Wicked is the man who knows how to receive a benefit and does not know how to give one.

Ante Diem IV IDUS IANVARIAS

MMDCCLXI AUC

(10 January 2008)

Dies Comitialis: citizens may vote on this day

Dies Iovis

Iuppiter

Aedes Iovis Optimi Maximi Capitolini

Improbus est homo qui beneficium scit accipere et redere nescit.

Wicked is the man who knows how to receive a benefit and does not know how to give one.

Plautus

Persa

Beneficium can also be translated as kindness or favor which I think is probably even more appropriate if we wish to dwell, contemplate, think, consider or whatever activity occurs in your mind concerning the manifestation of wickedness in the world. We as a culture especially within what is considered the 'Developed West' has never lacked images of the wickedness that man has the capacity to inflict upon himself. Shouldn't we as a culturally enlightened people be a light and watchtower to what it means to conduct ourselves as responsible citizens of the world? We have the ability to transcend the wicked man and become an example at home and in the international community of the benefit that will always be derived from providing kindness and favor to our neighbors. To say that a preemptive attack is the right and just action of a responsible government is to deny what this country has endeavored to become since its very inception.

The Miserable World of Prometheus

by Mark Weinstein

Just consider what these men were ultimately responsible for bringing upon the world stage. Is a child born an extremist or a revolutionary? What was it that allowed such attitudes and feelings to grow and flourish? How would our government today look upon the 'Sons of Liberty'? I would suspect that a group such as it was would probably fit the present definition of a terrorist organization.

Sons of Liberty: Patriots or Terrorists?

British View of the Sons of Liberty

Sons of Liberty - Wikipedia?

Samuel Adams Founder of the Sons of Liberty

Samuel Adams - Wikipedia

The United States today finds itself embroiled in what many believe will ultimately end in an Iraqi Civil War. I would find it much more reassuring if I could believe that our presence in Iraq was to preserve the Iraqi's right of self determination. There has been successful movement against insurgents groups recently, but do we see same kind of movement and success at a political settlement that could result in a unified country for all Iraqis. I am skeptical whether this goal is achievable without some form of partition. Yet, there is a larger question that needs to be settled before there can be meaningful peace throughout the Middle East. The Palestinian Question which some would say was created by the Partition of Palestine in 1948 by the United Nations has gone unanswered for sixty years. I have very little faith that George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice will be successful where so many others have failed. We are told over and over again that US support of the only viable democracy in the Middle East is critical to our national security. There is one difficulty with this partisan support when a Moslem resident of Israel cannot become a citizen because of his or her religion. However I want to take a look at two groups who played a vital role in the creation of the state of Israel. The Irgun or Etzel and the Haganah and I ask you where to we make the distinction between freedom fighter and terrorist.

Haganah - History of the Israeli Underground Group

Welcome To The Irgun Site

Irgun Emblem: The map shows the land claimed by the organization for the Jewish state, which corresponds to current Israel, West Bank, Gaza strip and Jordan.

I support Israel's right to exist and I believe US support should continue. I question whether that support should be unconditional or not. The real shame, however, is this whole issue has as its bedrock Anti Semitism. The British and the United States did not want a flood of Jewish immigration at the end of World War II. I can still remember in the 1950's and the early 1960's when we still had restricted neighborhoods where Jewish and African Americans could not buy a home.

Images of a time that most of us don't remember and what they depict may or may not have been necessary. It is for each individual to make their own choice or decision.

The Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Verdun

Pearl Harbor

USS West Virginia took two aerial bombs (one dud) and seven torpedo hits; of the seven at least five were from aircraft and one from a midget submarine.

El Alamein

The Battle of Berlin

German Concentration Camps

Japanese Prisoners of War

Hiroshima

Just War Principles

A just war can only be waged as a last resort. All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified.

A war is just only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Even just causes cannot be served by actions taken by individuals or groups who do not constitute an authority sanctioned by whatever the society and outsiders to the society deem legitimate.

A just war can only be fought to redress a wrong suffered. For example, self-defense against an armed attack is always considered to be a just cause (although the justice of the cause is not sufficient--see point #4). Further, a just war can only be fought with "right" intentions: the only permissible objective of a just war is to redress the injury.

A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable.

The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace. More specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought.

The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. States are prohibited from using force not necessary to attain the limited objective of addressing the injury suffered.

The weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. Civilians are never permissible targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target.

What we are cannot be relative to the times in which we live. War is destructive by its own definition and I do not see how in this century that there can be any moral or ethical justification for war.

Senex Magister

It is now time to bring this war to an end and live as brothers in a world based on fairness for all of us.

Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism. ~Thomas Jefferson~

Bring Them Home

Partisan Politics

Nonae IANVARIAE

MMDCCLXI AUC

(5 January 2008)

Dies Fastus: legal action permitted

Today is the Anniversary (dies natalis) of the shrine of Vica Pota on the Velia, near the family house of the Valerii in early times. Vica Pota is an old Roman goddess, whose name is thought to be derived from vincere (to conquer) and potiri (to get possession of); she is therefore identified with Victoria, who later overshadowed the older deity.

Dies Saturni

Saturnus

The Roman Republic which was held in such high esteem by our Founding Fathers was a flawed system of partisan politics from its very inception. It was never intended to be an egalitarian democracy but a government that existed to benefit the landed aristocracy of its day. I would even go so far as saying that was the original intent by many of the framers of the US Constitution. Possibly Madison or Jefferson realized what a fluid document the US Constitution would become with its underlying strength of being able to correct itself. There are many issues that we can disagree about in our partisan political life in America, but the one unifying thread throughout our history that has enabled this country to become the symbol of individual freedom and liberty to the rest of the world has been the US Constitution.

The Roman Republic that lasted from 509 BCE until 27 CE when the Roman Senate granted Octavian the titles of Princeps and Augustus making him the proconsul of all provinces, the commander of all armies with the right to declare war and make peace, and he was also given the Tribunes right to propose and veto laws. The tribunate had originally been created to protect the political rights of plebeians against the oppression of patricians. Rome had gone full circle from liberating itself from despotism to accepting the principle that the only way peace and security could be maintained was by surrendering its constitutional individual liberty to the arbitrary power of the government. The central role of the military and the men who controlled it must not be overlooked in how this process unfolded.

There are several web sites that you might find informative if you want to take a closer look at what happened to the Roman Republic.

Political Institutions of the Roman Republic

Domestic Politics in the Late Republic

Be sure to follow links to subsequent pages.

The Emergence of the Augustan Age

I have studied and taught about the Ancient Romans almost my entire adult life, and I have to admit that there is for me a certain fascination about these people who brought the Mediterranean World under their dominion. The Romans called the Mediterranean Sea Mare Nostrum meaning Our Sea which gives you some insight into their view of the world. They attempted to extend their political and economic influence into areas of the world that could only be maintained by military force. They imported more than they exported. There was an over reliance on a slave work force that created what became unmanageable high unemployment. The problem was that cheap labor was too attractive to those who controlled the economic life a Rome. I would even go so far as saying that it looks to me very much like an Ancient Form of a guest labor work force. The Romans answer to unemployment was Panis et Circus. Give them bread and the circus where the government feeds and entertains the mass of the unemployed which also carries a serious cost to any society.

It is early Saturday morning and I am reading about presidential politics and the Election of 2008 when I should probably be in bed asleep. It is our world today and the politics that are impossible to escape that started me thinking about the Ancient Romans and if we are not careful how close we may come to following in their footsteps.

I have yet to hear the kind of articulation that we need concerning the restoration of the US Constitution and the repeal of the Patriot Act. What politician is talking about Military Tribunals and the potential danger they pose to every citizen's right to due process. If due process can be ignored in one instance and enhanced interrogation (torture) can be excused as necessary in another, how long is it going to be until we surrender our individual constitutional rights to the arbitrary power of the government? We hear a lot about 'Change' these days but who is willing to speak in specifics. I am less concerned with experience than I am with someone who will speak honestly and forthrightly about the restoration of American Democracy.

Senex Magister

It is past time to bring this war to an end and live as brothers in a world based on fairness for all of us.

Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism. ~Thomas Jefferson~

Bring Them Home

Where Is My Home?

Where Is My Home?

We open our eyes and take our first breath
of life and yet when do we know that we have
a family and a home. Is it that moment when there
is a conscious understanding that my mother and
father love me with an affection that has no limits?

It is a love that is selfless and unconditional and you
realize that at no time living or dead will you ever be
alone. It manifests its presence in so many ways and
at so many crossroads that come to each of us during
the small span of time that we know as life.

Well then, myself, is love alone or my understanding
of it my home? Is it an idea or a reality of my own
making that can only be experienced in the solitary
place that only sees my own essence? Is it physical
or metaphysical to be what you know it must be?

Is it then a thought just as fleeting as the breeze you
feel blowing through your hair on a windy day?
Can a home be real if it is as transitory as the birds
flying above us that only know the permanence of their
migration? I ask you again, myself, "Where is my home"?

© Senex Magister

Can anyone answer such a question that only you and
you alone are able to answer? It is a place where loneliness
and suffering have been banished. It is not idyllic but posses
a heart in Heaven and the Consciousness of every Soul whose undying love creates It and sustains It.

A Day Unlike Any Other Day

A Day Unlike Any Other

I could feel the dryness of my eyes from
The lack of sleep that eludes me when I
Should be its captive. I can barely see the
Sun through the mist and fog that surrounds me.

Yet, I awake and I know that it is unlike any
Morrow that has ever welcomed a new day to any
Soul that has ever asked why. There is no reason
That can explain other than the wonder of the moment.

I ask myself again must I walk in a cloud of darkness
And ignorance that is unable to open the clear light
And brightness of truth. Why is there war, hunger, and
Suffering in a world so full of wealth that it should not know want?

Truth and knowledge may not always be as simple as
Seeing a light that illuminates our path through the dark
Shadows that obstructs our way. It is easy to listen to an answer
That prevents our consciousness from knowing wonder and awe.

Yet today is a day unlike any other because that dryness that
Has deprived our consciousness of light now illuminates it with
The wonderment and awe of that star shining in each of our hearts.

© Senex Magister

The Demon Within Me

The Demon Within Me



It is hard for me to think
Without the thought of another.
It is hard for me to see
Without her eyes to guide.
It is hard for me to feel
Without the tenderness of her touch.
It is hard for me to believe
Without the consciousness of her heart.

When I was young and whole,
She taught me how to smile and laugh.
When my hand moved where they shouldn't be,
She smiled with a gleam that brings sweetness to one's heart.
When I asked her to speak and tell me the truth,
She opened my heart to something new.
When I was alone and knew not what to do,
She came into my heart and filled it with joy.

I live a life now that is broken in body, but
Her love is pure and clean.
I know of sorrow and grief of what can not be, but
Her breath and smell brings hope to one's soul.
I cry and complain with a heart so torn, but
Her presence shows me God's grace and love.
I moan and sigh with the pleasure of youth because
Her beauty and softness keeps me whole.

Who do I speak of when my dreams do not know?
She is the spirit that gives life and love.
Who do I speak of when I can not see or hear?
She is my friend who holds me close and dear.
Who do I speak of when I am sick and hurt?
She is my soul mate who cares for me and keeps me sane.
Who do I speak of when I feel lost to the world?
She is my wife whose selflessness has always shown me the way.

©Senex Magister

Brian's Multiple Sclerosis Resources

A Look At Living With MS

A Personal Look at Living with Multiple Sclerosis

I am not sure that there is anyone who can truthfully say that he or she does not live with a personal demon whether it is of our own making, Man's, or nature itself. The tragedy, at least as far as chronic diseases are concerned, is there is an attitude of indifference in the general public of what doesn't affect me doesn't concern me. This past weekend I went to our local Borders Book Store with my wife because she had a few last minute items she wanted to pick up to complete her Christmas shopping. Access and mobility was an almost complete impossibility for anyone with a disability that limited their mobility. I asked the General Manager of this Borders Book Store if he was aware of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) which he said he was. Then I challenged him to explain what possible rationale he had to indicate that this store was in compliance with the ADA. I told him that I could not see how it was from the heavy doors at the entrance which anyone confined to a scooter or a wheelchair would be unable to open on their own to the displays in the middle of the central aisle which would be difficult for the most able of individuals to maneuver around. This General Manager ended our conversation by saying that I would have encountered a much different situation if it wasn't less than a week before Christmas. I know that a store like Borders is a retailer and this is probably its busiest time of the year but is that justification to ignore the needs of some of our most needful citizens?

This is what the Justice Department has on its Web site in explanation of the ADA:

The Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a Federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in everyday activities, such as buying an item at the store, going to the movies, enjoying a meal at a local restaurant, exercising at the health club, or having the car serviced at a local garage.

To meet the goals of the ADA, the law established requirements for businesses of all sizes. These requirements went into effect on January 26, 1992. Businesses that serve the public must modify policies and practices that discriminate against people with disabilities; comply with accessible design standards when constructing or altering facilities; remove barriers in existing facilities where readily achievable; and provide auxiliary aids and services when needed to ensure effective communication with people who have hearing, vision, or speech impairments. All businesses, even those that do not serve the public, must comply with accessible design standards when constructing or altering facilities.

I don't know if Borders Group, Inc. has conducted itself within the limits of a federally mandated law or not, but I do believe that there is a difference between the spirit of the law and the letter of the law. I also believe if corporations like theirs showed greater concern for Americans who, out of no fault of their own, have fallen victim to a debilitating disease or accident that it would have a beneficial and not a negative impact on their business. It is sad to see that Ebenezer Scrooge is still alive and well at Borders Book Stores in 2007.

Is It Good Or Evil?

I sit and think that tomorrow will be a better day than the one trying to find its twilight in the sadness and gloom of a spirit who knows no difference from the light of day or the darkness of night. Does knowledge bring light that illuminates the soul of man that enables him to say what he has done is good? Then is ignorance an evil reflection of the same soul that allows its true nature to be so clouded from reality that it will never know beauty and pleasure for what they are? When we are told that one who worships Luna is the personification of all that is wrong in the world of man, is this the divine inspiration that we have prayed would change the face of every malicious thought that has ever entered human consciousness. If we are told that one who worships Daemon has been endowed with all revealed truth, do we follow that leader to where ever he says we must go? Aren't truth and ignorance, right and wrong, as well as goodness and evil that easy to distinguish one from the other.

What Is Evil?

Having qualities tending to injury and mischief; having a nature or properties which tend to badness; mischievous; not good; worthless or deleterious; poor; as, an evil beast; an evil plant; an evil crop.

Having or exhibiting bad moral qualities; morally corrupt; wicked; wrong; vicious; as, evil conduct, thoughts, heart, words, and the like.

Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or calamity; unpropitious; calamitous; as, evil tidings; evil arrows; evil days -- Evil speaking, speaking ill of others; calumny; censoriousness -- The evil one, the Devil; Satan; Syn. -- Mischievous; pernicious; injurious; hurtful; destructive; wicked ; sinful; bad; corrupt; perverse; wrong; vicious; calamitous.

Anything which impairs the happiness of a being or deprives a being of any good; anything which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings (It's a hobby...); injury; mischief; harm; -- opposed to good.

Moral badness, or the deviation of a moral being from the principles of virtue imposed by conscience, or by the will of the Supreme Being, or by the principles of a lawful human authority; disposition to do wrong; moral offence; wickedness; depravity.

But evil is actually so much more than all that. It is wickedness, malevolence, the desire to do people wrong. It is to take power for yourself at the expense of others, and then using it in the most ruthless and vile of ways. It is hurting people for no good reason at all, horrifically destroying their lives and then jumping up on down on their corpses. It is tying damsels in distress to railroad tracks and then twirling about in a moustache and black cape. It is hate and wrath and rage. Sound good? We thought so. So let's begin.

The Benefits of Being Evil

That definition is good for the basics of evil, but doesn't really get into the benefits. For being evil is truly a lifestyle unto itself. By embracing the forces of evil you can gain power beyond your wildest dreams. You can become one of the richest people on earth and then use that wealth to bring about the misfortune of others. You can crush your enemies in the most ruthless and vile of ways all the while unhindered by such weaknesses as remorse or guilt. You can be a ray of darkness in an otherwise unbearably sunny day.

Those are not the only benefits, however. By becoming a servant of darkness you can also engage in widespread plans of world domination. You can destroy the world with the method of your choosing and then jump up and down on its corpse. You can tie damsels in distress to railroad tracks and then twirl about in your moustache and black cape. Yes, by choosing evil you can truly walk down the street with pride, and watch small children run screaming from your presence.

But wait, there's more! If you act now you can also gain vast influence over the minds of men. You can learn great supernatural powers capable of killing at a glance and causing people's heads to explode. You can summon up terrible armies of the undead to then send against the town of your choosing. You can even become immortal should you wish, and are willing to sacrifice your humanity. There really is no end to the benefits, so why not join today?

"I have marveled at the depth of his wisdom. I have experienced his goodness and mercy. I have perceived the excellence of his glorious beauty, and when I contemplate all these things I am filled with awe and wonder at his manifold greatness."

Bernard of Clairvaux

The problem that most of us have when we try to distinguish between right and wrong or good and evil is that we still simply don't know. Do I believe such a statement is horrific and unnatural? I most certainly do! It makes no difference what it is but anything that separates us from our neighbors cannot be good and beneficial to our continued existence on this planet. If our government does it, if our Faith does it, if our Pater Familias does it; we are lost in this journey of life before it has begun. When we allow Government, Faith , or Family to stand in our way of wholeness; we have also lost the wisdom of how to bring a sense of joy and wonder to the same journey we call life.

Senex Magister

Lucifera

She brings light to my world where I too
often see the darkness of hopelessness.
It is a darkness that was born out of a gloom that said
what can you do or say that has value of worth.


I was in a torment of such anguished and tortured thoughts
to believe that my efforts would be mere futility.
I cried within a soul torn between despair and hope
thinking that Iustitia had perished and taken away to Dis.


Is she to wander in her own purgatory senseless from her
failure to restore fairness and equity to the law?
The Lethe with her waters of forgetfulness will not appease
the sacrilege suffered by Iustitia at the hands of man.


The value of Justice must be cherished and loved by all
if we wish it to protect the natural rights of our shared humanity.
Lady Diana comes to wipe away my tears and bear her torch of light
to guide our path as you and I restore health and strength
to the true Lucifera of Iustitia.


© Senex Magister

It is past time to bring this war to an end and live as brothers in a world based on fairness for all of us.

Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism. ~Thomas Jefferson~

Bring Them Home

When Your Tomorrow Is No More

I am not normally one who would espouse the cause of Jesse Jackson because too often I feel like he is more concerned with publicity than any cause or issue about which he might be speaking. I, like many people from the Washington DC area, watched Sean Taylor's funeral on television. The death of anyone whether it is a senseless drive by shooting, a victim in an unjustified and unprovoked war, or innocence being destroyed before it had the opportunity to see the horizon of

the potential that life had to offer is almost impossible to comprehend or much less understand. When I heard Jesse Jackson speak in praise as well as the tragedy of Sean Taylor's life, I had a personal epiphany of sorts about how we have allowed violence to consume our social, ethical, or religious consciousness concerning the value of life. Read part of what Reverend Jackson had to say:

“The loss of a life is unimaginably greater than the loss of a game or a season. But the lesson is the same. We should not give up simply because of this terrible loss. We should learn from it, and rededicate ourselves from it.

What should we learn? In a modern society, overrun by guns and drugs, none of us are safe. The young and the strong are at risk, no less than the old and the weak. The wealthy cannot build walls high enough to create true islands in a sea of turmoil. There is no fireproof room in a house that is burning.

We should learn once more that America's house is on fire. Some ask why didn't Sean have a gun to protect his family. But more guns and more fire won't make us safe. We already have more guns than any other industrialized nation -- and more gun crime as well. The gun peddlers are selling a false security.

Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sean Taylor . . . the tragedies keep coming. We are slow learners. Now it is legal to own and sell semiautomatic weapons. In an age of terror, restrictions on guns are being rolled back, not increased. Police fear that they are outgunned on the streets. Pilots fear that a lone terrorist armed with a weapon bought at a gun show without a background check could take out a plane taking off or landing. The administration has trampled the Constitution when it comes to privacy and wiretaps and probable cause. But President Bush and the judges he has appointed have rolled back sensible regulation of guns.

Sean Taylor was a defensive player with an offensive flair. He intercepted passes, created fumbles, returned kicks. He knew that any good game plan requires both offense and defense. Surely, his death tells us we need a new game plan when it comes to guns and drugs. We need a smarter offense in the schools and on the streets.

Sean Taylor died alone with his family, but we must do this together. We need to rededicate ourselves to making America better, to getting guns and drugs off our streets, to getting crime under control.”

Sean Taylor didn't have a gun because he was on probation from an earlier incident and it was illegal for him to have a gun in his possession, but let us also remember that it was illegal for his murderer to have a gun too. I am aware that a discussion like this always ends up in a debate over the Second Amendment. To the NRA and all gun advocates in America all I can say is that I respectively disagree with how you and the courts have interpreted the Second Amendment.

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

I personally believe that this amendment states that people as a part of a well regulated militia shall not have its right to bear arms infringed upon.

I found this piece of historical trivia on the National Guard's Official Web page about its origin and history.

"The National Guard, the oldest component of the Armed Forces of the United States and one of the nation's longest enduring institutions, celebrated its 366th birthday in 2002. The National Guard traces its history back to the earliest English colonies in North America. Responsible for their own defense, the colonists drew on English military tradition and organized their able-bodied male citizens into militias."

I am not calling for a complete ban on gun ownership but reasonable regulation and licensing of guns. If it is reasonable for the state to license a driver of an automobile to ensure he or she is competant to drive, why shouldn't it do the same for gun owners? If it is reasonable for the state to require a car owner to hold title to his or her vehicle, why shouldn't it have the same requirement for gun ownership? I am not opposed to gun ownership but within reasonable constraints of the law for public safety. There will always be the exception and it would almost be impossible to do a psychological profile on everyone who buys a gun, but with reasonable regulation we can minimize the danger of gun violence to the public.

Senex Magister

It is past time to bring this war to an end and live as brothers in a world based on fairness for all of us.

Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism. ~Thomas Jefferson~

Bring Them Home