HEADACHE UPDATE

Since I started taking a steroid earlier this week, results have been encouraging. I'm down to one headache per day. Cluster headaches come on very suddenly with no advance warning, like an aura. They usually start with a pressure behind my left eye, which quickly turns to throbbing pain. The pain is worse than a migraine. My left eye starts to water, & if it gets really bad, the teeth in the left side of my mouth begin to ache. If I use sumatriptan as soon as I suspect a headache is coming on, relief usually comes within 15 minutes. If I wait too long, the headache can last 1/2 hour or more, & I usually have to take additional medication.

A HYMN

Given the turmoil affecting our country, I find this hymn, "God Bless Our Native Land," to be appropriate.

"God bless our native land; Firm may she ever stand Through storm & night.
When the wild tempests rave, Ruler of wind & wave, Do Thou our country save
By Thy great might.

CRIMINAL MINDS

"Woman arrested after 'trying to neuter her dog at home with dental floss'" Drudge Report, 6/20

DACA

"Obama didn’t lie about all the small things, only about all the big ones. And after signing the executive directive on DACA, Obama claimed it was just “a temporary stopgap measure.”

"Should presidents be able to “bypass Congress” and “change the laws” using “a temporary stopgap measure,” and simply wait a few decades until his party has enough votes to pass it through the prescribed constitutional manner? Seems to me that undermines the entire purpose of having a Congress

"For years Democrats argued that Obama was impelled to act because Congress wouldn’t do its “job.” I’m sorry, but if you can’t elect enough people to pass your priorities, or you’re unable to find a compromise, that’s your problem. Congress is under no edict to pass liberal priorities. And Dreamers are not predestined for protection."  David Harsanyi, National Review Online, 6/19

THE SILENT MAJORITY

"Let's wake up and rededicate ourselves to preventing the destruction of America. Don't ever lose hope. My bet is the silent majority is bigger than ever and that we'll see that in November. Stay in the fight like your children's future depends on it -- because it does."  David Limbaugh, Townhall, 6/19

RACISM

"But racism is so interwoven with our history that there is simply no escaping it. If we have to confirm our opposition to racism and slavery by removing all figures associated with these evils, we can’t stop until the Washington and Jefferson memorials are taken down, or at least renamed. We can’t stop until most of the early presidents are removed from the currency, their statues stored away, and all of the places named after them renamed. How does it make sense to remove a statue of Columbus in Columbus, Ohio? Which of these honors is more visible and hence more offensive — a single hunk of stone or the very name of Ohio’s capital city? All of the places named after Columbus, from the capital of Ohio to the District of Columbia to the Ivy League university in Upper Manhattan, would also have to be renamed.

"There would be such a cacophony of sandblasting, removing, and rewriting from coast to coast that we’d all soon be overwhelmed by the scale of the project, at which point there would be a collective sense that this was all a folly. We’d all stop and realize that no matter how satisfying it may be to pretend it lies within our power to declare it’s Year One, none of these revisionist acts would be doing anything about the underlying fact, which is that there is a lot of racism in American history."  Kyle Smith, NRO, 6/20

ORPHANS

"Whatever one believes, we cannot afford to leave anyone feeling orphaned. Even people surrounded by family can feel alone and unloved. Don't we see the consequences of that lack of hope playing out on our streets, in our politics, even in so many homes? The solution lies in opening our hearts to others for the kind of healing that only otherworldly, sacrificial, merciful love makes possible. It's amazing when we see it unfold. It's only possible with gratitude. Leaving room in our lives to encounter God -- and being an instrument for others to make that same encounter -- sure doesn't hurt."  Kathryn Jean Lopez, Townhall, 6/20