Caesar's Invasion of Britain

[Pyrrhus]

Hi, Timotheos

I didn't read too much on the biography of Che Guevara (the avatar simply looked nice to me, I'm not precisely a communist).

Having a far-leftist social worker sister which has Che as an idol has supplied me with more knowledge than I ever attempted to gather.

[Timotheos]

Che later served as Castro's executioner, though Wikipedia assures me Che only shot "war criminals".

-Tim

[Pyrrhus]

Well, don't want to get much political on this forum (except for the former little joke on leftist readings of situations), but I think when someone kills other person/s, they will always try to justify by saying "it was necessary" or, worst, "his crimes deserved it". And their enemies will try to suggest how senseless the killings were.

Not trying to defend commies, but every fact we read is ussually not devoid from justifications or omissions for propaganda sakes, any side it comes from.

[Timotheos]

Che is good looking, and from my memory of college, half the girls were in love with him.

We have a gaggle of home grown "freedom fighters", the "Weathermen", who bombed a few places and killed a few people, but accounts assure me how absolutely charming one of the ringleaders, Bernadine Doehrn, is--enough to net her speaking positions at universities to this day.

On the other hand, another homegrown "revolutionary", Timothy McVeigh, is an unsociable, uncharismatic sociopath.  And, fortunately, nobody in their right mind likes him.

So, as Che and Doehrn have shown us, if you intend to kill people, be charming about it and the kids will go ga-ga over your rhetoric.

[Pyrrhus]

Hey, Timotheos, you seem to insist on the theme of the executions... Perhaps you are trying to suggest me to abandon this avatar because of he being an killer.

But, then we can say that many of the avatars on this forum were not-so saint. For example, pirates also executed innocent merchant civilians, as cowboys did (many times from behind, unlike the movies), US western soldiers and Spanish conquistadores decimated Native American tribes, American Natives, on their own, sometimes executed innocent civilian farmers, Confederate soldiers fought basically for slavery (and no doubt executed rebel slaves), Medieval knights taxed heavily on peasants, and repressed and executed them when they did revolted, Crusaders commited several crimes in the Middle East, and Romans killed many people in Gaul. We should use civilians as avatars in such a case...

I can understand you do not like Che Guevara. All democrats (as myself) should not like the idea of dictatorships and repressions, and he embraced it. I am myself against death sentence, no matter the crime. If I praise something from Che, it is not the executions he performed (on nobody, not even those some people may think deserved it). But I think most fighting leaders do not have its hands entirely clean.

[Timotheos]

I can understand you do not like Che Guevara. All democrats (as myself) should not like the idea of dictatorships and repressions, and he embraced it. I am myself against death sentence, no matter the crime. If I praise something from Che, it is not the executions he performed (on nobody, not even those some people may think deserved it). But I think most fighting leaders do not have its hands entirely clean.

I actually don't dislike Che as a historical figure. 

I just dislike him as a pop-culture icon who middle-class and wealthy college students romanticize.  I wonder how willing these kids would be to trade their Mom-and-Pop scholarship and their luxuries for an AK-47 and a trek through the jungle?

Adoring the icon of Che Guevara allows a pampered college kid to feel like a social reformer, when in reality Che probably would have put a bullet through her parents' heads if the parents didn't agree to finance his revolution.

 

[Pyrrhus]

Well, in reality you can adore guys whom you think are doing things well, even if you think you cannot. Childs adore Superman, oldies adore Mike Tyson. So it can apply for any urban leftist still adoring Che, even if they consider "too risky" to fight. Anyway, whom each individual adores or not to me is only to be left to them.

With respect to the killings, I think we can get much political in this. We can not separate the killings from the justifications behind. Just as none of us, I suppose you included, would condemn the killing of a person if, for example some important cause forced one to do so, even if only self- protection, or stopping a man who would kill many if left on his own. And in talk about justifications means to get somewhat political, and there is a possibility for us to be admonished by getting political in a forum whose main interest is other.

So, accepting the importance of the justification, I think we cannot judge any political figure of times of struggle or war by accusing them of just "killing". No leader would survive condemnation, no cause would be fair. But, at the other side, not struggling (and refusing to fight) does, in some situations, not impede the killing of peoples.

[Timotheos]

So, accepting the importance of the justification, I think we cannot judge any political figure of times of struggle or war by accusing them of just "killing". No leader would survive condemnation, no cause would be fair. But, at the other side, not struggling (and refusing to fight) does, in some situations, not impede the killing of peoples.

I agree.  Are there any klicky avatars shaped like Robert Mugabe?  Like Che, Castro, and Pol Pot, he had a lot of bold ideas and started out doing well as a revolutionary, even if somewhere along the way things got a little lost in translation.

So:
Call my avatar "Robert Klickabe"

Far from invading "Granma style", my Romans are invading Britain because they're tired of former British subjects dominating the farm system and they want to impose smart one party rule over Klick-babwe.

 
I'm just clowing with you, Pyrrhus.

But seriously, darn it, Robert Mugabe, why couldn't you have been more good-looking?  Hot American college girls would be goose-stepping around campus declaring themselves to be "Mugabe Babies" if only you'd grown a shaggy beard, swaggered across Red Square, and worn one of those sexy Castro berets.

[Pyrrhus]

well, that joke throw the seemingly coming political discussion back to the stage of your first response. 

[Sylvia]

Great set of pics, Tim! Thanks for posting.

The ship does appear to balance well in the water. I've never been game enough to test any of mine this way - I would always worry (unnecessarily, perhaps) about it capsizing and losing some men overboard. The most 'daring' thing I ever did was take the Playmobil Nessie for a swim on the shores of Loch Ness.

Creve Coeur's lake looks like a beautiful spot, though I'm very glad you didn't capture any of the dead fish on your photos. Would have spoilt the mood completely!