Au Cochonnet Marin

“E pluribus unum”(One out of many) was the original motto of the United States adopted by an Act of Congress in 1782. It clearly indicated that the nascent country yearned to unite and cooperate with its various states and interests.

This inspired motto was highjacked in 1956 when, under pressure by religious zealots,  Congress adopted “In God We Trust” as its new official slogan.

This move flagrantly violated the First Amendmentwhich expressly says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”

As an agnostic, and a confirmed believer of separation of Church and State, I strongly object to this outrageous appropriation. In our troubled times, mortals would be better off relying on laws and unity than banking on divine intervention.

“United we stand, divided we fall” is still a pertinent dictum.

Great civilizations that flourished for centuries collapsed suddenly due to internal struggles, and that what our Disunited States are facing today.

By opposing crucially needed gun control regulations, our President, Mitch McConnell, and the NRA have shown themselves to be enemies of the people.
Their hypocrite condolences and weak signs of contrition does not mean much. No matter what the carnage, they will stick to their guns and ignore the grief of thousands.

Despite what the President is saying, guns don’t have a say in all these massacres. Guns don’t make decisions. They are just obedient servants of depraved individuals.
Take automatic firearms away from them, and you will reduce mass killings by 95%. It is that simple.

In a democracy, leaders have to lead or get out of the way. If they don’t, it is time to throw the rascals out. At the polls, vote for the Devil himself if he solemnly promises to ban assault weapons, large magazines and insane amounts of bullets.

“As of Monday morning, there have been 255 mass shootings in the U.S., according to figures kept by non-for-profit group the Gun Violence Archive. A mass shooting is generally accepted as an incident in which at least four people are shot.”

 America is the laughing stock of the world when it comes to gun violence.

 To be effective, you need to know and pressure your elected representatives. In California, we have 2 senators: Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris.

Petition them relentlessly to make gun control a reality.

Alain

« Aux âmes bien nées la valeur n’attend point le nombre des années. » Pierre Corneille

“For souls nobly born, valor doesn’t await the passing of years”

I could not have said it better. You don’t have to belong to a specific age bracket to show talent.
Yesterday, on the pétanque field, I played with an amazing little girl. She is only 10 years old, but she is oozing brilliance.

My talent-detecting radar started to buzz just a few minutes after I started to play with her. The first time that she shot and hit her target, I registered this as a lucky happening. The second time she did this, I continued to believe that she was extremely lucky. The third time though, I had to stop and recognize that this was unusual.
She is still young and plays a little too fast, but by George she sure is gifted.

If I were a talent scout, I would take her under my wing right away, before anybody realizes how good she is. I predict that if she keeps it up, in a few short years she is going to be a dominating force on our court(s).

A while ago, I was starting to despair about our club’s “relève” (taking over from somebody), but now, I am convinced that someone will be there when we are gone.

Pétanque does not discriminate. You don’t have to be of any specific gender to participate and be good at it. As long as you have the will and the dexterity, the field is open to you.

And this little girl (her name is Tait) seems to have both. She has a good lineage. Her entire family is athletic and sports-minded and it must have something to do with it.

My dream is to have this little girl play with us regularly, AND bring her little friends with her. We need to have youngsters playing with us, challenging us and beating the crap of us. I always said that pétanque keeps you humble; the minute you start thinking that you are hot stuff, some kid will show up and shatter your fragile image.

Pétanque is not an old man’s sole domain. Everybody can play and be good at it. The only thing that you need is practice.

Science is the captain, and practice the soldiers. Leonardo da Vinci

Like Charlie Brown, I long to play with the little red-haired girl again. Brigitte, I want to play Tait à tête!

You must bring her back… or I will send my goons to do that.

Alain

One more mass shooting: 3 people dead, 12 wounded. The culprit? A kid armed with an AK-47-style rifle… bought online.
Why is the press so worked up? It happens all the time… In America, this is nothing but a short news item.

After countless random shootings all over the land, legislators continue to turn a blind eye to this calamity. They have much better things to do (?) than trying to protect the lives of their fellow citizens.

What about the public at large? Do they feel any outrage besides holding pitiful vigils and praying? Not really. If you are an American, you have the right to bear arms… and use them whenever somebody pisses you off.
After all, this the way the West was won.

The obvious problem in this land is the overabundance and the unregulated flow of weapons. Any halfwit can buy an automatic killing machine. Does it make any sense?

Why in hell are people allowed to purchase weapons of war? And would these Sunday “warriors” be on the frontline if we were suddenly invaded? I very much doubt it. They just like to dress the part.
So, what are they defending? The right to kill defenseless people?

In most of the civilized world, the authorities have final say in whether a person may obtain a license and/or firearm(s). Not in the Land of Free and the Home of the Brave where the holy second amendment is venerated like the Black Virgin of Guadalupe.

According to the Business Insider, “There are only three countries(in the entire world), that have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms: Mexico, Guatemala, and the United States.”

 But in Mexico, “Perhaps the biggest hurdle of all is that there is only one shop in the entire country where Mexicans can go to buy guns, and it’s located on a heavily guarded army base in Mexico City.”

 If there was such a place in the United States, I probably would be much less vocal about this issue. But chances are that in America there are more gun shops than donuts shops.

Will America ever wake up from its irresponsible slumber and stop this insane love affair with military-grade weapons? For my part, I don’t want to be at the mercy of some sociopath having a bad hair day.

Join me and advise your elected officials that, if they want to keep their jobs, they better start working on some legislation to seriously curb the proliferation of guns and homegrown terrorists.

This might  get them off their heinies.

Alain