A hateful cult and heroes

Nothing of medieval importance—ie, interest to me---on February 19th. It would have been my mother’s 102nd birthday, though—not that she would have wanted to live that long. While she remained mentally very sharp until her death at 87, her body was not as resilient as her brain and her last years were spent battling osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and CHF. I still marvel at Eleanor of Aquitaine and Cecily Neville; reaching 80 in the MA was a remarkable achievement, even if it did mean they buried too many children and died knowing that the fortunes of their Houses were in decline. We’ll never know, of course, but I suspect they both felt they’d lived too long.
Here is a nice story about the heartening reception given to the young football player, Michael Sam, when he made an appearance at the Missouri--Tennessee game. Members of Westboro, that disgusting cult that pretends to be a church, were planning to picket Michael Sam and Missouri students formed a human barricade to keep them at a distance. We’ve discussed this hateful family here before. For those unfamiliar with them, they are most infamous for protesting at the funerals of slain soldiers, showing up with signs that say “God loves dead soldiers.” They are living proof that homophobia and sanity are mutually exclusive. They were once going to picket the funeral of a young soldier who was being buried at our local military cemetery and several Veterans’ groups were planning to attend to make sure they did not get near the grieving family. But a sudden snowstorm hit, stranding them in Chicago.
http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsport...

And here are some remarkable stories of dogs being pulled from icy waters by some incredibly brave rescuers. Be sure to watch the video of the MA firefighters rescuing a dog from the Charles River—awesome! But then firefighters are everyday heroes, too.
http://www.care2.com/causes/dogs-in-f...