Dear Ken:
Nicely said and I wouldn't change a word which is saying a lot 'coz I fancy
myself a picky thinker (It won't be the last time I've deluded myself)
Your thoughts on Light and Dark brought to mind the words of Rabbi Luria
(16th? Century Spain) as re-transmitted via Leonard Cohen:
"Let all the bells that can still ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a hole in everything
That's how the light gets in"
A finer (and more brief) explication of the conundrum of the duality of
life, I have yet to experience.
Aye,
Rory
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken DeB <kendeb52@yahoo.com>
To: sinclair@matrix.net <sinclair@matrix.net>
Date: Thursday, May 25, 2000 8:25 AM
Subject: races, whiskey, random ramblings
>Hello again, John, and the other list members. Sickle cell anemia is
>not defined by race, but by geographical constraints. It's one of those
>"I've got good news and I've got bad news" type things. The bad news is
>that if you inherit the recessive gene from both parents, you have the
>disease in its worst form, i.e., the actual sickle cells, which don't
>flow well in capillaries, thus clog up the circulatory system,
>eventually leading to debilitation and death. Definitely NOT good news!
>But, if you get the gene from only ONE parent, you have a type of
>resistance to malaria. "Privateers" has it right in his post about the
>hemoglobin. This disease is endemic around the world in areas that are
>warm and wet, generally the tropics, that harbor mosquitoes. The
>parasite injected when the mosquito bites cannot live well in those red
>blood cells that have the recessive gene. Thus, the good news is that
>if you have the mild form of sickle cell anemia, you are much less
>likely to have (and therefore die) of malaria. Certainly, this is a
>good thing in areas where large portions of the peoples are subject to
>that disease. It's coincidental that many of the people inhabiting the
>tropics are "black". It did arise in Africa, but there are "white"
>people with the disease, too. Remember, there's a huge difference
>between causal and casual effects. The US government has for years been
>telling us that marijuana use leads to heroin addiction. I don't intend
>here to start a war on drugs, but can say with absolute certainty that
>all alcoholics start on milk. Does that prove that milk leads to
>alcoholism? We can all agree that's absurd. We may as well start start
>sacrificing virgins at midnight to assure that the big ball of fire
>arises in the east the next day!
>
>Your interjection of census classifications, together with the comment
>about "administrative purposes" is in total agreement with my views.
>The US Census Bureau carries out the will of the legislative branch.
>Please read that phrase as showing "purely political" motives in many
>of the questions they ask. In this country we give special benefits to
>some that are defined as being of a certain race, ethnic group, or from
>certain geographical areas. I can't begin to tell you how angry this
>makes me. I define myself as a Christian. Jesus said, "The whole of the
>law is this: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." If we all
>followed that sage advice, we'd have no race or ethnic problems. In
>olden days, our neighbor lived close enough to us that we could see him
>from our home. Now, the whole world is my neighbor. I haven't heard
>anyone here dispute the fact that we should all act that way, sorry if
>my comments implied that.
>
>To those on the list with a love of good fiction, find "The Lathe of
>Heaven" by Ursula LeGuin. It portrays a man whose dreams come true. He
>wants everyone to become equal, so we all become gray. It's a good book
>with the moral that's been repeated many times: be careful what you
>wish for, it may come true, with unintended consequences.
>
>Whiskey, like my choice of a woman, is a purely personal preference.
>I'll allow you yours, and hope you enjoy it! And, what do ducks have to
>do with it? :) John, you sound like a fascinating and intelligent man,
>when and if I find out where you live, and get to that area, please
>allow me to buy you your choice of a good whiskey to start a
>friendship.
>
>Donald, you are so correct. It's the old "duality" thing. No positive
>without negative. No light without dark. Etc, ad infinitem. I've had my
>periods of excesses, thus understand only too well the imporance of
>moderation as I grow old and possibly wiser. There are those who might
>dispute that, though. When I turned 40 my dad pulled me aside and said
>that when he turned 30 his dad told him that's when a man truly becomes
>wise. Then, a pause for dramatic effect, and the comment (with a smile)
>that shortly before he died, his dad thought he'd change that to 40!
>
>I guess I've got entirely too much time on my hands now that I'm not
>working this week! Enough ranting and raving, back to our regularly
>scheduled programming, already in progress.
>
>Ken DeBusk
>
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