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A Cherokee LegendAn old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy."It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."Source: Cherokee Legend - Two Wolves.The next three are Zen Tales from 101 Zen StoriesA Cup of TeaNan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!""Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"Muddy RoadTanzan and Ekido were once travelling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection."Come on, girl," said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females," he told Tanzan, "especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?""I left the girl there," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?"In Dreamland"Our schoolmaster used to take a nap every afternoon," related a disciple of Soyen Shaku. "We children asked him why he did it and he told us: 'I go to dreamland to meet the old sages just as Confucius did.' When Confucius slept, he would dream of ancient sages and later tell his followers about them."It was extremely hot one day so some of us took a nap. Our schoolmaster scolded us. 'We went to dreamland to meet the ancient sages the same as Confucius did,' we explained. 'What was the message from those sages?' our schoolmaster demanded. One of us replied: 'We went to dreamland and met the sages and asked them if our schoolmaster came there every afternoon, but they said they had never seen any such a fellow.'"The next two stories are from The 30 Best Inspiring Anecdotes of All TimesTo Build a BridgeThe Brooklyn Bridge that spans the river tying Manhattan Island to Brooklyn is truly a miracle bridge. In 1863, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea for this spectacular bridge. However, bridge-building experts throughout the world told him to forget it; it could not be done.Roebling convinced his son, Washington, who was a young up and coming engineer, that the bridge could be built. The two of them developed the concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With unharnessed excitement and inspiration, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.The project was only a few months under construction when a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling and severely injured his son, Washington. Washington was left with permanent brain damage and was unable to talk or walk. Everyone felt that the project would have to be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built.Even though Washington was unable to move or talk, his mind was as sharp as ever, and he still had a burning desire to complete the bridge. An idea hit him as he lay in his hospital bed, and he developed a code for communication. All he could move was one finger, so he touched the arm of his wife with that finger, tapping out the code to communicate to her what to tell the engineers who were building the bridge. For thirteen years, Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger until the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge was finally completed.The Whole World Came TogetherThe young mother was ready for a few minutes of relaxation after a long and demanding day. However, her young daughter had other plans for her mother's time."Read me a story, Mom," the little girl requested. "Give Mommy a few minutes to relax and unwind. Then I'll be happy to read you a story," pleaded the mother.The little girl was insistent that Mommy read to her now. In a stroke of genius, the mother tore off the back page of the magazine she was reading. It contained a full-page picture of the world. As she tore it into several pieces, Mom asked her daughter to put the picture together and then she would read her a story. Surely this would buy her considerable relaxing moments.A short time later, the little girl announced the completion of her puzzle project. To her astonishment, she found the world picture completely assembled. When she asked her daughter how she managed to do it so quickly, the little girl explained that on the reverse side of the page was the picture of a little girl. "You see, Mommy, when I got the little girl together, the whole world came together."Each of us has the responsibility to put our world together. It starts by getting ourselves put together. We can become better parents, friends, spouses, employees, and employers. The first step is changing our attitude.The Value of Love and FamilySON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?"SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"DAD: "If you must know, I make $100 an hour."SON: "Oh! (With his head down).SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow $50?"The father was furious.DAD: "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such childish behavior."The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think:Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $ 50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.DAD: "Are you asleep, son?"SON: "No daddy, I'm awake".DAD: "I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier. It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $50 you asked for."The little boy sat straight up, smiling.SON: "Oh, thank you daddy!"Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.DAD: "Why do you want more money if you already have some?"SON: "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do."Daddy, I have $100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and begged for his forgiveness. It's just a short reminder to all of you working very hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do you remember to share that $100 worth of your time with someone you love? If we die tomorrow, the company we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family. Some things are more important...Source: Chicken Soup for the Soul. Edition Unknown. (Edited thanks to Niharika Tiwari.)

OK, the story is real and current (May 2019). My report here comes from a strongly partisan source (myself), but, all my jokes below notwithstanding, the issue does have two sides which I discussed hotly with people I deeply respect, and who have opposite opinion from mine. I will try to represent both sides as best as I can below, but I cannot resist expressing my opinions, please bear with me.A Polish female middle-age activist, Elżbieta Podleśna, was visited at her Warsaw home, 6am Monday morning, by six police officers, because of being a suspect in a crime case. Police took all her phones, computers and such, and took her to another city (Płock, 100 km to the North).What is notable, police at the scene was apologizing rather profusely, and immediately called (as her phones were kept as evidence) her lawyer, 6am and that.The lawyer called off his Monday schedule and hopped into his car for a drive to Płock.The city of Płock was the crime scene, so investigation was conducted there. Upon arrival, Elżbieta was told that she will be detained for 24 hrs at least, her bra was taken from her. She somehow hanged on to her pantyhose, though it was demanded as well. Her DNA, fingerprints and such were collected per normal criminal procedure and such.Meanwhile, her lawyer demanded the name signed under the investigation warrant, asked the local prosecutor for appropriate legal document sanctioning detention (as required by law), and the Polish Internet started screaming for the names of the officials involved. Mainstream newspapers had put the story on front pages early afternoon.The local prosecutor issued (after lengthy delays) a statement that he did not authorize detention. The name on the warrant was not to be found, finally police issued a statement that they acted independently, to hold the criminal suspect they got on the trail of. With that, Elżbieta was released from police custody by 4pm same day, Monday. Phones etc were kept.The crime being investigated was that someone in Płock, some time after Easter, had put up on the streets near one of local parish churches, posters with a photograph of a painting of Mary Mother of Jesus[1], with her infant. The photograph is that of the most recognized in Poland painting of this type, a painting interwoven with the Polish national history, kept within a national shrine (Częstochowa) for centuries. That painting is a goal of pilgrimages, every year, for centuries, of hundreds of thousands of Polish Catholics. In communist times, one of essential threads keeping the Polish society together against communist attempts to break society bonds, norms and traditions, was a reverse pilgrimage. Copies of that painting were traveling, official religious events organized by the Polish Catholic Church, from one small parish to another, across Poland, symbolizing that there is something which still holds Poland together, against the face of a totalitarian communist system.The alleged crime was in replacing the painting’s original golden halos of Mary and Jesus, in that poster action, with the LGTB rainbows. Polish Penal Code has a paragraph making “publicly disrespecting the object or place of a religious cult” a crime, 2 year prison term.OK, the above is the gist of the story. Below my, and opposing view comments, a section much longer I am afraid.My first remark is that the police action was possibly for another reason. Elżbieta is one of the grassroots activists of the protests against Polish Government actions of the last 4 years. She just came back, last weekend, from Netherlands where she worked with local Amnesty International chapter to report on the situation in Poland and shot a short film [2]calling for citizen’s activism and providing suitable instructions.She is obviously a government critic, and, according to government propaganda statements, government enemy. She is also an open declared enemy of that government propaganda, an affection which is cordially and generously reciprocated.Going international, by Elżbieta, that Amnesty International stage, was raising her actions by a significant notch.There is another background important issue as well. That parish in Płock had decorated the traditional (inside parish church) Easter Christ burial cave rendition with symbolism stating that Christ was crucified because of sins like “LGBT” and “gender”, among plethora of other sins. The posters constituting the crime in question are thought as being an answer to that, by people who felt targeted.Now, using Easter Christ burial cave rendition for strong statements has a tradition in Poland. In communist times, those decorations often included implicit anti-communist statements, and communist authorities harassed parish priests for that. Therefore there is a legitimate question, whether the parish pastor broke societal norms with this decoration, and the answer, whether one is pro- or against LGBT movement, is not that clear. I personally would not like to see decorations like this. But, precedent, freedom of religion, private church space, it is not clear. Needless to say, some local parish people felt deeply offended. This is a reverse side of the Polish coin - the Church cannot quite claim “being private”. Not in Poland.OK, now that Madonna with a rainbow. There are two ways to look at this, and I would like readers, whatever personal opinion, to ponder both ways.One, “blasphemy”. I totally skip theological issues. But for many Catholics, that “Madonna with LGBT rainbow” was like a dog pissing on a lamppost to mark the territory. A symbol central to someone’s identity/belief, appropriated and “desecrated”. If LGBT is a sin, splashing the LGBT symbol on Madonna was a clear in-your-face statement.Even more, my son is just passing final high school exams and pointed to me that our national poet, Adam Mickiewicz, in his mostly rebellion-against-everything national epic, “Dziady”, has a verse on a special place of Madonna in the Polish culture. His main character is ready to rebel against God Himself, but keeps reverence to Mary as the last thing of tradition he is not throwing away. That poem you have to know, thick pages of it, to graduate.So, this view, if there was ever a reason for that Polish Penal Code paragraph, this would be it.But there is another way to look at those events, the one I subscribe to. Someone from LGBT community felt excluded by that church decoration. Exclusion makes people feel alone, unloved, rejected. Mary Mother of Jesus, holding the Child, is the very symbol of love and unconditional acceptance. So, another way to look at the same story, someone, LGBT community, cried and claimed that he/she has also a share of that love, acceptance, belonging to both religious and wider tradition and community. The same act may look very differently.All this points to the risk of that Penal Code paragraph. A religious way out of it would be to leave it to God. Only He knows, what is in person’s heart. We humans, can look at the same thing, and see/judge differently, in both cases for good reasons.Here I end the serious part of the text. I still want to note, light note, that this thing really blew up Polish Internet. People started posting centuries old religious art with prominent rainbows (e.g. Noah story). Catholics claiming “I do not feel offended, this is ridiculous”. Analysis pointing that real rainbow, old art as well, has seven colors, which is a symbol of perfection, while them LGBT people worship six-colored rainbow, and everybody knows what “6” is a symbol of! (damn, I got a giggling association only now, I swear I did not see it before). Analysis pointing out that the LGBT rainbow misses the blue color, and blue is the sixth color in the “legitimate” rainbow, and the sixth Commandment prohibits any other sexual relation than that between married man and woman. People claiming (well into the life of the story) that those posters were put on things (exclusively?) like public toilets and trash cans. People posting in their TT or FB those rainbow Madonnas. People writing to prosecutors for action on those TT or FB rainbow Madonnas. And so on.And, by the way, that prosecutor which decided not to sign the arrest warrant and commented “not me” on the case, has now an official gag order from his government superiors.Note (May 24th 2019): polls taken around May 20th indicate that a vast majority of people in Poland who, for those polls, declare as Catholic, do not feel that their religious feelings were offended by Mary with an LGTB halo.Footnotes[1] Black Madonna of Częstochowa - Wikipedia[2] Amnesty NL on Twitter

Firstly as a disclaimer I do not have any knowledge on the Star Wars Universe or any of its AFV designs and therefore I will try and base my answer on an engagement between an Abrams and an AT-AT in an open battlefield such as a desertFirstly let us assess our M1A2 Abrams:The M1A2 Abrams is a culmination of the U.S’s experience building tanks and has been specifically developed to counter most modern threats on the battlefield including Infantry, forifications or hardpoints and of course enemy armour/transportationIts armour is entirely classified and incorporates Depleted Uranium into its complex armour array providing substantial protection against super sonic sub-calibre APFSDS ammunition and HEAT-FS ammunition, its thickest armour is concentrated along its Turret Front and its Nose plates. Additional TUSK armour can be added by the crew to improve protection from the sides of the vehicle and decrease the chances of a penetration from the tanks 11′ o clock and 1′ o clock positionsM1A2 Abrams is armed with the lethal 120mm Smoothbore M256A1 gun firing Depleted Uranium APFSDS ammuntion, HEAT-FS ammunition and of course the newer all-in-one projectile being developed known as the AMP round. The M1A2 Abrams also has advanced firecontrol systems, long range sighting and ranging that can calculate range rapidly and allow for the Gunner to get an accurate reading on the range detected and hit the target, the main gun has a dual Axis stabiliser which allows for accurate firing on the move and easier tracking of a target when positioned on a slope or angle of terrain, the electric assisited turret traverse allows for the tank to engage hostiles in multiple directions at once in rapid successionThe M1A2 uses a very powerful 1500 HP gas turbine engine that can reach extremely high speeds and allows for fantastic mobility across terrains of all types, the suspension and track system allows for comfortable ride and movements across any battlefield and allows for excellent weight distribution and lower ground pressure meaning the tank doesn’t simply sink into soft terrain or become bogged down.The crew are highly trained experts. The Commander keeps the vehicle under control and in order, telling and instructing his fellow crew members of movements or actions that are required when in live combat, the Gunner is responsible for the weapon systems, the Loader responsible for the Loading of the Gun as well as Radio duties and the Driver steers the vehicle all the while the crew are working closely together to attain full 360° observation and allowing everything to run smoothly, additionally the family like bond they share increases their effectiveness as they trust each other to get their respective jobs doneNow we have the AT-AT. Now I barely know the backstory of the AT-AT however to me it seems to be the Star Wars Universe’s version of a tank. Heavy armour and firepower to deal with the biggest threats potentially faced by the EmpireThe AT-AT however uses a Mech System which although looking cool has numerous issues….Firstly its absolutely giant being a total of 20 Meters long and 22 meters tall equivelant to that of a 6 storey building! In comparison our M1A2 is roughly 2.44m tall which is incredibly small compared to our AT-AT and therefore makes it less vulnerable to incoming fire as well as being less vulnerable to artillery and aircraft (something AT-AT wouldn’t seem to be able to avoid in my opinion). M1A2 Abrams sighting can pick out a small infantryman at 2000m and likely beyond, the AT-AT is a building sized target and very easy to spot for our Abrams and thus the Abrams can be better prepared for the enemy vehicle or can begin engaging it long before AT-AT can even see it specially in a desert enviroment where the Abrams can take a Hull Down position greatly decreasing its visibility and increasing protection substantiallyTanks in general have a simple propulsion method compared to Mech designs and this certainly applies to the AT-AT. The Abrams had it Turbine engine powering the transmission which in turn powers the sprocket and roadwheels as well as the Idler wheel which allows for the tracks to move, the AT-AT must power four individually moving legs all with different paces along difficult and likely broken up terrain, the huge amount of power required as well as the hydraulics as well would be massively substantial and as we see in the movies facilitates very low mobility comparatively to the M1A2 Abrams.Next is ground pressure. The M1A2 Abrams’ tracks are always entirely contacting the ground easily distruibuting the ground pressure of the vehicle preventing the tank from becoming bogged down easily in softer terrain, the tracks provide long points of contact on the ground whereas the AT-AT has only four feet which are distributing a huge amount of weight into four small areas creating a high chance of the vehicle becoming bogged down. Thr huge amount of power and hydraulics required to distribute the weight of the AT-AT would lead to the design becoming heavier and heavier and thus much more impractical. Its long legs might be able to “walk over” marsh but the feet would sink heavily into the marsh and potentially become stuck or slowed down even more than its lower mobilityMountainous terrain would be hell for the AT-AT. Have you ever tried walking up a 60% gradient before? Its nearly impossible without going down on all fours and clambering up very slowly, the AT-AT’s longer legs would barely be able to do such a thing and due to the top heavy nature the vehicle appears to have it’ll likely just fall backwards and go tumbling down the mountain.The AT-AT may have superior or special types of armour but those huge legs offer an incredibly vulnerable target, even if APFSDS cannot penetrate it certainly can get into the huge hydraulic disks that are present on the legs and once these are messed up the entire walking ability of the AT-AT is destroyed additionally enough hits may cause the leg to collapse and once one leg is gone then the entire top heavy AT-AT would simply collapseThe AT-AT potentially has better firepower due to its advanced lasers but these laser systems likely take a lot of additional power, power that is needed for mobility and therefore they likely take a while to either fully charge up or overheat quickly limiting rate of fire and volume of fire whereas the M1A2 Abrams can afford to fire much more constantly. Additionally the AT-AT had the majority of its weapon systems mounted onto its head and this facilitates a lot of forward firepower as well as the head being able to turn however the head can only seeming turn with 180° arc which limits it avaliable firepower to a 180° arc unlike the M1A2 which can afford a 360° arc if fire meaning M1A2 can afford to fire when driving in reverse, side-ways or even with the gun to the rear unlike AT-AT. It also appears to me that the AT-AT doesn’t have any side mounted or rear mounted weapons either offensive or defensive meaning its flat, slab sided sides and rear can be extremely vulnerable to enemy fire as well as its massive underbelly where the hydraulics would be incredibly vulnerable and easy to knock out for the M1A2 Abrams.So to answer the question; The AT-AT is a massive, impractical design that has a limited level of mobility, a huge profile that can be easily spotted, vulnerable hydraulics and a limited arc of avaliable firepower as well as vulnerable sides and rear, poor ground pressure and poor performance in different terrainM1A2 has all the advantages and even if it cannot frontally penetrate the AT-AT it can flank it, fire in concealment or Hull Down, it has a much lower profile and high mobility allowing the defeat of difficult terrain and advances through difficult terrain like marshes and swamp land. Its crew have excellent visibility compared to the AT-AT’s single visor for the three man “head” crew. The M1A2 Abrams has a full 360° of firing arc and a high velocity gun able to hit targets at extreme range specially something 22 meters tall at 4000m!M1A2 would win because its much more practical than the AT-AT.Remember in the film the AT-AT was taken down by wires wrapped around the legs. Now imagine a 1500m/s Depeleted Uranium Armour Piercing Fin-Stabilised Discarding Sabot projectile striking the leg. The AT-AT would collapse hard into the ground whilst the Abrams happily circles it