Out with the old . . .
. . . in with the new (year, that is)
2017:
2018:
Russia props up international outlaw
Shocking. Just shocking.
Story.
LONDON/MOSCOW — Russian tankers have supplied fuel to North Korea on at least three occasions in recent months by transferring cargoes at sea, according to two senior Western European security sources, providing an economic lifeline to the secretive Communist state.
Shocking. Just shocking.
Story.
Inspired by someone?
Taya Kyle and I are working on a book of inspirational stories focusing on people who have struggled through adversity and gone on to help others in big and small ways. So far we have a wide range – from a young man who asked for donations for a food bank rather than candy at Halloween to a woman who was instrumental in establishing a university in war-torn Afghanistan.
If you know of someone who inspires you by helping others, we’d love to hear about them – send me an email at this address: author(at)jimdefelice.com
A Place of Absence
I haven't seen this yet, but the topic is gripping. Andrew McLaren was involved in it, so you know it's good:
More on the movie.
The movie's website.
I haven't seen this yet, but the topic is gripping. Andrew McLaren was involved in it, so you know it's good:
The Caravan of Mothers is an organization of brave Central American women, who embark on an epic yearly bus journey throughout Mexico in a desperate search for their sons and daughters that have disappeared on the grim journey to the United States. For the last thirteen years the Caravan of Mothers have created empowerment for these poor, indigenous peasant women that have become political and human rights activists by forming this alliance to find their loved ones.
More on the movie.
The movie's website.
Inspired by someone?
Taya Kyle and I are working on a book of inspirational
stories focusing on people who have struggled through adversity and gone on to
help others in big and small ways. So far we have a wide range – from a young
man who asked for donations for a food bank rather than candy at Halloween to a
woman who was instrumental in establishing a university in war-torn
Afghanistan.
If you know of someone who inspires you by helping others, we’d
love to hear about them – send me an email at this address:
author(at)jimdefelice.com
Terrible snub
I can’t believe Marshall, the movie about Thurgood
Marshall as a young lawyer, got zero nominations for the Golden Globe awards.
Hopefully that will be rectified in the Academy Award nominations.
Nominated or not, it’s a great movie with great
performances. If you can’t catch it in the theater, it’s definitely worth a
download.
Whether you like it or not
The State of our dis-Union:
Article.
The State of our dis-Union:
For the people currently wielding power in Washington, the preferences of the American people count for very little.
Article.
North Korea's ICBM
Report:
Report:
The Hwasong-15 is considerably larger than the Hwasong-14, and initial calculations indicate the new missile could deliver a moderately-sized nuclear weapon to any city on the US mainland. The Hwasong-15 is also large and powerful enough to carry simple decoys or other countermeasures designed to challenge America’s existing national missile defense (NMD) system.Website.
Veterans Day (observed)
We have a lot of veterans among our family and friends, including a number currently serving in the military. I salute them all for their sacrifices and courage.
But as we observe this Veterans Day, I’m thinking specifically of one veteran who had the unusual distinction of serving in the armies of two different nations. My grandfather.
His service in the American Army came shortly after World War I. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about it, except for him – it provided a fast-track to citizenship.
But it’s unlikely that any peacetime duty could have measured up to his service with the Italian army during World War I. He joined at fourteen or fifteen, becoming a truck driver. By the time the war ended, he was the 19-year-old first sergeant in charge of a machine gun unit. The battles he survived in the Alps against the Austrians were among the most ferocious and bloodiest of the war; at least once he was the only man in his squad to survive an attack.
To see and deal death on such a massive scale must greatly change a young man, though he never spoke of those changes, and in fact barely spoke much of the war at all. He was a great storyteller, but his stories were of the Roman Empire and the Church, of saints and philosopher-poets. I don’t think this was a matter of avoidance; it was more that he grew up at a time when talking about yourself was something you didn’t bother with.
I don’t know that he was a hero in the war. I can guess that even if he was, he’d be the last person to mention it. In that way, he’s like many if not all of the other veterans we know and honor for their service. Thank you, all.
We have a lot of veterans among our family and friends, including a number currently serving in the military. I salute them all for their sacrifices and courage.
But as we observe this Veterans Day, I’m thinking specifically of one veteran who had the unusual distinction of serving in the armies of two different nations. My grandfather.
His service in the American Army came shortly after World War I. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about it, except for him – it provided a fast-track to citizenship.
But it’s unlikely that any peacetime duty could have measured up to his service with the Italian army during World War I. He joined at fourteen or fifteen, becoming a truck driver. By the time the war ended, he was the 19-year-old first sergeant in charge of a machine gun unit. The battles he survived in the Alps against the Austrians were among the most ferocious and bloodiest of the war; at least once he was the only man in his squad to survive an attack.
To see and deal death on such a massive scale must greatly change a young man, though he never spoke of those changes, and in fact barely spoke much of the war at all. He was a great storyteller, but his stories were of the Roman Empire and the Church, of saints and philosopher-poets. I don’t think this was a matter of avoidance; it was more that he grew up at a time when talking about yourself was something you didn’t bother with.
I don’t know that he was a hero in the war. I can guess that even if he was, he’d be the last person to mention it. In that way, he’s like many if not all of the other veterans we know and honor for their service. Thank you, all.
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