The great American writer and essayist Joan Didion has died, at 87. Truly it can be said, she witnessed  appointments in Samarra. "The Appointment in Samarra" (as retold by W. Somerset Maugham [1933])   The speaker is Death   There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me.  She looked at me and made a threatening gesture,  now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate.  I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me.  The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went.  Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and sai...

All across the Christian world, people are in the midst of Advent, the period which prepares Believers for the birth of the Christ. In 2021, the American Advent has been marked by a warning, in the WASHINGTON POST, by members of the American Military     to prepare for Civil War. Merry Xmas America.   “The U.S. military must start making preparations for another "insurrection" after the 2024 election, according to a trio of retired military generals.   An op-ed  published by the  Washington Post  …. called for action amid growing concern among former senior officials about the "potential for lethal chaos inside our military" in a flash of violence that could eclipse the Capitol riot on Jan. 6.   ….. action were advised by Paul Eaton, a retired U.S. Army major general and a senior adviser to VoteVets, Antonio Taguba, a retired Army major general with 34 years of active duty service, and Steven Anderson, a retired brigadier general who served in the...