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Land of Fire & Ice: Iceland

I am not sure why but these past few days I have just gotten this urge to travel to Iceland. There’s just something about this breathtaking country that is calling my name and do I seriously wish I can just book a ticket right now and go explore the beautiful “Land of Fire and Ice”. Doesn’t that sound epic?

Iceland has the most vast landscapes that just are so simplified and wild and I think that is what completely draws me in. You’d think because it’s called Iceland that there would be plenty of ice everywhere, but that’s not entirely the case. In fact, Greenland is very icy and Iceland is very green. Oh and also don’t forget how interesting this country is – you might be wondering why it’s known as  the “Land of light and darkness?”

Well, Iceland has some of the world’s largest active volcanoes and also some of the largest glaciers in all of Europe.

In summertime you definitely won’t have a vitamin D deficiency, cause you get to have nearly 24 hours of sunshine, but you better soak it up because when the cold, winter days come, you’ll only get a few hours of sunlight.

How stunning is this photograph of British photographer, James Appleton – the northern lights and an erupted volcano in one photo?!

I have heard a few times that Iceland is one of the happiest countries in the world! That’s probably because of their good living quality and they’re also very generous people – more reasons why I want to travel there! Did you know that the Icelandic language is actually one of the least changed languages of the Nordic countries and they try their best to keep it that way! That’s pretty awesome.

I just can’t get over how unbelievably, breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL this country is!!!

If I were ever to visit Iceland, I’d definitely want to visit and explore the capital, Reykjavík, see the classical Blue Lagoon and of course, the most magical and breathtaking of them all, the Northern Lights.

This country has sooo much more interesting facts and I wish I can type it all for you guys, but it really is a lot! But, if you want to know more about this amazing country, go to the link to read 25 facts about Iceland.

Iceland reminds me so much of the ancient times and it really is still so “ancient” if I can put it that way. The fact that they preserve their language and traditions, they have a very organic diet and way of life and I respect them for that.

Despite the fact that so many countries around the world have been influenced so much by the new modern age in terms of language, traditions and just the general way of life, Iceland has developed into a country with a high quality lifestyle for entirety of the country, without having to throw away their original/ancestral language, traditions and general lifestyle.

 And I just love that.

Don’t you think this looks like the perfect spot to set up a camp?

 Thank you for reading,

Have you ever been to Iceland and what was your experience? Tell me in the comments!

Follow me at https://simplymypleasure.blogspot.com for more.

Signing off…

___Dev

(As per usual, all of the photographs are not mine, I found them on Google Images and do not know who the original photographers/owners of each photo are – so all credits to them. All I know is that they were super lucky to have been able to visit Iceland (: )

US Gun Shot: My Open Letter

My Open Letter: US Gun Shot

My Open Letter to Everybody Effected by the Tragedy, Yes, even You, too….

 

Only yesterday morning, I realized that when my better half wakes up and goes to work, she always leaves before I get to say bye to her. She’s a middle school teacher for special education children–so she always gets there early. My son is 18, finishing up his senior year. He’s busy every day, and I realized that before he goes to school, I usually don’t get to say bye to him, either. And it didn’t hit me until yesterday that 17 families, living the same busy lives that we live, in a completely different state as me, may also have not said goodbye– only to never be able to say hello again. And yes, the pot will be stirred and the flag will be drawn at half point, people will change their statuses on social media and donate to the Go Fund me pages of families who didn’t plan on burying their 15 year olds. Their father, their sister, their brother– their classmates, their friends, and their teachers…

And all I can think about is how I didn’t say bye to my wife this morning. I didn’t say goodbye to my son. That my wife is the kind of teacher that would lay on the bodies of her students to protect them. That, I don’t know if my son would know where to run or what to do if there was an active shooter in his school.

Meanwhile, arguments are on high about how schools should be dressed as prisons with guards, metal detectors, armed military and guns, for teachers to protect themselves and their children. Meanwhile, you are arguing that if we take away guns, we must take away cars too, because accidents happen every day. Meanwhile you wear your patriotism like a glove and say “NOT ME– you will never take away MY rights. Even if it means ” another man taking away my child’s life in their classroom, I. Will. Own. A. Gun.” And as we have these arguments, another person is planning the next mass shooting. Planning the destruction of another 10, 15, 20, 50 families in America.

 

Dear teachers and educators,

 

Thank you. Thank you for protecting your children. For standing with them and for being on their side. For being brave when they cannot. Thank you for using your minds to fuel their futures, for believing in every child, despite how difficult they may be. Thank you for using your bodies to shield them. For using your hands to guide them into a safe place while you guard the door and pray that you don’t need to be the only thing between them and a chunk of lead flying through the air, being triggered by the hands of one man. Thank you for embodying the bravery of a real soldier, taking on a job that you never applied for. Thank you for being not only an educator, but a protector.

 

Dear students,

 

I am so sorry. Your lives are changed forever, your minds and your hearts are permanently damaged from an event that should not happen to any child. You should not be afraid to go to school, you should not be afraid to go to the movies, you should not be afraid to be a child. No amount of thoughts and prayers will ever be able to give you back your teachers, your classmates, or rid you of trauma. Your Valentine’s day will forever be different, your outlook on life as you know it will never be the same. I am so sorry on behalf of all the adults speaking out on this event, who have no idea what it is like to be you, to see what you saw, or feel the fear you felt. I am so sorry on behalf of the political leaders who are not on your side. And most importantly, I am so sorry on behalf of every individual blaming you for this horrific event. As you clean the blood off of your shoes, and sleep at night and hear the voices of your classmate’s screaming and crying, the constant rounds of bullets being fired down hallways of your school– know that this is not normal. This does not have to be your new normal. And there are people fighting for you. And the only prayer that I have is that in your time of healing, that we will win this fight.

Dear parents,

 

You should not have to fear for your child’s life. You should not have to have these conversations. It is not a normal thing for a parent to have to bury their child. I am so sorry that you not only have to live in fear for your own life, but for your children’s lives as well. For those of you who have lost children, there are no words. Nothing that will bring them back, nothing that will change their fate or heal your pain. All we can do is ignite change and hope that your pain is not wasted. To parents who have not lost their children to gun violence, be good to those who have. Tread lightly with your words and hug your child tighter. Be thankful that you have the privilege to do so. And if you can, fight to keep them safe, fight for their lives and for their safety.

 

Dear Law Abiding Gun Owner,

 

I hope you understand that no one is trying to destroy your rights. No one is trying to tyrannically punish you. But our children are dying, our teachers are dying to protect them. The glock hanging on your belt or the hand gun tucked away in your glove box cannot protect dozens of people in a mass shooting. And please, just remember, we aren’t asking to rid you of your rights (especially if you are a law abiding citizen), but we are asking for common sense gun laws– screening, tests, background checks, and yes, we want it to be difficult. Because buying a weapon designed to kill should not be an easy thing to do.

 

Before you go to bed tonight, think–Did you say it? “I love you.” “I miss you.” “I don’t want to live without you.” “You changed my life.” Go about your days. Follow through with your plans. But every now and then, stop and look around. Take it all in. Because at any given moment it can be gone. 

 

___Dev

GUNS ARE IN AMERICA’S DNA

Case Study 1: United Kingdom

Hungerford Massacre 1987: 16 people died by a lone gunman. Result: semi automatic and pump-action weapons banned. Registration mandatory for owning shotguns. And the bucks doesn’t  stops here:

Dunblane, Scotland 1996: One unspeakable coward bastard (sorry for my language) entered the gymnasium of a primary school (yea friends primary school) and  opened fire from his handgun resulting to the death of 15 children aged between five and six along with their teacher. Outcome: UK lawmakers, resulting in some of the toughest anti-gun legislation in the world, passed a ban on the private ownership of all handguns in mainland Britain. Though it took 18 months!

 

Case Study 2: Australia

Port Arthur massacre: After the tragic incident, former Australian President John Howard said, ” We have an opportunity in this country not to go down the American path.” And the opportunity was taken: weapons that can kill many people quickly _ semi automatic rifles and shotguns were banned. Though a waiting period of 28 days was implemented, for thorough background checks and authentic justification to own a gun. While gun violence did not end, Australia, cut off roughly half since 1996 and there has never been another Port Arthur since.

 

I will not focus on any further incidents, as it may divert my principle object of this article, making it a lengthy one. Let’s begin and go through the main issue.

 

But before I proceed, let me make a humble request to you all: I am not in a mood to give lectures neither I have the ability to do so, nor I am to suggest my American friends what to do and, I really, really do not want to hurt the sentiments of anyone alive under the sun. All my words are the outcome of the pain, that happened in Florida school recently, which could have happen anywhere, even in my country too.

Please treat this article as an open letter to all, even you, who are responsible directly or indirectly for the tragedy.

 

If you all, my friends agree to my statement written above, do read further, else quit, I swear, I would not mind. Wanna stay tuned? OK…

Read More…

 

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The United States: Facts & Figures

There has been 17 shooting incidents at schools in USA in the first month and half of 2018, some were intentional, some accidental, one was suicide and some resulted in no injury or death, but 22 people died and many more injured. There have been  290 school shootings since 2013, as of this writing. But the odds: Will United States ever ban the outright approach of Firearms?

 

My Odds: virtually nonexistent. From where I sit, there are two dominant reasons as I presume, which have the weight of history behind them.

 

The right to bear arms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the  Constitution:

 

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

The interpretation of the scope of that statement, in the absence of the people who framed it, is being examined in courts on a continual basis.

 

Firearms are an integral part of our nation’s history.

For better or for worse, the nation’s history depended on firearms. The expanding frontier and the uncertainties of life in a lawless country made owning a firearm (or an armory) often meant the difference between survival and becoming a nameless skeleton on the prairie.

 

 

The fact that guns are written into America’s DNA, has allowed the NRA, to morph from an organization for sports enthusiasts into a powerful political entity – one which seems determined to preserve and expand its influence at all costs. And their “cold dead hands,” any weapon, any time, any caliber, any size, any magazine, any bump-stock philosophy has been adopted by a significant portion of the citizenry, including a significant number of the legislators, who take obscene amounts of money, all the while sending their “thoughts and prayers” to the victims without being willing to do anything about the carnage.

The recent shooting at Parkland left 17 people dead. I haven’t even mentioned other gun-related deaths, such as the one in Las Vegas that killed 58 people and injured 851.

 

It’s time for a change!!

 

Yes, the 2nd Amendment still guarantees citizenry the right to bear arms, but I do not believe, rather I will not believe, being a part of an another democratic country, that the writers of that amendment ever meant for a single individual to own something like this, unless the zombie apocalypse were a real possibility, Huh!!

I personally believe that the writers of the 2nd Amendment would be shocked if they saw how that little bit of the Constitution was being interpreted and argued and implemented today, especially if they viewed the daily carnage in a nation with between 270 million to 310 million firearms, depending on whose estimate you believe.

As long as the 2nd Amendment remains in force,  citizens of this country must balance a right to bear arms with an end to the daily death toll which has reached untenable proportions – indeed, has been unbearable for decades.

 

I have many gun-toting, sharpshooting, hunting, and reloading friends who will disagree with my opinions, but that’s how America works. This is a highly-charged issue that I debated about, but I will always support civil discourse on difficult issues. Ignorant and trollish comments will be ignored and deleted without ceremony.

 

The old monk has spoken…..