Anybody Got A Night Light?

Those Aussies have the best commercials!! Warning, you may not want to watch this with your kids around.

A Hick and Gunpowder

A hick and gunpowder are not a good combination. Make sure you notice the background music.

Today, The NRA Wins Big

"Any gun in the hands of a good person is no threat to anybody, except bad people"

Charlton Heston (Date Unknown)

I hear these words time and time again from the late Charlton Heston and I just shake my head. Apparently the Supreme Court agrees with him.

It's amazing, people in this country (and the Supreme Court) feel it's your right to be able to go into Wallmart and buy a gun with no background check, no questions asked. But if you ask these same people that you want to buy 100 acres of land next to there land and build, say a 20 story office complex for the hell of it. No one would work there, but you want to build it because you have lots of money to waste....Well they would say no, you don't have a right to do that. You would then have to go through an enormous amount of red tape (environmental impact statements, zoning board meeting, public hearings) waste tons of money and time. You would have to provide financial statements, who knows, you would probably have to show info about your Mother's grandmother. And then if enough people in the town decided they didn't want you to build a office complex on your property and the land wasn't zoned commercial, you would not be able to build the building. You wouldn't even be able to build a deck off your house if you didn't follow certain guidelines by the planning board.

But don't worry, you can still go out and buy your guns with no govt. oversight at all. Yes, only in America is it easier to buy a weapon then it is to build a structure. Last I knew, structures don't hurt you.

Big Oil Wins Again

According to the New York Times, it looks like the Good-old boys and girls down at the Supreme Court took care of their buddies at Exxon-Mobil when they "reduced the Valdez Case from what had once been a $2.5 billion punitive damages award against to about $500 million.

Simply said, this sucks. So lets see... A company makes billions of dollars a year, knowingly allowed a drunk named Mr. Hazelwood, to captain a tanker through Prince William Sound. Hazelwood drinks 5 vodkas and creates the biggest oil spill in American History. The company gets nailed (rightfully so) with a 2.5 billion dollar in punitive damages....and the Supreme Court reduces it because in their words: "“We consider that a 1:1 ratio, which is above the median award, is a fair upper limit in maritime cases,”.

What a sad day for America.

A Fitting Tribute

A group of people out in San Francisco have collected 8,500 signatures (15,000 are needed for an initiative) to put a initiative on the November ballot that would rename San Francisco's Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant to the the George W Bush Sewage Plant. According to the New York Times, "Bush Is Unlikely to Embrace it". Gee you think!!

Personally, I find this to be one of the most appropriate tributes I have ever seen.

ALL IN FAVOR???? I

George Carlin the Legend

I was very sad to hear the news about the sudden death of George Carlin. I saw him up in Plattsburgh back in 1992 and I still remember roaring so hard I had tears. As a fitting tribute, there is only one thing to do: Watch his famous "Seven Words You Can't Say on TV". When he first did this in the 70's, he actually got arrested for disturbing the peace...My how the time have changed.

Thanks for the laughs George!!!

One For The Roon Man

This one is for Rooney!!!

School Leaves Autistic Kids Out Of Yearbook

Anybody who knows me already knows my opinion when you read this headline...I'm not buying what the Placer County superintendent who oversees the special needs program at Quail Glen Elementary says. She thinks this incident was an oversight, not a malicious act. If it wasn't a malicious act, then I would demand a face to face meeting of who was responsible for this yearbook and let the person tell me it was a oversight. Forgetting one person, yes, but the entire special needs class and their teachers.??? Cummon, something fishy is going on.

Blandon Granger, his sons, ever student in the class and teachers are owed a face to face apology by the person who screwed up. The district needs to ensure this never happens again.

4 to tie, 5 to break the record

While watching Tiger prepare for his birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the US Open at Torrey Pines yesterday, I told Chris with complete confidence, "he will make this 15 ft. putt"...No doubt in my mind, he will make the putt and go on to win in a 18 hole playoff. Chris agreed!!

Well, it happened...again. Well ok, it took 18 holes and 1 sudden-death to beat Roco Mediate, but it happened again. I have rooted for Tiger ever since he went pro 10 years ago, and as a fan, it doesn't get old watching this guy win again and again. You think by now I would get use to him come roaring back time and time again, maybe get bored with watching him win all the time. Nope...I never have nor will I ever in the future. You can't write this stuff. I will be telling stories about Tiger's wins to my Grandchildren someday. Just amazing!!!

Look out Jack, only 4 to tie your record and 5 to break it. I'm thinking by 2011, Tiger will have more majors then Jack Nicklaus. But if Tiger win the British or the PGA later this year, I may have to go with 2010.

Another Great Fathers Day

I did it again...I went almost 3 weeks without telling people what has been going on here in the Hull House. Well, lets see, 2 weeks ago on June 1st, we went to my parents house to celebrate my brother Sean's birthday (June 1st) and my birthday (June 4th). Since our birthdays are only 3 days apart, my mother has always celebrated them together. Sean came up from NY City and the usual crew showed up at the house for a picnic lunch....Another great party!!

On June 4th, Chris made my favorite cake and we celebrated my special day with just the four of us. Charlotte is getting the hang of singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out candles. It's only a matter of time before she teaches Maeve.

Last weekend I played 18 Sunday morning and then it was off to my parents. Yesterday, Charlotte wanted to try out her new wheels, so the 4 of us walked up to the Crossing of Colonie where they had a farmer's market. The market wasn't that big, so it took Chris all of 5 minutes to walk through, but after we stopped at the Crossings playground for some fun. Maeve, as usual, slept through the whole thing.

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But the best was today...Father's Day. Chris made some French Toast for breakfast and then we just hung out and played. I watched a little of the Sox game during nap time, but once the girls woke up, it was back out to the backyard. For Dinner, it was off to "On the farm in Latham, for some Dogs, fries and ice cream. Another perfect Father's Day.


And finally to Dad: Although I didn't get to see you today because you and Mom were on your way back from North Carolina. I just want to let you know that I was thinking about you and how much you mean to me. Your strength, especially over the last year has been inspirational. I know you are not 100%...but I truly believe you will get there. Happy Fathers Day Dad and Happy Fathers Day to all Dads.