Our fumbling government's response since Beirut - during both Republican and Democratic administrations - has been to cut and run, or to flat ignore this growing threat, apparently hoping it would go away.

Terrorism, too, must be excised wherever it exists, which will take years, and which can't happen without the total commitment and the everyday involvement of the American people.

That's because international Islamic religious fanatics have the same goal as the Axis fascists - the destruction of our way of life.

Our generals talk a good game about taking care of their grunts, and the majority of our Beltway politicians bay with moralistic fervor about how they, too, support the troops.

If consciousness can function independently of the body during one's lifetime, it could be able to do the same after death.

I think we brothers realised his loss more and more as we grew older. We actually grew closer after his death.

Death can't be so bad if mom went through it. It makes it easier for the child to follow.

In her second career as a minister, my mother defied a legacy of chauvinism to become a leader of our community, overseeing a church that served as a hub, offering parenting classes, a food pantry, after-school programming, and - in the wake of Hurricane Katrina - a lifeline to those ravaged by loss.