Happy Thanksgiving, My Canadian Friends!!

BONNE ACTION DE GRÂCE, MES AMIS CANADIENS!!

I tried to find a definitive history of Canada's thanksgiving celebration, but each account that I found was different. One of the articles mentioned "turmoil" in settling on the official history of the holiday in Canada. If any of you Canadians provide a link to a good historical source, I'll add it in an update.



UPDATE: Tim Chesterton provided this link to a history of the Canadian holiday.

Another Brave Man

Lt. Colonel Darrel J. Vandeveld resigned as a prosecutor in the military tribunals at Guantamano Bay. He's the fourth prosecutor to resign. His Army career is finished.

Vandeveld's claims are particularly explosive.

In a declaration and subsequent testimony, he said the U.S. government was not providing defense lawyers with the evidence it had against their clients, including exculpatory information -- material considered helpful to the defense.

Saying that the accused enemy combatants were more likely to be wrongly convicted without that evidence, Vandeveld testified that he went from being a "true believer to someone who felt truly deceived" by the tribunals. The system in place at the U.S. military facility in Cuba, he wrote in his declaration, was so dysfunctional that it deprived "the accused of basic due process and subject[ed] the well-intentioned prosecutor to claims of ethical misconduct."

Vandeveld was warned by his superiors not to speak out until he is formally released from the military, but before the warning by his superiors, he said in an email to the LA Times:

"I don't know how else the creeping rot of the commissions and the politics that fostered and continued to surround them could be exposed to the curative powers of the sunlight," he said. "I care not for myself; our enemies deserve nothing less than what we would expect from them were the situations reversed. More than anything, I hope we can rediscover some of our American values."

Vandeveld corresponded with Fr. John Dear, a Roman Catholic priest and peace activist, who advised him to do the right thing. Vendeveld describes himself as a conformist. Up until now, he always received glowing evaluations from his superiors. Read the article. He's a man of faith, a Roman Catholic, who, in the end, followed his conscience.

October Surprise?

From the Times Online:

Some key decision makers in Israel fear that unless they attack Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities in the next few months, while George W Bush is still president, there will not be another period when they can rely on the United States as being anywhere near as supportive in the aftermath of a unilateral attack.

According to the Guardian, Olmert asked Bush in May to support an Israeli attack on Iran. In a rare moment of enlightenment and rational thinking, Bush refused.

Bush's decision to refuse to offer any support for a strike on Iran appeared to be based on two factors, the sources said. One was US concern over Iran's likely retaliation, which would probably include a wave of attacks on US military and other personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as on shipping in the Persian Gulf.

That is exactly right. But we must not dismiss the idea that this could happen before Bush leaves office, or even before the election. In May, the Republicans were not facing the loss of the election, nor the market meltdown. They very much need a distraction.

Then too, the Israelis may not wait for our permission.

Thanks to Lapin for the link.

Francis Sayre Jr, Former National Cathedral Dean, Dies

From the New York Times:

The Very Rev. Francis B. Sayre Jr., who in his 27 years as dean of the National Cathedral in Washington raised his sonorous voice against McCarthyism, segregation, poverty and the Vietnam War while presiding over construction of the cathedral’s majestic Gloria in Excelsis Tower, died Oct. 3 at his home on Martha’s Vineyard, in Massachusetts. He was 93.

He was the grandson of Woodrow Wilson and was born in the White House.

On the fight for civil rights:

...he urged his parishioners to join the struggle. He invoked the Prophet Elijah’s Old Testament challenge, “How long will ye go limping between the two sides?” Then he said, “That question, chilling in its candor, probes rather painfully; and I’m afraid we’ve been doing a good bit of limping ourselves, and the testing may not be far off.”

Of Joe McCarthy and his supporters:

...one of a crew of “pretended patriots” and said, “There is a devilish indecision about any society that will permit an impostor like McCarthy to caper out front while the main army stands idly by."

May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

Did You Know...

that the sons of the Israelites wore earrings as they wandered through the desert?

Aaron said to them, ‘Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’

Exodus 32:2

I did not take note of that before today.

What Is Good?

‘With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:6-8

The passage above is one of my favorites in all the Bible. Walter Bruggemann talked about it in the DVD which we saw in our adult class last week, along with this passage from Psalm 50:

‘Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt-offerings are continually before me.
I will not accept a bull from your house,
or goats from your folds.
For every wild animal of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the air,*
and all that moves in the field is mine.


‘If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and all that is in it is mine.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,*
and pay your vows to the Most High.
Call on me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.’

Bruggemann said (paraphrase), "God says to us, 'You may serve me, but you may not use me. You have nothing to give me that I need.'"

Amen.

Beauty And The Beer

Husband and wife are shopping in Safeway when the man picks up a dozen bud lites and sticks it into the trolley.

'What do you think you're doing?' asks the wife.

'They're on special, only $10 for 12 cans,' he says.

'Put them back. We can't afford it,' says the wife and they carry on shopping. A few aisles later the woman picks up a $20 jar of face cream and sticks it into the trolley.

'What do you think you're doing?' asks the man.

'It's my face cream. It makes me look beautiful,' she says.

The man replies, 'So does the 12 bottle bud lites and it's half the damn price!'

Don't blame me, blame Doug.

Awwww!! You Don't See This Very Often

Thanks to Doug.

Congratulations And Best Wishes To IT And BP

IT and her PB BP will be married tomorrow. Read her beautiful post at Friends of Jake:

Dear Friends,
Tomorrow, Oct 12, your token atheist IT and her beloved partner (BP) will marry each other in a civil service in California. In all meaningful personal respects, we have been married for years, but we are seizing the opportunity to marry legally in the eyes of the State. You might call it "claiming the blessing" ;-). I'll be away for awhile on a honeymoon, where I plan to avoid the internet.

I am confident in the support of all my friends here at Friends-of-Jake's. If you feel the urge to commemorate our happy event, please leave me a note in the comments! We are also asking friends to consider donations to the No on Prop 8 campaign (because we would like our marriage to be legal after Nov 4th), or Feeding America, aka America's Second Harvest, to feed the hungry in these hard economic times.

IT is the favorite atheist of our little blogging community. We all love her and want her and Beloved Partner to have a long and happy marriage.

H/T to Fran.

Lunch At MiLa

 

Grandpère, my daughter, and I shared lunch a few weeks ago at MiLa Restaurant in New Orleans to celebrate my daughter's birthday and mine. Daughter paid the bill, which I thought was not quite right. GP should have paid, don't you think?

Paul, the BB, first called my attention to the restaurant when he posted a picture of the interior of the restaurant, taken from the outside, during one of his many meanderings around New Orleans in the CBC (Central Business District). I could not find his picture to give a link, but I was intrigued by the decor. When I checked for reviews of the restaurant, I found this, and it was enough for me to suggest that we go to lunch there. I know, I know. Too many links for one post.

We arrived there at a few minutes after two o'clock, late for lunch, but we were the only patrons in the restaurant. I was sorry to see that. I'd have thought we'd see a few diners finishing their lunch. The wait staff was excellent, attentive, but not to the point of intrusiveness. The three-course lunches are reasonably priced and offer a small, but inviting, number of choices. My daughter and I ordered the same dish:

Smoked Pepper Dusted Petit Filet, Mixed Vegetables, Roasted Shiitakes, Red Wine Sauce, along with a Shrimp and Artichoke Salad

GP ordered:

Filo-Crusted Redfish
Spring Peas and Pearl Onions, Lobster Emulsion, with the Shrimp and Artichoke Salad

The salad was delicious, and my daughter and I both loved our entrées. GP didn't rave about his dish, as we did ours. I don't know why he ordered redfish, because he warns me not to order speckled trout and redfish, because he catches them, and why should we pay restaurant prices for them? He's not overly enthusiastic about meals which I think are delicious. He's not overly enthusiastic about any restaurant meals. I think his taste buds are failing. Nothing seems quite good enough.

Then on to dessert. I had the Vanilla Bean Rice Pudding With Confiture of Louisiana Strawberries, which is to die for, and Daughter had the Chocolate Mousse, which is also to die for. I know because we tasted each other's desserts. GP had the Louisiana Citrus Sorbets, Housemade using Plaquemine’s Parish Citrus, Shortbread Cookie, Mint Purée, which he did allow was quite good. Yay! Finally. The menu varies, so you will not find all of the dishes we ordered listed in the menu on their website.

Our waiter told us that the restaurant is busy during the dinner hours. I hope that's so, as I'd really like to see this one make it. From the website:

MiLa is the culmination of both the marriage of chefs Slade Rushing and Allison Vines-Rushing and their respective home state cuisines – Mississippi and Louisiana.

They do quite a good job of it, and I wish them well in their venture. I love the decor that the two chose for the restaurant. I thank Paul for drawing MiLa to my attention. If you're from New Orleans or not far away, I urge you to give this wonderful place a try. Visitors to the city, too, go have a meal there.