Remember…

Every normal day now has special meanings different from just a year ago. I am always looking back a year and thinking about what I was doing or where Scott was then. Scott’s death, brought a sea-change in the way I experience any particular day. I now view my life through this backward viewing lens, I have to. This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend and everywhere there are Harley riders gathering here in Washington for the 21^st Annual Rolling Thunder ride. It is truly an amazing thing to see and hear. The other evening on our way to an art reception, Marti and I were stopped at a light next to three Patriot Guard riders. We rolled down our window to tell them they had escorted our son to Arlington. In the grumble of the bikes, the words got lost, but our meaning was clear and they gave us a “Thumbs Up” and rode on.

I think this new connection to others is a gift. It has come to us out of what happened over the last year. Marti and I have bumper stickers on our cars from the days when Scott was first deployed. They tell that our son is in Iraq, that he came home and went back again, that he is Infantry, that we despise those men who sent him there, and now, that he was killed there. We have “Gold Star Family” license plates, specially issued by Maryland only to families of those who are fallen. It is odd in a way, but I feel a fierce and special pride in being a Gold Star Family. I think Marti and Kevin do too. We want others to not forget what is given to us as a nation by these brave men and women and what the cost of war really is. We are constantly approached by strangers who are sensitive about speaking but they want to express their sympathy and their gratitude for Scott’s sacrifice. There are smiles, handshakes, hugs and tears. Often we just get to talking and sharing with these new friends about our kids and lives in ways that would never ever have happened otherwise. Always a punctual person, I am now sometimes late to where I am going because I take this time to share. It is a connection that for all the terrible sadness of its cause is still, somehow, a wonderful thing to feel.

I think the openness of this sharing stems, in part, from the terrible way the Vietnam Vets were treated by some upon their return from that war. As a people we learned that it was not the men and women who were monsters, but the leaders who sent them there. Since then we as a nation have learned to “Hate the war but love the soldier”. Rolling Thunder, Harley Davidson bikes and American flag do-rags have become a symbol of that. A very American symbol.

Remember today those who went for you and did not return. Remember today, those who went for you and did return. Remember today to thank them.

Please be sure to read the comments section especially the sonnet by Pastor John Stuart.

A New World Order…

“The most pressing decision facing the next president and Congress may be how

best to accelerate the transition from a fossil-fuel-based energy system to a system

based on climate-friendly energy alternatives.“

Here’s why - A new article by Micheal Klare

The End of the World as You Know It
…and the Rise of the New Energy World Order

Michael T. Klare is a Five Colleges professor of Peace and World Security Studies, whose department is located at Hampshire College, defense correspondent of The Nation magazine, and author of Resource Wars and Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America’s Growing Petroleum Dependency (Metropolitan). Klare also teaches at Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Klare also resides on the boards of directors of Human Rights Watch, and the Arms Control Association. He is a regular contributor to many publications including The Nation, Tom’s Dispatch, Mother Jones, and is a frequent columnist for Foreign Policy In Focus.

He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts. (Wikipedia)

Yellow Ribbon Fundraising Event - Mick O’Shea’s Irish Pub

As of today, March 25th, 2008, we have raised $6964 in Scott’s honor as a direct result of your generosity and participation in the March 7th Glory O’ event at Mick’s. Sean, Suzy, Linda and the family thank everyone so very much for everything. It has been such a thrill to be able to help the Yellow Ribbon Fund so much!

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Blurry, dreamlike, exhilarating, heartwarming, hard driving cold rain. Those impressions come to mind now as I try to remember Friday night. Arrived at 7PM and the place was already crowded with Happy Hour leftovers, our friends and family started arriving soon after and many of those already there stayed on. Besides all our locals, we had friends there who drove or flew in from Atlanta, Boston and Long Island (we love you Lucy, Scott and Dewitt!) just to share and honor our Scott. A couple who were especially wonderful to meet, Beverly and Rainier, live just the other side of Dickerson from us. They lost their son Kirk in Fallujah, November 27^th, 2004. Kirk was a Corporal in the Marines. Our postmaster Joey, mentioned this event to them and they promised they would be there. Small town America works like that. Unknown neighbors before, now friends.

When’s the last time you heard an Irish pub full of people silent? Getting any crowd who are strangers to be quiet and listen for a few minutes is quite a feat, even more so at the tail end of Happy Hour but Marti made a rousing and impassioned introduction to a quickly silent crowd who cheered loudly for the cause at the end. She was just great and she held it together wonderfully. Coincidentally, after Marti had spoken, a man approached her and introduced himself. He told her he was a doctor at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and after hearing her speak he ran home to get something because he thought she would like it. He handed her a green T-shirt with a big shamrock on it and emblazoned across the shamrock is “ARMY”. She held it all night.

The Staff of the Yellow Ribbon Fund spent the evening telling everyone who asked about the great work they do and taking donations. It was great to finally meet them in person. A good group of folks. WBAL-TV11 sent a crew and they filmed an interview with Marti that made the 11PM News. Rossnareen was fabulous, their music authentic and full of vibrant energy. Later, I had a great conversation with Tommy McCann about our lives, our kids, our wives, his music and his home in Ireland. My ignorance of my ancestral homeland was embarrassing and I promised to remedy that. There is something about the Irish attitude towards life that I find uplifting.

A word about Mick O’Shea’s…throughout the short planning and on the night of the event, the staff at Mick’s were fabulous. The owners, David and Stephanie Niehenke were there throughout the evening, the staff, Kelly in particular, were just incredible always with a smile even late into the evening when they must have been exhausted. There were others too, their names gone in the haze but a huge thank you to all of them! Did I mention the food is great? Especially the Guinness Steamed Jumbo Shrimp. Get them by the pound! If you can go there for St. Patrick’s on Monday this year do it, because the pub will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday for repairs…. If you were there, please drop them an email to let them know how much you appreciate what they did for Scott and the YRF.

Finally, we were out the door with only the band and bar-staff behind us. Good thing our hotel was only half a block and downhill at that. On the way, Marti noticed a homeless man laying against the wall in the rain under a pile of wet blankets. She approached him slowly and gave him five bucks, no doubt remembering how a 7 year old kid named Scott had onetime long ago made friends with a homeless man. In bed at 3AM, up again at 7AM, breakfasted and now driving home in the same hard driving cold rain, Marti says, “Hey, lets go to Frederick and look at antiques for a while.” You gotta love her.

I will add on the official totals and photos later this week, but David reports that after 8:30 the official start, and until closing at 2AM, there were 335 pints of Guinness poured (somehow I managed to stay just this side of stupid) and 217 heads officially on the cover charge. Going out the door we had raised nearly $3500 before the YRF reports their numbers. Thanks to everyone who came out on a really nasty night. For those who could not make it, you can still help out. I encourage you to send a check to the YRF directly, as it will likely be a year (and better weather) before we do this again. We hope to make this an annual event.

We made many new friends that night.

Suzy, Linda, Sean, Christy, Marti, Kevin and I thank every single one of you.

PS. It beats the hell out of a Mandy Patinkin concert! Whew!….

PPS. Short of some simple emailing and a phone call and being there, Marti and I had very little to do with this event from conception to finish. That credit goes to Suzy, Linda and Sean. These kids came up with the idea, organized it, ran down all the loose ends and got the word out. All the credit for any good that comes of the event should start with them. We love them all dearly and Scott would be smiling too.

Showtunes….

Last night we went to see Mandy Patinkin in concert at the Strathmore Music Center in Rockville Maryland. It was an hour and forty minutes with no intermission. He performed mostly obscure (to us) showtunes and personal compositions with a single upright piano accompaniment. Let me say that I like most of the well known and popular showtunes we all hum to ourselves in the shower, but Patinkin’s selection of tunes from the middle of some musicals I have never heard of was exceedingly dull, tedious and for the $58 admission price just awful. Songs from the middle of a scene in a musical make sense in the context of the story, but extracted from that context, both musically and chronologically, it makes no sense whatsoever. From the very first number I sat there thinking this has got to get better. But as he sings in one piece, “If it can worse it will get worse…” It did.

The highlight of the show was when he sang three tunes, White Christmas, Maria, and some Sondheim song, in Yiddish. I had to chuckle at White Christmas in Yiddish, but will admit that the germanic sound of the words was just a little creepy in that context.

I was a good boy. I looked away from Marti as each piece ended, so I would not start laughing and so she wouldn’t ask me if I wanted to leave, I didn’t make faces, I sat there respectfully and clapped at the end of each piece. Turns out she was thinking the same thing, that it had to get better.  Finally, as Marti looked at me and asked if I wanted to leave, it ended. We bolted for the door before the encore and I remarked that I now knew why there was no intermission, nobody would come back.

Run like the wind if you ever get offered tickets to one of these concerts…

Postsript: Marti points out that the house was packed and he got a standing ovation. I guess she looked back over her shoulder as we skedaddled for the parking lot. And we laughed till we cried all the way home. Something we have not done in months….

NPR apologizes for calling Africa the “dark contintent” [sic]

Posted on the NPR website February 16^th, 2008

“In our newscast at 9:30 a.m. ET on Feb. 14, the phrase “dark continent” was used by one of our newscasters in reference to President Bush’s trip to Africa. This was totally inappropriate and offensive, and we apologize. We will apologize on air in the 9:30 a.m. ET newscast on Monday, Feb. 18, for allowing such an antiquated and pejorative term to air.”

Jean Cochran did issue an on-air apology the next Monday which I heard. It was concise, contrite, professional and dictated by management.

“My deepest apologies for using such an antiquated and pejorative term.”

It was a mistake to issue the apology in my opinion. I know Jean Cochran personally, I have known her for 40 years. We went to high-school together. There is not a racist or prejudicial bone in her body. She lives for the news and does her utmost to get it to her listeners in a clear and professional manner. I count her among my closest and dearest friends. I am sure she lost a lot of sleep that weekend.

I left this note on the NPR comments section:

Regarding Ms. Cochran’s use of “The Dark Continent” and this ensuing firestorm of words, the charges of racist overtones and insensitivity are absolutely inconsistent with anything having to do with both NPR and Ms. Cochran. The hypersensitivity to this term is strictly a manufactured bias on the part of the protesters and is both unjustified and uncalled for. Ignorance of the meaning of the term on the part of those slighted gives it a racial connotation that is just plain inaccurate. The inference of racial bias sprouts from the racial bias of those protesting that any use of the term “Dark Continent” simply refers to the color of the native inhabitants. The term is as no more antiquated or pejorative as any reference to the New World would be. We as a species must get past taking offense at any reference or perceived reference to differences between us. The color of our skin, eyes, hair, gender or sexuality should make no matter. Unless and until we do that we cannot progress towards true civility. The only thing done wrong here by anybody at NPR was to apologize because in so doing they empower the complainers.

Political Correctness has permeated our civilization to our detriment. Shrill voices complain about perceived slights and knees buckle everywhere. Nobody wants to be called a racist or a bigot and even the inference can hurt or end careers of perfectly innocent individuals. So we kill ourselves to be seen as sensitive to every class or segment of our society. Nowadays, you will likely offend somebody with anything and apologizing for using our language in a normal and innocent way only empowers the weak-minded and the result is a tyranny of fear and silence, our language paralyzed.

Hey, You just got Hucked!

The Republican Hate Machine is just getting warmed up with this new version of Swift-boating. We might call it “Getting Hucked” since Mike Huckabee reminded us how to do it this campaign season. First you make some wild accusation, or slanderous attack ad and next thing is after showing it to the press you disavow it. This way gets you both the message and the high ground. Huckabee used it effectively several times. Remember when in South Carolina, he called a press conference to show an attack ad against Romney and after they viewed it he said his campaign had decided not to run it? Remember when he made his comments about Romney’s Mormonism and then apologized? That’s how they do it….

Now from the McCain front comes a most scurrilous attack. They allow radio talk-show host, Bill Cunningham to introduce the candidate. He himself is introduced as “an extremely important part of John McCain’s presidential campaign” Then for many excruciatingly long minutes he harangues and derides Barack Obama as a terrorist sympathizer and repeatedly saying his middle name “Hussein”. He calls him a crook and a liar. See the video here,
Then just minutes later after the words introducing the candidate are picked up by the press and after John McCain is cheered by the enthusiastic crowd does the campaign issue a repudiation of the remarks. Sorry, the damage is done. The racist hatred has been fomented and cannot be revoked or forgotten by a mere apology. If they don’t want his message to get to the hearts of their wavering base why even let him on the stage?
In no way do I think John McCain thinks these things about Obama, nor do I mean to impugn his character, but everybody who knows this guy knows what he is going to say. They KNOW, and still they pander to their far right-wing base, get their message out and then they disavow it. It’s brilliant, and it works every time. So now Obama just got Hucked. It won’t be the last time the right wing hate machine lets go a good one.

John McCain may not be a racist, he may not be a demagogue and he is most certainly a Patriot of the first order, but by allowing these sorts of people to participate prominently in his campaign his managers give us a very clear view inside the tent that they call Republican and the direction they want to take the country.
Bill Clinton did not make this contest about race, the far right-wing did. That’s the way they want it because it’s the only way they know to defeat a candidate as good as Obama.
If Obama is the Democratic nominee and if he is elected, we can look forward to at least four years of this tripe just like they gave us eight years of the same mindless, hateful drivel during the Clinton years. Fact is, there was no there there then and there is no there there now. But I do love the First Amendment and so I will suffer this in the pursuit of the Ideal. This ideal is what makes America a great nation. The worst about America is what some people do with it.

Dear Senators Mikulski and Cardin….

Senators Mikulski and Cardin,

I write to urge you to vote against the bill before the Senate that will grant immunity to the Telecommunications companies for violating our civil rights at the request of the Bush Administration.

As a Gold Star Parent, I am incensed that the President and Vice-President regularly violate the very protections accorded to us in our Constitution that they are sworn to preserve, protect and defend and those rights that my son died to protect. Then they insist that there be no repercussions for the Telecommunications companies who aided and abetted this atrocity. In no way should they be released from the legal penalty for their actions. If it was you or me, we would both be held accountable and they should be as well.

Sincerely,

Edward W. Kirkpatrick

=============================================

I worked for nearly 20 years in the telecommunications industry for C&P Telephone, Bell Atlantic and then AT&T. In those days, the sanctity of the customer record was inviolate without a proper warrant. Today, in a climate of fear and slipping closer to fascism, American Corporations are willing to forego the niceties of our Constitutional protections because it takes too long (24hrs) for a FISA court to issue the warrant. As the extension of this law expires today, the Cheney/Bush administration still has all the powers they need to do this type of surveillance in a timely fashion. If they did not, Bush would have agreed to another extension. The only reason they want this bill is to exonerate their friends from their crimes.

We do have a lot to fear these days, but I think we have met the enemy and it is us.

YRF Fundraising Event in honor of Scott Kirkpatrick

Be sure to read the comments for updated information!

Dear Friends and Family,

Forgive me if you’ve received this bulletin more than once, but we’re doing what we can to reach as many people as possible. That being said, please feel free to pass the word.

As most of you know our son, Sgt Scott Kirkpatrick was killed by an HBIED in Iraq on August 11, 2007. He was 26 years old. Recently, our niece, Suzy Quintavalle was having a conversation with Scott’s friend Sean. They got to discussing charity events, and to make a long story short they decided it was time to hold one in Scott’s honor.

Before he left on his last deployment, he let us know that if something happened to him, it was his wish that we find a fund to help benefit our Wounded Warriors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Christy, Kevin, Marti and I chose the Yellow Ribbon Fund.

Our friend Linda got in touch with the owners of Mick O’Shea’s Irish Pub in Baltimore, MD, and they’ve agreed to let us hold an event in memory of Scott, to honor our Wounded Warriors who will benefit from YRF’s aid. Sean spoke with YRF today, and they are on board — their PR person told him that they’ve never been involved in something like this before, and they’re excited to participate.

Here’s the deal:

When: Friday, March 7, 2008, 8:30pm… until Mick’s
closes or you go home, (we are getting a room)….

Where: Mick O’Shea’s Irish Pub
328 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-539-7504

What’s Going On:

There will be a cover charge (to be announced), a portion of which will go to the Yellow Ribbon Fund. Yellow Ribbon staffers will be on hand to provide information about their organization and to accept voluntary cash or check donations.

Traditional & Contemporary Irish music will be provided by Rossnareen – March 7 was scheduled to be their night at the pub, but Mick’s owner, Dave, wanted to squeeze us in before St. Patrick’s Day, and upon discussing our plot with the band, they informed him that “they would be honored” to share the pub with all of us in tribute to Scott and our soldiers.

Mick O’Shea’s is a well-known Irish pub in Baltimore. There will be Guinness, of course, or whatever your drink of choice happens to be. We’re working with the owner to get a portion of drink sales donated to YRF, and possibly some drink specials as well.

We’re gearing up to promote this via any means available, and the good people at Yellow Ribbon Fund are assisting in same, even working on contacting Governor O’Malley — whose band, O’Malley’s March, used to play Mick’s often when he was Baltimore’s Mayor. If you can make it, we’ll be very happy to see you. If you know of anyone else who should be there, please forward this email.

If you can’t make it, we’ll raise a glass for you anyway, and you’ll attend in spirit. Words of encouragement are, well, encouraged –Suzy, Sean and Linda had this idea approximately three days ago and now have only three weeks to bring it to fruition. They willl not rest until it is done right, and that means they will be damn tired by the time the 7th rolls around. However, we’re all super-excited, and can’t wait to see how it all pans out.

UPDATE:

We just heard back from the folks at Mick O’Shea’s, and they told Linda that not only are they donating $1 from the $4 cover charge to the fund, but they’ll also donate $1 from every Guinness sold.
WOOHOO! Get Ready to drink some Guinness!

So come out, have a pint or a few, share a story, and support the lads.

We hope to see you on March 7,

Ed, Marti, Kevin, Christy, Suzy, Linda and Sean

WD-40, Bounce and Snopes.com

Today I received from a friend another of those emails we all get from our friends on the net, this one was about the merits and miracles of the ubiquitous WD-40. We all know what WD-40 is but this note was passed on through who knows how many folks who thought it to be essential knowledge and so they tell two friends who tell two friends and so on, until I get it! It gives a brief history of the stuff and then lists about 43 reasons we should have it everywhere. I like in particular “# 5, Keeps flies off cows”. #8 is good too, “Loosens stuck zippers” Alcohol has been known to do the same thing.

I will admit I love this stuff too and have a half dozen cans scattered around my farm but whenever I get one of these messages of dubious heritage, I always check the resources at Snopes.com to see what or if there is anything there about the article in doubt. Barbara Mickleson, the gal who researches, writes and maintains Snopes.com is indefatigable when it comes to confirming or debunking the silliness known as Urban Legends that floats around and into our inboxes. She is also very entertaining and has become a defacto source on the net much like Wikipedia.

As for the WD 40 thing, she has a note on it at this link,

The article is interesting as she contacted the manufacturer for details about this email and she has a link confirming the origin story. She recaps the email I received and deletes the uses that the manufacturer does not recommend. I was amazed to see, “prevents silver from tarnishing” as a recommended use of a petroleum product…. Not on my silverware!

BUT of even more interesting note, is a related article on Bounce.

A similar legend circulates about the beneficial effects of Bounce and her testing of the claims and their results I found hilarious.

Snopes is a great resource and if you go there you can find yourself losing an hour or two perusing all the stuff Barbara has collected over the years. In fact and often, the article on Snopes is more interesting than the email in your inbox.

Bookmark the site and be a regular visitor.

What should they read? Bill Moyers asks….

If you haven’t yet had a chance to watch Bill Moyers’ Journal on PBS, I suggest that you find some way. It’s not your usual talking heads show, he never screams at people or calls them bad names and it’s certainly not FAUX News. There is a wide variety of topics and guests, always current, and perhaps some of the most thought provoking commentary on the air.

Last week in his commentary, Bill Moyers said,

“On the CBS EVENING NEWS, Katie Couric asked candidates from both parties which book, other than the Bible, they would bring with them to the White House. ” See what they said here

Some of the answers were interesting and some “seemed” spontaneous. After that segment, Bill asked his viewers to suggest to the future president what ONE book he or she should take with them and to post our suggestions on his blog. He said he would discuss our suggestions on this Friday’s show. I suggest that you check out the blog postings and perhaps submit your own idea. As of today, there are over 2200 comments. All are interesting, some spontaneous and some are going on my reading list.

 

Naturally, I got to wondering for myself what I would suggest. Even though I think I read a lot and constantly, this list of books on the blog shows me my universe for selection is by comparison so limited. Making this choice is also hard to for me do as it requires remembering all the books I have read over the years, something I am not good at. In the end, I decided to choose several books that as their base embody a simple truth or value that, as Americans, we need to recognize and remember.

I know Bill wants only one book, but tough… so in no particular order :

• “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand, the rights and strengths of the individual vs. the mob,
• “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, a book about personal failure, discovery and salvation,
• “1776″ by David McCullough, remembering what we were when we as a nation were just discovering for ourselves,
• “Theodore Rex” by Edmund Morris, a book about Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidency and how TR as a person defines what personal strength and moral courage really are,
• “Citizen Soldiers” by Stephen Ambrose, to me this book defines our single greatest trait as a nation, our individual citizen’s willingness to help set wrong to right. We did it for the right reasons then and are so lost now, and lastly,
• “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin, perhaps the best of the bunch as it describes the times of hatred, strife and war that at its core is so similar to our times now.

Ps, this list is subject to change as my memory fades in and out again….