This is an unusual post for my first post of the year, but I’m just posting to say that I will not be posting today.
Riiiiiiiiight.
Anyway for those of you who haven’t heard already there is a strike going on today that is being conducted on the internet. There are two pieces of legislation that are the cause of all of this. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) are causing sites like Wikepedia, Boing Boing and many others to go dark today, meaning that you will be unable to access them today.
The two bills, supported supported mainly by the entertainment industry, are aimed at stopping illegal downloading and streaming of movies and TV shows. But many in the tech world — including giants Google and Facebook — say the legislation would let federal authorities shut down portions of the Internet without due process, and fundamentally alter the Internet’s ability to provide a platform for free speech.
In other words if you either had copyrighted material or a link to copyrighted material, you could have your website shut down without warning, lose all your files, not be able to come back online and be able to do nothing about it. Even if you had a link on your site to material that someone suspects is pirated you could suffer the same fate.
If these bills became law say goodbye to Wikipedia, YouTube and Google.
For that matter, say goodbye to this site.
A site like Political Irony? Gone.
PolitiFact? Gone.
Monster.com? Possibly gone.
CareerBuilder.com? Possibly gone.
Politico? Gone.
The Daily Beast? Gone.
Hulu? Gone.
Go Music? Definitely gone.
Any Conservative, Progressive or Tea Party site? Gone.
The sites of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Riley, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, Micheal Moore? Gone.
The Daily Kos? Gone.
Your favorite video gaming site? Gone.
Would there be anything left? Sure, any site that is run by any corporation and offers its own copyrighted content for a price would be left standing. The sites for Disney, Universal, Sony, Comcast and Verison would still be left, although you might have to pay a “subscription fee” to be able to access their sites. Same with the sites for ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, FOX News, MSNBC, CNN, the NFL, EA Sports, etc.
Ya get why the internet is up in arms right now?
So what can you do about it? Simple – call your Congressman or Senator and give them a piece of your mind and make sure that they listen to you in an election year.
Sopastrike.com has a lot of information on how you can strike yourself and spread the word about the strike.
First of all let me apologize for the length of time between posts. Things have not been going well here for us lately and I’ve been tending to family business instead of my blog. But now that Christmas is almost upon us and the time has come for my annual year-end column, I thought that it was high time that I gave you all an update.
It is my sad duty to inform you that my dad-in-law, Charles Thomas Gray, died on the evening of November 28, 2011 from Bronchitis complicated by his Parkinson’s Disease.
It all started when our heat went out three weeks before. For some reason our heater just wasn’t heating the house and the temperatures were beginning to drop for the Fall. So after we contacted the organization which helped us out with our air conditioner, stove and windows this last summer and waited for them to get back to us, we broke out the space heaters to try to keep the house as warm as we could. They worked overtime to try to keep the house at a comfortable level, but it was really a losing battle. What complicated matters was that Wifey got sick during all of this. I tried to stay away from her as much as possible so that I wouldn’t get sick and then pass it on to Dad, but it didn’t work out as I came down with it as well.
Well as it turns out it was a stubborn strain of bronchitis that has been going around that none of us were able to shake. In the end dad got it as well and he went downhill at an alarming rate. The morning we called 911 to get him to the hospital it sounded like he was trying to breathe through liquid – which in fact he was. His Parkinson’s had effected his swallowing reflex and now it was preventing him from being able to cough up the phlegm that was accumulating in his lungs. When he was in the ER the doctors were trying to find a “medically necessarily reason” to actually admit him to the hospital. We had heard that before and we were gearing up for the fight to get him in there and get the treatment that we couldn’t provide. Well, they found the ”medically necessarily reason” to admit him and they did.
Wifey and I were also really sick with the same thing he had and we took the next couple of days to rest up and get better before we took the hour-long trip down the mountain to go visit him. The problem was Dad got worse really quick and they eventually had to put a tube down his throat so that he could breathe with a machine. It got to the point where the doctors knew that there was no way he would ever come back to the way he was, and they met with us about his advanced directives. Luckily Dad had talked to Wifey about what he wanted if this situation ever arose, and we decided to honor his wishes. An hour after they gave him drugs to make him comfortable, turned the machine off and took the tube out, he was gone.
Since Dad was a Veteran he was eligible for full military honors and burial in a Military Cemetery – free of charge. We didn’t know that this service is accorded to all Veterans, but we are glad that it is as we had no way of paying for anything. Besides, we think he would have gotten a kick out of it since he was justifiably proud of his service in the Navy.
Just as I am proud to call him family.
OK, that said it is time for…
The Good, The Bad, and the Downright Idiotic
Good – Auburn Tigers, Boston Bruins, Dallas Mavericks, Green Bay Packers, Tony Stewart, Sebastian Vettel, Los Angeles Galaxy, St. Louis Cardinals.
Bad –Ohio State scandal, Jerry Sandusky, Frank McCourt. I guess with every Jedi there has to be a Sith Lord or two…
Good – Talk of a Playoff in College Football thanks to LSU-Alabama in the BCS Championship.
Bad – The SEC monopoly hold on College Football.
Idiotic – All of you SEC homers who feel that College Football begins and ends with you. Look, you want to praise your programs, fine – I get that. But talking smack about other universities and calling the facilities, curriculum, professors, and students “second-rate” because they are outside the SEC is crossing a line. You want to talk about the football in Boise, Eugene, Fort Worth, Stillwater or Palo Alto that’s one thing. You start denigrating people who don’t play on their football teams then you invite the same comparisons about your people on your campuses. Don’t start something you are not prepared to finish.
Good –Boise State QB Kellen Moore.
Idiotic – All of the NFL scouts that are writing him off and saying he’s too small to play in the NFL. Look, the kid has the intangibles that NFL coaches want their QB’s to have and yet can never coach – and he has them in spades. He could be the next Drew Brees (who by the way is the same height) if you idiots would just give him the same chance you are giving Andrew Luck.
Good – Tim Tebow just winning baby.
Bad – He still gets no respect from some critics.
Idiotic – The sour grapes being shown by some of those critics when he wins. Get over yourselves already.
Good – The NFL solved its lockout.
Bad – So did the NBA.
Good – the comeback of Michael Vick continues.
Bad – The comeback of the American worker does not.
Good – Tony Stewart becomes the first owner-driver to win a championship since the late Alan Kulwicki.
Bad – Kyle Busch losing his mind in a truck race.
Good – Danaica Patrick is coming to NASCAR!!!
Bad – The Danica haters are coming with her.
Ouch – The end of the Indy 500.
Oh…God…no… – The beginning of the IZOD IndyCar World Championship race in Las Vegas. Rest in Piece Dan Wheldon.
Good – The Dallas Mavericks win their first NBA title.
Bad – The smugness of the LeBron haters. Its getting old people…
Good – The St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series.
Bad – Frank McCourt taking the L.A. Dodgers through the mud.
Salvation – McCourt agrees to sell the Dodgers.
Uh oh – Ryan Braun tests positive for steroids. *sigh* are we ever going to be done with this crap?
Good – The Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup.
Bad – For all of their talent, the Los Angeles Kings have still not skated the Cup. The “Curse of the Curved Stick” continues.
Good – Elements of the Health Care Reform act are beginning to kick in. – I think.
Idiotic – The efforts of the right to repeal that reform and thus deny health care of any kind to millions of men, women and children in this country. That’s what many people in this country believe the repeal effort is trying to do no matter what the right says.
Why? – Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) is shot outside of a Tuscon, Arizona Safeway at the beginning of a “Congress on your Corner” gathering.
Good – Giffords’ intern Daniel Hernandez Jr., was able to apply pressure to the gunshot wound on her forehead, and made sure she did not choke on her blood – saving her life.
Idiotic – Sarah Palin’s eight-minute video on her facebook page accusing the media of creating a “blood libel” over the shooting. How insensitive can you be madam?!?!?!
Good – Muslims showed up at Christmas Eve services in churches around Egypt to offer themselves as “shields” to Egypt’s threatened Christian community.
Bad – The continued feeling in this country that all Muslims are the enemy.
Idiotic – The Florida Family Association objecting to the TLC program “All-American Muslim” because it did not depict Muslims as terrorists or hating America. The program shows the Muslim community in Dearborn, Michigan and shows them going through their daily lives.
Really Idiotic – Lowe’s for caving in to pressure and dropping their advertising of the show. They have yet to apologize for their callous behavior and their support of prejudice.
Silver Lining – Campbells’ Soup, Hershey’s, 3M, Big Lots, Church & Dwight, Citi Card, City Furniture, Ferrero Rocher, Geico, JC Penney’s, Kellogg’s, Pfizer, ADT, Del Monte, Nikon, Telebrands, Chrysler and Shari’s Berries continue to advertise on the program. I would encourage you to send messages of support to these companies for their stance against hatred and bigotry by contacting them. You can’t do it through the Florida Family Association website anymore because they caught on to the fact that people that oppose them were using their links to send the companies messages of support for advertising on the show.
Good – Keith Olberman gets more editorial control over at CurrentTV.
Bad – The manner of his departure from MSNBC. What the hell is Joe Scharborough thinking over there, and is Chris Matthews or Rachel Maddow next?
Good – The Arab Spring brings new hope to the Middle East – at least in terms of better governments for the people in the region.
Bad – The government crackdowns on the demonstrators there which lead to several protestors being martyred.
Good – Wisconsin Legislators leaving the state to prevent a vote that would bust the public-sector unions in the state and make every state worker a slave to the state.
Bad – Gov. Walker trying to have those same legislators dragged back to the state to force the vote.
Holy Mother of… – The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan.
Awwww – The Royal Wedding of William and Catherine.
Good – Osama bin Laden is killed.
Bad – What the hell took so long?!?
Idiotic – The Conservatives who rushed to condemn President Obama for getting bin Laden and wanted to instead give the credit to former President Bush.
Okaaaaay – The size of bin Laden’s porn collection.
“Hiking the ol’ Appalacian Trail” – Arnold Schwarzenegger, Anthony Weiner.
Bad –Alabama’s new Immigration law which requires cops stopping anyone who looks like an undocumented immigrant.
Worse – Because of the new law, farmers in Alabama have trouble hiring workers to work in their fields.
Worse Still – When farmers try to hire white workers to do the same jobs as the immigrants before them, they find that the inexperienced white workers are not capable of picking fruits or vegetables at the same rate of speed and efficiency as the previous workers. As a result they either quit or get fired and the crops are dying on the vines. Get ready to pay $20.00 for a tomato.
Desperation is a hell of a drug – From Political Irony: “James Verone is a 59-year-old man with medical problems. He has a growth of some sort on his chest, two ruptured disks, and a problem with his left foot. But he has no job, no health insurance, his bank account is empty, and he isn’t quite old enough for Medicare.
So he figured out an unusual solution. He went into a bank and robbed it, demanding the teller give him just one dollar. Then he sat down and waited for the police to come take him to jail. Why? Because in jail he would get free medical care.”
Good – The comeuppance of Rupert Murdoch as he had to shut down “News of the World” because of a phone hacking scandal.
Bad – Murdoch’s surfs hacking the cell phone of a murdered 13-year-old girl to try to get some scandal that they could print.
Idiotic – Hacking Prince Charles’ cell phone?!? Seriously?!?!?!?!?!? Mr. Murdoch, how is it that you did not end up in theTower of London?!?!?!?!?!?
Awful – The terrorist attacks in Oslo, Norway and at a youth camp in Utoya by Anders Behring Breivik who hoped the attacks would be blamed on Muslim Extremists and would then start a war against them.
Idiotic – Glenn Beck for comparing the Workers’ Youth League in Norway to the Hitler Youth.
Just as idiotic – Bill O’Reilly for saying that Breivik was not a Christian by saying “That’s impossible. No one beliving in Jesus commits mass murder.” Obviously he has never heard of The Crusades or places like…oh…say Northern Ireland.
Bad – The debt ceiling bill compromise which has not created one goddamn job.
Masterpiece Part I – Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment on said compromise as seen here:
And this surprises you? – The S&P downgrades the U.S. credit rating. What do we expect when anarchists get elected to Congress?
Masterpiece Part II – Keith Olbermann’s “Worst Persons in the World” for August 17, 2011. Watch the video all the way through because it is the Dr. Strangelove homage that Keith does at the end that truly makes this a classic…
Good – An entry over at PoliticalIrony which points out that it is not Taxes and Regulations that are killing small businesses but rather insurance premiums that is the culprit. You can read the entry here.
Good – The repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Idiotic – Tea Partiers who have at various points during Republican debates have cheered executions, booed a gay soldier and have yelled in favor of letting the uninsured die. They at long last have no sense of decency.
September 17, 2011 – Remember this date because it happens to be day one of the occupy Wall Street movement. The day when the peasants began grabbing the pitchforks, lighting the torches, building the economic guillotines and mapping out directions to the economic Bastille.
Good – The idea that ordinary people can make a difference and can get involved in the process by pointing out the economic inequality that has existed for a long time now – which is why many of us have been denied work.
Bad – The idea that intimidation and violence will somehow end this movement.
My hope – That the Occupy Movement will somehow ferment change in our politics, our economy, the hiring practices of businesses and will eventually bring about a positive change for those of us who struggle to survive day after day.
My fear – That over reactive police forces around the country will decide that they will no longer go after protestors with pepper spray and rubber bullets. My fear is that they will decide to end this once and for all by switching to live ammunition with orders to shoot anything that moves, and that they will be backed up by all the military tanks that they can get their hands on. That’s right, my biggest fear is that this turns into Tiananmen Square.
Idiotic – NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Balogna for pepper-spraying four women trapped behind a net as the protest was actually winding down. Thanks for the free publicity Tony!
Idiotic – Former Presidential Candidate Herman Cain for saying “Don’t blame Wall Street, don’t blame the big banks, if you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself!” Yeah, I think we now have our “let them eat cake” moment.
Idiotic – Former Speaker of the House and Current Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich: “Go get a job right after you take a bath.” If you are so eager for them to have jobs Mr. Gingrich, then why don’t you hire them to work for you? Oh that’s right – to you that would be a handout!!!
Idiotic – Police forces in Oakland and the campus of UC Davis for assaulting protestors with tear gas canisters that hit protestors in the head, and pepper spraying them as if you were an exterminator trying to eliminate vermin. They are not vermin, they are not cockroaches, they are human beings!!!!!
Idiotic – Any Republican politician who accuses President Obama or the left or the Occupy Movement of engaging in “class warfare” when they themselves have waged “class warfare” against the middle-class, the elderly, children and the unemployed for years now.
In Memorium – U.S. District Judge John Roll, Christina Greene, Gabe Zimmerman, Dorothy Morris, Dorwin Stoddard, Phyllis Scheck (The Tuscon Six), John Dye (Touched by an Angel), Jack LaLanne, Sargent Shriver, Susannah York, David Nelson (Ozzie & Harriet), Cookie Gilchrist, Anne Francis, Chuck Tanner (Pittsburgh Pirates), Betty Garrett (All in the Family), Dave Deuerson (Chicago Bears), Ollie Matson (Cardinals, Rams, Lions Eagles), Duke Snider (Brooklyn/L.A. Dodgers), Jane Russell, Drew Hill (Rams, Oilers), Elizabeth Taylor, Geraldine Ferraro, Hunter Bryce, Trevor Bannister (Are You Being Served?), Elisabeth Sladen (Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures), Nicholas Courtney (Doctor Who), Seve Ballestros, Derek Boogaard (New York Rangers), Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Harmon Killebrew, Jeff Conaway (Grease, Taxi), Clarice Taylor (Cliff’s Mother – The Cosby Show), Dr. Jack Kevorkian, John Henry Johnson (49ers, Steelers), Clarence Clemons (The E-Street Band), Ryan Dunn (Jackass), Peter Falk (Columbo), John Mackey (Baltimore Colts), Dick Williams (Oakland A’s), Betty Ford, Sherwood Schwartz (Creator – The Brady Bunch), Amy Winehouse, Jeret “Speedy” Peterson, Bubba Smith, Rick Rypien (Vancouver Canucks), Pete Pihos (Philadelphia Eagles), Mike Flanagan (Baltimore Orioles), Lee Roy Selmon (Tamps Bay Buccaneers), Cliff Robertson, Andy Whitfield (Spartacus), Steve Jobs, Al Davis (Owner – Oakland Raiders), Dan Wheldon (Indy 500 Champion), Bob Forsch (St. Louis Cardinals), (Andy Rooney (60 Minutes), “Smokin” Joe Frazier, Heavy D, Harry Morgan (Dragnet, M*A*S*H).
Good – The nearly two years Wifey and I had living with her father, Charles T. Gray. There were times he could be funny and sad and exasperating, times when Wifey wanted to strangle him and times when she wanted to kiss him. It is never easy when a force of nature departs this plane of existence, but we know that he is in a place where there is no pain, no hatred, where there is only love and comfort. I have no doubt we will see him again someday.
Calm seas and favorable winds Dad.
So to all of my readers out there, once again I would just like to say…
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
And again for those of you who prefer your holidays a little more “Politically Correct”…
The only way that things are going to change is if we have an economic French Revolution where their businesses suffer as a result of people not giving them their custom and effecting their bottom line. If their precious profits are being hurt by us boycotting them and giving what money we have to their competitors – particularly foreign competitors – then maybe they will begin to realize that their strategy has backfired.
Maybe.
I honestly believe that we are headed towards a second round of the recession if not an outright Depression, and that it will take some economic heads being lopped off before the Rich-wing gets the message that what they are doing to the workforce in this country isn’t working. I’m simply waiting for someone to utter the “Let them eat cake” line or whatever the modern-day equivalent is going to be in order for the masses to start grabbing their pitchforks, lighting their torches, building the Guillotines and mapping out directions to the Bastille.
Well we may be seeing that very same “Economic French Revolution” in its early days happening right now with the “Occupy Wall Street” movement.
People have been gathering on Wall Street since Sept. 17th, at first it was a few dozen protesters that has now grown into a few thousand on Wall Street and has now spread to other cities across the country. If you wish to join in at a protest in a city near you you can go to Occupy Together which is “an unofficial hub for all of the events springing up across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall St.” Look to the right of the page and scroll down where you will find a list divided by region and then by state and city to find an “Occupy City” protest near you. Unfortunately there are no protests near where I live so until someone comes up with “Occupy Whitmore” or even “Occupy Redding” I will have to live vicariously through the rest of you who are able to get out there.
As Occupy Wall Street says on their own website:
Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.
As we saw from the success of the Arab Spring this has tremendous potential to bring about drastic and much needed economic change for the better in this country, which can then be felt around the world as other economies subsequently improve as a result. This is the beginning of the peasantry grabbing the pitchforks people!!! As soon as the movement becomes mature enough to consolidate a list of goals for the economy and demands that they be implemented - that will be the moment when the first torch has been lit. I am hoping that part of those goals and demands involves the hiring of the millions of people who are Unemployed, underemployed and underutilized in this country to good, decent-paying jobs so that they may contribute to the economic recovery by the increased purchase of goods. Politicians and business leaders can talk about creating jobs all they want, but if those created jobs continue to go unfilled then it makes no difference as to the economy. I would hope that this will be part of the goals that are eventually worked out.
I would also hope that the Occupy Wall Street Movement does not fall into the same trap that the Tea Party Movement eventually found themselves in. Keep in mind that the Tea Party received funding from the Religious Right and the Koch Brothers and were then turned into a “pro-corporate Republican party rebranding astroturf” group as outlined in “An open Letter from a former Tea Partier to the Occupy Wall Street protesters.” If you follow that link and read that letter, he makes some very salient points about what the Tea Party started out as and what it eventually became.
I would also hope that some people would pay more attention to the potential “Let them eat cake” moment that we seemed to have had recently. I had been thinking that it occurred at one of the GOP debates where some in the crowd cheered the death of a hypothetical uninsured 30-year-old man. But after reading a quote given by Republican state Sen. Sharon Runner of Lancaster (CA) I’m starting to rethink that.
Sen. Runner recently posted an article on her website, which can be found here in which she responded to California’s plan for remanding thousands of “low-level” convicts from state prisons back to county jails. The reason? The state is out of money. Sen. Runner stated that “Now is the time for Californians to get a dog, buy a gun and install an alarm system. The State of California is no longer going to protect you.”
Yyyyyyyyeah!!!!!
There are so many problems with that line of reasoning that I can’t even begin to go into it, so I will let Tom Elias, who wrote a brilliant column about “The GOP’s version of do-it-yourself government” in which he said:
Runner did not go further than addressing some public safety aspects of the latest cutbacks and the further reductions likely to come in January. But she could apply the same self-sufficiency message much more widely.
Chop the public school budget any more than it already has been and maybe she’ll tell all parents to home-school their kids, or at least buy their own shoulder pads and kicking tees if they want them to play football. Never mind if they don’t have the money. Or she could tell parents without health insurance of their own to make sure they have good coverage for their kids, because not many school nurses are left.
Cut millions from state parks and close 70 of them, as is already happening, and maybe she’ll tell Californians to make sure they have big backyards to camp in, because the state won’t be providing anywhere near as many campgrounds as before. Get a fire extinguisher or a swimming pool full of water and a good hose and pump, because there will be far fewer firefighters.
Like he says earlier in his article:
no one had pierced to the core of what politicos really mean when they say “no new taxes.”
I guess they have now.
I would submit to the organizers of the Occupy Wall Street Movement that in addition to my desire to have the underutilized hired to fill some of those created jobs that we have heard so much about, that they would also add a goal that public safety not be compromised in the name of “fiscal responsibility” In other words instead of firing Cops, Firefighters, Teachers and shutting the doors on public schools in this country, how about ensuring that the fire houses, police precincts and schoolhouses remain open?
In the meantime I will continue to follow along on Current TV, MSNBC and Twitter as to the various goings on with this movement. I hope that they can bring about the change that we all voted for when we cast our ballots for president Obama back in 2008.
…only this year, it feels a little easier then in past years.
I think most of that is due to the fact that we finally found and killed Osama Bin Laden earlier this year, so maybe the feeling of remembering that day doesn’t sting quite as much. This year I don’t find myself wondering if the efforts of our men and women in uniform are being wasted by selfish and greedy politicians and “Captains of Industry” in the quest for more and more profit. This year I know that there are not only leaders in our military, but also leaders in our Government that are willing to do what is necessary to keep us safe instead of worrying about a balance sheet.
Yes I know that President Obama gave a rousing speech in front of Congress where he laid out his jobs plan, and I will get to my feelings on that in short order. Right now it is time for the business at hand. Here once again is a re-print of my column from PCFootball.net and its accompanying addendum, newly added this year:
I still remember where I was. I don’t think I will ever forget where I was when I heard the news.
I was getting ready for work in my living room, sitting in front of the TV watching SportsCenter as usual. ESPN News broke in with a special bulletin, with some news that The World Trade Center in New York had been attacked. They wanted us to turn to ABC News for more details.
I didn’t think much of it and I thought that it wasn’t a big deal because they didn’t give out very many details. I continued to watch SportsCenter as I put my shoes on, and I saw it down on their sports ticker. They usually flashed the scores from the previous night’s games, but on this September morning they flashed something that I will never forget –
WTC collapse after…
…planes crashed into towers…
…tune to ABC for more details.
The first thing that I thought was “What?” “WHAT?!? NO FUCKING WAY!!!”
I grabbed the remote and punched the buttons to switch to ABC as fast as I could…
…and that’s when I saw it…
…a huge cloud of dust in the place where the Twin Towers once stood.
It was at this moment that my wife decided to come out of the bedroom. The first thing she saw was the look on my face. She kept asking me what was wrong and my mouth could barely form the words. “The World Trade Center in New York was attacked. Both of the towers have collapsed. They’re gone.”
She came in and watched the TV with me, and we both sat there, dumbfounded as they replayed the collapse of Tower 1. Neither one of us could believe what had happened. But there was more – a plane had crashed into the Pentagon as well. Not only that, but there was another plane still out there, and it was a plane that was supposed to be on its way to the West Coast! Specifically LAX!
Since I live in the Southern California area my mind raced as I tried to think of all the targets that terrorists could possibly hit out here. The most obvious was the Boeing plant at the Long Beach Airport just a few miles down the street from where I live. The next one was TRW, just a few miles away from where I work! Both companies are defense contractors, and they would have made some pretty good targets. I called into work to get some advice on whether I should come in or not because we didn’t know if we were going to be safe. I was told to come on in.
I went in and kept a radio at my desk so that I could get the latest news and pass it on to everyone else at the office. As the day wore on we gradually heard the story. About how the planes were hijacked and deliberately crashed into the towers. We also heard of the fourth plane that had gone down in a Pennsylvania field, and how they weren’t sure if it had been hijacked or had gone down on its own. Later we would hear the stories of how the passengers had decided to fight back, and paid for their bravery with their lives.
We all know the story that followed – the rescue effort that turned into recovery. The clean up of what became known as “Ground Zero” which was just completed yesterday. The deployment of troops to Afghanistan to find Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Queda network. W’s stirring call to arms before a joint session of congress. The donations that poured in to New York and the tributes that followed.
So I know what you are thinking. What does any of this have to do with PC Football?
Nothing…
…and everything.
Recently there was a football game played – a real football game. But these were not NFL players that took the field. No, these were true heroes. These were the players from the FDNY Bravest Football Club and the NYPD Finest Football Club. Both of these teams met in the 30th annual “ Fun City Bowl” on May 19th. The game was originally slated for St. John’s University , but because of the demand for tickets it was moved to Giants Stadium in New Jersey – directly across from Ground Zero.
The game itself was a penalty filled affair. These were not NFL-tested veterans on the field. These were cops and firefighters that played football because they loved the game. But more importantly, they played to honor their lost brothers. Lost in the rubble of the Twin Towers , but never forgotten in their hearts. This fact was in evidence before the game, as the “Bravest” recognized the surviving family members of the 22 team members out of the 343 firefighters who were lost on September 11th. Group after group of parents, widows, and children were escorted to midfield to receive the player’s framed jersey bearing a plaque inscribed “Forever a hero on our team.” The NYPD was fortunate not to lose any team members that day, but they did honor the 23 fellow officers who perished on 9/11.
In the end the NYPD prevailed 10-0 to record their 9th straight win over the FDNY, and take a 21-9 lead in the series, but none of that mattered. What mattered was that they had come together to raise money for 9/11 charities, and to honor their brethren.
That is what I have tried to do recently.
I made a new roster for Madden 2002. I created the FDNY Bravest and the NYPD Finest and put them into their own file. I used the teams that were created by Bly Gilmore on MaddenMania, which evened up the Maniac and Instigator rosters, and moved those players onto the FDNY and NYPD rosters. I had intended to change the names of the players on both teams to reflect the rosters for the fire and police teams. I was able to find the actual roster for the FDNY, but I am unable to fine the roster for the NYPD. I have included the file for the FDNY, which contains the FDNY names, along with positions, numbers, height and weight.
If anybody out there can find the NYPD roster and wants to make the changes, I invite you to do so. I also ask that if you do find them, if you could share them with the rest of us who have the rosters, we would be very grateful. In this way we can all pay tribute to those men who gave their lives on that terrible day every time we play with these teams.
I know that is what I will be doing every time I play with those rosters…
And I will also remember where I was when I heard the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed…
I was actually making dinner for us when I heard it. I had just put a Dijorno’s Pizza in the oven when I heard a news bulliten break in on my father-in-law’s TV. He was watching “America’s Funniest Home Video’s” when ABC News broke in with a special report. I came into the living room to see what the commotion was all about and was greeted with old footage of bin Laden. I coudn’t tell what they were talking about because my father-in-law had the closed captioning on, so I turned it off temporarily so that I could see what the big news was.
That’s when I saw the headline…
…Osama bin Laden killed….
Naturally the first thing that I thought was “What?!? No fucking way!!! NO FUCKING WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT WE GOT HIM, WE KILLED THE GREAT SATAN?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?”
Then as the news went on and on and on it started to sink in………it was true – we got the son of a bitch!!!!!
I went into the other room to tell wifey. I asked her what she was watching and I could see that she was watching a “Burn Notice” rerun. I told her to change it to CNN and watched to see the look on her face. Her eyes grew wide when she first saw the news and sat up in bed. We just sat there taking it all in as the confirmation of his death came in. We sat through President Obama’s address to the nation while we ate our pizza, we heard the details of the operation…
…and I lit our memorial candle for the victems of 9/11 and put it out on our front deck.
We actually have a memorial candle that we light at sundown every September 11th and extingwish at midnight in memory of those who died that day.
Now I have a new date in which to light that candle, because there is another day for us to remember. That date is May 1, 2011. For some in the world that is known as “May Day”, but for those of us here in the United States that is a day on which the healing could really begin. That is the date in which we heard that our greatest enemy, and the butcher of over 3,000 innocents, was finally delivered to the right hand of God.
Or is it the left hand of God? It’s been a while since I took Catecism…..
Anyway, we know have an new day to remember in this country, and so on every May 1st I will light that memorial candle, and remember all of the fallen.
So why is it that President Obama’s approval ratings were in the tank soon after he got bin Laden?
In a word – jobs. Or actually, a lack of jobs. No check that – a lack of good jobs that pay enough so that American families can afford to have food in their children’s stomachs, the lights and heat on in the dead of winter, as well as a good roof over their heads in the rain without having to work four part-time minimum-wage jobs and have to choose what to do without.
Now I can go into another tirade about how The Rich-Wing Republicans have deliberately chosen to keep the unemployed unemployed with the support of their Teabagging minions – but I won’t…
…this time.
I do want to say something about the President’s speech and his program for getting people back to work. One – I loved the speech as we finally saw the Obama with the fire in the belly, just like during the campaign. Two – I thought that he had some good ideas for giving the economy and the job market the jump start that it needs so that the private sector can pick up the ball and run with it. And make no mistake – in order for the economy to improve the private sector is going to have to do its part and put people back to work. If they don’t, if they do as they have done in the past and just sit on their hands, then the plan will not work. Three – I thought that the analysis that was happening was very cynical and defeatist in nature – and that was the analysis that was coming from the left!!!!!!!!!!!! The last thing that anyone who has been unemployed for more than six months needs to hear from a liberal Democrat is that the Presidents plan to create jobs will not work. Tell us what is right about the plan, don’t keep telling us what is wrong with it to the exclusion of all else you idiots!!!
I will expand on my feelings in a couple of days time and go into greater detail as to why I feel that the left-wing analysts were doing the unemployed in this country a disservice the other night. But for now, I have a flag bracket to go put up in preparation for tomorrow.
This is an unusual post for my first post of the year, but I’m just posting to say that I will not be posting today.
