Navy pilot's last act: saving 3 crew mates This story, one of tragic bravery, makes me feel so much admiration for how great a real man can be. I heard about this story in local news and then in the following day or two the leader of a large church in town surprised many by revealing the rumor that LT Zilberman had selflessly kept the plane steady so that his mates could bail out. Please pray for LT Zilberman's family and for all our fighting men.
Obama Can Remove Jihad From the National Security Strategy Document, But Can He Remove It From Islam? A horse is a horse, a spade is a spade, and a violent Islamic extremist terrorist is a... "bad guy"?
Obama seeks to 'reconnect...young people, African-Americans, Latinos, and women' for 2010 What happened to "uniting the country"?
CAGEY'S PLANNING:
A trip to the bayou. It's official. After long deliberation on what would be the next best trip, somehow the convergence of sense experience and the cultural terrain I rumble along have led me to favor this mystic environs! Grimm's Ghost Stories, Live and Let Die (1978, Roger Moore), fan boats whooshing through swamp grass on Miami Vice, and Frankenfish (the movie) all come to mind. So maybe I can go do some of my being introverted down there, on one of those cool pontoon houses, drinking some Blackened Voodoo beer and fishing.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"We protect the borders of other nations better than our own." - Congressman Ted Poe, R-Texas.
FOLLOW-UP:
On the Mojave cross (Original story here: http://makalakapisei.blogspot.com/2009/10/follow-up-supreme-court-on-mojave.html). The SCROTUS barely decided to allow the cross to remain, ruling that the district court's opinion did not constitute that cross as a "religious symbol"
Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday said a lower federal court was wrong to order the removal of a lone cross on government land in the middle of the Mojave Desert, and said separation of church and state 'does not require eradication of all religious symbols in the public realm.' "
"How did I know that the wise Latina n00b would add her God/America hating ideology to the dissent? Good choice, Obama." - Found on the web.
Thank you!
THE TOP ULTIMATE POWER COOLEST INVENTION OF ALL TIME:
The escalator! I just had this epiphany today.
PERSONAL:
An old friend, Don, rang me up late last Saturday night. I have a small family. Mom, me, and the dog. Mostly I'm in the mood to answer the phone when a friend calls. You know the feeling; sometimes you're up to switching gears and engaging with an old bud, the information age seems to make it a lot more common. Other times it can be hard, I'm not a great conversationalist, and how do you carry on with someone from back then like normal? Really, it's important not to neglect these relationships because of their mutual benefit. I'm learning about myself in talking with you. Sense of community is important. Sense of camaraderie is important. Being neighborly, being human. Being childlike, in a way. Being a good citizen.
This guy - same college I went to, married, child. He is raising a family in an idyllic little German community. Enchanting (by most any definition) just entering the place. You take an old metal bridge and cross to the other side of a big river. He was completely soused which is a surrounding circumstance, but so what? It did not limit the depth of communication we had from my p.o.v. He was very complimentary ("I love you man" kinda stuff). That felt really good, you don't get that often. In vino, veritas. What a nice guy, but I'm surprised when some of the things he's wrangling with in his subconcious bubble to the surface. "I live in a small town. This is boring. My job. Etc." He has so much and he doesn't even realize it. (In Swingers lingo: "You're so 4%^* money and you don't even know it.") Often times you can't bring out these truths without exploring them with someone else.
The awkward moment: Nobody really knows what to say to people that offer gratitude for your past or present because in truth, everyone goes through unique and even devastating hardships. I'm talking about personal and military ones. I am one of the lucky, (relatively) unscathed ones. I have different scars than others. O.k., if all of this just sounds like a lot of pomposity, it's not meant to be. I'm just trying to relate that words are valuable; deeds are valuable; as the saying goes, "At the end of the day, I hope most of us are the same." Anyway, thank you for acknowledging me, but I am more moved by your ability to open yourself.
Lao Tzu: "Thus also is the man of calling: He knows himself, but does not want to shine. He loves himself but does not seek honor for himself. He removes the other and takes this.
I continue to realize that most of us never know how much a simple kind word or deed will inspire. Another pal, a big joker with a heart of gold, (now in Afghanistan) recently reminded me how he'd saved my bacon in a scrap in college, something I'd long forgotten. Fast-forward a few days. Half-humorously, mostly serious, I thanked him for it and said, "Rich, you're a good man." He replied, "Cagey, you're a great man." This, a moment of utter humility for me, a guy stumbling a bit trying to build a new life's plan. So I tried to share Rich's same sentiment with Don. After hanging up, I found my favorite realization is a reaffirmation that: My friends are my family.
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