Who do we think we are ??

Thoughts about enemies

Not long ago, I watched the 2001 film, "Enemy at the Gates," which centers around the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II. It is a first-rate motion picture, in my view, well acted by people such as Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz and Ed Harris, among others. It is a typical war story in most respects, with a love element to make it complete.

I thought I might like to read the book from which the title came. I ordered it without doing any research, and when it arrived I discovered that while the film is mostly fiction, the book is straight non-fiction. In other words, they have little in common.

No matter. The movie stands on its own and is worth watching; the book stands on its own and is worth reading.

There was one scene in the film which struck me in particular. It consisted of these words spoken by the character of Soviet Commissar Danilov moments before he sacrifices his life:

"I've been such a fool, Vassili. Man will always be man. There is no new man. We tried so hard to create a society that was equal, where there'd be nothing to envy your neighbor. But there's always something to envy. A smile .... a friendship. Something you don't have and want to appropriate. In this world -- even a Soviet one -- there will always be rich and poor. Rich in gifts .... poor in gifts. Rich in love .... poor in love."

Such a basic, fundamental, elemental truth. Yet, so many among the so-called far left, self-styled elitists round the world, such as Barack Obama and the ilk he surrounds himself with, simply cannot grasp it and are determined to turn the United States into a socialist nation, which would then be ultimately and most assuredly destined to collapse within itself.

Human nature declares socialism an impossibility and history defines it a failure: Some men strive to ascend Mount Everest; some men are content to watch cartoons on television. It has always been, and always shall be ....

Sweet child in time

It seems the past persists. Deep Purple will be performing in Sioux City, Iowa, on August 7. That is about a two hundred, seventy-five mile drive for me, and right across the border from where I once lived in South Dakota. Plenty of places to camp out –- in a comfortable bed at the home of friends or, if I really wanted to play coureur de bois again, on a beach alongside the ever-wondrous Missouri River. Sounds like a plan, hah?

Ian Gillan, Ian Paice, Roger Glover and more recent members, Steve Morse and Don Airey, compose the current Deep Purple crew. I regret that Ritchie Blackmore would not be among the players and that Jon Lord is in another existence (sort of), but it sure would be worth the time, money and effort to see even this rendition of a rock legend in concert.

It just occurred to me, if things would have worked out just a little bit differently, this concert would have made a good day-after-birthday present for someone I know. Such is life ....

The mist in the morning

Not long ago, I was asked if I thought of "god" as a "he" or a "she." The opportunity to respond to the question was eliminated almost immediately, so, rather than play games, I will post an answer here:

As for the personification of "god," I was taught, "Our father who art in heaven" .... but I do not follow any organized religion, so that is irrelevant. My imagination revolves around pantheons such as the Old Greek or Old Norse deities, which included any number of gods, both male and female .... but that realm lurks within my "id" and not in my actual reality. My beliefs trend toward a mixture of deism and pantheism (I dislike the term "Mother Nature," too), and my own blend of Native American spirit concepts = if "god" exists, "it" is the mist in the morning and my own conscience coupled with an unfathomable energy which may or may not require our physical being to sustain.

1) If this needs clarification, just whistle ....

2) Of course, my answer might be different tomorrow ....