Nothing works today!

From: George Henderson <xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.com>
Date: Mon, May 25, 2009 at 4:23 AM
Subject: INABILITY TO ACCESS ACCOUNT INFO AND MANIPULATE ACCOUNT ONLINE
To: NYRcustserv@cdsfulfillment.com

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am extremely frustrated at the moment by the inability of your website to allow access to my account using correct account information.

Account Number:XXXXXXXXXX

Name:George Henderson

Address:Po Box xxxxxx,Clarksville,TN 37042,United States

E-mail:xxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.com

I am essentially a mechanized mahoot, I live in my over the road truck for all practical purposes and my mail goes to a Postal Box as you can see from the information above.

I am getting ready to move and cannot change my address online this morning nor can I access my account information to confirm the billing information you have. Additionally, and most frustratingly, I cannot enter gift subscriptions for my son’s nor my nieces upcoming graduation gifts.

I have registered successfully for The Digital Reader which is a big plus in my particular situation.

I have attempted several times this morning to enter the gift subscriptions, rechecking and confirming all my address and credit card information each time. The system always responds with some cryptic message about “an error occurred in committing your order”

Unfortunately the following errors occurred:

• There was an error committing the order.

https://magazine.newyorker.com/ecom/subscribe.jsp?oppId=1100290&_requestid=8290161

with no direction as to what the specific error(s) might be.

Your prompt response to this email and your prompt resolution of these issues will be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

George M Henderson

P.S. Remember, everything you have now came to you on a truck.

There might be hope for the future

There might be hope for the future but it seems frought with difficulty and will be slow in coming

From The New Yorker

In Search Of Success

by Steve Coll

May 25, 2009

In Pakistan’s tribal regions, near the Afghan border, the United States deploys the armed flying robots known as Predator drones in attacks against Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders. About a year ago, the United States began to acquire better intelligence regarding these terrorist groups. The recent accuracy of the attacks has caused Al Qaeda to murder suspected spies in self-defeating fits of paranoia, a trend that has disrupted the organization’s ability to plan attacks against the U.S. and its allies. General David Petraeus, the over-all American military commander in the region, told CNN, “Al Qaeda, in particular, has sustained some very serious losses over the course of the last six to ten months or so, and there is a considerable concern among those leaders because of the losses that they have sustained.”

It would be difficult for any President to set aside military analysis of this tenor; in any event, Obama has persisted with the Predator strikes at roughly the same rate as George W. Bush. There is no evidence, however, that the drone campaign has yet moved closer to Al Qaeda’s senior leaders, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, or dismantled the group decisively; instead, the targeting still seems to be stuck in the middle of Al Qaeda’s leadership lists. Moreover, Pakistan’s government, although it apparently facilitates the drone attacks in private, finds it necessary to vocally oppose them in public, knowing how unpopular they are. Opportunism and hypocrisy hardly seem the foundation for a sustainable political-military partnership that breaks with the unhappy past.

There are some ideas in train that may truly be transformative. Last week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings on the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act, a bipartisan plan to provide Pakistan with $1.5 billion in annual nonmilitary aid, for at least five years. The legislation is intended to “mend a broken relationship with the Pakistani people,” as John Kerry, who co-sponsored the bill with Richard Lugar, put it. The bill has been well designed to support, for the first time in years, the long-term goal of rebalancing U.S. aid to strengthen pluralism and democracy in Pakistan. “Most Pakistanis feel that America has used and abandoned their country in the past,” Kerry noted. Indeed, most Afghans feel the same. Obama has inherited a toxic legacy; Congress, at least, could ease his burden.

Yes, it would be very nice if Congress began to work in earnest to ease Mr Obama's burden as well as the burden all the world bears from the toxic legacy of the Bush administration.

Inspiration

Friends ,and Loved Ones, Children and Grandchildren,

Gus Lloyd's blog Reflections is good his post today about the changes in the American Catholic Church as regards satisfying the obligation for the Feast of The Ascension is very informative.

Also, from a Protestant Evangelical perspective you might also be interested in Hank Hanegraaff

Hank Hanegraaff serves as president and chairman of the board of the North Carolina-based Christian Research Institute. He is also host of the Bible Answer Man radio program, which is broadcast daily across the United States and Canada—as well as around the world through the Internet at www.equip.org.

Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading Christian apologists, Hanegraaff is deeply committed to equipping Christians to be so familiar with truth that when counterfeits loom on the horizon, they recognize them instantaneously.

~read more~

Last Sunday, as we Catholics are aware from childhood, was the "Fifth Sunday After Easter", "The Fifth Sunday of Easter", or "The Fifth Sunday of Pacaltide" depending on which flavor of English you speak.

Recently, I have returned to a church to which I have a deep and long standing emotional attachment, St Michael's Houston, Texas, it is the building to be sure that I have the emotional attachment to and the Wicks organ. I have been going to Saint Mike's since it was built and I was there during the several days when the Wicks was installed.

Coming up this Sunday is Pentecost an important day in the Christian tradition. As much as the Western Protestants would like to object the liturgical calendar is still set by The Pope in Rome as far as I know and the best source I've found for the Christian liturgical calendar is The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops wherein you will find Liturgical Calendar 2009 for the Dioceses of The United States of America. The USCCB also has an excellent page of documentation, Committee on Divine Worship, about the Catholic liturgy, if you're interested in such things.

Many of you, my children and grandchildren in particular, are of some faith, in some way, Epsicopalian or Protestant Evangelical, and one of you was baptised in the Roman Catholic Church in infancy. Some of you, my friends in particular are of no particular ostensible faith but still seem to have some sense of something beyond the senses, some measure of "the force" if nothing else that lies within human life and its various expressions in art and literature as well as social and political organizations.

I have had some extensive exposure to other philosophical traditions, in particular Zen Buddhism, and no less a person than His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama himself has encouraged me to continue in a spiritual tradition that is familiar to me, especially if that tradition and its training extend back into my preschool years. So, with the Dalai Lama's exhortation in mind I have begun to refamiliarize myself with my Catholic faith.

Pentecost is coming up this Sunday. No matter your faith, whether you have one or not, whether you have a little or alot, whether you can express your faith or lack of faith in words or hold it close to yourself in a nonverbal way, I encourage you strongly to at least read about the history and meaning of The Pentecost and perhaps consider the true meaning of the word inspiration and how it might apply to your life on a daily basis.

Inspiration

c.1303, "immediate influence of God or a god," especially that under which the holy books were written, from O.Fr. inspiration, from L.L. inspirationem (nom. inspiratio), from L. inspiratus, pp. of inspirare "inspire, inflame, blow into," from in-"in" + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit). Inspire in this sense is c.1340, from O.Fr. enspirer, from L. inspirare, a loan-transl. of Gk. pnein in the Bible. General sense of "influence or animate with an idea or purpose" is from 1390. Inspirational is 1839 as "influenced by inspiration;" 1884 as "tending to inspire."

Quick definitions (inspiration)

▸ noun: arousing to a particular emotion or action
▸ noun: a product of your creative thinking and work ("He had little respect for the inspirations of other artists")
▸ noun: a sudden intuition as part of solving a problem
▸ noun: arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity
▸ noun: the act of inhaling; the drawing in of air (or other gases) as in breathing
▸ noun: (theology) a special influence of a divinity on the minds of human beings

From the Tent Maker, a few words worth thinking about, in my opinion, in this context, no matter how much you might not like the Tent Maker or his greater body of work, here he has, I think, something worthwhile

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

In My Own Words, By Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho, His Holiness The Dalai Lama, His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama XIV, Rajiv Mehrotra

The journey is the destination

And, from our old Hebrew brothers

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.
This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.

Well, I'm sure you've had enough by now. I can only encourage you to have some LORD in your life, some guiding principle verbalized or unverbalized, something you can be inspired by every waking moment.

Without competent and immediate medical intervention we are at any given time about six breaths and three heartbeats away from the next adventure.

Every breath is a gift, every beat of your heart is benevolence.

Be thankful, be inspired.

May the God of Hope fill you with all Joy and Peace as you trust in Him, so that You may overflow with Hope by the Power of the Holy Spirit. Amen! ~read more~

Love,

George

!-)

P.S. Yes, freight is slow. Sitting in Chicopee,MA waiting for a load since last night.

God does not call those who are ready but rather God makes ready those He calls.

www.qualityofthelight.blogspot.com