It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country - in defense of us - in wars, far away. The imagination plays a trick; we see these soldiers in our minds as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers - grave and grey-haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives: the one they were living, and the one they would have lived.

When they died, they gave up their chances to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chances to be revered old men. They gave up everything for their country...for us, and all we can do is remember. - Ronald Reagan

Jared,

I won't/can't mount a defense to this. At least not a defense that will satisfy anti-abortionists.

But I will say one of the problems with people on the whole anti-abortion tip is that they try to portray people who support abortion as evil monsters with no regard for human life. Instead of objectively seeing abortion as a person's decision not to bring a child into this world (for whom they can't adequately provide), abortion is seen as cold, heartless murder.

I hate the idea of abortion as much as the next person. But given the brokenness of the foster care system and rampant poverty (crippling a child's chance at "making it" in the world; even if they "make it" from the womb), I at least recognize - and ACCEPT - that abortion will always be with us.

Put it like this: the advantage that the Democrats have is not that they actually do anything for Black folks. You can look at the state of a lot of major cities that have Black mayors and majority-Black city councils and see that ain’t the case. It’s not about actually doing, it’s about the perception of caring. Somethin’ like, “Maybe they ain’t gon’ do nothin’ about it, but at least they’re concerned enough about my problems to know what they are.” Most Black conservatives - even the ones who are well-intentioned - tend to eschew that sort of sentiment. Thing is, 1) the people are used to it, and 2) there’s no trust factor. If the people trust you, in part because they believe you care, they’ll ride wherever you’re going. If they don’t, even if they agree with everything you’re saying, they’re only gonna go so far, and up to this point, the threshold has generally been short of the voting booth.

So basically, as I’m seeing it, Black conservatives writ large can complain about the fact that Black folks vote as a Democratic bloc all they want to, but until they change the style of their message, it’s not gonna get through, even if the people agree with the substance. Maybe somebody might argue that it shouldn't’t be that way, that the only thing that should matter is stands on policy, but the reality is, if you’re suspicious of somebody, it doesn’t really matter what they have to say. Black conservatives and Repubs, if they’re ever gonna make any inroads, gotta geek down on that “BUT THEY AIN’T DOIN’ NOTHIN’ FOR YOU” and come in on some fairly quiet, “we’re here, we care, and we’re actually doing something.” Build a track record the people can trust, and then see what happens. One-two.

Andre, I get where you're coming from. Totally. The problem, though, is that the same distortion is true of the pro-choice side. I'm an adoptive parent. My wife and I have pretty much crawled over broken glass to get our kids, spending tens of thousands of dollars (that we had to borrow and pay back), losing countless hours of sleep, and enduring hellish paperwork/nightmares/roadblocks like you wouldn't believe. The waiting lists to adopt out there say that we're not the only ones who do so. Yet, on any number of occasions, I've had folks tell me (to my face, no less), that I only "care about kids before they're born". The stereotypes run both ways, my friend, and I know you're intellectually honest enough to admit this.

At the end of the day, though, with neither side being perfect in its opinions of, or behavior toward the other, what's the bottom line? There's only two ways to break it down, and I know (and hate) that I'm going to come across as brutal in saying this, and it's not my intention - I'm just not eloquent enough to figure out any other way to say it...

Instead of objectively seeing abortion as a person's decision not to bring a child into this world (for whom they can't adequately provide), abortion is seen as cold, heartless murder.

Alinsky, too, rejected ideological dogmatism. He taught that the successful radical is the wolf in sheep’s clothing: burrowing into the institutions of Western capitalism, altering their character from within, seducing the society with a high-minded summons to “social justice,” “participatory democracy,” and, yes, “change.” Is Obama following this stealthy roadmap? If that is his intention, it’s hard to imagine how he could have done so more perfectly.

On the other hand, people I know and respect, including some who knew Obama when he initially made history as The Harvard Law Review’s first black editor, insist that he is most decidedly not a radical. They say he is just what he now purports to be: a consensus builder whose “progressive” leanings are undeniable but do not render him deaf to persuasive arguments from the other side. On this accounting, the Ayers, Klonskys and Khalidis in his closet are to be understood not as kindred spirits but merely as voices of the hard Left that a confident Obama can hear out, and occasionally even collaborate with, while maintaining his safe, pragmatic distance.

Which is right? We don’t know, or at least I certainly don’t know. But I admit to worrying. A few days ago, as the contest wended toward the finish line with the outcome no longer much in doubt, Obama asserted that he sensed a “righteous wind” at his back. Some sloughed this off as campaign cant. Others among us, having studied Obama’s background, couldn’t help but hear Chairman Mao.

Is that paranoia or well-informed dread? Alas, the jury is still out, and that shouldn’t be. We ought to know the manner of man we are installing in the world’s most powerful office before the installation takes place.

Yet for one night, I was impressed. Impressed most by the dignity with which he bore the weight of his historic achievement: satisfied but not gloating, victorious but magnanimous, gratified by what he has accomplished and what it so obviously means to African Americans, but mindful of the enormous burdens he has assumed and the duties he now owes to all Americans, including the loyal opposition.

Emphasis here on loyal. President-Elect Obama correctly but no less honorably said he still needed to earn our support. For our part, we need to offer our support earnestly.

He is our president now, the president of our beloved nation. Too many have given their lives for this union, and too many are risking their lives for America even now, for us to shrink from honoring their sacrifice. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t fight President Obama when we think he is wrong. In fact, it means we must fight him. Fighting him when he is wrong will make him a better president, which in turn will make our country stronger. That’s the opposition part, and the freedom to oppose is our nation’s greatest strength.

Still, the loyal part means we must support our president when we think he is right. We must meet him when he reaches out to us. We must try to guide him toward what we believe is best for national security and prosperity. Just as we demand that President Obama put America first, we must be Americans first ourselves.

Our country has had an election. Our side got trounced. We’ve strayed far from our principles. We’ve too often failed to make our case even when it was right there for the making. If the best we have to offer America is Democrat-lite, Americans can’t be blamed for deciding they’d just as soon have the real thing. If we operate in stealth and incoherence, abdicating our duty to convince our fellow citizens of the rightness of measures taken for our security, they can’t be blamed for suspecting we are in the wrong.

It is on us to fix these things. They urgently need fixing if we are to offer the country something worthy.

For the moment, however, let’s accept defeat with the same purposeful grace President Obama exhibited in victory. And as power once again shifts peacefully from one hand to the next, from one party to the other, let’s remember how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation in human history.

Passed with Distinction (PD) - SUPERB!!! Congratulations on wrapping up your degree! Due to the nature of the exam, I can not send you any further specific comments on your answers at this time. However, if you would like more information after the first of the year (when the exam cycles through/questions change), I would be happy to provide you with same. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Take care and Best R/Pat

6 Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Struggling Mets Combine to Form Carlos Voltron

NEW YORK—Facing the Cubs in the midst of a three-game losing streak, the desperate Mets sprinted out to the field Tuesday, launched themselves high into the air above Shea Stadium, and combined their bodies to form a 400-foot tall fielding robot called Carlos Voltron.

According to eyewitnesses, before the Mets players completed the complicated procedure, in which they fused their physical selves and combined their talents to form the 20,000-ton robot, manager Jerry Manuel called the team to the dugout, where he commanded them to prepare their interlock systems for activation, connect the appropriate dyna-therms, charge up the infra-cells to full capacity, engage the mega-thrusters, and give it their best out there.

"After losing eight of our last 12 games, forming Carlos Voltron is our only hope to save our playoff chances," Manuel said. "We really need power this late in the season, and the 2.5 million pounds of thrust in Voltron's solid-fuel boosters should give us the lift we need."

Leaving behind blue and orange vapor trails as they soared across the sky, the Mets were reportedly surrounded by a crackling electrical field as they folded their limbs into their bodies to ready themselves for assembly and to protect the team's home record.

Although Manuel said he had to settle an argument over who got to be the robot's head, his final lineup was David Wright and José Reyes forming the legs, Ramón Castro and Ryan Church making the feet, Nick Evans and Johan Santana completing the arms, Carlos Delgado and Luis Castillo joining to create the torso, and Carlos Beltrán forming the head.

While Cubs batters had taken early advantage of the Mets pitchers on Monday, the towering spectacle of Carlos Voltron proved to be an imposing presence on the mound, as the force of his foot slamming into the ground after the windup of his first pitch knocked the batter and umpire into the third row of the stands. In addition, the seismic energy unleashed by Carlos Voltron's follow-through created several deep cracks in the foundation of Shea Stadium, and accompanying atmospheric disturbances caused a 747 in a holding pattern over nearby La Guardia airport to plunge from the sky.

"In the second inning I had to have him take some heat off those pitches or he was going to kill somebody," said Manuel, adding that he clocked the first pitch at 85,000 mph. "After what happened to poor Alfonso Soriano, I told him let them hit a few balls."

"We might face this team in the playoffs," continued Manuel. "I'd hate to see what would happen to us if the Cubs unleashed the Robeast from their bullpen."

With his fast first step and an exceptionally long stride that carries the giant robot from the mound to the center field wall in one step, Carlos Voltron put on an amazing fielding display in the fifth inning when he robbed Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramírez of a 500-foot shot by plucking it out of the air between the robotic index finger and thumb of his leonine hand.

Although the Mets' fielding skills were excellent, they were not without flaws. Cubs manager Lou Piniella came out to the field to protest several times, complaining that his base runners injured themselves in the 10-foot deep trenches left behind from Carlos Voltron scooping up ground balls. Piniella also expressed frustration over his players suffering from collapsed rib cages, ruptured organs, and decapitations every time Voltron tagged them out.

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