I wish we knew more about the fate of humans following their mortal existence. It is the most enduring of mysteries. At a sad and trying time like this, I find it a source of comfort to recall the words uttered by Robert Kennedy during his campaign, upon learning of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968:

"I have some very sad news for all of you, and I think sad news for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.

"Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it's perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in.

" . . . .

"For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.

"But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond these rather difficult times.

"My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He once wrote: ‘Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.’

"What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.

"So I ask you toniht to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther Kin, yeah that's true, ubt more importantly to say a prayer for our own county, which all of us love - a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.  We can do well in this country.   We will have difficult times.  We've had difficult times in the past.  And we will have difficult times in the future.  It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; and it's not the end of disorder.

But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land.

"Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people."

Thank you Tom.  That is a fitting tribute.  jc is first today along with Howard.

There are two dates chiseled in marble for each of us. Making the most of the hyphen is what counts. 

CNN international is doing a story on the plight of the Palestinians who are caught in the crossfire.  I'll go search for the story.

************************

More landing gear problems.  Oursourcing not working well? 

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version

At least nine civilians have died in the clashes at Nahr al-Bared camp, near Tripoli, officials there said.

Thick plumes of smoke are choking the sky over the camp as soldiers attack the militants with tanks and artillery.

Fatah al-Islam, a group accused of links to al-Qaeda and Syria, has threatened to widen its campaign if troops do not stop the shelling.

A spokesman for the group, Abu Salim, told French news agency AFP: "The army is not only opening fire on us, it is shelling blindly.

"If this continues, we will carry the battle outside the city of Tripoli."

Failed ceasefire

Red Cross officials have appealed for a truce to let aid agencies reach those worst affected by the violence.

FATAH AL-ISLAM Split from Palestinian group Fatah al-Intifada in late 2006 Believed to have 150-200 armed men, based in Nahr al-Bared camp Denies al-Qaeda links but says it endorses its ideas Has links with Syrian intelligence, Lebanon says Leader is Shaker al-Abssi
In pictures: Lebanon fighting Profile: Fatah al-Islam Media see Syrian handhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6676291.stm 

A planned two-hour ceasefire on Monday ended after just a few minutes, with clashes resuming before United Nations and Red Cross vehicles could enter the camp.

Medical workers have only been able to evacuate a few of the many injured civilians trapped inside the camp and water supplies have been hit in the clashes.

Time to call critters after quickly browsing the news.

Tom Bearse
Mon, 05/21/07
10:01 am
__________________________________________________________________________

So Tom, whats wrong with deeeep ka ka? hell mate Id say that about ANY tean having to go back to the oppsoing rink, after blowing a one goal lead with less than a minute to go in the 3rd period.

Please........dont worry about the Hurricanes........here in Raleigh we try and keep the expectations reasonable, as opposed to ciites that seem to feel entitlement to the Stanley Cup, like Detroit, Buffalo, Montreal, Toronto and NJ...................

Even last year, when we were tearing up the league for most of the year, we were very sober towards the playoffs...............the 'Canes will be back someday, and if not, we went to just as  any Stanley Cup Finals as Detroit this decade......and we did not do it with an All Star bought and paid for lineup as in 2002..................its nice to see teams like Detroit brought down to reality once in awhile.............

Mike wrote "whats wrong with deeeep ka ka? hell mate Id say that about ANY tean having to go back to the oppsoing rink, after blowing a one goal lead with less than a minute to go in the 3rd period."

Thank you for your opinions, and please don't worry about the Red Wings.  They've won a game in every opponents' rink they've played in during the posteseason.  Now they have to win one more.  If they manage it, they can lose every game they play in Ottawa and still lift the Cup.  I don't predict the future, I enjoy the present.

Mike wrote "and we did not do it with an All Star bought and paid for lineup as in 2002."

There it is, the well known, plainitive cry of the impoverished, small market hockey team.  I've heard it many times, which helps explain how Peter Karmanos got his wish for a salary cap and the mundane work product it squeezes from the league.  Still, I'm puzzling over the mystery of the Red Wings' regular season and playoff achievements when it can spend no more than any other team in the league.  Lucky I guess.

Got a nice email from Sheri Divers at DFA today,
asking for info to make a jc thread.

Have just sent all that along.

♥ jc ♥

Then saw Jessica's jc thread.  Good job, Jess!

Can't have too many, IMNSHO. 

How about making this a "jc thread" day?

7. MIKE!!!

Well hallo you ol' mate !

I didn't make the connection between Michael Ellis and Mike*in*NC until I read your voice!

Way cool to see you here, good fellow! ♥

My grandbaby who lives in Raleigh is 9 months old today, 

and was HERE on Saturday!  Hurrah!! 

I've compiled most of the comments about Jc in one post

 http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/20909

THANK YOU, TOM!

What a brilliant and fitting First.   ♥

Sooo grateful. 

listener
Mon, 05/21/07
1:28 pm
__________________________________________________________________________

Hey!  Should you ever visit Raleigh..........look me up......come on over and have beer..or tea.....or whatever..................

Cheers

maybe stay here for politics and tributes to jc can now be posted up thread or down

or we can pick on those pathetic loser Redwings after blowing the contest yesterday eh? Mike

ducks v senators eh?

Tom Bearse
Mon, 05/21/07
1:25 pm
___________________________________________________________________________

I will say this old boy.....I like much better this Red Wing team....in fact, I am rather impressed with them(we dont see them too much).....................some moves by their players have been very pleasant to watch......................

Now, with regard to 2002, I wouls much rather have a team composed of average to medicore players..............than a NY Yankees type lineup.....................yes Tom we are small market(but at our growth rate not for too much longer), but we prefer it that way.....................

Look at the example of the Sabres recently.......the audacity of some teams and fans to think just because they have had hard luck in winning anything never ceases to amaze me................

Right now, the Hurricanes season has been made for us and we are all very happy now.......Buffalo lost!

Phil Specht
Mon, 05/21/07
2:13 pm
__________________________________________________________________________

I dunno Phil.....actually, I think that Ducks/Red Wings series may go the full 7..........this series is incredibly evenly matched...................IF the Red Wings had not hit the post and that last minute clear down the ice Anaheim would be in the deeeeeeeeep ka ka category.........................

ill go out on a limb and say Detroit in 7........................

The kid from Iowa has developed a pretty good golf game. Gov. Culver has declared Thur. as Zack Johnson Day.

Tom if it makes you feel better I'm rooting for the Pistons.

Ducks have one line that is better. Makes an interesting match-up. Redwings are better. Doesn't mean they will win.

Mike wrote "Now, with regard to 2002, I would much rather have a team composed of average to mediocre players..............than a NY Yankees type lineup."

So I understand. Many Eastern Conference GM’s, such as Rutherford, Lamoriello, and others formed a voting block to make sure that a salary cap was a condition of the new CBA. Now that they have their wish, any proposals to balance the schedule or reconfigure the conferences to make travel distances for the teams in the current Eastern and Western Conferences more equal, are off the table. You see, there’s parity and then there’s parity. Don’t go half way, or is everyone through now that the NHL has been ruined?

The NHL doesn’t suffer from the presence of a Yankees team the way cap-free Major League Baseball does. What a relief, since baseball is stumbling around in near financial ruin, while the turnstiles in hockey are spinning and the interest and excitement levels among fans, waiting to see if Edmonton or Carolina can squeeze back into the playoffs, is ratcheting to new heights.

Tom Bearse
Mon, 05/21/07
2:26 pm
__________________________________________________________________________

Crikey Tom.........are you shure you arent a Sabre fan in disguise?  Bwaaaaaahhh, boo hoo.....so now its unfair geography in the West vs the East........good God!  So what?  Are Eastern conferance teams supposed to feel bad because their proximity is closer?  How many excuses can you come up with?

Are you out of your mind?  Interest in the NHL?  You must be joking? yeah, most Americans anyway are so interested that NBC didnt mind pulling the frickin pkug on Saturday when the Sens/Buffalsugs went to OT...........if vs hadnt been around you would have had mass suicides in Buffalo.....................maybe at the turnstiles, but not the major media......................except for the darling teams like Detroit., NJ, Toronto, Montreal and Buffalo.....................

Impeaching Gonzales is like imprisoning the sargent for following Rumsfeld's orders, or convicting Libby for following Cheney's.  Let's solve the problem along with many others by ousting the decider. 

Please contribute today to impeach.org.

Mike wrote "Bwaaaaaahhh, boo hoo.....so now its unfair geography in the West vs the East........good God! So what? Are Eastern conferance teams supposed to feel bad because their proximity is closer? How many excuses can you come up with?"

No. I hope this is not an opaque mystery to you. Every Eastern Conference team is in the Eastern Time Zone. Makes sense, right? Eastern Conference, Eastern Time Zone?

Exactly 2 Western Conference Teams are in the Eastern Time Zone, Detroit and Columbus. The rest are spread across the Central, Mountain and Western Time Zones. Conference teams play each other four times a season, two at home and two away. Of course if you’re in the East, no one cares because you rarely ever have to travel, period. If you’re in the Atlantic Division, for example your division rivalry away games, a of four per team, usually take place across town.

Contrast this with the west. I’ll use the Wings because they’re the perfect example. They have to play LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton four times every year, two here and two away. These are 2,000 mile road trips. They usually take place on long jaunts to the coast. The Wings made four such west coast trips this year. Pity the poor Wild, who are on the eastern fringes of the Northwest Division, and have to travel west every month, from October to March, to play each division rival four times on the road.

The Wings have played three western rivals in these playoffs, meaning they’ve traveled thousands of miles further than their counterparts in the east, or than Anaheim for that matter, who got the relative luxury of playing Vancouver in the second round. The reason these trips are so crucial is because, as all teams know, long road trips out of their time zone, to play away games result in a generally lower win percentage, because 1) games away from your arena are harder to win as a rule and 2) lengthy travel makes winning exponentially harder. All Eastern teams know this, which is why the league GM’s voted 19-11 to get rid of the unbalanced schedule that favored east coast teams, especially those aggregated in the northeast. Take a wild, crazy guess who the 11 teams were who voted down the proposal? Without a two thirds majority, the proposal failed. There’s your parity in the new NHL.

Tom Bearse
Mon, 05/21/07
3:25 pm
__________________________________________________________________________

All I can say is thank God we are in the East........and dont have to travel to places like Detroit.

NY, Boston, Philly and Buffalo are also scraping the bottom of the barrel too.........................

Quit whining...you made the playoffs........enjoy the moment..................your team is going to the Finals

It is difficult to describe the cognitive dissonance that accompanies the review of a complaint about high spending teams in the pre-CBA NHL, followed by charges of whining upon hearing a complaint regarding the gross travel disparity for teams in the cozy confines of the Eastern Conference, and the teams caught on the eastern fringes of the Western Conference in the NHL. A payroll disparity must be eliminated to ensure equity. When it comes to travel equity, balanced schedules, or conference reconfiguration, however, the teams with the salary cap in their pocket don’t want to hear it, because it’s not the quality of the product that interests them, it’s the dollars in their wallet.

Mike wrote "All I can say is thank God we are in the East........and dont have to travel to places like Detroit."

Well, the reason for this isn't hard to divine.  Before the Cup finals in 2002, the Whalers last victory in Detroit dated back to 1989 when the team was in Hartford.

Whine about teams with NY Yankee payrolls, then accuse teams of whining about travel and schedule disparity.  I love it!  Once the salary cap is installed in the CBA, just pull up the ladder.  We've seen our last change to level the playing field.   The former bounds of smug hypocricy have been shattered.

A great deal of time has been devoted to the discussion of Gonzales. Perhaps more time should be spent on the real issues. For instance the members of the United States government agreed to fund and support the Millennium Development goals that will help bring an end to global poverty. However while the white house spends $300 billion a year in Iraq, $19 billion is missing from the funding to end starvation and malnutrition worldwide. Groups such as the Borgen Project are working to bring government attention to see that the U.S. government holds up their end of the agreement. If Gonzales is being questioned for not meeting expectations should the same not be done for the other members of the United States government?