Her Father's Blood
Aung San Suu Kyi and the Struggle For Burmese Freedom
We have just finished reading Peter Popham's biography of Aung San Suu Kyi. It is a well-done biography of Myanmar's famous leader. [Peter Popham, The Lady and the Peacock: The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi (Croydon: Rider-Ebury Publishing, 2012.]
The whole book is valuable for a whole lot of different reasons. Suu Kyi, of course, is now a political leader in what is an increasingly progressive, emerging state, Myanmar (formerly Burma). We have had the privilege of visiting Myanmar twice in recent years. One does not have to travel far, nor meet many people, before one hears about Suu Kyi's work and exploits in helping Myanmar change from being a military dictatorship to a democratic republic.
What sort of a person is Aung San Suu Kyi, then? A remarkable one, is the straightforward reality. Try this on for size . . . .
Showing posts with label Courage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Courage. Show all posts
Monday, 17 August 2020
Saturday, 28 March 2020
Christian Courage Vs Vainglorious Display
Coronavirus, Courage, and the Second Temptation of Christ
Discerning the difference between courage, cowardice, and recklessness.
David French
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Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
—Matthew 4:5-7
“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
—Matthew 16:24-26On March 7, a Christian school not far from my home held a fundraiser, an event full of faithful believers gathered for a virtuous purpose. One person in attendance had COVID-19. Now two dozen people at that event have tested positive, including a dear friend of mine. His wife is symptomatic. Several children are also symptomatic. The faith of these Christian believers was no shield against viral infection.
I thought of this event as I continue to see a division within America’s religious community. Thousands of churches are shutting down, and pastors are struggling to find ways to minister to communities that are increasingly living behind closed doors. But there is resistance. Writing in the American Conservative, Rod Dreher highlighted this story of Baton Rouge pastor Tony Spell openly defying Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’s ban on gatherings of more than 50 people at a time:
“It’s not a concern,” Spell said of the virus. “The virus, we believe, is politically motivated. We hold our religious rights dear and we are going to assemble no matter what someone says.”
East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore says those violating the governor’s proclamation could face prosecution as a last resort. Reverend Spell is not concerned with that and boasted he had an even larger crowd this past weekend, days after the governor’s proclamation was issued. “I had 1,170 in attendance Sunday,” Spell said. “We have 27 buses on Sundays picking up people in a five-parish area."
The story noted that a different Baton Rouge church was also defying the governor’s order. At still another church, a pastor encouraged people to greet each other and said that his Bible school was open because they’re “raising up revivalists, not pansies.”
Right-wing pastor Rodney Howard-Browne is not about to cancel church or prevent congregants from shaking hands because they are not a bunch of "pansies." In a more sophisticated (and cautious) context, First Things editor Rusty Reno critiqued Catholic dioceses for suspending public Masses and wrote that America should “keep the churches open”:
In truth, I am demoralized by the Catholic Church’s response to what Ephraim Radner calls “the Time of the Virus.” Those of us who live in densely populated areas are aware of the intense anxiety and fear that has become pervasive. The massive shutdown of just about everything reflects the spirit of our age, which regards the prospect of death as the supreme evil to be avoided at all costs. St. Paul observed that Christ came to free us from our bondage to sin and death. This does not mean we will not sin or die. It means that we need not live in fear.
Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Uplifting Example
National Pride
We were impressed and gratified to hear that professionalism and courage are still "alive and well". Air New Zealand was able to put on a special flight from NZ to China to evacuate tourists and travellers back to NZ. Here's how it went down:
Hats off to you all--and thanks from the nation.
We were impressed and gratified to hear that professionalism and courage are still "alive and well". Air New Zealand was able to put on a special flight from NZ to China to evacuate tourists and travellers back to NZ. Here's how it went down:
The flight bringing home New Zealanders from China during the Coronavirus outbreak is expected to land in Auckland on Wednesday afternoon. The Air New Zealand flight has just arrived in Hong Kong and is expected to depart around midnight on Tuesday.When the most senior pilots and staff volunteer for a mercy mission it speaks volumes about the professionalism and positive corporate culture of Air New Zealand.
The flight, NZ1942, will land at Auckland International Airport around 4.15pm and will have a 20-person team including five pilots and 11 cabin crew, medical and engineering staff. New Zealand, Australian and Pacific Island citizens on the flight will be quarantined for 14 days at a military facility on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, north of Auckland. . . .
Air New Zealand chief operational integrity and standards officer Captain David Morgan said the airline was pleased to support the government in getting Kiwis and other foreign nationals out of Wuhan. "The Air New Zealand crew who have volunteered for this flight are amongst some of our most experienced pilots and crew. They will be under the command of a captain who has more than 30 years experience with the airline." [NZ Herald]
Hats off to you all--and thanks from the nation.
Thursday, 12 September 2019
New Zealand's Prime Minister Has Neither Courage Nor Wisdom
Ardern Lacks Decisiveness and Moral Courage
There is something rotten in the senior echelons of NZ's Labour Party. The malodorous stench offends the olfactory senses far beyond Shakespeare's rotten state of Denmark.
Two things stand out. The first is that the senior leaders, including politicians, have given effective consent for "valuable" staff members to break the laws of the land and engage in sexual predation.
The particular story coming in to the public eye has been written up by Alex Casey, a Senior Writer for The Spinoff. It is inconceivable that such egregious breaking of the criminal code has been allegedly covered over. The perpetrator remains a high official in good standing. Our readers can appraise themselves of the details. Just be prepared to be both offended and ropeable.
Secondly, the perp works in the PM's office. So far Jacinda Ardern has failed to fire the creep. Ardern is too weak to act; rather she goes into a tear jerking soliloquy about how frustrated she is with the process. Pathetic.
Jacinda Ardern has responded to a series of questions relating to this story at her weekly post-cabinet press conference this afternoon. She said:
There is something rotten in the senior echelons of NZ's Labour Party. The malodorous stench offends the olfactory senses far beyond Shakespeare's rotten state of Denmark.
Two things stand out. The first is that the senior leaders, including politicians, have given effective consent for "valuable" staff members to break the laws of the land and engage in sexual predation.
The particular story coming in to the public eye has been written up by Alex Casey, a Senior Writer for The Spinoff. It is inconceivable that such egregious breaking of the criminal code has been allegedly covered over. The perpetrator remains a high official in good standing. Our readers can appraise themselves of the details. Just be prepared to be both offended and ropeable.
Secondly, the perp works in the PM's office. So far Jacinda Ardern has failed to fire the creep. Ardern is too weak to act; rather she goes into a tear jerking soliloquy about how frustrated she is with the process. Pathetic.
Jacinda Ardern has responded to a series of questions relating to this story at her weekly post-cabinet press conference this afternoon. She said:
Friday, 1 March 2019
Lest We Forget
Inexplicable Courage
We recently read Alex Kerwhaw's Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family's Heroic Resistance In Nazi-Occupied France. (New York: Crown Publishers, 2015.)
The tale rightly can be described as incredible. It concerns the labours of one heroic family, Sumner and Toquette Jackson, and their son, Phillip. Sumner Jackson was a veteran of WWI, a highly skilled surgeon, who managed (with the help of colleagues) to keep the American Hospital open and functioning throughout the years of the Nazi occupation of Paris.
Both Sumner and his wife, Toquette became active participants in resisting the Nazi's and their hated occupation of Paris. Even more peculiar was that they lived in a street surrounded by houses occupied by the Gestapo. Here is the blurb:
One final comment: the Jacksons were not doing what someone else ordered them to do. They were true volunteers, moved by a higher, deeper rationale. They were prepared to lay down their lives, and, indeed, Sumner Jackson did--literally. Wife Toquette and son Phillip came desperately close. But their actions presuppose belief in a higher good, a higher truth, a higher Being. For, were this not the case, how else can their actions be explained and justified, let alone understood?
Jean-Pierre Levy provides a brief summary of the times:
We recently read Alex Kerwhaw's Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family's Heroic Resistance In Nazi-Occupied France. (New York: Crown Publishers, 2015.)
The tale rightly can be described as incredible. It concerns the labours of one heroic family, Sumner and Toquette Jackson, and their son, Phillip. Sumner Jackson was a veteran of WWI, a highly skilled surgeon, who managed (with the help of colleagues) to keep the American Hospital open and functioning throughout the years of the Nazi occupation of Paris.
Both Sumner and his wife, Toquette became active participants in resisting the Nazi's and their hated occupation of Paris. Even more peculiar was that they lived in a street surrounded by houses occupied by the Gestapo. Here is the blurb:
The leafy exclusive Avenue Foch was Paris's hotbed of daring spies, murderous secret police, amoral informers, and Vichy collaborators. So when the couple at number 11--American physician Sumner Jackson and his Swiss-born wife, Toquette--joined the French resistance, they knew the stakes were extraordinarily high. They would be risking not only their lives but also that of their only child, twelve-year-old Phillip. There was no more dangerous place in all of occupied Europe than their street: diehard Nazis had commandeered almost every building. At number 31 was the "mad sadist" Theodor Dannecker, charged with deporting French Jews to concentration camps. And number 72 housed the Parisian headquarters of the Gestapo, run by the most effective spy hunter in the Third Reich.Standouts include:
As their Nazi neighbours rounded up French Jews and ruthlessly destroyed all opposition to German rule, the Jacksons stepped up their own private war against Hitler. From his office at the American Hospital, Sumner smuggled fallen Allied crewmen safely out of France. And Toquette agreed to allow the Geoletter network of the resistance to use the family's home as a drop box for vital information en route to Britain. Meanwhile, just yards away, the screams of captured resistance members drifted down to the street from the open windows at number 84, where Allied spies were also tortured. As D-Day neared, the noose began to tighten for the Jacksons as well: when the family's secret was finally discovered, they were forced to undertake a journey into the black heart of the war-torn continent from which there was little chance of return.
The irrepressible courage of the Jacksons, including their son Phillip.Yet these were ordinary human beings until they began to believe demonic doctrines and principles. It is a shocking description of humanity's indwelling evil which can emerge so easily, so unexpectedly. It reminds us so vividly of the indictment of Scripture: "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can know it?" [Jeremiah 17:9].
The iniquity of the Nazi occupiers of France and their collaborators. It begs the age-old question: how could men and women be so evil, so depraved?
One final comment: the Jacksons were not doing what someone else ordered them to do. They were true volunteers, moved by a higher, deeper rationale. They were prepared to lay down their lives, and, indeed, Sumner Jackson did--literally. Wife Toquette and son Phillip came desperately close. But their actions presuppose belief in a higher good, a higher truth, a higher Being. For, were this not the case, how else can their actions be explained and justified, let alone understood?
Jean-Pierre Levy provides a brief summary of the times:
We lived in the shadows as soldiers of the night, but our lives were not dark and martial. . . . There were arrests, torture, and death for so many of our friends and comrades, and tragedy awaiting all of us just around the corner. But we did not live in or with tragedy. We were exhilarated by the challenge and rightness of our cause. It was in may ways the worst of times and in just as many ways the best of times, and the best is what we remember today.
Tuesday, 13 November 2018
True Grit
‘Multiple Men' Used Their Bodies To Protect Patrons
Grace Carr | Reporter
Daily Caller7
Multiple men reportedly put their bodies on the line to protect patrons at the club in California where a gunman entered Wednesday night, killing 12 and reportedly taking his own life.
“While we were all dog-piled at the side, there were multiple men that got on their knees and pretty much blocked all of us with their backs towards the shooter, ready to take a bullet for any single one of us,” Taylor Whittler, who had been in the club during the shooting, said Thursday morning.
“And just the amount of people who made sure everyone got out okay or if they were out … they made sure, they went around to every single person around them and asked them if they were okay and if they needed a phone to call their family … just in general any way they could help. It was awesome,” Whittler continued.
The gunman entered Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks Wednesday night around 11:20 p.m. and opened fire at a crowd of mostly college students using a semi-automatic pistol. It was “country night” at the bar.
The suspect is identified as 28-year-old David Ian Long, who reportedly dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt. The gunman and Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy Ron Helus is among the dead, according to NBC News.
Grace Carr | Reporter
Daily Caller7
Multiple men reportedly put their bodies on the line to protect patrons at the club in California where a gunman entered Wednesday night, killing 12 and reportedly taking his own life.
“While we were all dog-piled at the side, there were multiple men that got on their knees and pretty much blocked all of us with their backs towards the shooter, ready to take a bullet for any single one of us,” Taylor Whittler, who had been in the club during the shooting, said Thursday morning.
“And just the amount of people who made sure everyone got out okay or if they were out … they made sure, they went around to every single person around them and asked them if they were okay and if they needed a phone to call their family … just in general any way they could help. It was awesome,” Whittler continued.
The gunman entered Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks Wednesday night around 11:20 p.m. and opened fire at a crowd of mostly college students using a semi-automatic pistol. It was “country night” at the bar.
The suspect is identified as 28-year-old David Ian Long, who reportedly dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt. The gunman and Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy Ron Helus is among the dead, according to NBC News.
Friday, 9 November 2018
An Honourable Death
Noble Soldier
We grew up in a post-World War II home. Our father had fought against Rommel in the Desert Campaign. In retrospect there was an oddity associated with our parents' recounting of that campaign. The Desert Fox was always spoken of with great respect.
Rommel's reputation amongst other things was that of being a stickler for the standards, rules, and regulations of the Geneva Conventions of warfare. At one point we learned that the Allies were treating German prisoners in a "vigorous" manner, shall we say. Word got around. Rommel took to the airwaves and rebuked the Allied commanders to the effect that if such breaches continued, he would be forced to retaliate. The upshot? The Allied commanders immediately cleaned up the acts of a minority of their troops.
Rommel was not a Nazi: he never joined the party. He was a product of the Prussian military aristocracy. He and his family were professing Christians. As more of the depredations of Hitler and the Nazis became known to him, the more uncomfortable Rommel became--even to the point of becoming involved in the famous plot to assassinate the Fuhrer.
He was "informally" executed by the Nazis.
We grew up in a post-World War II home. Our father had fought against Rommel in the Desert Campaign. In retrospect there was an oddity associated with our parents' recounting of that campaign. The Desert Fox was always spoken of with great respect.
Rommel's reputation amongst other things was that of being a stickler for the standards, rules, and regulations of the Geneva Conventions of warfare. At one point we learned that the Allies were treating German prisoners in a "vigorous" manner, shall we say. Word got around. Rommel took to the airwaves and rebuked the Allied commanders to the effect that if such breaches continued, he would be forced to retaliate. The upshot? The Allied commanders immediately cleaned up the acts of a minority of their troops.
Rommel was not a Nazi: he never joined the party. He was a product of the Prussian military aristocracy. He and his family were professing Christians. As more of the depredations of Hitler and the Nazis became known to him, the more uncomfortable Rommel became--even to the point of becoming involved in the famous plot to assassinate the Fuhrer.
He was "informally" executed by the Nazis.
Tuesday, 27 June 2017
Daily Meditation
Worth Far More Than a Ton of Gold
The narrative of the manly courage and marvellous deliverance of the three holy children, or rather champions, is well calculated to excite in the minds of believers firmness and steadfastness in upholding the truth in the teeth of tyranny and in the very jaws of death. Let young Christians especially learn from their example, both in matters of faith in religion, and matters of uprightness in business, never to sacrifice their consciences.
Lose all rather than lose your integrity, and when all else is gone, still hold fast a clear conscience as the rarest jewel which can adorn the bosom of a mortal. Be not guided by the will-o'-the-wisp of policy, but by the pole-star of divine authority. Follow the right at all hazards. When you see no present advantage, walk by faith and not by sight. Do God the honour to trust him when it comes to matters of loss for the sake of principle. See whether he will be your debtor! See if he doth not even in this life prove his word that "Godliness, with contentment, is great gain," and that they who "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, shall have all these things added unto them."
Should it happen that, in the providence of God, you are a loser by conscience, you shall find that if the Lord pays you not back in the silver of earthly prosperity, he will discharge his promise in the gold of spiritual joy. Remember that a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of that which he possesseth.
To wear a guileless spirit, to have a heart void of offence, to have the favour and smile of God, is greater riches than the mines of Ophir could yield, or the traffic of Tyre could win. "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and inward contention therewith." An ounce of heart's-ease is worth a ton of gold.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said ... Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods. Daniel 3:16-18
Charles H. Spurgeon
The narrative of the manly courage and marvellous deliverance of the three holy children, or rather champions, is well calculated to excite in the minds of believers firmness and steadfastness in upholding the truth in the teeth of tyranny and in the very jaws of death. Let young Christians especially learn from their example, both in matters of faith in religion, and matters of uprightness in business, never to sacrifice their consciences.
Lose all rather than lose your integrity, and when all else is gone, still hold fast a clear conscience as the rarest jewel which can adorn the bosom of a mortal. Be not guided by the will-o'-the-wisp of policy, but by the pole-star of divine authority. Follow the right at all hazards. When you see no present advantage, walk by faith and not by sight. Do God the honour to trust him when it comes to matters of loss for the sake of principle. See whether he will be your debtor! See if he doth not even in this life prove his word that "Godliness, with contentment, is great gain," and that they who "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, shall have all these things added unto them."
Should it happen that, in the providence of God, you are a loser by conscience, you shall find that if the Lord pays you not back in the silver of earthly prosperity, he will discharge his promise in the gold of spiritual joy. Remember that a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of that which he possesseth.
To wear a guileless spirit, to have a heart void of offence, to have the favour and smile of God, is greater riches than the mines of Ophir could yield, or the traffic of Tyre could win. "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and inward contention therewith." An ounce of heart's-ease is worth a ton of gold.
Monday, 29 August 2016
Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow
Snowflakes and Hell
Douglas Wilson
Blog&Mablog
Hell is certainly a terrible thing to envision, and for many Christians it is a difficult doctrine even to defend. Many believers resolve it at the end of the day by deciding we need someplace to put the Hitlers and the Stalins, and then deciding to not look too closely at it thereafter.Last Judgment
But God does not limit Himself to the sins that we consider high wickedness. In the list of the damned given at the end of Revelation, it is striking what He begins with.
Now Hell really is an awful prospect, and it will be an awful prospect for all who will be consigned there.
Douglas Wilson
Blog&Mablog
Hell is certainly a terrible thing to envision, and for many Christians it is a difficult doctrine even to defend. Many believers resolve it at the end of the day by deciding we need someplace to put the Hitlers and the Stalins, and then deciding to not look too closely at it thereafter.Last Judgment
But God does not limit Himself to the sins that we consider high wickedness. In the list of the damned given at the end of Revelation, it is striking what He begins with.
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death”” (Rev. 21:8, ESV)
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).The word rendered as cowardly by the ESV and fearful by the KJV is deilos. It refers to the timid, the skittish, the shy, the cowardly, the fearful. It is the word Jesus uses when He rebukes the disciples on His way to rebuking the winds and the waves (Matt. 8:26; Mk. 4:40).
Now Hell really is an awful prospect, and it will be an awful prospect for all who will be consigned there.
Monday, 15 August 2016
We Hope the Movie is Worthy of Its Subject
In Faithful Service To Our Lord
We came across an amazing story in one of our prominent New Zealand current affairs blogs. We reproduce it in full:
Kiwiblog
Just listened to a podcast about a true hero, Desmond Doss. Desmond Doss was a conscientious objector in WWII yet won the Congressional Medal of Honour for bravery. He was a devout Seventh-day Adventist and took the sixth Commandment literally “Thou shalt not kill” and also the fourth “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy”.
He took this to mean he could not kill, or even hold a weapon, nor work on a Saturday. However he became an Army medic as even Christ healed people on the Sabbath. He could have tried to defer or stay home, but wanted to help the war effort – so long as it didn’t violate his religious beliefs.
He got many hassles for his devout beliefs and refusal to train on Saturdays or hold a weapon. One superior even tried to get him discharged on the grounds of mental illness. He refused to take this way out, saying how could he agree being a Christian is a mental illness.
He served initially in 1944 in Guam and the Philippines.
We came across an amazing story in one of our prominent New Zealand current affairs blogs. We reproduce it in full:
An Incredible Hero
August 12th, 2016 at 12:00 pm by David FarrarKiwiblog
Just listened to a podcast about a true hero, Desmond Doss. Desmond Doss was a conscientious objector in WWII yet won the Congressional Medal of Honour for bravery. He was a devout Seventh-day Adventist and took the sixth Commandment literally “Thou shalt not kill” and also the fourth “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy”.
He took this to mean he could not kill, or even hold a weapon, nor work on a Saturday. However he became an Army medic as even Christ healed people on the Sabbath. He could have tried to defer or stay home, but wanted to help the war effort – so long as it didn’t violate his religious beliefs.
He got many hassles for his devout beliefs and refusal to train on Saturdays or hold a weapon. One superior even tried to get him discharged on the grounds of mental illness. He refused to take this way out, saying how could he agree being a Christian is a mental illness.
He served initially in 1944 in Guam and the Philippines.
Thursday, 21 July 2016
So Much Simpler . . .
A Portrait of Courage
In early 1989, Myanmar was in turmoil. The military government had cracked down hard on political dissent. Aung San Suu Kyi, carrying her freedom by a slender thread, was touring the country speaking to groups of people, calling for basic human rights to be respected by the government and for free and fair elections.
On the 5th of April 1989 Aung San Suu Kyi was seconds away from being deliberately executed by soldiers. She was touring the Irrawaddy District when a group of soldiers confronted Suu Kyi and her group. Their commanding officer told his troops to train their rifles upon them.
Eyewitnesses recounted:
In early 1989, Myanmar was in turmoil. The military government had cracked down hard on political dissent. Aung San Suu Kyi, carrying her freedom by a slender thread, was touring the country speaking to groups of people, calling for basic human rights to be respected by the government and for free and fair elections.
On the 5th of April 1989 Aung San Suu Kyi was seconds away from being deliberately executed by soldiers. She was touring the Irrawaddy District when a group of soldiers confronted Suu Kyi and her group. Their commanding officer told his troops to train their rifles upon them.
Eyewitnesses recounted:
As she (Suu Kyi) was walking down the street with some followers during a campaign visit, six soldiers under the command of an Army captain jumped down from a jeep, assumed a kneeling position, and took aim at her. She motioned her followers to wait on the sidewalk, and she herself walked down the centre of the road towards the soldiers. "It seemed so much simpler to provide them with a single target than to bring everyone else in," she said. [Recounted in Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom From Fear (New York: The Penguin Group, 1991), p. 340.]It was at this point that a major arrived just before they fired and countermanded the order, doubtless sparing her life. Small wonder she remains a living legend in her own country. Travellers report that one can be sitting in cafes and restaurants, and locals will come up to converse, practising their English. It is not long before they ask, "And have you heard of our Aung San Suu Kyi?"
Wednesday, 27 August 2014
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America (About The Moral Centre)
In a World Gone Crazy
Douglas Wilson
August 20, 2014
In a
world gone crazy, it is important for us to learn how to see the root
causes. I use the phrase “root causes” deliberately, because it is the
kind of thing that liberals love to appeal to, whether we are talking
about race riots here, or barbarity in the Middle East. But when they
get to talking about root causes and the “broader context” of whatever
outrage it is, they invariably veer toward their programs which
desperately need more funding.
All of these issues are matters of understanding the moral center, and the attendant issues of discipline, strength, incentives, disincentives, resolve, and leading from somewhere other than from behind.
Thursday, 24 November 2011
These Guys Deserve a DB
Hope They Get Recognition
One of the most spectacular things on display on the video of the crash yesterday afternoon at the Auckland Viaduct Harbour came after the helicopter had crashed. Whilst not shown on some versions, the video below shows three men leaping up onto the wreckage and into the cab to assist the pilot.
In our view, these guys deserve a medal. The downed bird could have gone up in a flash of exploding av-gas, but without a thought these guys jump up onto the wreckage to get the pilot out. Selfless. Very brave.
Bet they didn't give it a second thought.
Makes you proud to be a Kiwi.
One of the most spectacular things on display on the video of the crash yesterday afternoon at the Auckland Viaduct Harbour came after the helicopter had crashed. Whilst not shown on some versions, the video below shows three men leaping up onto the wreckage and into the cab to assist the pilot.
In our view, these guys deserve a medal. The downed bird could have gone up in a flash of exploding av-gas, but without a thought these guys jump up onto the wreckage to get the pilot out. Selfless. Very brave.
Bet they didn't give it a second thought.
Makes you proud to be a Kiwi.
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Troubled . . .
And Ashamed
We are not engineers. Nor are we experts in rescue. We are armchair critics. Please read the comments below in the light in these disclaimers.
We continue to have a sense of disquiet about the rescue effort at the Pike River coal mine. Three images come to mind. The first is a man lying on a floor in South Auckland, having been shot by intruders. Outside police wait--not wanting to enter the building until they are sure no danger will present. The wounded man is left to bleed out--to his death.
The second enduring mental image is of the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9-11. We can still hear the New York fire chief telling a watching world that none of his officers were going to enter those imploding towers until he was sure that they would be entirely safe. His top priority was the safety of the rescuers. That's what happened, right? NY firemen did not race up those stairs trying to save lives, right? They were ordered to hold back, right? No firemen lost their lives, right? They waited until both towers fell down to rubble, then they were stood down, because although safe for them, no-one was left to rescue, right?
The third image is of one Corporal Willie Apiata who quite rightly hunkered down in a firefight and refused to risk his life in an attempt to save his fallen comrade until he was sure it was safe. That's why he was awarded the VC, right?
What ever happened to the respect and honour we once had for men and women willing to lay down their lives in the attempt to save others? The Occupational Safety and Health regime--that's what has happened. It makes us ashamed to be New Zealanders.
We are not engineers. Nor are we experts in rescue. We are armchair critics. Please read the comments below in the light in these disclaimers.
We continue to have a sense of disquiet about the rescue effort at the Pike River coal mine. Three images come to mind. The first is a man lying on a floor in South Auckland, having been shot by intruders. Outside police wait--not wanting to enter the building until they are sure no danger will present. The wounded man is left to bleed out--to his death.
The second enduring mental image is of the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9-11. We can still hear the New York fire chief telling a watching world that none of his officers were going to enter those imploding towers until he was sure that they would be entirely safe. His top priority was the safety of the rescuers. That's what happened, right? NY firemen did not race up those stairs trying to save lives, right? They were ordered to hold back, right? No firemen lost their lives, right? They waited until both towers fell down to rubble, then they were stood down, because although safe for them, no-one was left to rescue, right?
The third image is of one Corporal Willie Apiata who quite rightly hunkered down in a firefight and refused to risk his life in an attempt to save his fallen comrade until he was sure it was safe. That's why he was awarded the VC, right?
What ever happened to the respect and honour we once had for men and women willing to lay down their lives in the attempt to save others? The Occupational Safety and Health regime--that's what has happened. It makes us ashamed to be New Zealanders.
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