Bringing Mulligan Home:

I gotta admit, I haven't had it in me to watch the recent debate and all the other crude, although, as always, I am enjoying reading Caucus99% blogs. So, here's a bit about a good book...

A few weeks ago I read a book that really hit me. It's called Bringing Mulligan Home: The Other Side of the Good War> by Dale Maharidge. It's about a man, a marine, who served in the Pacific during WWII. Like many who served, he spoke little at all about the war, and like many who served he was messed up by his experiences in the war. After his death (his name was Steve Maharidge) his son, Dale, decided to try to find out what his father's experiences had been, and why his father was like he was (angry, loving, mean, quiet, screaming, soft...) and who was in the picture his father had hung on the wall in his basement work area. Mulligan, it turns out, was in that picture.

Herman Mulligan and Dale Maharidge. Mulligan is a bit taller than Maharidge, with his hand on Maharidge's shoulder. From these two articles (and audio interviews) on www.wbur.org 'A Son Faces his Father's WWII Ghosts' and 'A Son Uncovers his Father's WWII History'.

It is 10:15am on the west coast and NBC and ABC are covering the escalation of violence between Israel and its enemies. In a titanic wave of irony, both networks are referring to Iran's "retaliatory" missile attack, even as they cheerlead for Israel and the Pentagon's defense against it.

If Iran is "retaliating," that means that Israel started the ruckus. That blows up the propaganda about Israel just defending itself from "terrorists."

Jimmy Carter turns 100 today.
A hundred years of caring, sharing, and helping the poorer among us to have a life.
Unlike all other Presidents who holed up in their compounds, ranches, or penthouses after their stint in the White House, Jimmy continued to serve people all over the globe.