ON MY MIND ON TUESDAY

Item:

Wife and I attended a social function last Saturday night in a fairly large home. About fifty people were there. There were a small number of smokers present. Just a few. There was a smoking room, a designated space.
It was not enough.
The fumes got out.
These few inconsiderate souls, for the sake of their dirty habit, caused the house to fill with fumes.
Resultant second-hand smoke drifted over the buffet table; into the kitchen; into the various sitting areas.
At least some eyes began smarting; coughing started; and in at least one case, headaches began which lasted into the next day.
And all because of a noxious habit of a few inconsiderate individuals.
There is a saying to the effect that one's freedom of expression/action in our Republic ends at hte tip of my nose.....that is, do not practice/do intrusion into my space.
I would never go to a group gathering, especially of people I did not despise, and deliberately do anything to make any number of them uncomfortable.
Smokers who do this are either: ignorant fools; malicious; or thoughtless.
A pox on them all.

Item:

During coffee hour last Sunday, a former Naval person and I were discussing piracy, 2007 style.
It is common these days. It is significant. It is malignant.

Definition:Piracy is defined as …a robbery committed at sea, or sometimes on the shore, by an agent without a commission from a sovereign nation. Seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains a significant issue (with estimated worldwide losses of $13 to $16 billion per year.... From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pirates kidnap; rob; murder; rape; and generally cause all sorts of problems for maritime commerce.

We decided that two actions could go far toward suppressing these cretins and we are wondering why they are not being done:

1) Arm merchant vessels in threatened waters with gun and gun crew.
2) If it has not already been done, issue that traditional order to the US and British Navies:

You are hereby requested and required to take, sink, or burn
all vessels found to be engaged in piracy.

Now, that is a lovely imperative.
As the old saying goes, Do unto others before they do unto you.

Item:

Formerly upset about the 'outing' of a non-covert agent at the CIA, the national dems are now attempting to 'out' a number of truly covert operatives in this matter of interrogation tapes.
national dems apparently do not know that intelligence procedures need to be clandestine. Secrets need to be secret. The enemy should not be told what to expect.
national dems are a disgrace.

Item:

Debating whether or not the climate of the earth is warming up or not is not the real issue any more.
Folks who do this are blowing smoke. Pardon if that is a pun.
The real issues, the real questions are:

A) Is the the warming tendency cyclical, that is, not really a result of human activity?
B) Would heroic efforts to reduce emissions by the advanced nations be of any significance in light of the garbage being spewed into the atmosphere by the backward nations of the world?

Ignore folks who blather on about temperatures going up a milli-degree (I made that term up). Only listen to the ones who hold forth on the whether or not the changes are cyclical and on the efficacy of remedies in light of the horrors being practiced by the backward folks.

Item:

The devils besetting the Episcopal Church of the USA are to be found in many aspects of our lives.
Folks have created their own agendas and to hell with the good of others. Minorities decide that their desires, their points of view, their supposed imperatives must be the driving determiners of group concern, of group policies.
The majoity is in for a tough time, a tough time on many fronts indeed.