courage

Bernie

Bernie is serene. He was timid when he first came into our home, but now he is the man about the house. No longer confining himself to the upstairs quarters, he comes down in the morning and evening to polish off the remains of the food in the other cats’ bowls and survey the territory. He rubs against our legs and says hello or “meow.” He lays against a pillow on the sofa and falls asleep. He sniffs the other cats’ noses and butts. He and Karl are as thick as thieves.

When he’s anxious–seems to happen mostly with Sylvester (our other large cat)–he shrugs his flanks.

Karl & Bernie

Now, if only he could get Karl to spend more time downstairs. His presence seems to calm him. Karl has always been a very timid, anxious cat.

(google – the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow, fromThe Wizard of Oz)

Here’s hoping Bernie can imbue Karl with some courage.

Bernie, the serene, Buddha Cat.

Bangladeshi blogger Oyasiqur Rhaman, 27 years old, was macheted to death over his comments on extreme Islam. This is the second killing of this kind in five weeks in the capital city, Dhaka.

The other slain blogger was Bangladeshi-American Dr. Avijit Roy who harshly criticized fundamentalist Islam on his website, “Mukto-Mona” or “Free Mind.” He wrote articles on scientific reasoning and religious extremism of all kinds, not just Islam. He and his wife Rafida Ahmed were living in Atlanta, Georgia and went to Dhaka to attend a book fair when he was killed. His wife tried to fend off the machete-wielding assailants and was injured herself, but survived. She has since returned to the U.S.

Daily Mail, 2-27-15 (Rafida Ahmed standing over her husband’s body)

The extremists said that Roy was singled out because he was a U.S. citizen, and they sought “revenge” for U.S. attacks on ISIS in Syria.

Monika Ammerman, a friend of Roy’s daughter Trisha wrote a tribute to him, aptly entitled “Words Cannot be Killed.”

It’s hard to put into words my feelings surrounding these brutal killings. I feel privileged, on the one hand, to be living in the U.S. and fairly confident I won’t be murdered for writing inflammatory posts, but at the same time, the War Against Words has begun in the U.S. too. Do any of us feel truly free to speak our minds, pen our thoughts or expose certain truths, truths that might be considered subversive or threatening to the powers-that-be? I would be lying if I said I did.

I honor those who have died and continue to die and be persecuted for what they believe, in words and in deeds.