text:
'Project Lifesaver' offered for free to residents in Allegheny County
Right now, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala is sponsoring Project Lifesaver for free for anyone living in Allegheny County
Updated: 11:35 AM EST Jan 26, 2023
Lily Coleman
REPORTER: IT IS WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY, THINK OF IT AS A FANCY GAME OF HOT COLD. THE CLOSER MY BRACELET GETS WITH THE TRANSMITTER. >> LISTEN CLOSELY. THAT BEEPING YOU HEAR IS COMING FROM THIS TRANSMITTER ABOUT THE SIZE OF THE WATCH. IT'S ONE OF THE TOOLS FIRST RESPONDERS HAVE WHEN IT COMES TO THE SEARCH FOR A MISSING PERSON. >> HAVING A DEDICATED TRACKER CAN REALLY PUT US IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION BEFORE WE GO BEYOND OUR REACH. REPORTER: THE PROGRAM IS CALLED PROJECT LIFESAVER BECAUSE, WELL, IT DOES JUST THAT. >> THREE TOM -- EVERY TIME WE HAVE BEEN BOOTS ON THE GROUND WE HAVE BROUGHT SOMEONE HOME. REPORTER: SERGEANT DETECTIVE JAMES WILLIAMS WITH THE MUNHILL POLICE DEPARTMENT SAYS IT'S DESIGNED FOR PEOPLE WITH THE PROPENSITY TO WANDER THINK OF , THOSE WITH PTSD OR DEMENTIA OR EVEN KIDS WITH AUTISM. >> MY SON IS AUTISTIC AND THAT'S HOW WE GOT THIS PROGRAM STARTED. IF YOU CARE AND LOVE FOR THEM, THIS IS ONE OF THOSE TOOLS THAT'S INVALUABLE BECAUSE WE GET -- UNDERSTAND, PEOPLE FALL ASLEEP, PEOPLE AFTER FULL LAUNDRY, TAKE A SHOWER. WE ARE THERE TO JUDGE ANYBODY. REPORTER: AND RIGHT NOW, THANKS TO THE ALLEGHENY COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, IT'S FREE FOR ANYONE WHO LIVES IN THE COUNTY. IF THIS IS SOMETHING YOU THINK MAY BENEFIT YOUR FAMILY OR A LOVED ONE, WE HAVE INFORMATION ON WTAE.COM.
When someone goes missing, every second matters. Local law enforcement say that's especially true when those that go missing have some sort of disability. Right now, in Allegheny County, there is a free program designed to help those with the propensity to wander to stay. It's called Project Lifesaver. Project Lifesaver is a national program and is currently offered in 41 states, including Pennsylvania. The Munhall Boro Police Department first established it in the Pittsburgh Area ten years ago. "My son is autistic, and that is how we got this program started," said Detective Sergeant James Williams with the Munhall Boro Police Department. People enrolled in the program wear a small transmitter, which emits a unique tracking signal. The transmitter is no bigger than a watch. It can be worn on a person's wrist or ankle. If a person goes missing, search teams use their signal-receiving equipment to track and locate the missing person via the unique signal. Williams says the program has a proven track record. Since it's a radio frequency, the transmitting signal is reliable in all parts of the area. It can pick up a frequency in the tunnels and even in water. "If you care and love for a person," said Williams, "this is one of those tools that's invaluable. We understand that people fall asleep, they have to put in a load of laundry, they have to take a shower. That's usually the time when someone goes missing." According to Pennsylvania State Police, there were 54 reports of missing persons across Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties last year. All of those cases have been solved. Top headlines:Industry Borough residents concerned with ongoing brown water issuesD.A. visits scenes related to killing of Brackenridge Police Chief McIntirePennsylvania passes 'forever chemicals' drinking water limit "If we know that a person may have special need or a tendency to wander off, if we know the area where to start at, having that dedicator mile tracker can really put us in the right direction before we go beyond our reach," said Trooper Rocco Gagliardi. Right now, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala is sponsoring Project Lifesaver for free for anyone living in Allegheny County. "It's free, completely free," said Assistant District Attorney Angela Kelley. "It's an invaluable tool that saves lives. We just need more people to know about it and know that it's offered." Kelley says right now, about 100 people are enrolled in the program in Allegheny County. Any Allegheny County resident who is a caregiver can enroll on behalf of a person with Alzheimer's or dementia, Down Syndrome, or autism. The program is also available for veterans suffering from PTSD. A person must receive care from a caregiver 24 hours a day to qualify. If you would like to learn more about the program, you can contact the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office via phone at (412) 350-3138 or online.
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. —
When someone goes missing, every second matters. Local law enforcement say that's especially true when those that go missing have some sort of disability.
Right now, in Allegheny County, there is a free program designed to help those with the propensity to wander to stay. It's called Project Lifesaver.
Project Lifesaver is a national program and is currently offered in 41 states, including Pennsylvania. The Munhall Boro Police Department first established it in the Pittsburgh Area ten years ago.
"My son is autistic, and that is how we got this program started," said Detective Sergeant James Williams with the Munhall Boro Police Department.
People enrolled in the program wear a small transmitter, which emits a unique tracking signal. The transmitter is no bigger than a watch. It can be worn on a person's wrist or ankle. If a person goes missing, search teams use their signal-receiving equipment to track and locate the missing person via the unique signal.
Williams says the program has a proven track record. Since it's a radio frequency, the transmitting signal is reliable in all parts of the area. It can pick up a frequency in the tunnels and even in water.
"If you care and love for a person," said Williams, "this is one of those tools that's invaluable. We understand that people fall asleep, they have to put in a load of laundry, they have to take a shower. That's usually the time when someone goes missing."
According to Pennsylvania State Police, there were 54 reports of missing persons across Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties last year. All of those cases have been solved.
Top headlines:
Industry Borough residents concerned with ongoing brown water issues
D.A. visits scenes related to killing of Brackenridge Police Chief McIntire
Pennsylvania passes 'forever chemicals' drinking water limit
"If we know that a person may have special need or a tendency to wander off, if we know the area where to start at, having that dedicator mile tracker can really put us in the right direction before we go beyond our reach," said Trooper Rocco Gagliardi.
Right now, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala is sponsoring Project Lifesaver for free for anyone living in Allegheny County.
"It's free, completely free," said Assistant District Attorney Angela Kelley. "It's an invaluable tool that saves lives. We just need more people to know about it and know that it's offered."
Kelley says right now, about 100 people are enrolled in the program in Allegheny County. Any Allegheny County resident who is a caregiver can enroll on behalf of a person with Alzheimer's or dementia, Down Syndrome, or autism. The program is also available for veterans suffering from PTSD. A person must receive care from a caregiver 24 hours a day to qualify.
If you would like to learn more about the program, you can contact the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office via phone at (412) 350-3138 or online.


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text:
Q: How do I process execution plan in PostgreSQL? In PostgreSQL, when I run:
EXPLAIN (FORMAT JSON) SELECT * FROM ACCOUNT WHERE TYPE > 'CHK'

I get:
[
  {
    "Plan": {
      "Node Type": "Seq Scan",
      "Parallel Aware": false,
      "Relation Name": "account",
      "Alias": "account",
      "Startup Cost": 0.00,
      "Total Cost": 13.25,
      "Plan Rows": 87,
      "Plan Width": 276,
      "Filter": "((type)::text > 'CHK'::text)"
    }
  }
]

How can I get the "Total Cost" from there? I tried:
SELECT P -> 'Total Cost' FROM (
  EXPLAIN (FORMAT JSON)
  SELECT * FROM ACCOUNT WHERE TYPE > 'CHK'
) X (P)

But I get the error:
ERROR: syntax error at or near "JSON"
  Position: 51
SQLState:  42601

A: explain always needs to go before a statement, you can't put it in the middle of one.
You can do what you want by wrapping this into a function:
create or replace function get_plan_cost(p_sql text)
  returns text
as
$$
declare
  l_result jsonb;
begin
  execute 'explain (format json) ' || p_sql
    into l_result;
  return l_result #>> '{0,Plan,"Total Cost"}';
end;
$$
language plpgsql;

select get_plan_cost($$ SELECT * FROM ACCOUNT WHERE TYPE > 'CHK' $$);

If you can't use a function, you can use an anonymous block with a RAISE statement:
set client_min_messages=notice;
do
$$
declare
  l_sql text := $$ SELECT * FROM ACCOUNT WHERE TYPE > 'CHK' $$;
  l_result jsonb;
begin
  execute 'explain (format json) ' || l_sql
    into l_result;
  raise notice 'Cost: %', l_result #>> '{0,Plan,"Total Cost"}';
end;
$$
;

But that seems overly complicated compare to using:
explain (format text)
SELECT * FROM ACCOUNT WHERE TYPE > 'CHK';

And then simply looking at the first line.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Hello! The 3rd part of my Kansai Trip (Osaka, Nara) will be about Kyoto. I've been to Kyoto for two years in a row now but Kyoto really never loses its magic to me. I keep coming back! And this time I successfully made it through a rainy day trip...here's how!
First stop, the Kinkakuji! I was not able to go to Kinkakuji last year so this time I made it a personal mission to make it there no matter what. It was a rainy day during my Kyoto trip but luckily, I was able to made it to the Golden Pavilion with just some morning drizzles.
Kinkakuji is a Zen temple located at Northern Kyoto, around 40 minutes from Kyoto station by bus. It is built near a pond with its top two floors completely covered with gold leaf. Everything about it screams elegance and extravagance which reflects the preferences of the wealthy families and aristocrats in Kyoto during those times.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to get inside the temple itself but the windows at the ground floor are usually open for viewing.
After viewing the Kinkakuji, visitors are then shown to a path behind the temple that leads to the temple's garden.
Just like most of the touristy places in Japan, brace yourself as Kinkakuji is really crowded. The place is no doubt stunning in real life and in photos (especially) but the crowd make it almost unbearable. I know I'd always talk about Kyoto being peaceful and tranquilizing but all of that is non-existent during peak season. You've been warned.
This isn't originally part of my itinerary but somehow I'm glad it was a rainy day, I ended up googling places to stay indoors and found the Nijo Castle!
Nijo Castle is a huge revelation! Its interior is the best surviving example of how Japan's feudal era's castle palace looks like. Before entering the palace, visitors are asked to take off and leave their shoes at a designated area. I think I brought mine in as they gave away some plastic bags for our umbrellas and I used it to pack my shoes into my bag.
Once you enter the castle palace, the first thing you'd notice are the squeaking sound the wooden floors make. This so-called nightingale floors were used as security measure against intruders. The sound resembles that of a chirping bird, it's not irritating but it really is noticeable.
I wonder how people back then walk on them?
The palace rooms are mostly open for viewing but cannot be entered. They are covered in tatami (Japanese-style floor mats). The walls/dividers and sliding doors are painted with sophisticated intricate designs while the ceilings are also elegantly decorated. I seriously want to bring my Fine Arts and Archi friends here so we can all cry together over how beautiful everything is.
Some rooms even feature life-sized figures of Shoguns, feudal lords, and other government officials sitting inside the rooms in their traditional Japanese costume. This brought back so many forgotten feelings why I love this country. Entering Nijo Castle left me wanting to read up more about Japanese history. Nijo Castle is so beautiful you got to see it for yourself.
Video and photo taking is not allowed inside the castle palace and I'm not even complaining. Entering Nijo Castle itself is indeed a remarkable experience you'd never experience elsewhere so I love that what happens in Nijo Castle, stays in Nijo Castle!
Outside the castle palace is a traditional Japanese landscape garden called 'Ninomaru Garden'.
This is the part where the photos looked hazy because of the rain.
Here's a late-blooming cherry tree I caught during my trip. Nijo Castle also features plum and cherry orchard. Different varieties of plum and sakura trees are planted throughout the castle grounds making it a nice spot for cherry blossom viewing during Spring.
Remember the other museum I mentioned in my Osaka Castle Park post?
Located 20 minutes away on foot from Kyoto Station is the Kyoto Railway Museum which was opened in 2016.
It is a 3-floor museum boasting with 53 retired trains from the old steam locomotives to the more recent electric trains and the supreme of all the Japanese trains (my personal favorite), the Shinkansen.
They also have a restaurant in case you're starving!
There are several models of shinkansen (bullet trains) which run on different routes and regions on different speeds. Here is the W7 model that runs on Hokuriku line and connects mainly Nagano and Fukui prefectures.
Another type of shinkansen (retired).
In Kyoto Railway Museum I was able to experience walking underneath an elevated train and observe the train's design and inner workings from a completely new angle (video on my Instagram highlighted stories).
This is the part where things get really engaging. The second floor is full of interactive exhibits and simulations. The above photo features a ticket vending machines complete with a mock-up train tickets and ticket gates. After getting your ticket (for free) visitors will then proceed to a simulation of a ticket gate. The ticket gate is transparent so that visitors can see its inner workings and observe how the tickets move from one side to the other end.
I was lucky that during my visit, one of the main shinkansen displays was wrapped as Evangelion 500 shinkansen to honor the ending of the operations of the said bullet train. Running since 2015, the operation of 500 Type Eva bullet train ended last May 13th and was replaced by HELLO KITTY shinkansen, which also runs on Sanyo line (Osaka to Fukuoka, Western Japan).


We all live our lives differently. But, what interests me most is how time is spent and why it's spent in a particular way. For, the most enriching and fulfilling periods of my life have been those while I've traveled.
Even after touring across myriad nations around the globe, travelling still appears as exhilarating and enigmatic, as it had been when I founded Royal India Holidays.The satisfaction you get when you've crossed a gorge, explored bountiful nature at its best, or even dipped in local cultures, is an unmatched experience. Travelling introduces you to facets of yourself you didn't know existed.
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At Royal India Holidays, we do not merely design exclusive itineraries; we create inspiring travel experiences with customized services, local guides for enlightened tours and more. So come, experience a completely new microcosm of luxury travel. You'll savor your pleasant, unforgettable experiences for many long years after you get back home. We look forward to welcoming you to delightfully gratifying journeys.
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In any creative discipline, commercial success is a double-edged sword: On the one hand, it activates "the winner effect," the well-documented psychological phenomenon wherein success breeds more success, or, as Michael Lewis put it, "commercial success makes [things easier], and it also creates pressure to be more of a commercial success"; on the other hand, it tips the scales of productivity and presence in an unfavorable direction, catalyzing the compulsion to produce yet more work in order to maintain the already-attained success and gain more, in the process withering the capacity to actually enjoy it. Reconciling these opposing forces and finding in them fuel for creativity rather than suffocating exhaust fumes is always among the artist's greatest challenges and most important tasks.
One hit requires another, very quickly, or you fast start to lose altitude. At that time you were expected to churn them out. 'Satisfaction' is suddenly number one all over the world, and Mick and I are looking at each other, saying, "This is nice." Then bang bang bang at the door, "Where's the follow-up? We need it in four weeks." And we were on the road doing two shows a day. You needed a new single every two months; you had to have another one all ready to shoot. And you needed a new sound. If we'd come along with another fuzz riff after "Satisfaction," we'd have been dead in the water, repeating with the law of diminishing returns. Many a band has faltered and foundered on that rock. "Get Off of My Cloud" was a reaction to the record companies' demands for more — leave me alone — and it was an attack from another direction. And it flew as well.
So we're the song factory. We start to think like songwriters, and once you get that habit, it stays with you all your life. It motors along in your subconscious, in the way you listen. Our songs were taking on some kind of edge in the lyrics, or at least they were beginning to sound like the image projected onto us. Cynical, nasty, skeptical, rude. We seemed to be ahead in this respect at the time. There was trouble in America; all these young American kids, they were being drafted to Vietnam. Which is why you have "Satisfaction" in Apocalypse Now. Because the nutters took us with them.
The lyrics and the mood of the songs fitted with the kids' disenchantment with the grown-up world of America, and for a while we seemed to be the only provider, the soundtrack for the rumbling of rebellion, touching on those social nerves. I wouldn't say we were the first, but a lot of that mood had an English idiom, through our songs, despite their being highly American influenced. We were taking the piss in the old English tradition.
Because you've been playing every day, sometimes two or three shows a day, ideas are flowing. One thing feeds the other. You might be having a swim or screwing the old lady, but somewhere in the back of the mind, you're thinking about this chord sequence or something related to a song. No matter what the hell's going on. You might be getting shot at, and you'll still be "Oh! That's the bridge!" And there's nothing you can do; you don't realize it's happening. It's totally subconscious, unconscious or whatever. The radar is on whether you know it or not. You cannot switch it off. You hear this piece of conversation from across the room, "I just can't stand you anymore"… That's a song. It just flows in. And also … to provide ammo, you start to become an observer, you start to distance yourself. You're constantly on the alert. That faculty gets trained in you over the years, observing people, how they react to one another. Which, in a way, makes you weirdly distant. You shouldn't really be doing it. It's a little of Peeping Tom to be a songwriter. You start looking round, and everything's a subject for a song. The banal phrase, which is the one that makes it. And you say, I can't believe nobody hooked up on that one before! Luckily there are more phrases than songwriters, just about.
Life is deadly-terrific in its entirety. Complement it with the best memoirs of 2013.


Team GB, second in the world. Who needs Europe?
After an amazing Olympics in which Great Britain beat everybody out of sight (bar USA), team GB arrive home to a hero's welcome. Richly deserved, it was an amazing achievement.
And the performance went a long way to showing how our little island can perform on the world stage, both in sporting terms and also in economic terms. After some of the post Brexit negativity, this is a real boost to the nation and should inspire everybody to rally together now and get on with the business of finding our way in the world, without the ties and regulations of the European Union.
Team GB won more Gold medals than Germany and France put together. Which goes to show when we organise things ourselves, we get the job done.
My money is on more of the same in Japan, 2020 and by then Brexit and Europe will be long forgotten as our economy and property market grow in strength. We'll show everyone that our little island can make it's own way and become a truly global sporting and economic force.


text:
Author Archives: Cammy
A wonderful reflection on Blessed Franz Jagerstatter, the subject of the new film A Hidden Life.
Jagerstatter-The_Man_Who_Chose_to_See_04bDownload
Here is the trailer for the film:
This entry was posted in Documentaries and Film, Militarism and Christianity, Saints and Soldiers and tagged austria, Catholic, franz jagerstatter, hitler, Just War, prophet on January 8, 2020 by Cammy.
I've always loved Billy Corgan and his music.
This entry was posted in CAM jukebox, Uncategorized on January 7, 2020 by Cammy.
I love your website and all that you do.
If you like the following anecdote, please feel free to put it on your blog.
Yesterday, a good friend and devote Catholic was talking about how President Trump had Iranian General Soleimani killed. She praised the president and lamented that non-Catholics oppose Catholicism and President Trump. This woman is very knowledgeable and devout and an all-around great person. But even among the greatest of Catholics, militarism and patriotism override their Catholicism. I see no Catholics anywhere, in magazines or speaking from the altar, condemning this as an act of murder for which the president shows no signs of remorse. Not even the most skilled sophists could rationalize this as "just war theory" in any possible way. I understand that Donald Trump has appointed some pro-life Supreme Court justices, but that is no reason to turn our backs on calling out grave mortal sin for what it is. Do we need to be reminded not to trust in princes (Psalm 146:3)?
Thank you so much, Steve W., for sharing your thoughts.
This entry was posted in Just War, Militarism and Christianity on January 6, 2020 by Cammy.
Thoughts on conscientious objection and the new film "A Hidden Life"
by Ellen Finnigan
This article was first published at LewRockwell.com.
On November 24 I gave a presentation in the basement of my church in Colorado about two Catholic conscientious objectors. The first was Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer, husband, and father who refused to fight for Hitler during World War II. I was hoping that his witness, memorialized in the upcoming film by Terrence Malick, might be a stepping stone for people to consider the life of Ben Salmon, a Catholic man from Denver who refused to fight in World War I. Jägerstätter has been declared a martyr and "Blessed" in the Catholic Church, which is one step away from being canonized, or declared a saint, and some of us are trying to put Ben Salmon on that same path. President Kennedy once wrote: "War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige as the warrior does today." By spreading the word about the film A Hidden Life and advocating for Ben Salmon's cause for sainthood, some American Catholics are trying to bring that day a bit closer. (In case you don't make it to the end of the article, you can help us by going here, reading about Ben Salmon's life, and signing the petition!)
November 24 happened to be the Feast of Christ the King. I was hoping that the priest's homily would be a good primer for my presentation, pointing out the differences between that which we associate with worldly kingship — wealth, war, servants, subjects, thrones, political power, military might — and the kingship of Christ, the Prince of Peace, who was born in a manger, raised in nowhere Nazareth, rode into Jerusalem on an ass and came to serve rather than to be served. The two kingdoms are not necessarily opposed. As Pope Pius XI writes in his encyclical Quas Primas: "[Christ's] kingdom is opposed to none other than to that of Satan and to the power of darkness." But the Feast Day of Holy Innocents which takes place a few days after Christmas reminds us that they can be opposed and, I would add, most often are: "Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the Wise Men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under…" (Mt 2:16).
Worldly kingdoms are founded on violence. They are obsessed with counting, spying, surveilling, and keeping track. They demand, for example, that their subjects be accounted for in censuses so that they can tax them or draft them to fight in wars, even if this means a very pregnant woman must ride for for days on a donkey along dangerous, bandit-ridden roads to report to her Roman overlords. The state assumes the power to threaten, intimidate, imprison, torture, bomb, electrocute, assassinate, poison, and in the case of Franz Jägerstätter", gruesomely behead. In contrast, Cyril of Alexandria writes: "Christ has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but his by essence and by nature." The Kingdom of Heaven is founded on love. Jesus assures us: "Even the hairs of your head have all been counted" (Lk 12:7). You see God counts too, but not in the same way or for the same purposes.
The feast day of Christ the King was established only relatively recently, in 1925. World War I had ended seven years before and was called "the war to end all wars," but of course it only planted the seeds for the next one. Franz Jägerstätter had lost his biological father in the Great War. Though he had always had an interest in spiritual reading, he wasn't yet any kind of Christian radical. In 1925, he was just a seventeen-year-old kid who would soon be working in the mines and earning a badge of honor by being the first person in his village to own a motorcycle.
In his encyclical of 1925, Pope Pius XI reminds us that the establishment of a new feast day isn't random but has something to do with the state of the world. At that time nationalism and secularism were on the rise. He writes: "The empire of Christ over all nations was rejected…the religion of Christ came to be likened to false religions…It was then put under the power of the state and tolerated more or less at the whim of princes and rulers. Some men went even further, and wished to set up in the place of God's religion a natural religion…There were even some nations who thought they could dispense with God…The rebellion of individuals and states against the authority of Christ has produced deplorable consequences."
He was writing all of this in the year after Lenin died and Stalin came to power, the year Hitler published the first volume of Mein Kampf, and the yearMussolini gave a speech marking the beginning of his dictatorship. Who could have guessed that the kid riding on his motorcycle in the middle of the mountains of nowhere Austria would turn out to be the kind of Catholic the Pope hoped to see, one who, without "station" or "authority" would nonetheless "bear the torch of truth". He writes:
We firmly hope…that the feast of the Kingship of Christ, which in future will be yearly observed, may hasten the return of society to our loving Savior. It would be the duty of Catholics to do all they can to bring about this happy result. Many of these, however, have neither the station in society nor the authority which should belong to those who bear the torch of truth.This state of things may perhaps be attributed to a certain slowness and timidity in good people, who are reluctant to engage in conflict or oppose but a weak resistance; thus the enemies of the Church become bolder in their attacks. But if the faithful were generally to understand that it behooves them ever to fight courageously under the banner of Christ their King, then, fired with apostolic zeal, they would strive to win over to their Lord those hearts that are bitter and estranged from him, and would valiantly defend his rights.
By 1938, when Germany began the annexation of Austria, Franz had inherited a farm and married a devout Catholic, with whom he'd have three children, and largely because of her influence, he studied the Bible and became active in his village parish. When he was drafted in 1940, he did report to his Nazi overlords and went through six months of military training. That same year he became a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis. In the years following he would no longer cooperate with Hitler and his troops in any fashion. He would not swear an oath to Hitler, nor would he opt for some form of alternative service, such as working in a hospital. In his decision to refuse cooperation with what he believed to be evil, he was not supported by country, community, or church.
Things Hidden
Standing at the lectern after Mass, I asked how many people had ever heard of Franz. Only one person out of about three hundred raised his hand. This is one reason why Terrence Malick's film is called A Hidden Life.
"Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God, and when Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory" (Col 3:2-4).
For a long time nobody knew about the heroic resistance of Franz. He was a source of shame to many of those who did.We must ask: Why is Franz still mostly unknown, especially among Catholics, when his story has been out there for decades? Gordon Zahn discovered the story and wrote a book about him called "In Solitary Witness" in 1964. In 1968 Thomas Merton wrote a chapter about him in Faith and Violence, the last book to bepublished before his mysterious death (allegedly by electrocution). Daniel Ellsberg said it was Franz Jägerstätter who inspired him to release the Pentagon papers. (You can hear more about this in an episode of my podcast called "A Friend of Franz and Ben.") In 1971 the Austrian government produced a film about Franz called The Refusal, which aired on Austrian television. It's been over thirteen years since Franz was declared a martyr and beatified.
Granted, there are a lot of saints out there, new ones being canonized all the time, but one would think that in an age when Adolf Hitler has become the "super villain" of the twentieth century, when the History Channel runs an almost continuous stream of content elucidating the sinister activities of the Third Reich, when any suggestion that Christians might be called to be peacemakers instead wagers-of-war is met with the inevitable question "What about Hitler?", we might have heard something about one of the few Christians who actively resisted him, who was willing to pay the price, the price Jesus said His followers would have to pay. But most of us haven't. So I didn't bother asking my parish whether anyone had heard of Ben Salmon. I invited people down for the presentation and yes, coffee and donuts.
A Hidden Life is a stunningly beautiful achievement, one of those films that paralyzes you. When it's over, you sit there immersed in the music until the last credit has rolled, the lights have been turned on, and a teenager is standing in back with a broom waiting for you to leave. When I left, the manager asked me if I was alright. I nodded and slipped into the restroom. Mascara: everywhere. A woman who also appeared raccoon-like whispered: "That is a movie you never forget."
"Indeed," I thought as I blinked my way out into the cold, disoriented. It was like trying to find my car at the airport after a long trip. I had parked so very long ago.
On the drive home I thought about that kid with the broom, no different essentially from Franz. Will he ride home on his new motorcycle or in his new car with his windows rolled down, loving the feeling of driving at night with nobody on the road? Will he fall in love, get married? What will he do when he turns 18 and has to sign up for the Selective Service? What about when (not if) the wagers-of-war decide to launch the next one, which might be happening as I write this essay, against Iran? Does he go to church? Would his church even talk about the war and any moral dilemma it might pose to Christians or would they just applaud vaguely "all those in uniform" and send them on their way — to kill, to die? Would anyone tell him he could say "no"? Would anyone understand if he did?
Sometimes I think we prefer to attribute the support of Hitler among Christians of that time to, in the words of Pope Pius XI,"a certain slowness and timidity in good people, who are reluctant to engage in conflict." We assume they must have been ignorant of what was happening or maybe, if they did see the powers of darkness at play, they were simply too weak or fearful to stand up to it. God have mercy on them. But Thomas Merton, in his essay on Franz, presents us with another way of understanding the people of that time:
"[Franz's] Austrian Catholic friends understood that he was unwilling to fight for Hitler's Germany, but they argued that the war was justified because they hoped it would lead to the destruction of Bolshevism and therefore to the preservation of 'European Christianity.' He was therefore refusing to defend his faith."
What if the Christians in that time and place, instead of being fearful or weak, when they took the oath, trained and enlisted, believed themselves to be, in the words of Pope Pius XI, "fighting courageously under the banner of Christ their King," "fired with apostolic zeal," "valiantly defending His rights"?
How many Christians before Hitler or since then have fought in wars waged by worldly kings because they thought it was justified if it would lead to the defeat of some "-ism," or because they thought they were fighting the enemies of the Church, or preserving Christianity?
What happened to the priests in Hitler's Germany? How many Christians existed in the Middle East before September 11, 2001? How many exist there now?
Pope Benedict XVI writes in his book Jesus of Nazareth about Christ's third temptation: "…throughout history [the third temptation] is constantly taking on new forms. The Christian empire attempted at an early stage to use the faith in order to cement political unity. The Kingdom of Christ was now expected to take the form of a political kingdom and its splendor. The powerlessness of faith, the earthly powerlessness of Jesus Christ, was to be given the helping hand of political and military might. This temptation to use power to secure the faith has arisen again and again in varied forms throughout the centuries, and again and again faith has risked being suffocated in the embrace of power. The struggle for the freedom of the church, the struggle to avoid identifying Jesus' Kingdom with any political structure, is one that has to be fought century after century. For the fusion of faith and political power always comes at a price: faith becomes the servant of power and must bend to its criteria."
Interestingly enough, Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) actually grew up about an hour from Franz Jägerstätter's village of St. Radegund, across the Salzach River, in Bavaria. He took the oath that Jägerstätter refused to take and joined Hitler's youth corps when it became mandatory, but he was only about thirteen at the time. In 1938, Franz was no longer a kid. He was a 31-year-old man. And he thought like a 31-year-old man. By that point in his life, he'd had the time to read the Bible, to get to know Jesus, to grow in his faith.
The questions Franz asks in the film are so universal they must surely resonate with us, the viewers. In one scene Franz says:
"We're killing innocent people, raiding other countries, preying on the weak. And the priests call them heroes, even saints, the soldiers, the doers. It might be that the other ones are the heroes, the ones who defend their homes against the invaders."
Every U.S. president over the last 28 years has ordered the bombing of Iraq. Something like a million Iraqis have died during the past three decades as a consequence of U.S. occupation, bombings and sanctions. The decision to launch new air strikes recently ignited nationwide resistance by Iraqis who want the U.S. out of their country and do not want Iraq to be used in a U.S. war on Iran. A veteran that I interviewed expressed that he "didn't see the light on the sinfulness of American militarism and foreign policy until he was an active participant in it, while wearing a US Army uniform in Kuwait in 2009 and being told the Kuwaitis no longer thank us for our service."
At one point Franz asks: Does it even matter if this war is just?
Many of us ask this question today! One of the tenets of a "just war" is that it must be waged by proper authority. There has been no declaration of war by Congress since the Korean War! My fellow blogger noted that in the November issue of Columbia magazine, published by the Knights of Columbus, they dedicated a whole article to a Navy SEAL who was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his service in Afghanistan. My fellow blogger writes: "The Knights did not delve deeper on the morality and justness of the war in Afghanistan, especially after Osama bin Laden was killed…which is when the events occurred for this sailor to receive the award." Even if the Knights had published the article a month later, after the release of "The Afghanistan Papers," I doubt they would have acknowledged this sticky point. In the words of Caitlin Johnstone: "from the very beginning [Afghanistan] was an unwinnable conflict, initiated in a region nobody understood, without anyone being able to so much as articulate what victory would even look like.…" But that wasn't exactly a bombshell. Everybody already knew this! There was no "reasonable chance of success" from the beginning, and that too is a tenet of the Just War Theory that must be "strictly applied." I'm with Franz in thinking: Does the question of whether a war is just even matter to most Catholics?
The questions Franz asks in the film, however, about just war, do not seem meant to challenge the beliefs of his his neighbors and friends, or to condemn them; rather they show that he is puzzling out the issue for himself. He did not believe Germany's was a "just war." However, there is reason to think that by the time he died in 1943, after languishing in jail, after much prayer, meditation, and suffering, he objected to all killing in any war. In other words, the formation of his conscience, the solidification of his beliefs, did not happen overnight. For Franz, and for most conscientious objectors I would guess, it is a process, a gradual process of revelation, as they come to see what they didn't before, and sometimes it takes years. Christ said he would "announce things lain hidden since the foundation of the world" (Mt 13:35). Sadly the institutional church seems to have played very little role, if any, in that process of revelation for Franz. In fact if anything, they seem to have been a hindrance, an impediment, a stumbling block.
Similarities between Franz and Ben
About thirty people showed up in the basement of the church, which we considered a success. We showed the group the trailer for A Hidden Life, and one of two short documentaries about Ben Salmon. We explained a few of the similarities between these two men:
Both men decided when ordered to serve their country in a time of war to "obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). Like Franz, Ben was older, about 30 when the draft was instated and he refused to complete a Selective Service questionnaire.
They both suffered greatly for their choice, Franz being sent to prison and eventually the guillotine, Ben being sent to jail and then a mental hospital. (Ben died very young at the age of 43, most likely as a result of his damaged health from the treatment he received while being a ward of the state).
They were both motivated by their Catholic faith and we can come to understand their beliefs and position through their writing: Franz wrote many letters to his wife Franziska from jail and Ben wrote a 200-page manuscript on a typewriter from his hospital room explaining his beliefs, using only a Bible and the Catholic encyclopedia for reference.
They were both family men, Franz a husband and father of three girls, Ben a husband and father of one son at the time he was incarcerated.
Their choice was not supported either by their country or their church. Franz's bishop told him it was is duty to serve his country and a priest actually refused to give Ben Holy Communion to punish him for the stance that he took. Ben was also expelled from the Knights of Columbus, Denver Council, for having edited and published an anti-war article and was attacked by them publicly and privately.
Both seem to exemplify Jesus's words: "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house." Franz was seen as a traitor for a long time by the people in his village, and his wife and children were ostracized and scorned; Ben was considered to be a source of shame for the family, called a scoundrel and a slacker by the press, and practically disowned by his in-laws.
At the end of our presentation, one man whom I recognized, who was very involved in the church came up to us and said: "I respect what these guys did and all. But my view is that, if everyone did what they did, we'd all be speaking German."
Speaking Versus Silence
Franz once wrote: "If the Church stays silent in the face of what is happening, what difference would it make if no church were ever opened again?" Franz wanted to "break the silence" of the Catholic Church, and yet, in the film, his resistance is largely silent. One of the most glorious things about A Hidden Life isthe sparse use of dialogue. You leave the film with the impression of having listened for most of the film to the sounds of the natural world — wind in the grasses, children playing in the fields, scythes cutting down hay, carts rolling over dirt, and the plodding of an ox. Franz, the protagonist, doesn't speak much. Almost everyone else in the film seems to have more lines than him, and it is almost as if the Devil is speaking to Franz through the people around him, trying to get him to question his stance, second guess his decision, compromise. None of these people are evil or possessed! To us they might sound rather practical, but for Franz they are the equivalent of a chorus of reasoning demons.
Pope Benedict XVI writes in his book Jesus of Nazareth: "The tempter is not so crude as to suggest to us directly that we should worship the devil. He merely suggests that we opt for the reasonable decision, that we choose to give priority to a planned and thoroughly organized world, where God may have his place as a private concern but must not interfere in our essential purposes." And our essential purposes would include, we believe, survival, the well-being of one's family. In the film Franz is so very alone, like Jesus in the desert, and he is being tempted.
Thomas Merton wrote in his essay on Franz:
"Franz Jägerstättersurrendered his life rather than take the lives of others in what he believed to be an 'unjust war'. He clung to this belief in the fact of every possible objection not only on the part of the army and the state, but also from his fellow Catholics, the Catholic clergy and of course his own family. He had to meet practically every 'Christian' argument that is advanced in favor of war. He was treated as a rebel, disobedient to lawful authority, a traitor to his country. He was accused of being selfish, self-willed, not considering his family, neglecting his duty to his children.
…He was also told that he was not sufficiently informed to judge whether or not the war was just. That he had an obligation to submit to the 'higher wisdom' of the state. The government and the Fuehrer know best. Thousand of Catholics, including many priests, were serving in the armies, and therefore he should not try to be 'more Catholic than the Church.'
He was even reminded that the bishops had not protested against this war, and in fact not only his pastor but even his bishop tried to persuade him to give us his resistance because it was 'futile.' One priest represented to him that he would have innumerable opportunities to practice Christian virtue and exercise an 'apostolate of good example' in the armed forces. All these are very familiar arguments frequently met with in our present situation, and they are still assumed to be so conclusive that few Catholics dare to risk the disapproval they would incur by conscientious objection and dissent."
The people around Franz present him with arguments. The arguments they make to Franz however never turn into arguments with Franz, because the character of Franz hardly ever responds, except by listening. Sometimes he appears pricked, pained, but never angered. He never rebuts or retaliates. The actor's expressions give one the feeling that Franz wants badly to engage the person who is speaking to him but he knows there is nothing he could say that could make them understand. He can speak only through his actions. He seems submerged in himself, in something deep, quiet. It reminds you of "a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep silent before the sheerers, who opens not his mouth" (Is 53:7).
The sparse use of dialogue is a hallmark of Terrence Malick's style, but it works in this particular film on a few different levels. For one, it says something about the Catholic world in which Jägerstätter lived. In the past sixty years, the Catholic Church has clarified its teachings on conscience. It was a major topic at the Second Vatican Council, especially in its final document, Gaudium et spes, butat the time of the first and second World Wars, many Catholics thought it was a sin not to fight in a war for your country. You can now find the term "Conscientious Objectors" in the index of the Catechism. Even in political circles people talk of "religious liberty." But in Franz's time, I'm not sure they had this kind of vocabulary or explicit Catholic teaching to appeal or refer to.
Secondly, Franz was no scholar, academic, or theologian. He was a farmer. I doubt he would have been found reading Scriptural exegesis at night. He didn't need to. He knew was right and what was wrong in this situation, what he should do and what he should not do. His conscience told him clearly. When an S.S. officer asks him, "Do you judge me?", Franz doesn't start arguing the finer points of Saint Thomas Aquinas's Just War Theory. He doesn't need to. He replies simply, gently: "No." He adds that he doesn't know everything; he only knows that he can't do what he believes is wrong. I thought of: "Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one." (Mt 5:37).
Thirdly, the sparse dialogue means that the film does not try to dramatize any theological or theoretical debates. Franz, though very intelligent, is clearly motivated by something deeper than intellectual understanding. A Hidden Life is art. It doesn't argue: It illustrates. And what it illustrates is the completely unique, never-repeatable, all too transitory beauty of one human life. It shows the bonds between people, especially families, husbands, wives, parents, and children; it immerses us in Creation, in the rich soil, the moving clouds, the rushing rivers, the mountain air. It pulls you into the rhythms of work, the motions of the body, the breath of life, the joy of play. I think the strongest "argument" made to Franz, and one of the tenderest moments in the film, is when his wife, lying next to him in a field, sweetly asks if he would like more children.
What the film does, which is so effective, is: It shows you through simple, everyday moments, the preciousness of everything Jägerstätter had to give up. It shows you what a beautiful life he had, how much he loved, how much he had to love, and how much more he could have loved if he'd had more time on this Earth. It shows you, too, the pain and the suffering that his decision caused to the people who loved him. It shows you the cost of his choice. It makes you ask why?
Is Jesus not pro-life? Doesn't he want us to live?
By seeing all of this in the film, being awash in it, living it vicariously and almost viscerally, rather than intellectually, one is prompted to try to envision "the pearl of great price" (Mt 13:46) that Franz must have found, a "pearl of great price" which cannot be illustrated in film, depicted on screen, or conveyed through argument. Maybe it cannot even be imagined by us, who may still be in the process of seeking it, discovering it. It is like when Jesus talks about the treasure that was hidden in a field and found, and the finder buries it again and sells everything in order to buy the field. In these parables of the treasure and the pearl, there is something "hidden" about the Kingdom of God. But the one who finds it is willing to give away everything, absolutely everything, to possess it. Jesus himself was hidden from the dark forces of the world when he was born. By experiencing for two hours a semblance of the life that Franz lived and gave up, and becoming familiar with everything he sacrificed, which was so beautiful, we can begin to imagine the value of what it was he was giving it up for, which only Franz knew, which only Franz could see. The word "martyr" originally meant simply "witness." Sometimes when we can't see something for ourselves, we need a witness testify to what he saw, and this helps us to believe. Actions, of course, speak louder than words.
In the words of Pope Benedict XVI: "[Jesus] himself is the treasure; communion with him is the pearl of great price." Jesus tells us: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you." Pope Benedict XVI tells us that the phrase "Kingdom of God" occurs 122 times in the New Testament and 90 of these texts represent the words of Jesus. Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is at hand, in our midst. Not all of us, for some reason, can see it. Franz could! Christ the King reigned not in Franz's head but in his heart, and here's what seems most important to me: Franz knew that every good king needs not merely to be revered but obeyed. Jesus said: "I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another." This was not a suggestion, a moral guideline, a best practice. It was a commandment.
We are told by the war wagers that every war must be fought, that it is necessary to kill, for "freedom."
Franziska's last words to Franz at the end of the film are at testament to that Christ-like love that wills only good, and the ultimate good, for the other. She says: "I am with you always. Do what is right."
What other freedom is there?
Better Questions
When someone tells us that "we would all be speaking German" if everyone had done what Franz did, it is the same thing as saying, "What about Hitler?" (This is still the best answer I've ever heard to that question.) It's a seventy-year-old question and I think it's time we start asking better ones. What is implied here is the old adage that evil triumphs when good people do nothing. Would we call what Franz did "nothing"? If we say no to evil, and let it mean no, doesn't that count for something?
The simple truth is that Hitler would have had no power at all in the first place if more people had done the "nothing" that Franz did. You wouldn't need everyone to do what Franz did. Let's say just the Christians did what Franz did, or of all Christians just the Catholics, or of all Catholics just ten percent of them, or five percent. What would have happened then? We don't know. But it's time to start asking, instead of "What about Hitler?", "What about Franz"?
Perhaps we prefer the question "What about Hitler?" because it helps us to justify our own violence.
War movies have always sought, through spectacle, to glorify war and those who fight in them (Saving Private Ryan) or to facilitate collective mourning for their tragedies (Born on the Fourth of July). Before movies there were murals and other works of art that accomplished the same thing. When we first meet Helen of Troy in Homer's Iliad, she is weaving a tapestry depicting scenes from the war, wallowing in shame and regret. In The Aeneid, Aeneas arrives in Carthage to find a giant mural depicting scenes from the Trojan War, which cause him and his men to break down and weep. In The Odyssey, when Penelope first appears, she asks the singer to stop singing a song about the war, as it brings her too much pain. Humans have always lamented war through art, poetry, song, literature, and film, but most of the art we make about war seems only to provide us with an opportunity for what Aristotle called "catharsis". Our artistic testaments to the waste, destruction, pain, suffering and futility of war rarely serve to provide wisdom, to steer people in a new direction. When it comes to war, it seems the words of the great pagan writer, Aeschylus, still ring true: "Man must suffer to be wise."
But is that changing?
I believe there is a perceptible shift, especially among war movies. With time comes perspective, and with some distance from a most dark and deadly century, we can see A Hidden Life as one in a string of recent films that have paid homage to the light which the darkness hath not overcome. In 2005 came the release of Joyeux Noelle and Sophie Scholl: The Final Days. The first film tells the true story of the Christmas truce of 1914, the second the true story of a group of university students who, deeply motivated by their Christian faith, distributed anti-Nazi leaflets in 1943 in hopes of awakening the consciences of their fellow men.
We have these stories of Christian witness amidst moral collapse, and in the actual transcript of the trial of Sophie Scholl, which the film is based on, we have a twentieth century example of what Jesus seems to have meant when he said: "When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say" (Luke 12:11-12). A young woman speaks Gospel truth to worldly kings, judges, lawyers and military commanders, men of power, who think they hold her fate in their hands. (She, through the grace of God, knows better.) Sophie was beheaded six months before Franz Jagerstatter. She was only 22.
The blockbuster hit Hacksaw Ridge (2016), directed by Catholic Mel Gibson, tells the story of Desmond Doss, a Seventh Day Adventist who served on the front lines as a medic in World War II and, despite the bombs, blasts, flamethrowers and machine gun fire, refused to arm himself or to kill: He ended up not only surviving but winning the Medal of Honor for his heroic (and some say miraculous) deeds.
The next question we need to start asking is: Why didn't more Christians do what Franz did, what Sophie did, what Desmond did, what Ben did? I'm afraid we can't chalk it up to human fear or frailty. It's a serious problem within the Church. Jesus told his disciples: "Go and teach them all that I have commanded you." Are the Christian Churches, especially the Catholic Church, really teaching what Jesus commanded?
Finally, in the words of Pope Benedict XVI: "Today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a just war."
For the record, Ben Salmon asked this question long ago, and answered it, before Hitler, before the nuclear age, before The Pentagon Papers, before all that. Ben Salmon said: There is No Just War. Worldly kingdoms are entirely perishable. They come and they go. They rise; they fall. Christ, on the other hand, is "the Alpha and the Omega" (Rev 1:8). His kingdom is eternal and he assures us that he will be "with us until the end of the age" (Mt 28:20). Are we with Him? One kingdom has the power of violence; the other has the power of Christ-like love. Franz and Ben were modern day prophets. We ignore them at our peril.
Copyright © 2020 Ellen Finnigan
This entry was posted in Conscientious Objection, Documentaries and Film, Just War, Militarism and Christianity, Saints and Soldiers, War and Peace on January 6, 2020 by Cammy.
Here's a beautiful song to start your year, a new twist on the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Have you seen A Hidden Life yet?
Franz Jägerstätter | Robert Ellsberg from Franciscan Media on Vimeo.
This entry was posted in Conscientious Objection, Militarism and Christianity, Saints and Soldiers, Uncategorized on January 3, 2020 by Cammy.
They encountered their next victim – a priest – on Meriburr Lane at approximately 10:10 p.m.
'A priest. You heard that right,' Chief Acevedo told reporters, according to KTRK.
The priest said he was on his knees, praying for his life, when one of the suspects pulled the trigger twice.
"For whatever miraculous reason, the gun didn't fire," Chief Acevedo said.
https://defensemaven.io/bluelivesmatter/news/teen-who-shot-houston-cop-was-released-without-paying-bail-after-carjacking-lTdMxdJ8bEqAQYN4zpv1zg/?fbclid=IwAR1eSolSnZmv-xtRqzlNdcasMzgGjJQeKS9UlpYhr2sOEN7wl8AaQKxUBXg
This entry was posted in Nonviolence, Thought Experiments on December 13, 2019 by Cammy.
Here is a fantastic review of the book "Napalm: An American Biography"
"Some 33 million pounds of napalm were used in the campaign overall, with 106 square miles of Japan's cities burned flat. 330,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed, with burning "the leading cause of death". Chief of Air Staff Lauris Norstad said the destruction was 'Nothing short of wonderful' (84)."
https://original.antiwar.com/Robert_Barsocchini/2018/08/12/the-other-hiroshimas-a-review-of-napalm-an-american-biography/
This entry was posted in Military Culture (of Death) on December 13, 2019 by Cammy.
The following was written by Fr. Emmanuel McCarthy:
On February 18: The U.S. State Department announced the highest U.S. casualty toll of the Vietnam War, with 543 Americans killed in action and 2,547 wounded during the previous week.
On March 16: U.S. ground troops murdered more than 500 Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai Massacre in South Vietnam.
On April 4: Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered in Memphis, TN
On June 5: Robert Kennedy was murdered in Los Angeles, CA.
On December 10: Thomas Merton is murdered in Bangkok, Thailand
The Martyrdom of Thomas Merton: Paperback – March 7, 2018
Hugh Turley (Author), David Martin (Author)
Review from Amazon:
"Seldom can one predict that a book will have an effect on history, but this is such a work. Merton's many biographers and the American press now say unanimously that he died from accidental electrocution. From a careful examination of the official record, including crime scene photographs that the authors have found that the investigating police in Thailand never saw, and from reading the letters of witnesses, they have discovered that the accidental electrocution conclusion is totally false. The widely repeated story that Merton had taken a shower and was therefore wet when he touched a lethal faulty fan was made up several years after the event and is completely contradicted by the evidence. Hugh Turley and David Martin identify four individuals as the primary promoters of the false accidental electrocution narrative. Another person, they show, should have been treated as a murder suspect. The most likely suspect in plotting Merton's murder, a man who was a much stronger force for peace than most people realize, they identify as the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States government. Thomas Merton was the most important Roman Catholic spiritual and anti-warfare-state writer of the 20th century and the powers-that-be in the corporate world, in the military world, in the world of the CIA, FBI and NSA and in the world of government were as acutely aware of the power he possessed to undermine their bloody profit making schemes as they were of King and Kennedy's power to do the same. To date, Merton has been the subject of 28 biographies and numerous other books. Remarkably, up to now no one has looked critically at the mysterious circumstances surrounding his sudden death in Thailand. From its publication date on the 50th anniversary of his death, into the foreseeable future, this carefully researched work will be the definitive, authoritative book on how Thomas Merton died."
I read this book cover to cover and it is a solid presentation of the logically unbridgeable abyss between the physical evidence that is available for anyone to examine and the official story put out by the U.S. Government and the Church regarding Thomas Merton's death. What concerns me is not that the U.S. government had a hand in Merton's murder and cover-up of the murder. Clandestinely murdering innocent people is the ordinary modus operandi of all major governments all the time. What concerns me is that the leadership of the institutional Church acquiesced to a narrative regarding the murder of one of its own, which narrative cannot be sustained, indeed is in contradiction to, the evidence. Of course, maybe the leadership of the institutional Church did not see Merton as one of its own but saw him rather as a hair shirt of truth to whom they were glad to say, ever so piously, "Good riddance."
-Emmanuel Charles McCarthy
This entry was posted in Nonfiction Books, Uncategorized on December 13, 2019 by Cammy.
An Illustrated First-Person Guide to the C.I.A.'s Torture Program
Thanks to the LRC blog.
This entry was posted in Military Culture (of Death) on December 6, 2019 by Cammy.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Summer Bright Looks. Please welcome Scotch & Soda Men's spring-summer campaign which comes with great garments that suit every individual. New season comes with flirty prints, youthful silhouettes and rich details. Male models Leebo Freeman and Marcel Castenmiller appear together in sunny outdoor images wearing different style outfits, including striped pants and shorts, floral print shirts, pink color tees, vibrant color pants, fitted floral print pants, knitted wide stripe sweaters and youthful windbreakers.


It was 4 months ago, when Me and my friend Jay threw the idea of joining an International Marathon. It was 4 months after we joined the Condura Run. At that time, we were just joining 10k runs and starting to build mileage together with the rest of the Gone Running Club members. I immediately said Yes, and off we went and prepared our training plans. We have chosen the Standard Chartered Bangkok Marathon held in Nov. 22, 2009.
Prior to the Marathon day, I only managed to build 498km in mileage due to the series of injuries that I was struggling with. The 16 weeks training period was dwindling down so fast and I have yet to do a consistent long run. I was still nursing my injury and it has given me a lot of pressure since I have declared that I will do my first marathon on that day. I have committed to do this task as scheduled and there was no turning back for me. I honestly am having doubts a week before the event if I can really make it. Good thing my knee were getting better as I have been attending my Physical Therapy as mentioned in my last blog.
My goal was to finish my first marathon without injury. I have planned to do a run-walk strategy (9 min jog @ 7:30 min/km and 1 min walk @ 10 min/km). This would make me finish at 5:22. Though I wanted to finish with a good time, it was least of my priority. My only wish at that time was to finish below 6 hours without any injury.
Jay and myself at the site around 1:30 a.m.
There were two race starts for the full marathon. One is at 2:00 a.m. for those finishing between 5-7 hours and for female age group between 60-64 and male 65 and above. (No wonder I was running alongside a lot of elder who were really fit and fast, I admire them). The 2nd start time was at 3:30 a.m for those finishing within 5 hours. However, for the 1st start time, a lot of runners finishing below 5 hours have joined the 1st group.
During my first 12km, I was consistently following my 9-1 strategy but I was going fast since my virtual partner in my garmin was showing that I was ahead by 8 min. You just can't resist when you feel strong and that no pain is occuring on your past injury. But I had to control myself and conserve my energy. I was focused with my 9-1 strategy and before I knew it, I was done with my 21st km. The next km after that was my farthest run so far. I began to pray that the Lord will give me the strength and the will power to finish the marathon. At this point I began to become nervous and concerned that my Injury will come out anytime.
At km 22, I started to monitor my pace every km and forgot the 9-1 strategy. At km 25, my legs were so stiff and my ITB had slight pains but were manageable. It was good that there were free massage at selected aid stations, did some stretching and off I go again. I had to take my hammer gel every 30 min for the first 2 hours. I stopped at all hydration station and made sure to drink water and gatorade in order not to "hit the wall".
I was eager to reach the 30th km since I will use that as my motivation that the remaining 12km should be manageable since my body is aware that I can finish 12km without any trouble (crazy motivation huh?). But it worked for me, as soon as I reached the 3oth km, I again hydrated myself, did some stretching and conditioned myself that I will start to run a 12km race. But the next 12 km was so hard, I had more walk breaks but I still focused.
I intended to take more photos to highlight the race, but I was so stressed out and just remained focused to finish. At km 36, I needed to pee, I can't find an open establishment where I can go. Luckily there was a gas station and I took a detour went to look for the toilet. Then I went back and started to jog. At km 37, the 10km runners who came out from another street finally joined the group and they were all so fast and too many. The crowd became lively again, before they came the marathoners were all far apart. The 10k runners though made it appear that I was too slow (yes I was) and that I am being left alone as I was running too slow.
Then it was down to 5km, I was excited and at the same time struggling. But the elders motivated me, I even saw lady on her 60's whose pace were faster than mine in some point. The elders both men and women were just so amazing. How I wish that we can all be as fit as them someday. At km 39, I happen to run beside a local thai maybe on his late 50's. He talked to me in local thai and I just said, "I don't speak thai", he continued to converse with me and looked at his garmin and made a sign language "3 ", meaning 3km left. We then ran side by side, there was a time he had to walk and I continue to jog and vice versa. At the last km, we ran side by side and he demonstrated again that its 1km left. From then on we run together and finished at the same time. We shook hands at finish line and he said "Thank you, Thank you" and so did I. We both finished at 5:43:16 (unofficial time).
This experience for me was really amazing. I have learned that anything is possible if you only put your commitment and dedication to it. Believing in your own capability and the ability to find ways to resolve the constraints that might stop you from proceeding is a key indicator for your success. This is an achievement that I will treasure as I was able to accomplish it the way I wanted it to happen.
1. There was a defined schedule for the start time per category. At the finish line, the marathoners, 10km, 5km runners were arriving almost at the same time. There was a dedicated lane for the finishers for 5k runners, 10k runners, and marathoners. In below photo, the right side is for the finish line of full marathon, and on the left is for the 5km and 10km.
2. Sufficient water aid station.
3. Mobile Toilets (I was not able to take a photo).
4. Massage on selected aid station.
5. Fresh banana on selected aid station.
6. Volunteers from a community prepared drinks and fresh watermelons. Very nice gesture. At the same time they were cheering the runners.
7. Some students cheered the runners as we passed by in front of their school.
8. Flags of participating countries were raised. The night before, Jay and his nephew went to the place for an ocular, (I was resting then). He saw our flag raised with the red color on top, he immediately called the officer in charge and told him the meaning of red color on top (which means in war). The organizer immediately apologized and change the orientation.
9. Eye catcher runners.. Batman here finishing his marathon.
10. There were medical support team after the race. Free massages, medical attention, ambulance in place both at the finish line and at the selected aid stations.
12. Announcement of names as you approach the finish line.
14. As soon as the race ended, the crew immediately take off the main signages. Very well organized and disciplined.
Wow first FM na, International pa!
Looking forward to riding with you guys soon!
naks! congrats!!! ang ganda ng medal!!!
Thanks Neil! Yes hope to ride with you soon.


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English: Buffelshoek area of the Hex River Mountains in South Africa.
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text:
Up To £20m
Kier lays foundations for biggest timber project
19 Dec 12 Kier Construction has started work on a £19m school project in west London that is thought will be the largest structure in the UK built with the latest cross-laminated timber technology.
Foundations are now being laid for the William Perkin Church of England High School in Greenford under a fast-track programme that will see the first pupils enter the new building at the start of term next September.
William Perkin High is the latest in a succession of high-speed school projects that Kier has undertaken using cross-laminated timber (CLT), including the Sir Alec Reed Academy in nearby Northolt, completed last summer.
The team is on course for the first section handover for the year seven intake in September 2013 - some 10 months after moving onto the former Glaxo sports and social club grounds to begin demolition of the old premises and site preparations.
The design and build contract has been awarded to Kier's Maple Cross office by Ealing Council on behalf of the Twyford Academies Trust, which will run the school.
The new school will have places for 1,200 11 to 16-year-olds, plus a sixth form with places for 250 students and a centre for children with special educational needs.
Following the first intake of pupils in September, internal fit-out works will continue until April 2014.
Kier Construction operations director Norman Elliott said: "We're off to a flying start. Having only taken possession of the site in October, the old buildings have been demolished and piling has been completed. Now the foundations are being laid, the project is really starting to come out of the ground.
"We are geared up for a fast construction programme in order to hand over to the school next August."
Kier said that cross-laminated timber (CLT) construction technology had been chosen because it offers high-speed installation using modular factory-made components that can be delivered to site and rapidly erected, with fewer stoppages for weather likely.
CLT specialist KLH UK is manufacturing some 3,800 cubic metres of timber panels, amounting to more than 1,700 tonnes and covering combined floor and wall areas totalling approximately 22,500 square metres. The panels will start arriving at Greenford in the New Year and the site installation programme is expected to be 16-18 weeks, allowing the various follow-on trades to complete their work under the tight timescale.