The President's Plan For Afghanistan

From the transcript of President Obama's address on the war in Afghanistan:

And as Commander-in-Chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home. These are the resources that we need to seize the initiative, while building the Afghan capacity that can allow for a responsible transition of our forces out of Afghanistan.

With all due respect, I don't buy the president's plan. What will be different in Afghanistan in 18 months? What will we accomplish in that time period, which will include more killing and maiming of Americans and Afghans? That's not to speak of the billions in the costs of the war, billions that could be put to better use than fighting a war we cannot win. The war becomes Obama's war now.

And this from TPM on the mostly ignored, but quite real "giant shadow army of contractors":

Private contractors employed by the Defense Department in Afghanistan will continue to outnumber the size of the American troop presence, even after President Obama sends 30,000 more soldiers to fight in the war, according to the military's most recent contractor count.

The latest figure on DOD contractors in the country is a whopping 104,100, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command tells TPM. That number, which is expected to grow, is already greater than the 98,000 U.S. troops that will be in the country after the new deployments.

The president mentions Pakistan several times during his address, as well he should. According to Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker, the nuclear weapons in Pakistan are much less safe than the leadership in both Pakistan and the US would have us believe. If you're looking for something else to worry about, read Hersh's article. It's long, but worth a read. A couple of paragraphs from the beginning of the article:

In the tumultuous days leading up to the Pakistan Army’s ground offensive in the tribal area of South Waziristan, which began on October 17th, the Pakistani Taliban attacked what should have been some of the country’s best-guarded targets. In the most brazen strike, ten gunmen penetrated the Army’s main headquarters, in Rawalpindi, instigating a twenty-two-hour standoff that left twenty-three dead and the military thoroughly embarrassed. The terrorists had been dressed in Army uniforms. There were also attacks on police installations in Peshawar and Lahore, and, once the offensive began, an Army general was shot dead by gunmen on motorcycles on the streets of Islamabad, the capital. The assassins clearly had advance knowledge of the general’s route, indicating that they had contacts and allies inside the security forces.

Pakistan has been a nuclear power for two decades, and has an estimated eighty to a hundred warheads, scattered in facilities around the country. The success of the latest attacks raised an obvious question: Are the bombs safe? Asked this question the day after the Rawalpindi raid, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “We have confidence in the Pakistani government and the military’s control over nuclear weapons.” Clinton—whose own visit to Pakistan, two weeks later, would be disrupted by more terrorist bombs—added that, despite the attacks by the Taliban, “we see no evidence that they are going to take over the state.”

Madame Secretary, I hope against hope that you are right.

No, Mr. President, I cannot buy into your plan.

UPDATE: A link to a post by Fred Schwartz at Real Anglicans which I urge you to read. Fred is a Vietnam vet. Fred's father served in WWII, and his son is presently serving in the Gulf of Oman. I quote the final paragraph, but please read the entire post.

Let me end this with where I began. My son is in the Gulf of Oman. He and his friends are professionals, they go where they are told to go, and do what they are told to do. That is the beauty of our military; actually, that is the brilliance of our military. It is up to our civilian government to say where and when and how and for how long. I for one, do not want my son and his friends, pilots and his shipmates, to be there for one more second than needs be. If, we are there for "the long haul" and we will continue a mission that is ill-defined and ill-conceived and we are unwilling to do what we started to do in the first place, then it is time to stop the madness.

Please Pray For Juan

From Margaret:

And the reality of Juan's situation is looming with his first hearing this Thursday. An impossible maze with impossible hurdles. Yet, we are preparing to leap with faith...

Some days are just like that.... impossible. Faith full. Today, after a month of rain, the sun is shining --a respite of sun. And it's not yet that clear, cold, blue-white winter sun --it is still full of warmth. And texture.

Margaret and Joel have taken into their home a young man, Juan, an illegal immigrant, who must attend a hearing tomorrow, Thursday, because he turns 18 years old. Then, on Dec. 7, he will have an immigration hearing at which a decision will be handed down as to whether he will be allowed to stay in the country or taken into custody and eventually deported. Please pray that the seemingly impossible will come to be - that Juan will be permitted to stay in the US.

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21

Sad News - Gay Marriage Blocked

The gay wedding that was to take place yesterday did not.

From Reuters:

A gay Argentine couple and the mayor of Buenos Aires vowed on Tuesday to appeal a last-minute court ruling that blocked plans for Latin America's first legal same-sex marriage.

Alex Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, were granted a marriage license by a city judge two weeks ago. That ruling gave approval for the two men to wed in the capital despite a national policy defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

But a national judge on Monday ordered the suspension of the ceremony, which had been planned for Tuesday, saying that the city judge had no power to make the earlier ruling.

"The wedding's been suspended but we're appealing to the Supreme Court today so we can figure out which court ruling to follow," said Ivan Pavlovsky, a spokesman for Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri.

I'm so sorry. There's still hope. We await the Supreme Court ruling.

Write It Down!

There was an elderly couple who had been married for ages and ages. He was starting to have problems with his memory, so Mrs. Elderly Couple figured out that if Mr. Elderly Couple wrote things down in his little notebook, there was much less strife in the household.

One evening as they were in bed reading, she said, "I feel a little hungry; I'd love to have a snack!" He said, "Well, what do you want? I'll go in the kitchen and prepare it!" She said, "Well, some ice cream would be nice! Write it down. Also, some chocolate syrup on the ice cream would be wonderful! Write it down." "Anything else?" he asked. "Well, perhaps some whipped cream and toasted almonds! Have you been writing this down?" "I don't need to write this down; I can remember it," he said. She said, "You'd better write it down because you know what happens when you don't." He said, "Ice cream with chocolate syrup, whipped cream and toasted almonds. What's so dang hard about that?" "I still think you should write it down," she said. He wandered off to the kitchen, mumbling, and she returned to her book.

About twenty minutes later he returned carrying a tray with pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, butter and maple syrup. "I told you to write it down," she said. "I wanted fried eggs, not scrambled!"

Padre Not-Doug

Padre Mickey sent this joke to me. Does he think I'm old, or something? The Music Director at his church told the joke Sunday during the announcements. The congregation at Padre's church celebrates a festival or has a party with delicious food nearly every Sunday. They tell jokes during the announcements. They have a band playing at their services. I want a church like Padre Mickey's.

And One More Thing...

Are you shocked that I post about condoms? I consider this another public service announcement on World AIDS Day.


Thanks to Ann.

Ugly Weather And More Oysters

Coldish (for us), rain, sometimes driving rain, brief (thank goodness!) near gale force winds - not ideal weather for road travel, but travel we did to the ophthalmologist for a check to see that all was well after my recent cataract surgeries. All is as it should be, thanks be to God.

After the office visit, I heard the oysters calling, and we headed back to Drago's Restaurant. We ordered charbroiled oysters as an appetizer once again. After I tasted the first oyster, I said, "Ummm, this is better than sex." I asked Grandpère, "Do you think these are better than sex?"

He blushed and said, "I don't know. You embarrass me." Now this conversation was strictly entre nous. No one else was within earshot. Why was GP embarrassed? I asked him, but he couldn't say.

We moved on to the the salad and the entrée. Mine was more oysters, this time fried, and GP had Shrimp Herradura, the dish I had last time, except mine was with oysters. Drago's does fried oysters well, too.

My one complaint about the food is that the salad consists mainly of iceberg lettuce, with a few, a very few, tasty salad greens thrown in. Note to chef: ditch the iceberg altogether.

Then it was back home again in the nasty weather, with me tense in the passenger seat, braking with both feet.

Image stolen from Mark's profile. Mark blogs as Oyster at Your Right Hand Thief, and he's not at all good about answering email.

World AIDS Day

Who says the U S federal government can't do anything right? Have a look at the official AIDS website. Watch the video of President Obama and his wife get tested for AIDS in Kenya three years ago, when he was still a senator, and listen to his message for today. Check out the wealth of resources and information in easy-to-understand language on the prevention and treatment of AIDS.

Today is World AIDS Day. Go get tested. Everyone should take the test.

The First Gay Marriage In Latin America

From the Guardian:

Two Argentinians will this week become the first gay couple in Latin America to get married, following a three-year campaign that pitted politician against politician, overturned laws and angered millions of Catholics.

The Beruti register office in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires will never have witnessed a marriage like it. On Tuesday, Alex Freyre and José María Di Bello, who met three years ago at a conference on HIV, will make history and divide a continent as they become Latin America's first gay married couple.

The ceremony will be a tribute to their determination as well as their love for each other, after a bitter three-year campaign which has divided a city, outraged Argentina's powerful Roman Catholic church and overturned the constitution.
....

The most controversial marriage in Argentina's history became possible when a city court judge ruled that it was unconstitutional for civil law to stipulate that a marriage can exist only between a man and a woman. The marriage licence was granted on 16 November. Since then, the couple and their lawyers have come under virulent attack from church leaders, who have warned that the marriage could act as the catalyst for the swift decline of the continent's traditional family values.

The archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio, has publicly lashed out at the city's mayor, Mauricio Macri, who decided not to lodge an appeal against the judge's decision to grant the marriage licence. An appeal by the city government against the judge's ruling would, in effect, have overturned the judge's decision and stopped the licence being granted. Bergoglio said that, in failing to act, Macri had "gravely failed" at his task of governing.

I'm sick, sick, sick of hearing from angry people who warn that gay marriage will destroy traditiontal marriage and family values. Straight people, look to your own marriages and family values and begin your work there. Get the planks out or your own eyes before you admonish others about their ways.

"This is just one marriage in one city in Latin America, we are very far away from this right being extended across the country, let alone the continent," said Analia Mariel Mas, the lead lawyer working with the couple.

"Recently, we travelled with a delegation of equality rights campaigners to the north of the country, and had people waving crucifixes at us as if they were seeing Satan in human form. So there needs to be a change to the national legislation to force through changes and uphold our constitutional rights. Change won't happen if we try to do this case by case." (My emphasis)

Waving crosses as if to ward off Satan? Alex and José love each other and want to live together as a married couple, and why shouldn't they? And how does their marriage cause harm to anyone else?

Alex says, "We have people calling us every day saying we are their heroes, people we don't know crying on the phone saying that Tuesday will be the best day of their life.... But we won't want to be heroes, all we wanted to do was get married.

Thanks to Fran for the link.

Please Pray

For a good outcome and healing for surgical procedures on Tuesday...

...for my niece, Donna, who will have a hysterectomy

...for Ann's friend, Kay Rohde, who will have spinal surgery


For Paul the BB who has an important meeting on Tuesday.

Update from Eileen at Episcopalifem:

My mother-in-law is having a second hip replacement done this afternoon.

She’s nervous. My husband is nervous – he’ll be at the hospital waiting, always a difficult task. It’s a big surgery, and since this is her second go around, she knows exactly what to expect (which is both a help and a hindrance).

I pray things go smoothly for her, that she has no crises, and the surgery is a success.

Thanks for those of you who take a few moments to remember us in your thoughts and prayers today.

Update on Kay from Facebook:

The dr. Just came out to see us. She is out of surgery. He is confident that he got all of the tumor and that she will eventually recover. We're still waiting to see her. But she is safe.

Thanks be to God.

Update 2 from Paul the BB:

For Joseph Montoya who worked in our travel department and died in an accident and for his father Max who also works in our department.

May Joseph rest in peace and rise in glory. May God give comfort and consolation to Max and those who love Joseph.

Update 3 from Eileen:

The surgery went well..and after spending a bit of time in recovery she is now in a regular room and resting. Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. It means a lot to me.

Thankful again.

Update 4 on Donna and Kay:

Donna - Surgery went well - she's tired and in some pain - but not overwhelming. May well come home tomorrow.

Dictated by Kay - I'm in Observation waiting to go back to my room. All I can eat is ice chips, but there's more and more motion in my legs! I thank you all for your prayers. The chief nurse just came in, and I'll be good soon.

Again heartfelt thankfulness.

FORREST GUMP GOES TO HEAVEN

And along comes Doug to cheer me up:

The day finally arrived. Forrest Gump dies and goes to Heaven. He is at the Pearly Gates, met by St. Peter himself. However, the gates are closed, and Forrest approaches the gatekeeper.

St. Peter said, 'Well, Forrest, it is certainly good to see you. We have heard a lot about you. I must tell you, though, that the place is filling up fast, and we have been administering an entrance examination for everyone. The test is short, but you have to pass it before you can get into Heaven.'

Forrest responds, 'It sure is good to be here, St. Peter, sir. But nobody ever told me about any entrance exam. I sure hope that the test ain't too hard. Life was a big enough test as it was.'

St. Peter continued, 'Yes, I know, Forrest, but the test is only three questions.

First: What two days of the week begin with the letter T?

Second: How many seconds are there in a year?

Third: What is God's first name?'

Forrest leaves to think the questions over. He returns the next day and sees St. Peter, who waves him up, and says, 'Now that you have had a chance to think the questions over, tell me your answers.'

Forrest replied, 'Well, the first one -- which two days in the week begins with the letter 'T'? Shucks, that one is easy. That would be Today and Tomorrow.'

The Saint's eyes opened wide and he exclaimed, 'Forrest, that is not what I was thinking, but you do have a point, and I guess I did not specify, so I will give you credit for that answer. How about the next one?' asked St. Peter.

'How many seconds in a year? Now that one is harder,' replied Forrest, 'but I thunk and thunk about that, and I guess the only answer can be twelve.'

Astounded, St. Peter said, 'Twelve? Twelve? Forrest, how in Heaven's name could you come up with twelve seconds in a year?'

Forrest replied, 'Shucks, there's got to be twelve: January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd.... '

'Hold it,' interrupts St. Peter. 'I see where you are going with this, and I see your point, though that was not quite what I had in mind....but I will have to give you credit for that one, too. Let us go on with the third and final question. Can you tell me God's first name'?

'Sure,' Forrest replied, 'it's Andy.'

'Andy?' exclaimed an exasperated and frustrated St Peter.

'Ok, I can understand how you came up with your answers to my first two questions, but just how in the world did you come up with the name Andy as the first name of God?'

'Shucks, that was the easiest one of all,' Forrest replied. 'I learnt it from the song,

ANDY WALKS WITH ME,
ANDY TALKS WITH ME,
ANDY TELLS ME I AM HIS OWN.'

St. Peter opened the Pearly Gates, and said: 'Run, Forrest, run.

Glen Beck - "Ticking Time Bomb"

Glenn Beck on Mary Landrieu:

"...so we know you're hooking, but you're just not cheap...."

Bill Press on Glenn Beck:

Look, I'm a talk show host, I am totally for talk show hosts almost getting away with almost anything they say, on the radio particularly. But I'm amazed at how much Fox lets Glenn Beck get away with. I think he is a ticking time bomb, and one day he's going to explode in the face of Roger Ailes, and they're going to be sorry they gave him that television show.

I love Michelle Malkin's two cents worth.

From TPM.

Breaking News From Google

Google informs me:

If you live in America and you have been wanting to work from home, you might be in luck. Google has now released a new "Work From Home Program" that will allow Americans to work for the titan from the comfort of their own homes.

To thousands of Americans this means that they will soon have a safe and bright future working for one of the fastest growing companies in the world.

An employee of Google tells me that she earns $5500 per month in the "Work From Home Program". That's not bad. The introductory kit costs only $2.95, which is quite reasonable.

To see what the program is all about, I need to fill out a form, which I don't think I will do. I'll stay in suspense and imagine all I could do with the extra $5500 per month.

Hey Bloggers, Do You Ever...

...get tired of blogging and blogs and wonder if the time and effort is worth it, and if you do any good at all, and if the time could be better spent in reading a good book, or an even more worthwhile and unselfish activity?


I've got the low-dirty-livin-in-a bloggerland blues
And I'm runnin' out of things to say
I don't need no strife, just drop me in my life
I've got to feel the rhythm runnin' down in my shoes


With deep apologies to Ruthie Foster and her wonderful "Small Town Blues", which is an anthem for me.

Story Of The Day - Riding Home

You may not remember the time you let
me go first. Or the time you dropped
back to tell me it wasn't that far to go.
Or the time you waited at the crossroads
for me to catch up. You may not
remember any of those, but I do & this is
what I have to say to you: today, no
matter what it takes, we ride home
together.


From StoryPeople.

Good For Mary Landrieu

Times-Picayune:

Seldom has something as mundane as tinkering with the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage spawned such sensational condemnation.

On the eve of her pivotal vote last weekend to allow the Senate to proceed with consideration of health reform, it was revealed that Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., had secured a provision in the bill that would make a "special adjustment'' in the FMAP determination, bringing her home state between $100 million and $300 million in additional Medicaid money.

She had sold her vote, critics cried, in what they called the "Louisiana Purchase.'' Both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, in their broadcasts Monday, referred to Landrieu as a high-priced prostitute.

Yes, Beck and Limbaugh are calling Mary a whore, which is, when you think about it, a badge of honor coming from those two bottom feeders. I don't blame her one bit for holding out for the money. The health care system for the poor in New Orleans was not in good shape before Katrina but now is in a worse state, with Medicaid picking up the bill and punching a big hole in the state budget. One reason for the difficulty in getting health care to poor people is that a good portion of the medical infrastructure was flooded, not from Katrina, but from the FEDERAL FLOOD caused by faulty levees constructed by the U. S. Corps of Engineers, the levees which gave way and did not do the job of protecting the city. Only a fraction of the help that was promised by the federal government to the devastated city was actually given.

Mary's vote will cost her dearly in Louisiana, and it will help a little to be able to take home something to attempt to appease the local vultures that will be circling. Don't complain to me about Mary selling her vote, because I believe she did the right thing by voting as she did and by holding out for the money. Good for her.