Is it Were Not OR Are Not A Dictator?

The chief judge in Saddam Hussein’s genocide trial said Thursday that he does not believe Saddam was a dictator.

Questioning a Kurdish witness Thursday, Saddam said, “I wonder why this man wanted to meet with me, if I am a dictator?”

The judge interrupted: “You were not a dictator. People around you made you (look like) a dictator.”

Think this may be a tad surprising to those who were actually awake during the years Saddam ruled Iraq with an iron fist.

NYT Story

Question: Was it you “are not a dictator” or you “were not a dictator”?

Translations differ it seems.

The Last Few Days, Catching up and Catching fish, And Excuses for Murder

Well I am back to the blog after some riding and fishing. Wow! One ping back and thirty spams for casino’s.

Went on a nice ride about. Hit the usual small towns, Rancho Seco, the Sutter Buttes, and so on. Fished all Monday night into Tuesday morning. A couple of short coffee shop runs, a trip to the physical therapist, and then I spent most of today chasing the neighbors puppy and putting him back into their yard.

clcik

The Sutter Buttes

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I admit it. I saw these ore cars running along the border of someones driveway entrance. They caught my eye because they sort of glowed in the setting sun’s light. I cut across the road and rode long the gravel on the wrong side of the road. Yep I did that. Then to make matters worse I made my poor friend Fe ride on the gravel and pull in front of the darn things. I now have more than one shot of me on the wrong side of the road taken by Fe to point out the evil thing I made here do and my bad riding the wrong way on the wrong side of the road.

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I was watching a local news story on the latest developements on Sundays shooting of a man in front of a local video store. They have arrested five teens in connection with the slaying – one of them the son of the dead man – Vardan Abramyan, 19. Seems the 19 year old arranged to have his father killed. The following fourwere arraigned on charges of homicide with a special condition:

Isaiah Dupree Barron, 19, of Elk Grove

Arthur James Battle III, 18, of Sacramento

Jason McKinley Dillingham, 18, of Sacramento

Lawrence Stringer, 17, of Sacramento.

Yes mama’s don’t let your babies grow up to be murderers.

The latest local article is here:KXTV Sacramento

After reading the article I was pointed to by drumsnwhistles in her post

Someone – please reassure me – that the whole dang world has not gone crazy. That the norm is not acceptance of this isane behavior. I do not claim to have any solutions but I do know that something has got to change – hopefully for the better. Is it overpopulation, toxic effects on humans, the lack of the belief in God, the effects of drugs on genetics, or fill in your own idea here?

On the whole anthropologists and historians still debate the causes of the rise and fall of civiliztions. The opposite sides in the religious front seem to offer up their ideas too. Just do a google search for “history of demise of civilizations”. Click through a few pages of the topics and you see what I mean.

This kind of a catch up post. Here is a picture that demonstrates what happens after a motorcycle ride and four cups of coffee.

too much coffee

Last but not the least-

Not the best way to catch a catfish:

the branch and dah fish

Kids writing Messages on Bombs

Israeli girls write messages on shells

Photo caption: Israeli girls write messages on a shell at a heavy artillery position near Kiryat Shmona, in northern Israel, next to the Lebanese border, Monday, July 17, 2006.(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

Photo Source