I Wanna Be In The Cavalry

11-11-11 goes to 11

Something lighter for the weekend.

The Eleventh Day

It took over four years of toil, sorrow, blood, and waste before the guns fell silent across the western front.

Since then, other wars have been fought; sadly, more will be fought; it is in our nature. Freedom and liberty do not sprout unaided; these blessings must be cultivated and defended. All too often, that requires sacrifice. All too often, it is necessary for men and women to stand "between their loved homes and the war's desolation."

To those that have served, and to those that do serve: for the freedoms that I am able to enjoy, for the peace in which I dwell, thank you. All I can do is thank you, and remember.

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Clarifying the Stakes

Mark Steyn on Occupy Oakland and their riots this week:

I don't "stand with the 99%," and certainly not downwind of them. But I'm all for their "occupation" continuing on its merry way. It usefully clarifies the stakes. At first glance, an alliance of anarchists and government might appear to be somewhat paradoxical. But the formal convergence in Oakland makes explicit the movement's aims: They're anarchists for statism, wild free-spirited youth demanding more and more total government control of every aspect of life – just so long as it respects the fundamental human right to sloth. What's happening in Oakland is a logical exercise in class solidarity: the government class enthusiastically backing the breakdown of civil order is making common cause with the leisured varsity class, the thuggish union class and the criminal class in order to stick it to what's left of the beleaguered productive class. It's a grand alliance of all those societal interests that wish to enjoy in perpetuity a lifestyle they are not willing to earn.