Long Season Down to a Handful of Games

The professional baseball season began back in very early April (following a month or so of spring training and games in Florida and Arizona). Some of the early games were postponed due to snow, in places like Denver and Minnesota and Cleveland. Now, late in the season, at least one of the playoff games was rescheduled because of snow in Denver. Some of the playoff games in New York have been played in temperatures in the upper thirties. Its a long 6 month, one hundred sixty-two game season.
Now the playoffs are over in the National League and the Yankees need to win only one more game for the American League playoffs to come to a close. And then, the World Series starts! Its probably only at this time of year that baseball is still "the national pastime."
I can still remember listening to the World Series games on a transistor radio during study hall back in my high school days. I remember the time the principal of our high school had several television sets set up in the gym so that we could watch the Chicago White Sox (his team) play the Los Angeles Dodgers. Some of my best kidhood memories of baseball involve following the World Series games, usually between the Yankees and a sacrificial team from the National League.
So, bring on the games! Let's "Play Ball!"
I predict the Yankees in six games.

THE COMMON GOOD

Let's return to the current health-care/health-insurance reform debate. I found the following interesting in an article by Daniel Callahan, titled "America's Blind Spot, Health Care & the Common Good":
"Suffering, disease, and death are our common lot. They ought to be dealt with as our common problem."
And then, in a blog response to the article, LaVonne Neff (who describes herself as "an amateur theologian...constant reader, and Christian contrarian.")writes, "Callahan expertly diagnosis our problem, but he does not offer a solution. National revival comes to mind, but America already has a much higher percentage of church-going Christians than the countries that take care of all their poor and suffering. Maybe we won't really care about the common good until more of us Americans experience poverty and suffering first hand."
Framing this debate in the term "common good" may offer room for good conversation that has not yet been allowed to take place.
I hope so.
Also, I want to become a "Christian contrarian" someday!

Eight Years and Counting...

We (the armed forces of the USA) have been in Afghanistan for eight years! I am aware that our stated reason for going to Afghanistan was to seek out and capture or kill those responsible for the attacks of 9/11. I am aware that many military strategists then and now have argued that we diluted our efforts in Afghanistan by also going to war in Iraq (for some very flimsy reasons!)
What I am not so much aware of is why we would want to continue a military presence in Afghanistan. There will be many casualties...of American soldiers and Afghan citizens if we continue our efforts. What are the reasonably expected results of our staying? What current reason are we offering for our continued presence in this country?
I hope we decide to bring our men and women home. I do not expect that this will be the case.