Malala....

Malala Yousufzai...the story of children doing the job adults should be doing. And of adults so entrenched in religious belief that they would kill a young girl to make a savage point. Malala is doing better. She's talking now and her physicians are saying there's no sign of brain damage. She was a hero before...now she's been elevated to the stratosphere. She will inspire children...and old men like me...to point out evil when they see it and make a stand. As Edmund Burke said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." We must stop doing nothing. 

Update as of 1/5/13: http://news.msn.com/world/pakistani-girl-shot-by-taliban-leaves-british-hospital-3?ocid=ansnews11

Y2K Deja Vu

Deja Vu...all over again. We have once again seen the year 2000...mirrored in the Cleveland Plain Dealer's count of our sons and daughters killed in Afghanistan, the longest war in our history. Months ago I had a slim hope that our kids would come home before today. It wasn't a realistic thought...idealistic, but that's me. Do you remember the hype for Y2K? If we could only raise awareness about what this unwinnable war is doing to families here...like that hype for Y2K.... Another idealistic wish. I have many. Here's some images you may recall of Y2K:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=y2k+images&qpvt=y2k+images&FORM=IGRE

We Again Approach Y2K...in Death.

Today's Cleveland Plain Dealer noted that the death toll for our children in Afghanistan, since late 2001, has reached 1994. Images of the horrors of Y2K again resonate, but pale in comparison to the thoughtless slaughter of our sons and daughters in a meaningless conflict, and now, the longest war our country has ever endured. Speakers at the Republican Convention failed to even mention Afghanistan and what we're doing to our troops. The Afghanis want us gone, to the point that they are frequently killing our soldiers. So...let's leave...NOW. 

And here are your images of 1994: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=1994+images&qpvt=1994+images&FORM=IGRE

Something about today....

The sun's light shone in patches on the carpet.... Squeak, our cat, took a patch as her own, like she always does, and scrunched her eyes tight in a moment of happiness. The sky seemed a little less blue...somehow, once I was on my way. Something about today.... Everywhere, people I saw seemed quiet...fewer horns blowing and voices raised. And the sun was warm and memorable...with that September brightness, less yellow than summer, where shadows seemed darker...something about today....  

Heading for the End of the Last Century....

On the 11th anniversary of 9/11, the Plain Dealer reported that we've lost 1987 of our soldiers in Afghanistan since late 2001. The Department of Defense is their source. And there's no doubt we're blowing through the 20th Century as the bodies are counted. Willard chose not to even mention Afghanistan, our longest war ever, in his acceptance speech. Bring our children home now! Here's some memories of 1987:

  http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images+1987&qpvt=images+1987&FORM=IGRE

Like Lightening Through the Twentieth Century

Today's Plain Dealer lists the number of our sons and daughters killed in Afghanistan since late 2001 at 1981.... When I began this project, the number warped us back to the 1930's, a time of enormous struggle throughout this nation. We are racing through the last century again...and I present some images of 1981:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=1981+images&qpvt=1981+images&FORM=IGRE

The Republican Party failed to even mention our war in Afghanistan at their convention last week. And our children die.

Let's do the time warp, again. (Just a step to the left.)

Today's PeeDee showed that 1,980 of our soldiers have now died in Afghanistan since 2001. After a moment of silence, please, refer to images of that year:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=1980+imaged&qpvt=1980+imaged&FORM=IGRE

 And hope to hell they start talking about ending the war at the conventions!