Ain't Complicated

Never Again?

When the fighters came, the mothers of Jebel Maun could not protect their children. Screaming toddlers were ripped from their grasp and shot; older children who tried to save their brothers and sisters were hunted down.

Decades (maybe not that long) after the Nazis hunted down and exterminated Jews, those looking back wondered how people could have stood by.

In the same category, I think of those who after-the-fact criticize those who appeased Hitler’s threats and expansionism.

Don’t get me wrong, I think such criticisms have their place.

But what about today?

Is such history repeating itself with regards to Darfur and Iran?

It seems so to me.

But who is going to do what?

Though I shun political involvement, how dare I neglect fervent prayer?

USAirways, Here I Come

Were they being unreasonable?

The Council on American-Islamic Relations called Tuesday for an investigation into the behavior of airline staff and airport security in the removal of six Muslim scholars from a US Airways flight a day earlier.

I’ll shortly be on my way to Tucson International Airport for a flight to Oregon…on the same airline.

So I’m inclined to think it’s not the airline staff and security officials who should be investigated.

“We are concerned that crew members, passengers and security personnel may have succumbed to fear and prejudice based on stereotyping of Muslims and Islam,” Nihad Awad, the council’s executive director, said in a news release.

Is it possible such “stereotyping” might be based on the reality of 9/11 and subsequent events that could be classed as “self-inflicted stereotyping”?

Perhaps.

Police were called after the captain and airport security workers asked the men to leave the plane and the men refused, Rader said.

Well, good deal.

If I don’t go through security and just take a round-about way and am then asked to stop and I refuse, whose fault is it for the ensuing detention and/or arrest?

Just comply with the initial request of those in authority and save everybody a bunch of trouble.

But then again, if it’s trouble I want . . . .

Not on My Lap, Please!

Sometimes I work with my notebook computer on my lap:

Other times it’s on a table or desk in front of me:

And once in a while I use it like this:

So I hope this never happens to my machine:

No matter how I’m using it or where it is setting.

Not in my motel room. Not on an airplane. Not on my rental car. Not anywhere.

Desert Dipping

I am on my way home from my latest trip to Mexico.

Friday afternoon I went on a walk. On my way back to the desert village where I was staying (and where we used to live), I got to feeling quite warmed up by the sun. Thankfully, the course I was charting took me by an irrigation pump close to town.

Here is the same place from a different angle and closer up.

Well, I felt hot enough and it looked inviting enough . . . .

Ahhhhhhhh!

If you haven’t yet, you ought to try that sometime.

Posted from a Super 8 Motel in Tucson, Arizona

Is My Cup Half Empty?

Behold my in-flight feast.

All of it.

Prior to my eating any of it.

The bag is empty, but not the can.

Shall I bemoan the woeful amount?

Or be grateful for all I got?

A Christmas Thought

Christmas -- all the year?

I’ve been expressing similar sentiments for years.

Must be in the coffee I drink.

Or at least the mug I use.

BK Ticket 2510

What was that?!

Well, the Burger King here near Gate B3 at Sky Harbor International Airport (Phoenix, AZ) claims it was a BK Fish Fillet ($4.29 prior to taxation without representation).

I purchased it about 24 minutes ago. It took me nigh to 20 of those minutes to eat it.

Wow, was it ever tough!

Before I bit into it, I reminded myself to be careful. It wouldn’t do for this international traveler to get zapped in the mouth with hot fish juices. No need to worry. This alleged fish was nowhere near zapping temperature.

Ah, well. It was food.

And it was unique. To my recollection, never in my fast food fish sandwich experience have I had one to match the one I was hooked by here.

So if you ever wander by this Burger King here and you’re inclined to have a fish sandwich, be sure to ask if it’s tough and cold.

Now I really should get over to that gate where my flight is supposed to start boarding in another eight minutes.