Judgment and Wisdom

Life is a series of successes and failures of varying degrees. Both are the experiences that build character. Both are the experiences that contribute to Wisdom. Judging a soul by the successful experiences is flattering and complementary. Judging a soul by the depth of failure and subsequent rise is far more telling as to character. Indeed, it gives definition to perseverance at odds, that the only true failure is inaction in the face of adversity.

~ R. Poure ~
~New York~

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!!

Truly the best memorial to all American war dead is the fact that 75% of the governments in the world today are democracies of one form or another. The American Revolution has never ended, it is world-wide and we are clearly winning. Only when true personal freedom rings from every shore on the planet will the world know peace. History does not show us where one free people make war upon another free people. That state of affairs is due in no small part to all Americans who have served their country and those that gave their lives deserve the undying respect of all humanity.

Happy Memorial Day!

Rick Poure ~ New York

GOD

Abiogenesis. The Origin of Life. That is what the scientists call it. Hmmmm.

See here's the thing. The scientific reasons for the beginning of life neither prove nor disprove the existence of Divinity as the Creator. Simply put, things could have occurred in any way that Divinity chose to spin it. And does not all history serve as an example that such Divinity clearly has a sense of humor?

As if a few billion years would mean anything to the Creator. Of Time.

It gets worse. Since the existence of Divinity cannot be shown by the scientific method, then what, pray tell, is the compelling reason for those with intellect to believe in such Divinity?

Wait for it.......

Because a belief in such Divinity has profound beneficial effects on the believer. It is good for humans to believe. Otherwise hubris gets in the way. Of everything.

Spiritual humility is the apple to the orange of organized religion. The first is an essential part of being human. Of seeing ourselves as part of the larger world. The second is about money and power. And hubris. Depends upon your perspective, I guess, but it seems to me that most organized religions are about usurping the power of Divinity for themselves.

Finally, a corollary to the Cartesian Proof. God exists because Life is better than TV.

F. Lynn ~ Boston

NOR'EASTERS

The term is now used by "hip" weathermen as a buzzword for any big rain storm that meanders up the Eastern seaboard and hits the cities where the TV men are. But a real Nor-easter has certain characteristics that separate the real ones as something apart. Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring all bring them and they can be rain or snow or a bit of both. The blizzard of '78 was a real one. So are the storms hitting us in 2010 in February and March. They have met every standard. Eye-like formations. Winds from the North-east. Hurricane strength.

When I was a kid I did a lot of sailing. Naval JROTC high school. Had my own little boat. Raced it on the weekends at the local yacht club. When I was around thirteen my Pop signed me up for a summer sailing camp that raced dinghies and sloops. I remember the day I was crewing on Tommy's M-scow and a Nor'easter kicked up. Fast. Tommy said, "Fuck, that's a Nor'easter." And came about and headed for the dock. First time I heard the term. Never forgot it. Spent the rest of the afternoon watching a geyser hit the windowed porch of the Beachwood Yacht Club.

I learned then, that when the winds blow the rain and snow from the Northeast, pay no attention to what the weatherman calls the storm, just head for cover.

L. Lawless

Afghanistan

The military coalition. led by US elements of course, begin an offensive this weekend in Helmand, the heart of the world's opium trade. Our enemies are a coalition also. Of Taliban and drug warlords. Slavers who take the local farmers, addicted to the tears of the poppy, and employ them in serfdom to fuel the coffers of tyranny disguised as fundamental Islam. Fundamental Islam. Now in my country and quite a few others for that matter, fundamental Islam manages to co-exist, in the same neighborhoods, with Orthodox Judaism, born-again Christians, Wiccans, pagans, Freemasons, Nazis and all the others, without daily warfare. In fact, violence for religious or ethnic reasons is rarer and rarer in diverse societies and in the US especially. Economic motivations on the other hand breed both strange bedfellows and bizarre feuds. This begs the conclusion that the mess in the Middle East, most specifically the Valentines Day Offensive, is motivated in the least by the Taliban and their desire to impose Islamic tyranny, but rather by the interests of those people who control and use the 70-90% of the world's HEROIN supply produced in Helmand. Certainly not to suggest that the Taliban are anything but a willing tool of evil men that care not about either Allah or Jesus. Men who are willing to pay the Taliban to run a government that will allow them to continue to produce a crop that is more valuable than all the gold in history. And as long as the Taliban rule the money continues to flow...............

In the 1950's at a place called Gereshk, the US Army Corps of Engineers built a dam that diverted water from the Helmand River and created the Boghra Canal. This is the irrigation project that allowed Helmand to become the major producer of Opium in the world. Perhaps shutting the dam and depriving the region of its agricultural ability is the only solution. While harsh and certainly not devoid of consequences to the 1.4 million residents of Helmand, this solution does in fact teach the broader lesson of responsibility. More simply, if the developed world makes a major investment in your agricultural infrastructure it is not a good idea to use it to grow the most deadly illicit drug on the Earth.

F. Lynn ~ Boston

NO APOLOGIES NEEDED

Y'know when you travel around the U.S. you don't see too many (any!) cemeteries of foreign war dead. Like German, Italian, Russian, or Polish cemeteries when those countries sent armies to help us in our times of trouble. Hmmmmmmmmm. Because no armies ever came. The French sent a Navy. Thanks. But travel around the world, especially Europe, and you will find numerous cemeteries of those Americans who died in foreign wars. And they were wars of liberation when humanity faced its darkest days and the expenditure of human life against perilous evil was considered blood well spent. So, to our European friends and allies and anyone else where American blood was spilled on behalf of others: No apologies for arrogance are in order. In fact, it is difficult to argue with success. In 1776 one country in the world was practicing functional democracy and respecting the individual rights of men. In 2009, three-quarters of the extant governments of the Earth are functional parliamentary democracies. It is not a perfect world and nations still act with self-interest. But it is undeniable progress when considered against most of the course of human history. So say thank you to the Founding Fathers and show a little respect.

Rick Poure
NYC Correspondent

Iran...........always Iran....

I am sure, that with the secret police beating people in the streets of Tehran, that Voltaire, Bolivar and Jefferson are all rolling over in their graves. If Sam Adams could only come back to life now. What the hell is wrong with these people? Totalitarianism IS an historical failure. Economically and politically. What are the "free" nations of the world doing to help the Iranian freedom fighters? Nothing? We should supply them with arms and safe havens. We should give them air cover and artillery support. The current Iranian regime seeks nuclear weapons to use against us!

That is not an idle threat, we are infidels and have no souls. Makes it pretty easy on the conscience when you become a mass murderer, right? Stalin had no God, he didn't care. Neither do the leaders of Iran. We should do anything in our power to change that or we will rue the day.

A CURSE FOR KANYE

Kanye West. Wow. What do you say to behavior like that? Such a lack of respect that you earn the disrespect of everyone. White and black. Cop and gangsta. Hip-hop and rocker. Dude you need to take a long vacation in, like, the Antarctic to chill your juices out. Maybe Michael Vick can give you some pointers on acquiring a little bit of humility. You are both in the same boat there. Humanity as a whole scorns you. You should probably move to Philadelphia. Or Baltimore. Or perch on a cliff on the west coast of Ireland like some medieval Saint looking for redemption from your evil ways. But what I really hope for is that, once this fuss blows over, everyone forgets about you. I curse you to obscurity. May you never win an award, be invited to a show. May you lose your recording contracts. May you lose your fans. May Bob Dylan write a song about you immortalizing you as the epitome of a tasteless asshole. May no one listen to you.

~ Rick Poure

~ New York City Correspondent

Notes from the Big Apple

I was in Nanuet, New York some time ago on a sunny weekend and as I drove off the Palisides Interstate highway and came down the exit ramp to a traffic light, Diane and I were confronted with a fairly large anti-War demonstration in a large clearing on the diagonal opposite side of the road.  Everybody was chill and things were calm.  I didn’t notice any police.  Then our eyes were drawn to another large group directly across the road from where we waited at the light.  This group was a little larger and had an abundance of American flags displayed.  They represented the pro-War position under the banner of supporting our troops.  Both groups together represented the pinnacle of American Democracy.  They were blatantly expressing their opposing political viewpoints directly across the street from one another and ignoring each other at the same time.  Most scenes of such political expression around the world are accompanied by a minimum of rock-throwing, flag-burning and assorted mayhem of varying degree.

 

There are significant parallels between the development of political culture in South and Central America and the development of political culture in the Balkans and the Mediterranean as well as most of the Middle East where an individuals primary political loyalty was to tribe and locality, as there are significant parallels in those second and third world countries that were culturally influenced by western European countries where primary political loyalty lay first to a Prince and then later, to the nation that succeeded the Prince, rather than to the local authority, which was regarded as an extension of the national authority.  Those succeeding nations, notably the USA, Australia and Canada, encompass a larger national identity that is inclusive of numerous cultures.  Even in nations such as South Africa and India, where the clash of cultural development is significant, the democratic political principles of western influence and the national bonding accompanied by a common defense clearly indicate that the political progression of these nations is to the type of street corner democracy I saw in Nanuet.   Such is not the case in the Middle East and large parts of Asia and Africa.

 

So the real question is how do we get the rock-throwers throughout the world to stand on opposite street corners and ignore each other?

Rick Poure

New York City Correspondent