Au Cochonnet Marin

You might be surprised to hear it, but you are a gambler. As a matter of fact, all of us are… to a certain degree.

Crossing the street is a gamble. Flying is a gamble. Marriage is a gamble… a big one – at least fifty percent of us can testify to that.

When you cross the street to meet your girlfriend, you are taking a chance. You might get hit by a car and suffer some injuries, or even worse. But you are taking the risk because you think that embracing your girlfriend is worth the gamble.
It is a calculated risk.

Some people are more audacious than some others. They know that in order to achieve, they have to go out on a limb. It takes pluck to do so. If you succeed you will be a hero; if you fail you will have to bear the sometimes-dire consequences.

In 49 BC Gaius Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon. It was a huge gamble because in the eyes of Rome it was considered an act of insurrection and treason.
In case of failure, it meant certain death.
But he dared and succeeded.

Some others gambled and didn’t fare that well.

During the reign of Catherine II of Russia, disaffected young Yemelyan Ivanovich Pugachev (1742 –1775) led a Cossack insurrection. After some initial success he was captured, and in 1775 at the age of 33, he was beheaded and dismembered in public in Moscow.
His risky gamble didn’t pay off.

 In our daily lives we don’t have to face a Rubicon dilemma but we still need to make some decisions and for some it proves difficult.
Should I quit my job? Should I have an affair with my boss? Should I save money or travel? What should I eat? What should I wear? How should I vote?
All of these minor decisions can go both ways and sometimes have unattended consequences. Especially how you decide to vote.

Some people procrastinate… endlessly. It is not a good idea. “Procrastination is like a credit card; it’s a lot fun until you get the bill.”

It is also said that fortune favors the bold. It is frequently the case in pétanque.
If you have the guts you will shoot to get 4 points instead of settling for 1 point.
You might lose everything in the process, but you might also clinch the game with this daring shot.
This differentiates the gambler from the ordinary player.
Better fail in a blaze of glory than coast to a colorless win.

There’s a (slight) difference by the way between a gamble and a calculated risk.
Risking $100 at the roulette table is a gamble. Jumping in parachute is a (well-prepared) calculated risk.

If you are perpetually unsure of what to do, I recommend reading the entrails of a chicken to make up your mind.
It has never failed me yet.

Alain

Once upon a time there was a small tribe that dwelled in a little hamlet called Petanquium.

Its inhabitants were hunters/gatherers and usually got along well with each other. They were noted “bon-vivants » who ate heartily and guzzled with abandon a local brew called mead.
The local druid once declared, “When I drink, I think; and when I think, I drink” and this encouraged the village philosophers to drink generously to stimulate their thinking.
In their spare time they practiced for war by throwing rocks at a small target on the ground. Some were very accurate and were called Tiroflans.

Sometimes the villagers drank too much of the sacred concoction and became ornery and bellicose.
One day two villagers respectively called Alambix and Tournedix got into a heated argument over a local custom… and even reached for their battle-axes.
Fortunately reason prevailed and both sides walked away unharmed.

But after this foolish incident, they studiously avoided each other.

Some time later, at a yearly banquet honoring the gods, Alambix and Tournedix started drinking… and thinking.
The more they drank, the more they thought… and the more they thought, the more they drank. After a while, incapable of any kind of thinking, they forgot their past quarrel and shook hands… and drank some more to celebrate.

Now, Toutatis and Taranis be praised, peace has returned (at least temporally) to the little village and all seems to be well in Petanquium.

But a small community is always ripe with gossips. It might not be long before another incident erupts and sends everybody reaching for their daggers.
Ultimately a goat or virgin (of either sex) may have to be sacrificed to appease the gods.

May everybody drink more hydromel to encourage independent thinking and develop a more understanding way to play the popular “tosstherock” game.

Toutatis, Taranis and Esus be praised!

Alain

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“No matter what name we give it or how we judge it, a candidate’s character is central to political reporting because it is central to a citizen’s decision in voting.” Roger Mudd

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We will soon go to the polls. We will have to pick the person who for the next four/eight years is going to be the standard bearer of America and for the values for which it stands.

Such vote should be based on the candidates’ character, the mental and moral compass of an individual, not on demagoguery.

We will have to choose between the two main contenders, a Republican and a Democrat. Abstaining or voting for a minor candidate (one who does not have a chance to win) would be a disservice to the nation for “Bad officials are selected by good citizens who do not vote.”

It is an important choice and every citizen ought to be involved. Basically as I see it, it is a choice between authoritarianism (repression) and democracy.

Beware of demagogues. Once in power they have a tendency to drift into force or violence. And once a choice is made, it is quasi impossible to backtrack.
Show me a “macho man” and I will show a potential dictator.

Even if you don’t read newspapers or magazines, you still can form a basic opinion by watching news clips.
Watch for the candidate who insults or denigrates any specific group; we all belong to such a group, be it socialist, Christian, Freemason, homosexual or the press corps.

When the man in charge takes on any such group, he is very likely to soon take on another group that displeased him.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Martin Niemöller

In California, employees can take as much time as they need in order to vote, but only a maximum of two hours is paid.

On Tuesday, November 8, forget anything else, vote! Your life depends on it.

Alain

 “I just received the following wire from my generous Daddy; Dear Jack, Don’t buy a single vote more than is necessary. I’ll be damned if I’m going to pay for a landslide.” — John F. Kennedy

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