Strange that you publish today but then not really. I might have expected that you would and I am so glad that you did. I wanted to speak to you today and was going to for you are now the only person in my life left who served our country in the military. I wanted to tell you how much I honor you and the service you performed. Thank you dear friend. You words today spill it, once again 'just right'. What has happened to and where has the country we knew gone? Hmmm I sure don't know. Pitiful says it all. However, I love that you've provided me an opportunity to say to YOU dear Buddy, what was so on my mind, Hugs, your Toni! Please enjoy this day, savor it. Be so proud for you know what you gave. And I am grateful. I so appreciate you!

I'm taking mine to lunch, then watching a basketball game with him. Make a tic mark on the side of good. One happy Veteran. Check.

What do you do with a used kleenix? You throw it away. We love our fighting men and women but when they come home they are invisible. In 2009 an estimated 6,000 veterans committed suicide. And so it goes. Thank you for your service. I'm glad you made it through.

I wonder how many were forcibly evicted from Zucottti Park. Thank you for your service!

Funny, I just read this after thumbing through my well-read and nicely bent and worn out copy of Frank Herbert's Chapterhouse: Dune. All of the Dune novels are touchstone novels for me. They're among my favorites and the last three novels in the cycle (not the ones written by Frank Herbert's son and Kevin J. Anderson...those are poorly-written sacrilege!) Anyway, as with all of the Dune novels, each chapter begins with a quote and I'd just looked at one, before clicking on this post. Funny how synchronicity works, as the quote in my mind and the subject of this post fit together quite nicely. Midway through Chapterhouse: Dune we are treated to this little philosophical gem: "To know a thing well, know its limits. Only when pushed beyond its tolerances will its true nature be seen." I suspect that the world's one remaining "true superpower" has been pushed beyond its own tolerances. The surface has cracked and all of the ugly, nasty stuff deep down inside is beginning to seep out. I suspect there are ways to fix this particular problem, but it would require a lot of something too many of us are not willing do. I think it would also require something as simple (and ahem costly as education. Would we be in this situation if we had a greater number of responsible voters and politicians?

http://lilredwagon.deviantart.com/gallery/27617409#/d325exe SALUTE!