It started as a disagreement over the novel Catch-22 at a book club meeting in                                Bangor, Maine.

a version of this toon was posted earlier on this website...



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

Happy Memorial Day:
​

Sometimes you can't repay people for an act of kindness, loyalty, charity, sacrifice, or courage, but you can try -- sometimes life is in the effort...

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"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

                         "Love teaches a man loyalty for a woman, not ownership." 

​(a version of the toon posted earlier)

A 17-year-old suspect, “is being held on charges of capital murder and aggravated assault on a public servant.  The Santa Fe student allegedly used a shotgun and a revolver to kill eight students and two teachers and injure 13 others."  The alleged murderer "confessed that he acted alone in the shooting, according to a probable cause affidavit.”
The murders took place at Sante Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, on May 18, 2018.
  - KTLA 5

Our blame for the murder of innocents is measured by every person, each perspective.  What a sociopath did was who he was -- who he is.  I'm sorry for the devastating loss the families have suffered; for the children that lost their lives... (edited 5/26)

"Fate can be like an alimony check that never comes, no matter how much you need the cash."

(posted earlier)

​"Slippery Dick was pardoned by Congress before, uh, Ms. Clinton, Ms. Trump, Ms. Haley, Ms. Pingree, Ms. Giffords, Ms. Waters, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Wasserman-Schultz, Ms. Palin, Ms. Gabbard, Ms. Torres joined the ranks of some other GOGs -- Good Old Girls -- like Ms. Pelosi, Ms. Feinstein, Ms. Collins, Ms. Mitchell, and Ms. Obama, becoming senators, governors, congresspersons, etcetera, which, of course, ah, then made pardoning someone named Slippery Dick politically problematic if not outright unwise.  A series of well-placed bribes, uh, arguments predicated on The Rights of Man, and, ah, blatant distortions delivered to powerful lobbyists of special interests insured Dick the wherewithal he needed to re-design his, uh, qualifications and to, eventually, become the president of the Guam Bar Association, where he presides naked whenever possible." 
(posted earlier) 
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“On Monday, May 14, Israelis and Americans celebrated the opening of a new US Embassy in Jerusalem.
“The festive event had a guest list that was 800 people long and included a televised speech by President Donald Trump. ‘The United States will always be a great friend of Israel and a partner in the cause of freedom and peace,’ he said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also gave a speech, declaring that it was a ‘great day.’
“At the same time, 60 miles away, Israeli soldiers were firing on Palestinian protesters at the Gaza border. They’ve so far killed more than 50 people and wounded thousands of others.  Many of the protesters were unarmed, though some hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails. The Israeli military also said they shot dead three protesters who were attempting to detonate a bomb.”     -Vox/  Kainaz Amaria & Alexia Underwood (5/14)



History of Israel and Palestine (post WWll):
1947: United Nations adopts Resolution 181 partitioning the British Mandate of Palestine into two states: Israel and Palestine (which includes the West Bank and the Gaza Strip).
1948: Israel becomes a state.  Jewish, Palestinian, and Arab groups begin fighting.  The war escalates when Arab forces -- Saudi Arabian, Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese, Yemenese, Syrian -- including the Arab Legion, invade. 
The war ends in 1949.  As a result of the conflict, the Two State Solution does not take place, a flight of Palestinian refugees begins, Israel becomes larger, Egypt controls the Gaza Strip, and (Trans)Jordan the West Bank.
1956: Israel, France, and Britain invade Egypt’s western Suez Canal area and the Sinai, after President Nasser of Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal.  The joint forces withdraw by 1957.
1967:  Israel launches preemptive airstrikes against Egypt.  Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq retaliate. The Six-Day War results in Israel’s capture of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.  Israel still occupies 2/3rds of the Golan Heights, controls the West Bank with the Palestinian Authority. 
1973 Yom Kippur War: On Yom Kippur, a Jewish religious holiday, Egypt and Syria invade Israel.  After suffering losses, Israel counterattacks, repulses Egyptian and Syrian troops, and recaptures the Golan Heights.  The war lasts nineteen days.
With President Jimmy Carter in 1978: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin sign the Camp David Peace Accords.  Egypt recognizes Israel’s right to exist.  Sadat and Begin win the Nobel Peace Prize. President Sadat is assassinated as a result of his participation in the accords.
In 1993, the Oslo Peace Accords are signed by the Palestinian Authority and Israel.  A two-state solution is still recognized as a viable goal.  The Palestinian Authority recognizes Israel’s right to exist.
Approximately 91,105 Arabs and 24,969 Israelis (2016 statistics) have been killed in the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1920, or beginning with the end of Ottoman Empire’s control of the Palestine region and the League of Nations’ (British) Mandate.
In the Mideast: Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan recognize Israel’s right to exist.
Please see Carbuncle Moon post: 6/21/16 
 

In securing a sovereign and inviolate Israel and Palestine:
The Armeggeddon-puzzle of solving war should include the parents of children with no future --
Without peace.

 
Sources: Wikipedia, historynet, Office of the Historian, Britannica.com, the history learning site, history.com, cnn.com, BBC, Jewish Virtual Library, Google, Speech by President Gamal Abdel Nasser 



Please give to the Palestine Red Crescent Society: HQ ,Palestine , Al-bireh/ 972 2 297 85 20/ info@palestinercs.org/ And:
Magen David Adom in Israel: 60 Yigal Alon Street/ Tel Aviv 67062/ Israel/ 972 3 6301461/2

​Today is Peace Officers Memorial Day in the United States: 

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                                      A Good Cop Makes The Job Noble. 
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(posted earlier)



​Please give to the Police Protective Fund: P.O. Box 1084/ Schenectady, New York  12301/ 877-343-2477

"My martial art discipline, ah, is called Lamaze -- breathe in, breathe out -- calm now -- breathe in, breathe out -- c’mon, push, push a little harder.  We're Muslims, but when my wife was pregnant and we were in Reno, I, uh, studied under her at the YWCA.*  That has a certain image to it that I like -- Happy Mother's Day."  (edited 5/14)

*Young Women's Christian Association.



Please give to the Diabetes, Nutrition and Endocrine Center: 905 Union Street #11/ Bangor, Maine  04401/ 207-973-7334

blog changed on 6/30:


 

​toon posted earlier...