Locally he was known as Makua Kamiano. On Sunday, the day after
the state's annual Ironman Triathlon, Pope Benedykt will
celebrate his canonization.
(Page 2 of 2)
When Damien landed at the Kalaupapa Peninsula on Molokai,
at the base of the highest sea cliffs in the world -- at that
point searing 2200 feet high, it was the first time he had seen
people suffering from advanced stages of leprosy.
Let's stop the cameras again.
The conditions of Molokai in the 19th century are not far
from us in space or time. In 1992, some Catholic nuns invited
Rev. Thomas Rosica, a Catholic priest from Toronto on his visit
to Egypt, to "an area where lepers and severely handicapped
people were kept, in chains, in underground areas hidden away
from civilization." He recounted that "[t]he stench was
overpowering, the misery shocking, the suffering incredible. I
descended into several hovels…The sister accompanying me said:
'Simply touch them. You have no idea what the touch means, when
they are kept as animals and monsters.' I laid hands on many of
these women and men and touched their disfigured faces and
bodies. Tears streamed down my face as the women and men and
several children shrieked at first then wept openly." (Rev.
Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., "Let Us Not Fear
the Sepulchers of This Earth," Feb. 12, 2009.)
From the first moment when he landed, Damien never
flinched. He would embrace them, share eating utensils with them,
share his pipe with them, and bandage them. He showed profound
respect for their human dignity. To the people he served, he
refused to act as though he was doing anything heroic. And he
shunned all publicity outside the island.
And we can start the cameras again.
On the day of his arrival, Damien presided over the burial
of a man. (The 800 villagers were dying at the rate of one a day.
Their lifespan after arrival on Molokai was three to four years.)
After the burial, an elderly woman who did not have leprosy asked
him to see her dying son who did. He went into a hovel foul with
death. The man was a Catholic and was overjoyed to see him.
Overcoming nausea, Damien administered the last rites -- getting
within inches to hear his confession from his leprous throat and
anointing his worm-eaten body with holy oils. After sunset, he
died. The mother asked for the same baptism that had given her
son so much joy and peace. She received it and died two hours
later.
On the first night, and for many nights after, he had
no place to sleep but outdoors. He was kept awake with the sounds
of the night -- men and women in primitive huts and lean-to's
with no tomorrow and no dignity getting loudly drunk and engaging
in sexual orgies.
On his first full day, Damien reacted to what he had seen
and heard during the previous day's burial. No longer would there
be burials in rags and in graves so shallow that wild dogs and
pigs would mangle the remains. He constructed a coffin and dug a
six-foot grave. Eventually, he dug 2,000 graves six feet deep and
he constructed a like number of coffins. After some time, he
built a house for himself and sited it next to the
cemetery.
In his first months, he located a clean water source, a
pool with a diameter of 75 feet in a valley called Waihanau, and
demanded that the authorities deliver iron pipes. He and a crew
of the least disabled villagers carried them and set them.
Over the next 20 years, he built with his own hands painted
houses 16 feet by 10 feet -- 300 of them. He planted vegetable
and flower gardens. He built schools for the children and, every
year for the first 10 years, he built a chapel.
Step by laborious step, day by day, Damien had removed the
fear of death from the lives of the people entrusted to his care.
He brought clean water, food, clothing, schools, a hospital, a
cemetery, colorful flowers, and painted houses. He brought color
not only to their clothes (which had been rags), their gardens
and their homes but, as a minister of the Gospel, he brought
color to their souls. Gone was drunkenness and licentious for
those who had lost all hope and all sense of their
dignity.
In the evenings, 20 villagers and Damien would eat and
converse and sing. They were oblivious to leprosy. These
Hawaiians used a Hawaiian word to describe these ennobling
soirées. It is translated into English as
"the-time-of-peace-between-night-and-day." For those of us who
are Christian, it suggests the time two men on their way from
Jerusalem to Emmaus spent with Christ. (Luke 24) Indeed, for
those of us who are Christian or who know about the Christian
religion, Damien's life with persons with leprosy -- and his
eventual death from leprosy at age 49 -- bear strong similarities
with what Christians call the Incarnation, God becoming man in
Jesus Christ. One sentence of the Prologue to the Gospel of St.
John declares that Jesus "dwelt (literally, pitched his tent)
among us."
We are told athletes, good athletes, leave nothing on the
field of play. Damien left nothing on the field of play. He gave
it his all. On Sunday, October 11, the day after this year's
Ironman Triathlon, Pope Benedict XVI will declare, in a
"canonization" Mass in Rome, that Damien won a glorious crown,
that he is among the saints of God. Perhaps on that day, all men
and women of goodwill around the world, will, like the old
Hawaiian sailor of the 1920's who told Farrow of Damien,
half-genuflect and look heavenward.
Damien's life of physical labors and physical courage
epitomizes the "muscular Christianity" espoused during Damien's
lifetime half a world away by Charles Kingsley and Thomas Hughes,
and which found expression in the well-known Young Men's
Christian Association (YMCA). Hughes wrote, in Tom Brown at
Oxford: A Sequel to Schooldays at Rugby(1863),
"that a man's body is given him to be trained and brought into
subjection, and then used for the protection of the weak [and]
the advancement of all righteous causes…" (Page 170, quoted in
Tony Ladd and James Mathisen, Muscular Christianity:
Evangelical Protestants and the Development of American
Sport(1999)). Hughes references "champions" of
old. The word "champion" derives from the Latin
campusfor "field." In medieval times, a
champion did not denote a winner, but one who took the field of
battle on behalf of women, children, the elderly, the
disabled.
Damien was a champion. He was the First Ironman of Hawaii.
May we ask to what end the Ironman triathletes -- and athletes in
every sport and at every level -- train their
bodies?
The patron Saint of triathletes? Thank you for this wonderful
motivation to be fully alive.
L. Banks| 10.9.09 @ 8:59AM
Thank you for such a wonderful article on a person who gave
himself to help those cast aside by society. His life honors his
work and elevates the dignity of mankind. This is in sharp
contrast to today's world. I find it ironic that Obama has just
won the Nobel Peace Prize. This article points out the sharp
contrast between the two men and their deeds. It shines the light
of truth on what really is important in life and exposes those
who only use others to gain what they want. Thank you again for
this beautiful story.
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 9:07AM
Ah, Hawaii. The first overseas dominion of the American Empire.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 6:59PM
just Thank God a Toddard wasn't potus back in the 19th century.
'twould have been like having a Jimmy Carter potus in the
20th.
But as for Obama, I do unhumbly disagree with fellow
conservatives:
if Obama is hated even half as much as Clinton, he is sure to be
re-elected. Opposition to Obama helps fuel the recovery- '93
redux.
Richard Baker| 10.9.09 @ 9:28AM
Shutup Doddard. Father Damien was worth a million of your sort.
Do have some respect for your betters, as he was. I lived 8 years
in Hawaii and his name there is still spoken with reverence.
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 10:29AM
I'm sorry - perhaps you've mixed me up with someone else. I said
nothing whatsoever about Father Damien.
Big Leo| 10.9.09 @ 11:23AM
Amazing, isn't it? If the article was about butterfly collecting,
ol' BLT would find a way to turn it into an America-bashing
thread.
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 11:54AM
"BLT". That's actually kind of funny.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 7:12PM
' "BLT". That's actually kind of funny. '
Glad to hear your funnybone matches your thick skull.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 7:09PM
Toddard can't help being as dense as he is over-educated. He was
born that way.
Rush is less educated as Toddard, but is far more aware. By God,
can you imagine what trouble we'd be in if intelleckshuels ruled
the airwaves?: The Noam Chomsky EIB Network;
gives you the dry heaves just thinking about it.
Winos lying in alleyways are probably more in touch with
day-to-day realities than academics.
Since Toddard undoubtedly admires Orwell as much as he admires
Chomsky, here is the best of all:
"Only an intellectual could say something so stupid"
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 7:40PM
I have a different favorite Orwell quote that I think of every
time I read Jonah Goldberg, Bill Kristol, David Brooks or any of
the other jingoistic arm-chair warriors so eager to send American
kids to die so they can talk tough and feel manly:
"The people who write that kind of stuff never fight; possibly
they believe that to write it is a substitute for fighting. It is
the same in all wars; the soldiers do the fighting, the
journalists do the shouting, and no true patriot ever gets near a
front-line trench, except on the briefest of propaganda-tours.
Sometimes it is a comfort to me to think that the aeroplane is
altering the conditions of war. Perhaps when the next great war
comes we may see that sight unprecedented in all history, a jingo
with a bullet-hole in him."
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 8:02PM
So if Hitler had won we would have had world peace via population
control, and no more cowardly Yids like Johah, the Kristols,
Brooks shirking their duty, eh, Pat?
er, I mean Toddard?
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 9:28PM
You have completely stopped making any sense. I get that you're
clumsily attempting to call me an "anti-semite" (a word which you
apparently do not understand) but starting a sentence off with
"so if Hitler had won" makes no sense. It's completely
incongruous. No one was talking about World War II. In another
thread you inexplicably started yammering about conspiracy
theories. You are starting to write like a deeply confused,
mentally ill person. Just calm down and think about what you're
going to write before you start furiously hammering away at your
poor keyboard. Ask yourself "Does this make sense, to write this
at this juncture of the conversation?" Because most of the time
the answer will be "No".
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 11:22PM
"You are starting to write like a deeply confused, mentally ill
person."
I do it deliberately to provoke a response from you. Coming to AS
and writing what you write means I can do the same-- turnabout is
fair play. You write lazy Chomsky blather, I will write kooky
rightwing drivel.
You get what you deserve.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 11:27PM
You are a "lazy" Chomskyite in that you don't have his first
class education, but you possess his viscerality. And so you
don't think I'm picking on Chomsky because I met him 22 years
ago, I will also attack Ward Churchill-- who is as visceral as
Chomsky-- from now on.
JayC| 10.9.09 @ 9:35AM
I recently read another short biography on Fr Damien. In 1
incident, he apparently saw a pedophile abusing a child; ran over
to them; and beat the cr*p out of the abuser. Now that's a man
who knows how to protect the defenseless!
Tim| 10.9.09 @ 10:37AM
"A dancing sparkle, a doubtful star,
On the waste wind whirled and driven;
But it seems to sing of a wilder worth,
A time discrowned of doom and birth,
And the kingdom of the poor on earth
Come, as it is in heaven.
A wonderful, uplifting article. In a world far too preoccupied
with the self, it's refreshing to read about Father Damien, who
understood in the marrow of his bones what makes for genuine
chartity and compassion.
Rob| 10.9.09 @ 10:57AM
Terrific tribute, Mr. Thunder!
Fr. Damien was a towering monument to peace and to charity. It's
ironic that you would present this story on the same day that the
Nobel (thankfully, not "noble") Peace Prize goes to such an
unworthy recipient. Where are the Fr. Damiens of the world today?
Unfortunately, not enough of them are running for president.
Jeff| 10.9.09 @ 10:59AM
Ah, the old "American Empire" nonsense again. Toddard, I've read
your drivel for quite some time without responding. I can no long
hold my words. I would like you to tell me of what empire you
speak.
Would it be our empire in Europe? Oh wait, we liberated half a
continent twice and only asked for enough land to bury the heroes
who gave it all selflessly to help people they didn't even
know.
Maybe you are talking about our empire in Japan. Wait, we beat
the crap out of them, then rebuilt their country and gave it back
to them.
I know there was a time where we were the protectorate of places
like the Philippines and we still have protectorates like Puerto
Rico and American Samoa, but they have free elections and
representation in our government.
So, I will ask again, what empire are you talking about?
Also, this article was about an individual who gave everything he
had to help others. Please try to comment on the subject matter
of the article.
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 11:50AM
“I would like you to tell me of what empire you speak.”
The American Empire. The one we now maintain with our over-700
military bases strewn across the globe to force our will on
faraway peoples. Surely you’ve heard of it.
“Would it be our empire in Europe? Oh wait, we liberated half a
continent twice and only asked for enough land to bury the heroes
who gave it all selflessly to help people they didn't even know.”
False. It was done to help people they knew very well – their own
countrymen, on whom Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan had declared
war. When it was only those foreign “people they didn't even
know” who were being attacked, Americans across the land
rightfully told Europe to stuff it, and wanted no part of their
war.
“Maybe you are talking about our empire in Japan. Wait, we beat
the crap out of them, then rebuilt their country and gave it back
to them.”
After occupying it for a decade, installing military bases there
and dictating the size and scope of their military to them for
the next half century.
“I know there was a time where we were the protectorate of places
like the Philippines and we still have protectorates like Puerto
Rico and American Samoa,”
Yes, much like Rome had protectorates in Gaul, Palestine and
Britain. The Phillipines hated our occupation and fought manfully
against it. You might be interested to know the definition of
Empire:
“a group of nations or peoples ruled over by an emperor, empress,
or other powerful sovereign or government: usually a territory of
greater extent than a kingdom, as the former British Empire,
French Empire, Russian Empire, Byzantine Empire, or Roman
Empire.”
Just Hawaii, Puerto Rico and “American” Samoa qualify the U.S. as
an Empire, without bothering to get into the countless Imperial
conquests, invasions and puppet governments we have erected and
propped up to maintain our Imperial hegemony.
“but they have free elections and representation in our
government.
Our overseas dominions apart from Hawaii – such as Guam, the
Phillipines and Puerto Rico had/have no voting representatives in
our government.
“So, I will ask again, what empire are you talking about?”
The American Empire. The one we now maintain with our over-700
military bases strewn across the globe to force our will on
faraway peoples. Surely you’ve heard of it.
“Also, this article was about an individual who gave everything
he had to help others. Please try to comment on the subject
matter of the article.”
No thanks.
Mike Giles| 10.9.09 @ 3:41PM
"The American Empire. The one we now maintain with our over-700
military bases strewn across the globe to force our will on
faraway peoples. Surely you’ve heard of it. "
Now the above statement, which is blinding in its utter
stupidity; seems to ignore the fact that the US hasn't forced
it's will on anyone. Quick, name the American proconsul for
Germany. How about the American Governor General of Japan? The
American Viceroy of Korea? We have Bases in all of those places,
where are the American overlords? As anyone capable of reading a
newspaper, and noting the constant disagreements between
ourselves and our ALLIES, would smart enough to see. American
bases - which we leave the moment we are asked to (Subic Bay,
Clarke Field) are not imperial bases, put their to keep the local
population down. Indeed, our servicemen and women who serve there
are subject to local law, something never allowed by an imperial
power. In Puerto Rico and Samoa, the populace regularly vote on
their status, they simply like the way things are - as much as
that may irritate you. Americans, fought and died to protect -
and liberate - the Phillippines; which received their
independence as was promised before the war. It was late because
of the Japanese - not because of the US.
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 7:50PM
"Now the above statement, which is blinding in its utter
stupidity; seems to ignore the fact that the US hasn't forced
it's will on anyone"
The U.S. is not, as we speak, forcing its will on Afghanistan and
Iraq? On Iran, with regards to its nuclear program? The U.S. did
not force its will upon the Filipinos? The U.S. did not force its
will upon Iran with the coup that brought the Shah to power? The
U.S. did not force its will on Guatemala with the CIA-backed coup
of Jacobo Arbenz? The U.S. has not tried for fifty years to
impose its will on Cuba? The U.S. did not force its will on
Nicaragua? The U.S. did not force its will on Serbia?
Perhaps you are talking about a different U.S. I mean the United
States. What on earth are *you* talking about?
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 7:21PM
'When it was only those foreign “people they didn't even know”
who were being attacked, Americans across the land rightfully
told Europe to stuff it, and wanted no part of their war. '
There's a name for what was protected, Toddlard:
the West.
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 7:36PM
I don't think "Toddlard" works very well as an insult. Is that
supposed to be like "Todd-lard"? A weight joke? It's probably
better to stick with the Toddard/retard puns.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 8:06PM
"The U.S. did not force its will upon Iran with the coup that
brought the Shah to power?"
We were fighting the Soviet Social Fascist Empire .
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 9:23PM
The Soviet Union was not "fascist". Fascism and Communism mean
different things, as do Communism and Socialism.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 11:35PM
I didn't say the USSR was fascist, it was SOCIAL-fascist, as was
the Third Reich. They both had proletarian influences, were
degenerated worker's states.
NO. I am NOT writing that the Third Reich was socialist, but it
did possess socialist tendencies, as did the USSR.
Again, both regimes were 'Social Fascist', which is, like all
terminology, just a convenient (in this case) shorthand for
"degenerated workers' social fascist state".
Eric Cartman| 10.10.09 @ 12:49AM
"The Phillipines (sic) hated our occupation and fought manfully
against it. "
My Filipino wife was simply fascinated to hear this! She is
astonished you know the history of her country better than she!
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 11:55AM
I will say this, though: "Jim Thunder" is just about the best
name I've ever heard.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 7:22PM
does Jim Thunder remind you of an old boyfriend, Todd?
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 1:48PM
"Fed up with the corruption in sherrif's office, Big Jim Thunder
has decided once and for all to clean up the town - armed with
nothing but a two-by-four and a caramel-colored Grand Torino."
Alan Brooks| 10.10.09 @ 5:06PM
"I was in the middle of reading an article about a truly
remarkable, selfless man, Father Damiam, when I came to replies
and found that by the third one, the comments had been usurped by
political blather. Must you turn everything into such an
inappropriate discourse? "
js,
you are right. But please remember that Toddard started the
digression from Father Damiam to the 'evil American empire'.
Alan Brooks| 10.10.09 @ 5:08PM
... and here is proof-- comment #3:
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 9:07AM
Ah, Hawaii. The first overseas dominion of the American Empire.
Akaky| 10.9.09 @ 2:51PM
But, Mr. Toddard, if you will notice, Father Damien was a
Belgian. Can we not assume from this then that he was actually an
agent for the ever-expanding ambitions of the European Union and
not of the American Empire you dread so much?
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 2:56PM
I have no objections at all to Fr Damien. He was a selfless man
and a great Catholic.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 7:26PM
but by your lights, Todd, was he also an imperialist agent for
America; Rome; the Trilateralists, and Jack Ruby?
It's all in Chomsky's new book, on sale for $29.99
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 7:52PM
That makes absolutely no sense as a criticism.
Alan Brooks| 10.11.09 @ 3:38AM
It was merely to pull your leg, a reference to anti-'Popist'
conspiracy theory. Here was another joke:
"So if Hitler had won we would have had world peace via
population control, and no more cowardly Yids like Johah, the
Kristols, Brooks shirking their duty, eh, Pat? er, I mean
Toddard?"
It was a joke, get it? not a good one, but it is all you deserve.
Hope you wouldn't have your wittle bitty feelings hurt if one
were to suggest that you are rather humorless even for a 35 year
old kid...
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 11:53PM
Sense, you want sense. Alrighty; critical sense to a
crypto-Chomskyite who hides behind analytical objectivity and
trolls at a conservative-Rightist blog. So here goes nothing
(because you wont comprehend);
My conservatism is based on Churchill (Winston, not Ward), who
said, to paraphrase, that democracy is bad but better than the
alternative. America is imperialist but preferable to others'
imperialisms, IMO (otherwise I wouldn't blog at AS).
Toqueville was prescient in predicting America and Russia would
rise to prominence the way they did almost a century later. IMO
it was good America beat Russia to the punch in creating a more
durable, and humane, empire.
You are second guessing history, you say what ought to be; I say
what is, is-- until many decades have passed.
Nothing necessarily wrong in what you write, but-- for the 20th
time-- why do you come to a conservative-Rightist blog? You
convince no one here as far as I know. I haven't learned anything
new from you, you offer the the same warmed-over Chomskyite/Ward
Churchill half-truths available at hundreds of other blogs. And
you are not a genius like Chomsky and Churchill are, though they
are as visceral as you.
S.L. Toddard| 10.10.09 @ 11:13AM
That's great. That's like saying "My conservatism is based on
FDR". Or "My liberalism is based on Barry Goldwater, that great
liberal".
What a conservative Churchill was. When he first came into power
the UK was an empire on which the sun never set. When he died it
was a socialist backwater. Way to "conserve", Church.
j s hicks| 10.10.09 @ 4:41PM
I was in the middle of reading an article about a truly
remarkable, selfless man, Father Damiam, when I came to replies
and found that by the third one, the comments had been usurped by
political blather. Must you turn everything into such an
inappropriate discourse?
Alan Brooks| 10.11.09 @ 3:25AM
"What a conservative Churchill was. When he first came into power
the UK was an empire on which the sun never set. When he died it
was a socialist backwater. Way to "conserve", Church."
Yeah, todd, Winston Churchill was practically a subversive by
your reckoning. But who knows what you think, not even you know
what you think.
Alan Brooks| 10.10.09 @ 5:03PM
js,
you are right. But please remember that Toddard started the
digression from Father Damiam to the 'evil American empire'.
Alan Brooks| 10.11.09 @ 3:51AM
... and once more, so everyone who scrolls down this far cannot
fail to remember who started the digression:
"S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 9:07AM
Ah, Hawaii. The first overseas dominion of the American Empire."
I couldn't stand to read his attacks on America (perhaps he is
Canadian?) so I attacked him back.
David| 10.10.09 @ 5:51PM
I am speechless. I am shamed. To read of true nobility in Father
Damian - what a remarkable man. My sponsor will, on occasion
refer to some of my problems or consternations as merely
'princess-problems'. ALL of my problems are 'princess-problems'
compared to Father Damian's. What a marvolus lamp post to show
the way to God. Thank you Father Damian, St. Damian.
Gerald Stephens| 10.10.09 @ 8:31PM
Well that's it!
I think J. L. Toddard is either a Republican provocateur or
seriously obsessed.
And since I have come to believe that one with the most initials
preceding the sir name wins debates hands down...
G. J. P. Stephens
gerald stephens| 10.10.09 @ 8:39PM
J.L. You will please forgive my silly error.
It is really S.L.
G.J.P.
j s hicks| 10.10.09 @ 8:52PM
who is this elitest snob who,as liberals tend to do, resorts to
name calling at every opportunity? has anyone done a count on his
use of "stupid"? and isn't everyone glad to know he has "no
objection to Father Damian" (see 10/09/09@2:56pm). how charitable
of him!
j s hicks| 10.10.09 @ 9:00PM
oops! I just reread what I had sent and realized I'd ommitted the
name Toddard - but I bet most of you had guessed that.
j s hicks| 10.10.09 @ 9:03PM
oops! I just discovered that I mistyped 'omitted'. I must start
checking before sending, but then, I'm new at this.
Alan Brooks| 10.11.09 @ 3:19AM
We all knew it was Toddard. And get this: he appeared (it is hard
to pin the Jello to the wall) to fault
Churchill.
so now Winston Churchill is unworthy of Toddard's sympathy. He
admires Chomsky more than Churchill.
Winston, not Ward, Churchill.
Michael L. Hauschild| 10.11.09 @ 11:12AM
Please forgive me, I inadvertently read one of the scroll troll
comments because of its brevity. I will immediately seek out
chemo as a preventative measure to deter the inevitable onset of
ocular cancer.
As penance for my sin I will reluctantly rhetorically
respond.
Who would you rather see sail into your port in the context of
the Pacific circa 1935, the Rising Sun “Imperial” Navy of Japan,
the “Royal” Navy of the “Sun never sets” British Empire, or the
“United States Navy” whose seamen are seeking out a tattoo parlor
or access to a grass skirt?
Rob| 10.11.09 @ 12:03PM
I stumble across this fine article about Father Damien and find
the commentaries of egotistical blowhards.
Michalel L. Hauschild| 10.11.09 @ 12:24PM
"Where are the Fr. Damiens of the world today? Unfortunately, not
enough of them are running for president."
Rob,
I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that it really
would not be a good idea to either run, or have, a missionary for
a President. If Father Damien went to Washington everyone around
him would burst into flames and the conflagration would burn down
some pretty nice monuments.
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quest. Once you have the five items, bring them to Athena. Zeus
will appear and steal them. The big jerk! Once this happens, talk
to Athena and she will tell you that Hercules will help you.
You’ll need to have the magic mirror from Aphrodite because
Hercules doesn’t want to have to walk. He’s so lazy!
Getting the Hydra Scale
You can see how to do this in the videos, but basically you need
to jump up when the Hydra is about to strike. He will rear one of
his heads back to attack and his eyes will bulge out. When this
happens, jump up in the air and then try to land on top of his
head. That head will get knocked out. When all five heads get
knocked out, the Hydra will be asleep and you can click on him to
get one of the scales. Poptropica I’ll have a
full written walkthrough very soon, but in the meantime, here are
some answers to some of the frequently asked questions about
Mythology Island. PoptropicaHaving trouble? Post
a question in the comments and I’ll try to answer it!
Getting Hercules to Help You Poptropica
Amdog| 10.9.09 @ 8:54AM
The patron Saint of triathletes? Thank you for this wonderful motivation to be fully alive.
L. Banks| 10.9.09 @ 8:59AM
Thank you for such a wonderful article on a person who gave himself to help those cast aside by society. His life honors his work and elevates the dignity of mankind. This is in sharp contrast to today's world. I find it ironic that Obama has just won the Nobel Peace Prize. This article points out the sharp contrast between the two men and their deeds. It shines the light of truth on what really is important in life and exposes those who only use others to gain what they want. Thank you again for this beautiful story.
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 9:07AM
Ah, Hawaii. The first overseas dominion of the American Empire.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 6:59PM
just Thank God a Toddard wasn't potus back in the 19th century. 'twould have been like having a Jimmy Carter potus in the 20th.
But as for Obama, I do unhumbly disagree with fellow conservatives:
if Obama is hated even half as much as Clinton, he is sure to be re-elected. Opposition to Obama helps fuel the recovery- '93 redux.
Richard Baker| 10.9.09 @ 9:28AM
Shutup Doddard. Father Damien was worth a million of your sort. Do have some respect for your betters, as he was. I lived 8 years in Hawaii and his name there is still spoken with reverence.
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 10:29AM
I'm sorry - perhaps you've mixed me up with someone else. I said nothing whatsoever about Father Damien.
Big Leo| 10.9.09 @ 11:23AM
Amazing, isn't it? If the article was about butterfly collecting, ol' BLT would find a way to turn it into an America-bashing thread.
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 11:54AM
"BLT". That's actually kind of funny.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 7:12PM
' "BLT". That's actually kind of funny. '
Glad to hear your funnybone matches your thick skull.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 7:09PM
Toddard can't help being as dense as he is over-educated. He was born that way.
Rush is less educated as Toddard, but is far more aware. By God, can you imagine what trouble we'd be in if intelleckshuels ruled the airwaves?: The Noam Chomsky EIB Network;
gives you the dry heaves just thinking about it.
Winos lying in alleyways are probably more in touch with day-to-day realities than academics.
Since Toddard undoubtedly admires Orwell as much as he admires Chomsky, here is the best of all:
"Only an intellectual could say something so stupid"
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 7:40PM
I have a different favorite Orwell quote that I think of every time I read Jonah Goldberg, Bill Kristol, David Brooks or any of the other jingoistic arm-chair warriors so eager to send American kids to die so they can talk tough and feel manly:
"The people who write that kind of stuff never fight; possibly they believe that to write it is a substitute for fighting. It is the same in all wars; the soldiers do the fighting, the journalists do the shouting, and no true patriot ever gets near a front-line trench, except on the briefest of propaganda-tours.
Sometimes it is a comfort to me to think that the aeroplane is altering the conditions of war. Perhaps when the next great war comes we may see that sight unprecedented in all history, a jingo with a bullet-hole in him."
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 8:02PM
So if Hitler had won we would have had world peace via population control, and no more cowardly Yids like Johah, the Kristols, Brooks shirking their duty, eh, Pat?
er, I mean Toddard?
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 9:28PM
You have completely stopped making any sense. I get that you're clumsily attempting to call me an "anti-semite" (a word which you apparently do not understand) but starting a sentence off with "so if Hitler had won" makes no sense. It's completely incongruous. No one was talking about World War II. In another thread you inexplicably started yammering about conspiracy theories. You are starting to write like a deeply confused, mentally ill person. Just calm down and think about what you're going to write before you start furiously hammering away at your poor keyboard. Ask yourself "Does this make sense, to write this at this juncture of the conversation?" Because most of the time the answer will be "No".
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 11:22PM
"You are starting to write like a deeply confused, mentally ill person."
I do it deliberately to provoke a response from you. Coming to AS and writing what you write means I can do the same-- turnabout is fair play. You write lazy Chomsky blather, I will write kooky rightwing drivel.
You get what you deserve.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 11:27PM
You are a "lazy" Chomskyite in that you don't have his first class education, but you possess his viscerality. And so you don't think I'm picking on Chomsky because I met him 22 years ago, I will also attack Ward Churchill-- who is as visceral as Chomsky-- from now on.
JayC| 10.9.09 @ 9:35AM
I recently read another short biography on Fr Damien. In 1 incident, he apparently saw a pedophile abusing a child; ran over to them; and beat the cr*p out of the abuser. Now that's a man who knows how to protect the defenseless!
Tim| 10.9.09 @ 10:37AM
"A dancing sparkle, a doubtful star,
On the waste wind whirled and driven;
But it seems to sing of a wilder worth,
A time discrowned of doom and birth,
And the kingdom of the poor on earth
Come, as it is in heaven.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T.....hite_Horse
Jeff R| 10.9.09 @ 10:54AM
A wonderful, uplifting article. In a world far too preoccupied with the self, it's refreshing to read about Father Damien, who understood in the marrow of his bones what makes for genuine chartity and compassion.
Rob| 10.9.09 @ 10:57AM
Terrific tribute, Mr. Thunder!
Fr. Damien was a towering monument to peace and to charity. It's ironic that you would present this story on the same day that the Nobel (thankfully, not "noble") Peace Prize goes to such an unworthy recipient. Where are the Fr. Damiens of the world today? Unfortunately, not enough of them are running for president.
Jeff| 10.9.09 @ 10:59AM
Ah, the old "American Empire" nonsense again. Toddard, I've read your drivel for quite some time without responding. I can no long hold my words. I would like you to tell me of what empire you speak.
Would it be our empire in Europe? Oh wait, we liberated half a continent twice and only asked for enough land to bury the heroes who gave it all selflessly to help people they didn't even know.
Maybe you are talking about our empire in Japan. Wait, we beat the crap out of them, then rebuilt their country and gave it back to them.
I know there was a time where we were the protectorate of places like the Philippines and we still have protectorates like Puerto Rico and American Samoa, but they have free elections and representation in our government.
So, I will ask again, what empire are you talking about?
Also, this article was about an individual who gave everything he had to help others. Please try to comment on the subject matter of the article.
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 11:50AM
“I would like you to tell me of what empire you speak.”
The American Empire. The one we now maintain with our over-700 military bases strewn across the globe to force our will on faraway peoples. Surely you’ve heard of it.
“Would it be our empire in Europe? Oh wait, we liberated half a continent twice and only asked for enough land to bury the heroes who gave it all selflessly to help people they didn't even know.”
False. It was done to help people they knew very well – their own countrymen, on whom Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan had declared war. When it was only those foreign “people they didn't even know” who were being attacked, Americans across the land rightfully told Europe to stuff it, and wanted no part of their war.
“Maybe you are talking about our empire in Japan. Wait, we beat the crap out of them, then rebuilt their country and gave it back to them.”
After occupying it for a decade, installing military bases there and dictating the size and scope of their military to them for the next half century.
“I know there was a time where we were the protectorate of places like the Philippines and we still have protectorates like Puerto Rico and American Samoa,”
Yes, much like Rome had protectorates in Gaul, Palestine and Britain. The Phillipines hated our occupation and fought manfully against it. You might be interested to know the definition of Empire:
“a group of nations or peoples ruled over by an emperor, empress, or other powerful sovereign or government: usually a territory of greater extent than a kingdom, as the former British Empire, French Empire, Russian Empire, Byzantine Empire, or Roman Empire.”
Just Hawaii, Puerto Rico and “American” Samoa qualify the U.S. as an Empire, without bothering to get into the countless Imperial conquests, invasions and puppet governments we have erected and propped up to maintain our Imperial hegemony.
“but they have free elections and representation in our government.
Our overseas dominions apart from Hawaii – such as Guam, the Phillipines and Puerto Rico had/have no voting representatives in our government.
“So, I will ask again, what empire are you talking about?”
The American Empire. The one we now maintain with our over-700 military bases strewn across the globe to force our will on faraway peoples. Surely you’ve heard of it.
“Also, this article was about an individual who gave everything he had to help others. Please try to comment on the subject matter of the article.”
No thanks.
Mike Giles| 10.9.09 @ 3:41PM
"The American Empire. The one we now maintain with our over-700 military bases strewn across the globe to force our will on faraway peoples. Surely you’ve heard of it. "
Now the above statement, which is blinding in its utter stupidity; seems to ignore the fact that the US hasn't forced it's will on anyone. Quick, name the American proconsul for Germany. How about the American Governor General of Japan? The American Viceroy of Korea? We have Bases in all of those places, where are the American overlords? As anyone capable of reading a newspaper, and noting the constant disagreements between ourselves and our ALLIES, would smart enough to see. American bases - which we leave the moment we are asked to (Subic Bay, Clarke Field) are not imperial bases, put their to keep the local population down. Indeed, our servicemen and women who serve there are subject to local law, something never allowed by an imperial power. In Puerto Rico and Samoa, the populace regularly vote on their status, they simply like the way things are - as much as that may irritate you. Americans, fought and died to protect - and liberate - the Phillippines; which received their independence as was promised before the war. It was late because of the Japanese - not because of the US.
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 7:50PM
"Now the above statement, which is blinding in its utter stupidity; seems to ignore the fact that the US hasn't forced it's will on anyone"
The U.S. is not, as we speak, forcing its will on Afghanistan and Iraq? On Iran, with regards to its nuclear program? The U.S. did not force its will upon the Filipinos? The U.S. did not force its will upon Iran with the coup that brought the Shah to power? The U.S. did not force its will on Guatemala with the CIA-backed coup of Jacobo Arbenz? The U.S. has not tried for fifty years to impose its will on Cuba? The U.S. did not force its will on Nicaragua? The U.S. did not force its will on Serbia?
Perhaps you are talking about a different U.S. I mean the United States. What on earth are *you* talking about?
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 7:21PM
'When it was only those foreign “people they didn't even know” who were being attacked, Americans across the land rightfully told Europe to stuff it, and wanted no part of their war. '
There's a name for what was protected, Toddlard:
the West.
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 7:36PM
I don't think "Toddlard" works very well as an insult. Is that supposed to be like "Todd-lard"? A weight joke? It's probably better to stick with the Toddard/retard puns.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 8:06PM
"The U.S. did not force its will upon Iran with the coup that brought the Shah to power?"
We were fighting the Soviet Social Fascist Empire .
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 9:23PM
The Soviet Union was not "fascist". Fascism and Communism mean different things, as do Communism and Socialism.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 11:35PM
I didn't say the USSR was fascist, it was SOCIAL-fascist, as was the Third Reich. They both had proletarian influences, were degenerated worker's states.
NO. I am NOT writing that the Third Reich was socialist, but it did possess socialist tendencies, as did the USSR.
Again, both regimes were 'Social Fascist', which is, like all terminology, just a convenient (in this case) shorthand for "degenerated workers' social fascist state".
Eric Cartman| 10.10.09 @ 12:49AM
"The Phillipines (sic) hated our occupation and fought manfully against it. "
My Filipino wife was simply fascinated to hear this! She is astonished you know the history of her country better than she!
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 11:55AM
I will say this, though: "Jim Thunder" is just about the best name I've ever heard.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 7:22PM
does Jim Thunder remind you of an old boyfriend, Todd?
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 1:48PM
"Fed up with the corruption in sherrif's office, Big Jim Thunder has decided once and for all to clean up the town - armed with nothing but a two-by-four and a caramel-colored Grand Torino."
Alan Brooks| 10.10.09 @ 5:06PM
"I was in the middle of reading an article about a truly remarkable, selfless man, Father Damiam, when I came to replies and found that by the third one, the comments had been usurped by political blather. Must you turn everything into such an inappropriate discourse? "
js,
you are right. But please remember that Toddard started the digression from Father Damiam to the 'evil American empire'.
Alan Brooks| 10.10.09 @ 5:08PM
... and here is proof-- comment #3:
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 9:07AM
Ah, Hawaii. The first overseas dominion of the American Empire.
Akaky| 10.9.09 @ 2:51PM
But, Mr. Toddard, if you will notice, Father Damien was a Belgian. Can we not assume from this then that he was actually an agent for the ever-expanding ambitions of the European Union and not of the American Empire you dread so much?
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 2:56PM
I have no objections at all to Fr Damien. He was a selfless man and a great Catholic.
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 7:26PM
but by your lights, Todd, was he also an imperialist agent for America; Rome; the Trilateralists, and Jack Ruby?
It's all in Chomsky's new book, on sale for $29.99
S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 7:52PM
That makes absolutely no sense as a criticism.
Alan Brooks| 10.11.09 @ 3:38AM
It was merely to pull your leg, a reference to anti-'Popist' conspiracy theory. Here was another joke:
"So if Hitler had won we would have had world peace via population control, and no more cowardly Yids like Johah, the Kristols, Brooks shirking their duty, eh, Pat? er, I mean Toddard?"
It was a joke, get it? not a good one, but it is all you deserve. Hope you wouldn't have your wittle bitty feelings hurt if one were to suggest that you are rather humorless even for a 35 year old kid...
Alan Brooks| 10.9.09 @ 11:53PM
Sense, you want sense. Alrighty; critical sense to a crypto-Chomskyite who hides behind analytical objectivity and trolls at a conservative-Rightist blog. So here goes nothing (because you wont comprehend);
My conservatism is based on Churchill (Winston, not Ward), who said, to paraphrase, that democracy is bad but better than the alternative. America is imperialist but preferable to others' imperialisms, IMO (otherwise I wouldn't blog at AS).
Toqueville was prescient in predicting America and Russia would rise to prominence the way they did almost a century later. IMO it was good America beat Russia to the punch in creating a more durable, and humane, empire.
You are second guessing history, you say what ought to be; I say what is, is-- until many decades have passed.
Nothing necessarily wrong in what you write, but-- for the 20th time-- why do you come to a conservative-Rightist blog? You convince no one here as far as I know. I haven't learned anything new from you, you offer the the same warmed-over Chomskyite/Ward Churchill half-truths available at hundreds of other blogs. And you are not a genius like Chomsky and Churchill are, though they are as visceral as you.
S.L. Toddard| 10.10.09 @ 11:13AM
That's great. That's like saying "My conservatism is based on FDR". Or "My liberalism is based on Barry Goldwater, that great liberal".
What a conservative Churchill was. When he first came into power the UK was an empire on which the sun never set. When he died it was a socialist backwater. Way to "conserve", Church.
j s hicks| 10.10.09 @ 4:41PM
I was in the middle of reading an article about a truly remarkable, selfless man, Father Damiam, when I came to replies and found that by the third one, the comments had been usurped by political blather. Must you turn everything into such an inappropriate discourse?
Alan Brooks| 10.11.09 @ 3:25AM
"What a conservative Churchill was. When he first came into power the UK was an empire on which the sun never set. When he died it was a socialist backwater. Way to "conserve", Church."
Yeah, todd, Winston Churchill was practically a subversive by your reckoning. But who knows what you think, not even you know what you think.
Alan Brooks| 10.10.09 @ 5:03PM
js,
you are right. But please remember that Toddard started the digression from Father Damiam to the 'evil American empire'.
Alan Brooks| 10.11.09 @ 3:51AM
... and once more, so everyone who scrolls down this far cannot fail to remember who started the digression:
"S.L. Toddard| 10.9.09 @ 9:07AM
Ah, Hawaii. The first overseas dominion of the American Empire."
I couldn't stand to read his attacks on America (perhaps he is Canadian?) so I attacked him back.
David| 10.10.09 @ 5:51PM
I am speechless. I am shamed. To read of true nobility in Father Damian - what a remarkable man. My sponsor will, on occasion refer to some of my problems or consternations as merely 'princess-problems'. ALL of my problems are 'princess-problems' compared to Father Damian's. What a marvolus lamp post to show the way to God. Thank you Father Damian, St. Damian.
Gerald Stephens| 10.10.09 @ 8:31PM
Well that's it!
I think J. L. Toddard is either a Republican provocateur or seriously obsessed.
And since I have come to believe that one with the most initials preceding the sir name wins debates hands down...
G. J. P. Stephens
gerald stephens| 10.10.09 @ 8:39PM
J.L. You will please forgive my silly error.
It is really S.L.
G.J.P.
j s hicks| 10.10.09 @ 8:52PM
who is this elitest snob who,as liberals tend to do, resorts to name calling at every opportunity? has anyone done a count on his use of "stupid"? and isn't everyone glad to know he has "no objection to Father Damian" (see 10/09/09@2:56pm). how charitable of him!
j s hicks| 10.10.09 @ 9:00PM
oops! I just reread what I had sent and realized I'd ommitted the name Toddard - but I bet most of you had guessed that.
j s hicks| 10.10.09 @ 9:03PM
oops! I just discovered that I mistyped 'omitted'. I must start checking before sending, but then, I'm new at this.
Alan Brooks| 10.11.09 @ 3:19AM
We all knew it was Toddard. And get this: he appeared (it is hard to pin the Jello to the wall) to fault
Churchill.
so now Winston Churchill is unworthy of Toddard's sympathy. He admires Chomsky more than Churchill.
Winston, not Ward, Churchill.
Michael L. Hauschild| 10.11.09 @ 11:12AM
Please forgive me, I inadvertently read one of the scroll troll comments because of its brevity. I will immediately seek out chemo as a preventative measure to deter the inevitable onset of ocular cancer.
As penance for my sin I will reluctantly rhetorically respond.
Who would you rather see sail into your port in the context of the Pacific circa 1935, the Rising Sun “Imperial” Navy of Japan, the “Royal” Navy of the “Sun never sets” British Empire, or the “United States Navy” whose seamen are seeking out a tattoo parlor or access to a grass skirt?
Rob| 10.11.09 @ 12:03PM
I stumble across this fine article about Father Damien and find the commentaries of egotistical blowhards.
Michalel L. Hauschild| 10.11.09 @ 12:24PM
"Where are the Fr. Damiens of the world today? Unfortunately, not enough of them are running for president."
Rob,
I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that it really would not be a good idea to either run, or have, a missionary for a President. If Father Damien went to Washington everyone around him would burst into flames and the conflagration would burn down some pretty nice monuments.
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I’ll have a Poptropica full written walkthrough very soon, but in the meantime, here are some answers to some of the frequently asked questions about Mythology Island. Having trouble? Post a question in the comments and I’ll try to answer it!
Getting Hercules to Help You
Hercules won’t help you until you have all five items from Zeus’ quest. Once you have the five items, bring them to Athena. Zeus will appear and steal them. The big jerk! Once this happens, talk to Athena and she will tell you that Hercules will help you. You’ll need to have the magic mirror from Aphrodite because Hercules doesn’t want to have to walk. He’s so lazy!
Getting the Hydra Scale
You can see how to do this in the videos, but basically you need to jump up when the Hydra is about to strike. He will rear one of his heads back to attack and his eyes will bulge out. When this happens, jump up in the air and then try to land on top of his head. That head will get knocked out. When all five heads get knocked out, the Hydra will be asleep and you can click on him to get one of the scales. Poptropica I’ll have a full written walkthrough very soon, but in the meantime, here are some answers to some of the frequently asked questions about Mythology Island. PoptropicaHaving trouble? Post a question in the comments and I’ll try to answer it!
Getting Hercules to Help You Poptropica