We like to talk today about anything but 11/11/18 @ 11:00 AM.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

We like to talk today about everything but the end of the First World War. 

But I'm going to, for just a few minutes. 

     We love our holidays here in the United States. We also at least mouth the words that we appreciate those who sacrificed their time, money and even their lives for this nation.
We throw parties, parades, football games (gridiron) and solicit donations in exchange for American flags of dubious manufacture or paper poppies. Most of you don't even know why the poppies.
Not to worry, I'm going to tell you. But first, a bit about War.
     Warfare is one of mankind's oldest activities. For most of known history, it was men only (not really, but we'll pay lip service to the official history for now.) War began with rocks, sticks and fists, feet, elbows knees and head-butts. In the earliest times, War was bad, but relatively manageable. Sometimes people got killed, but mostly they yelled at each other and beat on each other until one side or the other ran away. Along with this developed the concepts of Honor, Bravery and Heroism. Most probably the first one to run away in a battle would be dishonored, the last to run honored and those who bothered to show up bravery, and those who made the other side run away first heroes. But the problem is, while medical technology developed, so did killing technology. We went from fists, rocks and sticks to arrows, spears and rock-clubs or hatchets. But the first world war was uniquely ugly because it was the first major Industrial Age war, and we brought industrial age weapons to it. But the world wasn't ready for Industrial age warfare yet. We were still fighting as if it were the Boer war -- with rifles, trenches, non-recuperating artillery and swords and bayonets. Except it was not the Boer war. We had recuperating artillery (cannon that don't need to be re-laid between salvos), machine-guns and worst of all, gas. We didn't know how to cope with those. We didn't know how to cope with sappers who used TNT by the ton, either. In short, the war was a horror raised to an exponential fever pitch.  Indeed, so grim was it that the United States feared a global societal collapse and a global pandemic. We got the second of those two, a pandemic of influenza, which killed more than double those killed in the war. 
     In WW1, men died by the millions. Historians would later reckon that an entire generation of the English upper class was wiped out by the war. The casualties were horrific. It was also the first time the psychological effects of warfare were recognized. Men came home devastated. Physically and emotionally wrecked. It would take years for them to recover, and some never did. We did not learn from that grim lesson. Men who came home were often treated poorly. Few benefits were granted them. Once the war was over, it was over. Bonuses that were promised to be paid "in the future" often didn't happen. The poppy became the symbol of the peace, because of a poem by Col. John McCrae, titled "In Flanders Fields."
I include a copy from Wikipedia:

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
    Between the crosses, row on row,
  That mark our place; and in the sky
  The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
  Loved and were loved, and now we lie
      In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
  The torch; be yours to hold it high.
  If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
      In Flanders fields. 

So, remember these people who fought and died in the first world war. The first war of the Industrial age. The horror war. Remember it and don't be fooled when some thieving politician tells you we need to go fight another war. The United States should not ever fight a war of choice. So remember those men, but also remember the horrors they perpetrated on each other, In Flanders Fields.

Whistling past the graveyard? perhaps.

It is 11/6/18. In hours, the polls will open across the United States, and voters will slowly if surely decide the fate of the United States, and to a lesser extent the Western World, for the next two years or possibly more. Traitor Donnie, a ruthless, greedy, self-aggrandizing, egotistical, injury-collecting braggart, liar and bully, has been President of the United States for just under two years. He has damaged our relationships with our allies, alienated our friends, sucked up to dictators and crashed our trade agreements. The total list of things he's done are too numerous to list here, and they are not the point of this post.
All night, I've been posting stuff on Facebook. Stuff to cheer me up. Stuff like : Charlie Chaplin speech in The Great Dictator
Or: Churchill Speech from The Darkest Hour.
Or even : King Henry V Agincourt speech .
Or this one : V for Vendetta Revolution speech
And of course this one : King Elizabeth Speech "Hoist the Colours!"

Then the comment : "Weather for Phoenix AZ : Temp. 60 Degrees F, Feels like "June 5 1944".
Because it really does feel like the night before a big battle.

Then there were some funny videos :
Martian Queen (From Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century) sings "Blues in the Night"

Or her enemy's reply -- "It's Not Unusual" with the borrowed voice of Tom Jones.

I'm an optimist about the elections. I expect the Democratic Party to gain seats in the House and Senate. Optimally they will take both legislative bodies. But, I'm human. I have moments of doubt. Moments of needing some morale boosting. So, I turned to Youtube.

See you after the Elections. GO VOTE!

Crosspost from my facebook.

I was bored one night, and the impulse came over me to profane the late Ted Geisel.
Trump I am:
Brown people from Cent-Am,
Please fear them, Trump I am.
Would you fear them from afar ?
Would you hate them in your state ?
      Hate them, fear them, Trump I am.


(N.B. I do not claim to be a better poet than your average Vogon)

2018 Midterm Elections

I don't care who you support, I want you to get out and Vote Tuesday November 6 2018.

This is of vital importance. If you are registered to vote, get off your butt and go vote! 

      Personally, I despise Donald Trump and everything he stands for.  But I want to set my personal preferences aside for a moment.*

     The means by which any democratic republic functions is when those served by the Government make their wants and needs known to those elected to represent them. The main way of doing this is by voting. Electing people who will carry out their wishes. If you do not vote, your desires will never be counted. If you don't work to elect people who will represent your needs and wishes, you will never see them come to fruition. If you do not bother to get off your backside and vote, you will have given up your chance to affect the outcome of future events. You will also have forfeited your right to complain. Do not fail in this. It takes less than an hour.  If you think supporting Trump is the way to go, then go and put your vote where your mouth is. If, on the other hand, you support things the GOP hates, then go put your vote where your mouth is.


*in the interests of full disclosure, I intend to vote for every Democrat I can, because the GOP has shown themselves to be downright un-American. I have almost never voted for the straight ticket before. -- DLC.   

Pittsburgh Synagogue attack.

Yesterday, a man walked into a Synagogue in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and opened fire.
When it was all said and done, 11 people were killed and more injured.
The man shouted anti-Semitic slogans and insults while shooting. His motives are abundantly clear.
I wonder if the President still thinks there are "Good People" on both sides. I do not make the mistake of laying this attack at his doorstep, but I sure as hell do say that his dangerous rhetoric and his careless actions (labeling himself a Nationalist, for example)  have enabled and empowered those who would gun people down just because of their cultural heritage or their religious beliefs.
This is NOT the USA I want to live in. I will not sit in silence while these things happen. These people must be made example of.  I am not a fan of organized religion, but I am an American, and I believe as Ben Franklin believed, that all religions must be tolerated and accepted.

To the victims and their families, I offer :
Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei raba. B’alma di v’ra chirutei, v’yamlich malchutei, b’chayeichon uv’yomeichon uv’chayei d’chol beit Yisrael,
baagala uviz’man kariv. V’im’ru: Amen.

To the shooter, I offer you the spittle from my mouth, and the remains of your days in a windowless room.

(for my critics, if any -- yes, I copied the prayer from the web. you can find it  Here )

September 11 2018.

17 years ago today a group of terrorists, part of the Al Qaeda terror network, hijacked 4 aircraft. Two of them were flown into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex. One was flown into the Pentagon. The final aircraft crashed while being fought for by the passengers. Nearly 3000 people died from the combined effects of the attacks, and more will die from the eventual effects of being involved in the rescue efforts. Brave men and women ran toward the danger instead of doing the sensible thing and running away. Many of them were injured or killed. Today, remember their bravery, remember what they gave up for their fellow Americans. Remember also that they believed in the ideals this country was founded under. I have nothing more to say, other than to thank the many brave souls who gave it their best shot on that day 17 years ago, and to commemorate those who died. Remember them, grant them dignity in death.
But also remember that Muslim fanatics who blow up buildings do not represent the vast, overwhelming majority of Muslims, the totality of whom simply wish to live their lives in peace. Remember also that America was founded as the center of Enlightened Democratic-Republican rule, wherein those who govern do so at the will of the governed.
Take a few moments today to remember those who died in the attacks, and those who have fought to put an end to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

Sincerely
     DLC

Poem:
The Star-Spangled Banner
(by Francis Scott Key)

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Remember, Key was facing some dark times when he wrote this.
He was being held against his will on a British ship.
The British were marching on Fort McHenry and were heavily bombarding
the fortress, with the intention of taking it. The country was in turmoil
and it looked as if an ignominious loss was at hand.
Key was stunned when he saw that his countrymen had not hauled down the colours.
It gave him hope, and he wrote the above. 


(Note: this was scheduled to auto-post on September 11 2018, but for some reason it did not. )

A very special "Missing Man formation" post.

At this hour, word has reached me that Senator John Sidney McCain III has passed away. He was 81.
Captain McCain was one of my State's Senators. I did not know him except by reputation. He was a navy aviator with some 22 sorties "Downtown" in Vietnam. For those who don't know, that means he flew an A4 attack fighter into the most concentrated barrage of anti-aircraft fire ever seen. He did so in an unarmored aircraft, with nothing protecting him but speed and maneuverability. One time, those were not enough, and then-Lieutenant-Commander McCain's fighter was knocked out of the sky. LtCdr McCain bailed out, breaking his arm in the process, coming to rest in a lake. He was almost immediately taken prisoner, and then his second act of Heroism took place. Lieutenant-Commander McCain was the son of Admiral John Sidney McCain II, and the North Vietnamese knew they had captured a valuable prisoner. However, this did not stop them from beating and torturing their prisoner, especially after he refused early release, saying he would stay with the other officers. When he was finally released on March 14, 1973. He came home partially disabled. Unable to raise his arms over his head, he had to have someone else comb his hair. From this, he went on to win a seat in the Congress of the United States, and later he would win the Senate seat formerly occupied by Barry Goldwater. His record of Achievements in the Senate are many, including many bipartisan efforts to enact legislation that would help out the average American. Among his last worthy deeds was his "No" vote on the bill which would have killed the Affordable Care Act, which saved some 13 million Americans from being thrown off health insurance, and a speech in the well of the Senate where he implored his fellow Senators to return to "Regular Order", wherein things got done in a bipartisan fashion, under the normal rules of the Senate.
I did not personally agree with John McCain on political issues. Many of the things he supported I believed were completely wrong. However, I write here today to commend John Sidney McCain III, Captain USN (Rtd). He was a man of courage and convictions, and a real American Hero.
My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

Sincerely, DLC