Photo: U.S. military personnel wait in line for Thanksgiving dinner at a coalition air base in Qayara, south of Mosul, Iraq. (Felipe Dana / AP / wsj.com)
Just, so much (too much) here…
December 27, 2015 by 28 Comments
Photo: A U.S. service member salutes her fallen comrades during a memorial ceremony for six Airmen killed in a suicide attack, at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015. The deadliest attack in Afghanistan since 2013 killed six U.S. troops on Monday, including a family man from Long Island, New York; a South Texan; a New York City police detective; a Georgia high school and college athlete; an expectant father from Philadelphia; and a major from suburban Minneapolis with ties to the military’s LGBT community. They were killed when their patrol was attacked by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle near Bagram Air Base, the Defense Department said. (wsj.com: Tech Sgt. Robert Cloys/U.S. Air Force / Associated Press)
Watch.
June 20, 2013 by 18 Comments
We’ve heard of woman soldiers being subjected to sexual harassment, and worse. Here’s the response to a scandal in his army by the Head of Army for Australia, Chief Lieutenant General David Morrison. I can’t remember when I was so moved by a 3-minute clip. No more words. WATCH.
Source: Thank you Lori @ Donna & Diablo who shared this video clip with me. Lori, a continuous feed of inspiration to me every single day. Not sure how we connected in this blogosphere community Lori, but I am lucky and blessed.
Silence on this Day
May 27, 2013 by 18 Comments
I found today’s editorial message in the NY Times to poignantly yet beautifully capture the spirit of today.
“If you listen carefully, you can almost hear the silence at the heart of Memorial Day — the inward turn that thoughts take on a day set aside to honor the men and women who have died in the service of this country.
It is the silence of soldiers who have not yet been, and may never be, able to talk about what they learned in war, the silence of grief so familiar that it feels like a second heartbeat. This is a day for acknowledging, publicly, the private memorial days that lie scattered throughout the year, a day when all the military graves are tended to, even the ones that someone tends to regularly as a way of remembering.
It always seems strange the way the fond, sober gestures of memory coincide with the last flush of spring, while the trees are still lit from within by their chartreuse leaves. The year is still rising, just. And yet it is something you often see recorded in the books and diaries of men and women at war — the sharp interruption of beauty, the moments, hours even, when the vivid tenacity of life itself feels most tangible, even in the midst of death. On a bright, beautiful Memorial Day, you feel, as clearly as you may ever feel, the profound separation between the living and the dead. This is the strangeness of the day, because that separation is a source of both joy and loss. [Read more…]
T.G.I.F.: 34 Seconds of Harlem Shake
February 15, 2013 by 26 Comments
The Harlem Shake is a dance that originally began in Harlem, New York in 1981. Since its beginnings it has spread to other urban areas and became popular in music videos…the modern day Harlem Shake was started by a man by the name of “Al B” (nickname Sisqo or Cisco). Al B was an alcoholic who would perform the dance upon request…Al B is quoted saying that the dance is “a drunken shake anyway, it’s an alcoholic shake, but it’s fantastic, everybody appreciates it.” He said it comes from the Ancient Egyptians and describes it as what the mummies used to do. Because they were all wrapped up they couldn’t really move, all they could do was shake. Harlem Shake is based on an Ethiopian dance called the Eskista.
Weekend Roundup…(including The Denali Climb by 5 Wounded Warriors with 4 Good Legs Between Them…)
May 26, 2012 by 6 Comments
Here’s some noteworthy leading, learning & living articles that I came across this week …
Forbes: Intelligence Is Overrated: What You Really Need To Succeed. “Albert Einstein’s was estimated at 160, Madonna’s is 140, and John F. Kennedy’s was only 119, but as it turns out, your IQ score pales in comparison with your EQ, MQ, and BQ scores when it comes to predicting your success and professional achievement.”
(((Note to Tom Hood: Thanks for sharing. Thank goodness Intelligence research is moving in my direction. 
)))
WSJ: Mom Was Right: Go Outside. “Children spend more than 4 hours a day with technology and there’s no longer time for nature…latest research – untamed landscapes have a restorative effect, calming our frazzled nerves…after a brief exposure to the outdoors, people are more creative, happier and better able to focus.”
(((Note: And here I sit, inside, banging away on keyboard. Hmmmmm.)))
Live & Learn 