The NY Times smacks down George W. Bush's comparissons of Iraq to Vietnam and WWII. Most of the time is spent on Vietnam but the article makes two points that I've been making for a long time. First they point to the occupation forces that were, proportionally, more than three times as large as the current American presence of more than 160,000 troops in Iraq. The Coalition of the Willing did not sent enough troops to Iraq to secure the peace. That the insurgency is still going on highlights that fact. Second, during WWII there was a total commitment by the American people and the government, and a staggering economic commitment to rebuild defeated adversaries. No one wants to fight Iraq anymore because few Americans are emotionally invested. For the most part it's a war that ``other people'' are fighting.
Kid kills a 10 foot python just for the heck of it. What's wrong with kids these days?
Irenæus of Lyons is my patron saint. Unlike most Orthodox Christians who are named after a saint, I was not. My given name is not a diminutive form of a longer name that could such as Leopold, Leo, Leroy, Leonard, Pantalemon, etc. but is the full first name given to me by my parents at my birth. As far as I am able to discern it is a Celtic name that literally means `from the meadow.' The meaning, then, is peaceful. So when I became Orthodox, I chose Saint Irenæus of Lyons for my patron saint as Irenæ means `man of peace' which is the functional equivalent of my birth name. Consequently, aside from getting a new name, I am also honoring the wishes of my parents in their chosen name after a fashion.
Irenæus was a remarkable man in many ways. Two aspects of his life are frequently overlooked. The first is that it was partly due to his advice to the Pope of Rome that the Quartodemecians weren't excommunicated during the great controversy over the date of Easter. Sometimes, he argued, unity is more important than being right. (Although bear in mind that he didn't argue that this was always the case.) The other is that he was sent to a backwater of the Roman empire to preside over relatively new converts and hated every moment of it. Yet he endured because it was what was needed to be done.
And today (the 23rd of August) is the day that the Churches of the East commemorate him.
My mother and father in-law are in town. So tonight we'll be driving up north to visit. I'm not particularly looking forward to it. While I've grown to be found of my in-laws, I'd rather spend the time puttering around doing no much of anything on my name day. Fresh back from vacation, I'd like a bit more time to relax. At least I'll get out of cooking dinner and washing dishes.
Next month will be more interesting. My father-in-law has a painting that will be in a large edge city down this way. It's always fun to observe the manners of people who go to art shows in museums.
It is true. I think a train is coming at high speed around a sharp bend. I don't know if the tracks will hold and the aftermath may not be pretty.
Now, it could be that I'm just too pessimistic. And it is also almost certainly true that I bear a significant amount of blame for why the tracks are situated the way that they are. Maybe it would be the noble thing to do to try to fix the tracks.
But methinks the prudent thing to do is to realize that it is time to get off of the tracks.
Go, go, gadget CV!
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