Comments on: Presumption of Guilt

By: Sailor Barsoom

Sailor Barsoom — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 23:02:06 +0000

Thanks, but I’m far too often lazy; I forget; things don’t get done. The next time I’m at your place, I plan to write to Stefani Carter, John Corona, Kay Hutchinson, and Barack Obama.

Because I’m out of ink.

By: Sailor Barsoom

Sailor Barsoom — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 21:28:05 +0000

Speaking of slavery, it was a SMALL part of the population that fought it. Thank God for them though. They proved the power that small groups do have and never gave up on their cause.

And thanks to technological progress, they were able to make freeing the slaves a popular cause. It wasn’t at first, of course. It was, as you say, a SMALL part of the population. But it got more and more popular, especially in those parts of the country where the economy was machine-based and didn’t benefit much from slavery.

From Martin Luther and the Gutenberg press to Martin Luther King, Jr. and television to the Arab Spring and Facebook, technology, especially communications, is one of the driving forces behind personal freedom.

By: Sailor Barsoom

Sailor Barsoom — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 20:27:53 +0000

Kind of ignoring the slavery thing.

And you can be a primitivist today; you are a primitivist today.

By: Laura

Laura — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 20:21:57 +0000

Dear SailorB, I love how you do so much already!

By: Laura

Laura — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 19:44:35 +0000

Dear Sailor B, thank you! Like you, I’d rather live as long as possible no matter what’s going on around me. Speaking of slavery, it was a SMALL part of the population that fought it. Thank God for them though. They proved the power that small groups do have and never gave up on their cause. There are 2 wonderful things about what you and I call the “good old days”: childhood wasn’t extended like it is now and kids weren’t so sheltered from death (the kids were part of the process of getting their family members ready for burial, etc.) like many are today. 1 of the worst things about the “good old days” is all kinds of abuse were just accepted (verbal, emotional, physical and sexual abuse) and thought of as “part of normal life”. ###*** that!

By: guinevereschampion

guinevereschampion — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:08:08 +0000

I figured it the same way you do. However, I was surprised at how consistent this was. It’s interesting because I’ve never heard of another war on this scale like it.

By: Maggie McNeill

Maggie McNeill — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:00:34 +0000

It’s not a conundrum at all; both sides considered themselves to have the moral high ground. They were Americans in an age when that still meant something, and most had Victorian ideas of sexuality and the purity of womanhood. To most of these men, especially the officers, allowing women to be raped would have been a betrayal of all they stood for.

By: guinevereschampion

guinevereschampion — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 13:51:59 +0000

Here is a real conundrum for us:?
In the American Civil War guerilla bands operated on either side of the border terrorizing people who supported the wrong side. One of these was the infamous William Quadrille, responsible for the Lawrence massacre and several clever raids against Union forces. When he came to a household of Union sympathizers, he would kill all the males and burn the property but left the women and girls alone. This is according to “The Devil Knows how to Ride” his biography by Edward E. Leslie. The author combed through personal letters from women to their relatives and found not one mention of rape by either Union or Southern soldiers. Surely if there had been any evidence of it at all enemy propaganda would have been decrying it for months.
I assumed rape and war went together. How to explain this. Male bias is no explanation, since the two sides hated each other thoroughly by the end of the war.

By: Rum

Rum — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 10:24:50 +0000

There is a modern-day classic on youtube called, more or less, “Why you should never talk to the cops.” It came from a lawschool. Basically, it explains how everyone nowadays is vulnerable to The Law Enforcement if they get a grip on you because it is virtually impossible to avoid being guilty of multiple felonies on any given day – if the Blue Meanies want that outcome.

By: Lailah

Lailah — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 00:18:40 +0000

Almost certainly, if you were a housewife, expected to have a baby every year. The guys generally lived longer – women tended to die quite young due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth.

However, I’m with Patrick Henry. “Give me liberty, or give me death.” I’d rather work hard — for myself —- and die young than deal with the government we have today.

At least in 1800 I could be a whore without (potentially) going to jail for it. *wink*