Happy Memorial Day:
May 30th, 2016:

He did not understand the war --
He understood the blistering injustice of it; the stroke-like fear in the faraway sight of the raped as they blamed him for not being there; the accusing eyes of the children that leered from atop distended bellies even as they starved; the seeping lines of grief lacerated into the faces of fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, husbands and wives who had lost all they loved; the tortured and the maimed becoming in part or in whole separate from who they once were; and the Dali-draped carcasses of the dead…

​The evil of the war bored into his heart, twisted with agony until he learned to ignore it --
Until he could ignore it no longer.   - from The Invisible War aka The Forgotten War, a short story, by Kevin O'Kendley
   
He’d seen a lot of death in his life but it hadn’t inured him to the pain of it, the tragedy, the loss, the suffering.  On the contrary, it had a cumulative effect; on darker days this effect swamped him in a Tsunami of emotion: after all the smaller waves passed a big one threatened.  He would watch it nearing shore with a rising dread…  - from Chandler's Bar, a novel, by Kevin O'Kendley

Please give to: The Paralyzed Veterans of America/ VA Palo Alto Health Care System/
3801 Miranda Avenue/ Palo Alto, California, 94304/ 650-858-3936
And: The Wounded Warrior Project/ National Processing Center/ P.O. Box 75840/ Topeka, Kansas, 66675/ 877-832-6997

added 7/28:   HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONOR.  I LOVE YOU.

John F. Kennedy was born on 5/29/1917:

“… Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
      “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty…” 
“… So let us begin anew -- remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof.  Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. 
       “Let us both side explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.”
“… And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”  - John F. Kennedy   Excerpts: Inaugural Address: delivered 20, January 1961/ americanrhetoric.com


Please give to the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital (at Maine Medical Center)/ 22 Bramhall Street/ Portland, Maine 04101/ 207-662-0111       

updated 10/29: If the young will fight for their lives -- maybe they'll save the rest of us...  

updated: 5/25:  "President Obama honored 13 law enforcement officers with the Public Safety Medal of Valor on Monday (5/16).”*  The officers risked their lives in the line of duty and for others in remarkable and courageous ways.  One police officer lost his life: 
Robert Wilson III was killed saving innocent people during an armed robbery:
After viewing surveillance video of the shootout, former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said, "I've been in policing for 46 years and I have never witnessed an act of bravery like I saw that day -- never."**  - *NPR/ whitehouse.gov/ **WPVI-TV (Philadelphia)
35 police officers died in the line of duty in 2015.  - Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc.


Please support the Police Protective Fund/ P.O. Box 1084/ Schenectady, New York, New York, 72301/ 877-343-2477

U.S. Post Office Banking:
Senator Sanders’s belief in postal banking “is quite sensible.”  -- which just means that post offices run savings accounts, cash checks, and perform other basic financial services” that "is common in most of Asia and Europe.”  “Postal banking is a really good way to reach people who haven’t had access to standard savings accounts.”
“The reason why this would be so useful in the U.S. is that somewhere between 20 and 40 percent of the population has to rely on check-cashing or payday-lending services, which in some places charge usurious rates that send people into spirals of recurring debt.” - The Atlantic, Joe Pinsker
 
The author of How the Other Half Banks, Mehrsa Baradaran, believes using existing U.S. post office infrastructure and personnel for a variety of banking services is a necessary and pragmatic socio-economic idea.    - sources: PBS, The Atlantic

Added 5/16:

Four banks control 51.2% (2014) of all banking assets in the U.S.: JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank.  -Real Clear Markets, Martin Neil Baily, Sarah Holmes 
(or) Five banks control 44% (6.8 trillion) of total banking assets (or app. 15 trillion) (2014); the fifth bank being, US Bancorp. -Forbes, Steve Schaeffer
(or) Five banks control 44.61% (2015) of all U.S. bank assets. - CNBC
​
Added 5/19: "One in four local banks has vanished since 2008."  - Banking
  
“The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States.  It was founded by Congress in 1913 to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system." - Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Janet L. Yellen is Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.  - Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System


Please give to the Shriner's Hospitals: 2425 Stockton Boulevard/ Sacramento, California, 95817/ 916-453-2000/ and  3551 North Broad Street/ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19140/ 215-430-4000   
  

"Wisdom can be accidental in its success but never in the sweat of its brow…"  -from Joe, Bob, Al: The Three Almost Wise Men, a short story by Kevin O'Kendley

5/8  Happy Mother's Day:
        Colleen, Lindy, Tina, Tila, Debbie, Michelle, Patty, Shelley, Yvonne, Denise G., Denise H., Anita B., Anita W., Lael, Mickey, Marilyn F., Denise J., Linda, Elizabeth, Rachael, Susan, Cassie, Aunt Ruth, Aunt Beth, Aunt Donna, my cousins, my old friends, and in memory of
Rita, Olive, Betty, Lita...

Lilith, Adam's first wife, made of the same stuff Adam was and in the image of God.


5/5:  Feliz Cinco de Mayo.



Please give to the March of Dimes: 1755 Creekside Oaks Drive #130/ Sacramento, California, 95833/ 916-922-1913

Happy May Day...