A wretch, and some news

Raft living was not my choice, but I have made as good a go of it as I can. My raft is clean, strongly built, and seaworthy. I am aware of, and take seriously, the warnings of harbour officials, my bodyguards and my doctors. As a result, I have endangered no one except occasionally myself.

Some out on the high seas are not so fortunate.

One wretch in particular I saw in the harbour of an island (of which I will tell more later). He had poled in a raft made of old peach crates, dilapidated and smelly. He proclaimed loudly that he was a refugee, fleeing persecution, and leapt ashore.

His beard was scraggly and his boots untied. He accosted a pilot enjoying a cigarette, badgering him to help him carry his cargo. The pilot gave him an odd look, spoke nothing and continued his cigarette.

Seeing a patch of free land, the wretch dropped his noisesome sacks and began to set up a tent. This action drew the attention of the harbour police, who with some shouting and waving of sticks, drove him back on to his raft, and pushed him back into the harbour.

He did not struggle... rather as they badgered him back onto his raft, he entreated other sailors to invite him to their islands to set up his tent. Last seen he was poling out into shipping lanes, loudly declaring his desperate state.

In fairness, I should point out that I viewed this, not as a raftsman, but as a labourer. I had taken up employment on the docks of this island unloading and loading boats. It's the same island I had snuck onto earlier, where I had napped, and had found myself, coincidentally I'm sure, near it again.

It is very disconerting to work on dry land again, to not experience the rocking of my raft under my feet. It is with relief then that I sleep on my raft, drifting among the islands and boats in the maritime darkness.

Why...

Did I draw an arrow from the phrase "in the unity of the Holy Spirit" to a scrawled note that says "cognitive dissonance between how I know the world to be and how I feel it to be"?

What was the sermon the 26th?

Slowly... I near the top... slooooowly

Socked another bunch into the LOC today.

God willin' and the crick don't rise, I will be out of small debt by early February.

Then I can start to SAVE. I haven't saved in 6 years. From 1999 to 2002 I saved $15,000.

If I do that saving on my mortgage that's a significant chunk of change...

From time to time I cross paths with refugees from the Island. First,
there's a brief period of uncertainty when I wait to find which
faction they represent.

If they are sympathetic, there's a warm and cordial greeting, with
news shared, and occasionally, if we have it to spare, food is
exchanged.

However, sometimes I find them to be hostile (the challenge with civil
war is of course that both sides look the same) and then the exchange
is different. Rocks, flotsam are launched at me, and I beat a hasty
retreat..

I sometimes wish my raft were armed, that a hasty whiff of grapeshot
would greet these hostile parties.

In reflection, I fought enough against these factions while I lived on
the island, and if my raft were armed, then I would always be
approaching potential friendly islanders with hostility, as well as
hostile ones.

I suppose that must be a good thing, but I wish there were more ways I
could detect what sort of exiles were which.

Sneaking in

I was drifting along the other day, and I passed another of the seemingly countless islands in this little corner of the world.

I was in a reckless mood, and low on provisions, so I said "To hell with it", and poled my way into a secluded inlet.

Sneaking ashore, I found it to be a most pleasant landscape, with trees and fertile fields, some nice villages with pleasant people... and excellent wine.

I could tell that the people did not know who I was, or where I was from, and I surmise they must have known I was not from the Island, but I kept quiet about who I was.

I drank a fair amount of their excellent wine and fall asleep under a tree in the afternoon sun.

(I slept like the dead, and it occurred to me that this may be the first time I've slept on land since the civil war.)

I woke most vexed.

Perhaps it was that I had abandoned my raft for day, and had forgotten it so much as to fall asleep, but I dreamt terrible dreams about calamitous happenings that I rushed back to the raft in haste to make sure everything was alright.

Of course it was. I am not now plagued with particularly portentous dreams, and never have been.

Reassured, I thanked the islanders for their warmth and kindness, and put out to sea again.

I may find myself in these waters again, and stop off again at this lovely island.

Gay Marriage

"I do not believe the state has a role in marrying anybody"
- A wise friend of mine (and originator of the Stealthy Dachshund moniker)

a) Marriage is a human institution. Humanity invented it. Humans who are not Christian have been marrying each other since before the Bible was written. Therefore you cannot say that marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman based on Divine Mechanics.

b) Traditional marriage is a stupid stupid thing to invoke, as it has involved incest (Egypt), polygamy (most everywhere, thank you), forced adultery (Scotland), arranged marriages (also everywhere) and divorce. Therefore, you cannot say that marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman based on tradition.

c) The Bible opposes homosexual rape. Fine. The Bible MAY mention three homosexual relationships and speak of them as if they were married. The epistles of Paul MAY attack homosexual behaviour, except he doesn't use the right word. Therefore you cannot say that marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman because The Bible says so.

d) Many churches oppose same-sex marriage, including the Mormons, the Roman Catholics, etc... Fine. You may say that marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman because the Church says so.

Any other reasons to oppose it? Oh yeah, can't forget:

e) Marriage does not exist to create children. i) Many very happy marriages are childless, and ii) Many children are born out of wedlock. So you cannot say that marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman for the survival of the species.

That all? Good.

So the only legitimate reason to oppose same-sex marriage is because of the Church. Totally valid and allowed. If you happen to live in a society where the Church makes the laws. Which you don't.

When you say that your Church should make the laws on a social issue, you force the people affected by that social issue to follow your Church, which is a violation of the freedom of religion.

Your church has the freedom to choose not to participate in gay marriage, but your church does not have the right or privilege to make that choice for people who do not follow your church.

A comfortable routine

I thought I'd be less relaxed than this on my little raft...

The storms are completely passed, and the stormy season itself seems to be over. I have a clear bill of health from the doctors, and could, in theory, explore new islands.

Exploring new islands is diverting, but I find myself back on the raft before too long, drifting to and fro again.

Part of the reason for this is that my raft gets solider and solider every day. I patch little holes, brace the sides and bail out the water.

I tend to the little cutting of the Glade, which continues to thrive.

I fish. I hate fishing.

I'm not good at standing still, so this confinement on the raft (and the damn fishing) are both challenges to me. The problem is that they're necessary, so I'd better get used to standing still.

I can't wait for Wednesday

I really do not see how there are not two Americas. I know that Obama has spoken with his typical zeal about the need to unite the US of A, but seriously... this lady doesn't even understand that who you vote for is supposed to be a SECRET. Nobody's business but yours.

I suppose the saving grace is that there is better representation of the diversity of views in Congress and the Senate, but with the concentration of power into the Presidency in the last eight years... is it any wonder that people are so heavily and emotionally invested in the Presidential race?

Have either of the two main candidates spoken about getting rid of some of the Executive power?

RON PAUL '08!