MAD MISSION CREEP

The nation's top military leader [Gen.Martin Dempsey] told Congress Thursday that the United States would consider dispatching a modest number of American forces to fight with Iraqi troops as they engage in more complex missions in the campaign against Islamic State militants.
....

Joining him at the witness table was Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who said the coalition was making progress in the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, but the American people must prepare for a long and difficult struggle. 
....

Hagel maintained that the U.S. personnel will not be involved in ground combat.

Tell me another, Mr Secretary.

The US should be out of the Middle East altogether, except for strictly humanitarian purposes to aid the vast numbers of refugees who have lost their homes or been driven out into surrounding territory. I do not speak of humanitarian purposes as broadly as the Obama administration interprets the phrase to include members of the US military, arms, and other types of military aid. The US has made the situation worse rather than better each time we intervene, and it's way past time for us to allow the countries in the Middle East to work out their own destinies.

With regard to humanitarian aid, our efforts fall woefully short, considering our part in contributing to the chaos of death and destruction that now exists.

NO MORE WAR

On Being Asked To Write A Poem Against The War In Vietnam

Well I have and in fact
more than one and I'll
tell you this too

I wrote one against
Algeria that nightmare
and another against

Korea and another
against the one
I was in

and I don't remember
how many against
the three

when I was a boy
Abyssinia Spain and
Harlan County

and not one
breath was restored
to one

shattered throat
mans womans or childs
not one not

one
but death went on and on
never looking aside

except now and then
with a furtive half-smile
to make sure I was noticing.

(Hayden Carruth)

"IRIS", THE FILM

A few evenings ago, I watched the movie Iris, which is the story of the English novelist Iris Murdoch's decline into Alzheimer's in the later years of her life, and her husband John's loving and valiant efforts to care for her in their home. The story, which is based on John Bayley's memoir, Elegy for Iris, is beautifully brought to the screen by director Richard Eyre.

My review may be something of a spoiler for those of you who have not seen the film, but then again, maybe not.  Fair warning.

The movie includes flashbacks to Murdoch's vibrant younger years at Oxford University, where she and her husband meet.  Dame Judi as the older Iris is, as usual, superb, and Jim Broadbent as John Bayley, her husband, is excellent.  The younger versions of Iris and John are very well-played by Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville.  The two young actors resemble the older actors closely enough so that the flashbacks are not in the least jarring.

As we watch Murdoch decline and Bayley become frustrated and then overwhelmed as he attempts to care for her, the scenes are heartbreaking. Their house descends further and further into chaos - an apt metaphor for their lives and for Murdoch's ruined mind.

Despite the overall sadness, the film had its humorous moments.  When Iris and John met, she had already had a series of lovers, at least one of whom was a woman, while John was a virgin the first time the two made love. There's a wonderfully funny scene in the movie when Iris names all her past lovers.  Before Iris begins, John says, with his usual stutter, "Ought I - I to take notes?"  After her accounting of her past loves, he says. "Is that all?  I - I mean roughly?"

THE LAKES OF PONTCHARTRAIN

A wonderful performance by Aoife O'Donovan of a song I know and love from Paul Brady's recording.  The geography in the lyrics is not quite right, for it would be a slow train, indeed, that took from morning till evening to cross Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, but that's a mere quibble.

Below is a performance by Paul Brady from 1977.

FEAST OF ALL SAINTS

Icons by Tobias Haller

O Almighty God, who have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those indescribable joys which you have prepared for those who truly love you: through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.

(Book of Common Prayer)

WELCOME TO LOUISIANA...WAIT...NOT QUITE

State officials sent a letter to members of the society [American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene] “disinviting” those who have been to the West African countries impacted by the deadly virus in the last three weeks or who have treated any patients on American soil.
....

“In Louisiana, we love to welcome visitors, but we must balance that hospitality with the protection of Louisiana residents and other visitors,” the administration officials wrote. “We do hope that you will consider a future visit to New Orleans, when we can welcome you appropriately.”

Jindal and crew know better than the experts.  Bill Gates is not afraid.  New Orleans depends on income from conferences and tourism for its very life.  Since the city tends to vote blue, the governor doesn't like New Orleans, and he doesn't care about the damage to tourism that will result from his ignorant decrees.

Jindal's hubris has no bounds. That was yesterday's reported stupidity, but there's more.

A major U.S. public health organization has become the second group impacted by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s Ebola response policy as it prepares to bring 14,000 people to New Orleans.

State health officials advised the American Public Health Association that registrants recently returned from Ebola-stricken countries and those who have treated patients stateside should stay home.

Ai-yai-yai!  A convention of 14,000 public health experts will be welcomed only conditionally, because Bobby Jindal, once again, knows best how to safeguard the health of the citizens of Louisiana.  How unfortunate that the governor does not concern himself with the 257,000 people who would be eligible for health insurance if he implemented Medicaid expansion.  He won't, because he's running for president and advocates repeal the Affordable Care Act.  In the meantime, because of Bobby's ambition, people in Louisiana suffer.  Who knows but that among the hundreds of thousands of people with no health insurance, there are those who walk among us with communicable diseases?  If Jindal cared about public health safety in Louisiana, he'd allow people to buy health insurance that they can afford.

I'm not finished.  Not even ashes.

The incinerated remains and belongings of from Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan, who died in Dallas will not be allowed into a landfill in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Fear, fear, fear - governance by pumping up fear in the citizenry.  Yes, I know other states are doing it, too, but the authorities act out of ignorance.   It's the American way. 

"BEEFED UP" BOBBY

I’m a congenital pessimist, so don’t give me too much credit for drawing attention to this pending debacle-cum-comic-relief. Instead, all praise should go to National Review’s Eliana Johnson, who reported Monday evening that a source “close to” Jindal was willing to confirm that the “slight” governor “has gained 13 pounds over the past few months” because he’s “looking to beef up” now that the 2016 campaign is “on the horizon.”
....

To understand why the Jindal camp’s decision to share this little scooplet is so phenomenally bizarre and foreboding, rather than simply silly and weird, you need to keep in mind just how much of a disaster his tenure as Louisiana governor has been.

Finally a national publication focuses on the maladministration of Jindal, who governed, untrammeled by the Louisiana Legislature, according to Tea Party philosophy.  The legislature is complicit in every way, because they allowed Jindal to have his way in all his policies except the sales tax proposal.  Jindal's legacy in Louisiana will be the destruction of worthy institutions and programs due to budget cuts and privatizing and a budget nightmare that will be left to the next governor to untangle.

It is beyond laughable that Jindal thinks he will revive his campaign for president by gaining weight.  I have not once heard a Louisiana citizen criticize Jindal because he's not "beefed up" enough.  Keep in mind that though the people of Louisiana don't like him now, he was reelected to a second term by a landslide.

"DUN" - A POEM

Paul Baum - "Harvested Fields in a Flat Landscape"

A hint of brown in the low cloud layer, dun
they call it, light reflected from
fields cut to stubble, leaves moving to umber,
russet and gold, chlorophyll in retrograde,
temperate zone transitioning
from relentless summer cheer to winter chill
    dull, sad, depressing, this color,
     the consensus view, death before we renew
       dissonances old, unresolved.
It all comes back to this, always, always this,
metaphors , similes, nature
imagery because sprouting and budding,
growing and frost reassure us,
comfort with predictability, relax
into the what we can see, know,
     surety that does not require decision,
      just observation, no payment
       due or pestering for more and more and more,
just a force beyond our control,
independent of the press of human choice
that promises all, but does not
guarantee, success in productivity,
hides like snow blindness the contours
of reality and downside risk ignored
     by easy winners fattening
      on a harvest of accepted fictions sown
       to distract, deflect their weakness.
God paternal or mother earth eternal,
some insist on the either/or
then moot the argument with a willfulness
of neither that makes petulance
itself a form of worship, a self-focus
oblivious to living things,
     pretend the sphere is flat, the axis upright
not a bit off plumb, stay indoors
when clouds refuse to endorse the light logic
that prefers bright and brash and loud
to the subtleties of consideration
possible without the raw glare
of uninterrupted sun, the surge and ebb
of atmosphere necessary
     as the tides scrubbing sores humanity leaves
      on the beachhead of creation.
       Tilt on, dear earth, even if thy will be dun.

(Marthe G. Walsh)

Image from WikiGallery.

VOTER GUIDE!

Looks sort of official with the state seal and all, but if you read the fine print, you see the guide is from Louisiana Family Forum. Thanks, but no thanks. I will not follow your guidance.

Louisiana Family Forum is an organization committed to defending faith, freedom and the traditional family in the great state of Louisiana!
....

Our Mission…

To persuasively present biblical principles in the centers of influence on issues affecting the family through research, communication and networking.

Yes, I know. LFF commands, and Bobby Jindal obeys. I had a laugh when the group noted that neither Sen. Mary Landrieu nor Edwin Edwards responded to their questionnaire. Former Gov. Edwards is the lone Democrat among 12 candidates in my 6th District, so he will get my vote.

Here's my friend Lamar White on Louisiana Family Forum.

The Louisiana Family Forum is the most powerful and successful lobbying organization in a state brimming with lobbyists and special interests , and Gene Mills, its President, is arguably Louisiana’s single most powerful registered lobbyist.
....

Even though he has never been elected to public office, Mills talks like someone who believes he controls the legislature, someone who thinks he possesses the same type of veto authority as the Governor, and it’s not puffery: He does.

MY RE-IMAGININGS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Thanks to the members of TREC (Task Force for Re-imagining the Episcopal Church) for their efforts to forge a path for the Episcopal Church in the 21st century.  As they say, "The Episcopal Church’s structures and governance processes reflect assumptions from previous eras that do not always fit with today’s contexts."

After I read the letter to the church from the Task Force twice and watched part of the TREC webcast, I decided to put in writing my non-exhaustive response to re-imagining the Episcopal Church in the form of "Yeas" and "Nays".  Not all of my "Yeas" reference TREC's ideas.  Sadly, in the "virtual town hall meeting" webcast, the members of the Task Force did more talking than listening and answered certain questions less than forthrightly and, at times, defensively.  Full disclosure: I did not watch the entire webcast.

NAY

Reduce the size of the Executive Council, which would make the group less democratic than in its present form

Further centralize power in the office of the Presiding Bishop, with the Presiding Bishop as CEO

YEA

The Presiding Bishop's main role as chief pastor to the church

The Presiding Bishop retain her/his position as a diocesan with a suffragan(s) to assist in diocesan duties

Appoint a COO who is accountable to and under the authority of the Executive Committee, which includes the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies, to manage executive tasks

Include clergy and lay representatives in certain decision-making powers now vested solely in the House of Bishops

Sell the property on Second Avenue in New York City where the Episcopal Church office is located, and move the office to empty space on the grounds of the National Cathedral in Washington DC

Reduce the diocesan asking to 15% or less, preferably no more than a tithe, 10%

Further:

For living examples of re-imagining church contact faithful Episcopalians who remained in TEC after their bishops left the church and took the property with them, and have a look at their websites.

Members and churches are already using networks without the encouragement or permission of the leadership.

A reminder that, in the end, all church is local.

From an outspoken and not-so-humble pew warmer.