Category Archives: News
Picture of the Day
A man stands beside peat that was dredged from a bog in Ireland and will be cut into bricks and stacked to dry before burning. Using peat as fuel is one way Ireland is helping to reduce greenhouse gases. Photo by Rambling Traveler/Flickr, National Geographic
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Quote of the Day
“It’s pretty cool to see our country doing things like this.”
– Army Sgt. Shawn Hudson, upon returning to Fort Bragg via Dallas / Ft. Worth International Airport
After 8 years, the “Welcome Home a Hero” program ended last week, as the last troops returning from Iraq passed through DFW. During that time, some 10,000 volunteers greeted thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen. Many of the volunteers were military veterans, including Vietnam combatants who never received such a greeting.
Tom Downey, 71, who volunteers with the organization 'Welcome Home a Hero' greets a soldier with a rose on March 14, 2012 at the at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
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Pictures of the Day
Every year Dallas stages a St. Patrick’s Day parade down aptly-named Greenville Avenue, or rather the lower half of it where bars and restaurants crowd the area. It starts off with a family-friendly parade and 5K run and ends with people getting arrested for public intoxication.
“May the sun always shine on your windowpane.
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you!”
Runners wait for the start of the “Dash Down Greenville” 5K on Saturday, March 17, 2012. Photo: Rex C. Curry
People try to catch beads during the parade. Photo: Kye R. Lee
Clowns from Hella Shrine in the parade. Photo: Kye R. Lee
St. Patrick’s Day partygoers stop to pet a Dallas Police Department horse. Photo: Gloria Salinas
Riders from Villy Custom ride in the parade. Photo: Kye R. Lee
Kolleen Kiburz of Dallas tries to catch beads during St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Greenville Avenue. Photo: Kye R. Lee
Members of Dallas Fire Rescue Pipes & Drums lead the parade. Photo: Kye R. Lee
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Quote of the Day
“You can’t make anybody watch, okay? Because you just have to close your eyes. As long as it’s on the exterior and not the interior.”
— Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, off-handedly dismissing concerns about pending state legislation that could require a transvaginal ultrasound for a woman seeking an abortion. Texas already has a similar law on its books.
Yes, yes, little woman! Just close your eyes while we ram this rod up your crotch to save you from yourself!
Courtesy ArcaMax Comics
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Picture of the Day
Bluebonnets bloom along a Texas highway. Despite a year-long drought and a warm winter, the state flower is popping up in abundance.
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Quote of the Day
“Why did they not stop the killings? These soldiers at the camp spy with expensive equipment on all that happens, from the ground and from the air.”
– Haji Nuur Mohammed, 60, who lives in Zangiabad, Afghanistan where a U.S. soldier killed 16 civilians. The soldier has been identified as Robert Bales.
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
I don’t normally celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, but I’ve always found Ireland enchanting. For one thing, it’s the primary source of the world’s redheads. But, there’s something about the island nation that’s still mystical and enigmatic. Perhaps, if I actually visited the place, I might end up with a different opinion. But, a cousin of mine who’s been there more than once has nothing but good things to say about Ireland.
Part of the fascination surrounds the life of the very man whom we celebrate today – St. Patrick. Not much is known about his early life, but oddly – and this will destroy many leprechaun dreams – St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish; he was born around A.D. 390 across the sea in that evil Protestant empire more commonly known as England. He supposedly grew up in an aristocratic Christian family, surrounded by servants, and professed no interest in proselytizing. Legend declares – as legends are wont to do – that Patrick was kidnapped around age 16 and taken to Ireland where he was forced to tend sheep on a cold forbidding mountainside.
After about 7 years, Patrick heard a voice in his dreams telling him to escape; whereupon he found passage on a pirate ship back to England and reunited with his family. Then, he apparently had another dream where that voice, or perhaps another voice told him to return to Ireland and try like hell to convert those heathenous pagans to Christianity. He became ordained in the Anglican Church and traveled back to Ireland to begin his mission.
He allegedly used a shamrock, a 3- leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish people. After about 30 years of evangelism, Patrick died on March 17, 462, and was buried in Downpatrick.
By the 9th century A.D., the Irish had come to revere Patrick as their patron saint. In the early 1600’s, Saint Patrick’s Day became a holy day for Roman Catholics in Ireland. But, it wasn’t until 1903 that St. Patrick’s Day became an official public holiday in Ireland.
So, to all my Irish friends and acquaintances, here’s to you – whether you’re Catholic or Celtic!
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