Listen up!

The upcoming elections:
To me, the American electorate is in a state of galloping entropy. With few exceptions, every ballot that is about to be cast will be a vote totally against an issue or a person. Candidates are attacking each other like mad dogs and the writing implements of nearly every journalist are dripping with venom. The malevolence spreading from sea to sea, and from north to south has stifled every citizen’s effort to cerebrate with wisdom, humility and respect. When Congress re-convenes, look for this discordance to grow exponentially. Good heavens, has Islam already prevailed? Have we seen the light? Are we no longer, infidels?

I agree with David Brooks:

In his 11/2/06 NY Times OpEd column, David Brooks refers to an essay written in 1970 by Kedourie, a Baghdad-born Jew. In it, Kedourie reflects gloomily about the Iraqi regime the British spawned there, 80 years ago. It was a kingdom riven by Shiite-Sunni fighting, slaughtered innocents and joyously celebrated massacres. It is a mistake to attribute its current discordance to American blunders. But disorder is so endemic in Iraq, chaos would surely ensue were the U.S. to abandon that tragic land to its predatory neighboring countries. Our sanest current option, Brooks opines, is to maintain an effective, but garrisoned military presence in Iraq, for years to come.

Gay and Lesbian Marriage:
The rampant practice of homosexuality in ancient Sodom so infuriated God, it led him to destroy the city and turn its inhabitants into pillars of salt (do homosexuals have an aversion to salt?). While I am not greatly bothered by the counter-reproductional nature of homosexuality, it does disconcert me when homosexuals insist on applying the words and symbols of "traditional marriage" to their unions. Being of identical gender, how do they determine who is the husband and who is the wife? And with non-human animals gaining added protection and even some forms of civil status, what will the State eventually say to a man who wants to marry his dog, or a woman, her cat?

NY Times, front page, 11/7/06 ~ New York Plans To Make Gender Personal Choice ~ Separating anatomy from what it means to be a man or a woman, New York City is moving forward with a plan to let people alter the sex on their birth certificate even if they have not had sex- change surgery. . .If approved, the new rule would put New York at the forefront of efforts to redefine gender. The best laid plans of mice and God, oft go awry ~ The Horn

Comment:
mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net

Grrr !

If, like me, you are already deeply into this hi-tech age, then you will agree that one of the most disconcerting calamities that can befall us, is for our computers to crash.

Well, two weeks ago, it happened to me and I am still upset. Much of my most precious data, upon which I so heavily depended, has disappeared! Until now, I have happily served as my family’s data base. I had every birthday, anniversary, phone number, etc. But now, I am back on square one!

With computers, the keywords are backup and a hard drive with adequate space. But relying too heavily on backing up to your own hard drive, is a gilt-edged invitation to disaster. Reliance should now be placed on USB connected external media like flash drives or external hard drives with plenty of capacity. When I received my laptop from Dell, a couple of years ago, Encarta Encyclopedia and its dictionary were on only one CD. Now, Encarta 2007 is spread over five discs and it occupies more than 3 gigabytes of space on a hard drive.

In any case, I am very grateful to my son Tom for extricating me from techno-limbo. As a computer hack, he has no equal. In no time flat, he replaced my old hard drive with a new one of much greater capacity. But he had to deepfreeze the old one, before it begrudgingly yielded some of my lost data.

Following upon his suggestion, I searched in Google for a dependable backup program and I came up with Genie Backup Manager, Version 7. With it, you can Backup and Restore with great ease. Along with other intriguing options, it can also backup incrementally and schedule your backups to occur at times that suit you. Thank you, Tom ~ you’re the greatest!

Comments:
mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net

I just read your post, very interesting. I am new to blogging so I cannot understand how your main page was only posted today (that's how I read it) But you seem to have been going for a long time. Have you redone your "about me?" My own blog is an experiment to see what interest I can rouse. It's really only relevant to people in North Wales and the UK. It's very poor compared to yours. But it's really only a means to learning. I've had a website but I didn't really get very far with it. My blog is AmIabankrobber.blogspot.com ~ Mike Owen

Mike, I thank you for your complimentary comment. The first Post you see in The Horn is a sort of introductory guidepost. I change its date every day in order to keep it as the front page. I urge you to stay with your blog, it is a perfect medium to use as your personal diary ~ Dom Gabriele

Why now?

This is a notice I just received in the mail!

Congratulations,

Domenic Gabriele: You have just been nominated by the National Adjutant for membership in The American Legion.

Enclosed, was a ready for framing "Certificate of Nomination" which stated: "Upon meeting the strict requirements set forth by the Congress of the United States, Domenic Gabriele shall thereby be accepted for official membership in The American Legion" Also included was a request for $20.00, to pay for my nomination to be properly reviewed and evaluated.

Some background: I entered the service as a medical officer on May 28, 1942 (64 years ago). Three months later I was on a convoy headed for England. Subsequently, after two years of building heavy bomber airfields in England, on D-day plus one, I drove my jeep "Quack’s Hack" up onto the blood drenched sands of Omaha Beach in Normandy. Then, after numerous battles and campaigns in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, I returned home to the U.S.A. late in October of 1945. My military service was honorably concluded shortly afterwards. While I am pleased that The American Legion is at long last considering me for admission to its organization, if they opt to wait just a little while, they can have me posthumously.

So I will ignore their invitation and who knows, perhaps I’ll receive a similar offer from The French Foreign Legion. But now that my interest has indeed been aroused, what I would really like, is to be an honorary member of those ancient Roman Legions with which Julius Caesar subdued and civilized the barbarous, militant, tribes of Gaul.

Comment: Mail to:
domgab1914@comcast.net

Congratulations on your nomination. Too bad you missed the Roman Legions by the accident of your birth year. Have you considered opting for Osama's Legions? ~ Tony Correoso

While I would have other reasons to be disinclined to connect with Osama's Legions, being an infidel disqualifies me ~ Dom

Foley Bergere (?)

The Capitol, our federal theme park, is once again adrip with sexual scandal, and journalists can hardly contain themselves. But to their apparent dismay (gnashing of teeth) this episode is not quite at the presidential level.

This time it is the perverted excursion of a congressman into cyberland, that has our nation titillated. Foley has evidently pulled off the seduction of a young and ostensibly innocent, congressional page. That this lad might have unconsciously contributed to the seduction, does not quite fit into the melodrama we want to see enacted. Our preference in this "folie a deux" is to see the boy as blameless.

But in truth, what we all expect from this tragi-farce is a smelly pile of political ordure. Scapegoats continue to be ferreted out and lawmakers who have homosexual proclivities are tactfully receding from view, and from inquisitive reporters. While Foley sulks in disgrace, antagonists are searching for an appropriate scarlet letter to sear into Speaker Hastert's flesh. And, as publishers begin to harass and importune the page, Rove and Dean are chanting discordant, contrapuntal rhythms.

Can recurrences of these travesties be averted? My blog "Locus loco" suggests that our Capitol should be moved away from a river whose large and small mouthed bass are already undergoing bizarre sexual changes. The Potomac is badly contaminated by sewage containing human estrogens, erectile dysfunction drugs and horse manure. For our government to draw its drinking water from it, is a "folie en masse."

Comment:
domgab1914@comcast.net

Dom, you seem to be saying that Foley is not entirely to be blamed, that the page may somehow have contributed to his seduction (consciously or unconsciously). I wouldn't blame the victim until I can examine him ~ Anthony Correoso ~ tcorre12@aol.com

Tony, I am just making a psycho-analytical observation ~ Dom