They are burying Joe Paterno today.

Many many people will stand up and talk about all the good things he did, while others will stand outside and try to remind people that it is the responsibility of good men and women everywhere to fight evil where they see it.

Throughout the past century there have been many countless cases of people who were not necessarily evil, but who stood by while evil happened.

There was the murder of Catherine Susan “Kitty” Genovese.
The actions of everyday people to German concentration and extermination camps.
The rounding up and internment of American citizens during WWII.

Such evil occurs every day because people who are not bad–who are not evil–ignore it. Because people think “someone else will do something about that.” Because people believe that if someone in power has allowed it, it cannot be wrong.

But it IS wrong.

A story appeared on Daily KOS about child molestation. I warn you, it is upsetting and distressing, not just the descriptions, but the realization that what is described happened to a ten year old child.

It should be read by all those who think that Joe Paterno is a hero to be worshiped.

He isn’t.

I am not saying he was a bad man.

I am not saying he did not attempt and achieve good things when given the opportunity that came his way.

But when push came to shove, when he was confronted with true evil, he did what most people do: He passed the buck and hoped that someone else would take care of the problem.

He had the power to stop evil, but he didn’t use it.

He did not make a stand when his legendary prowess and strength were most needed.

He allowed evil to occur, thinking–hoping most likely–that someone else was dealing with it. Hoping someone else would take care of it.

That failure? It doesn’t make him evil, it just makes him a coward.

To be honest, most of us are cowards. Few people in the world are willing to stand up against wrongdoing. To speak out against injustice.

Because it’s hard.

Standing up means that you will face ridicule. Disdain. Threats. Maybe even death.

Most people don’t have the heart or the balls to see what is right in front of them and take action. After all, it’s not their loved one in harm’s way. They have to look out for themselves, to protect those they love, first. Right?

Standing up against evil, against what is wrong is so very hard. It’s something that most people can’t do.

Does that make those people evil? I don’t know, but I don’t think so.

But it does mean they most certainly are not heroes. They are not deserving of worship and adulation by strangers.

So on this day when tributes are being made to Joe Paterno, I believe we are better served considering individuals and organizations that are in truth heroic. That have stood up and said: NO. This will not happen. I will not allow such evil to pass unnoticed and unremarked.

Erika Heymann
Paul Rusesabagina
Gyöngyi Mago

Simon Wiesenthal Center
National Sexual Assault Online Hotline
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

And maybe–just maybe–next time you see a wrong, you’ll stand up and say something. You’ll do what is right instead of what is expedient. You’ll take the hard road, strewn with ridicule and danger, and think not of yourself, but of the weak and the powerless who cannot stand up for themselves.

December 11, 1964

…A second evil which plagues the modern world is that of poverty. Like a monstrous octopus, it projects its nagging, prehensile tentacles in lands and villages all over the world. Almost two-thirds of the peoples of the world go to bed hungry at night. They are undernourished, ill-housed, and shabbily clad. Many of them have no houses or beds to sleep in. Their only beds are the sidewalks of the cities and the dusty roads of the villages. Most of these poverty-stricken children of God have never seen a physician or a dentist. This problem of poverty is not only seen in the class division between the highly developed industrial nations and the so-called underdeveloped nations; it is seen in the great economic gaps within the rich nations themselves. Take my own country for example. We have developed the greatest system of production that history has ever known. We have become the richest nation in the world. Our national gross product this year will reach the astounding figure of almost 650 billion dollars. Yet, at least one-fifth of our fellow citizens – some ten million families, comprising about forty million individuals – are bound to a miserable culture of poverty. In a sense the poverty of the poor in America is more frustrating than the poverty of Africa and Asia. The misery of the poor in Africa and Asia is shared misery, a fact of life for the vast majority; they are all poor together as a result of years of exploitation and underdevelopment. In sad contrast, the poor in America know that they live in the richest nation in the world, and that even though they are perishing on a lonely island of poverty they are surrounded by a vast ocean of material prosperity. Glistening towers of glass and steel easily seen from their slum dwellings spring up almost overnight. Jet liners speed over their ghettoes at 600 miles an hour; satellites streak through outer space and reveal details of the moon. President Johnson, in his State of the Union Message12, emphasized this contradiction when he heralded the United States’ “highest standard of living in the world”, and deplored that it was accompanied by “dislocation; loss of jobs, and the specter of poverty in the midst of plenty”.

So it is obvious that if man is to redeem his spiritual and moral “lag”, he must go all out to bridge the social and economic gulf between the “haves” and the “have nots” of the world. Poverty is one of the most urgent items on the agenda of modern life…

…The time has come for an all-out world war against poverty. The rich nations must use their vast resources of wealth to develop the underdeveloped, school the unschooled, and feed the unfed. Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for “the least of these”. Deeply etched in the fiber of our religious tradition is the conviction that men are made in the image of God and that they are souls of infinite metaphysical value, the heirs of a legacy of dignity and worth. If we feel this as a profound moral fact, we cannot be content to see men hungry, to see men victimized with starvation and ill health when we have the means to help them. The wealthy nations must go all out to bridge the gulf between the rich minority and the poor majority.

In the final analysis, the rich must not ignore the poor because both rich and poor are tied in a single garment of destiny. All life is interrelated, and all men are interdependent. The agony of the poor diminishes the rich, and the salvation of the poor enlarges the rich. We are inevitably our brothers’ keeper because of the interrelated structure of reality…/blockquote>

Prickett Fort Cemetery is a private cemetery located in Prickett’s Fort State Park. It was established in the late 1700s, and contains markers that in some cases are nothing more than simple stones.

There were “newer” stones that had obviously replaced older worn stones, but even many of the stones from the early 1900s are wearing and will soon be illegible.

Very humbling to think that even the stone markers we leave as our memorials eventually return to nothing more than stone, with our passing and history erased.

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Barrackville Covered Bridge

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Prickett’s Fort State Park was only about 15 minutes from our house when I was a teenager and young adult. Yet I don’t ever remember going there.

Of course, this isn’t as illogical as it sounds. The son of friends of my parents was killed there, struck by a train, when I was eight or nine years old. (Their daughter is the same age as me, and the memories of the day of the funeral are still sharp.) It just never seemed like a fun place to go.

But, today I decided it was time to leave the past in the past, so we went. It was a little odd, but I’m glad I finally decided to let myself get past it.

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For those who have served this country, past and present, thank you for your service.

The following 146 people lost their lives in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

Leone, Kate, 14
Maltese, Rosaria, 14
Brodsky, Ida, 15
Mehl, Rose, 15
Viviano, Bessie, 15
Altman, Anna, 16
Billota, Vincenza, 16
Cooper, Sarah, 16
Franco, Jenne, 16
Grasso, Rosie, 16
Koppelman, Beckie, 16
Kupferschmidt, Tillie, 16
L’Abbate, Annie, 16
Midolo, Gaetana, 16
Miller, Annie, 16
Pasqualicchio, Antonietta, 16
Stellino, Jennie, 16
Brenman, Sarah, 17
Brunetti, Laura, 17
Cammarata, Josephine, 17
Caputo, Francesca, 17
Eisenberg, Celia, 17
Gerstein, Molly, 17
Gitlin, Celia, 17
Rosen, Israel, 17
Sabasowitz, Sarah, 17
Shapiro, Rosie, 17
Tortorelli, Isabella, 17
Weintraub, Sarah, 17
Wisotsky, Sonia, 17
Berger, Yetta, 18
Brooks, Ada, 18
Cirrito, Rosina, 18
Evans, Dora, 18
Fichtenholtz, Yetta, 18
Friedman, Rose, 18
Gerjuoy, Diana, 18
Goldstein, Mary, 18
Grossman, Rachel, 18
Hollander, Fannie, 18
Kanowitz, Ida, 18
Kaplan, Tessie, 18
Lehrer, Max, 18
Maiale, Bettina, 18
Nicholas, Annie, 18
Nussbaum, Sadie, 18
Pack, Annie, 18
Pildescu, Jennie, 18
Reines, Beckie, 18
Schiffman, Gussie, 18
Sorkin, Rose, 18
Stein, Jennie, 18
Wendorff, Bertha, 18
Bernstein, Essie, 19
Bernstein, Morris, 19
Dockman, Clara, 19
Horowitz, Pauline, 19
Jukofsky, Ida, 19
Kessler, Beckie, 19
Kula, Bertha, 19
Kurtz, Benjamin, 19
Lehrer, Sam, 19
Levin, Jennie, 19
Levine, Pauline, 19
Liermark, Rose, 19
Meyers, Yetta, 19
Neubauer, Beckie, 19
Oberstein, Julia, 19
Oringer, Rose, 19
Schpunt, Golda, 19
Caruso, Albina, 20
Feibisch, Rebecca, 20
Goldstein, Esther, 20
Goldstein, Yetta, 20
Maltese, Lucia, 20
Ostrovsky , Beckie, 20
Pearl, Ida, 20
Saracino, Teresina, 20
Schneider, Ethel, 20
Taback, Sam, 20
Velakofsky, Frieda, 20
Weiner, Rosie, 20
Brodsky, Sarah, 21
Del Castillo, Josie, 21
Hochfeld, Esther, 21
Lansner, Fannie, 21
Lederman, Jennie, 21
Maiale, Frances, 21
Nicolosi, Michelina, 21
Prato, Emilia, 21
Rosen, Fannie, 21
Rosenberg, Jennie, 21
Rosenthal, Nettie, 21
Schochet, Violet, 21
Weisner, Tessie, 21
Welfowitz, Dora, 21
Benanti, Vincenza, 22
Bierman, Gussie, 22
Giannattasio, Catherine, 22
Goldstein, Lena, 22
Leventhal, Mary, 22
Mankofsky, Rose, 22
Prestifilippo, Concetta, 22
Rosenbaum, Yetta, 22
Rosenfeld, Gussie, 22
Rothstein, Emma, 22
Rotner, Theodore, 22
Stiglitz, Jennie, 22
Terranova, Clotilde, 22
Uzzo, Catherine, 22
Wilson, Joseph, 22
Brenman, Rosie, 23
Florin, Max, 23
Klein, Jacob, 23
Liebowitz, Nettie, 23
Utal, Meyer, 23
Adler, Lizzie, 24
Donick, Kalman, 24
Salemi, Santina, 24
Schwartz, Margaret, 24
Ardito, Annina, 25
Cohen, Anna, 25
Cordiano , Michelina, 25
Dashefsky, Bessie, 25
Greb, Bertha, 25
Saracino, Sarafina, 25
Sklover, Ben, 25
Fitze, Daisy Lopez, 26
Floresta, Mary, 26
Manaria, Maria, 27
Binowitz, Abraham, 30
Colletti, Annie, 30
Pinelli, Vincenza, 30
Starr, Annie, 30
Bassino, Rose, 31
Carlisi, Josephine, 31
Schmidt, Theresa, 32
Lauletti, Maria Giuseppa, 33
Rosen (Loeb), Louis, 33
Seltzer, Jacob, 33
Rosen, Julia, 35
Ciminello, Annie, 36
Bernstein, Jacob, 38
Maltese, Catherine, 39
Herman, Mary, 40
Panno, Provindenza, 43

Photos from the Cornell memorial site.

Photos from the NY Times.

Thanks Jim!

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
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Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The Pearl Harbor attack kliied 2,403 and wounded 1,178. Twenty-one ships were sunk or damaged, including the USS Arizona, which remains on the harbor floor, and the USS West Virginia, which was eventually refloated, repaired, and rejoined the fleet towards the end of the war.

Images from the Pearl Harbor attack.

USS Arizona Restoration

Information about the Pearl Harbor Attack.

The USS West Virginia, including pictures of the ship from the 20s through the “mothballing” of the ship in the 1950s (She was later broken up and sold for scrap).

The USS Arizona, from the University of Arizona, including a brief history and online exhibits.

President Roosevelt’s speech in response to the other attacks that day.

Is anyone else boggled by the amazing irony of this?

Laid out at last weekend’s NATO summit in Portugal, the partnership would involve a greater role for Russia in the U.S.-NATO war in Afghanistan.

92 years ago today The Great War, the War to End All Wars, official ended.

Twenty one years later, the second World War started, and horrors even greater were seen and experienced by soldiers and civilians alike.

On May 26, 1954, President Eisenhower officially changed Armistice Day–a day to honor those who fought in WWI–to Veterans Day, to honor all veterans.

Five years later, the Vietnam War would begin, and the American view of military service would change profoundly.

Of all the war memorials in the US (not including Arlington Memorial Cemetery) I believe that the Vietnam War Memorial is the most profoundly affecting.

Because the war was so controversial, and because so many veterans were treated shamefully upon their return home, that I find The Wall so affecting. It is if, as a country, we suddenly woke up to the wrongness of our actions. To me, the Wall, and the listing of the names of those who died, is in part an apology to each soldier listed there, it makes them individuals remembered for their service that was so unappreciated at the time.

For the current wars, we have digital memorials that are updated daily, remembering those who have died with more than just names. And these memorials are deeply affecting. But nothing compares to standing at the wall and seeing name after name listed. The sheer magnitude of the loss is almost overwhelming.

On Veterans’ Day, we should remember the individuals who have served, but in remembering the individual losses, we should not lose sight of the vast number who have given their lives in their service. We should remember not just those individuals who served and the sacrifices they made, but also the loss to the country of so many of our sons and daughters.

American Military Service from the Civil War to the First Gulf War
U.S. Military Service During War 41,891,368
Battle Deaths 651,030
Other Deaths (In Theater) 308,800
Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) 230,279
Non-mortal Woundings 1,431,290

To those who serve, past and present, thank you for your sacrifices so that we may remain free.

Inter Arma Silent Leges
-Cicero

If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war.
- Pentagon official, on why US military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War

It is well that war is so terrible; else we would grow too fond of it
– Robert E. Lee

A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.
– George William Curtis

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
- Thomas Jefferson

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.
-Abraham Lincoln

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
- Benjamin Franklin

We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.
- William Faulkner

Eileen Mary “Didi” Nearne was born in London on March 15 1921 into a large Anglo-Spanish family which moved to France during the interwar years; she was thus brought up speaking French. When France fell the Nearnes fled through Spain, eventually arriving in England in mid-1942. Eileen Nearne and her older sister, Jacqueline, joined the FANY, but their language skills were highly prized and later they and their brother, Francis, were recruited by SOE.
…
On July 21 1944, however, she was arrested. Despite prolonged and brutal interrogation she maintained her cover that she was a girl from the south looking for work who had been asked to send messages on behalf of a businessman. Didi Nearne was subjected to water torture, being held face down in a cold bath until she nearly drowned, but did not crack.
…
Of her time as an agent, she told one interviewer: “It was a life in the shadows, but I think I was suited for it. I could be hard and secret, I could be lonely, I could be independent, but I wasn’t bored. I liked the work. After the war, I missed it.”

I’m currently reading The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough, and it’s very interesting. Of course, it’s my bedtime reading, so at 562 pages I’m figuring I’ll be done by 2015.

In my reading last night I came upon a paragraph I had to reread multiple times before I figured out what was going on.

…Roebling returned to Muhlhausen and began organizing a party of pilgrims to leave for America, something that had to be done with caution just then since the government frowned on the immigration of anyone with technical training.

America didn’t want immigrants with technical training? What? The next paragraph continued:

Talk of immigration was a common thing in Germany.

That one I can accept, but the first sentence? No.

If you’re wondering what the hell I’m going on about, let me refresh your memory:

immigrate: to enter and usually become established; especially : to come into a country of which one is not a native for permanent residence

emigrate: to leave one’s place of residence or country to live elsewhere

I thought perhaps it was a mistake missed by the copyeditor, though glaring mistakes are usually caught by the time a book comes out in paperback, so I checked the copyright date. Copyright 1972. This book is 38 years old, and in all that time no one noticed this? Or was this mistake added into newer editions?

Regardless, it’s a fascinating book, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the first 65 pages.

Happy 90th anniversary of women having the right to vote! Go us!

Dear Teabaggers who are all up in arms about the Obama administration “destroying the constitution”, where the hell were you during the previous administration when Bush and his cronies were, you know, actually acting unconstitutionally?

Have you even READ the document you are so loudly and ignorantly defending?

Let’s start with one of the most egregious things the Bush administration did.

Here’s a section of the Constitution that delineates the powers of Congress (that’s Section 8 by the way):

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

Funny how Bush managed to skip that bit when it came to Iraq, isn’t it.

Then there was the issue of signing statements. Odd how nothing in Article 2 gives the president the right to say, “well, I know Congress passed the laws, but I’m telling you to ignore the law, just because I said so.”

Then let’s look at the Amendments, shall we?

Amendment 1 – Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression (this is the one that comes BEFORE the gun amendment.)

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

See that first part? You know what that means? Let me emphasize: no law respecting an establishment of religion. It means the United States is NOT a Christian nation, and attempts to make it one are unconstitutional.

Next part: abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press. This one’s a little less clear. They wanted the only reporters to be “embedded” reporters. The goal was to stop independent press coverage of the war. That was walking a very fine line IMO.

Moving on: Amendment 4 – Search and Seizure

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Two words for you here, warrant-less wiretaps.

Next up: Amendment 5 – Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

No one may be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

Let me add to that: Amendment 6 – Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

So, the above amendments are referring to citizens, and in theory, non-citizens do not have such rights. However, lets go back to the rights of the administrative branch. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties.

What this means is we have treaties that govern how we can treat non-citizens, prisoners of war, etc. The Geneva Convention is one of the most famous, but there are other laws and treaties that govern how non-citizens should be treated.

Then we have the fools who believe that the Constitution is NOT a living malleable document and should never have been modified by succeeding generations (Despite Article 5 of the Constitution which clearly delineates the process for creating and ratifying Amendments). Fools like Sarah Palin would would not be able to vote if we followed the Constitution as it was originally written.

I rather like the right to vote and not be a second class citizen. I’m funny like that.

So what are these conservatives up in arms about? They’re enraged that liberals such as myself believe that all Americans–not just the rich–deserve access to health care.

Funny how those conservatives who claim that the United States is a Christian nation seem to be missing some important points of Christianity.*

Perhaps they need to read their bibles instead of just thumping them. But since they clearly can’t read the constitution, I have little hope for them.

* See: Deut. 26:5-9, Luke 4:16-21, Ps. 140:12, Is. 25:4, Ps. 10:14, Is 41:17, Luke 6:20-21, James 2:5, Deut. 15:7, Deut. 26:12, Lev. 19:19, Prov. 31:8, Is. 58:66, Jer. 22:3, Luke 12:33, Luke 3:11, Mt. 5:42 etc

Since it was supposed to rain, we decided to go to Blennerhasset Island instead of Blackwater Falls.

This had the added advantage of taking us to Parkersburg so we also got to spend time with Julliene. (OK, and Brian & Stacie as well.)

It didn’t rain at all, and was instead gorgeous.

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The Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
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As I mentioned to my friend Erin on twitter, I think it is fitting that the death of Senator Byrd has created an extra long Independence Day weekend to West Virginians.

Most who have never lived here do not understand precisely what Senator Robert C. Byrd meant to the state and its residents. They know he was was a member of Congress longer than anyone else ever. They know he was called the King of Pork. They may even know he had been majority leader, minority leader, and President Pro Tem of the Senate. What they don’t understand–can’t understand really–is what all this meant to those of us who lived here.

Senator Byrd had a checkered past in some ways. He was born in a time when racism was accepted and spent the first part of his life believing in those principles. However, he came to discover that outside differences mean nothing, and he came to profoundly regret his earlier beliefs and apologized for his earlier beliefs and actions.

Senator Byrd was the first person in his family to go to school past the second grade. While he was in Washington D.C. representing West Virginia, he got his law degree by taking night classes. But his education was far greater than that. He was a musician, a lover of poetry and verse, and he revered the Constitution and this country.

He went to Washington DC with one objective–to represent his state and to do everything in his power to improve the lives of its citizens. The “King of Pork” wasn’t an insult to him, or to those of us who lived here. He didn’t want to build a bridge to nowhere, he wanted to bring in money to improve the state and its population. He helped us build roads. He helped us build infrastructure. He helped drive government agencies and projects to the state. And he helped build the educational system in the state.

The building in which I work is officially called the Robert C Byrd Health Sciences Center, and within that complex of structures we have one of the top Rural Health programs in the country. The money he brought in did far more than provide jobs–it helped to create an educational system dedicated not just to educating future health professionals but to improve the health of all the citizens of the state by sending its students throughout the state to help provide health care in isolated and impoverished areas.

This is the legacy he left us.

He helped create systems that do more than create a handful of jobs, these systems support and improve the entire state and all its citizens. These systems attempt to reach out to those in isolation and poverty and provide them with the things that most people take for granted: Roads. Education. Health care.

He was a great man, and his like will not be seen again.

World War I 116,516 killed, 204,002 wounded.¹
World War II 407,316 killed, 670,846 wounded.¹
Korea 33,651 killed 103,284 wounded.¹
Vietnam 58,168 killed, 153,303 wounded.¹
Gulf War 382 killed, 486 wounded.
Iraq War 4,402 killed so far, at least 31,810 wounded.
Afghanistan War 1,060 killed so far, at least 5,831 wounded.
 

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.
~John F. Kennedy

What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world.
~Robert E. Lee

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
~Thomas Jefferson

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.
~Abraham Lincoln

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
~Benjamin Franklin

Most people want security in this world, not liberty.
~H.L. Mencken

We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.
~William Faulkner

If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war.
~Pentagon official explaining why the U.S. military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War

War is a series of catastrophes that results in a victory.
~Georges Clemenceau

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
~Mahatma Gandhi

Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.
~Mao Tse-Tung

It is well that war is so terrible – otherwise we would grow too fond of it.
~Robert E. Lee

We make war that we may live in peace.
~Aristotle

In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
~Isaiah 2:2-4

Vietnam War Memorial
Korean War Memorial
WWII Memorial
The Great War

For many of it’s we’ve got a long weekend coming up for Memorial Day. Normally it’s a big day for picnics and grilling out and pretending summer has now officially started, regardless of the temperatures.

Although it’s usually a laid back day for us, this year is going to be even more so. The sum total of my plans? Putting out the flag.

What are you planning for Monday?

Last night on Twitter, Janiece made the following comment:

The thing I don’t like about FB: Finding out the RETARDED political opinions of people I otherwise like or care for. TMI, baby, TMI. LALALA.

This gave me the idea of creating Facebook groups and fan clubs for ridiculous politics. I enjoyed it so much, I thought I’d invite y’all to play along.

Here’s what amused me last night (you can see my thought process progress):

…I have joined the Millard Fillmore fan club

Teapot Dome: HARDING WAS FRAMED!

Michelle is now a fan of Aaron “Hamilton Shot First” Burr

Michelle has joined the group Did Washington Really Cross the Delaware: Dry Boots Say NO!

Michelle has joined the group Strange Women Lying in Ponds Distributing Swords Is A GOOD Basis for a System of Government

Michelle is now a fan of Watery Tarts Throwing Swords

Michelle has joined the group Standing Tall for Napoleon.

Michelle is now a fan of Justice for Olympus! No parole for Prometheus!

Michelle has joined the group Was Balder Really Shot by Holder? Loki’s Part in the Conspiracy.

Michelle has joined the group Justice for Finnegas! Make Fionn mac Cumhail Return the Salmon!

Absolutely fabulous: Woolf & Wilde

There’s something about this picture I love.

Loving Your Enemies
7 November 1957
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So I want to turn your attention to this subject: “Loving Your Enemies.” It’s so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation—the whole idea of love, the whole philosophy of love. In the fifth chapter of the gospel as recorded by Saint Matthew, we read these very arresting words flowing from the lips of our Lord and Master: “Ye have heard that it has been said, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.”
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