The headline is from Kirstin's latest post at her blog, Barefoot and Laughing. I commend her recent posts to you. Excerpts:As for entering the process while I’m dealing with cancer: I have a mental image of a tightrope, but I’m not falling off. It’s not fraught with any actual danger. I won’t lose my balance. This is where I walk now. The message I got on Thursday carries me:
You could die. Affirm your life.
I have cancer. I am human. I am me. I will be me, as long as I have breath.
Keep storming heaven for me. Keep letting me know it. Know that your love helps carry me.Because she has had difficulty sleeping, I offer this prayer from the BCP (edited):
O heavenly Father, you give your children sleep for the refreshing of soul and body: Grant Kirstin this gift, we pray; keep her in that perfect peace which you have promised to those whose minds are fixed on you; and give her such a sense of your presence, that in the hours of silence she may enjoy the blessed assurance of your love; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
With sad heart I share with you that Declan ... passed away at 2:20 EDT this morning.At Declan's Journey we read this from his mother:
For those who followed his journey know he fought a valiant fight until the very end.
...
May our hearts and prayers continue for the family at this time.
Our sweet son has gone home to Heaven
We are heartbroken but know Declan is at peace and his body is whole again.
Thank you for all your heartfelt prayers and words of encouragement. You all helped to make a living nightmare more bearable.
Let us pray.
O God, whose beloved Son took children into his arms and blessed them: Give us grace to entrust Declan, to your never-failing care and love, and bring us all to your heavenly kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Most merciful God, whose wisdom is beyond our understanding, deal graciously with the Carmical family in their grief. Surround them with your love, that they may not be overwhelmed by their loss, but have confidence in your goodness, and strength to meet the days to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo, the victor of recent elections in the breakaway republic of Somaliland, was sworn in as president on Tuesday, achieving a transfer of power between political rivals that is rare in Africa.
Only three states on the African mainland – Benin, Senegal and Zambia – have seen incumbent presidents stand down after being defeated in elections. Unrecognised internationally as a separate state, Somaliland has developed its own democratic traditions without outside pressure.
The circumstances of the handover, which saw Dahir Rayale Kahin bow out as president after being defeated in elections deemed by international observers to have been largely free and fair, are all the more remarkable for their contrast with neighbouring Somalia.
AFP shares this:
Many voters and politicians have voiced hope that the smooth transfer of power would once again prove their democratic credentials and strengthen their territory's case for international recognition.
Some Western countries argue Somaliland deserves to become a fully-fledged country and thus gain access to more aid but the African Union is wary of setting a precedent they fear could spur secessions across the continent.
Challenges facing Somaliland are described in the VOA article on the successful democratic transition.
Somaliland Press describes the swearing in of the new cabinet.
All of this is a cause of rejoicing.
The Wikipedia article on Somaliland may be found here.The Newly Elected President Of Somaliland ,Mr Ahmed Mohamud Silanyo has never shied away from, nor made an issue of, his sexual orientation. He has been with his partner for 27 years and they have three adopted children. The newly-elected president of Somaliland, Ahmed Mohamud Silanyo, vowed Friday to campaign "vigorously" for international recognition of his breakaway republic in the Horn of Africa."During my tenure as president I will vigorously fight for the recognition of Somaliland. The world must recognise our democracy," he said and Mr Silanyo also said that he would maintain close links with Ethiopia and called on Somalia to sort out its problems. Mr Silanyo From 1946 to 1957, he attended the secondary schools in the towns of Sheekh and Amud in northwestern Somalia. He passed the advanced level GCE examinations in London, England, from 1958 to 1960. He then attended college at the University of Manchester, and earned an Honors Bachelor's Degree in Economics (1960-63). He completed his Master's Degree in Economics from the University of Manchester in 1966. Somaliland is a state located in the Horn of Africa. It is regarded internationally as being an autonomous region of Somalia Although no sovereign state has recognised the independence of Somaliland, Since 1991 it has been governed by a secessionist administration .The breakaway republic, which declared its independence on May 18, 1991,remains unrecognised by any state or international organisation.
--AllVoices
[Note: I cannot attest for the truth of anything in this quoted paragraph.]
...[T]here are some increases in tumor activity, but the amount is questionable. This means two things: we're not really clear about whether the treatment is working, and I have a week to not know whether I have a whole new regimen (high-dose Interleukin-2, with its own set of side effects) to get used to.
How am I? Short of panicky. Oddly, both worried and trusting. Preparing; I can feel myself gearing up, both for change and for news I don't want.
Pray, of course. Be here. Love me in whatever ways you think of; I need that right now.
Bryan Fischer, the "Director of Issues Analysis" for the American Family Association, wrote a blog post yesterday on the AFA's site arguing that the United States should have "no more mosques, period."
"This is for one simple reason," he writes. "Each Islamic mosque is dedicated to the overthrow of the American government."
How's this little tidbit?
If a mosque was willing to publicly renounce the Koran and its 109 verses that call for the death of infidels, renounce Allah and his messenger Mohammed, publicly condemn Osama bin Laden, Hamas, and Abdelbaset al Megrahi (the Lockerbie bomber), maybe then they could be allowed to build their buildings. But then they wouldn't be Muslims at that point, now would they?
What if a church had to renounce the Bible and all the verses that call for the death of infidels, renounced G-d and his son Jesus, condemned the crusades of every era and their leaders (including all the religiously motivated Christian terrorists of our day) before being granted building permits? Hmm?
Am I hearing crickets now?
The Times report, however, descends into a kind of "liberal" media known-nothingism when it comes to how this became a controversy, suggesting that " a combination of arguable naïveté, public-relations missteps and a national political climate in which perhaps no preparation could have headed off controversy." This is a remarkable formula that manages to place the blame everywhere except where it belongs -- on a right-wing smear machine that went into overdrive in an effort to portray Rauf and Khan as terrorist sympathizers, an experience no one outside of contemporary partisan politics could have possibly been prepared for. The conservative media lied about the location of the project, they lied about Rauf's background, they lied about the project's funding, they lied about when the project would be built, and they lied about Rauf's political beliefs. And it would have been one thing if it had just been a small group of people lying, but they had an entire cable news station to lie for them, and politicians who were willing to amplify their smears. This controversy isn't about the "political climate." It's the fruit of a conscious, deliberate, and sustained effort. [Crooks and Liars]Digby comments:
Normally I would think we could ride out this latest wave of nativism and racism, but there are two factors that make it more dangerous than usual. The first, of course, is the economy which looks like it's not going to recover smartly thus giving this impulse more oxygen than it might otherwise have. The second is that the right wing demagogues have an entire industry now devoted to creating and nurturing these wedge issues for political and financial gain. The culture warriors have just shifted their strategy away from "family values" to their other stand-by, "stop the boogeyman." It's all part of the same throwback tapestry, but different times require difference emphasis. We're officially in the "the foreigners and blacks are ruining everything" portion of the show.At least one cretin on the right have suggested building a gay bar next to the center to freak out the Muslims. It is to laugh.
If you look at this picture, and you’re not too stupid to breathe (sorry, wingnuts!), you should immediately see two things that make this whole “let’s put a gay bar by the Cordoba House and see liberal heads explode!” wishful thinking look even stupider than it is on its surface: 1) There are three gay bars within .1 mile of the Cordoba House and 2) They are all as close or closer to the Cordoba House than the WTC is. [Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon]
Furthermore, you might want to check out what Maha has to share with us:
Someone here had said that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the main guy behind the Cordoba House Islamic center, is a Sufi. This is a detail I have yet to see in a news story, but I can confirm it is true. He is the imam of a Sufi mosque in lower Manhattan, about ten blocks north of the proposed Cordoba House site.
Thus, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is not connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. I can say this because there is no way the Muslim Brotherhood, or al Qaeda, or the Taliban, or any other organization dedicated to enforcing dogmatic Sunni Islam would have anything to do with a Sufi. In fact, Sufis in the Middle East have suffered terribly from attacks by Sunni terrorists.
[snip]
Sufism is mystical Islam. Dogmatists don’t get mysticism. This is true of the dogmatists of all religions. It is often the case that mystics from different traditions understand each other better than the dogmatists of the same tradition.
The idea that all Muslims are somehow part of the same conspiracy is absurd enough, but to put Sufis in the same boat as jihadist is just plain ignorance.
The endless stream of deliberate lies and misinformation filtered through blind passion makes one feel that an immense pustule has been burst and we are drowning in a flood of sanguinopurulent hatred. [Yes, I've been waiting for decades to use the word "sanguinopurulent" in a sentence.]
And before you denounce the small minority of hate mongers in Islam you really should look to your own house and denounce the hate mongers in Christianity. I mean, really. Way overdue.
Jesus weeps.
--the BB
So, let's get this straight, Bobby G. We on the left warned your boss and the Democrats that every time you reached out your hands to the Republicans, those fuckers would just gnaw on 'em. But you kept on with the effort of bipartisanship, watering down bills and watering 'em down. Anyone with a lick of sense knew that the GOP was just setting you up: force 'em to compromise and then make sure that what gets passed does just a scintilla of what could have been done. On bill after bill these mad negotiations occurred, and now you're accusing us of not living in reality?The White House Press Secretary decided to kick the "professional left." Well, let me tell you something, Bobby boy, there are a lot of us, unprofessional but progressive, who knew from the get go that Obama was not a progressive, so we didn't expect miracles day after day, believe me. But, and I really want you to pay attention to this, treating us like shit is not winning you friends.
Prayers begged for Rosemary please. In the past I've written how this is Rosemary's second round with cancer; how she is one of the fiestiest friends I've ever seen face this challenge. Well according to my sister Jenny, who is primary caregiver when David, Rosemary's husband has to be in Ottawa during the week for his job, the days are very few and numbered before our little Armenian-Canadian is to move into paliative care. David and Rosemary have two sons, not even yet adult, who are primary reason for all that Rosemary has undergone to beat this. I ask your prayers for Rosemary my little Armenian nightengale, for the grace of a good and peaceful passing, for her husband Dave and their two boys.Mimi always shares these promptly but while she is off infiltrating the British Isles I want to invite all our friends to join in holding these folks in our hearts.
I'd also ask prayers for my baby sister Jenny who a week before Rosemary's latest turn burried her father-in-law.
Begging again, prayers for Kirsten please as you might remember is also in a second round fight with cancer and is undergoing a really aggressive experimental course of treatment in California.
Prayers for M. & J. most particularly that they be held close in that 'Love beyond our wildest imagining' to quote Mam's favorite Giant.
Prayers please for two cherished sisters who are undergoing a series of major transitions in their lives which are not only impacting on their professional careers but on the location where they live. For one of these sisters in particular there has been real pain, struggle and a lot of letting-go.
Prayers for the people of Pakistan. Yet again the developed world is being invited to change compassionately, to open itself to radical transformation, but once again I'm deeply concerned that the west will be too busy making war and gorging itself to realize there is no 'us' and 'them', and that we are all diminished by these unnecessary deaths in Pakistan.
For the people of Afghanistan; here the list of need and horror is too long for this medium.
And the good news; Mam was cleared by her surgeon this afternoon. Though she is left with a limit of flexibility in her left index finger, the whole team were really amazed at her remarkable recovery, having regained a lot more mobility in her left arm and wrist than they expected. Another night staying with my sister Joanne and her husband, and then the plan is for Mam and Charlie her rescue corgi to go home tomorrow. I'm planning to go out Thursday to spend the day with her and so see what might need to be done. On the phone just now as we celebrated this good news, Mam specifically asked me to thank my 'Giants', and then she used my cousin Frank's words- exactly- 'you tell them they make all the difference.' That's you folks- beloved all.
She also specifically sent her love along to one particular Giant and his spouse who it has been her great joy to uphold in prayer daily for almost four years now. 'Tell him, through-out all this he was never forgotten, and send him my love.' You know who you are.
Rosemary and her family, Kirsten, Jenny, two cherished sisters in transit, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and thanks- joyous, heartfelt thanks for Mams recovery.
Thank-you beloved Giants, I love you all.
love always- always Love
David@Montreal
That's from the UN Dispatch.The flooding just keeps getting worse and worse. On Saturday, the UN estimated that 4 million people were affected by the flooding in Pakistan. By Sunday they revised that estimate to 6 million people. Today, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that over 13 million people are affected.
It is no wonder that a UN officials are saying this is bigger than the 2004 tsunami. In fact, that would make it bigger than the combined number of people affected by the Tsunami, Haiti earthquake and 2005 Kashmir eartquake...combined.
