The Weekly Erinism- August 30, 2009

As Erin and I were leaving my parent's house on Thursday to head home and reunite with Mommy after a 4 day separation (Laur had no vacation days left, so she had to return to New Jersey Sunday morning), we agreed to follow my parents to the "good" gas station in St. James (they were headed out on a road trip themselves, and like us, needed to gas up).

While their gasoline was pumping, my Mom came back to the Tercel and I rolled down the window. She inquired as to whether I would be alright getting back to the main road, because they still had to make another stop at King Kullen. I said I was fine, and she said good-bye to Erin one more time before she went back to the car. They paid, and were on their way.

"Dadoo, where are Long Gram and Long Gramp going?"

"They had to make a quick stop at King Kullen."

At this, Erin began to giggle uncontrollably. I shot her a quick glance, but couldn't see any obvious reason for the laughter. Somewhat perplexed, I asked, "What's so funny, Erin?"

She didn't answer right away as the giggle fit crescendoed, and after a sigh and a deep breath, Erin replied with a question of her own, "Dadoo, what's a King Kullen?"

"King Kullen is a supermarket, just like Jack's, Pathmark, or Shop-Rite," I answered, naming off all of the supermarkets within a short distance of where we live.

There was a silent moment, I guess as Erin processed the information. Then she said, "King Kullen's a pretty funny name for a supermarket, isn't it Dadoo?" She emphasized her point with a little harumph-like chuckle.

"Ummmm, OK... if you think so, Sweety" came my reply.

We drove on in silence for a couple of minutes, when suddenly I was startled (so much so that I nearly drove off the road) by Erin shouting at the top of her lungs,

"KING KULLEN!!!!!!!"

This was punctuated by another uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"DON'T DO THAT AGAIN!!" I proclaimed angrily.

Erin reluctantly agreed not to shout again. After another minute or so of silence, I heard her, in what can only be described as a whisper-shout, say "King Kullen" again, followed again by the same hysterics. This continued as we travelled 25A to Pulaski Rd, and on Pulaski all the way to Larkfield Rd. in East Northport. It was likely 20 minutes of the whisper-shout "King Kullen" and the ensuing hilarity.

Erin temporarily retired the King Kullen "joke" as we ate lunch at "Chef's of New York" in East Northport, and all the while as I drove her around my old stomping grounds in Huntington, Lloyd Harbor, and Cold Spring Harbor. But later on, as we rolled up the ramp on to the Verazzano Bridge, the "King Kullen" joke was back with a vengeance... and this time, she accompanied each cry of "King Kullen" by thrusting Pink Crayon straight up in the air. I never saw a child so entertained by the name of a store. That's my little girl!

The Senate Un"Ethics" Committee

I have to say, I was so RELIEVED to see that the Senate Ethics Committee has decided that Senator's Dodd and Conrad did nothing wrong when they took loans from Countrywide at a rate unavailable to the average citizen (or even above average or exceptional citizen, for that matter).

I am assuming the Ethics Committee and its Chair, Senator Barbara Boxer, must be confused about the nature of their responsibility within their committee, so let me clear it up for them:

NEWS FLASH: Your committee is called the "Ethics" Committee, not the "Legality" Committee. Your job is to investigate ethical breaches, not violations of the law. While something may be technically "legal" it may still be "unethical" (like, for example, when the Chairs of the Senate Banking and Budget Committees, Senators Dodd and Conrad, respectively, accept special favors from the very industry that their committees oversee).

For Senator Boxer, and her Committee, the dictionary defines the two terms as such:

illegal:: not according to or authorized by law : unlawful, illicit
unethical: not conforming to approved standards of social or professional behavior

Now I realize, Senator Boxer, that you and your esteemed colleagues are really busy right now not reading the health care reform bill that you will be voting on, so let me try to save you some time by spelling this out in very simple terms. What Senators Dodd and Conrad did was possibly not illegal, but it was unquestionably wrong. Surely, even you can see through your hyper-partisan glasses how their behavior constitutes a conflict of interest? Just imagine, for a second, that instead of Dodd and Conrad with the D for Democrat next to their name, the offending parties were Senators McConnell and Kyl, with the R for Republican next to their name. Would your so-called "Ethics" Committee be so quick to dismiss the issue? I am quite confident that it would not. In fact, I believe you would pursue the matter with dogged determination until they were sanctioned in some way, rightfully so. But Ethics, like Justice, is supposed to be blind. Right is right and wrong is wrong... ethical is ethical and unethical is unethical, regardless of race, religion, gender, or political party affiliation.

2 Quarterbacks

It's been an interesting week in the NFL... what with Michael Vick coming back from serving time for running a brutal dog-fighting ring & signing with the Philadelphia Eagles and Brett Favre coming back from retirement (again) and signing with the Minnesota Vikings. There's been a lot of huffing and puffing in the television and print press about these two men returning to play in the NFL, and I largely do not understand all the hub-bub.

In the case of Brett Favre, the man holds every significant passing record that there is in the NFL. Most career yards passing, most career touchdowns, most passing attempts, most passing completions, most interceptions thrown, most victories by a starting QB, and most consecutive games started by a QB (only one game away from tying the most started by a player at any position). This last stat is probably the most impressive...for nearly 20 years, he has started every consecutive game in both the regular season and playoffs. This is not a kicker who is on the field for 6-10 plays per game. We're talking about a QB... he's on the field for probably half of every game. Even with a great offensive line, that's still a lot of blind-side hits over a career without missing a beat. If the guy wants to come back... if he is having some trouble letting go of the game that he loves so dearly... if there is someone out there willing to pay for his services (someone like the Minnesota Vikings)... who on Earth are we to get so worked up in a tizzy over the prospect of him playing again? "But he lied to us about wanting to stay retired!" Oh, come off your high horse!! Accept as fact that a guy who played the game with such unabashed joy might find it hard to walk away. "He only came back for the money!!" So what!?!? Who are we to attack the man' motivations. Don't tell me that if you decided to retire from your job, and then another employer came and threw several million dollars at you to work two more years, you wouldn't at least consider it. What right do any of us have to tell him when to walk away. I say as long as he's got the will and an employer who wants to pay him, let him play. If a 60 year old Doctor, or Lawyer, or Custodian wanted to continue working, we wouldn't dare say "You're too old!" So what gives us the right to say the same to this 40 year old football player? I for one am looking forward to watching Mr. Favre on Sundays again for at least one more year.

As to Michael Vick, his story seems a little more complicated to me, because of the horrific nature of what has kept him out of the NFL for a number of years. I grew up with dogs, and would fairly describe myself as a dog-lover. I miss owning a dog very much, and look forward to owning a house so that one day we will be able to introduce Erin to the joys of having a dog, and the responsibilities that come along with it. So, like everyone else, I was more than a little disgusted and horrified by crimes Vick was charged with and convicted of committing. The man funded a dog fighting ring... he had dogs fight each other to the death. He electrocuted them, drowned them, hung them from trees... there is truly a frightening aspect to the sheer cruelty of his crimes. All that being said, however, he has served his time... paid his debt to society so to speak. He was fired from his old team, suspended from the league, and lost out on millions and millions of dollars because of his actions. That is not to say that just because he served some prison time and endured some self-inflicted hardship, he is entitled to return to the NFL... playing in the NFL is a privilege, just as working for any employer is a privilege, not a right. The Atlanta Falcons cut him, and if no other team wanted him, then he would have to find something else to do. There are no guarantees in life. But, in this case, another team was interested in his potential services, and having served his time and ridden out a league suspension on top of it, he should have a chance to turn his life around. What are the chances that he will not get in trouble again? I don't know, probably pretty slim... the harsh nature of the crimes he committed point to a certain sociopathy in his psyche, it seems to me. But in this country aren't we all about redemption, about second chances and making things right? Look, I am not defending what he did, and I don't really care for the guy as a person or a player. But we give politicians, entertainers, heck, even our own family members second chances all the time. Michael Vick deserves a chance at redemption, not so much because he has earned it, but because we are America, and it is part of the American way.

A Hero's Welcome

Well, Laur, Erin & I just returned from our first official "Hero's Welcome" at Newark Liberty Ariport. The young man returning from Afghanistan, an E5 in the US Navy, was on his way home from a 9 month deployment. We met folks there from several organizations, and all cheered and waved American flags when he walked out of the terminal and gave his Mom a hug. It was a heart-warming moment, and I felt slightly choked up as I got to shake his hand, look him in the eyes, and tell him Thank You. Looks like we have the makings of our very own North Jersey chapter of A Hero's Welcome... we all exchanged contact information, and I can't wait for our next hero to come home. Erin was so well behaved, and she did her part, proudly waving her flag... I was proud of her, and proud to have this moment to demonstrate to her the respect and reverence we should have for our veterans... they who have given so much for us and for our country. God Bless our troops, and God Bless the USA!

Pro-Choice

I heard Mark Steyn on the radio yesterday and he raised an interesting point. I'd like to take it and run with it. Why is it that when the Left talks about abortion in this country, they are always so quick to scream "I'm Pro-Choice", or "A woman has a right to choose", or some such variation, but when it comes to any issue other than abortion where liberals support government interference and intrusion, the only "choice" we are entitled to is to comply or be in violation of the law. As a people, we somehow have a "Constitutional Right to Choose" to abort a child, but when it comes to "choosing" a health insurance plan, well by golly, that needs to be left in the competent hands of the U.S. government. Want to "choose" to own a gun (an ACTUAL Constitutional Right as enumerated in the Bill of Rights)? Well, if the Left had it's way, you would not be able to do so (and in some places, laws have becomes so restrictive as to effectively eliminate the right of gun ownership). I'd like to "choose" to opt out of the sham that is social security, and invest that money myself... I'm no financial genius... in fact I'm really quite a novice... and yet I STILL have more faith in my ability to make competent choices about my retirement/future than a collection of lifetime government bureaucrats. Regardless of my qualifications and motivations, it is MY money and MY "Right To Choose", right? The term "Pro-Choice" has been effective for the Left in terms of abortion... why don't we apply to these other issues that are important to us in mainstream America. "Oh, I'm not anti-labor unions, I'm just Pro-Choice," or "I'm not opposed to social security, I'm pro-choice." Use their own tools against them... bludgeon them with their own rhetoric, so to speak. Or, in simpler terms, give them a dose of their own medicine.

"Faith" - by John McDermott

A light in the darkness
Some hope for us all
A beacon, a searchlight
It answers our call
We are burdened
We are tired
We are frightened
We are ill
But the light shines upon us
There's a chance for us still
It comforts
And warms us
It staves off our fears
It has always reassured us
For all of our years
As long as we have it
We'll not be alone
And some day
When we're ready
It will lead us home.

Ode to Freedom- a poem by John McDermott (me) :-)

Over 230 years passed
our ancestors arose,
they demanded freedom
their brethren became foes.

A bloody struggle ensued
and brave men fought a war,
upon victory the American
nation was born.

And oh what a place
the like noone had seen,
where the founding ideal
was that all men yearn to be free.

No king was installed
to rule over the masses,
We, the People would elect
the governing class.

Great men of foresight
and vision and wisdom,
created the Constitution
Guarantor of our freedom.

Our leaders do not lead
by divine right or royal decree,
but by the will of the People
in the name of liberty.

For more than 23 decades
our great nation has flourished,
though the tree of liberty has
taken much blood to stay nourished.

We've never been perfect
we have our share of stains,
but our national conscience
sets things right again.

Know that freedom is fleeting
yet more precious than gold,
its preservation having claimed
so many brave souls.

We must not take it for granted
we must awake from our apathy,
we cannot allow liberty to evaporate
because of our lethargy.

Awake! Awake! Awake!
Awake from your slumber!
WE are America!
We have the numbers!

This is our nation
and this is our freedom,
don't give it away
hold tight to your freedom.

Once surrendered of freewill
it will be hard to reclaim,
so hold on to it fast
it must be sustained.

The Weekly Erinism- 8/16/2009

Today, I came home from work at lunchtime to quickly devour a ham sandwich and spend a few minutes with Laur and Erin. Erin was watching Maggie and the Ferocious Beast on the Noggin network when I came into the living room with my sandwich & cup of water. I set my cup down on a little tray table, and as I settled into the couch to eat my sandwich, I mistakenly bumped the table with my knee, sending the cup of water sprawling to the floor. For a second, the room was silent save for the sound of the television. Erin and I made eye contact, and a sly little grin spread across her face as she parroted a phrase to me that she has heard directed her way many times of late:

"Dadoo, you made the mess, so you clean it up."

A Little Color To Brighten Your Day

The Weekly Erinism- 8/11/2009

I've decided to try posting a regular record of the crazy and entertaining things that our little girl shares with us, or the bizarre and humorous conversations that we have with her. I will call it the Weekly Erinism. Here's this week's example:

Dadoo: "Erin, if I catch you doing that again, or if I hear about you doing it again from anybody else, I am going to punish you."

Erin (wailing): "NO!!! No no no no no... don't do that Dadoo... please don't do that!"

Dadoo: "Yes Erin... if you do it again, you will be punished."

Erin (through hysterical crying and sobbing): "NO!!! PLEASE no! Don't punish me!"

Dadoo: "Well do what your told and you won't get punished. If it happens again, I'm going to take away one of your toys and lock it up in storage for a week... do you understand?"

Erin (suddenly calm... just quiet little sobs as she quickly composes herself, and in a meek but hopeful voice, asks): "Which toy?"

Dadoo (almost too stupefied by the question to respond): "Whichever one is your favorite at the time!"

Clip from "Some Kind of Wonderful"

Here is a link to a clip from my favorite John Hughes movie, "Some Kind of Wonderful"

http://www.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK//video/screenplay/vi627310617/

RIP John Hughes

I read in the paper today that Michael Jackson had been taking a testosterone suppressant called Depo-Provera, often given to sex offenders, aimed at curbing his attraction to young boys. So, whether or not you believe the man was an actual molestor, I think we should all be able to now agree that he exhibited extremely inappropriate behavior towards young boys, so much so that a close friend who happened to be a doctor (and a respected one at that, if you believe the report) felt it necessary to prescribe a "chemical castration" drug to control Jackson's proclivities. Here is a link to the article:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/08/09/michael-jackson-had-jab-to-curb-sex-urges-for-young-boys-115875-21583054/

Why do I bring this up, you may ask? Well, there was so much fuss was made over the death of this creepy, hit-making, little boy obsessed monster, that if you didn't know any better, you could have easily thought that we lost some kind of national treasure. Meanwhile, this weekend, John Hughes died, with a lot less fanfare and hubbub than Jackson received. In Mr. Hughes, we lost a true luminary. A man who had a hand (through, writing, directing, & producing) in a slew of the seminal comedy films of the 1980's. A man who is labeled a "recluse" by Hollywood because he lived on a ranch in Illinois to shelter his children from the evils and excesses of a Tinseltown upbringing. A man whose characters, while certainly not angelic, always seem to learn some sort of valuable, moral lesson by the end of the movie. Just look at the movies Mr. Hughes was responsible for in one way or another:

Mr. Mom
Vacation
European Vacation
Christmas Vacation
16 Candles
The Breakfast Club
Weird Science
Pretty in Pink
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Some Kind of Wonderful (my absolute favorite of all of his movies)
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
She's Having a Baby
The Great Outdoors
Uncle Buck
Home Alone
Home Alone 2: Lost in NY
Home Alone 3
Home Alone 4
Career Opportunities
Only The Lonely
Dutch
Curly Sue
Beethoven
Beethoven's 2nd
Beethoven's 3rd
Beethoven's 4th
Beethoven's 5th
Dennis the Menace
Miracle on 34th St.
Baby's Day Out
American Adventure
Just Visiting
Maid In Manhattan
Drillbit Taylor
101 Dalmations
Flubber

Like many of us, I grew up on his movies. Who can forget lines like "Those aren't pillows!!" in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, "Could you describe the ruckus, sir?" from The Breakfast Club, or Maccaulay Culkin's iconic scream after slapping himself with some aftershave in Home Alone. Though I'm sure you're in a better place, we'll miss you, Mr Hughes, and your talent for connecting with us and making us laugh. Rest In Peace.

What Would George Orwell Say About This?

http://www.wikio.com/video/1496573

Somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at White House request that people send in email addresses of fishy health care emails. All I can say is imagine if George W Bush had tried something like this...

Here is a link to the actual, official White House site where the fishy email request is made:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/

Finally, if you haven't already seen it, here is Senator John Cornyn's letter to President Obama regarding the issue, as well as a link to a Wall Street Journal article on the story.
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/cornynletter20090805.pdf
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/08/05/cornyn-questions-administrations-call-to-report-fishy/

Take a couple minutes and look this stuff over. It's worth the time.

TAX INCREASES!?!?!?

Let me see if I've got this straight. The administration that appointed at least four admitted tax cheats to Cabinet Posts, and got two of them cofirmed by the Senate, is now telling us that our taxes may have to go up?!?! And the mouthpiece used to deliver this information is King Scofflaw himself, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner?!?! We may need to raise taxes to cut the deficits, he says. HEY TIMMY!! I have an idea. Instead of raising taxes, how about you brain surgeons in Washington CUT SOME SPENDING!!

For starters, lets do away with the "successful" cash for clunkers program. Calling this program successful seems like a no-brainer, I mean, how hard can it be to give away other peoples money? Want a new car? Well trade in your old one and we'll give you $4500 of someone else's money towards the purchase of a new one. Oh, and forget the fact that we're broke and can't afford the program... we'll just put it on our tab. What's a couple 100 billion dollars of debt when we're talking about the survival of a "successful" program? The government actually has the auto dealers destroying the trade-ins so that they cannot be returned to the roads, making it impossible to recoup any of the expense of the program. Government bureaucracy at work. Only in goevernment could this reasoning make sense. We are out of money, in such dire straits that we need to raise taxes on the people, but hey, take $200 billion more for buying back clunker cars!

Our national debt is set to DOUBLE for fiscal 2009, but our so-called leaders can't find anything worthy of budget cuts?!?! Well then, I say let them form a commission of successful business owners and managers and blue collar, working parents. These folks are used to surviving within the confines of a budget. I guarantee that given a week to review it, they would find plenty of useless, silly pork to slash from the budget. Come on people. Wake up! Our federal government has metastisized into something never intended by our Founding Fathers, and we are losing control. It's time for new leadership... folks committed to fiscal responsibility, reigned-in government, and the power of our Constitution.

Here are some quotes about freedom and liberty, from some of the great minds and learned men of our nation (and from around the world) over our history:

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free

Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit.

I don't believe in a government that protects us from ourselves

The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away.

America represents something universal in the human spirit. I received a letter not long ago from a man who said, 'You can go to Japan to live, but you cannot become Japanese. You can go to France to live and not become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey, and you won't become a German or a Turk.' But then he added, 'Anybody from any corner of the world can come to America to live and become an American.'

- Ronald Reagan

The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.

-FDR

Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will.

-Frederick Douglass

Liberty without learning is always in peril and learning without liberty is always in vain.

-JFK

For what avail the plough or sail,
Or land or life, if freedom fail?

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue.

-Sam Adams

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.

~Thomas Paine

Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance.

-Woodrow Wilson

Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err.

-Mahatma Gandhi

Perfect freedom is as necessary to the health and vigor of commerce as it is to the health and vigor of citizenship.

-Patrick Henry

Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry is own weight, this is a frightening prospect.

-Eleanor Roosevelt

Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

-Pope John Paul II

To enjoy freedom we have to control ourselves.

-Virginia Woolf

They were singing in French, but the melody was freedom and any American could understand that.

-Audie Murphy

None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free.

-Pearl S. Buck

We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.

-William Faulkner

I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.

-James Madison

Both the first quote, from Ronald Reagan (our 40th president), and this last quote, by James Madison, our fourth president and the man regarded as the "Father of the Constitution", seem to have a particular poignancy and relevance as this Congress and Administration seek to feed the voraciuos appetite for growth of our Federal Government, its tentacles intruding deeper and deeper into our lives. We take so much for granted, I hope these quotes inspire some of us to pay a little more attention to what is going on in our nation, before it is too late.

Erin and Wyatt

This photo was from Christine's graduation/birthday party in July. It was a real chore to get Erin to consent to having a picture with Wyatt. She seems to be still holding a grudge for a hair pulling incident that occured around Christmas (when Wyatt was all of 3 months old). Laureen and Meaghan were able to somehow convince her to let bygones be bygones and she finally agreed to pose in the picture with her cousin. Of course, the little diva had to sit in a chair to put her her hair out of Wyatt's reach. But hey, we're working on her. Maybe by Wyatt's party, they can actually stand next to each other for a photo. One can hope, right?

More on Government

Been meaning to address this since I first heard about it a few weeks ago. I heard that many in Congress planned on voting yea or nay on the health care reform bill having not read any of the bill. Let me say that again... MANY IN CONGRESS PLANNED ON VOTING FOR THE HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL HAVING NOT READ A SINGLE PAGE. Now, I actually did try to suffer through some of the bill pending before the Senate, and it is a brutal, tedious read full of legalese and bureaucratic legislative nonsense, so I can understand the aversion to wanting to read it. But it's their JOB!! What do we elect the JACK-ASSES for if not to read, write and vote on legislation. Some of these ploticians snorted disbelief and indignation at the mere suggestion that they should read this bill. We're not talking about renaming some highway or federal building here, folks... this bill is a huge, transformative piece of legislation that would forever change how health-care works in this country. Now, whether they believe it is for the better or the worse, I would think that the members of Congress owe it to their constituents to at least know what it is that they are voting for. And if they can't muster the time to read and understand the bill, they should vote a Nay or No by default. This infuriates me in a way that few stories have in recent years. The Congress works for us (we hire and fire them with our votes), and failure to read and understand this bill is such an unbelievable dereliction of their most basic responsibility, that anyone of them who votes for the bill without reading it first should be voted out at the next opportunity, regardless of party. If you are such a die-hard R or D that you feel the need to only vote down party lines, than vote for a challenger in your state's primary. People, we need to be engaged... pay attention, and hold our politicians to some kind of performance standard. If we don't, then we deserve whatever comes down the pike (like last years assinine CFL light bulb legislation). So pay attention, and hold your Senators and Representatives to account. Their votes do matter. Take note of how they vote on important matters like this, and hold them responsible come election time. This is our nation to preserve or to lose.