Holy New Zealand Cow!

Word is that there are several...maybe hundreds...of icebergs headed toward the coast of New Zealand! They have broken free from the polar ice and are being carried by the current to a place they ought not be going. Further evidence of global climate change, for sure.
Imagine the following conversation:
She (as breakfast is being prepared for the both of them): What does the weather look like today?
He: (smelling the brewing coffee and looking out the back door window): Well, it looks like a fine day out there. The view down the hill is clear today.
She: (taking her first sip of that coffee and beginning to really wake up): Can you see the beach?
He: (accepting from her his morning cup of joe): Sure can. Looks like a good day for a swim, maybe. (Pause.) Holy New Zealand Cow!
She: What? What is it? Are you alright?
He: There are icebergs out there! Icebergs! Dozens of them! Oh man, one just destroyed Johnson's fishing boat!
She: Take a drink of your coffee and wipe the sleep from your eyes. You're seeing things.
As for me, here in Central Indiana, for the first time in my life, I am thankful I don't live near a beach!!!

I Wish You Hadn't Told Me That

The U.S. is now on course to begin court trials for some of those persons detained for years in the military installation at Guantanamo Bay. The Gitmo prisoners are, no doubt, a collection of folk who were involved in the really nasty 9/11 events, and some folks swept up in our response to those events who may be innocent. We haven't known if this is true, about there being a mix of guilty and innocent folk at Gitmo, because we have refused to give those folk their "day in court" for several years now.
But the trials will be getting underway. Emotions will run high. People on the "right" and the "left" will be weighing in on what to make of the results that will be arrived at. There will be no end to the debate as to whether or not those tried in a civil court should have been tried in a military court. Much will be argued for and against ordering the death penalty for those accused of terrible crimes.
And, we will most likely learn some things about ourselves as a country that we might wish we hadn't been told. Torture ("Enhanced Interrogation Techniques", some say)and very inhumane activities will be discussed in a public forum.
Even more than "I wish you hadn't told me that!", "I wish we hadn't done that!"

Tragedy Times Two

Over the course of the past two days, November 5th and 6th, two mass shooting tragedies have taken place. At Fort Hood in Texas and again at a high riseoffice building in Orlando, Florida, two lone gunmen blasted their ways into our national news headlines. Along with every other person I know of, I am saddened by the two events and prayerful for those who have been killed and those who have been wounded.
Much will be written, broadcast and speculated about these happenings over the next days and weeks. Very much.
I do not know what the motives of the two shooters were. I do not in any way excuse the evil they have visited on innocent persons. But I do once again wonder at why it continues to be so easy and so acceptable for persons to purchase and own and carry firearms in this country.
Most likley individuals who seek to do harm to others would find alternative ways to do that harm if guns were not so readily accessible, but because guns are so readily accessible doing harm is that much more readily accessible, as well.