Cuernos De Chivo (AK-47s) & Richard the Lionheart At Acre
Saturday, October 25, 2014
 |
| A Federal in Acapulco with his cuerno de chivo |
Because I have a good memory I remember that in 17 March of 1992 the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires suffered a terrorism attack, a suicide bombing, later attributed to Iran. Twenty-nine civilians were killed in the attack and 242 additional civilians were injured.
When lots more
terrorism began to unfold in the new century my Argentine artist friend Juan
Manuel Sánchez discussed that a safe heaven far from it all would be the
Argentine Patagonia. Since then wealth Americans have discovered it and
property would now be at a premium.
One of the more
onerous by-products of social media these days are the ambulance chasers who
clamour to be first with the “This is my favourite song (video, film) by so and
so.” It is interesting to note that none of my social media friends noted the
death of Ben Bradlee. He spoke good French but didn’t sing.
Then there is that
picture of one of those American women with I believe an Armenian background
that appears with the heading that fewer people have died of Ebola than married
her or one of her sisters.
TV news, social media,
newspapers, the on line ones and the hard copy ones, all tell us of relevant
but mostly irrelevant details about disasters, kidnappings, and war. But most
recently it was all about the terrorist tragedy in Ottawa. The me-tooers are reverently placing
their ten cent opinions on the matter as if I would be interested on the
opinion of an eminent local actor’s opinion on the matter. I would be most
interested in noting that the terrorist, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau when he ran from
the first assassination to his car I was sure he had no gun. Did he leave it behind?
Did he have more guns in that car?
After a few years of
watching MSNBC and particularly Rachel Maddow I have come to the conclusion
that American politicians are either Democrats or idiots. One of them
Republican Representative from Alaska,
Don Young (81 in spite of his name) said a few things in a recent debate that
he had to apologize for. One of them I thought was funny:
Dismissing same sex
marriage he asked, “What do you get with two bulls?”
But this other
statement made me think:
He offended some high
school students who recently lost a classmate to suicide by suggesting that
suicide was result of a lack of support from friends and family.
That made me think of dead
terrorist Michael Zehaf-Bibeau’s mother in her apology to the murdered soldier
Cpl Nathan Cirillo’s family that she had not seen her son in five years and she
hated him. How off the mark is that idiot from Alaska?
In 1191, after the
fall of fall of Acre (in the Holy land),
during the Third Crusade, Richard the Lionheart attempted to negotiate terms of
surrender with the Saracens. Richard wanted to exchange over 3,000 captured
prisoners for the True Cross, as well as a hefty ransom and imprisoned
Christians.
After much delay by
Saladin and the Muslims, Richard, became impatient so he personally marched his
prisoners to a hill called Ayyadieh. There, in full view of the nearby Muslim
army encampment, Richard ordered the slaughter of the over 3,000 prisoners,
women and children included. They were all mercilessly beaten to death, axed
and cut down by swords and lances. A Muslim force, so enraged by this act,
attempted to charge the crusader lines but was repeatedly beaten back, allowing
Richard and his army to retire in good order. It would seem that terrorism in
the name of the True God does not differentiate from one God or the Other.
While I never met a terrorist
in person I did meet Alfredo Astiz as a young and handsome (clean cut, too)
Argentine Navy Lieutenant. I wrote about him here. And in related blogs here and here.
How could I have foreseen
that this man would perform unspeakable crimes against humanity?
 |
| Not a terrorist in Acapulco |
It is know but
forgotten that when the Brazilian government was attempting to unite the vast
landmass with highways into the Amazon interior that small airplanes were sent
that dropped dynamite to help depopulate Native Brazilian villages that were in
the way. There was never a confirmation that deadly spores were also thrown
over.
It would seem to me
that terrorism has always been with us and that it has been universal and that
it has not respected any skin colour. The Japanese massacred the Chinese in
Nanking and Generals Julio A Rocca and Bartolomé Mitre in Argentina pacified the natives dead much in the same way as in the United States. Is there any difference between massacre and terrorism? We know that in WWII the Luftwaffe installed specialized air brakes and sirens that made the dive bombing runs of their Stukas fill those in the ground with terror.
At this date the 42 young Mexican students (to be teachers) that disappeared in Iguala, Guerrero have yet to be found. This will be probably seen as narco-terrorism associated with dishonest Mexican police.
At this date the 42 young Mexican students (to be teachers) that disappeared in Iguala, Guerrero have yet to be found. This will be probably seen as narco-terrorism associated with dishonest Mexican police.
My friend Trans-Link
driver Paul came to visit me on Wednesday afternoon and I told him, “Watch for
men, or women with bulky midriffs who board your bus.” I then added that Patagonia was looking pretty good.
