I was given my name by the Iroquois Nation many hundreds of years ago. By 1660 my name was printed on maps by the Europeans as they accepted the Native name which means Beautiful waters.
In 1867 the Canadian government decided to use my name for their providence.
I'm sorry we never got a chance to meet, but getting this note from Dolly really had a an impact on me. She definitely didn't have to take the time to do it. Even for a kid who mostly listened to rap music, she was an icon. A superstar in every sense. Rest easy Dolly. And thank you for the kind words.
NEW: The USS Abraham Lincoln was supposed to come home in May — instead, under Trump's Navy, its sailors are grinding through a ninth month at sea with no end date, and the crew is so broken that multiple have attempted suicide. This should be a national scandal.
OMFG!
This should be a national scandal.
Multiple sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have attempted to jump overboard as the aircraft carrier’s deployment in the Middle East stretches months beyond what their families originally expected.
Think about how desperate conditions have to become for American service members, people trained to endure enormous physical and psychological stress, to reach that point.
The roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard the Lincoln have reportedly endured food and water shortages, poor-quality rations, shortages of basic hygiene products, broken toilets, mold and mildew in showers, intermittent hot water, disrupted mail service and brutally long workdays with little meaningful time off.
The ship has spent extraordinary stretches at sea without the regular port calls that normally allow crews to get off the vessel, rest, resupply and simply experience something resembling normal life for a few days.
These men and women volunteered to serve the United States. They understood that military service could mean sacrifice, danger and months away from their families.
They did not volunteer to be treated as disposable.
If conditions aboard one of the most powerful and expensive warships on Earth have deteriorated to the point where sailors are reportedly trying to throw themselves into the ocean, then something has gone catastrophically wrong.
Our service members deserve better than this.
And somebody in leadership needs to answer for how it was ever allowed to get this bad.