Totally off the beaten path

I sat down to get back to work on this bit of POS that I started last night...and wound up having Jake sit down with me and say, "Consider this..." and we started a new story about him and Antony. I wrote 7 pages on it. I have no idea what the story's about, yet; it just popped out. And Brendan stood by and watched.

Schizo-phreak, thy name is Kyle.

But it WAS a pretty intense bit I wrote, last night, and what came out of Jake was tender and loving and understanding, so maybe I needed that to be able to keep going with the intense, later. Maybe I'll alternate between the two stories -- I honestly don't know what will happen, now; I've given myself over to whichever one wants to come out. Maybe that's lazy on my part...or more avoidance...I dunno. I just felt right doing it so I'm not apologizing. Just wondering if I have any control left on my brain, at all.

The Orangies of Northern Ireland, in their infinite stupidity, went marching on July 12th, again. And there were some nasty riots, again. I just watched video of it and have to admit the PSNI (what the RUC became about 10 years ago) handled themselves with amazing restraint against some truly maniacal kids using pipes and planks of wood as battering rams against the cops' riot shields. Twenty years ago they'd have been chasing those kids with swinging batons and firing plastic bullets. At least that's gotten better.

Anyway, the point is, like many stupid people who refuse to learn, the Orange Order once again provoked a riot by trying to rub the noses of the Catholic community into their loss at the Battle of the Boyne in 1691. That's when Protestants took Ireland over, completely, outlawed Catholicism and forbade the teaching of Gaelic. Catholics who had property were forced off their lands, which were handed over to Scottish settlers. And they'll probably do the same stupid thing again on August 12th, next month, and there will be more riots. and more property destroyed and people hurt. And they will not back down because they are just plain stupid.

You know, Catholics have been forced to accept this arrogant nonsense for centuries...until the Orangies even more stupidly set off riots across the North by doing their thing on July 12th and then August 12th in 1969. It's like they wanted there to be conflict. Maybe they thought they'd win...but history shows that was nonsense. Nobody wins in situations like this. People die. Others are maimed both physically and mentally. Everyone is made poorer. And each side blames the other for all of it.

Guess it's just another form of schizo-phreaking.