FOLLOWED AT NIGHT

 

A man was walking home alone late one night passing a cemetery when he hears a BUMP . . . BUMP . . . BUMP . . . behind him.

Walking a little faster, he looks back, and he makes out the image of an upright coffin banging its way down the sidewalk towards him . . . BUMP . . . BUMP . . . BUMP.

Terrified, the man begins to run towards his home, the coffin bouncing quickly behind him . . . faster . . . faster . . . BUMP . . . BUMP . . . BUMP.

He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, and slams and locks the door behind him.

But the coffin crashes through his door, with the lid of the coffin clapping . . . clappity-BUMP . . . clappity-BUMP . . . clappity-BUMP . . . on the heels of the terrified man. Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps. With a loud CRASH the coffin breaks down the door, still bumping and clapping towards him.

The man screams and reaches for something . . . anything . . . but all he can find is a box of cough drops!

Desperate, he throws the box of cough drops at the coffin!

And of course . . .  the coffin stopped!


Cheers,

Paul (A.)

Yeah, ya gonna wanna get me for this one, but don't blame me, blame Paul (A.)

Besides Halloween is coming, which brings on the silly season, and, not only that, I may have already posted a version of this joke some time ago.  I forgot the punch line and laughed out loud, and I hope you will, too.

FAKE, FAKE, FAKE

Screen shot from WKBN video

The patrons were gone; the pans were clean, but Paul Ryan and his crew made their way into a soup kitchen in Youngstown, Ohio, and rewashed pans that had already been washed for a photo op.  But the opportunist congressman's plan backfired when Felicia Sonmez, a Washington Post reporter, told the story which highlighted Ryan's phoniness and faked concern for the poor.  I'm cynical enough about politics and politicians, but this staged attempt by Ryan leaves me shaking my head.  What about Ryan's children?  What did they make of the mini-drama?  

Brian J. Antag, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, said that he was not contacted by the Romney campaign ahead of the Saturday morning visit by Ryan, who stopped by the soup kitchen after a town hall at Youngstown State University.

"We’re a faith-based organization; we are apolitical because the majority of our funding is from private donations,” Antag said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “It’s strictly in our bylaws not to do it. They showed up there and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.” 

He added: “The photo-op they did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall.”

In the process of staging the photo op, Ryan and crew could have put the charity in danger of losing funding, but then the entire operation was never, ever about the poor.

UPDATE: From Acolyte of Sagan in the comments:

I'm not saying he's dishonest,
But just like most right-wingers
If you should chance
To shake Ryan's hand
Be sure to count your fingers.

Excellent. Thank you, Acolyte of Sagan.

THE DRONES...THEY HAUNT ME

An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft takes off from Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Photo: USAF

A new analysis from a global citizen advocacy group on the secretive U.S. drone campaign claims there is very little knowledge of the actual number of civilian casualties connected with each strike, despite official information to the contrary, according to a report on Wired.com.

The Obama administration has previously stated that civilian casualties from the Pakistan drone war were in the single digits, while the Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates the minimum death toll is closer to 450, according to the story.

Single digits?  The claim is laughable.  No one...no one knows the body count of innocents killed by covert drone attacks in the Middle East, not even the White House, not Congress.  The drones haunt me not only because of innocents killed, not only because of grieving families left behind, but also because of the toll on the living, the people of Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, who go about their daily lives in fear of the sound of drones, who can't sleep nights because they're frightened of a drone attack.

I've thought I should not write about the drones three weeks before a crucial election, because the reckless use of our military might would be much worse under the living nightmare of a Romney administration, but the haunting remains, and so I write.  The drone attacks are done in our name, in the name of each one of us who claims citizenship in the US, without discussion or accountability, and that's not right.  Attention must be paid.

H/T to Wired for the photo.

"IT WOULD...BE ABHORRENT..."

“It would really be abhorrent to make this into a campaign issue,” Jan Stevens, 77, said in a telephone interview from his home in Loomis, California, as he prepares for a memorial service for his son next week.

Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee, has criticized President Barack Obama for not providing adequate security in Libya, saying the administration has left the country exposed to a deadly terrorist attack.

The ambassador’s father, a lawyer, said politicians should await the findings of a formal investigation before making accusations or judgments.

“The security matters are being adequately investigated,” Stevens said. “We don’t pretend to be experts in security. It has to be objectively examined. That’s where it belongs. It does not belong in the campaign arena.” Stevens said he has been getting briefings from the State Department on the progress of the investigation.

Do you hear, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan?  Will you respect the wishes of Jan Stevens?

H/T to Adrastos at First Draft.

JOE BIDEN: "THEY TALK..."

 

The Republicans running for president and vice-president talk trash and lies, and from what I see of Republican politicians all around the country, there are few who are willing to stand up to Tea Party politics and call them for the trash and lies that they are.  The concept of the common good, that we are all in these tough times together and that we should bear each other's burdens and help those who are most in need is lost in the noise of cries for a balanced budget - a budget that will be balanced on the backs of those who have the least and not by those who are rich in the world's goods.

At least once or twice a week people I know whine to me about undeserving freeloaders who get food stamps and SSI checks.  No doubt there are cheaters amongst them, but what kind of high living can you do on food stamps and SSI checks?  I think of the rich, like the Republican candidate for president, who pays an average of 14% tax on his vast yearly income, while mid-income people pay a higher percentage.  I think of the banks and financial institutions bailed out by the feds that, in turn, gave millions in salaries and bonuses to their top people, and the cheaters for food stamps and SSI checks seem like very small potatoes.  Sure, stop the cheaters, but let's set our priorities aright and get the rich guys and the corporations off the dole first.

And why was the Romney tax returns story allowed to die?  What about his 2009 tax returns?  2009 was the year of the amnesty when people with secret bank accounts in Switzerland had to own the accounts before their names were revealed to the IRS, whereupon they may have been subject to criminal prosecution for tax avoidance.  Did Romney take the amnesty?  He made public two years of tax returns, 2010 and 2011, but he asked Ryan for five years of tax returns.  What is Romney hiding? 

H/T to the goddess at First Draft and others for the picture.

MEDITATION ON JOB BY MARTHE

"Job's Torment" by William Blake

for my friends of faith who may not be reading my favorite church blog ... on occasion I write a little meditation based on the assigned texts for the week that my friends in Boston use (composed of things this amateur sees when reading, thinking about what it all might mean) ... and by the way, it makes the most sense if you read the texts noted ... a little thinking of a day ...

peace be and be

Marthe

Proper 22 Meditation

Job 1:1, 2:1-10, Heb. 1:1-4, 2:5-12, Mark 10:2-16

Ah, Job, no doubt of his integrity 
while certain of his blessings, fresh with vows 
of faithfulness and works of charity, 
flush with the love of his generous God! 
His obedience stood up to the loss 
of goods and servants and even offspring, 
no sin of the lips, no curse did he toss 
into his well of naked suffering. 
To love and to be loved with one’s whole self, 
a yearning children know and adults hide, 
shroud in rules, dusty scrolls on a shelf, 
to veil hearts hardened in the to and fro 
of risk and error wandering, contracts 
masquerading as the holy union 
of created partners drawn to compacts 
of unconditional love responding, 
receiving, rejoicing in its one Source. 
Naked as Job, innocent as children, 
a trust no mortal sunders in the course 
of jealousy or trial -- one true gift: 
      for a soul once bound to God, no divorce.

(Marthe G. Walsh)

Posted with the gracious permission of Marthe.

Image from Wikipedia.

ANDREW FINALLY PERFORMS FOR US

Andrew tuning up

As I've said earlier, our visitors from Connecticut were three, Ginnie, Hugh, and their son Andrew.  Grandpère and I were in Hugh and Ginnie's wedding 50 years ago.  We all left Mobile, Alabama, and, after a few years, we lost track of each other for a long time.  Several years ago, I searched for them on the internet, and, after reaching several dead ends, I found them.  Since then, we've stayed in touch and visited back and forth between Louisiana and Connecticut several times.

Each time we've gone north to Connecticut, or our friends have come south to Louisiana, we've wanted to hear Andrew sing and play one of his instruments, but time passed, busyness intervened, and we never did.  Andrew is a folk musician, specializing in Irish folk music.  He had with him his Irish bouzouki, which you see in the photos.

Andrew playing and singing

Finally, in the last minutes of their visit, it happened.  Andrew entertained us with a private performance.  He played three tunes for us before his dad said they had to get on the road.

 An instrumental version of "Madame Maxwell" by Turlough O'Connor

"The Lakes of Pontchartrain", a traditional song which was a surprise and delight to us.  I have Paul Brady's version in my music collection.

And last, but not least, "Beeswing" by Richard Thompson

What a treat!  Andrew plays and sings quite well, and I'm so pleased we had the privilege of hearing him.  He performs at pubs and halls in his area in the Northeast.  He is a member of the  Shamrock Traditional Irish Music Society and, on occasion, writes about Irish folk music concerts for the Newtown Bee.  As you see, Andrew is wearing his Catskills Irish Arts Week t-shirt.  You can catch glimpses of Andrew playing with a group of musicians in the Catskills in this video at YouTube at the 3:15, 5:59, and 9:38 minute marks.  I wish we'd been able to record Andrew's performance, but since we didn't, I'll settle for words.

UPDATE: I meant to say that Andrew's Irish bouzouki has a lovely, sweet tone.

STORY OF THE DAY - BIG PLANS

Your job is to focus on my personal happiness, she 
said, & I've got big plans, so break time is over.

MITT ROMNEY: "JUST TRUST ME"

 

So many questions...no answers except, "Trust me". Mitt, you know what? I don't trust you. You've changed your policies so many times, and you stray so far from the truth in your statements about policies you once embraced, even in the very recent past, during this very election, that I can't keep up. Are your pants on fire, yet?

Image from Americans Against the Tea Party.

UN AUTRE HENRI LE CHAT

Thanks to Charley F-B for the reminder.