A sparrow almost hit me in the head while inside the grocery store a few days ago.

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/careers/stanley-mcchrystal-military-career-slammed-curveball-n86861

NBC NEWS

[ RETRIEVED 4:45 PM Pacific Time USA 22 April 2013 ]

Stanley McChrystal: Military Career Slammed With a 'Curveball'

Retired U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, whose career was torpedoed by a 2010 article in Rolling Stone, describes his dramatic ouster as commander of international forces in Afghanistan in a column for the social networking site LinkedIn.

McChrystal was forced to retire after the Rolling Stone article by journalist Michael Hastings, titled ‘The Runaway General,’ described unnamed aides of the general making jokes and derisive remarks about the White House’s team.

“Most importantly, my very identity as a soldier came to an abrupt end. I’d been soldiering as long as I’d been shaving. Suddenly I’d been told I could no longer soldier, and it felt as though no one really cared if I ever shaved again,” McChrystal wrote in the online column published Tuesday. “I’d caught a curveball directly on the chin; I wanted to find a corner of the dugout, away from TV cameras, to rub my head and maybe sniffle a bit.”

A Pentagon inquiry first reported on by the New York Times cleared McChrystal of wrongdoing in the aftermath of his dismissal. Rolling Stone issued a statement saying it stood by “every detail” of the story.

“I’d never been more tempted to feel like a victim –- an emotion that could have easily consumed me. Many would have supported, even welcomed me in the victim role; pundits would have let me rant, and a tell-all would have been an instant best seller,” the former general wrote on the site typically used for networking among business professionals.

McChrystal published a best-selling memoir in 2013 under the title ‘My Share of the Task.’ Brad Pitt will reportedly play the general in an upcoming film










http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/quotes

IMDb


Inception (2010)

Quotes


Eames: You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.










http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096073/quotes

IMDb


The Seventh Sign (1988)

Quotes


Old Priest: It is you, Morrell. But that was seventy years ago!

Father Lucci: That was just yesterday to me.










JOURNAL ARCHIVE: Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2006 22:32:30 -0800 (PST)

From: "Kerry Burgess"

Subject: Re: Every one that flatters thee

To: "Kerry Burgess"


Kerry Burgess wrote:
http://www.online-literature.com/short.php/333

As it fell upon a day
In the merry month of May,
Sitting in a pleasant shade
Which a grove of myrtles made,
Beasts did leap, and birds did sing,
Trees did grow, and plants did spring;
Every thing did banish moan,
Save the nightingale alone:
She, poor bird, as all forlorn,
Lean'd her breast up-till a thorn
And there sung the dolefull'st ditty,
That to hear it was great pity:
'Fie, fie, fie,' now would she cry;
'Tereu, tereu!' by and by;
That to hear her so complain,
Scarce I could from tears refrain;
For her griefs, so lively shown,
Made me think upon mine own.
Ah, thought I, thou mourn'st in vain!
None takes pity on thy pain:
Senseless trees they cannot hear thee;
Ruthless beasts they will not cheer thee:
King Pandion he is dead;
All thy friends are lapp'd in lead;
All thy fellow birds do sing,
Careless of thy sorrowing.
Even so, poor bird, like thee,
None alive will pity me.
Whilst as fickle Fortune smiled,
Thou and I were both beguiled.
Every one that flatters thee
Is no friend in misery.
Words are easy, like the wind;
Faithful friends are hard to find:
Every man will be thy friend
Whilst thou hast wherewith to spend;
But if store of crowns be scant,
No man will supply thy want.
If that one be prodigal,
Bountiful they will him call,
And with such-like flattering,
'Pity but he were a king;'
If he be addict to vice,
Quickly him they will entice;
If to women he be bent,
They have at commandement:
But if Fortune once do frown,
Then farewell his great renown
They that fawn'd on him before
Use his company no more.
He that is thy friend indeed,
He will help thee in thy need:
If thou sorrow, he will weep;
If thou wake, he cannot sleep;
Thus of every grief in heart
He with thee doth bear a part.
These are certain signs to know
Faithful friend from flattering foe.


[JOURNAL ARCHIVE 19 February 2006 excerpt ends]



JOURNAL ARCHIVE: Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2006 22:32:30 -0800 (PST)

From: "Kerry Burgess"

Subject: Re: Every one that flatters thee

To: "Kerry Burgess"

I don't remember when I first read this. But it sure resonates with me. It is even ironic the part about May. If I'm not mistaken, it was May 31 when I gave up my apartment. I want to sit down and try to write out as much of a timeline after that as possible, but I can't remember a lot of the details, although I knew all along that my tormentors knew exactly what I was doing and where I was located every minute of every one of those days. And so in this message below, he is talking basically about how people can talk about being your friend, but it is when the world throws you down into some really dark place, it is your friends that are going to be there with you. And I remember those first 9 days I was starving and I couldn't believe not only were they still oppressing me with their cage, but that no one even attempted to leave any food on my doorstep or something like that.


[JOURNAL ARCHIVE 19 February 2006 excerpt ends]



- posted by H.V.O.M - Kerry Wayne Burgess 4:58 PM Pacific Time somewhere near Seattle Washington USA Tuesday 22 April 2014