The "Pro Choice" Choice

The Eight Sentences:

"When I lived in Baton Rouge, I knew quite a few people, men in particular, who would profess their belief that abortion should be banned. Complete total ban in every situation. They’d brag about standing up in meetings of the Knights of Columbus and announce bold, confident proclamations of their beliefs. They were fond of using absolutes like ‘always’ and ‘never’.”

“It’s good to see people stand firm with their convictions, don’t you think?” asked Debert.

“Ah, yes, but listen to this. Find one of those men out of that environment and ask them in private, ‘What if it were your wife or daughter that got raped by a retarded, homeless drug addict?’ The expression on their face would change and then you’d see what I’m talking about when I refer to, ‘situational ethics.’” 

The Back Story:

       Last week's snippet featured a conversation between professional assassin, Claudia Barry, and her only confidant, Mr. Debert, about her choice to put her unborn baby up for adoption. 

       Today's sample comes from another chapter in which she and Debert are discussing her career choice. During a lengthy diatribe in her attempts to justify her profession, the subject of abortion comes up. Claudia is a conflicted woman who has made conflicting choices and yet is still at peace with herself.

News:

The Tourist Killer was featured this past Friday, Nov. 8, in the debut of a new website, The Fussy Librarian. 

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Flying High with Helicopters

The eighth anniversary of hurricane Katrina is fast approaching.

My wife and I have many memories and stories about how the weather changed our lives. In several ways, Katrina was as significant for me as the JFK assassination. Kennedy’s death didn’t cause me to move away from my home state.

Katrina did.

One of the nightmarish memories of the storm involves events that occurred in the aftermath.

The levee system in New Orleans failed. In addition to storm refugees and evacuees, now flood victims were arriving in Baton Rouge. Not too far from our home.  The basketball arena on campus at LSU became a huge triage facility.  

The “whop-whop” sound of helicopters constantly arriving at Tiger Stadium was a daily reminder of the tragedy that changed thousands of lives. Our house was close enough to the flight path that we could easily hear the airborne deliveries.

More than once, I looked toward where the sound seemed to be coming from, only to discover they were behind me.

It reminded me of the opening scene from the movie M*A*S*H.

Fast forward to the 1:06 mark.

My near obsession with helicopters recently joined forces with my 19th childhood (who needs only two?) and I started building plastic models again.  Hadn’t tried that in over forty years.

Last summer, I got back into flying radio controlled aircraft. I’d flown airplanes while in college and this time it’s, you guessed it, helicopters. I spent as much time repairing them after crashes as I did with them in the air. So I purchased several pieces of equipment to help.  The lighted magnifying glass and the “extra hands” with alligator clips proved handy for both hobbies.

Here are a few photos of my first model in 40 years, a Bell H-13H. Once I get the decals on, it will be a “M*A*S*H” replica. I can hear the music now.

“Through early morning fog I see

visions of the things to be

the pains that are withheld for me

I realize and I can see...

that suicide is painless”

If you have the right tools, any job is easy!

Just getting started: frame and skids.

Motor on the frame.

 Frame with cockpit interior. I was impressed with the detail.

Notice you can see the foot pedals.

 Almost done. Just needs decals.

Next up, a B-24 Liberator. It played a significant role in every theatre of World War II and I'll be writing a blog soon on a book about it. The book is The Wild Blue - The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany by Stephen E. Ambrose. Watch for it soon.