Smiling Because It's Saturday

The weather continues to be strange here. It's quite warm, in the low 80's but it's windy and cloudy. And humid.

Taking son for a haircut later this morning. Tonight we are going to the Indian restaurant before we enjoy "To Kill a Mockingbird" at the playhouse. Been looking forward to a relaxing night out all week.

Today I read in the newspaper that one of the men in the group called the Christian Peacemakers Team was murdered in Iraq and his body was discovered earlier this week in Baghdad. I wrote about this group a while back. They are a Quaker group that borders on sedition in their anti-war activities.

This man, Tom Fox, was a 54 year old resident of Virginia. He was an assistant manager of a Whole Foods store before he quit to be a full-time activist. He was the father of two college age children. He had been going to Iraq since 2004.

Tom Fox's activities in Baghdad focused on helping the families of detainees in the area. He was trying to be a conduit between the families and the family members being held. So, he was helping the enemy's families to make their life better.

I think if it was truly a humanitarian gesture of this group, they would have been working with normal, everyday Iraqis and helping out in their lives, not the families of terrorists. I think that is a big distinction in this group's mission. This group puts ideology above their country or Iraq.

Fox graduated with a double degree in music performance and education from George Peabody College for Teachers, now a part of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, according to the newspaper article. He was an accomplished clarinetist and spent 20 years playing with the Marine Corps Band. The Marine Corps Band. How many Marines did he and his group do harm to while he was in country?

Fox was not required to undergo Marine Corps boot camp to be a member of the band.

Rest in peace.