by Gilles d'Aymery
"Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles."
—Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), The Devil's Dictionary
(Swans - September 25, 2006) A READER ASKS ABOUT DARFUR and the lack of coverage in Swans, and what I think (as though it mattered, but thanks anyway) of the September 17 "Day for Darfur" and all the efforts of civil societies (people's democracy, grassroots movements like the Sudan Divestment Task Force) to put an end to the genocide there. Well, I don't have a firm and knowledgeable opinion on the crisis in Darfur, how much of a crisis it is, who pours fuel on the flames, what and which interests will be better served by a Western intervention (cui bono?), but I am rather skeptical. It does not pass my smell test or, rather, I smell a rat here.
THE SEPTEMBER 17 demonstrations were organized, set up, to put pressure on the United Nations, before the beginning of the General Assembly and the debate on the Sudan, to forcefully send Western Blue Helmets despite the categorical refusal of the Sudanese government in Karthoum, which considers that a Western intervention would be an invasion concomitant to a return of colonialism. Certainly George Clooney, who made a passionate presentation at the UN Security Council, Paul Rusesabagina, Don Cheadle, and the thousands of people who demonstrated around the world are sincere and well meaning, though not necessarily well informed. However, they seem to share the company of strange bedfellows.
TAKE, FOR EXAMPLE, the former Secretary of State, Madeleine "We-think-the-price-is-worth-it" Albright, who addressed the participants to the demonstration in Manhattan's Central Park on September 17, saying:
The world has to act and it must do so now because it's not, the time is not on our side. The possibility exists that by this time next month, there will be no peacekeepers in Darfur or humanitarian workers, just killers and victims. That would be a failure and we cannot be complicit to it. To be clear, the issue is not about trying to impose US Western values on Sudan, for the protection of the civilians is a universal responsibility.
TWO DAYS EARLIER, George W. said during his Press Conference in the Rose Garden in response to a question on the relationship between the United States and the United Nations:
Take, for example, Darfur. I'm frustrated with the United Nations in regards to Darfur. I have said, and this government has said, there's genocide taking place in the Sudan. And it breaks our collective hearts to know that.
We believe that the best way to solve the problem is there be a political track, as well as a security track. And part of the security track was for there initially to be African Union forces, supported by the international community, hopefully to protect innocent lives from militia. And the AU force is there, but it's not robust enough. It needs to be bigger. It needs to be more viable.
And so the strategy was then to go to the United Nations and pass a resolution enabling the AU force to become blue-helmeted -- that means, become a United Nations peacekeeping force -- with additional support from around the world. And I suggested that there also be help from NATO nations in logistics and support, in order to make the security effective enough so that a political process could go forward to save lives.
The problem is, is that the United Nations hasn't acted. And so I can understand why those who are concerned about Darfur are frustrated; I am. I'd like to see more robust United Nations action. What you'll hear is, well, the government of Sudan must invite the United Nations in for us to act. Well, there are other alternatives, like passing a resolution saying, we're coming in with a U.N. force, in order to save lives.
MADELEINE Albright and George W. -- that's real good company, but there is more. One NGO that has been at the forefront of actively promoting Western involvement in the Sudan is the International Crisis Group (ICG) -- which maintains tons of information in a special section of its Web site. For people with a short memory who may not remember the work done by George Soros, the Open Society Institute, and the ICG, in the 1990s during the dismemberment of Yugoslavia, I recommend a visit to the Web page that lists the Crisis Group's Board. In addition to Soros, one can see names that belongs to the Who's Who of the Establishment: Christopher Patten, Thomas Pickering, Stephen Solarz, Morton Abramowitz, Kenneth Adelman, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Wesley Clark, Leslie H. Gelb, Carla Hills, Nancy Kassebaum Baker, George J. Mitchell, etc., etc., etc. Even that snidely little turncoat Joschka Fischer is on the Board. The Crisis Group byline -- they have gently dropped "International" from their lingua franca -- is "Working to Prevent Conflict Worldwide." Their financiers are also indicative of their real agenda: see the last two paragraphs of their page, "About Crisis Group"; then ponder for a moment what triggered Hassan Al-Bashir, the President of Sudan, to say at the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Cuba on the same day, September 17, 2006:
We are against invading forces, the 1906 resolution places Sudan under supervision because we are an independent nation and we don't want colonialism to return to Sudan. In any cases we have African forces installed in our country within the African Union. We have reached a peace agreement in the south after a war which lasted twenty years.
REMAINS THE ISSUE of the Sudan Divestment Task Force. Hmmm, let's see: On September 18, 2006, Jason Miller, the national policy director of the Task Force, appeared on Democracy Now!, the show hosted by bleeding-heart liberal Amy Goodman. He had this to say in answer to Goodman's question, "what companies are doing business with Sudan?":
It's important to emphasize that our group is not interested in targeting all companies, because some are doing substantial good in Sudan, but the ones that are really helping the government without providing benefit to Sudan's citizens tend to be oil and energy companies from China, Russia, India, Malaysia, and to some degree France. And not surprisingly, these are the same countries, especially China and Russia, that are impeding a lot of international action on the issue of Darfur. They're protecting their commercial interests in the country.
HMMMMMMMMM, Commercial interests....oil.... And what does the Sudan Divestment Task Force do? "[It] has developed a unique approach to divestment, focusing its efforts on the most egregiously offending companies in Sudan. This approach, termed targeted divestment, helps maximize impact on the Sudanese government, while minimizing harms to innocent Sudanese citizens and US investment returns," claims the Task Force on its front page. Commercial interests indeed!
FOR INFORMATION ONLY: In 1997 the proportion of oil from Africa in the total US oil imports was 7%. Today, it is 15%. By 2015 it is forecast to reach 25%. Furthermore, the U.S. is quietly creating a new military organization fully dedicated to the African continent, the US African command, and has been reinforcing its bases in Djibouti since 2003, adding some 1,800 special forces (to fight terrorism, bien sûr, especially in the oil producing countries). Finally, China has made huge in-roads in Africa, including the Sudan (without "diplomatic" threats of sanctions or military interventions). "For the first time in history," writes Wirtschaftswoche (a German business magazine) in its August 7, 2006 edition, "[Africans have] taken their destiny into their own hands. And it is the Chinese who have truly created the best and most ideal opportunities for the continent." Get the picture?
SO, WHAT DO I THINK? We are on the verge of enlarging the big muddy and as usual the bleeding-heart liberals and peace activists play the role of what a famous man once called "useful idiots." As Georgie Boy said in his press conference: "I'm proud of our country's support for those who suffer."
TO GET A DEEPER understanding of the disinformation being peddled in the Western media, the anti-Sudan policies promoted by a bunch of NGOs, the opposition to the Sudanese government that has long been seeking an independent path (that is, independent from Western interests) and is considered a threat to Israeli interests in the Middle East, and the important role of oil discovery and production in the conflict, readers should visit The European Sudanese Public Affairs Council. They'll get quite a different picture of the conflict. Those of you who subscribe to Because People Matter (BPM), the excellent bi-monthly publication of the Sacramento Community for Peace & Justice, the September-October issue carries an interview of Ismail Kamal, a founder of the Sudanese American Society, which is quite instructive. (You can get a free six-month subscription by contacting BPM at bpmnews@nicetechnology.com, or if you want to support their work, send $15 for a full year subscription to BPM, 403 21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.)
SINCE I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, CLASS, let me keep at it. The fact that George Bush, Colin Powell when he was still part of Bushco, and more or less the entire Establishment, seconded by the usual commentatoriat, label the dire conditions in Darfur a genocide does not make it so sui generis. The elasticity of the meaning of that word has taken the proportion of a huge rubber band. It can extend from the Indian Nations in the USA and the Holocaust, to Cambodia, Kosovo, Darfur, and wherever our mostly-white humanitarians lead us to their next intervention. I don't know whether there is a real genocide occurring in the Sudan -- I doubt it, and see the conflict in terms of civil war which has been on and off for half a century and external interference -- but I know that the terminology is often used to demonize one side before intervening militarily. What the useful idiots seem to miss is that they end up advocating the same policies as the Establishment, based on violence. Talk about peace activists... Send the troops, send the troops!
CITATION FOR THE AGES: "To answer brutality with brutality is to admit one's moral and intellectual bankruptcy."
-- Mahatma Gandhi
AND DO NOT ACCUSE ME of ignoring the situation and the human suffering there, for I do not. I question the motive for a response, and the response, which seems always based upon a recourse to violent means. At the least, if blue helmets were truly needed, instead of, or in addition to humanitarian aid and political solutions, the contingents should come from non-Western nations. Ask Iran, India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Brazil, etc., to join the countries of the African Union that are already there to help stabilize and improve the situation. Then ask the rich countries to foot the bill. I'm pretty certain the Sudanese government would then become more amenable to such an intervention. Don't expect the implementation of such an approach. We are in the business of regime change here and Darfur is the conduit, the road map to Khartoum, and it's a bi-partisan policy.
ANOTHER LITTLE BIT OF INFORMATION for curious-minded people. There's an age-old axiom that if you want to know who people or organizations really represent, follow the money, look at the support and endorsements they receive. Take the Sudan Divestment Task Force. They are rather mum on their financial sources. The site indicates that it is "a project of the Genocide Intervention Network," that it is "supported by Campus Progress" "in partnership with STAND," all undoubtedly worthy organizations, though none of them is financially transparent. Hard to follow the money trail, but one can find some useful indicators.
TAKE A LOOK at the list of endorsers of the Genocide Intervention Network. You'll find names of yet again the who's who of the Establishment, and, of course, Gareth Evans, President and CEO of the International Crisis Group (ICG). Check About Campus Progress. You'll learn that it is a part of the Washington D.C.-based Center for American Progress and its "partner," the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Look at their shared location: 1333 H Street, NW, Washington D.C. 2005. Yes, Virginia, a modest student organization is headquartered in D.C., in a fine building that houses media (TV Tokyo 12) and lobbying (Wireless Communications Association International) firms, think tanks such as the Washington offices of The Century Foundation, and other creams of the crop of the bastion of power. Read about the Genocide Intervention Network and the Center for American Progress on Wikipedia. See who was featured at their first annual conference on July 12, 2005 (hint: Bill Clinton). Did I tell you that their President and Chief Executive Officer is John Podesta, the former chief of staff of you know who (second hint: Billy the Kid)? Campus Progress and Genocide Intervention Network are the same entity operating under two different names and with different operators (some highly sophisticated, politically speaking, and a few idealistic morons). No sulfur smell here, only the Democratic Leadership Council's.
LET'S MOVE ON to the third and last "partner" of the Sudan Divestment Task Force, namely STAND. Powerful name, no? Would you not want to "stand" for something that is bigger than yourself? Would you not want to "stand" against "genocide"? I bet you would. STAND, however, tends to be long on rhetoric and short on specifics. New Orleans is not worthy of the attention of these idealists. Black suffering from Katrina should take second stance to black suffering in Darfur. As we are constantly reminded it's all a matter of good and evil. Anyway, STAND stands for not much more, or less, than the Sudan Divestment Task Force. What's instructive, however, is the list of their "related sites" (shown at the very bottom of each page of their Web site, in gray characters): "Related sites: International Crisis Group, Save Darfur Coalition, Human Rights Watch." I've gone through the ICG and there is no need to go through the HRW, but the Save Darfur Coalition is worth a short visit. Here again, the financiers are nowhere to be seen. "Time is Running Out -- Call the White House Today!" is their main message, with mucho blather to accompany the call to arms. But check their "Organizational Members." Fine, the ICG belongs to the Executive Committee (no surprise here), but can you see the long list of various Jewish, Muslim, and Christian outfits, next to some hard-core political organizations? That should tell you much about the Sudan Divestment Task Force and the "Darfur's genocide movement." Basta!
HEY, WE CAN'T DO IRAN just as yet, so let's do Sudan. We have the Dems and the Reps, the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Evangelical lobbies, the liberals and the conservatives, the neolibs and the neocons in the pocket. We have the Pwogs on board. Amy Goodman, the high priestess of pwogwessiveness got taken for a ride, (was she, really? Or does she serve faithfully or blindfully her own "sponsors"?). Omigawd, even the well-meaning, liberal actors and idealistic students are on board...ALL supported financially by the Establishment. Faithful or blindfolded marionettes all... Yep, Lenin was right..."useful idiots" they are. Full speed ahead!
BACK TO MR. BUSH'S press conference on September 15, for just a minute. A couple of his statements did not raise the attention of the so-called watchdogs in the corporate media. The first one, in response to a softball question, was a gem:
I said the other night in a speech, this is like the ideological war of the 21st century, and I believe it. And I believe that if we leave that region, if we don't help democracy prevail, then our children and grandchildren will be faced with an unbelievable chaotic and dangerous situation in the Middle East. Imagine -- imagine an enemy that can't stand what we believe in getting a hold of oil resources and taking a bunch of oil off the market in order to have an economic punishment. In other words, they say, you go ahead and do this, and if you don't, we'll punish you economically. [emphasis added] Or imagine a Middle East with an Iran with a nuclear weapon threatening free nations and trying to promote their vision of extremism through Hezbollah.
NO, NO, NO, this little adventure has nothing to do with OIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just imagine.... The irony here is that the last time Arab countries used oil to "punish" the West was in 1973 in the wake of the Yom Kippur War. The most prominent OPEC country behind the instigation and implementation of the oil embargo was Saudi Arabia, our "friends and allies," deemed today a "moderate" state.
THE SECOND statement of his had logic spinning 19,000 rpm on its head, near the end of the show (since a press conference is only that, a show), and was even more revelatory of the scams. Newsweek senior White House correspondent Richard Wolffe pushed Mr. Bush to elaborate on a talking line he had professed: "the idea of sending Special Forces to Pakistan to hunt down bin Laden was a strategy that would not work." Wolffe asked whether "it's a bad idea to send more resources to hunt down bin Laden wherever he is." Junior answered:
We are, Richard. ... Pakistan is a sovereign nation. In order for us to send thousands of troops into a sovereign nation, we've got to be invited by the government of Pakistan.
"Hmm, Sir," could have asked Wolffe in a quick follow-up, "Were you invited by the Afghan and the Iraqi governments before sending troops into their sovereign nations? And, does what you are saying now not contradict what you said earlier in regard to Sudan, specifically, 'What you'll hear is, well, the government of Sudan must invite the United Nations in for us to act. Well, there are other alternatives, like passing a resolution saying, we're coming in with a U.N. force, in order to save lives.'?"
"Sorry Richard, no follow-up today... Yes, Helen, hee, hee, hee, hee, glad to see ya."
A WEEK LATER (September 22), the interaction between president Musharraf of Pakistan and Mr. Bush was almost comical, not for the alleged threat made by Colin Powell's right-hand man, Richard Armitage, to send Pakistan "back to the stone age" if it did not take the US side in the coming war, but the impressible all-around hypocrisy of the situation. Think about this: We supposedly invaded Iraq because Saddam was a dictator who had WMDs and was harboring terrorists. No WMDs were found and the "terrorists" began showing up once Saddam had been deposed. Contrast this with that: Musharraf IS a dictator, Pakistan HAS WMDs (nukes, no less) and IS harboring terrorists (al Qaeda and the dead-or-alive biggest scarecrow of all, Osama bin Laden). If you don't find this comical enough, then I wonder what will ever make you smile (a sardonic smile, mind you).
"ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT" is the legendary motto of the paper of record; a paper deemed authoritative, a source one can depend on to remain on top of the news in the nation and in the world, with of course a few exceptions here and there, such as Jason Blair or Judith Miller (though the latter was used as a credible source by no less than Vice). So what to make of the following story? In the Fall 2006 edition of the New York Times Real Estate Magazine, on page 28, one can find a "Price Check -- What You Get for $750,000 in . . ." Four houses are pictured, in Boston; Eugene, Oregon; Tyler County, West Virginia; and San Francisco, with a short description for each property. The central and biggest picture on the page is that of a clean, blue cottage house in San Francisco. It's listed for $749,000. Built in 1900 on a 0.05 acre lot, 1,500 sq. ft., 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. "Wow," I told mijanie, "I know that the market has softened, but look at this house, Janie...clean, even what looks like an in-line two-car garage... a bargain!" "Read the legend," was her dry answer. It read:
This house is located in what San Francisco real estate agents like to call the "up and coming" Silver Terrace neighborhood, near the Bayview district and with views from the back window of the bay and AT&T Park, where the Giants play. A new solar electric system takes the house virtually off the grid and reduces your bill to less than $6 a month. The house includes two full music rooms, a wet bar and a new hardwood deck in the back.
"UP AND COMING," eh? Dunno whether the Times reporter visited the area or checked other sources aside from real estate agents, but had s/he (the report is unsigned) taken the time to simply check Wikipedia, s/he would have found out that,
Many consider Bayview-Hunters Point a marginalized community, with nearly one-third of San Francisco's toxic waste sites with concurrent endemic health issues from those toxins. A 30% unemployment rate along with marginal city services create a volatile social powderkeg. Black-on-black crime and prostitution is a huge problem with gang wars surrounding territorial drug trade accounting for a high murder rate. Blacks comprise less than 8 percent of the population, yet they made up 63 percent of San Francisco homicide victims in 2005.
The district has twice the unemployment rate of SF and 30% of the murders occur there.
FOR RELIABLE SOURCES, check The New York Times. You can't go wrong: from Afghanistan to Iraq, Sudan to Iran, and even surreal estate, you will indeed get "All the News That's Fit to Print."
LATEST FORBES 400 REPORT: You'll be glad to learn that in 2005, for the first time, the 400 wealthiest people are ALL billionaires. No millionaire makes the list. Sorry, got only $999 million in assets, can't make the list... Numero Uno is once again Bill Gates ($53 billion), followed by his pal Warren Buffett ($46 billion). In third position comes Sheldon Adelson with $20.5 billion. This guy made his fortune in gambling as the head of Las Vegas Sands, a company that owns casinos and hotels. Apparently, between 2004 and 2005, Adelson has been making -- hear that -- one million dollars per hour! It took the man about 11 years to reach his first billion (poor Billy Gates had to wait an additional year to hit the mark). To give you an idea, it would take about 29,000 years for an American that earns the median salary ($34,268/year) to get his or her first billion. America is doing just fine, thank you. These 400 super wealthy saw their assets increase by $120 billion in the past year and share among them just about $1,250 billion (that's one trillion two hundred and fifty billion dollars). Ffffttt, what a pittance!
BOONVILLE NEWS: Boonville and the Anderson Valley are not only famous for the natural beauty of the environment and the incredible mix of old-timers and newcomers, old- and new-age hippies, immigrants form Mexico, wine growers, loggers, sheep growers, its magnificent (though slowly disappearing) orchards, this little town, population 715, is renown for its annual Mendocino County Fair & Apple Show. For the past 79 years, the community has organized and put forth a three-day fair that showcases all that is good about the Valley. There's the local high school football game, the ritual rodeo, the perennial Sheep Dog Trials, a wool and Fiber Festival, apples galore, a big parade, a classic car show, and plenty entertainment for kids and families. It attracts visitors for as far away as San Francisco and from all over the county. Not surprisingly, it also attracts local and regional "law enforcement." Here is the Sheriff's Log, courtesy of the Anderson Valley Advertiser, that lists the various commotions that have taken place in days preceding the Fair and during the Fair itself, September 15-17, 2006:
9/8, 10:11 am A Boonville man reported hearing a domestic argument/fight on Lambert Lane two days earlier. The caller said the woman "suspect" started it.
9/8 10:07 pm A Boonville resident reported that a male trespasser had just been seen driving on her property in a white Ford F250 pickup truck.
9/9 8:04 am Alfredo Franco was found passed out in a car at the airport with commercial amounts of marijuana and money. He was arrested and booked into the County Jail with bail set at $25,000. His car was towed to Starr Automotive.
9/10 2:44 pm A 31-year-old Philo man was arrested, cited and released for driving a black 1995 Ford Mustang without a license.
9/10 A 30-year-old Philo man was arrested, cited and released in front of Brutocao Cellars for riding a silver and black 2002 Yamaha motorcycle with a suspended license.
9/10 6:27 pm A motion detector went off in the interior dining room of a Rays Road residence. False alarm.
9/11 10:45 am A Philo resident was cited and released for an unspecified traffic violation on Indian Creek Road in Philo.
9/12 12:06 pm Deputies and CPS conducted a welfare check on a juvenile runaway girl at a residence near Jack's Valley Store in Philo.
9/12 3:25 pm A Boonville woman said some juveniles were continually harassing her.
9/13 7:57 am Gerardo Ayala Gonzalez, 28, of Philo, was booked into the Mendocino County Jail after having been arrested by Deputy Nordin for driving without a license, planting/cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, and illegal entry into the United States, Mr. Ayala-Gonzalez was, put, on "INS hold."
9/13 8:51 am Mario Alberto Lara-Ayala, 23, of Philo, was booked into the Mendocino County Jail after having been arrested by Deputy Nordin for driving without a license, planting/cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, and illegal entry into the United States. Mr. Lara-Ayala was put on "INS hold." Bail was set at $25,000.
9/14 9:11 am A man calling from Hendy Woods State Park said a San Francisco woman had been the victim of indecent exposure by another man near the Navarro River at the entrance to the park on Philo-Greenwood Road the day before.
9/14 11:54 am Deputies assisted Mendocino Redwoods Company personnel in looking into a marijuana cultivation problem.
9/15 8:44 am An Arizona man reported having discovered marijuana growing on his Boonville property.
9/15 9:39 am A Philo woman reported being the victim of indecent exposure two days earlier.
9/15 6:07 pm A 40 year old Willits man driving a Gray Jeep Cherokee was reported missing from the County Fair.
9/15 8:11 pm A physical fight between "an unknown number of suspects" was reported in progress in front of the Boonville CDP Fire Station.
9/15 8:14 pm A second report of the Fire Station fight. The second caller said there didn't appear to be any weapons.
9/16 7:53 am Andre Daniel Duvigneaud, 29, of Philo, wag booked into the Mendocino County Jail after having been arrested by Deputy Edwards for disorderly conduct. Mr. Duvigneaud was then "released per 849(B)2."
9/16 10:10 am Several men in their 21s were arrested at the County Fairgrounds, including several named individuals, Oscar Perez, Luiz Alberto Guerra-Perez, Rodrigo Huerta Jara, and Luis Navarro-Sandova, on immigration violations.
9/16 10:21 am An unidentified Boonville man was arrested on an outstanding civil warrant, cited and released.
9/16 6:05 pm A verbal argument between a man and a woman near the Fairgrounds entrance resulted in the woman asking for an emergency protective order against the man who was still inside the Fairgrounds.
9/16 10:42 pm Fernandez Morillo, 19, of Boonville, was booked into the Mendocino County Jail after having been arrested by INS/ICE agent Robert Kennedy for illegal entry into the United States.
9/16 11:22 pm Luis Alberto Guerra-Perez, 23, of Philo, was booked into the Mendocino County Jail after having been arrested by INS (ICE) agent Edward Stephens for illegal entry into the United States.
9/17 1:21 am A fight broke out between an Albion man and Robed Mabery of Yorkville near the Boonville Lodge. Mr. Mabery was arrested for battery.
9/17 3:26 am A woman calling from the Boonville Fairgrounds said she'd been assaulted on Haehl Street in Boonville.
9/17 9:43 am Robert Earl Mabery, 38, of Yorkville, was booked into the Mendocino County Jail after having been arrested by Deputy Alvarado for battery with bodily injury. Bail was set at $30,000. Mr. Mabery was released after posting bail.
9/17 11:32 am Several more 19-20-year old men were arrested at the Fairgrounds by INS/ICE agents for immigration violations including Humberto Fernandez Murillo of Philo
9/17 12:41 pm. A loud verbal argument which erupted when a man parked too close to a Boonville resident's driveway was disrupting the peace of some other Boonville residents.
9/17 3:20 pm An unidentified 22-year-old Boonville man was arrested in Boonville for being under the influence of drugs.
9/17 4:19 pm Moy Perez, 24, of Boonville was arrested at the County Fairgrounds rear exist on two outstanding warrants.
9/17 6:19 pm A 17-year-old Boonville juvenile was arrested in Boonville on an outstanding out-of-county warrant.
9/17 9:24 pm A Boonville man was reported to be drunk in the vicinity of the County Fair Ferris Wheel but deputies decided there was no evidence of a crime.
Idyllic Anderson Valley, dura lex, sed lex, as they say.
TWO WEEKS ago, I asked whether deer hunters were using AK47s and I rhetorically wondered what would be next, Katyushas? Well, someone explain to me how come last Friday afternoon we found on our dirt road, right around a curve 75 yards from the house, the head of a little doe with only its front legs remaining, and not a trace of the entire body? How that macabre head with the attached tiny legs ended up there is a mystery. If someone has any idea, let me know. Jan buried the poor little thing.
Ç'est la vie...
And so it goes...
La vie, friends, is a cheap commodity, but worth maintaining when one can.
Supporting the life line won't hurt you much, but it'll make a heck of a
difference for Swans.