Blood is spilled where rumors are spread

   Too often, we knife others by speaking ill of them. Do not suppose that truth is excuse for doing so, for we justify for truth that which is often untrue. We thrill in having some dirt on others, and we attack because we enjoy the attack. If only we would see the damage that is done, the blood that is spilled. If only we determined not to be a part of such a blood sport.  

A General was Sent to Prison without it Making the News Much

   A U.S. general was send to prison in the past week, and it didn't even ripple the news much. The story didn't get much play. Marine Brigadier General John Baker was sent to prison in Guantanamo Bay for standing up for lawyers in the USS Cole bombing case.
   The lawyers were allegedly placed under surveillance simply because they were representing the USS Cole bomber. In protest, the lawyers quit, but the military judge, Air Force Col. Vance Spath, rejected their resignations.
   Baker, as chief defense counsel in military commissions, sided with the lawyers right to resign, and, for that, Spath on Wednesday sentenced him to 21 days in prison.
  Another military judge stepped in, freeing Brigadier General Baker from serving much of the sentence, but one has to wonder at what happened. In a land of freedom and a land where injustice is shielded against, was Baker's imprisonment just?
 

Arbitrary power

is most easily established

on the ruins of liberty

abused to licentiousness.

-- George Washington

Many of you have libertarian views. It is wonderful of you to have opinions. I guess I do not share in much of the libertarian ideology, however. I find that many of the things allowed under libertarian practice amount to licentiousness.

Joe de Casa's Snake Bite should have Led to an Arthritis Treatment

   I'm considering the case of Joe de Casa, and thinking there is something that could be done about arthritis.
   And, wondering why nothing is done.
   Back in 2002, BBC ran a story on Joe de Casa. He was bitten by an adder while working in his garden. A sufferer of arthritis, de Casa said the months following the bite were the only time in five years that he had not suffered from arthritis. de Casa quite wished scientists would look into the anti-inflammation properties of snake venom.
    And, what do we have to show for it, 15 years later?
   de Casa's case does not stand alone. Other arthritis sufferers have been bitten by snakes and bees and experienced a pause in their suffering. Somehow, it sure seems there is some medical relief that should have been delivered from snake venom by now.
   Why have we seen nothing come of this?
   I don't know if snake venom cream is the answer -- I do see that marketed for anti-aging. I don't know but what you would have to place the patient in a carefully watched hospital setting and inject him with the venom while he was comatose.
   Experiment on animals first, of course. But, has that even been done, after all these years?
   Tens of millions of Americans suffer from arthritis, perhaps one-quarter of all adults. Arthritis accompanies us toward death. The bee stings and snake bites perhaps wouldn't be cures, for the benefit might only last months, instead of being permanent.
   But, it would still be a big step towards ending one of the biggest maladies of the human race. I do not understand why the medical world has not found medicine in this, why we are not using snake bites and bee stings to relieve 40 million Americans.

The Shooting Near the U of U Might have been Averted

   I've posted on how I would handle the homeless. Tonight, in light of the shooting up by the U, my thoughts drift back to what I once wrote:
   "To some extent, you cannot help someone if you do not identify them, So, the first step would be to place workers on the streets, talking to each person, identifying and cataloging them. Call them homeless remediation specialists, perhaps. They would document each homeless person they came in contact with and start each of them on a program, hoping to remedy their homelessness."
   The accused shooter, I believe, went to the homeless district before going east into the hills. What would have happened, if there had been workers there to meet him when he arrived? What if there were so many remediation specialists that they didn't miss a soul, mixing with the homeless, talking to them, ferreting out each one.
    And, what if they ran background checks on each -- and checked them against the lists of those wanted for alleged crimes? Perhaps Austin Boutain would have been apprehended for the crime in Colorado before the shooting near the University of Utah could take place.
   Helping the homeless is important and wonderful, but so it ferreting out the criminals among them. And, if you want to find the lawless, there is no better place to go looking than in the homeless districts.

Russians Seek Only to Divide; 

How Will Americans Respond? 

   We read how the Russians sought to sow discord in not only our election, but on issues such as immigration and gun control. The article says they didn't cease attempting to rile us up and divide us just because the election was over.
   This all should give us pause. Do we really want to give the Russians the satisfaction of dividing us? Or, will we reflect on what they are doing, and resolve to not be so partisan, so divided, so hateful of each other? 
   I wish the morning paper had a banner headline proclaiming: Russians Seek Only to Divide; How Will Americans Respond? I wish all America reflected on this news article, that we might see whose interest we serve when we hate each other. 

Never give an opinion 

without taking one first 

   That's a motto I'm trying to keep. And, of course, I often fail to keep it. But, perhaps if I keep trying, I will turn the corner, and keep the rule more often than not. A corollary is to always show respect for the other person's opinion. Don't just listen to it, waiting for the opening and chance to tear it apart. Instead, listen reflectively and acknowledge any good points and praise the other person for their opinion.