At Telling Secrets Elizabeth Kaeton writes concerning her brother John with early onset Alzheimer's:
I covet and cherish your prayers for my brother. Go ahead. Put that request on your prayer lists. I haven't wanted to be a bother but now I'm thinking it's time to 'storm heaven' on his behalf.
John. His name is John. He's 56 years old - just turned in July.
Pray for a miracle - without condition or specifics. I don't know what God has in mind in all of this, but I do know that when things get this bad this fast there's usually a miracle just around the corner which often doesn't have as much, if anything, to do with a 'cure' or 'healing' of that which gave rise to the prayer in the first place.
It's about "something else" that needs curing or healing, by which the party of the first part finds hope and strength and solace, through which the parties of the second, third and fourth parts play a significant role - which changes and transforms everyone and everything.
I know that sounds confusing, but I'm actually crystal clear in my head and heart.
I don't know how any of this works. I only know that it does.
Yesterday was the natal festivity of my dear friend Kathy. Here she is at Sandia Peak with the eastern hills behind her. I have shared some of her e-mail comments here though she does not comment here directly. She still swings by daily. Kathy is an awesome woman with an ever-exploring, ever-wondering mind and we are celebrating tomorrow evening.
Happy Birthday, Kathy!
Saint Aidan, Chapel, Holy Cross Monastery, West Park NY Photo by Randy, OHC - via Wikimedia Commons h/t to Sister Ellie
Monday, 31 August, was the Feast of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, the missionary from Iona who founded the Lindisfarne community and evangelized Northumbria. He raised up a generation of saints that followed. St Cuthbert's call to the monastic life was triggered by Aidan's death. Aidan walked the lanes and did not live in fear or pomp, staying in contact with the people he encountered. King Oswald sometimes acted as his interpreter so Saxons could understand what the Irish-speaking Aidan was saying.
I apologize to Aidan for not mentioning his feast on the day.
O loving God, you called your servant Aidan from the peace of a cloister to re-establish the Christian mission in northern England, and endowed him with gentleness, simplicity, and strength: Grant that we, following his example, may use what you have given us for the relief of human need, and may persevere in commending the saving Gospel of our Redeemer Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gregory the Great (c) Paul E Strid
Yesterday, 3 September, was also the Feast of Saint Gregory the Great on the Roman Catholic calender. Episcopalians celebrate him on March 12. He was my friend Bill's favorite saint and we agreed to skip the various Saints William and celebrate Gregory as Bill's saint's day. So, Happy Saint's Day, Bill! We will be celebrating that tomorrow evening along with Kathy's birthday.
Almighty and merciful God, you raised up Gregory of Rome to be a servant of the servants of God, and inspired him to send missionaries to preach the Gospel to the English people: Preserve in your Church the catholic and apostolic faith they taught, that your people, being fruitful in every good work, may receive the crown of glory that never fades away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The extended family continues to grow. My niece Paula notes the following on FB:
Have a new niece born this morning to my brother's son BJ and his wife Tracey. Haven't heard the full name yet, but her middle name will be Hallie after my maternal grandmother who shared the same birthday as BJ. She weighed in at 8 pounds 1 oz. This has been a great week...twin nephews born one week ago and today a niece. Just too cool. :-)
...
Add to that Nicole's new nephew -- who by the way is another cutie patootie, and that makes 4 babies in a week. Crazy...
So another grandnephew of mine, BJ, has become a dad too. And my grandnephew Nate is a new uncle. Joy in seeing a whole new generation arrive. And mortality too as I realize my generation, that of the great-grandparents, is not getting younger.
My cousin Maureen pointed out that her niece, cousin Dan's daughter Jennifer Hallie, also has that middle name after my mom. My own niece Paula and nephew Glen Paul and I all are named for my dad, Paul Victor (my middle name is different). Mother, in turn, was named for her Aunt Hallie, who was also named for her Aunt Hallie in the generation before that.
It is nice to see family names carried on, though a colleague who has "IV" behind his name implies it can go too far. LOL.
Welcome to the next generation!
O God, you have taught us through your blessed Son that whoever receives a little child in the name of Christ receives Christ himself: We give you thanks for the blessing you have bestowed upon this family in giving them a child. Confirm their joy by a lively sense of your presence with them, and give them calm strength and patient wisdom as they seek to bring this child to love all that is true and noble, just and pure, lovable and gracious, excellent and admirable, following the example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray for the unemployed.
Unemployment Rises to 9.7 Percent; 216000 Jobs Lost in August Washington Post - Neil Irwin - 17 minutes ago The job market continued its long, steep decline in August, with the jobless rate soaring to 9.7 percent and employers continuing to shed jobs, albeit at a slower rate than expected.
Obama's speech scares the wingnut parents Kansas City Star - Yael T. Abouhalkah - 53 minutes ago It's Day 3 of the whipped up frenzy over President Barack Obama's planned stay-in-school message to K-12 students. Conservative parents are whipping up on their schools boards -- in the ...
I checked a NYT article when GHWB gave a speech to students in 1989 and the synopsis of a news broadcast on it. While there seems to have been concern in some quarters about GHWB's approach to drugs (his topic) and a drug raid timed to bolster his speech, there was no hysteria or calls to pull children out of school, etc. Senator Byrd said Bush's drug proposal did not go far enough. Democrats in Congress accused Bush 41 of using government money for political purposes. Students were rather unimpressed with the "just say no" content of the President's speech. A commenter at one site vaguely remembers it.
I was only 10 at the time, and we had just started 5th grade. But I remember all of us gathering in the cafeteria (it was a small Catholic elementary school - maybe 120 kids total in grades K - 6) and watching this on the TV.
But shielding students from what he had to say? No. When it comes to the reaction there is no qualitative equivalency so don't let someone pass off the current frenzy as the same-o same-o. False equivalencies must be rejected; they do not stand up to scrutiny.
Has the entire nation gone off its meds against medical advice?
One of my friends writes at FB:
Erik ... thinks ALL media needs to look at what they are doing and STOP flaming the fires of hate, discrimination, controversy and stupidity. REPORT the facts... STOP SENSATIONALIZING!
I thank those praying for me as I go through dental work. I was all brave and calm yesterday but last night I lost several hours of sleep because of pain. Today I will accept the doc's offer of stronger analgesics (the ones I turned down yesterday). I will be going in to work later, assuming I can talk without such an intense distraction since we are short-staffed today.
Let us remember all who are ill and those who do research to combat disease and suffering.
H1N1 has killed 2837, virus has not mutated-WHO Reuters - Stephanie Nebehay, Laura MacInnis - 1 hour ago GENEVA, Sept 4 (Reuters) - H1N1 flu has killed at least 2837 people but is not causing more severe illness than previously and the virus has not mutated, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.
Antibodies found that prevent HIV from causing severe AIDS Los Angeles Times - Thomas H. Maugh II - 13 hours ago Scientists were able to isolate two antibodies responsible for resistance to the disease in an African patient. The discovery could be key to the development of a vaccine.
LJ notes at FB:
According to the New York Times, the lack of medical insurance coverage in the US is the direct cause of 18,000 unnecessary deaths a year. That’s more than five times the number of people killed on 9/11. Each year.
From the Prayer List at OCICBW:
From BAD ALICE:
It's Bad Alice again. The hospital discharge nurse called me about my brother and SIL and told me they have to release them into someone's care because they aren't competent to take care of themselves. My SIL possibly has the beginnings of dementia. Neither has been taking their medications properly or eating properly. This has probably been going on for a while, hidden by the fact that on the surface they seem okay. I will be sitting down with doctors today to learn more about their actual diagnoses, and eventually with a case worker from their insurance company and a social worker. It's probable that she will need some sort of assisted living. I'm not looking forward to trying to explain any of this to my brother or SIL.
In other words, it's a mess and I feel like sitting down and crying.
+ + +
Viv: Last night I also ended up in hospital myself after I passed out with pain on the landing. It’s probably either the endometriosis again or a cyst bursting but my blood pressure went through the basement and I was unable to move or talk for some time. I’m ok again now and aiming to be back at work tomorrow but why oh why do these things always come at the same time???
+ + +
Posted by Charlotte at THEATRICAL MILESTONES:
... one of my best friends--let's call him Randy--is involved in an abusive relationship with a junkie. ...
+ + +
Posted by THE EPISCOPAL PRINCESS on her blog:
... I am finding it so hard to put into words all the things which are blowing about in my brain right now. In no particular order... anxiety, fear, sadness, excitement. Okay so all of those are pieces of anxiety. I cannot put them in order because quite frankly the order changes from minute to minute. I keep remembering the song my mother used to sing when we were being particularly difficult "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha, Ha". It feels so appropriate right now.
I am scared of change, it is one of my huge challenges and not one that I relish.
+ + +
Margaret notes Bishop Paul Jones in the TEC calendar today:
Today I give thanks for +Paul Jones (1880-1941), young priest, younger bishop, who spoke peace and non-violence in the early days of WWI. He was forced to resign as bishop because of the conflict he caused preaching peace.
Take heart you bishops that are fearful to act or speak plainly, or believe you are working a "process."
Today is also the feast of the Translation of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne. On this day in 1104 his relics were moved to their new shrine in Durham Cathedral. The icon shown below, through the hands of this unworthy presbyter, was laid on Cuthbert's grave in the cathedral in summer of 1997 as I prayed for everyone and everything I could imagine. St Cuddy is one of the saints famous for healing. May his prayers for this hurting world continue.
Conclusion A Lindisfarne Litany
Most High and Glorious, Lowly and Generous, Sweet God, Strong and Swift to Save,
By your joy in making all things, By your passion in saving all things, By your grace in keeping all things,
Hear the prayers of your servant, Give ear to the prayers of your friends, Hearken to the voice of those who love you, And show mercy to those who know not your love;
Fashion anew your Image in us, Keep us by your tender love, Save us and guide us safely home;
For your own sake, Who pity mortal flesh, For your own dear sake, Who took our mortal flesh, For your mercy's sake, Who are the Life of mortal flesh,
Holy and Glorious, Gracious Three, Save us and guide us safely home, Save us and guide us safely home. Amen.
Letter to the President of the United States from the House Progressive Caucus:
We look forward to meeting with you regarding retaining a robust public option in any final health reform bill and request that that meeting take place as soon as possible.
Public opinion polls continue to show that a majority of Americans want the choice of a robust public plan and we stand in solidarity with them. We continue to support the robust public option that was reported out of the Committees on Ways and Means and Education and Labor and will not vote for a weakened bill on the House Floor or returning from a Conference with the Senate.
Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, a public option built on the Medicare provider system and with reimbursement based on Medicare rates--not negotiated rates--is unacceptable. A plan with negotiated rates would ensure higher costs for the public plan, and would do nothing to achieve the goal of providing choice and competition to keep rates down. The public plan with set rates saves $75 billion, which could be lost if rates are negotiated with providers. Further, this public option must be available immediately and must not be contingent upon any trigger.
Mr. President, the need for reform is urgent. Every day, 14,000 Americans lose their health care coverage. We must have health care reform that will effectively bring down costs and significantly expand access. A health reform bill without a robust public option will not achieve the health reform this country so desperately needs. We cannot vote for anything less.
"A bill without a strong public option will not pass the House. Eliminating the public option would be a major victory for the insurance companies who have rationed care, increased premiums and denied coverage."
I would love to see more folks standing up for the American People instead of the insurance companies.
You have, perhaps, heard or read about the brouhaha over the President speaking to the students of the United States about being good students.
If the asshats freaking out about this (and the evil bastards playing it up and propagating it) are true Americans, strip me of my citizenship now. I don't want to be associated with this level of stupidity.
But they are just fucking stupid. And the furor is phony and just plain evil. Got that?
It just boggles the mind that we have sunk so far.
The media in this nation have given themselves over to the reptilian hindbrain that has risen to the fore now that we have a - tell it not in Gath - black President!
Some abusive parents have decided that their blind ideology is more important than exposing their children to ideas not approved by Rush Limbaugh and are actually preventing them from watching the speech. Because why? They're afraid Obama will seem like a nice guy when he doesn't have a Hitler mustache?
Oh, sweet, stupid motherfuckers who shouldn't have been allowed to breed, like it or not, when someone is the President, that person is the President of all of us. So, sorry, conservatives madly craning your necks to lick your own taints over Obama's speech, he's your President, too. The only way he's not your President is if you leave the country. On the left, we lived with that knowledge for 8 years. You're not even up to ten months. A little advice here: let this one go.
For the past eight years I got apoplectic every time I heard W's voice. I acknowledge that I hate him with the passion of a thousand white-hot suns, which is tame compared to how I feel about Dick Cheney. All right, cards on the table.
But I attacked him verbally for what he was doing or for the lies he told, not for made-up shit. I screamed at the television or radio but I never protested his prerogative to address the nation.
For that matter, the world did not get very exercised when G. H. W. Bush (Poppy or Bush '41) addressed the school children of the nation to push his style of assault on drugs. It seems however that the world has gone bat shit crazy.
I would like to take a cue from the Rude One's rant: If you don't like your children hearing from the President of the United States just fucking leave the country now. And do us a favor. Don't come back.
As I've told my students for decades (most forget, many choose not to remember):
To deny our common heritage and witness as Christians is to refuse attempts at visible unity, thereby propagating the great heresy that the Holy Eucharist - that is God's own being - is an exclusive privilege of a few, and that the Holy Spirit is limited to even less. What value has Baptism and Chrismation to the ones claiming Paradise while sealing all entries?
Господу помориця:
Most Holy and Lifegiving Trinity, in whom we live and move and have our being, in your infinite compassion look upon your warring children and touch our hearts that the doors thereof may open and that we may behold one another through your merciful eyes. Suffer us not to turn from one another but grant that turning our faces toward each other we may turn them unto you, whose Light illumines all who come into this world. To you be glory now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
It seems tooth #19 (a lower left molar) had an abscess. So I began my day with a root canal. I had a root canal done there two years ago and I'm not thrilled with going through this again. Must say, I love the Zen setting of the endodontist's office and the softly played baroque music in the background. Almost no pain in the process. Tonight, however, I am grateful for Tylenol with codeine and am about to take another one.
Next week: the final filling for today's work and tackling cavities and a new crown.
If you are interested in learning about the role played by women in contemporary Iranian political culture, check out the guest post by Nayereh Tohidi at Informed Comment.
One paragraph:
The international media, often unaware of the brewing women’s movement in Iran, were surprised to see women marching in the demonstrations in large numbers and braving the violent response by security forces, which dramatically illustrated the clash between a changing society and an increasingly repressive government. But the massive participation of women in the latest protests is not an unprecedented, overnight development. This has been the result of many years of rather quiet educational and organizational work carried out by many small groups of women and men focused on civil rights, especially women’s rights. Women’s social activism and participation in political movements in modern Iran has more than 100 years of recorded history, with special highlights during the Constitutional Revolution of 1906–1911, the nationalist movement of the 1950s, the modernization and reform processes of the 1960s and 1970s, and the Islamic Revolution of 1978–79.
Update: If you have a problem with the embed, click on the YouTube link below.
I ran across this today at Crooks and Liars. Too cool! nonny mouse posted it, and I thank you. thecelticinme poasted it at YouTube, and I thank you.
Nonny tells us it is "an old Maori haka sung by New Zealand’s most famous soprano, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, with a dozen Maori back-up vocalists." The song is evidently over 300 years old and is here performed in a blend of traditional haka and symphonic orchestra. It's just way cool.
The following is from the YouTube post: Footage taken from "Faith and Music" with a little editing.
******
E, pakia kia rite E, ko te rite kia rite E, takahia kia ngawari E, torona kei waho Hoki mai
E whakarongo ai au Ki te tangi mai A te manu nei,
A te tarakihi, I te weheruatanga o te po
Tara ra-ta kita kita Tara ra-ta kita kita
Wiri o papa, towene, towene Wiri o papa, towene, towene
Hope whai-a-ke Turi whatia Ei! Ei! Ha!
*****
Clap in unison, in unison, in unison. Stamp your feet smoothly Hands outstretched then back.
K’s body lay limp across F’s arms. No sparks flew from her now, though flashes of sunlight reflected from the small silver coins sewn about the hem of her voluminous skirt, its great folds dark as the last blue before the night sky turns black. F. held her head close to his cheek as though he cradled his own child. The old woman was tall and large-boned but looked frail as a sparrow in the Norrung’s huge arms.
R. shivered as she remembered F’s brother carrying Ian down from Mount Rğan and reminded herself that Ian was ultimately all right. She hoped this was true of K.
Memories haunt and comfort us. The greatest warmaiden of the eastern forest has a flashback here on the battlefield, recalling the morning F's brother raced up the mountain, struggling against the scree, to bring the great hero down. He who saved the world from the darkness seemed lifeless. What she beheld this day was too evocative of that earlier struggle. Was every victory of the Light only momentary?
I just returned from church by way of the grocery store. A quick bite to eat and all too soon to bed. Tomorrow morning I see the endodontist at 8:00 to evaluate the tender tooth.
Ah, now there's a title for a short story: The Tender Tooth. Or perhaps a band? I am rapidly becoming silly. Time to close this post.
Twenty-six Lies About H.R. 3200 A notorious analysis of the House health care bill contains 48 claims. Twenty-six of them are false and the rest mostly misleading. Only four are true. --FactCheck.org
Deadly earthquake hits Indonesia BBC News - 49 minutes ago At least seven people have been killed after a powerful earthquake struck near the Indonesian island of Java. Dozens of properties collapsed in the city of Tasikmalaya on the west of the island and thousands of people have been evacuated, ...
Suicide bomber kills 23 in east Afghanistan attack Reuters - Rafiq Sherzad - 1 hour ago MEHTAR LAM, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least 23 people, including the country's deputy head of intelligence, in an attack near a mosque in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials said.
Bomb hits Athens stock exchange AFP - 37 minutes ago ATHENS - A powerful van bomb caused major damage Wednesday to the Athens stock exchange and injured a woman in one of two attacks suspected to have been carried out by far-left militants.
Weather aids firefighters; Mt. Wilson still threatened Los Angeles Times - 7 hours ago Higher humidity and a bit lower temperatures help crews battling the Station fire in the Angeles National Forest. But the northern and southeastern fronts could re-erupt, officials said.
Tropical Storm Erika heads towards Leeward Islands Reuters - 21 minutes ago NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Erika, which formed late Tuesday in the western Atlantic Ocean, was headed toward the northern Leeward Islands early Wednesday, the US National Hurricane Center in its last advisory.
Job cuts ease in August CNNMoney.com - 34 minutes ago Summer layoffs slow with 76456 jobs lost last month; 21% fewer than in July, according to outplacement firm report. By Jessica Dickler, CNNMoney.
Bishop warns of South Sudan war BBC News - 3 hours ago In a rare statement, the head of the Episcopal Church of Sudan warned that the 2005 peace deal was in "grave danger" unless more is done to prevent conflict ...
Ga. police 'need help' after eight people slain msnbc.com - Terry Dickson - Aug 31, 2009 BRUNSWICK, Ga. - Toni Mugavin says she wonders if she needs to sleep with a gun under her pillow, afraid the killer of eight people at a Georgia mobile home is still on the loose and frustrated with the lack of information about what ...
From Patrik Jonsson at The Christian Science Monitor (via Meteor Blades at Daily Kos):
As cities from Sacramento, Calif., to Tampa, Fla., debate the merits of tent cities to house newly homeless people (many of them young families), this recession is starting to yield scenes that evoke the Great Depression, especially at places like Timberline Campground in Lebanon, Tenn.
Living in well-worn campers and tent compounds overstretched with 20-foot-long tarps, 85 percent of residents here are permanent, a good chunk of them "economic refugees." It’s an increasingly familiar scene across the country as campgrounds, RV parks, national parks, and city-owned pockets become inundated with permanent campers, and as entire tent cities spring up and expand, with some hinting at permanence by voting on village bylaws.
"It’s not quite Hoovervilles, but it’s getting there," says Leonard Heumann, a housing policy professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, referencing the massive tent cities and shantytowns erected during the Great Depression. ...
The National Alliance to Prevent Homelessness (NAPH) estimates that this recession will create 1.5 million new homeless – nearly double the current number. Half of those people will exist outside the shelter system – in cars, tents, campers, or sleeping bags under highway overpasses.
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us, unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Gestapo did not use waterboarding - so their methods of interrogation in this case were not as extreme as Cheney's. Nonetheless, the US-run court ruled that Cheney-style EITs, deployed by the Gestapo with the same justification as Cheney, constituted prosecutable torture:
... And they were executed for war crimes.
The question Americans have to ask themselves is why they hold the former president and vice-president to lower moral and ethical standards than the United States once held the Gestapo. That's all. And that's everything, isn't it?
But for those whose sense of identity has been premised on a raced, masculinist, conservative Christian hierarchy of American power, the world must seem even more emotionally terrifying than any actual facts would indicate.
09/01/09 : DoD Identifies Marine Casualty Lance Cpl. David R. Hall, 31, of Elyria, Ohio, died Aug. 31 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
08/31/09 : DoD Identifies Army Casualties (2 of 2) Pfc. Eric W. Hario, 19, of Monroe, Mich...died Aug. 29 in Paktika province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when they were shot by enemy forces Aug. 28 while conducting combat operations. Both soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion
08/31/09 : DoD Identifies Army Casualties (1 of 2) Staff Sgt. Jason S. Dahlke, 29, of Orlando, Fla...died Aug. 29 in Paktika province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when they were shot by enemy forces Aug. 28 while conducting combat operations. Both soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion
08/31/09 : DoD Identifies Army Casualty Spc. Abraham S. Wheeler III, 22, of Columbia, S.C., died Aug. 28 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron...
08/28/09 : DoD Identifies Army Casualty Pfc. Matthew E. Wildes, 18, of Hammond, La., died Aug. 27 in Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment...
08/28/09 : DoD Identifies Army Casualty Staff Sgt. Kurt R. Curtiss, 27, of Murray, Utah, died Aug. 26 in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he was shot while his unit was supporting Afghan security forces during an enemy attack. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion...
08/27/09 : DoD Identifies Army Casualties (4 of 4) Pfc. Dennis M. Williams, 24, of Federal Way, Wash...died Aug. 25 in southern Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
08/27/09 : DoD Identifies Army Casualties (3 of 4) Sgt. 1st Class Ronald W. Sawyer, 38, of Trenton, Mo...died Aug. 25 in southern Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
08/27/09 : DoD Identifies Army Casualties (2 of 4) Capt. Cory J. Jenkins, 30, of Arizona...died Aug. 25 in southern Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
08/27/09 : DoD Identifies Army Casualties (1 of 4) Capt. John L. Hallett III, 30, of California...died Aug. 25 in southern Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
08/27/09 : DoD Identifies Marine Casualty Lance Cpl. Donald J. Hogan, 20, of San Clemente, Calif., died Aug. 26 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force...
The views expressed on this blog are solely those of the blogger and do not represent the positions of any group or organization with which he may be affiliated. As one who spent decades stuffing down his opinions and emotions, I am inclined to cut loose here, which I believe is healthy, honest, and part of the process of sanctification in the long run. Politics and spirituality mingle freely here, along with theatre reviews, photography, and passionate talk about food, literature, and the human journey. If anything written here offends you, please find other blogs to read. I am here to share, not to do battle.
