A PRAYER FOR SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, NEWTOWN, CT

Prayer for Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut

By Kelvin Holdsworth

 Eternal God,

hear your diverse people
as a world unites in prayer and compassion
for the people of Newtown Connecticut.
We pray for all involved in the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Bless with your kindness those who speak to the broken-hearted.
Bless the teachers, paramedics, medical staff and police
with courage, skill and wisdom.
Bless those who mourn.
Bless those who grieve
and comfort the bewildered.
Help us each to build a world safe and fit for children.
Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen.

And Rmj at Adventus:

Rend the heavens and rend our hearts.  Whatever it takes, we need it now.  It is unimaginable that we are still waiting for God to come and save us from ourselves.  Whatever relief there is from this horror, we cannot seem to provide it.

We can't even seem to talk about how to prevent it. 

DIARY POST - MAY BE BORING

 

What if you could put your life on rewind to a certain day or days and change how the days went? Yes, we've had books and movies on that very subject, which I will not name or discuss, because the post could get interesting. Last Saturday night, I readied myself to take my 15 year old dog, Diana, for a walk at around 10 PM. The late-night walk is not by choice but is necessary if Diana is not to wet her bed during the night. As she has grown older, she won't come to us at night to be let out if she has to pee or poo; she just does her business on the green carpet in the living room. Thus, we close her off in the part of the house which is not carpeted, which makes it impossible for her to come to us to be let out, which she won't do anyway. Washing a dog bed every day gets to be something of a chore, thus the late-night walks, which also have to be rather lengthy, because Diana does not take just one long pee but rather marks her spots all along the way. But her dog bed stays dry most nights.

Diana walks on a retractable lead, which I'd left unlocked as we started the walk. The weather was cool; Diana was frisky and started off at a run around the corner of the house and dragged the back of my hand and arm across the brick post of the carport. My skin is old and thin, and the result was bloody. Grandpère took over the walking chore, while I dressed my wounds, which I'm still dressing each time I shower. The scrapes have finally stopped bleeding, but I'm keeping the wounds covered so I don't injure them again with a scrape or a bump. If I could rewind Saturday night, I would secure the lead and have Diana, as they say, on a short leash.

Diana, Grandpère, and I had our 15 minutes of fame in our town.  Above and below are a photo and the story in the local newspaper, The Daily Comet, of how Diana came to live with us. She was wild as I walked her out of the vet's office, jumping up and down and trying to run, and I remember thinking, "What have we got ourselves into?" As the worker at the office helped me take Diana to the car, the end of the leash caught in the bottom of the car door. The worker was going to let the lead loose, but I told him, "No! Don't let it loose; as it is she can't jump on me while I'm driving home." And that was the beginning of a 14 year relationship.

 

 

And that dog don't hunt. Each time Diana was taken into the woods and let off the leash, she ended up back at Grandpère's truck, ready to go home. The woods where Tom and my sons hunt are not far  from our house, and, on one occasion, Diana became impatient and made her way home on her own. As I said, we love her anyway.

Click on the articles for the larger view. The article is dated February 6, 1998.

DEMOCRATS: DO NOT RAISE THE AGE FOR MEDICARE ELIGIBILITY

Mr President and Democrats in Congress, do not cave in to Republicans, and raise the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67.  If you recall, Republicans lost the election.  Think about it.  Not everyone works in a comfortable chair at a desk in a climate-controlled office.  Some folks in their 60s are on their feet all day  Do you know what is the condition of their legs?  Some folks in their 60s do hard physical labor in all sorts of weather, which takes a toll on their bodies.  What if these people lose their jobs?  How many are likely to find jobs, much less jobs with health insurance benefits?  If the people in their 60s find jobs without benefits, how will they pay for health insurance?  Democrats won the election.  If you must, let the tax hikes go into effect.  Go over the fiscal cliff, which is actually a gentle slope.  In the next Congress, the numbers of Democrats in both houses of Congress will rise, so your negotiating position will be even stronger.  We did not elect you to put in place Republican policies.

If I could wave a magic wand, I'd adjust the premiums somewhat and lower the eligibility age for Medicare to 60 or 62 to get younger, healthier people into the pool, or I'd even allow anyone to buy in.  The rest of the citizens of the country ought to have the same access to health care as you do, Mr President and members of Congress.  Raising the eligibility age for Medicare is a really bad idea.  

Paul Krugman agrees:

Yet the idea just won’t go away. It’s almost surreal. What’s going on here?

One answer is that conservatives badly want a rise in the Medicare age, never mind the policy virtues or lack thereof. Why? Partly because liberals hate the idea: pay any attention to right-wing rhetoric and you learn that spite against liberals, even if there’s no gain for their side, is a major motivator. Beyond that, there is some actual strategic thinking here: by reducing the number of people receiving Medicare, they hope to undermine support for the whole program.

Right.  That's what Republicans want, but they lost the election.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the federal government could save $125 billion over the coming decade from such a change. But opponents note that the feds would simply be shifting costs from Medicare onto other payers, whether they be private employers, retirees or Medicaid.

A study by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that raising the eligibility age would actually cause total U.S. spending on healthcare to increase, even as it saved the federal government money. The study predicted that costs would go up for both the seniors newly ineligible for Medicare -- they'd obtain coverage from less cost-effective private insurers -- and for those who stayed in the program, because the Medicare population would be older on average and riskier than before.

See?  The math doesn't work.  Republican math did not work during the campaign, and it doesn't work now, which is why we voted for Democrats.  Get it, Sirs? 

Increasing the eligibility age for Medicare saves money for the budget. But that’s no great policy feat – just kick some people off the rolls and boom, you’ve got some savings. In fact, it raises costs for the larger system (see here), while potentially leaving 65-66-year-olds with a less access to affordable coverage. That’s not “reform” — it’s a short-sighted attack on a critical, highly efficient program motivated not by efficiency, but by antipathy to social insurance.

Why is changing the eligibility age for Medicare on the table in negotiations?  Why do Democrats even mention the possibility?  The only reason Democrats should talk about the change in age requirements for Medicare is to repeat over and over that no such change will happen.  Thank heaven for women in the House and Senate:

[Rep. Nancy] Pelosi then went on CBS's "This Morning" and said Democrats would "object" to raising the Medicare eligibility age. Democrats in the House and Senate backed Pelosi.

“I haven’t heard any Democrat in our caucus say they’re open to raising the eligibility age,” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) said, according to The Hill.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), speaking for many Senate Democrats, said raising the Medicare eligibility age would be a "nonstarter."

Cautionary note: The link just above is to a far-right website, but they make my case for me.

Image from The Other 98%.

SO BEAUTIFUL OR SO WHAT

I think he still has it. Do you?

NOTABLE DATE

 

I'm told this won't happen for another 100 years, which makes good sense to me.  ☺

Thanks to Doug on Facebook for the reminder.

HA HA HA

Senator Huckleberry - er - Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to President Obama:

“You just got reelected. How about doing something big that is not liberal?” Graham said in an interview with Fox News. “How about doing something big that really is bipartisan? Every big idea he has is a liberal idea that drowns us in debt. How about manning up here, Mr. President, and use your mandate to bring this country together to stop us from becoming Greece?”

From The Hill.  Watch the video at the link.

STORY OF THE DAY - CONNECT THE DOTS

Resorting to connecting the dots this morning 
because it was a long night & he needs to do 
something really simple to get started again.

Yes, and so I did this morning without urging from anyone.

From StoryPeople.

FEAST OF THOMAS MERTON

The splendid and moving icon of Thomas Merton was written by Brother Tobias Haller.

Thomas Merton has been a major influence in my spiritual life for many years, since the 1950s when I read Merton's biography The Seven Storey Mountain. The book had a profound effect on me in deepening my faith. Since the first, I've read a good many of Merton's other writings.

Merton's prayer below sustained me many through many periods in my life when I felt directionless or doubtful about choices I've made.

The Living Spirit

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Collect of the Day: Thomas Merton, Contemplative and Writer, 1968

Gracious God, you called your monk Thomas Merton to proclaim your justice out of silence, and moved him in his contemplative writings to perceive and value Christ at work in the faiths of others: Keep us, like him, steadfast in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

ANOTHER BAD DOG

 

 

A lively young puppy named Quiz
Called a monster through no fault of his
He was such a whiz
At prodigious show-biz
His human remained in a tizz

BAD DOGS 2

 

 

 

 

 

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.

Thanks to Ann.