tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68316382221604409222024-03-13T21:57:39.866-07:00OdysseyAndrew Miillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12875549571303076403noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6831638222160440922.post-85868474668353034732011-09-13T16:02:00.000-07:002011-09-13T16:02:15.377-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Legend of Pentagonius<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">By T.H. Tetens in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Germany Plots with the Kremlin</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOq4590ZJHxocaFMpLK0mnZB7YNX9zlOtsNIayOyypq-0IEWzuUgfriLq706JZ09mlgqxiKNtmL_SXdjIl7CBTQO96L4CfH8MiZ2Ft8avzrPpNd7bREeJ2GuLZDVFdg7A7HjmSsCr6N4Y/s1600/Schroeder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOq4590ZJHxocaFMpLK0mnZB7YNX9zlOtsNIayOyypq-0IEWzuUgfriLq706JZ09mlgqxiKNtmL_SXdjIl7CBTQO96L4CfH8MiZ2Ft8avzrPpNd7bREeJ2GuLZDVFdg7A7HjmSsCr6N4Y/s320/Schroeder.jpg" width="317" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">There was a rich and influential banker named Pentagonius,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">whose life had been troubled by threats and attacks from<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">gangsters. One of the toughest leaders in gangland was a certain<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Germanicus who, after a long and most strenuous search<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">was finally hunted down. Just when the gangster's jig was up,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">a bright idea flashed in banker Pentagonius' head: "Wouldn't<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">it be wonderful to have such a tough fellow as a bodyguard?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">This Germanicus," the banker pondered, "certainly knows<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">all the ins and outs of gangland, he is a most powerful and<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">ruthless fighter—and if I save him from the electric chair and<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">gain his gratitude, maybe he can be of use to me and can keep<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">lots of unpleasantness from my door."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Thus, through his influence, banker Pentagonius saved gangster<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Germanicus from the electric chair. Of course, this action<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">shocked the police experts. The Police Commissioner Lippenwald<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">warned the banker against such a foolish undertaking. He<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">called to his attention the long criminal record of Germanicus,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">his absolute unreliability, his trickery, his uncontrolled temper,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">and so forth. But all these and other warnings were of no avail.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Banker Pentagonius was deeply afraid of another gangster,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Sovieticus, and he firmly believed that gangster Germankus<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">could give him better protection.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Thus, Germankus became the bodyguard of the banker, and<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">moved into the gardener's house on the banker's estate. Banker<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Pentagonius felt proud and satisfied with what he had engineered.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">He was convinced that he had done a good deed, and<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">felt sure that in the end gangster Germanicus would be reformed<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">and would show his gratitude and devotion towards his<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">benefactor throughout his life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">In the beginning, the feelings of the banker were bolstered<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">by the assurances of eternal gratitude which Germanicus daily<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">expressed. As time went by, a few incidents occurred which<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">made the banker a little skeptical of the soundness of undertaking<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">this self-styled reform work. Yet, considering the fact<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">that this was an unusual experiment, he did not allow his trust<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">to be shaken too much by these initial incidents. At any rate,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">he was unafraid since he knew that Germanicus was still on<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">parole and in case his behavior should become improper, the<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">banker could ask the police to take corrective action.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Germanicus, in the meantime, was fully aware of the situation,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">and cunningly worked with promises and little threats until<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">he had gained a firmer position and was finally free from parole.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Now it was time for him to act in accordance with his new<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">outlook on life. He was well aware of the advantageous position<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">he was in and was determined to make the most of the various<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">possibilities that the turn of events had presented to him. The<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">banker had indeed opened a new aspect of life for Germanicus.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">As a smart, calculating and ruthless fellow, he was set to exploit<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">these new opportunities to the fullest extent possible. He<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">convinced the banker that in order to be more useful to him,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">he, the ex-convict, would have to regain his self-respect. He<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">told the banker in unmistakable terms that he would have to<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">stop treating him in a charitable way by giving him handouts,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">and he made it clear that what he wanted was to be treated like<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">an independent person. Germanicus said that if he could own<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">the gardener's house or another piece of property, it would<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">give him his self-assurance and the independence he wanted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Pentagonius yielded to these requests, all of which were backed<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">up with menacing tales intended to frighten the banker, but in<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">which Germanicus himself did not believe. The banker, still<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">clinging to his faith in the basic soundness of his experiment,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">continued to let himself be taken in more and more by Germanicus.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">But with every new concession and compromise, the<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">pressure of new and greater demands grew in increasing proportion.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Finally, Germanicus confronted the banker with the demand<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">that since he was now a remade man, he wanted to take his<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">place in accepted society. He asked his benefactor to introduce<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">him into the circle of high society. Again, Pentagonius conceded.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Thus, at least, in outward appearance, Germanicus entered into<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">the status of social equality. As a result, however, the banker<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">lost some of his social prestige for having become too intimate<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">with a former gangster. Quite naturally some of the banker's<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">most faithful friends resented the fact that he had foisted this<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">former gangster on their circle. Many of the old friends of<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Pentagonius began to question his wisdom and his sanity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">As things developed, Germanicus became more and more dissatisfied<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">with his new role. The old "king of gangland" was<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">determined to use all his tricks to reconquer for himself a<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">position of power. The more his demands were met, the more<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">cocky he became. Increasingly, he became resentful at having<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">to take orders and follow certain directives of the banker.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">In the meantime, there were new developments which made<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Pentagonius very uneasy. Reports came to him that secret dealings<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">were taking place between gangster Germanicus and that<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">other character and archenemy of his, Sovieticus. Pentagonius<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">found himself in an untenable position. He could no longer<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">appeal to the police for help, and practically all of his influential<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">friends had deserted him. The banker became irritated and<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">lost his cool judgment; he suffered considerable financial losses<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">under the increasing blackmail tactics of Germanicus. Impoverished<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">through the expensive protective measures he had undertaken,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">and driven nearly insane with fear and worry, he saw<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">no way out of his sorry plight but to take his life. And so, </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Pentagonius met his tragic end by leaping<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">from a window.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">By strange coincidence, Pentagonius' end not only had been<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">foretold in the diaries of Germanicus (in Christ und Welt,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">November 1, 1951), but was also predicted in an article "How<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">America Took It," published in the Moscow New Times of<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">January 1, 1952. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>Andrew Miillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12875549571303076403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6831638222160440922.post-38155464060046318502011-09-13T14:20:00.000-07:002011-09-13T16:04:33.949-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">Ezekiel 23, verses 2 through 10</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj49tbfVYgMpcD_gKQmywdB8DEOPDT8amQ9NN3ifmM9GFOzXqnrQXIjOuZP3b1HrYxW46KEOI2Sv39FNJ3a7pOC2mDmvsiObMjDoIGYlrnJAqwzLwZUSu_CxQusBc8uF5fe-W4R_ayJzgA/s1600/Guttenberg+Jet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj49tbfVYgMpcD_gKQmywdB8DEOPDT8amQ9NN3ifmM9GFOzXqnrQXIjOuZP3b1HrYxW46KEOI2Sv39FNJ3a7pOC2mDmvsiObMjDoIGYlrnJAqwzLwZUSu_CxQusBc8uF5fe-W4R_ayJzgA/s320/Guttenberg+Jet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Antique Olive Roman","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Antique Olive Roman","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Antique Olive Roman","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And the names of them <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">were</span> Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">were</span> their names; Samaria <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">is</span> Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Antique Olive Roman","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the <u>Assyrians <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">her</span> neighbors</u>, <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Antique Olive Roman","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Which were</span><span style="font-family: "Antique Olive Roman","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <u>clothed with blue</u>, <u>captains</u> and <u>rulers</u>, all of them <u>desirable young men</u>, <u>horsemen riding upon horses</u>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Antique Olive Roman","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">that were</span> the <u>chosen men of Assyria</u>, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Antique Olive Roman","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Neither left she her whoredoms <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">brought</span> from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Antique Olive Roman","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Antique Olive Roman","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Andrew Miillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12875549571303076403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6831638222160440922.post-35454000041566763722011-09-10T20:29:00.000-07:002011-09-13T17:55:08.967-07:00<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"></span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">Band of Brothers</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbKEbGEUxkVkKWFFOt8qwI7HTaVXCqUQ2Mmw3ZhyphenhyphenBejq0gMWLuEbGCD61cZHCihMDzRa-MWXrrw1ES8cUDg1-JvT6iyW6HSIJib9lGOi3-VhI1kjdhSyBaD4vITwE37J76VRTu2m-Bk4Q/s1600/Band+of+Brothers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbKEbGEUxkVkKWFFOt8qwI7HTaVXCqUQ2Mmw3ZhyphenhyphenBejq0gMWLuEbGCD61cZHCihMDzRa-MWXrrw1ES8cUDg1-JvT6iyW6HSIJib9lGOi3-VhI1kjdhSyBaD4vITwE37J76VRTu2m-Bk4Q/s1600/Band+of+Brothers.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">WESTMORELAND:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;">O that we now had here <br />
But one ten thousand of those men in England <br />
That do no work to-day! <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">KING HENRY V:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;">What's he that wishes so? <br />
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin; <br />
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow <br />
To do our country loss; and if to live, <br />
The fewer men, the greater share of honour. <br />
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more. <br />
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold, <br />
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost; <br />
It yearns me not if men my garments wear; <br />
Such outward things dwell not in my desires. <br />
But if it be a sin to covet honour, <br />
I am the most offending soul alive. <br />
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England. <br />
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour <br />
As one man more methinks would share from me <br />
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more! <br />
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host, <br />
That he which hath no stomach to this fight, <br />
Let him depart; his passport shall be made, <br />
And crowns for convoy put into his purse; <br />
We would not die in that man's company <br />
That fears his fellowship to die with us. <br />
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian. <br />
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, <br />
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd, <br />
And rouse him at the name of Crispian. <br />
He that shall live this day, and see old age, <br />
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, <br />
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.' <br />
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, <br />
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.' <br />
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, <br />
But he'll remember, with advantages, <br />
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names, <br />
Familiar in his mouth as household words- <br />
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, <br />
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester- <br />
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red. <br />
This story shall the good man teach his son; <br />
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, <br />
From this day to the ending of the world, <br />
But we in it shall be remembered- <br />
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; <br />
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me <br />
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, <br />
This day shall gentle his condition; <br />
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed <br />
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, <br />
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks <br />
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">~ William Shakespeare in <em>Henry V</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">For an eloquently performed rendition of this rousing speech, listen to a man who is arguably the world's best Shakespearean actor, Kenneth Branagh:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/OAvmLDkAgAM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div>Andrew Miillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12875549571303076403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6831638222160440922.post-10259849449515172872011-08-13T21:48:00.000-07:002011-09-13T16:21:25.884-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">Addicted to Heroism</span></strong></div><br />
In January 2007, Conn Iggulden made publishing history by becoming the first author to hold the number one position on both the fiction and non-fiction hardback bestsellers charts in Britain. On the non-fiction chart was Iggulden's book, The Dangerous Book for Boys, a collection of practical ideas on how young men can develop true masculinity. On the fiction chart was the first of a series of books about Genghis Khan, Wolf of the Plains. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvL6S4iWqj7QdpHn66YlyAmr3uYd5rdbz4oDCuu_A2nHXED9QM5t6TmmswDSnw9_jHeUZfOrZrPaIalFc8BdpkWFommCQwNr-cZa0WH4gJ87PkPtHGU-edPP0tsZWabu8u2l8D91a3_Y/s1600/dangerous-book-for-boys-cd-conn-iggulden-audio-cover-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvL6S4iWqj7QdpHn66YlyAmr3uYd5rdbz4oDCuu_A2nHXED9QM5t6TmmswDSnw9_jHeUZfOrZrPaIalFc8BdpkWFommCQwNr-cZa0WH4gJ87PkPtHGU-edPP0tsZWabu8u2l8D91a3_Y/s1600/dangerous-book-for-boys-cd-conn-iggulden-audio-cover-art.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The first book, I regard as one of the best books on true masculinity since Aubrey Andelin's <em>Man of Steel and Velvet.</em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjovp38swxmW5gQm2WRtT84H9w0m8Am4Mh2UKbiZxAyHPB4cr1Yo6xQAyEJfhyEPt8bRBW60pH0DcRKeFlWrE9OEa6xYwAD8wAw9G3CPG4-9LyGeUNSZI3HrHrbwQBlP4FfDVKX1pIw44Q/s1600/wolf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjovp38swxmW5gQm2WRtT84H9w0m8Am4Mh2UKbiZxAyHPB4cr1Yo6xQAyEJfhyEPt8bRBW60pH0DcRKeFlWrE9OEa6xYwAD8wAw9G3CPG4-9LyGeUNSZI3HrHrbwQBlP4FfDVKX1pIw44Q/s320/wolf.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The second book, I regard as one of the most engaging works of historical fiction ever. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0">"I do think the </span><a class="inlineLink" href="http://www.blogger.com/search/rf/sample/qs/Mongol+Empire/qt/article_slideshow/qc/tag"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0">Mongol Empire</span></a><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0"> is criminally overlooked by history," Iggulden</span> explains. "But the fact that it hasn't been as thoroughly picked over as some of the other major empires means it remains a goldmine for storytellers."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For more information on what this book is about, listen to Iggulden himself:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/zE2zJdVCbsw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am currently working my way through the fourth book in Iggulden's Conquerer Series: <em>Empire of Silver</em>. If you like historical fiction, and/or the traits of heroism, I recommend it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div>Andrew Miillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12875549571303076403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6831638222160440922.post-21029420338310185922011-08-12T18:01:00.000-07:002011-09-13T16:22:07.275-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Day After Greece Defaults</span></strong></div><br />
The fate of Europe may well have been determined by a glossed-over accounting detail that occurined in 1998. The European Monetary Institute (EMI) once carried almost $27 billion in gold reserves. In 1998, however the EMI was replaced by the European Central Bank (ECB). No financial data was published that year, while Europe's elites "rebalance" the financial system. When published financial records resumed in 1999, $20 billion in gold had "gone missing." No official explaination was ever given. It is interesting to note, however, that in that same year, the German Central Bank reported a $20 billion increase in their <em>national</em> gold reserves.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSuL05Wj8onRrjdJG32lxyVS4EdpaWgd447I2BqQuP7O_-AYdsAdRf4NUeBJ24Yzk1ZeultHpQDCK3eGQWhxe_9E2iXRzMYAiGbkqSzs6zze2jFy_Ylhjw8RY6GIktLkgt_FqF33ocn2Q/s1600/gold_1937-goo3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSuL05Wj8onRrjdJG32lxyVS4EdpaWgd447I2BqQuP7O_-AYdsAdRf4NUeBJ24Yzk1ZeultHpQDCK3eGQWhxe_9E2iXRzMYAiGbkqSzs6zze2jFy_Ylhjw8RY6GIktLkgt_FqF33ocn2Q/s1600/gold_1937-goo3.jpg" /></a></div><br />
In other words, the ECB lost $20 billion in gold, while the Bundesbank gained the exact same amount. Germany now owned 3,400 tons of gold--enouph to back an entire currency, if it wanted to!<br />
<br />
This onimous fact is made all the more interesting by statements recently made by a senior Bundesbank official. When asked what Germany would do if a Greek default forced the ECB into insolvency, he responded that Bundesbank officials had already discussed how to deal with such a situation. “We have 3,400 tons of gold,” he said. “We are the only country that has not sold its original allotment from the [late 1940s]. So we are covered to some extent.”<br />
<br />
Read this insightful <em>Vanity Fair</em> article entitled <em>It's the Economy, Dummkopf!</em> for more detailed reporting. <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/09/europe-201109">http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/09/europe-201109</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1K_kmMRHaCJBafqOamSDokxQzBkqsKM2gbNLh2Bv1v9WBm2-pTRxpC8Fvs3Vy8Cks2bebhJLb_FkytmkpnQkp673kmG86zy9SzXqkwa1u9m9J14n6WijouabrgIEs5jENenEk-Qf9Keg/s1600/eu+flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1K_kmMRHaCJBafqOamSDokxQzBkqsKM2gbNLh2Bv1v9WBm2-pTRxpC8Fvs3Vy8Cks2bebhJLb_FkytmkpnQkp673kmG86zy9SzXqkwa1u9m9J14n6WijouabrgIEs5jENenEk-Qf9Keg/s320/eu+flag.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Is it possible that the Germans could use their masive gold reserves to establish a gold-backed Deutsche Mark in the advent that the Euro goes bankrupt? A former adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher seems to think so! Here is what Christopher Story wrote in the March 2000 edition of the <em>Economic Intelligence Review:</em><br />
<blockquote>If Berlin were to decide that the progressive collapse of the Euro, which is already well advanced, had ceased to be tolerable, it has already amassed the necessary reserves of gold to be able to float a 'New Deutschemark' unilaterally--leaving the rest of Europe at Germany's mercy and prospectively left with no practical choice, under the circumstances, but to accept the New Deutschemark in lieu of the degraded Euro...</blockquote><blockquote>The implications of all this for the United States, the dollar and the world, are staggering. For, whereas the US dollar ceased to be backed by gold in 1971, the New Deutschemark will be backed by gold. Therefore, the dollar will be 'dislodged' from its global primacy not by the Euro, which will continue to be degraded either immediately or over time, but by the New Deutschemark.</blockquote>Only time will tell how the future will play out. If the Bundesbank does have plans on introducing a gold-backed Deutschemark, however, it could well be that the day Greece defaults is the day that Germany replaces America as the world's most powerful nation.Andrew Miillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12875549571303076403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6831638222160440922.post-3775866417047412402011-07-06T22:06:00.000-07:002011-09-13T16:20:30.055-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">IF</span></strong><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqa3LPstXRkPfbb6lRyCj23vmMyhLJUoHYwJd4eBlyJcUTyg5ZIWXjxHEyFHfAyxDisyFIk1OHct8YvmKU53W5NgXFqmtEqoz37Rvk2zR0dStbAh65fDZQRCpTbiePTZK-xMPJl0m7Q8/s1600/Tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqa3LPstXRkPfbb6lRyCj23vmMyhLJUoHYwJd4eBlyJcUTyg5ZIWXjxHEyFHfAyxDisyFIk1OHct8YvmKU53W5NgXFqmtEqoz37Rvk2zR0dStbAh65fDZQRCpTbiePTZK-xMPJl0m7Q8/s320/Tree.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">If you can keep your head when all about you<br />
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,<br />
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you<br />
But make allowance for their doubting too,<br />
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,<br />
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,<br />
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,<br />
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:</span></div><div style="font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,<br />
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;<br />
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster<br />
And treat those two impostors just the same;<br />
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken<br />
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,<br />
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,<br />
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:</span></div><div style="font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">If you can make one heap of all your winnings<br />
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,<br />
And lose, and start again at your beginnings<br />
And never breath a word about your loss;<br />
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew<br />
To serve your turn long after they are gone,<br />
And so hold on when there is nothing in you<br />
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”</span></div><div style="font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,<br />
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,<br />
<span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0">If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;</span><br />
<span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0">If all men count with you, but none too much,</span><br />
<span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-0">If you can fill the unforgiving minute</span><br />
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,<br />
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,<br />
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!</span></div><div style="font-family: Lucida Grande, Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><em style="font-style: italic;">–Rudyard Kipling</em></div>Andrew Miillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12875549571303076403noreply@blogger.com3