Peace is the Way

Lovable furball.

Wouldn't you rather be like Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr, than Hitler or Stalin?  War makes me ashamed to be human.  Animals only kill when they feel they need to; when survival is at stake.  Humans are hypocritical enough to say that murder is a sin and a gravely serious crime, yet do it in a war and you're a hero.  Smoke some towel heads and we'll give you a medal.  What hypocrisy!  I said that to someone and he got pissed off because he had served in the armed forces.  That's a great side to take: pro war, pro destruction, and pro killing. 
People love to mention Hitler when it comes to explaining why war is sometimes necessary.  Hitler would not have been able to do as much damage as he did if he did not have access to the tools of war: tanks, guns, battleships, warplanes, and so on.   
We are a bad-tempered breed.  I always suspected that some of the people who join the military do so because they want to kill people.  Last year, I watched a documentary about an American soldier that fought in Afghanistan.  There was a scene where he interviewed to become a marine.  He was asked why he wanted to be a marine.  He said he wanted to be a marine so he could kill people.  One of the soldiers interviewing him said something like, "Well, that's the best answer I ever heard."  How psychotic.  I wonder how well I'd do trying to impress potential employers by letting them know that I'd like to kill people.  How freaking savage.   
War is stupid and people are stupid.  It's time to get rid of it.  We cannot consider ourselves to be civilized as long as war is being waged.
I can't help thinking about the animals that are killed in wars.  I hate when the police and military train dogs to do their dirty work.  How dare they.  The dogs don't understand the risk: the danger.  It's so wrong to exploit them like that.  Dogs trust us instinctually.  Their trust shouldn't be exploited.  Leave dogs out of wars.  Just feed them, give them water and any needed medical care, pet them, hug them, and love them, because that's what they deserve. 

Holy Asteroids, Part Deux: Kickin' Asteroids.

This is Lucinda on St. Patrick's Day 2013.

Once we had packed snacks and water for the trip, Bumpkin created the life-sustaining bubble of the sort we usually use for space travel.  As usual, it will provide us with all the protection we may require: both as an outer tough wall while effortlessly maintaining the Earthly balance of gases, temperatures, and climates that we Earthlings are used to.
We took off.  We pretty much teleported right into orbit.  It's the kind of speed that Bumpkin can work with; she's amazing.  Especially when you consider that she's a groundhog; although, she's also the possessor of some of the most incredible superpowers to be bestowed upon anyone: let alone a groundhog.
Phoosh!  Bumpkin fired one of her fireballs of destruction at a nearby asteroid: direct hit!  It exploded into tiny pebbles: success!  The resulting fragments were clearly too small to ever do any damage to Mother Earth.  Bumpkin saw the results, and in the next moment, she hit another asteroid with a fireball.  It also detonated into pebbles.  She was gettin' some real work done, yes sir.  When nobody else can do nuthin' about it, sometimes the strong need to step up and mind the stopgap.  Pow!  A third asteroid was reduced to rubble by Miss Bumpy.
"Look at that big-ass one," Bumpkin told us.  We looked at the gigantic asteroid she was pointing at with her left front paw.  It was far away, a safe distance, but it was massive.  It was more than a city killer; it looked like a country killer.  Bumpkin flung a huge fireball at the mammoth asteroid.  It took a few seconds to get there; then it tore that humongous asteroid apart with a spectacular explosion.
"You nipped it in the bud, Bumpkin," I said.
"Of course.  That used to be a giant space rock that's just gonna keep floating around in space: always posing a future threat.  Now, thanks to one of my specially-tailored fireballs, it's nothing but billions and billions of tiny, practically weightless pebbles."
"On behalf of all Earthlings, please accept our heartfelt thanks.'
"Yeah.  That and 5 bucks will get me a coffee at Starbucks."
"Should I try to get out the word that you did this?"
"Do whatever you want to do.  Just realize that if you tell people a talking groundhog destroyed some asteroids today with fireballs that came out of her left front paw, then be my guest.  They'd just think you're loony tunes."