Memorial Day

Today the Baroness, the ever lovely Lady Nib and your faithful correspondent visited the internment site of the Baron at the Riverside National Cemetery.
Being Memorial Day, there was a lot of traffic on the road to the cemetery and within the cemetery. Small flags were placed over the grave sites and many people had come to pay tribute to their loved ones who had served in the various wars that the United States has waged to preserve its own independence, as well as the freedoms enjoyed in other nations.
While in the cemetery this writer noted that there were many visitors riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles and that there were no visitors driver Mercedes-Benz, BMW or Lexus cars. Almost all the automobiles that this writer saw were of the work-a-day type driven by people who work for others type. And this observation made this writer wonder if it were not a true thing that the people who appreciate the sacrifices of those who have gone before really appreciate their freedoms more than those who see the nation as a money generating machine.

Men in Hats

It's been a while since this writer has added to the Men in Hats series.
To the left is the British actor Patrick Malahide portraying the character Inspector Roderick Allyn in the series The Inspector Allyn Mysteries, which were based on the novels by Ngaio Marsh.
As can be seen, Mr Malahide is wearing a homberg hat (not this writer's favorite form of head gear), and he is wearing it well and with a bit of dash. Note the slight tilt of the brim. The knowledgeable hat wearer will always wear a hat somewhat tilted. It denotes an attitude of savior faire without being outre'.
And while it is not evident in the photo, Mr. Malahide, in the television program, wore his suits extremely well. Only Tom Wolfe wore a suit better.

A Blast From the Past

Back in the days before political correctness was even an embryonic concept in the mind of a guilt ridden Westerner, it was not unusual for Americans and Europeans to consider the rest of the world as benighted by superstition, savagery and paganism. This was an attitude especially held toward the Near and Middle East and Africa, The Far East was considered a little iffy savage wise. And to hold those views was not considered to be a bad thing. The only thing that was considered to be of any use out of the Islamic world was algebra -- a science of questionable worth since it has little practical application. Otherwise Muslims were considered heretics whose religion fed off of Judaism and Christianity.
Winston Churchill, in his account of the River Wars, said something that no American politician will say: Winston Churchill On Islam
Meanwhile, our president has deigned it proper to to meet with the Saudi leadership, ask for more oil production and have his request rejected and then tell the Saudis that the US will help them build their nuclear power industry while not pushing for the same thing of our Congress.
Something is really wrong.

Oprah the Great

We here at the Manor are Christians of the Protestant, rock ribbed Puritan sort. We believe the Bible is the Word of God and we try conform to the dictates of the Scriptures. We believe that Christianity is the only true religion and that salvation is found only through Christ alone.
In this viewpoint we are not alone. Christianity, in a form, is America's default religion despite the whining of your local Muslim that Islam is misunderstood. The reason that Islam is "misunderstood" is because Islam is a false religion as are Hinduism, Buddhism and Scientology, among others. Judaism is a religion that has been cut short. Jews are half right. But being half right is the same as being wrong.
But to get to the point.
Oprah Winfrey has decided that she is a religious leader. Thirty years ago her babbling would have been laughable. But, like a termite, she has burrowed herself into the body of society with touchy-feeling nonsense before springing her new religion.
Ms. Winfrey has hooked her wagon to a yuk name Eckert Tolle who spouts the usual New Age nonsense. And, as we say here at the Manor, New Age is the same as the old bull corn. Some years ago Ms. Winfrey championed Maryanne Williamson, another purveyor of bull corn.
One would say that Ms. Winfrey is dangerous. But let's face the fact. Anyone who gets their religion from a television talk show host deserves a television talk show religion. She seems to be separating the sheep from the goats. And there seem to be a lot of goats.

What The Hell?

Those in the know are aware that Bloody Nib Manor is in the state of California. The Manor was established in in the Golden State back in the 1930s when the Baroness moved here from Misery. We consider ourselves as Prunies and we remember when the state and the population of the state was uninfected by the East Coast sensibility that has since the 1960s.
Well, to get to the point, the Supreme Court of the State of California has declared that a state measure voted upon the populace to ban gay marriage is unconstitutional. The result of the Court's declaration was a bunch of public prancing and dancing by gays and women gays (why call them lesbians when heterosexual woman are called heterosexuals, as are straight men, instead of being referred to as, oh I don't know, Penelopeists {read Homer's Odyssey if you're clueless}) saying that they'll get "married" when they have the first chance.
The mayor of Los Angeles, has always seemed to be a little light on his feet, if you know what this writer means, says that he will perform gay "weddings" when he gets the first chance.
This is the mayor of a city where the streets are almost undrivable in places due to pot holes on the street, one is hesitant to venture into certain neighborhoods for fear of being mugged or shot and the city is so far into debt that any respectable man would shoot himself in the head from the shame that his incompetence has wrought.
Is there a problem with priorities here?
Meanwhile, the Governor of the state, a bad actor in both the movies and as a governor, has stated that he will work against any new proposition to ban gay "marriage." He states that there are more important problems in the state than gay "marriage." This doesn't make any sense. The proposition that will appear on the November ballot will be voted on by the citizens of the state. The governor not assembly nor state senate has any voice in the matter beyond their "influence" with the voters. If the state has more important matters to address than gay "marriage" why is Conan the Barbarian talking about it? Why is he not addressing the budget deficit? And he just doesn't seem to get the fact that if gay "marriage" is legalized in the state the state will receive fewer tax dollars simply because a number of homosexuals, of whatever flavour,, will be filing jointly instead of as individuals. In other words. gays being "married" results in fewer tax dollars, let alone the undermining of the moral fabric of the society.
Ain't identity politics great?