Friends

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In a time of year where even secular Americans traditionally get into the spirit of brotherly love, there seems to be more than enough murderous hatred to go around.

Ironically, love of family got misplaced in the Pacific Northwest when relatives of a cop-killer aided and abetted him after the murders of four cops. They had ignored his statements around Thanksgiving that he wanted to kill police…and wanted to mass murder children at a school, or perhaps open fire at people at random at a crowded intersection.

Perhaps even more ironically, in a season steeped in religion, the killer has been linked to both Nation of Islam and a weird sect that calls itself Black Foot Soldiers, who consider police terrorists who must be assassinated, and are celebrating the cop-killings.  Follow such links at your peril: they will lead you to a cesspool of racial hatred and filthy, twisted thinking that flows in both directions. Nor is all such madness racial: late in the comments that follow the immediate previous blog entry below, you’ll find the link to another recent cop-killing, this one in the South, where the man on film committing this mindless murder is painted in the news as a young Ward Cleaver gone wrong. He, too, has at least one relative of whom we must ask ourselves, “What was he thinking?!?”

Evil, murder, and madness have always been with us. It just seems in the last five or six weeks that more of it has occupied our national attention. Sloughing away responsibility continues too, as we see in Howard Nemerov’s link to the updated report on the Virginia Tech massacre.

Sorry this corner of the Backwoods Home Blogs is so far out of the stream of Christmas Spirit. Murderous SOBs in the news keep getting in the way.  Prepare for the worst so you can enjoy the best. Today (Sunday) I shot a pistol match with friends. It sharpened defensive skills, and it was time well spent with good people who have a solid grasp on core human values such as, oh, the protection of the innocent from evil.

Forgive me, but that’s about as close to segueing back into Christmas Season as I’m likely to get this week. Right now, I can’t offer anything much more cheerful than a picture of a dead cop-killer, forwarded by a brother in the northwest. (Cops have cell phone cameras, too.)

Keep 'em  coming

I know I owe some folks questions.

 1. Keeping in mind that I do not care for dark beers and LOVE Belgians  What 4 "under the radar" beers must I make sure to drink before I die?

A. The Flemish Sour at Monk's Cafe, conveniently located in Philadelphia.

B. Fantome Chocolate Farmhouse Ale.

C. Southern Tier Pumking.

D. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA.

 2. Do you have a "most memorable" or "favorite match" from all the  fencing lists you have run?

Give me a chance to watch any match again , and it's Conor vs. Gunny. Over hill and dale.

 3. If you could choose the Pennsic Champions team for fencing who would  you choose? 

See, now I want to change the format. 20 Easterners and 20 Midrealmers vs. 30 allies allotted by rough Pennsic attendance.

I think it would be an absolutely hoot to be cheering for Big Kai against Random Atlantian Provost or for Martin against The Best of Aethelmearc.

I learned a lesson about choosing theam a couple of years ago.

In the current format, it's not the team, it's what you do with it.

That was proven when the East won, partly because of great strategy by artisticphoenix and jane_elliot.

 4. If you could alter the polling orders any way you wanted what would  you change?

First of all, the polling lists would be strictly for discussing candidates in a fair and reasonable way. There would be no chatter about anything else, no welcoming anyone to the list, just more discussion.

Sure, you can say something negative, but it better be objective and factual. You need to be clear and succinct and not get into fights with other people.

I like the way the system works, especially with the last five or so sets of royalty, and I have no doubts about the prince and princess.

I would do away with secrecy in terms of when someone's getting an award. It causes more headaches than benefits.

 5. if you could work for any paper in the world what one would you choose  and why?

Not such a great time for that. ;)

I would love to be the lead high school guy for the New York Times. They don't really have such a position, but they have writers who serve in that role.

Sports writer for the Wall Street Journal (ala Stefan Fatsis) would be great.

If I was sure of the solidity of the company, I would love to go back and work at the hometown Westerly (RI) Sun.