bird season

In the grey morning dawn, out beyond the dikes erected in the wake of the flooding of 1936, shots rang out this morning. I assume it's "bird season" again ... bang, bang, bang. The corn fields draw the birds. The birds draw the hunters. Others will wait a while and buy their food at Stop & Shop.

In the world, judging by the news wires, the fear of Ebola and the nurturing of a wartime footing in the Middle East are important. The U.S. is very good at raising up undefined, but frightening, enemies. Those who will suffer and die as a result are seldom the men and women who analyze and point out and buttress the threats. They 'care' and seem unashamed and prefer to send air strikes than to admit their own responsibilities.

In Rome, some Vatican bishops are going ape-shit that homosexuals are being granted a new outlook at a gathering to assess and define the meaning of "family."

However Voice Of The Family, a conservative Roman Catholic organisation, rejected the interim report as a "betrayal".
The group's co-founder John Smeaton called it "one of the worst official documents drafted in Church history".

It is so much easier to make war on homosexuals than it is to concede their presence and value, even within the Vatican that seeks to shun and demean.

I've got a column to write for tomorrow. I'll do it without much enthusiasm. I like to try to keep my word.