9/26 - What's Latin for Unmitigated Evil? Dudum siquidem!

conquistadores.jpg
~~ Conquistadores.jpg

On September 26, 1493, Mayan date 11.13.13.4.2, Pope Alexander set loose the hounds of hell upon the Americas, the Pacific and its Islands, and some of Asia. On this date, he issued the Papal Bull Dudum siquidem granting their Catholic Majesties (Ferdinand and Isabella) ownership of roughly half of the world, its peoples and its riches. Per Wikipedia, it reads in relevant part:

...just as if in the aforesaid letters full and express mention had been made thereof, we do in like manner amplify and extend our aforesaid gift, grant, assignment, and letters, with all and singular the clauses contained in the said letters, to all islands and mainlands whatsoever, found and to be found, discovered and to be discovered, that are or may be or may seem to be in the route of navigation or travel towards the west or south, whether they be in western parts, or in the regions of the south and east and of India. We grant to you and your aforesaid heirs and successors full and free power through your own authority, exercised through yourselves or through another or others, freely to take corporal possession of the said islands and countries and to hold them forever, and to defend them against whosoever may oppose.

This was an extension and territorial expansion as well as a reaffirmation of his previous bull, Inter caetera of May 4, 1493:

Among other works well pleasing to the Divine Majesty and cherished of our heart, this assuredly ranks highest, that in our times especially the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself. ...[W]e ... assign to you and your heirs and successors, kings of Castile and Leon, ... all islands and mainlands found and to be found, discovered and to be discovered towards the west and south, by drawing and establishing a line from ... the north, ...to ...the south, ... the said line to be distant one hundred leagues towards the west and south from any of the islands commonly known as the Azores and Cape Verde.

...you should appoint to the aforesaid mainlands and islands worthy, God-fearing, learned, skilled, and experienced men, in order to instruct the aforesaid inhabitants and residents in the Catholic faith and train them in good morals.

An estimation of the behavior to result from the instruction that the ..."barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith..." may be derived from the fact that Pope Innocent III declared a genocidal war of extermination against a sect of European Christians known as the Albigensian Crusade in 1209 and that Ferdinand and Isabella had established the Spanish Inquisition in 1478, a mere 15 years prior. The conquistadores, upon landing would approach the first Indians they could and read to them, in Castilian, a document called the Requerimiento. This docement briefly recited how god made everything and gave it via Peter to the Pope who gave all the lands they were standing on and dominion over all of the inhabitants thereof to Ferdinand and Isabella. It then required the indians to immediately swear fealty to the Spanish Crown and acknowledge the Pope as the ultimate ruler of the entire world. Otherwise

But, if you do not do this, and maliciously make delay in it, I certify to you that, with the help of God, we shall powerfully enter into your country, and shall make war against you in all ways and manners that we can, and shall subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church and of their Highnesses; we shall take you and your wives and your children, and shall make slaves of them, and as such shall sell and dispose of them as their Highnesses may command; and we shall take away your goods, and shall do you all the mischief and damage that we can, as to vassals who do not obey, and refuse to receive their lord, and resist and contradict him; and we protest that the deaths and losses which shall accrue from this are your fault, and not that of their Highnesses, or ours, nor of these cavaliers who come with us. And that we have said this to you and made this Requisition, we request the notary here present to give us his testimony in writing, and we ask the rest who are present that they should be witnesses of this Requisition

Since they understood no Castilian the Indians present reliably failed to rush to pledge fealty to the Spanish Crown and the conquistadores immediately took to slaughtering, raping, enslaving and torturing not merely those present but everybody on that chunk of land that they could get hold of on the theory that the earliest victims were deemed to be emmisaries for all. Eddie Izzard once noted that the Romans were forced to invent a word, "decimation", for killing every tenth individual. They were pikers, mere amateurs, the populations that the Spanish got their hands on suffered vastly worse depredations. In 3 decades they managed to wipe out between 80 and 90 percent of the Taino population, for example. There were barbarous nations involved for certain, total savages in fact, but they were not the ones being overthrown. The Pope, as leader of them all, who knew perfectly well what he was authorizing and who did it, in part for personal gain, being a corrupt Borgia after all, (redundant, I know) was chief amongst them. There are really no words for this. It should be an international day of mourning.

((The British Library Image taken from page 185 of 'The Life, Travels and Adventures of F. de Soto, discoverer of the Mississippi ... Steel engravings by J. & S. Sartain, ... The illustrations, designed and engraved on wood, by J. W. Orr and R. Telfer, etc')))

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On this day in history:

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1212 –- The Golden Bull of Sicily was issued confirming hereditary royal title in Bohemia for the Přemyslid dynasty.

1493 -- Pope Alexander VI issued the papal bull Dudum siquidem giving the new world & more to Spain.

1580 -- Sir Francis Drake completed a circumnavigation of the planet

1777 -- The Brits occupied Philadelphia, possibly seeking cheesesteak.

1905 –- Albert Einstein published the third of his Annus Mirabilis papers, introducing the special theory of relativity.

1914 -- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was created

1960 -- The first TV debate between Tricky Dick and JFK took place.

1969 -- The Beatles released Abbey Road

1973 -- The Concorde made its first non-stop flight across the Atlantic

1983 -- Stanislav Petrov decided that a reported incoming nuclear missile was a computer error, not a US attack and thereby saved the world

1984 -- The United Kingdom agreed to cede Hong Kong back to China.

2008 -- Yves Rossy flew a jet powered "wingpack" across the English Channel.

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Some people who were born on this day:

Knowledge is invariably a matter of degree: you cannot put your finger upon even the simplest datum and say this we know.

~~ T. S. Eliot

1641 –- Nehemiah Grew, plant anatomist and physiologist, oddly enough
1750 -- Cuthbert Collingwood, an admiral - look him up sometime if he is unknown to you
1774 -- Johnny Appleseed, yeah, really.
1849 -- Ivan Pavlov, bell ringer
1888 -- J. Frank Dobie, journalist, author, and liberal Texan
1888 -- T. S. Eliot, poet, playwright, critic, eater of peaches
1889 -- Martin Heidegger, philosopher and academic, gave us Dasein
1891 -- Hans Reichenbach, philosopher (Vienna Circle, logical empiricist), commie
1898 -- George Gershwin, pianist and composer
1907 -- Anthony Blunt, art historian and rooskie spy
1925 -- Marty Robbins, singer, songwriter, guitarist
1926 –- Julie London, singer and actress
1938 –- Lucette Aldous, ballerina and educator
1945 -- Bryan Ferry, singer & songwriter
1946 -- Andrea Dworkin, "radical feminist" activist and author
1947 -- Lynn Anderson, never promised anybody a rose garden
1948 -- Olivia Newton-John, singer, songwriter and actress
1949 -- Wendy Saddington, Australian singer and journalis
1951 -- Stuart Tosh, singer, songwriter and drummer
1954 –- Craig Chaquico, guitarist
1955 -- Carlene Carter, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1961 –- Cindy Herron, singer, songwriter and actress
1964 -- John Tempesta, drummer
1965 -- Cindy Herron, singer
1966 -- Dean Butterworth, drummer
1967 -- Shannon Hoon, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1981 –- Serena Williams, tennis player

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Some people who died on this day:

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it

~~ George Santayana

Also those who never learned it in the first damn place - Enhydra

1820 -- Daniel Boone, hunter and explorer, not raised on Boone's Farm
1846 –- Thomas Clarkson, abolitionist
1868 -- August Ferdinand Mobius, mathematician and astronomer
1902 -- Levi Strauss, businessman
1904 -- Lafcadio Hearn, author and academic
1937 -- Bessie Smith, singer and actress
1943 –- Henri Fertet, Resistance fighter
1945 -- Bela Bartok, pianist and composer
1946 -- William Strunk, Jr., stylish author and educator
1947 -- Hugh Lofting, author and poet
1952 -- George Santayana, philosopher, novelist, and poet, remember?
1991 -- Billy Vaughn, singer and bandleader
1998 -- Betty Carter, singer
2000 -- Baden Powell de Aquino, guitarist and composer
2003 -- Robert Palmer, singer & songwriter

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Meh, try The Feast of Cosmas and Damian, it is as good as any.
It's National Good Neighbor Day in the US, as if the US would know anything about that.

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Today's Tunes

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Abbey Road

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George Gershwin

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Marty Robbins

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Julie London

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Lynn Anderson

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Olivia Newton-John

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Wendy Saddington

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Carlene Carter

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Cindy Herron

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Bessie Smith

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Bela Bartok

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Billy Vaughn

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Betty Carter

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Baden Powell de Aquino

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Robert Palmer

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Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?

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Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

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Comments

Lookout's picture

You're right it should be a day of mourning...

In my part of the world, DeSoto came through terrorizing the locals. He left a slave here that had small pox. That disease killed far more than his men.

When De Soto and his army approached the capital town, the chief of Coosa was carried out on a palanquin (a covered couch) borne upon the shoulders of his retainers, while other retainers walked along singing and playing flutes.
...
Within a few years of De Soto’s visit, the powerful chiefdoms that he had encountered began to collapse. Archaeologists believe that this collapse was due in part to population loss from European diseases for which Native Americans lacked immunity, such as smallpox and measles. De Soto is also thought to have been instrumental in creating a long-lasting hostile relationship between Native American tribes and Europeans. Even before De Soto arrived in La Florida, he was known for employing such harsh methods as kidnapping Native Americans to use as guides and holding Native American women and children hostage in exchange for supplies.

th-347950394.jpg

Thanks for the OT and all the music!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

enhydra lutris's picture

@Lookout

Thanks also for recalling to the group mind the depredations of DeSoto, but one of the many rat bastids unleashed by by the Borgia bastid in chief. Though he eventually left, his spirit lived on in Jefferson, Monroe, Livingston and the other US parties to the Louisiana purchase, who took it for granted that it included the resident Indians and Andy Jackson who indulged in depredations of his own.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

mimi's picture

@Lookout hang over my desk and I looked at it for over 7 years. Thanks for the music and tne memories your essay brings back.

Hope all is well in your parts of the woods. Be well and have a good day.

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the conquistadors were the arrow.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@JtC

Thanks mucho for the clip and the bow and arrow metaphor compadre. In the end, death conquers all, even the conquistadores. Since it is Eliot's birthday:

Mistah Kurtz-he dead
A penny for the Old Guy

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris
to do the obvious.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@JtC

though it is a tad long.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

TheOtherMaven's picture

which was not an improvement. However, Portugal lacked the resources to make the most of it (and after a succession crisis in 1580, was forcibly united with Spain until 1640, when they successfully broke away again - but by then Portugal was no longer a world-class player).

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

enhydra lutris's picture

@TheOtherMaven

adding the other half, though Portugal had already usurped much of that grant and I think that this was broadly recognized on some previous Bull. Portugal, with a Dutch assist, among other long festering wounds, gave us Taiwan. Something about the evil men do living forever tickles the mind.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

enhydra lutris's picture

tossed out a bit of The Hollow Men above, it might be a good day to go re-read it and meditate upon the ending:

This is the way the world ends
    This is the way the world ends
    This is the way the world ends
    Not with a bang but a whimper.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Wow, talk about strange celebrations...

CosmasDamianfraangelico.jpg

Feast on this ..

Cosmas and Damian (c.  3rd century – c.  287 or 303) were two Arab physicians in the town Cyrrhus, and were reputedly twin brothers, and early Christian martyrs. They practised their profession in the seaport of Aegeae, then in the Roman province of Syria. Cosmas and Damian embraced Christianity and practised medicine and surgery without a fee. This led them to be known as the holy unmercenaries, the Anargyroi (without silver).

https://www.prayersandpetitions.org/feast-of-saints-cosmas-and-damian-ma...

Lysias sentenced the twins and their three brothers to death. The family were thrown into the sea but were saved by angels. The authorities then tried burning them at the stake but they remained unharmed. They were then stoned, crucified and shot with arrows but to no effect. They were finally beheaded and their bodies carried to the ancient Syrian city of Cyrrhus, the ruins of which lie very close to Aleppo. A basilica was erected over the tomb of the martyred twins and it became a site of pilgrimage.

https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/opinion/saint-cosmas-and-dami...

Thanks for the OT!

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enhydra lutris's picture

@QMS

Wondered who would take that dive. So-called christians, claim them as their own and suppose that they were martyred because jebus, but they were really killed because they

practised medicine and surgery without a fee

. Damn socialized medicine taken to the nth degree, can't have that, now, can we. Hell, over 1700 years later and the US doesn't even have a public option, free medical care was as unthinkable then as now.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris

and the US doesn't even have a public option opinion.
Why get sick and die if it some group can't make some silver from it?

Ahh vell, celebrate the first example of socialized medical care.
Couldn't kill them, so off with their heads!

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Philippians 2:10-11
New King James Version
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This phrase is on many of the signs carried by a local church at women's reproductive health clinics and gay pride events. It has been the main theme of the Roman Catholic Church for 2000 years. It is the thinking behind Sam Alito's recent Roe opinion. It is the inspiration for many Protestant groups too. It's why our founders did not trust the Roman Catholic church.

I plan to use it as the title for my next opinion submission on abortion.

On a visit to the Acoma pueblo several years ago, a tour guide taking us through the Catholic church there told us that it was built by the slave labor of the natives, who if they refused to help, had their arms cut off by the Spanish and sometimes the priests.

Despite this horrendous history of Christianity, we still are afraid to challenge not only their beliefs but their power upon our government. And both sides of the aisle not only protect this power but also enable it.

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

@Fishtroller 02

not sure about that one. Maybe a collective opinion backed by some poll?
Religion is not something to be feared so much as rejected.
Dogma is not worship. It bleeds into the control category IMO.

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@QMS

church....https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/why-60-catholic-dems-are-wrong

About communion!

It would be nice if they would take on the national take over of our hospitals by Catholic groups. It's a HUGE problem for women...https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/catholic-hospitals-abortion-reproduc...

The fear of taking on religion is political and quite pervasive. It all comes down to votes and not being perceived as anti religion, even in the face of abused children and discrimination against gay people wanting to adopt.

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

enhydra lutris's picture

@Fishtroller 02

churches and their ministers, priests, and other potentates have to this day, and the numbers of true believers boggles the mind, yet such is the case. Therre are enough true believers that the chirchists can bully non-believers who aspire to political position, such as when the so-called xtian right proved to the GOP that said GOP couldn't win without them and thus won a huge amount of control over their party. The Dems also kowtow to the believers in their own way and willfully carry out their agenda while spewing "liberal" platitudes.

such is life.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Pluto's Republic's picture

@enhydra lutris

...turns our existence into a terrifying, lonely abyss.
Life is hopeless without God's "Divine Intervention" on our behalf.

From "The Neocon's Prayer"

God stands with America; the decisions that we make are God's will.
Many of us have been chosen to join God in his kingdom for the rest of eternity.
Without the God our religion has revealed to us, who would forgive our sins?
Who would throw that Hail Mary pass and win the big game for us?
Where will we find the courage to instantly annihilate ourselves and cleanse the planet of evil?
We, who are better dead than Red, stand ready.
This has always been God's plan for us.
Jesus waits on the other side to admire our unshakable courage.
We are the few exceptional souls that God forged in his image.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
enhydra lutris's picture

@Pluto's Republic

Annnd it's back to you, Bob

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Pluto's Republic's picture

@enhydra lutris

....hidden and forgotten on an internet back alley.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

" @enhydra lutris
Letter to Jefferson May of 1817

Oh! Lord! Do you think that a Protestant Popedom is annihilated in America.? Do you recollect, or have you ever attended to the ecclesiastical Strifes in Maryland Pensilvania, New York, and every part of New England? What a mercy it is, that these People cannot whip and crop, and pillory and roast, as yet in the U.S.? If they could they would.

Do you know that The General of the Jesuits and consequently all his Host have their Eyes on this Country? Do you know that the Church of England is employing more means and more Art, to propagate their demipopery among Us, than ever? Quakers, Anabaptists Moravians Swedenborgians, Methodists, Unitarians, Nothingarians in all Europe are employing underhand means to propagate their Sectarian Systems in these States."

Letter to Benjamin Rush...https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-5807

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

enhydra lutris's picture

@Fishtroller 02

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

dystopian's picture

Hi all, Hey EL! Hope its all good out there!

So we have probably above all others, the Catholic Church (and Christians) to thank for much of the world's mayhem. Whooda thunk? Nobody coulda seen that coming. Wink What F'rs they were, are, and continue to be. I heard something a week or two ago about the current funny hat leader of theirs talking about using 'moral weapons' in Ukraine. They have lost their minds. Guess they still don't get oxymorons yet.

Were there any shearwaters offshore when you were down Pismo way? September they have had flocks of 100,000 Sooty just outside breakers, it is a regular thing there, I saw it once, in '89. Those willows around the lagoon at the Oceano St. Bch. are famous for super mega rarities... once an Arctic Warbler was there, most eastern vagrant warblers have been seen there.

Last Friday at the McNear Brickyard chimneys, I think at San Rafael or somesuch, at dusk... My Berkeley buddy works on the counting as the Vaux's Swifts enter to roost, the team tallied 37 THOUSAND into the three chimneys! They swirl for an hour or more before they start entering, and are still going in at dark. 22 second snippet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFI9lbho9ZY
There are other vids at utub if you search McNears swifts, or chimney or brickyard.

We used to camp on the Blue Ridge (Firs and Big Cone Spruce) in the San Gabriel Mtns. in L.A. Co. all the time, 8000'. Flammulated Owl, Williamson's Sapsucker, etc. I called it the poor man's Sierras, for when you only have 2 hours of drive-time time. You are staring across the canyon south, to Mt. Baden-Powell. I think second highest peak in San Gabes?

Be well all! Having fun is the best revenge, it really pisses them off! Wink

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We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

enhydra lutris's picture

@dystopian @dystopian

a moderate number of gulls and huge numbers of pellies. Did also see a pod of dolphins frolicking, a pod of whales just cruising through with one doing prolonged lobtailing, and some otters up at Avila Beach which some of the locals said they had never seen there before.

be well and have a good one

edit: fixed typo

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@dystopian There is a local chimney near campus that was preserved just for the swifts. It is also right next to the best ice cream parlor in town. A good way to finish the last of summer evenings around here: Have an early dinner and then go watch the swifts do their magic while savoring ice cream in a cone as the sun sets.
The dark days of the long rain are coming soon, and we are going to welcome them, but damn isn't late summer pretty f**king great?

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that "saved the world". Stanislav Petrov. Had he not done that, I may not have seen the light of day. Thanks Stan.

Because of his decision not to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike amid this incident, Petrov is often credited as having "saved the world". He is credited with having prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies that could have resulted in a large-scale nuclear war

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

Turns out...some of them Russians actually are pretty decent people. Courageous too. Waddya know.

Thanks e.l. Have a good one.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@randtntx

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

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@humphrey

If they prefer not to play along with the 'NATO expansion war', they will fare better than the war-hogs in the
rest of the EU?

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enhydra lutris's picture

@humphrey

nor what their followers or voters do. It seems obvious that NATO and the EU are out of control and are not at all acting in the interests of their member states and the populations of those states. Both policy and electoral push-back is to be expected. Seriously frequent references to a neo-fascist PAST reek of narrative management to me, and nationalism seems to be a logical popular response to an overbearing collective quasi-government acting as a toady, go-fer and proxy for uncle sam's empire.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Israeli newspaper names most influential Jew of 2022

The Jerusalem Post hailed Vladimir Zelensky for “changing the world” through his use of ‘media and diplomacy’

https://www.rt.com/news/563510-zelensky-influential-jew-jerusalem-post/

oh my

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mimi's picture

@QMS

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enhydra lutris's picture

@mimi

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Edited to add:

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but I did read your OT and comments when time permitted.
I recall Columbus coming to Panama on his mission from God and Queen, rounding up 600 indigenous men who spoke no Spanish, and when demanded to pledge allegiance to Jesus and the Pope, he lopped off their arms, piled them up to bleed to death.
Now, a short distance away is a church, and it has a cobblestone path leading up to the door. Annually, locals get down on their bare knees, crawl to the church for some religious drink of wine and a blessing. Most Panamanians are Catholics.
But, let us not forget that a 22 yr old woman was taken into custody in Iran, beaten to death, for wearing tight jeans. Happened recently. Over 1200 US women have been arrested and charged with felonies for having miscarriages.
Let us not forget Israel and little dead Palestinian children. Or Abraham wandering in the desert 40 years with God's demand to kill every non-Jew in sight.
Nevertheless, of the top killing Christian denomination or religion, I rank Catholics No.1.
Biden gets elected, no mention of his Catholicism. But when JFK ran, he had to mansplain he would put the US ahead of his obedience to the Pope.
And today, anybody who is an atheist has a snowball's chance in hell to get elected.
It is cooling off some, and it is such a relief.
Take care, friend!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

enhydra lutris's picture

@on the cusp

I figure that, as you said, the top killers and murders are the Catholic Church hierarchy. The rape of the americas, the albigensian and northern crusades, the numerous inquisitions, the huguenot wars, and on and on and on. Not that any of them get a pass or clean bill of health, but that level of depravity is truly horrifying.

But when JFK ran, he had to mansplain he would put the US ahead of his obedience to the Pope.

And he was probably completely sincere. Biden was subject to no such real pressure, and wouldn't have been sincere should he have made any such assertions. Both parties are eyeball deep in open and/or closet christofascists, and Biden is one of theirs.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --