Le Jour De La Bastille

We just had our 4 th of July
and to us in the United States
its a big day
but the trouble is
we think the world revolves around us
and we forget how big and how old the world is
we weren't always here
and in 1776 we were a backwater not a super power
the 14 th is coming up
bastille day

Bastille Day is the French national holiday which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale (National Celebration) and commonly le quatorze juillet (the fourteenth of July). It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789; the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. Festivities are held on the morning of 14 July, on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic.

Now we like to think that what we Americans do and did change the world in ways no one can or ever did
but thats really not true
In my opinion the 14 th of July 1789 might very well have been the single most important day in the modern era
and anyone interested in changing our world must se how this day really was like a kick off
this is where modern revolutionary change started.
it was a day that started a revolution and a revolution that started a war that lasted 25 years
The Great French War is a term sometimes used to describe the period of almost continuous conflict from April 20, 1792 to November 20, 1815 (23 years 7 months), between France and various other states of Europe. Nowadays, historians commonly recognize a split between the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.
The conflict began when France declared war on Austria following a gradual increase in tensions following the French Revolution in 1789. The wars continued through several régime changes in France (beginning with the deposition of King Louis XVI in 1792 and continuing through the Terror instigated by the Jacobins under Maximilien de Robespierre). The Jacobins were in turn overthrown and an Executive Directory set up, eventually also giving way to the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte—first as First Consul then as Emperor.
The Treaty of Amiens produced the only period of general peace during the Great French War (besides Napoleon's brief exile on Elba), and separates the earlier French Revolutionary Wars from the later Napoleonic Wars, although both terms are sometimes used to cover the entire period.
In total the war claimed between 4 million and 6.5 million lives (including civilian casualties) and involved between 6 and 10 million combatants. It was fought principally in Europe, but conflict did occur in both north Africa and South Africa as well as in South America, North America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, India and throughout much of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Some colonial possessions changed hands permanently, with crucial implications for their later history, such as South Africa.
The wars saw the rise and fall of French dominance over Europe, as well as the rapid decline of the Spanish and Portuguese empires. The Russian and British Empires thus both benefited from the wars in the short term. One lasting result of the conflict was a dramatic growth in Italian and German nationalism, which culminated in the unification of Italy in 1861 and of Germany in 1871. The war proved to be the last ever fought between Britain and France, ending the Second Hundred Years' War that had seen them constantly in conflict between 1689 and 1815.

NOW JUST IMAGINE BEING THERE ON SUCH A DAY TO WATCH THE WHOLE WORLD TURN UPSIDE DOWN. to me that is a day to celebrate

pick a dogma any dogma

Many people on both "sides"
like to simplify things, because simplifying things makes well simpler
its easier to divide things into us and them
that provides you with ENEMIES..

but life isnt simple
and there really isnt two sides
there are a million sides
and a thousands shades of grey
things are rarely back and white
to some people anyone who advocates funding for public libraries is a communist
or anyone who advocates gay marriage is some sort of anarchist

but what do these terms mean
so confusing
very complicated

its very easy to get confused because many people want to label any one the left a communist
when we really dont get along at all or agree on much either

many people accused of being "communists" are really very moderate and arent communist at all
its all so very complicated

i mean many 'liberals" are actually very pro market
which often puts them on the right on economic issues but left on social issues
so you really have to pay attention
and basically ignore anything anne coulter or glenn beck say
the left broadly is opposed to the capitalist system even though thats a bit simplistic

but to prove i'm fair minded heres
arnold shwartzenegger to tell you what a cool guy milton freedman was

and if you are curious
thats right i'm just as extreme as you can get why i actually eat babies for breakfast
because i'm a liberal and no thats quite quite different than being a communist
please try to pay attention
not communist

curiouser & curiouser

The conflict in the middle east doesn't really get to me except in one respect.
people think its special
that theres something unique about it
its a conflict over land that has been fought over centuries, even Millennia
between two ethnic and/or religious groups claiming it exclusively as their own
how is that unique?
the english and the irish still haven't settled the matter of who ulster should belong too
the mexicans still want california and texas back
the chinese have a problem with tibet
greece and turkey still fuss over cyprus, don't they?
how is israel/palestine unique?
the other thing that kinda annoys me is when people try to simplify this dispute and others
as a religious conflict
its much more complicated than that
Nationalism and Religious conflict are fairly distinct but they get lumped together and that confuses the issue
sometimes trying to simplify an issue makes it more confusing more complicated
because nothing is simple
many try to wrap a religion or a race in a flag and pretend one is the embodiment of the other
not all agree
in fact some would take issue
which i do admit is confusing
and makes the planet a curious place indeed

when in rome

this is a tricky one
the burka
secularism
and the issue of religious tolerance
do you have to tolerate the intolerant?
in the name of equality freedom and rational thought may you persecute
the reactionary?
or is this a form of bigotry?

So much blood has been shed by the Church because of an omission from the Gospel: "Ye shall be indifferent as to what your neighbor's religion is." Not merely tolerant of it, but indifferent to it. Divinity is claimed for many religions; but no religion is great enough or divine enough to add that new law to its code.
- Mark Twain, a Biography
We despise all reverences and all the objects of reverence which are outside the pale of our own list of sacred things. And yet, with strange inconsistency, we are shocked when other people despise and defile the things which are holy to us.
- Following the Equator

homicidal monkeys 50 000 years ago and today

What we are?
Murderous monkeys with a taste for blood.
clever monkeys that invent neat things like a bombs and napalm
but basically the same monkey that threw rocks and used jaw bones as a club
perhaps we're just clever in the wrong way

seriously? how far have we come
are we really that different than our ancestors 80 000 years ago?

Turkey Says It Will Cut Ties with Israel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have a crisis on his hands before he visits Washington o

Turkey Says It Will Cut Ties with Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have a crisis on his hands before he visits Washington on Tuesday: Turkey, long one of Israel's closest allies in the Muslim world, has said it will cut ties with the Jewish state unless it apologizes for the May 31 flotilla raid that killed nine activists. Meanwhile, Israel has revised the blockade of the Gaza Strip that the protesters were trying to breach: From now on, it will allow consumer goods into Gaza; but it will continue to ban construction materials, which are needed to fix damage from last year's war. Meanwhile, before Netanyahu's visit to the White House tomorrow, historian Thaddeus Russell writes that President Obama needs to ask if Israel makes Americans safer—even if the answer makes everyone uncomfortable.

Read it at The Daily Beast and this looks serious folks




if you don't think Israel has a colossal pr problem your not paying attention , the american media pretty much censors ANY criticism of Israel for ANY reason there is more criticism of Israel in Israel than in the United States,with holding any judgement on whether Israel is the villain or the victim in the world, the important thing to be aware of is how serious the situation is for Israel when an old ally like turkey breaks relations like this

it took the IRA years to figure this one out also
"After decades of trying—and failing—to gain their own state by throwing stones, firing rockets, taking hostages, hijacking planes and blowing themselves up, it looked like the Palestinians, or their allies by proxy, had eyed one of the most powerful resistance tactics: nonviolent protest."
but eventually they did

The Mad Republican Tea Party

Was tipped off to this excellent mockery of Teabagger stupidity. Apparently it was produced by CollegeHumor.com, which is pretty sweet by itself.



Michael