Posted on 01/03/2008 6:35:58 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!
Sing hey! for the bath at close of day
That washes the weary mud away!
A loon is he that will not sing:
O! Water Hot is anoble thing!
O! Sweet is the sound of falling rain.
and the brook that leaps from hill to plain;
but better than rain or rippling streams
is Water Hot that smokes and steams.
O! Water cold we may pour at need
down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed;
but better is Beer, if drink we lack,
and Water Hot poured down the back.
O! Water is fair that leaps on high
in a fountain white beneath the sky;
but never did fountain sound so sweet
as splashing Hot Water with my feet!
OK... Somebody calibrate me on this:
I’m sittin here at da waterin hole and this guy is at the bar next to me. He’s just sold his wife’s wedding ring in some charity auction that “benefits Sudan”. For a sizable sum. Yes, apparently she was agreeable to this.
Forgive me, but my gut reaction was “damn... That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard all week”.
Look, I know that Sudan is seriously messed up. But given that warlords and terrorists are throttling that country, and they’re stealing every bit of aid that good-intentioned people are sending in there... Who in their right mind would pawn off their own wedding ring and send it to a bunch of warlords? That place makes Mogadishu look like civilization.
Am I wrong?
Sheesh. That’s messed up.
Some people’s brains is north of their heart. Some in the other direction.
I think we know where this guy’s is.
Good intentions and all. But you’re right, he’s throwing his money (and her jewelry) away...
Of all the causes... There’s lots of causes!
The same kind of folks who were so proud of themselves for singing "We Are the World", and thinking any money from that was going to put any food in the mouths of starving Ethiopians, even after they knew that the country's leaders weren't allowing any trucks to bring food to them.
I’ve got causes. Lots of causes!
Yes, but I remember waaaaaay back during one campaign that after 12 or so beers, "We Are the World" would make some dim fine Karaoke.
Or so I've heard...
Do sound plausible. ;o)
You would be passed out after that many, unless you were drinking the bilge water commonly passed off as ‘beer’ in most of the country.
Oh, today I'd be passed out after 2 or 3.
Not so 20+ years ago.
I don’t even drink that much, since I’ve had to cut out about 90% of all alcohol, and that’s a good thing.
True charity would demand airdropping a few hundred thousand surplus AK47s and ammo to all sides in the Sudan. Let them fight it out on equal terms.
After some more conversation on the topic I decided against any argument about the efficacy of such a gesture.
There wasn’t enough stud wall there to drive a nail into, if you get my meanin’.
*snort*
Proverbs 26:4
Nope. But I'm sure he was older and wiser and had fewer excuses than the young man I had conversation with yesterday. He's a young defense contractor - just graduated from college - who doesn't want to contribute to war and killing. He rationalizes his work on military vehicles as "saving lives" and could never work a munition system because that would be contributing to "all the killing". Never mind that all the work in munitions is going toward better control (controlled yields, precision guidance, etc...) which reduces unintentional deaths and reduces the overall number of munitions in play. Ah well, nevermind.
Sheesh...
Right now my work is hosting some fine folks from “over there” to teach them about the systems we’re installing. We’re helping rebuild without even leaving our desks... but subjecting some poor guys to negative temperatures and eight inches of snow.
Well, I voted.
dammit
I’m sorry.
Before it’s over, we’ll all be sorry.
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