Mark

27 years ago today, we lost my dad. Sweetness. The man whose smile could light up a whole city and whose heart never stopped running. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss him. What keeps me going is seeing how much you all still love him. The stories, the memories, the way you keep his name and spirit alive… it means everything to our family. Thank you for never forgetting him. Thank you for carrying his legacy with us all these years. We’re good down here, Pop. The family’s strong, and your Sweetness lives on in every person you touched. ❤️ @walterpayton #Bears 🐻⬇️

In 1822, Muslim Turks captured two Greek Christian women in Naousa and attempted to force them to convert to Islam. They smeared them with honey on the head and tied them exposed, so as to receive the stings of wasps and of passersby. The first woman, wife of Captain Zafeirakis, was then built into the wall up to the neck in the church of Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki. She was left there for days for the entertainment of the wild mob that went there cursing and hitting her head with sticks as it protruded from the wall. She did not back down for a moment, strengthened until her last breath by prayer, and she never abandoned her Christian faith. Her martyrdom lasted five days. A passing gypsy woman, to hasten her end, threw a large stone at her, and thus the blessed one delivered her heroic soul into the hands of God, Whom she did not deny. The other woman, Maria Karatasou, wife of Captain Karatasos, refused to change her faith, and for this Muhammad Pasha Abu Nabbut enclosed her in a sack with deadly snakes, where she was martyred. The historian Eustathios Stougiannakis writes: "The acute venom diffused into the veins of the martyr from the bites, however, killed her in sweet lethargy, praying until the last moment for her executioners and invoking the Most High and the Virgin." And Pouqueville describes in the darkest colors to the civilized world the dramatic scenes he saw with his own eyes there: "Many women naked were put up to the neck in sacks with cats, snakes, and mice" The lifeless bodies of these holy women were eventually thrown into the sea. These events took place during the Naousa massacre. 13 April 1822. Just 200 years ago. 409 men killed and over 400 women and children were enslaved. If you want to support me in the effort I’m making, please consider becoming a subscriber to my X account for only $2. I write about the ancient, medieval, and modern history of Greece and what Christians went through in Asia Minor, Greece, and Cyprus because of Islam. Thank you very much to those of you who support me and read me. - Homer Pavlos

Never underestimate the weight of a small act of kindness, it can carry someone further than you’ll ever see. You may never know what your presence prevented. The message you sent. The moment you stayed. The time you chose to really listen. That could’ve been the reason someone didn’t give up.

While getting to know who Vanderbilt forward Sebastian Williams-Adams is as a person, I heard as many good stories as I have this early about any Vanderbilt player ever. Truly a fascinating, deep person. Meet him here @VandyOnSI: si.com/college/vanderbilt/ba…

.@grok on July 3, 1933, at Soldier Field in Chicago at the Century of Progress World's Fair, did the Zionist Organization of America depict “1000 years of jewish history” by putting on a performance that included a depiction of child sacrifice to Moloch? Start with yes or no.

The Brewers are being celebrated like they invented baseball. They are doing things that have become unusual. They have an old school tough manager who players love playing for. They focus on basic easy to understand basic fundamentals. They have a hitting coach that was an overachieving player for skill that played in the big leagues. They hit the ball the other way. They value putting the ball in play. They adjust their approach based on situation and count. They are not addicted to exit velocity and launch angle bullshit. They bunt and steal bases. They do not have selfish superstars that need to be treated like celebrities. The Brewers simply play the game how it was meant to be played.

Stewart Copeland of The Police revisits his song ‘Message in a Bottle’ many years later

‼️ A 15-year-old boy f!ght!ng çançer held his mother’s hands overnight and told her he loved her one more time. Hours earlier, doctors had warned his family he might not survive the night. But this morning, Jett is still here. Still defying the odds. Still proving what a warrior he is I’ve been sharing Jett Trunnell’s b@ttle with bøne çançer, and this latest update from his mother, Tiffany, is absolutely heartbre@king. You may remember Jett asking a hospital chaplain why this was happening to him when he’d always tried to be a good person. He was t£rrif!ed of dy!ñg. Now his family is facing what no parent should ever have to endure. Tiffany revealed something she’d kept private because Jett was reading the family’s Facebook updates and she didn’t want to fr!ghten him. Doctors had given her son just a 20% chance of survival from the beginning. His osteosarcoma has spread to his lungs, and the pa!n has become unbearable. Last night, during a moment of clarity, Jett told his family he didn’t want to d!e. He wanted to live. He wanted another chance at treatment. “Let me try trials,” he pleaded. But Tiffany says that option is no longer possible. Jett was taken off fluids two days ago and is now receiving morphine and methadone to keep him comfortable. And tomorrow, his big sister Kenzie turns 23. Tiffany says the two have always been inseparable, almost like twins despite their eight-year age difference. Imagine preparing to celebrate your daughter’s birthday while wondering whether her little brother will still be here. This morning, Tiffany shared that Jett had made it through the night and was sleeping peacefully. This video of Jett holding his mother’s hands and telling her he loved her is both heartbre@king and beautiful. There is so much love in this moment, and so much heartbre@k knowing what this family is facing. Would you please pray specifically that Jett remains comfortable and free from pa!n, that he feels safe and surrounded by the people he loves, and that Tiffany has the strength to be beside her son through every fr!ght£ning moment? To everyone who has followed Jett’s journey with me, please surround this family with love today. Jett, we’re still here, praying for you and your family. 💙🙏 ~Jett's journey with osteosarcoma