Rust in Peace

It is with some sadness that I write a heartfelt good bye to my car of four years. We have gone from the Pacific to the Atlantic together. You have been a faithful companion, and I will miss you. We don't always understand why the Lord takes away those we love but we have to trust that it was his plan for that minivan to take you from me. May you live on in that great scrap heap in the sky, (or Jersey as the case may be.)

Monks seize troops in Burma town

Yes, folks, you read that headline correctly. The BBC reports:

Twenty Burmese security officials who were taken captive for several hours by Buddhist monks have been released. The officials arrived at the monastery in the town of Pakokku to apologise for injuries caused during a protest on Wednesday... but angry monks set fire to their vehicles and refused to let them leave.... The officials were freed after a senior abbot intervened.

Reality is far stranger than fiction.