First, a glorb of bilge that would truly puke a buzzard off'n a gut wagon.
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An anthropologist proposed a game to the kids in an African tribe. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree and told the kids that who ever got there first won the sweet fruits. When he told them to run they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats. When he asked them why they had run like that as one could have had all the fruits for himself they said: ''UBUNTU, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?''
'UBUNTU' in the Xhosa culture means: "I am because we are"
'UBUNTU' in the Xhosa culture means: "I am because we are"
This is the thinking that is being taught in universities, feeling groups, new improved relevant churches, and the Girl Scouts of America (new and modern, meaningful, tolerant, relevant, diverse Girl Scouts). It speaks to a certain understanding that communism is the highest form of human achievement and development. If we would only yield to an over-arching reality and controlling force, and give up any sense of self, then we would be materially happy.
They draw the obvious parallels with Judeo-Christian instructions about charity, giving, thinking of others, caring for the poor, feeding the hungry, caring for the imprisoned, etc. But the utopians always forget basic things. They forget that Christianity is about redemption and salvation. The progressives are about lining people up to eat, to go to the doctor, to go to the unisex restroom, and other forms of fairness and social democracy. They are not about feeding the poor. They are about telling everybody what to eat, when to eat it, and that they must like it. The only exemption will be a certain elite who know better than the other 85% of the population that must follow orders.
The story about Little Black Sambo is ridiculed by leftists in their hypocritical attempt to show their disdain for racism. (For an illustration of what really good commies think about Negroes, we refer you to the writings of Ernesto Guevara ). We are told that the use of the word "Sambo" is racist. We are told to disregard Sambo's cunning, work, and effort that, in the end, proves to be victorious over the tiger. The whole story is just an attempt to ridicule and diminish the value of Negroes and traditional life. We are also instructed that Sambo is not a good representative of the collective. Sambo must not exist. Children sitting in a circle, who all love each other and who practice the sacrament of .....from each according to his ability and to each according to his needs...then they will have Nirvana, Happiness, Contentment.
Sambo? Well, he is in another place....called a Gulag.
We are sure that Tom Hughes is a nice guy. He went to State University of New York and he works for the Unity Employment Services. He also really must believe that the Xhosas are practitioners of their perfected philosophy....and devoid of the frailties that affect white males who own guns and who never do anything good for anyone all the time....and who hate....and are not inclusive....or good....and everything.
Tom is surely aware of how communists have elevated tribal civilisations . Georgia in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics comes to mind. Pol Pot in Cambodia comes to mind. Fidel and Raul and Che, in Cuba come to mind. Mao Tse Tung comes to mind. Adolf comes to mind. We're talking about a veritable Hell of Fame of socialist bastards who have created Workers' Paradises in every corner of Planet Earth.
Sheesh!
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Now, a bit of an explanation about El Zorro's and Lee's submissions and my comments about them.
El Zorro's observations and lamentations about the notion that children are part of a circle of possession of a communal greater reality are spot on in the culture war.
AND......The War is on.
Bestiality, polygamy, homosexuality, Sado-Masochist Marriage Labour Unions and Adoption Services and Baseball Churches, NAMBLA adoption liberty, Temporary Adoption and Escort Service Clubs, Community Sexual Investigation and Experimentation Clubs all seem reasonable.....normal....regular....you know....like .... freedom....NO?
After all, women should be allowed more liberty. No? To-day's artificial Mormons are so....out of date. The Bible says that everybody should have 500 concubines and 200 wives and then take Uriah's wife if you wish. Right? So...we are going to set up more and more and more clubs of thugs who gently force women into the Church of the Latter Day Aid to Families with Dependent Children and the Latter Night Saints....so that the Obamites can spread the wealth of the Millionaires and Billionaires. Right?
And if one thinks that these things are impossible....remember this. They all....all...already exist in various places throughout the Planet Earth....throughout the First World...throughout the Third World....and in the United States of America.
With each step towards being "reasonable" and "fair" we step closer to turning the entire human race into something like a porno-movie / municipal zoo factory. Could anybody believe how AFDC has produced Detroit in less than three generations? Could anybody believe 20 years ago that Detroit would become something so gross, that if any normal person mentions the word "Detroit", he is immediately called a racist? It is proof perfect that the anti-religionist and the progressive rationalists provide the certain path to perdition.
And....it is all designed to destroy the one place where the greatest true liberty and greatest improvement of the human condition ever existed. Remember to replace anything that is previously thought to be disgusting with words that sound pleasant and repeat those pleasant sounding words frequently. Before long...evil become goodness....hideousness becomes beauty.....death becomes life.....darkness becomes light.....slavery becomes freedom and poverty becomes wealth. And, en route, always aim for control of The Children.
Chalk up a BIG 10 - 4 for El Zorro.
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THEN....the note from Lee. One or two folks may have reasonably thought that Lee or El Gringo Viejo were saying that the professor from yesterday's posting was spot on. Such is not the case.
The Professor is spot-near. His calculations are excellent, and his data is excellent, and his interpretations are very good. He errs, however, when he says that trepidation on the part of anti-Keynesians and central government manipulation of the money supply of any given country about Zimbabwe-like inflation is "nonsense".
The fact is that to achieve hyper-inflation...using a baseball analogy...one must cross first base if he ever intends to reach home base.
Plus, using the good professor's examples, he was a bit too dismissive of other realities that occur when governments go on a pre-emptive "let them eat Pizza a la mode" strike to feed the masses free vacations to Danish massage parlours and Mercedes Benzes. Once again, gong to Mexico, it took Mexico 20 years to recover from the profligacy of Echeverria's and Lopez Portillo's contiguous 12 years of profligate madness. And....that was never quite hyper-inflation, but, since Mexico was a relatively large country, with a relatively large and complex economy, wounds were very difficult from which to recover.
The analogy would be like hitting a roach with a grain of sand thrown by mosquito. That would be Cyprus. Mexico from 1977 through nearly the turn of the century was more like a moderately large bull-elephant being shot by 3 rounds from 50 caliber elephant gun. That patient goes in to the hospital with an evaluation of "extremely grave". The recovery finally happened, but there are still scars. And there was no "real hyperinflation".
We understand that there is scale in things. Mexico's GNP is the equivalent of all of Africa's. It is twice the amount of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Texas's GNP is almost the exact same amount of Mexico's.
Right now, the United States of America, with fools like Bernanke, Geithner, Obama, and their cohorts and minions in charge...."You didn't build it!! You didn't do that by yourself!!" are the ones in charge. These are people who want revenge and control. They want to give the oppressed their just reparations. They are madmen. They are to economics what the "Reverend" Mr. Wright is to religion. These are the commanders on the bridge of the Ship of Fools. So, one of the main ingredients required for the Professor's perfect storm to arrive at a hyper-inflation is very much in place. Just think of the ridiculous, demagogic manipulation and purposeful destruction of the housing market.
So Dr. Steve Hanke is one of the Good Guys, but this time he only hit a triple with two men on base. No Grand Slam....but a good hit.
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THEN, about the Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre.
During my last stay, on the second day, El Gringo Viejo went to the nearby village and made his rounds. At the little seafood "hole in the wall" place where El Gringo Viejo maintains an "office" we met with the dismaying news that a man, wife, and child had been gunned down only a few blocks from the little seafood place. They had been accused of calling authority and the military with information about the left-over remnants of the people who had been running amuck in the area for the last two years. Their information had resulted in set of major arrests, detentions, deportations to American courts, long sentences into the really deep prisons meant for really bad people in central Mexico.
The perpetrators had been arrested shortly afterwards, others of their small group were dealt with finality about forty miles away. Other people, neighbours and friends of the three victims, had been quick to give information to the Army about the guilty parties. For the next three weeks El Gringo Viejo and other "stand out" people actually hung around, in order to demonstrate solidarity...simply by being out in the open....going about our business.
All the big harvest trucks carrying the crews of young men out to the orchards early each morning....all the regular people....did a remarkable thing. We all just stayed in place, doing the things normal people do. Some of it was because the thudding and thumping of Apache attack helicopters and the companies of infantry moving around in force....and some of it was because we knew that the war had been won in our area and we were not going to retreat from victory.
During my last stay, on the second day, El Gringo Viejo went to the nearby village and made his rounds. At the little seafood "hole in the wall" place where El Gringo Viejo maintains an "office" we met with the dismaying news that a man, wife, and child had been gunned down only a few blocks from the little seafood place. They had been accused of calling authority and the military with information about the left-over remnants of the people who had been running amuck in the area for the last two years. Their information had resulted in set of major arrests, detentions, deportations to American courts, long sentences into the really deep prisons meant for really bad people in central Mexico.
The perpetrators had been arrested shortly afterwards, others of their small group were dealt with finality about forty miles away. Other people, neighbours and friends of the three victims, had been quick to give information to the Army about the guilty parties. For the next three weeks El Gringo Viejo and other "stand out" people actually hung around, in order to demonstrate solidarity...simply by being out in the open....going about our business.
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| This is a Powder Puff bush that has just gone into full bloom. It is an attractor of very docile bees and small wasps that are critical in citrus pollination, and also attacking bugs that are actually dangerous to plants. |
And that is the way that was. And for three weeks....nothing more happened. And the harvest goes on. And we kept moving around...day or night.
Then, we had a small victory with the finishing of our little carport. It is, like the Quinta, a rustic addition to a rustic place. But, we really needed finally to put in a place where the sun did not punish a vehicle during the day. And now we have it. It took about four months of planning and impromptu modifications and changes in direction. We first had thought about putting on a thatched roof. But then, since our place has no thatching anywhere, we decided to keep the same "look" with the carport. It cost too much, took too long, and was worth it.
Alvaro essentially designed and built it by himself. He then went on to salvage the
gatepost of the entrance of the Hacienda de La Vega (our neighbours) due to his architectural and engineering ability. It was all, in truth, one of his finest hours. This picture to the right shows Alvaro with BeBe, from our "famous" front entrance, standing in front of his carport construction project.
And, finally, this is Alvaro's other project, about 50 yards away from the carport. He is shown here with his assistant "Lirio", performing artificial life-extension on the "muro" or "Castillo" which anchors the gates of the entrance of the Hacienda de La Vega.
The muros were put in back in 1936. This one gradually has floated, until it became known at "La Torre de Piza". It weighs about 11 tons. It is anchored 9 feet below the surface, and its foundation stones are about the sizes of peck and bushel baskets.
Alvaro excavated, flooded, and winched with block and tackle (improvised) the monster leaning tower back away from its four inch list during a four day war with an enemy that resisted removal from his comfortable bed. It had moved to the point however that citrus harvesting trucks could no longer move through. So, while many of the old trees have been removed and replanted, there is still about 13 acres of Valencia that can be harvested, so it was necessary for the light crop this season. In about the second season from now, it will be shown to have been very necessary to have had made this maneuver.
So we have begun the beguine. Please accept my appreciation for your being here. Please forgive the somewhat peculiar advertisements that have appeared due to Google's notion about the nature of our clientele. Although we are not paranoid, it seems as though it was an intentional act to embarrass this blogsite due to the fact that we are ''un-preferred" political commentators. We brought our opinion to their attention is somewhat definite and finite terms and things did, we have to admit, change back so a more normal set of presentations.
El Gringo Viejo
