CANTO TALK: India’s Great Mutiny, Korea, Syria, and Special Forces

Dear Readers: This week on Canto Talk we will be chatting with friend, fellow SLOB, and “Deadliest Blogger”  Barry Jacobsen about a wide variety of topics that touch upon the complexities of the international scene.  Tune in this Thursday (May 16th, 7 pm PST/9 pm CT/10 pm EST; click HERE for podcast link).

The look back at history will focus on THE GREAT MUTINY AT MEERUT, INDIA 1856

In response to growing tensions within the British East India Company’s Bengal Army, mutiny and violence erupted at 5pm among the Sepoy (Indian) soldiers stationed at the Meerut depot. Within hours, the garrison town was a blazing scene of horror. Buildings were a fire, houses of the British officers and their families were looted, and British officers and their families murdered by their own men.

Within weeks the whole of the Bengal Army would join in the mutiny, besieging small groups of British officers and civilians (particularly at Cawnpore and Lucknow). In Dehli, the senile heir of the last Mughul was proclaimed Emperor by the muntineers and native princes who joined the revolt against British authority.

However, the other two East India Company armies (the Madras and Bombay armies) did not rise against the British Raj, but remained “true to their salt”. Nor did the Sikhs of the Punjab, annexed to the Empire just 9 years earlier. Instead, Sikh units fought beside the British as they counter attacked and steadily regained the initiative.

Indian Nationalists today refer to the Great Mutiny as India’s First National Uprising. The Mutiny did attract the support of various Indian princes eager to assert their independence of Britain; particularly Nana Sahib of Bithur and the heroic Rani of Jhansi, who led her troops dressed in men’s clothing! But the hoped-for general uprising throughout India never materialized; and the majority of the East India Company’s Sepoys remained loyal.

At Cawnpore on the Ganges, 900 besieged British nationals (300 soldiers and 240 civilian men and 375 women and children) found themselves in an untenable situation. Surrounded, cut-off, and without water and little shelter from the blazing sun, they crouched behind a feeble rampart four feet high made of loose earth. They were subject to constant sniping and periodic assaults. Finally, offered safe-conduct down the Ganges by Nana Sahib they surrendered. Once on the banks of the river, as they began to load into rafts meant to take them to safety, the British were attacked by the mutineers and a massacre ensued. The surviving women and children were taken prisoner, and forced into a confined prison. Later, as a British relief force approached, these prisoners were butchered and their bodies thrown into a well.

The Massacre of Cawnpore (combined with multiple other instances of British women and children being killed by the mutineers) deeply outraged the British soldier’s Victorian sense of chivalry and “fair play”. In response, as they recovered lost territory and progressively crushed the uprising, the British exacted a vicious and bloody vengeance on the mutineers and any Indians who assisted them.

The heroes of the Mutiny (Havelock, Outram, Lawerence, Campbell, Rose) were lionized by British public opinion. They fought and succeeded against great odds to survive the initial surge of assaults; and to suppress the uprising and prevent its spread. Ultimately, the odds were in the British favor. Britain possessed perhaps the finest army in the world (in three years she would defeat China in the Opium War, adding Hong Kong and Shanghai to their Empire). Indeed, in nearly engagement the British and Sikh regiments defeated many times their number of otherwise well-trained Sepoy armies. Beyond their army, Britain’s navy was twice as large as any other, and virtually ruled the seas. This combined with a sense of righteousness and widespread public support back home ensured that Britain would spare no expense or effort in bringing the leaders of the Mutiny to justice and reasserting her control over India.

For a deeper analysis, go to:

http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/indiancampaigns/mutiny/mutiny.htm

We will also be touching upon the situation in Syria: If you think America should go to war in Syria, you haven’t been paying attention

Now there come demands for an escalated U.S. intervention in Syria, as if none of these precedents need to be considered. Yes, the advocates of involvement usually don’t seek direct military action. True, they are upset at the death of 70,000 people, with the number certain to rise higher. This is not a partisan issue. The Obama government’s policy helped create this mess by helping to build up an Islamist leadership in Syria. But the Obama administration’s current apparent reluctance to escalate involvement is a good idea, though perhaps motivated by the wrong reasons.

Yet what are the arguments on the other side?

● Does the United States want to fight on some level to install a radical Islamist regime in Syria that is certain to be anti-American?

● How will Americans feel if their aid and weapons are used in the future to murder Alawites and Christians, perhaps some day invade the Kurdish autonomous area, help terrorists in other countries, shoot down civilian airliners by such terrorists, and suppress moderate Sunni Muslims?

● Do Americans really expect gratitude or friendship or strategic cooperation from revolutionary Islamists for their help in winning the civil war?

● Is the United States then going to give billions of dollars to rebuild Syria’s economy for an Islamist regime?

● Does the United States have the necessary influence and leverage to force Jabhat al-Nusra’s (Syrian al-Qaeda) allies to abandon it? No. It already tried to do so and failed miserably.

● Despite all the vague talk about moderate fighters, how many such people actually exist? Ironically, most of them are defectors from Assad’s army, who don’t have such a pro-democratic record. But the main drawback is that they are very weak and disorganized. Talk of setting up a zone under their control is absurd. In fact, the latest trend is the massive defection of soldiers from the “moderate” Free Syrian Army, which is the great hope of U.S. policy, to al-Qaeda!

Of course, when you are talking about international news, it is always fun to throw North Korea into the mix:
North Korea replaces hardline defense chief with a little-known army general

North Korea has replaced its hard-line defense minister with a little-known army general, according to a state media report Monday, in what outside analysts call an attempt to install a younger figure meant to solidify leader Kim Jong Un’s grip on the powerful military.

Jang Jong Nam’s appointment is the latest move since Kim succeeded his late father in late 2011 that observers see as a young leader trying to consolidate control. The announcement comes amid easing animosities after weeks of warlike threats between the rivals, including North Korean vows of nuclear strikes.

All-in-all, it promises to be a most riveting show!

A Tale of Two Rescues

I agree with Tammy Bruce:  If you are just following the mainstream media, you could not be blamed for thinking that we would have been better served in Benghazi if we sent Charles Ramsey.

For those middle-class Chick-fil-A fans who have been following Professor Jacobson’s streaming of the hearings covering the events surrounding the terror attack on our Libyan embassy, Ramsey just became a national hero when he helped rescue three missing women who were held hostage for a decade in Ohio.

However, if you were only getting your information via Google, this is The News!

CNN has a bit more variety, also featuring the Jodi Arias trail verdict:

The Washington Post, whose reporters lead the way in bringing down the Nixon Administration over stolen tapes, seems less than enthusiastic in covering the hearings about attacks and a failed rescue that left 4 Americans dead. The placement with photo clearly indicates what stories they want their readers to see:

The Washington Post staff may want to reflect that their primary responsibility under the US Constitution is to be a watch-dog on our government officials and political representatives. If they decided to actually report the news, instead of insult the news consumers, perhaps the paper’s profits would not be plunging by 85%.

Comparing the coverage of the Ohio and Benghazi rescues, it is sad to see the depths to which American journalism has sunk.

CANTO TALK: A Masala of HOT News Items with favorite pundits!

Dear Readers: I have been busy with a lot of intriguing stories at Legal Insurrection, including: California Mirrors Nation’s “Hunger Games” Set-up.

Also, some great stories at College Insurrection:

• Higher Education and Today’s Job Market
• The Pornification of Campuses

This Thursday’s show will feature a discussion of some HOT topics.   It will be quite the spicy mix, like a masala (Indian spice mix). The reference gives me a great excuse to show a pic of my Bollywood group!

Silvio and I will be chatting with Mark Mecker of Citizens for Self Governance, Barry Jacobsen and Jeannie DeAngelis, contributor to American Thinker.  The program will be this Thursday (May 9th, 7 pm PST/ 9m CT/10 pm EST).  CLICK HERE FOR PODCAST LINK!

Jeannie will be covering: FDA Approves Over-the-Counter Abortion Pill for Teens

When it comes to the so-called “morning after pill,” there seems to be a concerted effort on the part of political liberals to separate parents from their children, to usurp parental authority, and to insert the government in between parents and children. How else can you explain this new effort by the FDA under president Obama (with a little help from an activist judge). They have made available powerful drugs that have the power to end the life of anewly conceived human being, OVER THE COUNTER TO 15-YEAR-OLD KIDS!

WASHINGTON — The Plan B morning-after pill is moving over-the-counter, a decision announced by the Food and Drug Administration just days before a court-imposed deadline.

Tuesday, the FDA lowered to 15 the age at which girls and women can buy the emergency contraceptive without a prescription — and said it no longer has to be kept behind pharmacy counters.

Instead, the pill can sit on drugstore shelves just like condoms, but that buyers would have to prove their age at the cash register.

Earlier this month, a federal judge had ruled there should be no age restrictions and gave the FDA 30 days to act.

You can’t even buy a beer at age 15 in America, but now you have the ability to make this kind of major health decision without so much as a consultation with a doctor or parent?

Barry will be covering Syria: Bill Jacobson is reporting the internet traffic went silent from Syria today. Barry co-authored a wonderful piece related to the subject, that is MUT’s must-read of the day:  Islam: Violence Emanates from its Core

Progressives have a pathological need to ignore the differences in people. Though profiling is a proven, effective tool of law enforcement, liberals consider this tantamount to racism. David Sirota, for example, objects to us treating white, non-Islamic terrorists differently than non-white or Islamic terrorists (“Let’s hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white American”; Salon, Apr 16, 2013).

But there are almost zero white non-Islamic terrorists. Those few that did exist in the recent past, such as Germany’s infamous Baader-Meinhof gang, the Irish Republican Army, or our own Weather Underground (compliments of the President’s friend Bill Ayres) were leftist radicals or a part of nationalist liberation movements; and have mostly faded away after the fall of the Iron Curtain. If any white, non-Islamic groups should commit acts of terror they should indeed be treated just like non-white or Islamic terrorists. (The speedy trial and subsequent execution of Timothy McVeigh demonstrate that we, in fact, do  just that; undermining Sirota’s contention to the contrary.)

Mark Mecker will be chatting about reform-oriented Republican Governors and their legislatures are leading the way all across the U.S. would be a great thing to talk about. Mar says, “We’ll save this republic by fighting in the states, not in DC.”

Rise of the Republican Governors

A new liberal era? Not according to these reformers.

Shortly after Barack Obama won reelection in November, New Jersey governor Chris Christie pointed out that Republicans’ cloudy political prospects had a bright silver lining. “One of the reasons you have 30 Republican governors in America, and why we’re the only organization to add Republican strength,” Christie said, “is because people see us getting things done.” Christie’s stance countered most of the elite postelection commentary, which gleefully pronounced the Republican Party’s political irrelevance. But the governor was right. Since Obama first took office in 2008, Republicans have picked up a net nine governorships, bringing their total to 30 states, which hold nearly 184 million Americans. In 24 of those states, containing 157 million Americans, Republicans also control the legislatures. Democrats boast similar power in just 12 states, with a population of 100 million. Even Republicans’ unimpressive national showing last November didn’t reverse their state-level momentum.

Don’t miss the show, it’s going to be:

Canto Talk: More Blue State Blues with the Lonely Conservative

Dear Readers:  It will be my pleasure to chat once again with the lovely, gracious, and savvy Karen Beseth of Lonely Conservative.  She will be joining Silvio Canto and me on Canto Talk this Thursday (April 25) at 7 pm PST/9 pm CT/10 om EST — click here for the link).

The Boston Marathon bombing and its aftermath will be a topic of discussion.

Some of the highlights on Lonely Conservative:

Boston Bombers Broke Gun Laws, Tsarnaev Charged With Using WMD

Tamerlan and Dkhokhar Tsarnaev were not licensed to possess or carry the guns they used in a shootout with police on Friday evening. What a shock.

Less than a week after the push by Democrats push for more gun control went down in flames in the Senate, Reuters is reporting the suspected Boston Marathon bombers ignored gun laws that are already on the books in possessing the firearms they used in shootouts with the police.

According to Reuters, ”The two brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombings, who police say engaged in a gun battle early Friday after a frenzied manhunt, were not licensed to own guns in the towns where they lived.”

This means the handguns and “at least one rifle” the brothers had with them were acquired and possessed in ways that broke laws already in existence. (Read More)

Criminals and terrorists don’t follow gun laws.

In related news, Dkhokhar Tsarnaev has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction by federal authorities.

Federal authorities on Monday charged Dzhokar Tsarnaev with one count of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against persons and property in the United States.

Tsarnaev, one of the two brothers accused of bombing the Boston Marathon last week, was charged Monday while he lay in bed at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Massachusetts.

The goverment charged Tsarnaev with one count of using an improved explosive device (IED) and one count of attempting “malicious destruction of property.”

If convicted of the charges, he could face the death penalty or life in prison. (Read More)

Oh, one more thing, the Tsarnaevs lived like pigs, judging by pictures taken by the New York Daily News. It is odd that Tamerlan had an apartment with Dkhokhar if he was married with a three year old child, as has been reported in the past few days. If he was being investigated I wonder why something like that didn’t raise any red flags.

Video: Glenn Beck On The Saudi Connection To The Boston Marathon Bombing.

Glenn Beck spoke extensively this morning on the mystery surrounding the Saudi national who was first called a suspect, then a witness and then a victim of the Boston Marathon bombing. The Blaze provides the background.

• A Saudi national originally identified as a “person of interest” in the Boston Marathon bombing was set to be deported under section 212 3B — “Security and related grounds” — “Terrorist activities” after the bombing
• As the story gained traction, TheBlaze’s Chief Content Officer Joel Cheatwood received word that the government may not deport the Saudi national, originally identified as Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi
• Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano refused to answer questions on the subject when confronted by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) on Capitol Hill.
• An ICE official said a separate Saudi national is in custody, but is “in no way” connected to the bombings.
• A congressional source, however, says that the file on Alharbi was created, that he was “linked” in some way to the Boston bombings (though it is unclear how), and that documents showing all this have been sent to Congress.
• Key congressmen of the Committee on Homeland Security request a classified briefing with Napolitano
• Fox News’ Todd Starnes reports that Alharbi was allegedly flagged on a terrorist watch list and granted a student visa without being properly vetted
• New information provided to TheBlaze reveals Alharbi’s file was altered early Wednesday evening to disassociate him from the initial charges
• Sources say the Saudi’s student visa specifically allows him to go to school in Findlay, Ohio, though he appears to have an apartment in Boston, Massachusetts
• Sources tell us this will most likely now be kicked from the DHS to the DOJ and labeled an ongoing investigation that can no longer be discussed.

…It’s curious that the press is ignoring this story.

We will also be discussing the odd priorities of the Obama Administration:

John Kerry’s Earth Day Climate Scare

Apparently, there’s nothing important in the United States or the world going on this week, so Secretary of State John Kerry thought he’d mark Earth Day with some climate change scare-mongering.

“The United States joins countries around the world today in commemorating Earth Day. Ever since I was involved in the first Earth Day in Massachusetts, way back in 1970, this has always been a day to reflect on our environmental challenges and our responsibility to safeguard our God-given natural resources on a fragile planet we share with the rest of humanity and which we must protect for future generations,” reads Kerry’s full statement. ….

“The science is screaming at all of us and demands action. From the far reaches of Antarctica’s Ross Sea to tropical wetlands in Southeast Asia, we have a responsibility to safeguard and sustainably manage our planet’s natural resources, and the United States remains firm in its commitment to addressing global environmental challenges.” (Read More)

Our future generations are being spent into oblivion, and if guys like Kerry get their way it will only get worse.

We will also be discussing the news blackout on the Kermit Gonell baby-slaughter case.

Chilling history of #Gosnell and babies struggling to survive

Chilling history from James Taranto, Back-Alley Abortion Never Ended:

Back-alley abortion was indisputably a problem before Roe. Deep in the 281-page report that accompanied the 2011 indictments of Gosnell and his staff, the Philadelphia grand jury recounted an example from the city’s history.

It was called the Mother’s Day Massacre … Nine of the 15 women suffered serious complications. One needed a hysterectomy.

The following year, the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. It would be 37 more years before the Philadelphia doctor who carried out the Mother’s Day Massacre would go out of business. His name was Kermit Gosnell.

Chilling details, via Jonah Goldberg, Gosnell & The Memory Hole:

The Boston story is breaking and important news. But if you can stomach reading this all the way through, never mind past the headline, I think you’ll agree the Gosnell story deserves to come back to fore when this chapter in the Boston saga concludes. I won’t excerpt it because it’s too rough for some people.

I will excerpt it, Gosnell Worker: Baby Surviving Abortion Struggled in Toilet Trying to Live

Canto Talk: Concerns About the Common Core Standards

Dear Readers: This Thursday (April 18), we will be chatting with SoCal Tax Revolt Coalition President/California Tea Party Coordinator Dawn Wildman on Canto Talk. The topic will be the Common Core Standards being proposed for our educational system (click HERE for podcast, and the program will be live at 8 pm PST/10 pm CT/11 pm EST).

Dawn Wildman Surrounded By Fans!

Here is what she says about the standards:

I have been reflecting on this because I am now working with a coalition of women to stop the Common Core Standards from ruining the education system that kids experience now and will experience tomorrow. All the women I work with come from different backgrounds, but the one thing they have in common is the willingness to sacrifice for not just their kids but the children of the future.

The Common Core Standards are about to take the agenda of a few and spread it across this country at an alarming rate through the educational system. The worst part is it will make our kids more vulnerable to the socialist agenda that we see pervading American colleges and schools now. So each one of these 70 ladies is giving up their time with her children, husband, and friends so they can make sure that the current state of education is the best we can give our kids. And I know how the sacrifice effects them.

I hear the panic in their voices as they watch a government take over of the education system and leave them with no say about it. I read their emails where they share the stories of the things their children say about America having heard that the Boston Tea Party participants were domestic terrorists. I listen to them when they feel like there is no hope but they fight anyway. And I laugh with them when they share what they have read about feminism.

You see these women truly are the product of feminism, they have learned how to work in a man’s world and do it better, faster and with absolute grace. And like men who have gone before them to fight for freedom these women fight for liberty every day, in their homes, on the school grounds and in the Capitols of every state. For them the fight is about the truest expression of love, they fight for liberties they have enjoyed as Americans not just for their kids but the ones that will come after them. Not for the country now but the one they leave behind, not to better themselves but to better the Nation.  So in the very definition of feminism they are walking in the footsteps of men doing a herculean task of bringing fairness, truth and equality to our kids now and forever.

Ginny Thomas offers the opinion of a homeschooling advocate on the Common Core Standards:

Will Estrada, the director of federal relations for the Home School Legal Defense Association, says classics are being abandoned in the standards of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

“We’ve started seeing what is in this Common Core curriculum, and it’s not good, Ginni,” the 29-year-old told The Daily Caller’s Ginni Thomas.

“I mean, you have the classics being abandoned for instead reading executive orders from President Obama. What is up with this? Why are we leaving ‘Grapes of Wrath’ and, you know, ’1984′ to instead read executive orders from the president.”

The Common Core State Standards Initiative was an effort initiated in 2009 by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers to create national curriculum standards for K-12 education. Subsequently, the U.S. Department of Education incentivized the adoption of Common Core Standards through its Race to the Top program. To date, all but five states have adopted the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

Estrada says the Common Core curriculum allows for the teaching of a worldview which places the United Nations above the American Constitution.

“You know the worldview that’s being taught in the Common Core? It is the United Nations is better than our Constitution and our Declaration of Independence,” he said.

But what alarms him the most is that the federal government won’t simply stop with advocating for national curriculum standards.

“It never stops at standards,” he said. “You next have national curriculum, national testing and national databases and that’s where the real controversy is coming.”

Finding each other on Facebook and other social media, activists across the country are organizing to repeal their state’s adoption of Common Core, however.

Throughout the week, TheDC will present more of Thomas’s interview with Estrada, one of America’s leading homeschooling advocates. In the interview segments, Estrada discusses looming UN Treaties that he says pack more than their titles suggest, provides his reaction to MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry challenging the primacy of parental responsibility of children and more.

And Jennifer of Victory Girls says the whole thing smells like indoctrination:

A universal set of educational standards that challenges students to become better critical thinkers sounds great, right? As a college instructor I would frankly welcome just about anything that would help my students come into college as life-long critical thinkers-note that I said “just about anything”. The one thing I cannot, and will not, welcome is what is being called the Common Core standards. It sounds great when you look at their website, it is filled with top-notch marketing copy that would make most parents grin from ear to ear (and keep in mind I say this as a marketing professional). Here is some of that copy:

“The Common Core State Standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.”

That sounds amazing, right? Standards that will help parents understand what their kids are studying in order to help them-anyone remember the “new math” our parents struggled with? Who doesn’t want their children to be better prepared and positioned to gain employment after college? The problem with common core, as with so many other things, lies beneath all that shiny, slick marketing copy and brand messaging.

Recently, The Blaze has broken stories that involve assignments taken from Common Core curricula across the country. In Albany, NY, students were actually asked to write a persuasive essay that would convince the reader that “Jews are evil” and “using solid rationale from government propaganda, convince me of your loyalty to the Third Reich!”. Let me pause for a moment, ask you to re-read that last sentence and let it sink in.

If that isn’t shocking enough for you-wait there’s more! There is another brilliant (and I use that term sarcastically) idea floating around out there in the educational stratosphere called CSCOPE. Some examples of assignments in this “instructional system” that is supposed to allow teachers across state lines line up their instructional standards by year has an assignment which asks students to design a flag for a “new socialist nation” and there is a history lesson which likens the Boston Tea Party-widely viewed as a bold movement of American patriots toward freedom-to an act of terrorism. These were both found by an independent watchdog group from Texas called the CSCOPE Review .

As an instructor, these types of assignments are distressing enough, but as a parent they are downright chilling. If you think, as I did (for about five minutes) that your child is safe if they attend private or parochial schools-not so fast. There is something called the Common Core Catholic Identity Initiative which is creeping through our nation as we speak, trying to ensure that the Common Core standards are adopted by all Catholic schools in our nation. Frighteningly enough they want to target the K-8 kids first.

I urge you, do not rest on this-call your school’s principal first thing in the morning and schedule a meeting to find out where YOUR child’s school stands on these standards. Talk to other parents, or contact groups like Americans for Prosperity (AFP) in your area and ask if they have groups opposing this in your district, city or state.

No to sound too alarmist, but remember the Hitler youth. Indoctrination of children is the one of the steps in the takeover of free nations. And if you think “That can’t happen here”, remember there are many German’s who thought the same thing-until it was too late.

Canto Talk: The Vikings – Myth, History and Television!

Dear Readers:  We have a really special episode of Canto Talk this Thursday (April 11).  Silvio and the Goddess are planning to talk to two (or three) of our favorite historians:  Barry Jacobson/Deadliest Blogger and Thrand and Eldgrimr/Well of Remembrance (Click HERE at 7 pm PST/9 pm CT/10 pm EST for podcast).

The basis for this discussion is The History Channel’s “The Vikings” series.

About which Thrand, Eldgrimr, and Barry had a very informative video discussion:

Barry will cover Norse myth and history, especially that of Ragnar Lothbrok:

Ragnar Lothbrok, Ragnar also spelled Regner, or Regnar, Lothbrok also spelled Lodbrog, or Lodbrok (flourished 9th century), Viking whose life passed into legend in medieval European literature.

In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ragnar was said to be the father of three sons, Halfdan, Inwaer (Ivar the Boneless), and Hubba (Ubbe), who led a Viking invasion of East Anglia in 865 seeking to avenge Ragnar’s murder. In the European literature of the several centuries following Ragnar’s death, his name is surrounded with considerable legend. In the Gesta Danorum (c. 1185) of the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, he was a 9th-century Danish king whose campaigns included a battle with the Holy Roman emperor Charlemagne. According to Saxo’s legendary history, Ragnar was eventually captured by the Anglo-Saxon king Aella of Northumbria and thrown into a snake pit to die.

This story is also recounted in the later Icelandic works Ragnars saga lodbrókar and Tháttr af Ragnarssonum. The 12th-century Icelandic poem Krákumál provides a romanticized description of Ragnar’s death and links him in marriage with a daughter of Sigurd (Siegfried) and Brynhild (Brunhild), figures from the heroic literature of the ancient Teutons. The actions of Ragnar and his sons are also recounted in the Orkney Islands’ poem Háttalykill.

With maybe a touch of Valhalla:

In Norse mythology, Valhalla … is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Chosen by Odin, half of those who die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freyja‘s field Fólkvangr. In Valhalla, the dead join the masses of those who have died in combat known as Einherjar, as well as various legendary Germanic heroes and kings, as they prepare to aid Odin during the events of Ragnarök. Before the hall stands the golden tree Glasir, and the hall’s ceiling is thatched with golden shields. Various creatures live around Valhalla, such as the stag Eikþyrnir and the goat Heiðrún, both described as standing atop Valhalla and consuming the foliage of the tree Læraðr.

Frankly, I prefer the ancient Egyptian view of paradise – The Field of Rushes. But, I digress.

Thrand and Eldgrimr will discuss Viking Martial Arts.

Thrand and Eldgrimr review Antony Cummins new book ” The Illustrated guide to Viking Martial arts “. For example, they cover axe throwing covered in single combat in the Sagas. They take live steel in hand and try some attempts at throwing weapons in many different ways to arrive at the best way to accomplishing this extraordinary fighting maneuver from the Saga of Legend.The mere idea that one could preform such feat intentionally gives images of warriors in the halls of Valhalla seasoned from years of combat and warriors of legend. These gems are must-sees if you are into Martial Arts,Vikings,History or dark age reenactment!!!

A few words in defense of Ashley Judd’s brief candidacy

I read with a raised eyebrow comments on Professor Jacobson’s report that Ashley Judd is no longer considering a run for the  US Senate.

As a Tea Party Democrat, I wanted to chime in.

The first point I would like to make is remind everyone that Kentucky’s Senior Senator and Senate Minority Leader Mitch Connell just voted to fund Obamacare.

Hey, remember that awesome CPAC speech by Mitch McConnell?

The one where Mitch McConnell said — and I quote — “Obamacare should be repealed root and branch. And we’re not backing down from this fight.”

And the same speech where Mitch McConnell also said, “This law is a disaster, and anybody who thinks we’ve moved beyond it is dead wrong.”

Well, as I told you, Mitch McConnell excels at saying one thing and doing another. Yesterday, Mitch McConnell voted to fund Obamacare.

To say Obamacare is a disaster would be an insult to disasters. So what’s the benefit of electing a Republican, exactly, if they vote the same as a Democrat?

Actually, most of the still-involved citizen activists I know are angrier with the Republican party now then when the Tea Party movement began in 2009. Tim Daniel of Left Coast Rebel expresses the sentiment of many people who remain in the movement:

I think this underscores that fact that we can’t support the Republican party; rather we have to support individuals (in the US Senate) such as Rand Paul, Mike Lee, etc. that do more than pay lip service to fiscal conservatism and individual rights. The problem with this is that we don’t have the time to spare any more weeding through good and bad candidates and getting enough Rand Pauls/Mike Lees/Justin Amashes in the Capital to save the nation from our self-directed collision course.

Supporting the Republican party by default is tantamount to roasting weenies in the flames engulfing our nation.

And to paraphrase something Judd said during her quasi-campaign: If I have to be screwed, I would rather be it by someone who looked like Judd and was upfront about policies, then by McConnell.

And I am a married, heterosexual woman.

But, I digress. Now for my second point: One of the hallmarks of Tea Party activism is to encourage regular citizens to participate in government.

Instead of Judd, it is likely Kentucky will have as its Democratic challenger the Secretary of State, Alison Lundergan Grimes. In fact, it is reported that Bill Clinton, a friend of Grimes’ father (Jerry Lundergan) told the 34-year-old that he and Hillary Clinton would support her candidacy.

It is important to note that papa Lundergan was Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Chairman during her Presidential run. So, now instead of potentially getting an “outsider”, Kentucky now gets to choose between Republican and Democratic “insiders”.

After being supportive of Christine O’Donnell’s candidacy for the Delaware Senate in 2010, I feel that it would be hypocritical to mock Judd for her attempt.

I would like to applaud Judd for her efforts, and encourage my Republican friends in Kentucky to find a solid primary opponent to face McConnell.