"HYPOCRITES AND FASCISTS"?

From Sarah Hey at Stand Firm.

Click on the images for the larger view.



Posted without a link or commentary, except to say that I have no verification that the list is accurate.

THEY HAVE NAMES

9 U.S. Military Killed in Afghanistan Last Week 1.9.11

US Army SGT Michael J Beckerman, 25, Ste Genevieve, MO

US Marines LCpl Maung P Htaik, 20, Hagerstown, MD

US Marines Cpl Jacob A Tate, 21, Columbus, OH

US Army SGT Jose M Cintron Rosado, 38, Vega Alta, PR

US Army SPC Jose A Delgado Arroyo, 41, San Juan, PR

US Army SGT Eric M Nettleson, 26, Wichita, KS

US Marines LCpl Joseph R Giese, 24, Winder, GA

US Army SFC Robert W Pharris, 48, Seymour, MO

US Army SPC Christian J Romig, 24, Kenner, LA

May all who died serving their country rest in peace and rise in glory.

May God give comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to those who love the departed service members.

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

List and title of the post from The Daily Office.



My faded bumper sticker that was once bright yellow, red, and blue.

"HAVE YOUR CANDLE AND EAT IT"

From Lapin, who says. "Guess you remember those inventive 50's magazine recipes."

I do. I do.

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR MATT'S TREES

Thanks for voting.

PRAY FOR THOSE IN THE PATH OF THE FLOODWATERS IN AUSTRALIA

From Cathy:

Would you terribly mind posting an urgent prayer request for this tonight:

If the Wivenhoe Dam breaks or overflows in any serious way, thousands of people in Brisbane could die. The 1974 floods were disastrous. It seems to be doing its job at the moment, as they say, but it is holding a horrendous amount of water. My dad's house is in one of the suburbs that has been warned to expect flooding,

cathy x

From the Couriermail.com:

A BODY of floodwater larger than Sydney Harbour threatens Brisbane, with only the Wivenhoe Dam's 2.3km-long earthen wall standing in its path.

Police are advising people near the Brisbane River at West End to move to higher ground.

"The Brisbane River has risen and we are starting to see the water enter streets in the low lying areas of West End." a police spokesman said.

This comes after Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman warned yesterday that more water was flowing into the Wivenhoe Dam than the Brisbane River had received in the 1974 floods.

The Brisbane City Council last night issued a warning for residents in more than 30 suburbs to expect flooding.

Read the rest at the link above.

Lord, in your mercy hear our prayers and protect the people threatened by floodwaters in Australia. Among all the changes and chances of this life, defend them by your gracious and ready help, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

UPDATE: Brian at Noble Wolf posted a video of floodwaters inundating the city of Toowoomba in Queensland. 8 are dead, and 70 are missing.

REMEMBERING THOSE WHO DIED

Clockwise from top left (AP):

Christina-Taylor Green: A "Face of Hope," this 9-year-old politician often wore red, white and blue in honor of her country.

Dorothy Morris: The 76-year-old retiree, Dorothy Morris, attended the event with her husband and high school sweetheart George Morris.

Judge John Roll: A widely respected federal judge, Roll received death threats in 2009 after his decision allowed a case brought forward by illegal immigrants to proceed to a jury trial.

Gabe Zimmerman: Recently engaged and one of Giffords's aides, he was known as a master in dealing with other people.

Dorwin Stoddard: A fixture at the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ, Stoddard blocked his wife from gunfire, eyewitness reports said.

Phyllis Schneck: A great-grandmother, the 79-year-old retiree admired Giffords's stance on border safety.

From the Washington Post.

Heartbreaking pictures.

O God, whose beloved Son took little children into his arms and blessed them: Give us grace to entrust this child Christina-Taylor to your never-failing care and love, and bring us all to your heavenly kingdom; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our prayers on behalf of your servants Dorothy, John, Gabe, Dorwin, and Phyllis, and grant them entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of your saints; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

SENIOR CODES FOR TEXTING...

ATD: At The Doctor's

BTW: Bring The Wheelchair

BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth

CBM: Covered By Medicare

CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center

DWI: Driving While Incontinent

FWBB: Friend With Beta Blockers

FWIW: Forgot Where I Was

FYI: Found Your Insulin

GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!

GHA: Got Heartburn Again

IMHO: Is My Hearing-Aid On?

LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out

LOL: Living On Lipitor

LWO: Lawrence Welk's On

OMMR: On My Massage Recliner

OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas.

ROFL... CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing...Can't Get Up

TTYL: Talk To You Louder

WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?

WTFA: Wet The Furniture Again

WTP: Where's The Prunes?

WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil

All right!!! I needed a laugh, even at my own expense. Thanks to Canon Itchy. Or no thanks? Which is it?

"A RIGHT TO BEAR GLOCKS?"

From Gail Collins at the New York Times:

Today, the amazing thing about the reaction to the Giffords shooting is that virtually all the discussion about how to prevent a recurrence has been focusing on improving the tone of our political discourse. That would certainly be great. But you do not hear much about the fact that Jared Loughner came to Giffords’s sweet gathering with a semiautomatic weapon that he was able to buy legally because the law restricting their sale expired in 2004 and Congress did not have the guts to face up to the National Rifle Association and extend it. (My emphasis)

If Loughner had gone to the Safeway carrying a regular pistol, the kind most Americans think of when they think of the right to bear arms, Giffords would probably still have been shot and we would still be having that conversation about whether it was a sane idea to put her Congressional district in the cross hairs of a rifle on the Internet.

But we might not have lost a federal judge, a 76-year-old church volunteer, two elderly women, Giffords’s 30-year-old constituent services director and a 9-year-old girl who had recently been elected to the student council at her school and went to the event because she wanted to see how democracy worked.

Even if you accept that we are all militia, as the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled, and we all have the right to bear arms according to the 2nd Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, what about regulation of automatic weapons? That in certain areas, there are no laws against the purchase of automatic weapons seems insane to me. What citizen needs an automatic weapon for self-protection? But our Congress stands immobilized by fear of the N.R.A. As Collins says:

Most politicians won’t talk about it because they’re afraid of the N.R.A., whose agenda is driven by the people who sell guns and want the right to sell as many as possible.

Doesn’t it seem like the least we can do?

ANOTHER CHANCE FOR MATT'S TREES

Today, I received a lovely email from Matt Sloan's mother, Judy, thanking me for my posts last month on behalf of Matt's Trees in the contest to win $50,000 to replant trees in New Orleans. Sadly, Matt passed away last June, and his family chose to continue the work he started in New Orleans by establishing the nonprofit.

Since Pepsi carried the top 100 vote-getters in December to the January competition, the organization has another chance to win the contest and more time for us to vote. Matt's Trees stands at no. 68 now. Let's get him higher. The contest runs until January 31. The links on the flyer above are not live; please use the widget below to reach the site to cast your vote. You may vote once a day, every day until the end of January. If you have more than one email address, you may vote more than once.


Thanks for voting.

THE INTERN WHO HELPED REP. GIFFORD

From AXCentral.com comes the account by Daniel Hernandez, an intern for Gabrielle Giffords. Daniel was near Rep. Giffords when she was shot and gave her first aid until the paramedics arrived.

Daniel Hernandez had been U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' intern for five days when she was shot Saturday outside Tucson.

The junior at the University of Arizona was helping check people in at the "Congress on Your Corner" event when he heard gunfire. He was about 30 feet from the congresswoman. When the shots began, he ran toward them.

Read his moving account of helping Giffords and of the scene of the shooting.

Thanks to Ann V. for the link.