. With a couple of introductory paragraphs, utilizing president Barack Obama as the world’s and history’s best political specialist, I believed I could knock it out in no time. I also had a topic for Wednesday’s Weekly Column.
As the weekend progressed nothing seemed to come together and for reasons unrelated to Wonder Springs, on Monday I needed to go to the headquarters of the Spokane Indian tribe in Wellpinit. Having not been to Wellpinit in recent memory, I decided to drive in through the back road, which crosses the Spokane River at the Little Falls Dam and then heads upland to the Spokane Reservation headquarters.
The reservation occupies a southern portion of Steven’s County bordering the Spokane River on the south, Lake Roosevelt (Columbia River) on the west, and Chamokane Creek on the east, a bastardized rendition of the name for the Tshimakain Mission that was established in 1838 on the east side of the stream. To the north the boundary seems to be a literal line in the sand to provide a buffer zone between the reservation and the upper reaches of the fertile Colville Valley. The topography of the reservation is essentially alluvial sand and gravel deposits created between the Pleistocene ice sheet and glacial Lake Columbia. What that means in a practical basis, is that the reservation is basically open Ponderosa Pine forest with vary little arable land.
After finishing my business at the tribe’s headquarters, I headed out the main highway, leaving the reservation at Ford. By then I was thoroughly depressed. My thoughts were basically, if you want to see the future of the United States under a system of government handouts and transfer payments just visit your nearest Indian reservation — but be sure to get a few miles beyond the casino, if one exists. (The Spokane Casino is located near Chewelah, along US 395 on tribal allotment land in the Colville Valley.)
The forcing of North America’s indigenous peoples, onto essentially worthless land, began about 180 years ago under the direction of president Andrew Jackson (1829 - 1837). When the Spokane Reservation was established some forty years later, you could probably eke out a living by hunting and gathering, with ample stocks of salmon from the Spokane River. Today, with no salmon, because of Grand Coulee Dam, you would quickly starve to death, without the government subsidies.
If there is any good thing in all of this, Indian tribes have been forced to not assimilate into American culture and as a consequence provide educational opportunities for us today. That is true, at least for those who are able to move beyond the stereotypes, and look at a culture that may have been less technological than the European settlers, but in many ways much less savage. That however is for a discussion at a later time. Read More...
Pope Benedict XVI - Quote of the week
27/August/2010 07:51 Filed in: Quote of the week
Wherever politics tries to be redemptive, it is promising too much. Where it wishes to do the work of God, to becomes, not divine, but demonic.
Pope Benedict XVI
Brute' says humans need to look beyond their personal wishful thinking!
25/August/2010 10:23 Filed in: Et tu Brute'
Edward R. Murrow - Quote of the week
20/August/2010 05:55 Filed in: Quote of the week
To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful.
Edward R. Morrow (1908-1965); American Journalist
Brute's says smothering a double dip recession with chocolate sauce won't change the taste!
18/August/2010 11:56 Filed in: Et tu Brute'
Special Report: The War Racket
“Al Qaeda has won the War on Terror!”
“But we haven’t had a successful large terrorist attack on America since 9-11.”
As they say in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, “Ya sure, you betcha! At what cost, monetarily, in regard to the lives of our troops, and the limitations of our personal freedoms?”
Putting this in a realistic perspective, it is reported that there are 100 Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan, and maybe a few hundred more in Pakistan. Then there are bunches in Yemen and Somalia and scattered in other countries around the world. There are probably equal numbers in western democracies and in Islamic and developing countries. If we were to qualify only those who have both the desire and the where with all to directly attack the United States or European countries, adding in similar groups, the worldwide total of Islamic jihadis is probably less than 10,000.
So what does it cost to keep us safe from these hordes of wild extremists?
According to Wikipedia based on numbers from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, (SIPRI) the United States leads the world in military expenditures at $660 billion, followed by China at about $100 billion, France at $64 billion, the United Kingdom at $58 billion, and Russia at about $53 billion. You have to go to the SIPRI website to find out what their definition of what is a military expenditure.
One could assume from their definition that the $660 billion figure includes the wars in Iraq, and Afghanistan, but not Homeland Security and various transfer payments within and without the United States, not directly tied to the military expenditure definition. Since Wonder Springs has no way of quantifying that number we will take an educated guess of perhaps $440 billion, bringing the yearly total to a trillion bucks. That makes our War on Terror assessment equal to $10 million per really bad guy — per year.
Read More...
“But we haven’t had a successful large terrorist attack on America since 9-11.”
As they say in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, “Ya sure, you betcha! At what cost, monetarily, in regard to the lives of our troops, and the limitations of our personal freedoms?”
Putting this in a realistic perspective, it is reported that there are 100 Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan, and maybe a few hundred more in Pakistan. Then there are bunches in Yemen and Somalia and scattered in other countries around the world. There are probably equal numbers in western democracies and in Islamic and developing countries. If we were to qualify only those who have both the desire and the where with all to directly attack the United States or European countries, adding in similar groups, the worldwide total of Islamic jihadis is probably less than 10,000.
So what does it cost to keep us safe from these hordes of wild extremists?
According to Wikipedia based on numbers from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, (SIPRI) the United States leads the world in military expenditures at $660 billion, followed by China at about $100 billion, France at $64 billion, the United Kingdom at $58 billion, and Russia at about $53 billion. You have to go to the SIPRI website to find out what their definition of what is a military expenditure.
One could assume from their definition that the $660 billion figure includes the wars in Iraq, and Afghanistan, but not Homeland Security and various transfer payments within and without the United States, not directly tied to the military expenditure definition. Since Wonder Springs has no way of quantifying that number we will take an educated guess of perhaps $440 billion, bringing the yearly total to a trillion bucks. That makes our War on Terror assessment equal to $10 million per really bad guy — per year.
Read More...
Thomas Jefferson - Quote of the week
13/August/2010 09:26 Filed in: Quote of the week
Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 -1826) 3rd U.S. President
Brute' says creating a bowl of cherries requires a lot of work
11/August/2010 11:54 Filed in: Et tu Brute'
