OUR ETERNAL STRUGGLE: August 2006

Saturday, August 26, 2006

SCOTTISH WOMAN KICKED OFF AIRLINER

Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

NOTE: "My unpopular and controversial personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."

AUTUMN 2006 "IONNSAICADH AR CANAN"

***** WARNING!!! *****

This dangerously illegal and immoral subversive underground resistance message is being surreptitiously monitored by the Beaming Internet Government Broadband Radio Oscillation Telecommunications Hearing Electronic Reconnaissance (i.e., B.I.G. B.R.O.T.H.E.R.) as part of a coordinated official clandestine domestic surveillance investigation, in cooperation with the National Administration of Zealous Interrogation (i.e., N.A.Z.I.) and the Commission On Message Monitoring Investigative Electronics (i.e., C.O.M.M.I.E.).

Serious felony criminal charges are pending, with extreme penalties yet to be determined!

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Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space:

Here is my most recent column of "IONNSAICADH AR CANAN", submitted for publication in the August 2006 edition of "AN CANACH" (i.e., "THE COTTON"), the official newsletter of CLAN HENDERSON SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

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IONNSAICADH AR CANAN
(LEARNING OUR LANGUAGE)

By:
John Robert Mallernee, Clan Bard

As in previous columns on this subject, I continue to offer the caveat that I'm writing about something I know absolutely nothing about!

I recently purchased a new computer, which uses Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Unfortunately, almost all of my old software, including my Gaelic Language CD, "SPEAKING OUR LANGUAGE", was obsolete and could not be supported by the new operating system.

When I accessed the web site of BRUIDHINN AR CANAN (i.e., "SPEAKING OUR LANGUAGE"), I found that it was also obsolete and no longer functioning properly.

That web site URL is:

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/ionnsachadh/bac/

You could learn a few words and phrases, but that was it.

The links necessary for further progression no longer work.

Another resource that has disappeared are the discussion forums, with questions and answers, at the SAVE SCOTTISH GAELIC web site.

That web site URL is:

http://savegaelic.org/

The web site moderators found it necessary to close those discussion forums due to misbehavior by some of the forum participants.

However, that web site is still an excellent resource for reference materials, and from what I can find, they offer the most up to date Scottish Gaelic language course, i.e., the only one I can find with a CD, plus a text.

Since I haven't yet purchased that particular language course, I can't vouch for its quality, or possible drawbacks.

Still, if'n I had my "d'ruthers", I "d'ruther" have my old "SPEAKING OUR LANGUAGE" CD, because it had video, music, animated cartoons, and a dictionary, complete with a bonny Hielander lassie teaching the course (I dinnae ken her name, but I'm in love!).

It was all based on a BBC television series, apparently done several years ago.

Some time back, a MacDonald living on the Isle of Lewis, whom I know from the Internet, sent me a gift of a Gaelic language "NEW TESTAMENT", which is another resource for learning a few words, for instance, how to pray in Gaelic.

You can obtain a Gaelic edition of the entire "HOLY BIBLE" from the SCOTTISH BIBLE SOCIETY.

Their web site is:

http://www.scottishbibles.com/acatalog/Scottish_Gaelic.html

They also offer an edition written in both English and Gaelic, side-by-side.

If you wish to ask questions and exchange views on the language of our ancestors, I recommend THE BLOOD IS STRONG web site, as they have forums for discussing not only Gaelic language, but also Scottish language, which is the language spoken by the majority of Scots, is the language of Robert Burns, and is the official language of the Scottish Court.

The web site URL for THE BLOOD IS STRONG is:

http://thebloodisstrong.com/

You can read what is posted at the forums, but you must register before you will be permitted to contribute your own opinions or inquiries.

Registration and participation are free.

As I desperately scoured the Internet looking for some way to replace my old software, I checked at our CLAN HENDERSON SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA web site and - - - guess what?

We already have the best Gaelic language course on the World Wide Web right at our own web site!

It is the "BEAG AIR BHEAG" course (i.e., "LITTLE BY LITTLE"), which is located in the ADOLESCENT/YOUNG ADULT section of CLAN HENDERSON - KIDS in the HENDERSON MISCELLANY category at the CLAN HENDERSON SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA web site.

That web site URL is:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/alba/foghlam/beag_air_bheag/index.shtml

Similarly, our clan's web site also features "BASIC GAELIC FOR PARENTS", which is located in the CLAN HENDERSON - KIDS section of the HENDERSON MISCELLANY category at the CLAN HENDERSON SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA web site.

That web site URL is:

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/ionnsachadh/bgfp/

We can thank David Henderson, our clan's web master, and Ann Hicks, the clan's youth activities co-ordinator, for having led us to these invaluable learning resources.

The home page for the complete listing of Internet courses on Gaelic language is at:

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/ionnsachadh/

As you can see, personal home computers are no longer an optional luxury item, but have become an essential resource for rapidly obtaining information which used to be extremely slow and tedious, or even impossible to gain access to, and the price of personal home computers has become increasingly affordable, responding to the economics of supply and demand.

For those of you without personal home computers - - ?

Hmmmmm - - - , let's see if I can find you a "snail" mail address (i.e. the more and more obsolete, expensive, and inefficient United States Postal System) you can write to with the old fashioned pen and paper.

Here is where you can write or telephone THE SCOTTISH BIBLE SOCIETY:

Scottish Bible Society
7 Hampton Terrace
Edinburgh
EH12 5XU
United Kingdom

Phone: 0131 337 9701
Fax: 0131 337 0641

In fact, the Internet has proven to be so vitally essential, that you can now go to any public library and use the free computers, with free high speed access to the Internet.

With the advent of wireless fidelity (i.e., "wi-fi"), it's now possible to use the Internet without paying any fee, depending on your location (and I'm one of those lucky enough to have a wi-fi connection).

Indeed, some communities are now making the Internet available to everyone, because it improves the intellect and quality of life for all of society.

The officially stated goal of the United States of America is to make the World Wide Web available to all citizens, without cost.

Would you like to be able to compose e-mails or documents with traditional Celtic letters?

To tell the truth, I've had my own Celtic fonts for so long, I can't remember where I got them.

But, using the GOOGLE search engine, I typed in "CELTIC FONTS" and - - - voila!

Here is one web site URL (there are also others) where you can download Celtic fonts into your computer:

http://www.moorstation.org/fontennium/celtic/fscelt1.htm

After downloading and unzipping the file, just "COPY" and "PASTE" the Celtic font icon(s) into the "FONTS" folder located in your computer's "CONTROL PANEL".

That's how I did it.

But the down side is, when you write with Celtic fonts, unless the recipient also has Celtic fonts on their computer, they won't see anything but plain ordinary letters.

Still, it's something to mess around with and see what happens.

There's something else I have on my computer that I wish I could share.

It is a "MACFARLANE - MACBAIN GAELIC - ENGLISH DICTIONARY", which I downloaded free from the Internet several years ago.

Unfortunately, I can not remember where I got that free dictionary from, nor can I find it using any computer search engine.

There are several versions of Gaelic-English dictionaries, but you have to use them on line.

The advantage of my dictionary is, I can use it even when I'm not connected to the Internet, which is very handy.

But, let us remember that the Highlanders were always the minority in Scotland, and Gaelic is therefore a minority language, which sad to say, fewer and fewer Scots speak.

The future doesn't look bright, for I've been told that Scottish children, when attending Gaelic classes in school, continue to speak English, for they don't think it's "cool" to speak Gaelic.

On the other hand, let's not forget that there is yet another language in Scotland, known as "Lallans", or the language of Lowlanders, and it is Scotland's official language, spoken by the majority of the population.

But, not to worry - - - , for everybody in Scotland speaks English.

So, have yourself a wee bit o' fun and "ionnsaicadh ar canan"!

Thirty

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Years ago, when attending a journalism class at Westminster College, I learned that all news reports have the word "Thirty" to indicate to the editor where the report ends.

The published edition never shows it, as it is solely for the use of the reporter, editor, composer, and printer.

I have no idea of the origin of that archaic newspaper tradition, but it's an interesting bit of trivia, hey?

This is a special edition of "AN CANACH", in honor of our clan chief, Alistair D. Henderson of Fordell, who is visiting America in October 2006.

Thank you.

John Robert "SAIGON" Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

NOTE: "My unpopular and controversial personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."

Thursday, August 24, 2006

VERY Inspiring Story (- - - And TRUE!!!)

***** WARNING!!! *****

This dangerously illegal and immoral subversive underground resistance message is being surreptitiously monitored by the Beaming Internet Government Broadband Radio Oscillation Telecommunications Hearing Electronic Reconnaissance (i.e., B.I.G. B.R.O.T.H.E.R.) as part of a coordinated official clandestine domestic surveillance investigation, in cooperation with the National Administration of Zealous Interrogation (i.e., N.A.Z.I.) and the Commission On Message Monitoring Investigative Electronics (i.e., C.O.M.M.I.E.).

Serious felony criminal charges are pending, with extreme penalties yet to be determined!

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Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space:

While checking my e-mail, I also look at reports of the latest Internet hoaxes, scams, and urban legends.

Here's one I haven't even seen (probably because I delete almost all forwarded e-mails without reading them).

This particular story is TRUE, as verified by the SNOPES web site, which investigates and categorizes currently circulating Internet legends, publishing the veracity or disproving a particular article.

I'm sharing this with you because, not only has it been verified as true, it is exceptionally inspirational.

Here is the URL for the SNOPES web site:

http://www.snopes.com/

Here is the article, which has been proven to be true:

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"STRONGEST DAD IN THE WORLD"

Glurge: E-Mail describes the Hoyts, a father and disabled son who participate as a team in marathons.

Status: TRUE

Example: Collected via E-Mail, 2006

Last updated: 22 August 2006

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I try to be a good father.

I give my kids mulligans.

I work nights to pay for their text messaging.

I take them to swim suit shoots.

But, compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times, he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, twenty-six and two tenths miles in marathons.

Eight times, he's not only pushed him twenty-six and two tenths miles in a wheelchair, but also towed him two and two fifths miles in a dinghy while swimming, and pedaled him one hundred twelve miles in a seat on the handlebars of a bicycle, all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing, and once hauled him across the United States of America on a bike.

That makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father?

Not much, except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Massachusetts, forty-three years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life," Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old.

"Put him in an institution."

But the Hoyts weren't buying it.

They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room.

When Rick was eleven years old, they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate.

"No way," Dick says he was told.

"There's nothing going on in his brain."

"Tell him a joke," Dick countered.

They did.

Rick laughed.

It turns out a lot was going on in his brain.

Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate.

First words?

"Go Bruins!"

And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out,

"Dad, I want to do that."

Yeah, right.

How was Dick, a self-described "porker" who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles?

Still, he tried.

"Then it was me who was handicapped," Dick says.

"I was sore for two weeks."

That day changed Rick's life.

"Dad," he typed,

"when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!"

And that sentence changed Dick's life.

He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could.

He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the Nineteen Seventy-Nine Boston Marathon.

"No way," Dick was told by a race official.

The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor.

For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway.

Then they found a way to get into the race officially:

In Nineteen Eighty-Three, they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said,

"Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?"

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his one hundred ten pound kid through a triathlon?

Still, Dick tried.

Now they've done two hundred twelve triathlons, including four grueling fifteen hour Ironmans in Hawaii.

It must be a buzzkill to be a twenty-five year old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own?

"No way," he says.

Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling" he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim, and ride together.

This year, at ages sixty-five and forty-three, Dick and Rick finished their twenty-fourth Boston Marathon, in five thousand eighty-third place out of more than twenty thousand starters.

Their best time?

Two hours, forty minutes in Nineteen Ninety-Two, only thirty-five minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.

"No question about it," Rick types.

"My dad is the Father of the Century."

And Dick got something else out of all this too.

Two years ago, he had a mild heart attack during a race.

Doctors found that one of his arteries was ninety-five per cent clogged.

"If you hadn't been in such great shape," one doctor told him,

"you probably would've died fifteen years ago."

So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's lives.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Massachusetts, always find ways to be together.

They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

"The thing I'd most like," Rick types,

"is that my dad would sit in the chair and I would push him once."

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URBAN LEGENDS REFERENCE PAGES
© 1995 - 2006
by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson

This material may not be reproduced without permission.

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The original author of that e-mail is unidentified.

Here is the URL for the article you have just read:

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/teamhoyt.asp

Here is the web site for "TEAM HOYT", i.e., "THE STRONGEST DAD IN THE WORLD":

http://www.teamhoyt.com/

Here is the URL for the video, which you can watch on your computer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjPrL3n63yg

If you wish to share this inspiring message with multiple recipients, then please be considerate when composing your e-mail, and select "BLIND CARBON COPY" (or "BCC"), in order to conceal the identity of each individual and preserve everyone's privacy.

Thank you.

John Robert "SAIGON" Mallernee, KB3KWS

Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

NOTE: "My unpopular and controversial personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."

Friday, August 18, 2006

LDS Web Site Discoveries

Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space:

While surfing the Net this morning, I discovered a couple of really worthwhile web sites for those of us who are members of the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints (i.e., the so-called "Mormon" church).

One of the web sites is "MERIDIAN" magazine, and it has a radio broadcast, "CRICKET AND SEAGULL", that I'm listening to on my computer right now, as I'm typing this message.

Here is the web site URL for "MERIDIAN" magazine:

http://www.meridianmagazine.com/

Here is the web site URL for the "CRICKET AND SEAGULL" radio broadcast:

http://www.meridianmagazine.com/radio/index.html

The other web site that is a VERY useful resource for Latter-day Saints is the Scholarly and Historical Information Exchange for Latter-day Saints (i.e., "S.H.I.E.L.D.S.").

Here is their web site URL:

http://www.shields-research.org/index.htm

One really important feature at the S.H.I.E.L.D.S. web site is their publication of myths, urban legends, and hoaxes, i.e., Latter-day Saint "faith promoting rumors" which are circulated within the Church.

That particular URL is:

http://www.shields-research.org/Hoaxes/Hoaxes.htm

Posted at their web site is an extract from an official announcement, issued by the First Presidency, regarding Latter-day Saint "faith promoting rumors", and here it is:

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"From time to time statements are circulated among members which are inaccurately attributed to the leaders of the Church.

Many such statements distort current Church teachings and are often based on rumors and innuendos.

They are never transmitted officially, but by word of mouth, e-mail, or other informal means.

We encourage members of the Church to never teach or pass on such statements without verifying that they are from approved Church sources, such as official statements, communications, and publications.

Any notes made when General Authorities, Area Authority Seventies, or other general Church officers speak at regional and stake conferences or other meetings should not be distributed without the consent of the speaker.

Personal notes are for individual use only.

True spiritual growth is based on studying the scriptures, the teachings of the Brethren, and Church publications."

13 May 2004

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Ain't this great stuff?

I'm so excited, I ain't even gotten around to reading the S.H.I.E.L.D.S. Blog yet, because I'm so busy putting together this e-mail to send out.

Here is the URL for the S.H.I.E.L.D.S. Blog web site:

http://www.shields-research.org/WP/

If you wish to share this message with others, please be considerate and use blind carbon copies to conceal the identity of individual recipients, in order to preserve everyone's privacy.

Thank you.

John Robert "SAIGON" Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

NOTE: "My unpopular and controversial personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Movie Critique: "SAINTS AND SOLDIERS"

Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space:

I just finished watching a DVD, "SAINTS AND SOLDIERS", which is a movie about a Latter-day Saint returned missionary serving in the 101st Airborne during the Battle of the Bulge and the Malmedy Massacre.

Here is the web site URL where you can learn about the movie:

http://www.saintsandsoldiers.com/

During the entire movie, they never once actually use the words "Mormon", "Latter-day Saint", or "LDS", but those of us who are active members of the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints (i.e., the "Mormon" church) will instantly recognize the attributes peculiar to a returned missionary, and those of us who are Latter-day Saint military veterans will also recognize the familiar "Serviceman's Kit" issued to us by our bishop when we entered the Armed Forces.

The movie is based on true events, and the star of the show carries the same photograph of his grandmother that his grandfather carried during the war.

Another actor in the movie requested, and was granted, that the name of his character be changed to his actual grandfather's name, because his grandfather was in the Battle of the Bulge.

I had ordered two (02) copies of the DVD, one for myself, and one to donate to the Old Soldiers' Home, as this movie could be an excellent missionary tool.

The DVDs arrived in today's "snail" mail, so that's why I was able to watch the movie.

This film has also been shown on cable television's History Channel.

Rest assured that this film is clean enough for your whole family to watch together, and yet it has enough explosive violent bloody macho action that us guys can enjoy it.

Pass the popcorn, please.

Thank you.

John Robert Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

NOTE: "My unpopular and controversial personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."

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