From a column by John Podesta, Lawrence J. Korb and Brian Katulis Washington Post:
With apparent disregard for the opinion of the American people, the debate over whether the large U.S. military presence in Iraq threatens our national security has been put on hold. Both political parties seem resigned to allowing the Bush administration to run out the clock on its Iraq strategy and bequeath this quagmire to the next president. The result is best described as strategic drift, and stopping it won't be easy.
Strategic drift is not a plan. We don't get out of Iraq, because the leadership on neither side is motivated to get us out.
President Bush claims that his strategy is having some success, but toward what end? He argued that the surge would provide the political breathing space needed to achieve a unified, peaceful Iraq. But its successes, which Bush says come from a reduction of casualties in certain areas, have been accompanied by massive sectarian cleansing. The surge has not moved us closer to national reconciliation.
Casualties are down among Iraqis, although the counts may not be somewhat suspect. Still, nearly 1000 die a month. Deaths and wounded numbers of US troops are down, too, but to what purpose? What is the vision of the end game? The numbers of refugees within and outside Iraq continues to grow, week by week, month by month.
Similarly, the presence of a large U.S. combat force contributes to regional instability. Since the surge began, the number of internally displaced Iraqis has more than doubled. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has said that more than 2 million Iraqis have left the country, and tens of thousands flee every day, often to squalid camps in Syria and Jordan.
What is the "freedom" that we have brought to the Iraqis? The freedom to flee their unsafe homes, freedom from electricity and drinking water, freedom from safe roads to travel, freedom from jobs? Are these the reasons why we stay? To prolong these conditions?
There is one sure way to stop this drift. The United States must set a firm withdrawal date. It is the only way Iraqis and regional leaders will make the compromises necessary to stabilize Iraq and the entire Middle East. This withdrawal can be completed safely in 12 to 18 months and should be started immediately.
Yes! Absolutely! Set a date. We're drifting, but it's not an innocuous drift down a stream in a canoe. We're in a war. We simply cannot allow ourselves the luxury of drifting for years upon years in what appears to be a war without end that is killing, maiming, and making refugees of large numbers of the population and destroying a country.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Desmond Tutu Again
If you'd like more of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, here's another video from the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Archbishop Tutu, the renowned cleric, activist and author spoke on “The Spirituality of Reconciliation.”
If that link doesn't work, go to the home page of the National Cathedral and click on "Archbishop Desmond Tutu Address" on the right, above his picture.
If that link doesn't work, go to the home page of the National Cathedral and click on "Archbishop Desmond Tutu Address" on the right, above his picture.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Our Friend TheMe Needs Help
Themethatisme at Conscientisation wants help on a paper that he must write. He is having a hard time finding a topic that will interest him and inspire him. Perhaps some of you who know more than I, some of you theological types, could pop over to his blog and see what you can do for him.
Feast Of The Consecration Of Samuel Seabury
Samuel Seabury was the first bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States. During the colonial period and after the end of the Revolutionary War, the church in the United States had no bishops. Candidates for the priesthood had to travel to England to be ordained before the war, an arduous journey. After the war, the situation was the same, and the requirement that all candidates for ordination swear an oath of loyalty to the British crown became an impediment to sending American candidates to England for ordination. The church in the United States needed a bishop.
Samuel Seabury was chosen to be the first bishop, but, again, because of the oath of loyalty, he went to Scotland, rather than to England, to be consecrated bishop by two bishops of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, which was no longer the established church, and therefore did not include the loyalty oath to the British crown in the ceremony.
James Kiefer at the Lectionary has more information on Seabury.
READINGS:
Psalm 133 or 33:1-5,20-21
Acts 20:28-32
Matthew 9:35-38
PRAYER
We give you thanks, O Lord our God, for your goodness in bestowing upon this Church the gift of the episcopate, which we celebrate in this remembrance of the consecration of Samuel Seabury; and we pray that, joined together in unity with our bishops, and nourished by your holy Sacraments, we may proclaim the Gospel of redemption with apostolic zeal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Samuel Seabury was chosen to be the first bishop, but, again, because of the oath of loyalty, he went to Scotland, rather than to England, to be consecrated bishop by two bishops of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, which was no longer the established church, and therefore did not include the loyalty oath to the British crown in the ceremony.
James Kiefer at the Lectionary has more information on Seabury.
READINGS:
Psalm 133 or 33:1-5,20-21
Acts 20:28-32
Matthew 9:35-38
PRAYER
We give you thanks, O Lord our God, for your goodness in bestowing upon this Church the gift of the episcopate, which we celebrate in this remembrance of the consecration of Samuel Seabury; and we pray that, joined together in unity with our bishops, and nourished by your holy Sacraments, we may proclaim the Gospel of redemption with apostolic zeal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Blog Reading Level
Thanks (or no thanks) to Paul at Byzigenous Buddhapalian for the link to the quiz. Paul tests out at College (undergraduate level) for his blog, and he uses Latin and big words. I don't get it. The test can't be accurate.
Honestly, it's embarrassing, but I put it up for laughs. That's what the quizzes are about - giving us a few laughs.
Paul, you could have picked out a name for your blog that was easier to spell. Just sayin'.
"Maybe They Hugged It Out"
From the Associated Press via the Tucson Citizen:
Mascoutah, Ill., school officials have resolved their dispute with the parents of a 13-year-old girl given detention for hugging her friends.
Melissa and Dean Coulter met with officials of the Mascoutah School District 19 to discuss the two detentions given their daughter, Megan, for hugging friends goodbye for the weekend. School officials said the eighth grader violated a policy banning public displays of affection.
....
“I’m grateful they sought this meeting and we could have a level of discussion that helps us both understand each other’s concerns more clearly,” McGowen stated.
....
Coulter said McGowen was very receptive during the meeting, and that the family is satisfied with the district’s promise to at least look into revising the policy.
Surely the school officials have better things to do. I've seen my granddaughter and her friends hug each other good-bye at school on more than one occasion. That's what pre-teen and teen-age girls do. Thank goodness her school exercises more sensible judgment before handing out detentions for PDAs.
Mascoutah, Ill., school officials have resolved their dispute with the parents of a 13-year-old girl given detention for hugging her friends.
Melissa and Dean Coulter met with officials of the Mascoutah School District 19 to discuss the two detentions given their daughter, Megan, for hugging friends goodbye for the weekend. School officials said the eighth grader violated a policy banning public displays of affection.
....
“I’m grateful they sought this meeting and we could have a level of discussion that helps us both understand each other’s concerns more clearly,” McGowen stated.
....
Coulter said McGowen was very receptive during the meeting, and that the family is satisfied with the district’s promise to at least look into revising the policy.
Surely the school officials have better things to do. I've seen my granddaughter and her friends hug each other good-bye at school on more than one occasion. That's what pre-teen and teen-age girls do. Thank goodness her school exercises more sensible judgment before handing out detentions for PDAs.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
My Spanish Ancestors
Earlier I linked to Ormonde's post at Through the Dust on the gumbo mixture of ancestry in New Orleans. My own heritage is a prime example of that mix.
On my mother's side, those who came before were French, Cajun French, Spanish, and German. My father's ancestors include French, English, Portuguese, and Hispanic from South and Central America. I think that's it, of what I know.
As we were growing up in New Orleans, we were aware that my mother's maiden name was shared by a group of African Americans in the city. Their spelling of the name was different by one letter. One of my cousins, who had desires and pretensions of moving into old New Orleans society, made much of dismissing the African American folks in New Orleans as being of an entirely different family, because of that one letter difference in spelling.
I never thought much about the black families with the same name, because it didn't really matter to me, and because I didn't care about being part of old New Orleans society - which was a big deal back in the day, with those in "Society" with a big "S" having large influence, not only in the social life of the city, but also in politics and civic affairs. Of course, one had to be white to belong.
The Carnival balls, in which their daughters were queens and maids, and the débutante balls and parties of those same daughters were written up at great length in the local papers. We knew well the names of the families in the top tier.
It's already too late to make this long story short, but I'll try to get to the point of the post. My brother-in-law, the husband of my deceased sister, took up genealogy rather late in his life, mainly searching for his family, but he also plunged into our family history, so that his children would have the information, if they wanted it.
He located our Spanish great-great-great-grandfather. I'm not sure how many "greats", maybe more, but he traced the family back to the times when, for a man to have a wife and a mistress, a woman of color, and a family by both women was not uncommon. He found that our ancestor had, indeed, followed the custom and had a wife and several children and a woman-of-color mistress and several children by the mistress.
One of his sons by his wife grew up and married and had a family and took a woman-of-color mistress and had several children by her. Another son by his wife, married, had a family, took a mistress of color, had a family, and then took another mistress of color, and had several children by the second mistress. One wife, two mistresses, and three families!
It turns out that the African-Americans in New Orleans, very likely, share an ancestor with us. We are family. My cousin, the cousin with pretensions to being a part of old New Orleans society, was not speaking to me at the time that I learned about this - she took umbrage quite easily over minor words and actions, and stopped speaking to various people, for varying periods of time - but I made sure to tell her sister the news about our newly-discovered cousins. I know. Bad me.
When she was young and unmarried, that same cousin worked as a secretary for one of the movers and shakers in New Orleans. One day, a black man came in the office to see her boss, and when she asked for his name, he gave the same family name as hers. There was that one letter difference, but the names were pronounced exactly the same. She had to go to her boss and give him her own family name, followed by the visitor, a black man. She was not amused.
I'll give her this, she told stories on herself that set us to laughing, and she did not mind that. On another occasion, a man named Fuchs came to see her boss. She had him spell his name, she wrote it down, and, as she handed the paper to her boss, she saw what she had written and turned crimson. She had not written Mr. Fuchs, but had changed one letter, and I'll leave it to your imagination to determine which one.
She was engaged to her husband for at least fifteen years, before they married and had one child when she was in her forties - à propos of nothing.
On my mother's side, those who came before were French, Cajun French, Spanish, and German. My father's ancestors include French, English, Portuguese, and Hispanic from South and Central America. I think that's it, of what I know.
As we were growing up in New Orleans, we were aware that my mother's maiden name was shared by a group of African Americans in the city. Their spelling of the name was different by one letter. One of my cousins, who had desires and pretensions of moving into old New Orleans society, made much of dismissing the African American folks in New Orleans as being of an entirely different family, because of that one letter difference in spelling.
I never thought much about the black families with the same name, because it didn't really matter to me, and because I didn't care about being part of old New Orleans society - which was a big deal back in the day, with those in "Society" with a big "S" having large influence, not only in the social life of the city, but also in politics and civic affairs. Of course, one had to be white to belong.
The Carnival balls, in which their daughters were queens and maids, and the débutante balls and parties of those same daughters were written up at great length in the local papers. We knew well the names of the families in the top tier.
It's already too late to make this long story short, but I'll try to get to the point of the post. My brother-in-law, the husband of my deceased sister, took up genealogy rather late in his life, mainly searching for his family, but he also plunged into our family history, so that his children would have the information, if they wanted it.
He located our Spanish great-great-great-grandfather. I'm not sure how many "greats", maybe more, but he traced the family back to the times when, for a man to have a wife and a mistress, a woman of color, and a family by both women was not uncommon. He found that our ancestor had, indeed, followed the custom and had a wife and several children and a woman-of-color mistress and several children by the mistress.
One of his sons by his wife grew up and married and had a family and took a woman-of-color mistress and had several children by her. Another son by his wife, married, had a family, took a mistress of color, had a family, and then took another mistress of color, and had several children by the second mistress. One wife, two mistresses, and three families!
It turns out that the African-Americans in New Orleans, very likely, share an ancestor with us. We are family. My cousin, the cousin with pretensions to being a part of old New Orleans society, was not speaking to me at the time that I learned about this - she took umbrage quite easily over minor words and actions, and stopped speaking to various people, for varying periods of time - but I made sure to tell her sister the news about our newly-discovered cousins. I know. Bad me.
When she was young and unmarried, that same cousin worked as a secretary for one of the movers and shakers in New Orleans. One day, a black man came in the office to see her boss, and when she asked for his name, he gave the same family name as hers. There was that one letter difference, but the names were pronounced exactly the same. She had to go to her boss and give him her own family name, followed by the visitor, a black man. She was not amused.
I'll give her this, she told stories on herself that set us to laughing, and she did not mind that. On another occasion, a man named Fuchs came to see her boss. She had him spell his name, she wrote it down, and, as she handed the paper to her boss, she saw what she had written and turned crimson. She had not written Mr. Fuchs, but had changed one letter, and I'll leave it to your imagination to determine which one.
She was engaged to her husband for at least fifteen years, before they married and had one child when she was in her forties - à propos of nothing.
Fr. Tony Clavier Needs Prayers Now
Fr. Tony Clavier, an Episcopal priest from West Virginia, is undergoing serious and extensive lung surgery today. He and his family need your prayers.
UPDATE: The surgery on Fr. Clavier was successfully completed. You can keep up with his progress at the family website.
UPDATE: The surgery on Fr. Clavier was successfully completed. You can keep up with his progress at the family website.
Department Of Ouch!
From the Associated Press via CBS News:
A man trying to loosen a stubborn lug nut blasted the wheel with a 12-gauge shotgun, injuring himself badly in both legs, sheriff's deputies said.
....
"He's bound and determined to get that lug nut off," [Deputy] Wilson said.
....
"Nobody else was there and he wasn't intoxicated," Wilson said.
Out, damned lug nut! Out, I say!
A man trying to loosen a stubborn lug nut blasted the wheel with a 12-gauge shotgun, injuring himself badly in both legs, sheriff's deputies said.
....
"He's bound and determined to get that lug nut off," [Deputy] Wilson said.
....
"Nobody else was there and he wasn't intoxicated," Wilson said.
Out, damned lug nut! Out, I say!
Monday, November 12, 2007
God's Prophet In Our Time
Photo from Wiki.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, retired Archbishop of Capetown, South Africa, our man for all seasons in the Anglican Communion and God's gift to the whole world, appeared on the Sunday Forum yesterday at the National Cathedral Centennial Celebration in Washington, DC. A video of a his conversation is available. It's nearly one hour long, but it was one of the best hours that I ever spent in my life. Tutu is surely one of God's saints who walk the earth at the present time. He radiates the love of God and enthusiasm for the faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ, handed down by the saints through the ages.
How many times do we watch TV for an hour and come away feeling that we have wasted our time? You won't waste your hour with Desmond Tutu.
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