The Ultimate Answer to Kings: And speaking of cats and dogs...

They say that Louis XIV had the inscription Ultima Ratio Regum cast into all the cannon of the French Army. It means "The Ultimate Argument of Kings," and that always struck me as one of the most honest and up-front things any ruler or would-be ruler ever said. "We can dress it up prettier than this, but when it comes down to the unvarnished truth this is what it's about: You'll do as I say or I'll send my goons to kill you."

I thought about that for a long time. If there's an ultimate argument, it seems only logical that there must be an ultimate answer. For years I thought the ultimate answer must be the bullets in my rifle, but it never seemed quite right. I've got bullets - he's got frigging Cannon Balls. I mean, if there were three hundred million rifles throwing bullets at him, then maybe. But we all know that's not going to happen. So if there's an ultimate answer to his ultimate argument, it sure as hell ain't bullets.

It finally came to me - and that's when I left the city, abandoned a goodly percentage of my goods, and gave all that was behind me a good, stiff Randian Shrug.

The ultimate answer to kings is not a bullet, but a belly laugh.

Friday, July 30, 2010

And speaking of cats and dogs...

Here's a cat getting her point(s) across in no uncertain terms.

Next step: Roll on your back and use your rear claws to end the encounter.

3 comments:

CorbinKale said...: I don't know what to say, except that it must have been a cat lover, who first proposed the notion of juggling goslings.; July 31, 2010 at 8:18 PM
CorbinKale said...: I take that back. I have been sampling some Amber Bock and Drambuie this evening, so I DO have something else to say. Thank you, for not screening your comments. That shows a true respect for Natural Rights. Trolls could come and try to disrupt and insult, but your position of freedom is superior to any damage they could cause. It may not be much, but you have my respect for your daring on a wild frontier, pun intended.; July 31, 2010 at 10:22 PM
Joel said...: Thanks, but actually I get very few trolls here. The only time I had insulting comments was a couple of incendiary anti-war posts that got linked to conservative blogs. Some of those comments were kinda mean, but I just thought they were funny and they weren't doing me or the blog any harm so what the hell?

I get occasional spam and have to clean that up when I see it, but certainly not often enough to start going to the trouble of moderating.; July 31, 2010 at 10:33 PM