T P O

T   P   O
The Patient Ox (aka Hénock Gugsa)

G r e e t i n g s !

** TPO **
A personal blog with diverse topicality and multiple interests!


On the menu ... politics, music, poetry, and other good stuff.
There is humor, but there is blunt seriousness here as well!


Parfois, on parle français ici aussi. Je suis un francophile .... Bienvenue à tous!

* Your comments and evaluations are appreciated ! *

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

NRA under Fire [post "Newtown massacre"]- by TPO




graphics by Henock  (click to enlarge)
NRA Under Fire [post "Newtown massacre"]

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 by TPO (a.k.a. FormerET)



Subject: "Protesters target NRA’s Capitol Hill office to call for gun control after Newtown killings"
Venue: Washington Post, December 17, 2012
Article by: Fredrick Kunkle *
__________________________________

FormerET
12:57 PM CST
Maybe the real reason the NRA is keeping a very low profile at the moment is because that is the best strategy. Gun violence is a very hot issue right now and may stay that way for a while. The national mood right now is that of self-disgust, remorse, and anger at the undelying impotence.

There is no benefit in bringing out charlton-heston-look-alike zombies shouting "from my cold, dead hands!" 

The reality seems to be that everybody including sane and sensible members of NRA are now doing serious soul-searching , questioning America's madness about ... me, me, me, ... mine,mine, mine, ... my rights, my rights, my rights, ... and never my obligations and responsiblities!!!
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FormerET
2:13 PM CST
Isn't it sad and scary that Texas' Tea Party politicians are now doubling down on their "Alamo" stand that teachers should be enabled to carry handguns on school premises? 

Somehow, Texan logic dictates that such a law would take care of potential violent outbreaks (i.e. lessen the gravity). The rationale is that Newtown Elementary School should have been run by Wyatt Earp, and all the teachers there ought to have been gun-toting Annie Oakleys!

Glad I got out of Texas with my hide in tact!
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FormerET
4:15 PM CST
And, on another front, can someone explain to me why "assault" weapons are considered sportive? What is gentlemanly or even manly about owning them (much less using them)? 

If we cannot see and understand the role of paranoia as a motivational force here, we can consider ourselves at sea rudderless.
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* source:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/protesters-target-nras-capitol-hill-office-to-call-for-gun-control-after-newtown-killings/2012/12/17/eb3423c0-4898-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_story.html



Saturday, December 15, 2012

Beggar to Beggar Cried - by W B Yeats


W B Yeats
Beggar To Beggar Cried
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 William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)


'Time to put off the world and go somewhere
And find my health again in the sea air,'
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
'And make my soul before my pate is bare.

'And get a comfortable wife and house
To rid me of the devil in my shoes,'
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
'And the worse devil that is between my thighs.'

And though I'd marry with a comely lass,
She need not be too comely - let it pass,'
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
'But there's a devil in a looking-glass.'

'Nor should she be too rich, because the rich
Are driven by wealth as beggars by the itch,'
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
'And cannot have a humorous happy speech.'

'And there I'll grow respected at my ease,
And hear amid the garden's nightly peace.'
Beggar to beggar cried, being frenzy-struck,
'The wind-blown clamour of the barnacle-geese.'