Honor

From foxnews.com, edited by yours truly: In June 2007 Staff Sgt. Travis Atkins was conducting route security in Abu Sarnak, Iraq. His group stopped a pair of suspected insurgents. Atkins was soon engaged in hand-to-hand combat with one who was reaching toward his vest. From behind, Atkins put the suicide bomber in a bear hug and slammed him to the ground, away from his comrades. As he pinned the man to the ground, the bomb detonated. Atkins was mortally wounded. With complete disregard for his own safety, he used his body as a shield to protect three fellow soldiers from injury. They were only feet away. Today he will be awarded the nation’s highest honor, The Medal of Honor, in a ceremony at the White House. His son Trevor, who was eleven at the time of his father’s death, will accept it.

From the heroic to the reprehensible: What’s the mystery behind the dropping of charges against Jussie Smollett? An ironic headline at foxnews.com suggests that R. Kelly and Felicity Huffman are free to go. So is Lori Loughlin, I suppose. And what about General Flynn, an actual war hero caught up in the collusion hoax, bankrupted by the need to hire lawyers?

Cody Comer, an aspiring country artist from rural Missouri, posted a video to Facebook that has attracted 70 million views. It’s easy to see why:

The floating book shop enjoyed a bit of dumb luck today. On display were two massive, beautiful pictorials on the Ukraine. When Ira came along I asked where his wife was from, expecting him to say Russia. She’s from the former and is on her way to visit her homeland this evening. He bought both tomes. My thanks, and also to Steven, who purchased two thin volumes of modern poetry; and to Herbie, who raved about Killing, which he’d just finished. It was a much needed shot in the arm given the silence that has followed the publication of my latest, Inside Out. I was so touched by his praise I gave him a copy of the latter.

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