Monday, April 7, 2008

Gunner's views on current Political Issues

One of the issues in front of the US Supreme court this spring concerns the gun ban in Washington DC. The court may decide the case applies only to the district of Columbia, which is unique because it is not a state, or the court could confirm that the 2nd Amendment give individuals the right to own guns. This is the first time in 70 years a Second Amendment issue has been accepted by the court, and back then they dodged the issue of individual right. If things keep going the way they are in this country we may need our guns!
A long time back you asked about the Glock semi-auto. Personally I don’t like anything about it. The Glock was designed to be safe to carry, and to be reliable when carried by people with little training. It is a double action weapon without a hammer, so the trigger pull cocks and fire the gun each time the trigger is pulled, giving the gun a long and heavy trigger pull and making it difficult to shoot accurately. The safety is a button on the trigger, which prevents the gun from being fired unless it is depressed, so nervous cops can’t forget to release the safety when they need to fire the gun in a hurry. It also keeps them from shooting themselves in the leg if they forget to lower the hammer before they return the gun to the holster. I carry my Taurus with the hammer down, and the safety off. That makes the first shot double action, with a long, heavy trigger pull, and each succeeding shot single action with a short, light trigger pull. If I have time I can cock the hammer for the first shot.

As you know, I have mixed feelings about the war in the Middle East. I was very much against going into Iraq in the first place, but since we are there we need to finish the job. The most resent problems with Moqtada al-Sadr’s millitia in Basra just makes blood shoot out of my eyes. First, why is that jerk still alive? As far as I am concerned, you surround Basra. Then you announce that noncombatants have till sundown to leave the city, and after that you move into the city and kill every living thing left behind.

I recently told Dana that the only person I know off who actually solved the problem of poverty was Count Drakula. His city was overrun by beggars, who were mostly deceased and cripples. Drakula invited them all to a holiday feast at his castle, and then had them killed. Problem solved. Dana was not impressed by Drakula’s solution to poverty, although I reasoned that Drakula spared these poor people from a lifetime of misery.

Sometimes I can’t figure out if I am getting old and grumpy, or if the world really is going to Hell in a hand basket. Part of it may just be that humans were only designed to deal with the problems within their tribe or village, and now we are being inundated with the problems of the whole world. I follow the primaries as well as patience allow, and this crop of candidates are the most miserable, pathethic, lying bunch of thieves imaginable. First, the president does not control the economy, and never has, so the candidates are lying when they claim they will fix the economy. In fact, the economy is mostly a matter of perception, and the scare of a major recession is being used to distract the populace away from the greedy corporations who are exploiting us. The main reason for the present downturn in the economy right now are the fuel prices, and earlier this week the US Senate questioned a bunch of fuel company executives about making 40 billion dollars in profits during the past year, while collecting more billions in tax incentives from the government. Apparently these executives convinced the senators that that their profits are modest and reasonable. Hey, somebody get a rope.

This is enough bitching for this time, because I could write many more pages if I get into all the ways we will be exploited and controlled by the man-made global warming crowd if they get their way. I am working on a story about Grayulf, who settled in England to get away from the growing power of the Christian church and the kings in Denmark.

Gunner.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Tribute of Charlton Heston


Charlton Heston died last night. To me the life he lived and the characters he played in film symbolized the ideal Man. He lived a reserved dignified life which is difficult to do when you are world famous. He was one of the great film stars of the fifties and sixties. There are very few of them left. Also he belonged to a select group of actors who has a screen present that was almost magical.

Charlton’s film roles were some of the most heroic ever depicted on film. My all time favored is Le Cid. The scenes with Sophia Loren are in a class all by themselves when it comes to romance. The battle scenes are also great. Of course, Charlton Heston’s film roles were often so pro Christian that a good Heathen had to bit his tongue. Anyway, Charlton would have made a great Heathen.

During Charlton’s later years he did not do much acting, but spent his time as a spokes person for the American Rifle Association. He became a leading advocate for "the right to bear arms". Charlton received much criticism because of this role by the liberal left, which tend to hold the belief that no one should own a gun. We in Canada also tend to hold the view that no one should own hand guns or assault rifles. This attitude works well in Canada for the most part. We do have relatively little gun violence compared to the US.

I will say that if I lived in the US my views on firearms would be much more in accordance with Charlton Heston. To live in an environment where the dangerous people have guns and you don’t, is kind of stupid. An excellent example of a country were all “law-abiding people” are armed at all times, is modern day Israel. There is less gun violence in Israel then there is in countries where carrying firearms are illegal. Of course in Israel, we only consider gun violence between Israelis.

To get back to Charlton, I will raise a glass tonight in his honor. In what ever next life he encounters, I wish him the best.

Cheers
Ole

Friday, April 4, 2008

Sick of the US Primary

All we see on American news is the continuing story of the Democratic Primary race between Obama and Hillary. It has become rather nauseating to see which one will be the best President of the US. The impression you get from watching the news is that who ever wins the Primary will automatically become the next American President. Once in a while you catch a few seconds shot of the Republican candidate, McCain.

Obama and Hillary are trying to out do each other by being the most social conscious and race sensitive politician ever. They both talk about public health care, solving the illegal immigration problem, and ending the war in Iraq. The real problems of the country are being ignored. They both say that what ever is wrong is because of Bush's bad leadership and policies.

As much as I love democracy and the freedoms that come with it, I believe that these two politicians will be worse then the four years with Jimmy Carter.

If we take a hard sober look at world politics it becomes instantly clear that Western Democracies are in serious trouble. The current US debt of many trillion of dollars is like living with a time bomb. If and when it goes off, it will take the western economy with it. Both the Chinese and the Saudis are holding trillions of American dollars, and if they dumped them the US dollar would worth maybe .25 cents.

The most damaging policy of the west and especially the US is giving away its industrial industry to Asia, and especially to China. On the news today, it was announced that the US has lost a quarter of a million jobs in the last three months. A lot of these jobs were manufacturing jobs what will never come back. You can not buy a par of shoes or a piece of clothing in Canada and the US today that is not made in Asia. I could write pages of all the industry that have been given away. Most of it did not need to leave North America. The multinational corporations are moving out our industry and jobs to make a slight increase in profits. Our inept, corrupt, ineffective, bought off politicians, are standing by doing absolutely nothing.

Another totally serious issue is that current governments will not deal with is immigration. This is another time bomb not deal with. The reason, of course, is that they provide cheap labor.

A major issue that the Democrats will more then likely totally bungle is the foreign policy. In this area, Bush has left an unbelievable mess. To deal with this will take a strong focused president that will not hesitate to use force. Both Osama and Hillary believe they can deal with Muslim leaders by reasonable dialog and that they can end the Iraq war by negotiation. If they try that the US will be leaving Iraq in a way that will make the Vietnam route look like a walk in the park. McCain says that the US will stay in Iraq till they can leave with honor. I don't know it that is possible, but can the US survive the alternative.

So who will eventually become the next leader of the free world? Does it not almost seem funny to call western democracies the free world. Free to give away their economies, free to be over run, free to limit free speech to accommodate hateful religions.

Like I have said before, I will not have to deal with the traumatic experience of voting for one of these candidates because I am a Canadian. But I will have to live with the consequences of their actions.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Finding My Blog Niche

I am into my third month of this Blog and am starting to get a sense of where I‘m going and what I want to say. It is easy to vent anger and frustrations about all the problems I see around me and the abuses of agencies and governments. Taking a general approach to these issues is like shouting into the wind.

It is also very tempting to focus on organized religions and the suppression and control that they preach in the name of salvation. I am a Heathen and therefore a member of a religious community so I need to be careful about slamming religion and spirituality in general. The religions that I have the most issues with are what we sometimes call the Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The truth is that I know a lot of people who belong to these three religions and for the most part, they are great people. Some are actually very spiritual and respectful to other religions. It is not the individuals of these religions that I have issues with. They are victims of religious corporations and do not see how they are being controlled and manipulated for non spiritual purposes.

My issues are with the people behind the scenes who are manipulating religious organizations and political institutions. I believe they work to keep our society and governments in confused and turmoil. Their methods wary widely from using ultra conservative religion doctrine, to terrorist acts, and regional wars. The purpose for keeping society in perpetual conflict and ciaos is obvious to me; a peaceful and democratic society is the greatest threat to their power and control.

I do not want to sound like another promoter of conspiracy theories. That I am talking about is obvious when you stop and think about what is happening around us. I do not believe much of what I am told or what I read. I try to observe patterns of behaviors and political trends. Most often you find the truth in behaviors and actions, not in works. What I do know is that social conflict, religious hatred, and wars, are manipulated and orchestrated by very powerful individuals and groups behind the scenes. These are the people and groups I want to focus this Blog on.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

A Heathen's Breastplate

I arise today
Heir to the strength of Asgard;

Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Swiftness of wind,

Depth of the sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise todaywith mine own strength to pilot me;
Thor's might to uphold me,
Frigga's wisdom to guide me,Odin's hand to guard me,
Heimdall's watch to shield me,
Freya's love to bless me.

Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.

The ancestors are with me,
before me,
behind me,
on my right,
on my left.

As sure as
The Earth beneath me,
The Sky above me,
The Holy Powers within me.

I arise today
Rooted in the mighty traditions
of my past.
And I walk Midgard,
Sending forth the blessings
of this day's deeds
to generations yet unborn.

-written by Brainwise
(Prophet or Madman -Blog)

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Another Blow Job

Seeing Governor Spitzer and his mortified wife at the news conference was a sad sight. Spitzer was actually an excellent Governor, considering the American political system.

Even though Governor Spitzer was a publicly elected official it is difficult to believe that his financial miss behavior was discovered in a routine Bank audit, and his rendezvous with prostitutes were very discreat. Spitzer belonged to a class of Politicians that are generally thought of as untouchable. They are protected by the top decision makers or as I like to call them, the Power People, who are always behind the seen. This makes me conclude that Spitzer must have really pissed off some very important people, and they withdrawn their protection. I believe the same thing happened to President Clinton. The Police and investigation agencies do not go after Governors and Presidents with out first being given the go ahead by the Power People. I will be expanding on my theory in future blogs that there is a hidden group of people who are in control of governments, world triad, and wars. Please do not think that I am promoting a conspiracy theory. I am merely reacting to my observations of how I see society work. To understand society and its workings, I believe that you should not believe much of what you read and what you’re told. By observing patterns, trends, and outcomes, you start to see what is really happening and who is in control.

Politics, power, and sex, have gone hand in hand throughout history. The Bible is full of stories about shady sexual behavior; the most famous is Biblical King David. The British King, Henry VIII, had six wives, of which he had two executed. President Kennedy and his brother, Bobby had outrageous sexual escapes. Marten Luther King was known to have regular sexual encounters with female staff. FBI director Hoover was known to be gay. Non of these story's ever hit the news media. They were under protection and no reporter, journalist or editor in his/hers right mind would print a word about their behavior.

The religious right and conservative politicians take up the "hue and cry" when ever a public elected or appointed figure is linked to a sex scandal. The most famous of these was President Clinton and his affair with Monica. You would think that sexual interaction between two adults in private would be no one else’s business. Unfortunately that is not the case in a religious conservative American society that is obsessed with sex and sexually morality. The rule is that you may look but not do. The religious right would like it if all children were born from immaculate conceptions. Of course this group engages in sexual activities as much as anyone but they like to pretend they don't.

To get back to sexual morality; what would Heathen values be on this subject? First we hold that women and men are equal. We really don’t care who your have sex with as long as it is in private and falls with in the category of consenting adults. The only people that should have an opinion on your sexual behavior are your current partner or spouse. As far as going to a prostitute, it would be a sad Heathen who would have to pay for sex.

Prostitution, good or bad, has always been part of every society and you might as well try to work with it. This way you would at least get the tax benefit from this industry.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Song of a Vandal Warrior

Written by Gunner K

The People.
We are the Vandals. Our people came from the far North, in search of better land, and a friendlier climate. Our legends tell of a time when the weather was warmer in our homeland, and our people prospered and lived in peace. Then the climate changed, and there were years when we could not grow crops, and our people starved. We prayed to the Gods, but they did not hear us, and we became nomads to find grazing for our livestock. I was born on the trail, and have never known our homeland, but we are a people, and together we are strong and will prevail. We found places where we could live, but the Roman armies would not leave us alone. They could not stop us as long as we keep moving, and we defeat their armies in battle after battle; but they keep coming, and would eventually wear us down if we stayed.

I am big and strong, and have known battle since I was 12 seasons old. Now I have forgotten how many fights I have been in, and fighting has become a way of life. We have always fought the Celts. They were the first to get iron, and used their superior weapons to conquer the lands south of our homeland. The Celts are a treacherous people, and blocked our ancient trade routes to the Southern Sea. My forefathers tried to make peace with them, but they were betrayed, and our merchants killed and robbed. Now we hunt the Celts like rats through their own fields.

We became nomads, and learned to depend on our livestock and the crops we took from those in our way. Sometimes we stayed in one place for a time, but eventually the Celts and their Roman allies would move against us, and we would load our carts and travel further south. Our young men rode ahead of the people on their swift horses to scout the way. Behind them followed the Jarls and the older people with their carts, and the herds driven along by the youths. When we encountered resistance too strong for the young warriors we would avoid battle if we could. But when we had no choice the people painted their bodies for battle, and smashed through.

Our people were once farmers and merchants, and became warriors of necessity. Our traders traveled to the Southern Sea to trade furs and amber for knowledge and bronze. We had little need to fight, because our traders were respected and left alone, as long as they stayed on the established trade routes. When the Celts blocked our routes to the south we were deprived of the means to make weapons and tools, and our barter economy was destroyed. Some trade continued with the south, but it was dangerous, and not nearly sufficient for our needs. The traders were forced to become farmers, and we no longer had a wealthy upper class.

Eventually we discovered how to extract iron ore from the bogs, and made our own iron implements and weapons. But our lives were forever changed. Without regular trade with the south we became more isolated, and the weather changes made life more difficult so there was little leisure for play and for art. We also had to learn war, to protect our people from the bellicose Celts, and against hungry neighbors. Everyone became equal of necessity, because we had to cooperate to survive; and we learned to elect the most capable and aggressive people as our leaders, to assure the continuation of the Vandals as a people.

Central Europe.
There were more of us when my people left our homeland, but our leaders disagreed about the route to travel. Most of the people elected to take an easterly route around the Roman armies, but my group chose to continued south along our ancient trade routes to the Southern Ocean. This was the route the Cimbri had come before us, and some of our people knew the way. The Celts fought us, and raided our herds when they could, but mostly they fled before our young warriors. Theirs was a good land, and we would have settled there if their Roman allies had left us alone. The Roman armies are slow and cumbersome, and no threat to us as long as we are mobile, but there is always another army to replace the ones we destroy.

We are not afraid of the Romans, but it is costly to fight their armies. The Romans fight in formation, like mobile fortifications, and the only way to destroy them is to break through their lines and scatter their soldiers. We hit them like thunderbolts, and leap among them over the bodies of those who lead our wedge formations. And then we kill them. Our young men fight for glory and status, and would hunt the Roman armies if the choice was theirs, but the Jarls avoid the Romans when they can. The young are brave, but they want to live and therefore do not have the weight to break through the Roman lines. To succeed the fighting wedge is lead by the Jarls, who have dedicated their lives to the people and to the Gods, and know how to die when it is their time. Our people can not survive if we loose to many of them.

The Roman armies became more persistent as we neared their homeland, and their armies were stronger, so we generally moved towards the Southwest to avoid them. Eventually we had to chose between moving into Iberia between the Southern Ocean and the mountains that separate that land from that of the Celts, or turning West along the mountains. We choose Iberia, and utterly destroyed the Roman army that tried to stop us.

There were many Roman fortifications along the Iberian coast, and we destroyed them as we moved south. The Iberians had no love for the Romans, and eventually some of their leaders approached us about forming a confederation against them. Some of our Jarls were against such an alliance, but we had lost to many of our young warriors on the Roman fortifications to turn them away. It proved a good decision. The Iberians are a small people, but they are fierce fighters when they can anchor their forces on our fighting wedge, and eventually we cleared the Romans and their allies from the land.

Iberia.
The battles are over, and my men and I came to take possession of the lands we had chosen as our part of the spoils. I walked at the head of my fighting unit through the olive groves, towards the fortress on the hill. The fortress was built of stone, and from a distance looked like a pile of rocks. We were laughing and joking until we discovered the gate was closed, and armed men manned the walls. I yelled for the gate to be opened to its new owner, and demanded to know why they were closed. A tiny dark woman appeared above the gate and glared at me. She ordered me off her property. I bellowed in rage for the interpreter and ordered him to tell her that I now owned the land and all on it, and that I would rip the gate from its hinges if it were not opened immediately. And she laughed. Meanwhile some of my men had moved around the walls, where they were undefended because everyone was watching the exchange by the gate, and climbed into the yard. The woman screeched with rage when my men cuffed her retainers out of the way and opened the gates so I could enter the keep in a manner befitting a Jarl of the Vandals.

I ordered a feast to be prepared while I examined the fortress. It was like many we had destroyed, and would need much work to be secure from the likes of us.

It was a miserable feast, and there was hardly enough food to blunt our hunger, and the wine they served was tasteless compared to mjød. During the meal I had the small dark one brought to me, and had the interpreter ask her who she was. She said we had killed her husband in one of the battles, and that she was the mistress of the fortress; and she told me no smelly, disgusting barbarian would take it from her. I scoped he up, and laughingly told her we were about to make her title official, and carried her to the rooms I had chosen for myself at the top of the keep. That night she knifed me after I had fallen asleep.

Vandalucia.
Now it is many years later, and I carry other scars from the dark woman's knives. After her first attack my men tried to drive her from my rooms, but she claimed them as her own, and fought them off. Later, when I chose a woman from my own people she drove her from the fortress. I still don't know her well, but we are both proud of our children, and she is always at my side.

Our people have changed as we become accustomed to our new home, now called Vandalucia. Some have become traders again, and our ships ply the Southern Sea. We even trade with the Romans, who seem content to leave us alone as long as we stay in our new country. They have others to trouble them, as more tribes follow our trail south from the northern lands.

Gunner K