The Daily Diatribe
That’s right.The debate about gay marriage is all wrong.
The controversy has come to a head in my home state of Minnesota so I thought I would chime in with some information not known by most Americans.
I’ve watched this debate with interest over the years, not
because I’m interested in the topic, but because I’m amazed at how easily we Americans are baited into knock-down-drag-out fights about things that should be intuitively obvious.to Americans….
The window exploded in a spectacular visual cacophony of light as the planet and its twin moons broke out of it’s solunar eclipse cycle right before his eyes. It had been nearly a year since Colonel Chris Smisson had departed his homeworld on this solo exploration of the galaxy and, while he had seen many exciting and interesting things in his travels thus far, the cosmic dawn he witnessed this day from his vantage point in high orbit was like nothing like he had ever imagined.
The view from the spacecraft took his breath away. In a matter of seconds, he left the cold, darkness of night where he had been shielded from the bright light of the sun powering this solar system. The planet he orbited had matching twin satellite moons in precisely opposing orbits. Their orbits were aligned in such a way that the beginning of each lunar cycle was characterized by one moon being illuminated by the light of the sun and casting a shadow of itself upon the planet below while the other moon was cloaked in darkness, it’s light being eclipsed not only by the planet it orbited, but by its sister moon as well.
The planet itself was a rich range of greens, speckled with small blue spots which Chris theorized indicated a rich variety of flora, watered by the many small round lakes he could see from orbit. The moons seemed to be copies of the planet they patrolled, each with a rich green color and many visible lakes dotting the landscape. It was as if someone had placed three giant marbles in outer space, two small ones orbiting one “shooter.”
Chris had just finished remarking to himself about the beauty of the terrain below when the light show began. As the moons each cleared their respective horizons, light from the sun reflected off the lakes and shone on the other two heavenly bodies. He imagined he could actually follow the rays of light on their first voyages from one moon, to the planet below, and back to the moon again. Somehow, all the rays of light combined to create a multi-spectral elliptic halo around the formations, encasing the planets, moons, and the perfectly symmetrical beams of light inside it. Continue reading
The ONE
There once stood a building, tall and proud, which had been designed and built by old time architects and builders upon a solid foundation. It stood for many years, each of it’s constituent parts working with the others to remain a steadfast edifice, immune to the ravages of time and the inclemency of the weather.
Even when the worst storm ever seen hit the building, broke out all the windows, blew away many of the shingles, and damaged the inside terribly, the structure still stood and the bricks, windows, and shingles worked together to rebuild and restore the structure. Even the chimney, which stood above all of them belching it’s orders with hot air and sooty smoke, worked to restore the building to its original glory.
There was one brick in the middle level of one of the walls who was proud of the little building and the work they had all done, but who longed for Continue reading
I have a good friend who is a retired Royal Thai Police Colonel. A very good man and a great friend.
A few months ago, I asked him about helping me get a Thai Drivers License because, as a law-abiding type American, I thought it was the thing to do. (All right. Yeah. I also didn’t want to get into trouble for NOT having one). He asked me if I had an international drivers license, which I do. He then said, “That meets all the requirements of Thai insurance so why to do you want a Thai Drivers License?” Again, I responded, I thought it was the right thing to do.
He then gave me what I thought was odd advice. “If you are stopped by the Thai Police, DO NOT SPEAK THAI to them!” (for those who don’t know, I speak Thai well enough to sometimes fool people on the phone into thinking I’m a Thai who spent a long time studying overseas). My friend went on to explain that if I don’t speak Thai to them, they won’t know what to do and will just let me go.
Yesterday, I had a chance to test this theory.
On a web forum I used to frequent, we debated the question of a 13-year-old boy with 18 convictions on his record, including the rape of a 72-year-old woman. It was reported that the Supreme Court will be considering whether his life sentence without the possibility of parole, after being tried as an adult, constitutes “cruel and unusual” punishment under the 8th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
I can tell you there were plenty of impassioned and firmly expressed opinions on this subject!
While the case is more than 20 years old, the questions still remain.
There were a few folks that believe the boy had the right to a “chance” at redemption. In their opinion locking a boy up at 13, regardless of his record with no chance ever to get out of prison was indeed cruel and unusual. Some lamented the lack of a focus on “rehabilitation” in the prison systems.
Continue reading
