32 years ago today, the last American combat troops left Vietnam, ending our direct military involvement in a bloody debacle in which we failed entirely to bring peace to the world, and gained nothing tangible but a large and sorrowful wall in Washington.

An interesting article at Herald.com about kid writers — successful ones. And I don’t mean grown-ups writing childrens’ books. I am feelin’ a little late for the party.

This seems like a good day to remind anybody who’s interested of what I think: The war in Iraq is not only illegal and immoral, but contrary to Christian doctrine. Christ teaches peace and love. It’s nice that George W. Bush, who put his hand on a Bible to take his oath, went and prayed for the troops today. I pray that hypocracy doesn’t get him him popped like popcorn in hell.

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets.
Matthew 22:36-40

I was struck by a line in the movie Cold Mountain. Something like, “I imagine the Lord gets weary of being called down on both sides of an argument.”

Not in my name. And not in the name of my faith.

Illinois Roars Back to Catch Arizona in OT

c’est la guerre

To all my beloved brothers and sisters celebrating The Resurrection of Our Lord on the western calendar, Happy Easter. May the peace and love of Christ abide with you today and every day. Surely the stone is rolled away and the tomb is empty.

Maybe the next Slaughterhouse 5 or Catch-22? Why not?

[Link]

Here’s a great Calvin cartoon for you. … It’s too big to fit in the main column of my blog, but I don’t want to downsize it in photoshop.

Did you know there’s such a thing as coffee that’s certified fair to the farmers? I just noticed this link. Seems like something very much worth looking for when shopping for java.

And here’s a company that sells fair trade coffee online.

I’ve been reading a lot about how horrible the Republicans in government are, to be dragging the very private, personal matter of Terri Schiavo’s care into the political arena. Excuse me? As much as I’d love to side against corrupt and opportunistic trolls like Tom DeLay, I take exception with this logic.

The Schiavo case has been a matter of public legal litigation in the courts of Florida for a long time, and not because the US Congress sued anybody. Lest we forget, it was her family who sued each other, openly and in public. They wanted the public, through the people’s courts, to render a legal enforceable public decision.

Just today there’s this AP headline: Warning that Terri Schiavo was “fading quickly” and might die at any moment, her parents begged a federal appeals court Tuesday to order the severely brain-damaged woman’s feeding tube reinserted. And over the weekend, I saw her Mom on TV, begging Congress to please please please save her daughter.

The matter of the disposition of Schiavo’s care would never have been in the public legal/political forum if the husband and parents of this woman hadn’t brought it into the courts of their own free will. In fact, I don’t think any branch or entity of government has butted in here without first being supplicated to intervene. Sorry, but if you don’t want to swim with sharks, it’s best to keep your butt in the boat.

I’m sorry for the suffering of these people, but the government didn’t put that poor young woman in that hospital bed. And the rest of us would never have been involved if these folks — God bless them — had been able to work out their personal, private pathos behind closed doors.

click to enlarge

Illuminated in this Citizen Dog cartoon.

I’ve just been wracking my brain, trying to think of something that will elicit some response from someone reading this blog. I haven’t had any evidence of other life on this planet since my root canal on Tuesday. And since then, I’ve posted on half a dozen of the hottest topics. Picture me sitting here, listening to crickets.

So I’ve decided to drop a bombshell on you all, and out one of the most beloved characters in the pantheon of human experience. You may hate me for it, but I’ll go down in a blaze of glory, happy in the knowledge that at least I got you to leave a comment.

Here it goes. Like it or not, Winnie the Pooh is essentially lazy.

Yep, that is one lazyass good for nothing bear. Have you noticed how he’s always got a bunch of mostly empty, dirty honeypots lying around? Can’t be bothered with the dishwasher. It’s pathetic.

This is bound to spark controversy. I can take it. Anything is better than this relentless silence. So have at me. Pooh is a bum; one long siesta and not a damn thing to show for it. … All you have to do is click the little link that says Comments … you know you want to.