A Glibertarians Exclusive: Setting Suns, Part I
The Mediterranean coast – 28,000 years ago
In a seaside cave, in the middle of a howling wilderness, a young woman woke, stretched, scratched her ear, and looked out into the morning sunshine. Her name was Eba. She was considered a pretty girl by the standards of her people: Short and stocky but gently curved, with thick, wavy brown hair, wide cheekbones, large eyes the color of the sky, a broad, gently shaped nose, and gracefully arched brow ridges.
Ten summers earlier, Eba’s clan had crossed the mountains. Now the Runners were following them. Eba had never seen a Runner, but the clan’s elders spoke of them often: Taller than the People, with longer arms and legs and narrow, flat faces, talking constantly in their odd, chattering language and swarming over the land in great flocks, driving the game herds and the People before them. Some of the People sought them out, lived with them, and were absorbed into their large tribes, but most moved on to avoid them.
Eba could barely remember the long journey across the mountains. She had only been three summers old. It was a long walk, and her father had carried her a good part of the way, especially through the high places where the air was thin. The hunting was not good along the way, and several of the older people had dropped out of the journey. One night, as they camped overnight on a high, stony slope, Eba’s grandfather Hwoogh had slipped away into the night alone. Eba awoke that morning with the vague memory, as though from a dream, of Hwoogh hugging her and leaving his share of dried bison meat with her. “Eat well, little one,” the white-haired old man had whispered, and when Eba woke, he was gone. She cried all morning, even as the clan packed their few possessions to continue their journey.
Eba had loved the old man, who was kind to her, always sharing his portion of whatever food was available. She was sad for days, knowing that Hwoogh had walked away in the night to die, to give his children and grandchildren a better chance to live. But such was the way of the People in bad times, and during that long walk, times were bad indeed.
Now they were settled, all fourteen of Eba’s clan of the People, in a small cave close to the sea, near the great rock that another people thousands of years later would call Gibraltar.
The cave was comfortable enough. The entrance faced south to catch the sun, and the entrance was high enough to let out smoke from cooking fires. From the cave mouth, a small shelf of rock protruded over the beach, offering a fine view. The mammoth, bison and horse from their old home were not much in evidence, but there was ample smaller game, fish, and shellfish to eat. The weather was fine, warmer than in their old home, with snow a rare occurrence even in the shortest days of winter.
With Hwoogh having set his feet on the Star-Path to the next world, his brother Tuk was now the oldest of the clan’s men. As Hwoogh had done before him, Tuk wore the crown of eagle feathers that showed he was the People’s elder and thus their intercessor with the spirits of the land and the game. He conducted the rites that brought the People luck. Besides the elder Tuk, there was Hwoogh’s son Hoo, Eba’s father, and his first mate Eda, Eba’s mother. Hoo had a second mate, Pok, who had two sons, Gula and Tep. Tuk’s mate had died many summers ago, but his daughter Tlee and his son Kleg were with the People still, as was Kleg’s mate Fuu and her son Vekk. Tlee’s mate was also dead, but her two-year old son Ghee was with the group.
This was the clan that lived in the cave that faced the sea.
Eba stood up. She picked up her horse-skin wrap, stuck her head through the opening in the center and let the garment drape over her. Then she belted it at her waist with a broad leather strap to which was fastened a small pouch containing her few tools – a flint knife, a reindeer-bone hide scraper, a few ivory awls.
She walked out of the cave into the summer sunshine. Her father and Pok’s sons sat just outside the opening, inspecting their hunting spears. “Father,” Eba greeted her sire. “Gula. Tep.”
“Eba,” Hoo smiled at her. “Gather wood this morning. We will go hunt up on the highland today. Tuk tells us the day is favorable. If he is right, and the spirits of the game smile on us, we will need wood for smoking meat.”
“I will,” Eba agreed.
“Maybe we’ll run into another clan,” Gula teased. “Find you a mate, eh?”
Eba ignored the comment. She had no prospect of a mate unless one came from another clan. It was taboo to mate the sons of a parent’s siblings, and there were no other males available. There was not even a man with whom she could have been second mate, which had been Pok’s only choice.
But the clan had not encountered another group of the People in several summers.
“I told Eda and Pok I would help gather shellfish this morning,” Eba replied. “I will gather wood when that is done.”
“Good,” her father said. “We may be gone for two or three days. There is time. We cannot leave until Tuk says words over us.”
Later that morning, Tuk emerged from the back of the cave where he had been lost in meditation. The clan all gathered to watch. They fell silent as Tuk approached.
Tuk called the hunters to stand by the communal fire and waved his feathered wand over them, murmuring the words that would bring the spirits’ attention to their hunt. He touched a coal from the fire to an ivory bowl of herbs, inhaled the smoke through a reed and blew it on the hunters, staring sharply into their eyes as he did so. Then he walked to the back of the cave and ran his hand over the pattern of crossed lines etched into the rock, the pattern that represented the clan. He breathed more smoke over the etching.
Finally he walked back out to where Hoo, Gula and Tep stood. He held up his feather wand and slashed it downward. “Go,” he said. “The spirits will favor you.”
The three hunters nodded. They picked up their spears and tool-pouches and headed for the steep path that led from the beach to “above,” the grassy plain at the top of the headland.
“They will do well,” Tuk assured the clan. “It is a good day to hunt.”
Eba watched them go before returning to the seaside. There were mussels yet to gather, to ensure the clan would eat no matter what the results of the hunt were. She knew Tuk was practiced in the ways of the spirits, but still wondered if long-gone Hwoogh would have been better at persuading the fickle, invisible beings.
The hunters were gone for three days. When they returned, the sun had set, and the clan was seated around the fire, watching the Star-Path work its way across the evening sky. Hoo, Gula and Tep made their way down the path to the beach, carrying a dismembered red deer hind.
Tuk stood up and went to greet the hunters. “I knew it was a good day to hunt,” he proclaimed, taking his share of the credit for the kill. He looked keenly at the hunters in the dim light from the fire. “But there is more to tell.”
“Yes,” Hoo agreed. “We saw more than just this deer. The Runners, Uncle – they have come across the mountains. We saw two flocks of them.”
Tuk nodded. “Give the deer to the women to cut up for smoking,” he said. “Tomorrow, we will talk about this. All of us, the whole clan, will talk about this.”
***
Gazing at the fire,
Burning by the water,
Before he speaks,
The world around us quiets.
With eyes as sharp as arrows,
And turning to the fire,
He clears the air and cuts it with a feather.
Note: This one isn’t a Bob Dylan creation but was in fact written by The Grateful Dead’s Donna Jean Godchaux. You can hear the original here.
Love it!
Thanks Animal.
Mmmm…smoked venison.
The “experts” can’t seem to agree on whether Cro-Magnons bred with Neanderthals, fought them to extinction, or just adapted better to the warming climate. Probably all 3.
Given the amount of neanderthal DNA in modern humans, we know there was intermixing. Also, the most chronologically recent Neanderthal skeletons show genetic markers of inbreeding, so the picture appears to be that some groups of Neanderthals mixed with the invaders, some did not. Those who did not were driven into more remote areas where population declines eventually led to inbreeding problems, and eventual disappearance of that branch.
This is the latest estimates I’ve seen. I don’t see how climate change (read: glaciations) could have been a huge factor, since the Neandertal had already lived quite well through several glacial periods. But that last one combined with the arrival of H. sapiens may have been too much for them. Evidence does indicate that the Neandertal lived in small family groups, where our primary ancestors lived in large tribes.
The hypothesis is that they specialized in hunting megafauna up close, which is why some of them would have broken powerlifting records. But warming PLUS human hunting wiped out the mammoths and their ilk.
Yeah, Neandertal skeletons often show a suite of distinctive injuries shared with one group of people around today – rodeo riders.
Bunch of Homos.
Well, it couldn’t have been a warming climate back then, it was Edan before the evils of Oil, SUV’s and Republicans.
So, unpossible.
Now I find myself wondering at the ancient range of reindeer.
Fucking Runners, though. Messing everything up.
Thanks, Animal. As usual, you hooked me early!
Another great start, Animal.
Always though, as in modern life, “It’s always something”
Great intro, gotta watch out for those damn runners.
Accountability is for schmucks.
Comey: ‘If Trump is elected he might weaponize the justice system against us just as we weaponized it against him.’
So, strawberry is now a newsie?
Stepping stones to the money.
Propagandist.
I mean, MSNBC, right?
Propagandist
I said that didn’t I?
You could power a small city by hooking up to that revolving door.
Brandon is the one true statesman.
Psaki said, “You are Republican most of your life, and you may still consider yourself one, but voted for Biden in 2020. Do you intend to vote for him again or is there anyone on the Republican side you might consider, if it’s not Trump?”
Comey replied, “It has to be Joe Biden. And I’m glad he’s willing to serve.”
He added, “It has to be somebody committed to the rule of law, committed to the values of this country. And I’m not talking about policy. People can disagree about policy. There are things above those disagreements that all of us should think about the same way. The president must be someone who abides the law and our Constitution. And there’s no one else but Joe Biden.”
I despise that particular way to describe being a politician or government worker.
Like it’s some great sacrifice he’s making on our behalf.
For me, this might be the strongest argument in favor of term limits. I can accept that MOST people get into politics because they really do want to serve their constituents. But within a few years most of the them are corrupted.
Biden is giving them free reign to do whatever the fuck they want. They will fight tooth and nail to keep him.
Well, I’m getting sick of this kind of shit: “The president must be someone who abides the law and our Constitution. And there’s no one else but Joe Biden.”
This was what happened in 2016 & 2020: Trump is the family values candidate; Hilary is the most competent candidate ever; Joe will bring back in integrity.
I’d be happy with people saying, “he’s a son-of-a-bitch but he’s our son-of-a-bitch; now here’s the REAL reason I’m voting for this candidate.” We can call it the Trujillo-Somoza standard.
“But we’re the good guys!”
Apparently the narrative is about to spin out of control, so much so that the NYT is prepping the ground.
Yep. Marching orders were delivered and the regime propaganda machine engaged.
Sorry, Ukraine. You just got democracied.
They should’ve checked with the Kurds about our reliability.
I read a book on the history of Ukraine. One of the major points is that they ally themselves with stronger powers they think will help them, and they end up getting screwed. This likely will be the latest example. It’s probably always been the same for smaller countries.
If you assume the NYT is just a branch of the CIA, which is a safe assumption, then yes, Ukraine is going to get thrown under the bus. My guess is we’ll next see stories about corrupt Ukraine officials misusing Biden’s billions.
And by misusing you mean didn’t make kick back 10% to the big guy. Which now that I type it is not really the type of rookie mistake the Ukrainians would make.
They have years of practice.
Miss me with this nonsense.
RADDATZ: I want a very quick question here in the end. You were introduced yesterday in Iowa as the intellectual godfather of the anti-woke movement. Would you reinstate the ban on transgender members of the military?
RAMASWAMY: I would not reinstate a ban on transgender members. I would, however, be very clear that for kids, that’s where my policies are very focused. We should not be foisting this ideology onto children.
RADDATZ: But you would not ban transgender members of the military?
RAMASWAMY: I would not.
The ratchet only turns one way.
You know, every ratchet I’ve ever seen has a toggle to switch directions.
My ratchet straps only have a release, but point taken.
That would be an even faster reversal.
Until today
You can link, but you can’t make me click.
I’d bet you’ve already seen these.
I decline the bet, as it would require verifying and thus seeing whatever thing you’ve linked to.
You already looked. I know you did. You just don’t want to admit you were wrong. It’s OK, UCS. We still
loveliketolerate youDon’t be silly.
I was debating whether to look after work, but have not, and now will continue to not.
Yep. They don’t just “tolerate” transgender members of the military. They pay for the surgery and grant them all the recovery time needed – readiness be dammed.
Playing the fiddle while Rome burns.
This period of US history is going to be quite perplexing to future historians (post whatever dark ages we are headed into now).
How did the instrument in the saying beomce a fiddle? The violin wasn’t invented for centuries after the fire. (Not that the slander was accurate. Nero had his flaws, but was fairly active during the fire response)
Thirty years ago, the collapse of the Roman Republic into an Empire was confusing to me as was the complete indifference most Romans had towards the barbarian invasions during the final collapse of the Empire. Now I understand.
I look forward to being invaded by the barbarians from the north.
Unfortunately, that’s not the barbarian invasion you get.
Ew. You want to be ruled by flappy-headed maple eaters?
Well, they’d have to win first.
I figured MN would filter most of the out before they got to Iowa.
Needs more pregnant fighter pilots.
The answer in the military is to make all soldiers be, well, soldiers. Shaved head, no makeup, fatigues, no differentiation between sexes, enlisted in group barracks, and so on.
Sure, you can be trans, but you just can not be special.
This is so stupid. Not everyone is accepted into the military, due to age, disability, etc., and I have no problem with that. Anything that distracts from the overall mission or reduces the effectiveness of the team shouldn’t be tolerated. They wouldn’t take me in my youth and I’m fine with it. But just like everything else lately, ESG uber alles.
Glibs and Gliberinas, I present to you the next president of the United States: NoDak Governor Doug Burgum.
Who da fuq is that?
*what* da fuq is that?
If a former governor of Arkansas can become president, why not a NoDak?
Exactly. Everyone laughing at his chances seem to have short memories.
Chris Christie has a better shot.
Bush I was considered a shoe-in for re-election, so all the high-powered Dems stayed out of it.
Bush’s numbers collapsed during the early primary season, and R Perot helped steal the election from him.
Bill, wouldn’t have been elected in two-way race.
Read my lips…
He would have won if he hadn’t lied.
Agreed.
That really did him in. He wasn’t particularly appealing to voters to begin with, but that was his “you had ONE job” moment, and he failed. If he’d shown some backbone, it would have been enough.
I could live with him.
Yeah. Of those who have so declared, he gets my primary vote if I can be arsed to do it. And not because of a NoDak bias. So far, I think he’s the best candidate.
Great news, everyone!
Cornell West is running for president: https://twitter.com/CornelWest/status/1665743761551548416
Should I have any idea who that is?
I’d say ‘yes’ – he’s of note, although hasn’t been in the news as often as he was maybe a decade ago.
He’s the guy who’s going to be blamed and called a splitter if Biden doesn’t win.
He plays the role of a really smart guy on entertainment news shows, without ever saying anything the least bit intelligent.
Black Yahoo Serious hair with Michael Strahan teeth, dresses like Frederick Douglas and talks like Mao.
I fully endorse this description.
Dang, he’s on his 5th marriage.
I’m not saying he’s the cause of his 4 divorces, but I am saying he’s the common denominator.
Do you know for sure he got divorced 4 times? Maybe he killed them.
Wikipedia (std disclaimer) reads ‘div’ next to each of them; otherwise I might agree with you.
Are you sure those weren’t improper HTML tags?
This race needed more grifters.
I can start an exploratory committee.
I’ll be your campaign treasurer.
I already have campaign staff!
Woohoo!
I call Press Secretary.
I’m afraid the position is unpaid, apparently MikeS emptied the campaign accounts and skipped town.
No, I’m going to wait until they fill up a bit first.I forcefully deny your spurious allegation, sir!
Not in my back yard.
“Newsom learned the migrants were taken from TX to NM, then flown to Sacramento on a private jet.
“Newsom and CA DOJ are working together to determine who paid for the travel of the migrants and whether they were misled, given false promises or kidnapped”
Interesting since the feds are shipping them around the country.
Not in my back yard.
“Sacramento’s Mayor:
” ‘Human trafficking is not only despicable; it’s a felony. I urge authorities to investigate how 16 vulnerable people were lured from El Paso, to Sacramento.
” ‘Is there anything more cruel than using scared human beings to score cheap political points?’ “
Interesting since the feds are shipping them around the country.
It’s different when we do it!
Human trafficking is not only despicable; it’s a felony.
Yes, it is. It’s also not what is happening here, pretty obviously.
Is there anything more cruel than using scared human beings to score cheap political points?
Is there anything more common, in politics?
An accurate description of the benefits package and sanctuary cities would be more than enough for most illegals to agree to go to CA.
That guy is the personification of chutzpah.
LOL.
I missed the ‘Parody’ at first – it seems like the sort of thing the real Elon might post
A Blue-checked parody account of the boss. That’s funny
Hey, $8 is $8.
Same as downtown.
“Sometimes I love the Internet”
https://twitter.com/hippojuicefilm/status/1665796269728575488
Yes, me too.
“I was looking for the clownest f**king clown ass take on these urban street takeovers and by God I found it”
Cleansing fire.
“Professional explainer”
AKA “stupiddouchebag”
Is there anything more cruel than using scared human beings to score cheap political points?
Let’s ask the Sandy Hookers.
Sandy hookers really chap my hide.
Hundreds of Gannett journalists walk out
Hundreds of journalists for the country’s largest newspaper chain walked off the job on Monday, accusing the company’s chief executive of decimating its local newsrooms, and demanding a change at the top.
The walkout was the biggest labor action in Gannett’s history, said the union representing the journalists. It included workers from about two dozen newsrooms, including The Palm Beach Post, The Arizona Republic and The Austin American-Statesman. The demonstrations are expected to continue on Tuesday for some newsrooms.
Striking against a dying industry. Not a great plan.
They should learn to code, like coal miners.
He only fired ten percent of them? That doesn’t seem so bad, as downsizings go.
They’re journalists – you can’t expect them to know what decimate means.
I read that as cutting 90%, which isn’t great, but it’s a pretty good start
That should make picking the candidates for the next round of layoffs a little easier.
So the journalists walked off the job because there is a RIF going on?
Bold strategy.
Good start, Animal. There’s an air of tragedy about it – the twilight of a people. Gosh, why does that strike a chord?