The Last Ephor

Sean Thomas Lugano Today's the day. Ten years gone and the rest of our lives to go. This blog honors Sean Thomas Lugano I knew Sean casually. We went to college together and were on the rugby team together. He was much better than I was. He was very fast and much stronger than he looked. Sean was one of those guys who was reserved but very funny. He wasn't one of those guys who garnered attention by being outrageous or demonstrative. He was just there, always with a smile and quick with a laugh or a joke. He took a lot of flack in college because of his modeling career. He used to model to make money for college and the idea of a rugby player being a model seemed absurd. The only commercial I ever saw him in was for The Gap and ironically, he was playing rugby in the commercial. That seemed to redeem him somewhat in the eyes of his teammates and we didn't rib him much after that. I didn't know Sean well enough to keep in touch with him after college. Occasion...

Godspeed Senator . No ill spoken of the dead here. He served his country. Rest in peace

Courage beyond measure. "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived." -- General George Patton

and all those who have served. Thank you.

Funeral Blues Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead. Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves, Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. He was my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong. The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun, Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods; For nothing now can ever come to any good. W.H. Auden

largely because of personal difficulty which I was going to elaborate on. That was, until I read this . Comparatively my post seems like petty friggin whining so I'll continue to shut up. God bless Dom and her whole family. Especially Ashley. "Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet princess. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest." -Hamlet Act V, Scene ii

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. -Dylan Thomas

41 years ago today murdering psychopath Ernesto "Che" Guevera started his dirt nap. Call me uncharitable or un-Christian or whatever but I'm happy he's dead and hopes he remains so.

Today's the day. Seven years gone and the rest of our lives to go. This blog honors Sean Thomas Lugano I knew Sean casually. We went to college together and were on the rugby team together. He was much better than I was. He was very fast and much stronger than he looked. Sean was one of those guys who was reserved but very funny. He wasn't one of those guys who garnered attention by being outrageous or demonstrative. He was just there, always with a smile and quick with a laugh or a joke. He took a lot of flack in college because of his modeling career. He used to model to make money for college and the idea of a rugby player being a model seemed absurd. The only commercial I ever saw him in was for The Gap and ironically, he was playing rugby in the commercial. That seemed to redeem him somewhat in the eyes of his teammates and we didn't rib him much after that. I didn't know Sean well enough to keep in touch with him after college. Occasionally, I'd see him in the...

I’ve been thinking of late about Shelley’s poem (sonnet really) Ozymandias. I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said -- "two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert ... near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lips, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings, Look on my Works ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away." I’ve always liked the imagery. The narrator doesn’t see the scene he describes. Rather it was related to him but his description is enough for the reader to feel the sand shift beneath his feet. All things pass away. No matter how powerful and omnipresent they are at their zenith...

I didn't often agree with him but he was fair. An increasingly rare trait in journalism these days. Fifty eight is far too young to go. Godspeed sir. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

As his son's funeral neared, Jeff Cathey's tears rarely stopped. He often found comfort in the men who shared his son's uniform. "Someone asked me what I learned from my son," he said. "He taught me you need more than one friend."

MICHAEL A. MONSOOR USN Navy medal of honor by dollarsandsense123 Text of the President's speech: Good afternoon, and welcome. The Medal of Honor is America's highest decoration for military valor. Over the years, many who have received the medal have given their lives in the action that earned it. The name of Petty Officer Michael Anthony Monsoor will now be among them. President George W. Bush leads the applause in honor of Petty Officer Michael A. Monsoor after presenting the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously to his parents, George and Sally Monsoor, during ceremonies Tuesday, April 8, 2008, at the White House. The 25-year-old Navy SEAL was killed in Iraq in 2006 after he threw himself on a grenade to save his fellow SEALS when they came under attack while on duty in Ramadi. White House photo by Eric Draper In September 2006, Michael laid down his life for his brothers in arms. Today, we remember the life of this faithful Navy SEAL. And on behalf of a grateful nation,...

Up: One of my cousins who works for the NYPD in ESU made Captain. Congratulations! Down: Got this email from a friend: "I was thrown a curve ball when my close Prague buddy Mike was diagnosed a month ago with a brain lesion ... he'll either undergo surgery this week and then have a 14-36 month life expectancy or he won't, in which case he'll only have six months." I knew Mike casually. He helped me out in a bind when I was in Prague as a favor to our mutual friend. Good guy, very laid back (Californian, go figure). The kind of guy who's easy to be around and he is IIRC in his late twenties. He's not a close friend but for some reason that was like a gut punch. I guess anything that brings mortality that close to home is amplified when you have young kids. Up: Imminent rate increase. It's meager but any increase is usually a good thing. Down: Was supposed to be effective January 1 and I haven't seen jack yet.

Godspeed Maestro.

Michael Jackson, The Beer Hunter, dies . Rest in peace.

Teenage drowning victims identified . I feel sick. Remember that soccer game I've been playing on Wednesday nights? Leonard was one of the players. I can't say I knew him, but I knew who he was. It's jarring to know that I played soccer with him on Wednesday and he was dead on Saturday. I played with him for his last game and he was 16. 16 years old and he's gone. My heart breaks for the parents. I have no idea how you go on after something like that.

I Lost My Son to a War I Oppose. We Were Both Doing Our Duty. I know that my son did his best to serve our country. Through my own opposition to a profoundly misguided war, I thought I was doing the same. In fact, while he was giving his all, I was doing nothing. In this way, I failed him. In memory of all those who gave their lives in service of our great nation. Update: I didn't realize I hit "Save Now" instead of "Publish Post" which is why this is showing up now.

Remembering Special Friend, Conservative Columnist Cathy Seipp A moving tribute to an unflinching observer of American politics. She quotes Cathy: “I’m beginning to feel a responsibility to point out that lung cancer, which kills more people annually (about 163,000) than the next four most common cancers (colon, breast, pancreatic and prostate) combined, is terribly underfunded compared to other diseases: $950 in research money per lung cancer death, compared to $8800 for breast cancer and $34,000 for AIDS. "That’s because the vast majority of lung cancer (about 85 percent) is still caused by smoking, even though the rate for lifelong nonsmoking women like me (and Christopher Reeve’s widow) has been going up for some mysterious reason, and the general attitude is that smokers deserve whatever they get." She was a great writer and commenter. I hope she's at peace.