Wednesday ramble

 

My conscience jerks me around every Time I turn on the faucet and let the water run to get warm, mindful that in Gaza sufficient water is not available to sustain human life, much less worry about its temperature. 

Which side am I on? Does it matter? What difference does it make? Neither. Both. I am always on the side of whoever is being bullied; and my sole certainty in life is that All Government is All Ways, Always, All Bad. Governments are evil, composed of humans whose concern is self-interest, to hold on to power. 

Even democracy in the form that we thought we had it until January 2020 only worked so long as everyone treasured and honored its precepts, including honorable, peaceful transfer of power according to established rules and practices.

Yesterday and today I read then copy, paste, and published different points of view about what is going on in Israel Gaza. In mind, barring Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, it would not be possible to find a government more evil and less caring about its people than Hamas, whose policy is solely to eradicate Israel regardless of human cost including the cost in Palestinian lives. The government of Iran is the same, and both the Iranian people and the Palestinian people suffer for it and live in oppressive fear.

On the other side, observing their antics, it would be impossible to find a government more evil than the current government of Israel, dedicated to wiping out the Palestinian people, currently by warfare and deprivation, and seizing land that one religion views as God-given. Well, two religions, extreme right-wing Judaism and right-wing literalist inerrantist Christianity. 

Fools, especially college students loosed from parental control into their own immature, arrogant, certitudinous idiocy, love to emotionally and mindlessly espouse a cause and stomp down their opponents. For some reason - - well the reason is their different social and intellectual class - - their cause is invariably leftist, and they grow violent, and evil government moves to discredit and put them down. May 4, 1970, Kent State. Where was I? I was literally and figuratively at sea. My Lai woke me up.

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Where am I? I am watching, observing. A naval officer I once worked with, a real jerk, liked to say "kicking ass and taking names." I'm not there, I'm just seeing. Far from the image of God, we humans are neither greater nor lesser than ants warring with neighboring anthills.

LHM CHM LHM

T88&c  

Sunday a friend gave Linda a snipping of gardenias, her all Time favorite flower. We had an ENORMOUS gardenia bush in our back yard at The Old Place, that used to enlighten and fragrance the entire neighborhood every spring; but it's long given way to = = "progress" = = and done and gone. Inspired by Sunday's kindness, on Monday we went to Lowe's and browsed the garden shop until we found and purchased four different species of gardenia bushes, each potted and now at home in 7H. One, photographed in this morning's predawn darkness, is loving us in full bloom and aroma.