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Oh my Father (Veteran's Day tribute from a son)

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Written by Jerry Engler Wednesday, 07 November 2007 13:45

WayneEnglerDadinUniform.jpg WayneEnglerDadinUniform.jpg Wayne Engler, a World War II veteran of the First Armored Division, currenly lives in a nursing home in Overbrook.


Oh my Father,
what am I to say
to you who woke
with the thousands of dead
around you many mornings,
so much so,
that you tell me,
being around the dead
doesn’t bother you.
I fear death
as I know we all do,
even with faith,
as you must too,
because you tell me
the Ten Commandments include
“Thou shalt not kill,”
so you must be going to hell,
you say.

Oh my Father,
I know in my heart of hearts,
the discernment knowledge,
that Lord Jesus Christ
has a special place for you
for the nobility of soul
that sacrificed for all of us,
listed most reliable
in a high school year book,
known for reliability...

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The sooner we leave, the greater our chances of surviving our ignorance

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Written by Kevin Hower Wednesday, 24 October 2007 10:54

This seems like a great time to address two of my favorite subjects: science and monsters.

Monsters exist within us all and symbolize aspects of human nature. They allow us to conveniently distance ourselves from those things we dislike about ourselves, and enjoy entertaining them without the negative consequences imposed by reality.

Werewolves represent not only aggression, which humanity has still not conquered, but a loss of control over that aggression. We’ve built civilizations on rules grounded in our ability to consciously choose our actions. Lycanthropy offers a sort of freedom from that responsibility since, unlike humans, wolves don’t seem to suffer any angst over eating meat.

Vampires are the freeloaders and con artists...

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Staff Comment- You can do something about these issues

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Written by Jerry Engler Wednesday, 05 September 2007 04:31

It should be apparent to you by now that there are three great, related crises going on that you absolutely have the power to do something about.

You might tell me that the part you play in each is small compared to the total number of people needed to sway each one of them. But don’t you dare tell me you lack the power, therefore, to make a difference, or that you don’t count.

Those are some of the cop-outs of those who want to be left alone, those who want to be whiners instead of doers, and the plain irresponsible who helped create the three crises.

This is about the chronically impotent who fail to act as much as it is about the crises themselves.

The three crises are all related to oil. The first crisis is one of the...

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Scientific advancements help humanity extend its reach as far as it can

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Written by Kevin Hower Thursday, 05 July 2007 06:42

Recent events inspired me to write about a few things that have been on my mind lately. They’re aspects of something Bill O’Reilly calls the “culture war.” See, I’m one of those people O’Reilly would call a “secular progressive.”

To begin, let’s consider that phrase for a moment. The first word is secular. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary lists one of the definitions as “not overtly or specifically religious.” That certainly fits me.

The second word is progressive. As opposed to what, Bill? Regressive? Should we regress socially to the days of slavery or to feudalism or all the way back to tribalism? Should we regress back to stone-age technologically? Of course not.

In fact, I believe it should be...

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