In my youth I was such a fan. The action sequences can be quite fun. But as I have grown older, the admiration for secret services and for governmental interventions have proven to be childish things. So I have been at some pains to put them away. Good film making and good story telling remain worthy of attention even if the plot reveals themes that aren't so good. Espionage, like diplomacy, is war by other means. And I pray every day, many times a day: Eternal Father, please help us free the slaves, stop the wars, and end tyranny. Please help with guidance, resources, ingenuity, endurance, fortitude, and patience. Please show us the little fires so we may pass by them. Please bring love into our lives so we remember what we have to live for. Amen.
When I was composing that prayer, I didn't want to ask for patience. I have seen such wars. I have seen so many enslaved in so many various ways. But I kept seeking the Latin translation of certain words and getting "patiens." God insisted on the terms. God's will be done. Amen.
Nov 3, 2023·edited Nov 3, 2023Liked by Jim Davidson
Oh Jim - you're such a beautiful Soul. Thank you for taking the time to share your heart-felt thoughts and prayers. I agree 100% with what you said about espionage and diplomacy being war by other means. I have NEVER heard ANYONE say that. I was in the diplomatic corps (as support staff) and even as a young woman, I knew that so-called diplomacy was nothing more than lies and manipulations. Even if the "diplomats" seemed to have compassion and understanding and peace in their hearts, they could do nothing of value because they were essentially receiving and delivering marching orders. I met many a frustrated desk officer who knew everything there was to know about the country(ies) they were desk jockey for, whose work and wise counsel was dumped on and tossed because they did not fit the political aims of the day. Bless you Brother. xo
Thank you for your very kind words. You are welcome. All the glory to God.
It was Carl von Clausewitz who wrote, "War is the continuation of policy with other means." These words appear in his book _Vom Kriege_ or _On War_ published in Anno Domini 1832, about a year after his death. Worthy of study for those of us who want to end war.
Variously attributed to Will Rogers and to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand is the quote, "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie,' while you look for a rock." Also sometimes "...while you look for a bigger stick." I think the evidence points to Will Rogers on this one.
There is a book by Heidi and Alvin Toffler called _War and Anti-war_ that changed my life. I think it was published around 1993. In it they recount their interview with secretary of statism Warren Christopher who was sec'y of state under Willie Jeff Clinton 1993-97. In the interview, they mention the idea that the borders of Africa were drawn by Europeans in the congress of Berlin (1884-85) during an event at which only one African country (kingdom of Ethiopia) was present. So a lot of those countries have borders that encircle multiple traditional ethnic sovereignities. Christopher responded by saying that if each traditional culture had its own national borders, there would be "five thousand countries."
Which, if you look, would include about 2,000 countries in Africa each of its own traditional ethnic population. The Somali clans for example, consider themselves one people, but were divided by the Europeans into the French Somali Coast (now Djibouti), British "crown protectorate" of Somaliland, Italian Somalia, British Kenya, and (after the perfidy of 1954 when Ogaden and Western Awdal were transferred from the "crown protectorate" to Ethiopia) Ethiopia. A total of five countries with one people who have been amongst the most disenfranchised and tormented in world history. (I spent the years 1995-2002 involved in projects in Somali provinces of Ethiopia and Kenya as well as in Somaliland and Somalia.)
So those "country desks" in the State Department would become far more numerous if the world were organised by the people choosing for themselves how to be governed. European imposition of national borders follows traditional Roman senatorial policies of "divide and conquer" that the patricians and so-called plebeians (who were aristocrats more often than men of the people) perfected under the Roman empire and took with them to the Venetian marshes after the sack of Rome. (We are today afflicted with considerable financial and political tyranny under the "Black Nobility of Venice" about whom @Frances Leader and others have written extensively. To be clear, I would prefer a world with 5,000 or even 50 million countries.
The people who have political power are not for peace but for profit. And they are enthusiastic about war for profit because the victims of warfare are rarely their friends or neighbours. In many ways I find Michael Moore difficult to contemplate, but in his "Fahrenheit 911" documentary he makes reference with the title to Ray Bradbury's book _Fahrenheit 451_ which is the temperature at which books and papers burst into flames spontaneously (try it out in the oven at home!) and is a dystopian novel of a future in which "fire men" set fire to libraries and homes deliberately to eradicate knowledge. Pol Pot would have chortled. In Moore's film he interviews congresscritters with a recruiting sergeant and paperwork, asking them to sign up their eligible sons and daughters for military service. Of course the 'critters won't. They aren't willing to send their own offspring into harm's way. It's a very telling sequence.
Smedley Butler opined that "War is a racket," and he had the receipts.
These are just some of the thoughts that come to mind. I'm rambling a bit. So it is a good point at which to tell a joke.
You know how they determined that Virginia Woolf died by suicide? She was found floating face down in her stream of consciousness.
I know, harsh, but kinda funny.
God bless you Zoë. With God's help may we find peace. Amen.
TLD is a wonderful bond film, and Sir Timothy Dalton played his scripts wonderfully. Even naming Þe film as a dad joke pun from a one liner 20 minutes in is wonderfully fun.
Ian Fleming would have guffawed. It is always very gratifying to hear from you. Actual literate readers are a joy. Thank you for your kind words and for reading my stuff. God bless you. Amen.
I think these agencies have a mix of believers and deceivers. Not all enrolled to work for the devil, some were corrupted, some deceived and some were always traitors.
No, you are mistaken. There are none of the good sort left. All the good ones at the cia, fbi, and nsa were murdered. There is no doubt. And, to be clear, the good ones knew into what they were getting. The saying goes, "if you play stupid games, don't be alarmed if you win stupid prizes." They joined entities that are known worldwide for using rape, torture, pederasty, and murder to achieve the dubious end of preserving power for people "above their pay grade." They were supposed to never question authority, and those who wanted to serve God were killed for their trouble.
Yes, by their fruits shall ye know them. God knows the ones who are at "these agencies" today and there are none of them repentant, none on the path to salvation. God does win. But there are consequences for disobedience. Always there are consequences.
Not a Bond fan but your article is Wonderful!
In my youth I was such a fan. The action sequences can be quite fun. But as I have grown older, the admiration for secret services and for governmental interventions have proven to be childish things. So I have been at some pains to put them away. Good film making and good story telling remain worthy of attention even if the plot reveals themes that aren't so good. Espionage, like diplomacy, is war by other means. And I pray every day, many times a day: Eternal Father, please help us free the slaves, stop the wars, and end tyranny. Please help with guidance, resources, ingenuity, endurance, fortitude, and patience. Please show us the little fires so we may pass by them. Please bring love into our lives so we remember what we have to live for. Amen.
When I was composing that prayer, I didn't want to ask for patience. I have seen such wars. I have seen so many enslaved in so many various ways. But I kept seeking the Latin translation of certain words and getting "patiens." God insisted on the terms. God's will be done. Amen.
Oh Jim - you're such a beautiful Soul. Thank you for taking the time to share your heart-felt thoughts and prayers. I agree 100% with what you said about espionage and diplomacy being war by other means. I have NEVER heard ANYONE say that. I was in the diplomatic corps (as support staff) and even as a young woman, I knew that so-called diplomacy was nothing more than lies and manipulations. Even if the "diplomats" seemed to have compassion and understanding and peace in their hearts, they could do nothing of value because they were essentially receiving and delivering marching orders. I met many a frustrated desk officer who knew everything there was to know about the country(ies) they were desk jockey for, whose work and wise counsel was dumped on and tossed because they did not fit the political aims of the day. Bless you Brother. xo
Thank you for your very kind words. You are welcome. All the glory to God.
It was Carl von Clausewitz who wrote, "War is the continuation of policy with other means." These words appear in his book _Vom Kriege_ or _On War_ published in Anno Domini 1832, about a year after his death. Worthy of study for those of us who want to end war.
Variously attributed to Will Rogers and to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand is the quote, "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie,' while you look for a rock." Also sometimes "...while you look for a bigger stick." I think the evidence points to Will Rogers on this one.
There is a book by Heidi and Alvin Toffler called _War and Anti-war_ that changed my life. I think it was published around 1993. In it they recount their interview with secretary of statism Warren Christopher who was sec'y of state under Willie Jeff Clinton 1993-97. In the interview, they mention the idea that the borders of Africa were drawn by Europeans in the congress of Berlin (1884-85) during an event at which only one African country (kingdom of Ethiopia) was present. So a lot of those countries have borders that encircle multiple traditional ethnic sovereignities. Christopher responded by saying that if each traditional culture had its own national borders, there would be "five thousand countries."
Which, if you look, would include about 2,000 countries in Africa each of its own traditional ethnic population. The Somali clans for example, consider themselves one people, but were divided by the Europeans into the French Somali Coast (now Djibouti), British "crown protectorate" of Somaliland, Italian Somalia, British Kenya, and (after the perfidy of 1954 when Ogaden and Western Awdal were transferred from the "crown protectorate" to Ethiopia) Ethiopia. A total of five countries with one people who have been amongst the most disenfranchised and tormented in world history. (I spent the years 1995-2002 involved in projects in Somali provinces of Ethiopia and Kenya as well as in Somaliland and Somalia.)
So those "country desks" in the State Department would become far more numerous if the world were organised by the people choosing for themselves how to be governed. European imposition of national borders follows traditional Roman senatorial policies of "divide and conquer" that the patricians and so-called plebeians (who were aristocrats more often than men of the people) perfected under the Roman empire and took with them to the Venetian marshes after the sack of Rome. (We are today afflicted with considerable financial and political tyranny under the "Black Nobility of Venice" about whom @Frances Leader and others have written extensively. To be clear, I would prefer a world with 5,000 or even 50 million countries.
The people who have political power are not for peace but for profit. And they are enthusiastic about war for profit because the victims of warfare are rarely their friends or neighbours. In many ways I find Michael Moore difficult to contemplate, but in his "Fahrenheit 911" documentary he makes reference with the title to Ray Bradbury's book _Fahrenheit 451_ which is the temperature at which books and papers burst into flames spontaneously (try it out in the oven at home!) and is a dystopian novel of a future in which "fire men" set fire to libraries and homes deliberately to eradicate knowledge. Pol Pot would have chortled. In Moore's film he interviews congresscritters with a recruiting sergeant and paperwork, asking them to sign up their eligible sons and daughters for military service. Of course the 'critters won't. They aren't willing to send their own offspring into harm's way. It's a very telling sequence.
Smedley Butler opined that "War is a racket," and he had the receipts.
These are just some of the thoughts that come to mind. I'm rambling a bit. So it is a good point at which to tell a joke.
You know how they determined that Virginia Woolf died by suicide? She was found floating face down in her stream of consciousness.
I know, harsh, but kinda funny.
God bless you Zoë. With God's help may we find peace. Amen.
Big fan of the Bond franchise! Loved every one. Enjoyed this post very much. Agree with every word. God bless you too.
Thank you for your kind words and for reading my stuff. God bless you and your family. Amen.
Harry Truman regretted creating the cia with operational capabilities.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/11/no_author/harry-trumans-december-1963-letter-to-the-washington-post-on-the-cia/
TLD is a wonderful bond film, and Sir Timothy Dalton played his scripts wonderfully. Even naming Þe film as a dad joke pun from a one liner 20 minutes in is wonderfully fun.
Ian Fleming would have guffawed. It is always very gratifying to hear from you. Actual literate readers are a joy. Thank you for your kind words and for reading my stuff. God bless you. Amen.
I think these agencies have a mix of believers and deceivers. Not all enrolled to work for the devil, some were corrupted, some deceived and some were always traitors.
By their deeds they are known.
They will be sifted to ascertain their loyalty.
The DS is being rolled up.
This time God and good wins.
No, you are mistaken. There are none of the good sort left. All the good ones at the cia, fbi, and nsa were murdered. There is no doubt. And, to be clear, the good ones knew into what they were getting. The saying goes, "if you play stupid games, don't be alarmed if you win stupid prizes." They joined entities that are known worldwide for using rape, torture, pederasty, and murder to achieve the dubious end of preserving power for people "above their pay grade." They were supposed to never question authority, and those who wanted to serve God were killed for their trouble.
Yes, by their fruits shall ye know them. God knows the ones who are at "these agencies" today and there are none of them repentant, none on the path to salvation. God does win. But there are consequences for disobedience. Always there are consequences.
God provides. Praise God. Amen.