Delenda est Carthago. Alea iacta est.

Remembering the Light Brigade

Today, October 25, is the anniversary of that ill-fated charge conducted by the 13th and 14th Light Dragoons, the 17th Lancers, and the 8th and 11th Hussars under the Earl of Cardigan during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War.

The event is immortalized in stirring verse by Lord Alfred Tennyson:

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack & Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,
Shatter'd & sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse & hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

The event had all the classic symptoms of a gigantic clusterfuck. Over-eager officers, hierarchical rivalries, poor intelligence and simple general stupidity all contributed to that charge into "the Valley of Death". In short, it has the makings of all that is wrong in even the most just of wars. And yet, in all this wrongness shines still that valor in men all too often cloaked except in times of war. War may be hell, but there are few events in the life of man and the convulsions of nature that more effectively bring out that hidden nobility in the human spirit than war. War brings out not just the worst in man, but the best as well.

Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

This Is Embarrassing...

I've been using Multiply for nigh over a year now, and it is only now that I've discovered how to preserve my favorite web journal posts in list form.

So now, like any over-the-hill band, I can release my "greatest hits" album whenever I want! :D

Back to the Future

Due to the curse-like string of bad luck surrounding the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), two leading physicists have come up with a rather strange theory: that something in the future always comes back to sabotage the replication of the Higgs boson, a hidden particle that would supposedly explain the origins of matter. One of the physicists likens it to a man traveling back in time to kill his own grandfather. As the headline to the article suggests, God may not want us nosing around the Higgs boson.

Considering all the fun stuff people come up with regarding LHC disaster theories, this one's a hoot. Kinda like a terminator being sent to the past to kill off the terminators by killing the very first one. Looks like the LHC is a world killer after all. And, its trying to warn us. lol!!

Doc: Marty,you have to destroy that Higgs boson!
Marty: Higgs what?

Benedict XVI Outflanks Rowan Williams

Years after Catholic - Anglican dialogue ground to a halt over the issue of female ordination, the Pope finally maneuvers around the Archbishop of Canterbury to be able to reach the Anglicans he can talk to.

How did he do such a feat?

Bulling past all obstacles, from a conflicted Archbishop of Canterbury (who has all the leadership effectiveness of a floppy fish) to his own professional ecumenists who recoil at the prospect of actually trying to gain converts, the Pope has authorized an Apostolic Constitution that would allow entire Anglican factions to come over to Rome, retaining their liturgy and, on a case-by-case basis, their married clergy. 

By going through the CDF (the former Inquisition) instead of the ecumenical arm of the Church in order to make this happen, the Pope has shown that he is not afraid to sacrifice some shallow "good will" in order to slake the spiritual hunger of a suffering minority.

Plus, the Pope has shown that waffling pantywaist of an archbishop of Canterbury what spiritual leadership looks like. If you spend more time harping on global warming that speaking of Christ, the Christians under you will find someone willing to do otherwise.

Dude, where's my congregation?

In the interest of fairness, the Church can just send over those disaffected liberal Catholics who thought Christ died for your right to remain a perpetual adolescent. That should cover it.

Freethinkers are like free samples. You get what you pay for.

"Deep movie emotions for me usually come not when the characters are sad, but when they are good. You will see what I mean." - Roger Ebert, reviewing "Hotel Rwanda"