This week I have cut the stories down to three which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them.  As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."

You know, it's not that long since Veterans' Day.  On the day after Veterans' Day, Army Sergeant John William Perry died of injuries received from an improvised explosive device in Bagram, Afghanistan.  He was 30.  He left behind a wife and two small children.  Also a mother, a father, and a grandmother with whom he had been living in California prior to deployment. 

His father, Stewart Perry, accepted the responsibility to meet his remains from Dover, Delaware to northern California.  With his wife an daughter, he boarded an American Airlines flight to Philadelphia, with a quick transfer in Phoenix, before traveling from there to Dover.

Apparently the flight was 45 minutes late getting into Phoenix, and the crew feared the delay might cause them to miss their connecting flight.  So, when the plane landed, the Captain announced that all passengers should remain seated to let a "special military family" exit the aircraft first.

Several passengers in first class began to boo and complain, Perry said.

"Some people were saying 'This is just baloney,' and 'I paid for first-class for this?' “

Daily Kos user noweasels (and isn't that a great name?) had this to say about it:

Dear Entitled First Class Whiners: When you hear “special military family” on board, you sit or stand and say “thank you.”  It doesn’t matter what you “paid,” because what you paid has no meaning to any family of any member of the military who has paid the ultimate price. 

But I would like for them to hear it from you, Megaera.  I'll bet it would be memorable.

BTW, Daily Kos has a group called "I Got The News Today" where members post tributes to the memory of service members who give their lives. Here is the tribute page for Sergeant Perry and another soldier who also died that day.

Transgendered people have probably always existed, but the earliest reference to one (that I know of) is to Tiresias, who appears in several myths, one of which is the Odyssey.  The scholarly consensus now is that the events of the Iliad and the Odyssey, or some semblance of them, actually occurred, and that this happened between roughly 1220-1178 BCE, or up to three and a quarter thousand years ago.  That is one heck of a long time it has taken humanity to catch up with reality, and, alas, there are plenty who still need to catch up.

One who hasn't caught up yet is Anmarie Calgaro, who has just filed a lawsuit against her emancipated (under Minnesota law) 17-year-old daughter (whom she calls her son) to prevent her from getting medical gender affirmation care.

The Minnespta Department of Education estimates, based on this year's Minnesota Student Survey, estimates that as many as 6600 students in grades 9 through 12 may be transgendered.  There is no data on what percentage of parents are likely to be affirming of their children and what percentage are likely to be oppressive.  But if Anmarie wins this suit, that's a lot of kids who may be cut off from their own identities. 

Additionally, the whole minor-and-medical-rights issue would also affect any minor needing to seek abortion.  Which is probably why the Catholic Thomas More Society is backing her.  Personally, I think More, who, by all accounts, was a kindly man, would turn over in his grave about their actions.

Alecto, I believe Minnesota is better than this.  Perhaps you can educate this mother and her legal team who are well over three thousand years behind the times and counting.  Alternatively, you may only need to educate the judge.  Whatever you can do.

Staying in Minnesota (and I am not trying to pick on Minnesota, these stories just happened to happen together, so to speak), we have this headline:

5th grader brings gun to school to kill Muslim 3rd grader.

Yes, you read that right.

Sheriff Bill Hutton said the incident was under investigation but that there had been no indication so far that a hate crime was committed. 

Right.

The gun in question was an airgun "replica handgun," which means it looked exactly like a "real" gun.  Not, however, that an air gun isn't a real gun.  Water pistols may shoot water, but air guns shoot pellets or BBs, and many have plenty of power to kill small animals.  In fiction, Sherlock Holmes's arch-enemy Moriarty had minions working on air gun research, and Moriarty's right hand man, Sebastian Moran, had one with which he killed numerous people.  The gun in the picture is a replica Ruger which fires 20 gram BBs with a 12 gram CO2 cartridge. It's probably not the one the fifth grader had, but it could have been, and there are many others it could have been also.   I would not be happy to have any of them pointed at me.

The fifth-grader had threatened to kill the third-grader three days prior to bringing the gun to school.  It was, thankfully, confiscated on the bus on the way in.  But it appears to me that the intention (premeditation) was there, so that this qualifies as "vengeful destruction."  And it doesn't appear he is likely to hear that from anyone  other than you, Tisiphone.  Yes, I'm sending you after kids now. 

Oh, as a postscript, some may remember that last year I wrote about a lavish and very, very expensive dinner offered by The Old Homestead Steakhouse.  At that time the cost was $45,000.00.  Well, it's back.  This year it's $50,000.00, with a different package of perks (no 2-carat diamond ring this year, but lots of other goodies.)

The Furies and I will be back.