There are too many suicides among soldiers in our military (and even one is too many). One would assume this is due to getting "Dear John" letters from wives and girlfriends back home or from the carnage and stress of being in Iraq and Afghanistan. But there’s something else that has been linked to soldier suicide–something strange: a new study suggests that low levels of the highly unsaturated omega-3 essential fatty acids (the kind found in fish oil) may be associated with increased risk of suicide. Should we blame C-rations?
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Another ‘outlier’ anomaly like the mysterious sounds being reported all over the world at present. This glow persisted for twenty minutes on the horizon in Beijing two night ago. Question is, what was it? The hypothesis repeated in the broadcast video here that it might have had something to do with a Russian satellite is hard to accept. A satellite’s launch or passage would surely not have created something that appears as this does.
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I was delighted to learn that Philip Levine will be our new poet laureate–not only because I love his poems, but because I actually got a chance to meet him when a literary group I worked for in San Antonio brought him to the city to speak. His poems are all "blue collar," with metaphors taken from his years working in the auto industry in Detroit. Despite their masculine overtones, I find them very appealing, because what they REALLY talk about is universal. For instance, here is one about connecting (or reconnecting) with a family member. Here’s an example:

What Work Is by Philip Levine

"We stand in the rain in a long line waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work. read more