Visiting Mom

Finally, after a year of not seeing Mom, I was able to make it back up to Panama City, FL for a couple days. It's not that I haven't wanted to go up. It's simply that my overly protective wife, Pam, has been reluctant to let me make the trip, even tho' my cardiologist said it's okay.

Mom had an infection that was taking a toll on her. Taking antibiotics for it didn't set well with her body and she couldn't hold down her lunch or dinner. Playing the sympathy card, I was finally able to get Pam to set me free for a few days. I drove up on Monday, a very beautiful day for driving. The only hangup I encountered was crossing Tampa Bay between St. Petersburg and Tampa. The rush hour was pretty much over, but traffic came to a crawl. A ride that would normally take about the minutes ended up taking a half hour. Having to take the airport exit to get to the Veterans Expressway, as I got up to it, I then found out what the problem was--an accident that blocked one of the two exit lanes.

Once I made it past that, it was clear sailing. I had packed a sandwich to eat along the way and I was on a 40-mile stretch of highway between Cross City and Perry, FL. I knew there were no rest areas along the way, so I was hoping for someplace to pull off--a church; a ranger station; a gas station; anyplace. Unfortunately, such was not to be or about 25 miles. Finally, I came upon the Salem, FL post office which sat next to a derelict gas station--no doors, windows, or roof. Of course there was no place to relieve myself, so I went inside the station, walking over the crackling floor tiles and weeds which had taken over the floor in order to take care of business. After eating and getting back onto the road, I had an uneventful remainder of a trip and spent a couple hours with Mom when I got to P City.

Tuesday morning I stopped in to see her and plan the day. We decided that I'd return around noon and we'd head out to Carrabba's Italian Restaurant, a place she had never been. As I had picked up quite a few lovebugs on my way north, I knew I had to go to a car wash, so I did that before going over to visit my sister who also lives there (more about the car wash later). I picked up Mom at noon and we headed out to Panama City Beach and Carrabba's. Unfortunately, they weren't open for lunch, so we continued on to Pier Park, a large shopping center, to check out what might be available there for lunch. We spotted the Hofbrau, a German Bier Garten, so we decided that looked like a good place to eat. The weather was so beautiful--in the low 80s--we decided to eat on the patio. Mom had a couple of sausages (she could only eat one) and I had a weinerschnitzel. Each of us washed lunch down with a half liter of a great dark German bier. Neither of us could eat dinner that evening.

Wednesday was an off-day, as Mom was afraid she was catching a cold, as she was sneezing her her head was stopped up, so she just stayed inside and rested all day long. I killed the morning exploring a couple of large antique stores in beautiful downtown Panama City and polished off a chili-slaw dog (one of my college-day favorites) at Tom's Hot Dogs, a local institution. The rest of the day was spent, just chilling. That evening, after dinner, I stopped back at Glen Cove Nursing Pavilion, where Mom lives, and visited with her for a while before saying our goodbyes.

Thursday, heading back to Bradenton, I was reaching for my digital voice recorder, which I keep in the car to make notes. I couldn't find it in its usual spot, so I waited until I had a break to look further for it. I still couldn't find it, so I tore the car apart looking for it once I got back home around 5 PM, or so. No doubt it had been copped by one of the young persons who had dried off my car at the carwash, since it had been in its spot on the way up and only Mom and my brother, Gene along with his wife, Regina, had been in the car. I was a bit pissed because I've never had it missing when going through the local carwash here in Bradenton. I wrote a review of Waterworx Car Wash, which was not flattering at all, as well as calling the manager this morning to let him know of my experience and how pissed I was. I know he can not do anything about it, but at least I got to vent.

I'm now back in my usual routine and so very happy I was able to get up to see Mom. I had called her when I got home and she told me she was feeling great and feels it may have been her allergies kicking up. She stays inside, for the most part, and I suspect her problems stemmed from being outside for an extended period of time on Wednesday. After lunching on the Hofbrau patio, I pushed her around the shopping area in her wheelchair, and I imagine all that time outside took its toll on her sinuses. So happy she's feeling good once again.

Reflections on Troy Davis and the Death Penalty

Gandhi once said, "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." Killing someone who may have killed another solves nothing. It does not deter anyone from taking someone else's life. There are those who say society has the right to put someone to death who has killed someone else. To those people I ask, "What right?" Just because a society might give itself the legal right to kill another does not make it right. No one has the moral right to take another's life.

American culture rejects the Middle Eastern practices of lopping off of a person's hand if they steal a loaf of bread or the stoning of an adulteress. We were disturbed when Kunta Kinte's foot was chopped off by his master after he managed to escape and was recaptureed. Are these practices any more barbaric than the taking of a human life? I submit they are not.

Death sentences, especially those in which there is serious doubt as to a person's guilt after they have been convicted, are reprehensible to every fiber of my being. Our legal system is rife with cases involving wrongly-convicted persons being sentenced to death. In January 2003 outgoing Illinois governor, George Ryan, commuted the death sentences of 167 persons on death row, largely because of the conduct of the Chicago Police Department and their lack of thorough investigations and targeted prosecutions in getting convictions and the death penalty in quite a few cases, many of which involving persons they simply didn't want to deal with any longer.

This summer I attended a presentation by the Innocence Project of Florida. The featured speaker was a man from Puerto Rico who had been convicted of the 1983 rape and murder of a 56 year old woman. The police had no leads or evidence point to anyone. However, a youngster made mention of a male he had seen in the area around the time of the murder. A junior high principal, overhearing the child's comment, said it sounded like Anthony Caravella, a student who attended his junior high school. The police eventually arrested Caravella and, after extensive interrogation, apparently involving sleep deprivation, charged him with the murder. His case was railroaded through the court system and he was convicted.

When the Floirida Innocence Project became involved, they read through all the police files and discovered there were several interviews with persons who vouched for Caravella's whereabouts at the time of the murder (in a nearby town, as I recall), but these interviews were never turned over to the district attorney's office. In addition, although there was no extensive DNA testing available in 1983, semen smears had been taken and preserved along with the other evidence. The DNA testing proved conclusively that Caravella could be excluded as a suspect in the rape and murder. That being the case, the court vacated his conviction and the State of Florida dropped all charges against him.

The point being that our system of justice is seriously flawed and these flaws result in the legalized murder of innocent persons. There was, and still are, serious doubts as to the culpability of Troy Davis for the murder for which he was put to death. While that makes no difference to Mr. Davis now, it does make a difference to me and should to all who believe in the American system. The death of a person cannot be undone. The legalized murder of an innocent person is particularly grievous and should never be tolerated.

Finally Connecting the Dots

(Composed on July 12, 2011)

I am sitting at home, right now, getting ready to watch the 2011 All Star Game. A year ago I was sitting at my sister-in-law's house in Seattle doing the same thing. This morning I met with my cardiologist who, in effect, discharged me. I don't have to see him until mid-November. My wife, Pam, was with me and we got to talking about how crappy I felt when watching the All Star Game llast year.

The day before, I went to the Boeing Museum of Flight. I remember getting a veggie wrap for lunch, but felt a bit bloated afterwards, not thinking anything about it. The next day I went to the Boeing Aircraft plant for a tour. I was feeling quite bloated and uncomfortable and, quite honestly, cannot recall if I even ate lunch. I really felt like crap and, as I was leaving, I asked one of the customer service reps if there was a pharmacy nearby. He directed me to one about a mile away, which I stopped at. Asking the pharmacist what he'd recommend for bloating, he suggested Gaviscon, as I recall. I took and chewed about 3 of the tablets and made my way back to Beth's house. That evening I called the Seattle V.A. hospital to get some advice, but was unable to get much. I just sat around and watched the game, uncomfortable though I was.

I had no further problems until early December when Pam and I were in Miami. I had put the Seattle experience completely out of my mind until this morning. In Miami I had the same bloated feeling, only worse this time. Acceding to Pam's wishes, I called 911 and was hospitalized whereupon I was diagnosed with atrial fibrilation. The rest is history.

While discussing matters with my cardiologist, Dr. Akella, this morning Pam brought up the Seattle episode and all of a sudden it hit me--the bloated feeling I had in Seattle was identical to the bloated feeling I had in Miami only not nearly as bad. I have had stomach problems all my life and I simply attributed the bloating to indigestion. Now, I know better.

Anyway, I was given a clean bill of health by Dr. Akella this morning and plan to be much more judicious in my choice of food.

Reflections on Casey and Caylee

The center ring of the 3 year old media circus has finally been cleared and the nation can (hopefully) get on with things that matter, really matter to all of us, not just the fate of one young woman. It is such a tragic shame that little Caylee met such a deplorable end. She appeared to be a happy and much-loved child and her life was cut way too short. Something like that should never happen to a young child.

People were shocked and stunned at the Not Guilty verdict rendered by the jury. I'll admit I was too. But, everyone seems to forget that the verdict by a jury of Ms. Anthony's peers exhibited the American system of jurisprudence worked as it should have. The state has the burden of proof. Ms. Anthony does not have to prove her innocence. If anything failed, it was the State of Florida and its prosecution of the case against her. They could not prove how little Caylee died; when she died; or who was responsible for her death. That was the basis of "Reasonable Doubt". Unless someone was caught red-handed or admitted killing the little one, then it is up to the state to prove to prove she died when, where and by what means she met her fate. True, the circumstantial evidence was enormous, but the state failed to carry its burden of proof.

Personally, I feel Casey probably did do it. But, it is now history. She had a smart attorney who, incidentally, had only been practicing for three years or so before taking on the case. Sure, he may have used what some would term "dirty tricks" in his defense of Casey, but his job was to create "reasonable doubt". That he did. He was not being paid to exonerate her. I also feel that O.J. probably hacked his wife and Ronald Goldman to death. But... he was also acquitted. Like it or not, that is the way our system works! The burden of proof is on the state, not on the accused. Like it or not, that is the way our system works and, for my money, it is still be best damn system ever devised by the mind of man.

Setting the Record Straight, Part 2

At last night's Marauders game my buddy, Jared, told me of the fallout from my confrontation with the Marauders pitching coach, Mike Steele. He (Jared) had told Trfevor Gooby, the Pirates Big Kahuna in Florida, of the "discussion" I had with Steele. Gooby then let Steele know that confrontation with the fans is unacceptable. Further, Steele had to relay that on to the team, telling them that any violations of the policy would lead to a demotion to the Pirates Low A team, the West Virginia Power, from Charleston, WV.

As far as I'm concerned, the incident is now history.

Setting the Record Straight with a Pitching Coach

As a retiree, one of the great loves I have is watching the Pittsburgh Pirates' High Class A farm team, the Bradenton Marauders, play. I purchased a season ticked and have been to practically all the games this season. Part of my support for the Marauders is teaming with my good buddy, Craig, in cheering the Marauders on and heckling the opposition . The way I figure it, if the players can't take the heckling at this level, they surely cannot take it when they hit the Major Leagues, should they make it that far.

The day before yesterday an incident occurred that really got under my skin. Craig and I were sitting in our usual spots behind home plate, doing what we've done for the past two seasons--letting the opposition, in this case the Palm Beach Cardinals, have it. We enjoy what we do, as do the fans around us. One of the razzes I am known for is to march a batter, who has struck out, back to the dugout with a "left, right, left, right... sit down sucker!" cadence and the fans love it. I have had many compliments on my heckling, both inside the ballpark and on the way back to my car afterwards. Craig was exercising his First Amendment right of free speech and taunting the opposing batters, as well.

However, in about the third inning, as the Marauders were preparing to bat, their pitching coach, Mike Steele, came over to Craig and told him to take it easy in his heckling of the opposition. He said nothing to me and was specifically targeting Craig. Both of us, as well as Craig's girlfriend who was sitting between us, were at a loss as to why he took it upon himself to talk to Craig. Yesterday, before the ballgame, Trevor Gooby, the Pirates' Director of Florida Operations, searched me out and apologized on behalf of the Marauders. I told him I was not the person Steele was talking to, but my buddy Craig, a season ticket holder for the past two seasons and who purchased two season tickets this year.

Today I received an email from Craig, telling me he was through with the Marauders--no more games for the rest of the season and no season tickets for next year. I wrote him back and tried to convince him that it was not his fault; that Steele had no business admonishing him, since it wasn't his job. I did a slow burn on my way to the ballpark and when I got there I proceeded to search Steele out and got in his face, telling him he had no business getting on Craig's case and that he was paid to coach the players; not to police the fans. I further told him that, if he has a problem with any of the fans, he should contact Gooby or someone else in the front office and let them handle it. He seemed to be a bit stunned at being called out and all he could muster was an "Okay". One of my other buddies, Jared was there and told me that, as I was leaving, one of the pitchers told me to take a [friggin'] hike. That's fine. I love it because it tells me that there is a sense of camaraderie on the team. Hopefully, Steele will realize that his priorities are the players and not the fans.

In the meantime, GO MARAUDERS!!!

Why I Detest War

Being a child of World War II, I was taught from early on that wars--just wars in particular--are necessary facts of life. My father was a veteran of World War II. One of his brothers was killed in the war, a victim of the only fatal airplane crash in Australian history. My earliest memory of any war was the Korean War. I knew not when or why it started. I only knew it was on the "Camel News Caravan" with John Cameron Swayze every evening. When a truce was declared, one of the most vivid memories I have was of a group of recently released POWs being asked if they wanted to return to the U.S., the answer being a resounding "No!" I could never reconcile myself as to why they wanted to stay in North Korea

Of course, all throughout my formative and teenage years the Cold War was a fact of life. Living in the Washington, DC suburbs was such an idyllic area for a young student of history. However, that changed in October 1962 with the Cuban Missle Crisis. While a lot had gone on in the background and in secret, President Kennedy gave a speech on Oct 22nd "of the highest national urgency." In Mr. Kane's U.S. Government class in high school, that was the main, and probably only, topic of discussion. At home, it was also the main topic of discussion. My maternal grandparents lived deep in the mountains of West Virginia and we made plans to go there in the event of an emergency. I now know that there would have been only 30 minutes warning in the event of an attack. That is terribly frightening now that I look back on it. If it had happened, very few 0f us would be around to talk about it.

A scant four years later, as the Vietnam War was escalating in the summer of 1966, I received notice to go for my draft physical on July 14th while living in Chicagoland. I recall the date because, as I was on my way to work afterwards, I saw the newspaper headlines telling of the eight student nurses who had been murdered on the south side by Richard Speck. I knew I had passed the physical and that the next step would be my draft notice. To forestall such, I ended up enlisting in thre Air Force, figuring that sooner or later I'd end up in Vietnam. I figured that, if I had to go to Vietnam, it would be on my terms and not those dictated by any draft board. My first assignment out of tech school was Patrick Air Force Base, FL--a cush assignment on the Atlantic that served NASA and the Kennedy Space Center. Unfortunately, that good fortune lasted for only four months before I was transferred to Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon. As far as I was concerned, I was on a glorious crusade to make the world safe from communism.

While the first few months were uneventful, once the Tet Offensive began things changed markedly for me. Working in a building on the fightline as an air freight in-country load planner, I was on duty the night the offensive started and it was one of the most traumatic things I have ever experienced in my life, especially when bullets started striking the building as I was standing 0ut back with some of my buddies at daybreak. I got a bit used to expect the attacks, both while on duty or back at the barracks.

However, one night a couple weeks later I had the most seminal moment in my life. I was sleeping in my bunk on the second floor of the barracks when we came under attack with rockets and mortars. Those of us upstairs had to run down the outside stairway for cover and, as I was doing so, I happened to see a poor dog, running hellbent for election, down the street, scared out of its wits and wondering what the hell was going on and knowing it was certainly something he wanted no part of. Feeling compassion for that poor animal, I realized at that moment that war is so damn useless and so damn immoral. Nothing gives anyone the right to take another's life. While there may be a legal right to take another's life, such does not equate to a moral right. I don't care if it's war, capital punishment, justifiable homicide, or whatever. It's simply wrong.

Vietnam was an undeclared war, as was the Gulf War and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Granted, some wars may be justified such as the American Revolution or World War II, both of which were fought to rid the oppressed of despots. However, this is not to say I am in favor of certain wars. I am against all wars, not only because they are immoral but also because all end up as rich men's wars but poor men's battles.