MLK Day 2014

So close and, yet, the race-baiters (of all stripes) among us keep us so far away from the days when we may "judge a man not by the color of his skin but the content of his character."

Those among us ensuring that race is a consideration dishonor the man, dishonor the movement, and dishonor the dream.

Happy Winter Solstice 2013

Like the seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring. - Kahlil Gibran. Source: The Prophet: 26 poetic essays, Pages: 80 (On Death)

A Good Guide for Black Friday Shopping

To quote:

Merry Christmas. God Bless ‘Murica. Blow shit up. 

Thanks to the Instapundit for the hat tip!

Today, I Am Thankful For:

Family

Adventures with Loved Ones

And, Random Moments of Beauty

From Mine to Yours, Happy Thanksgiving

Oh, Happy Day To Me!

Yup, another year under my belt. Instead of my obligatory Boogie the Quaker Parrot Sings Happy Birthday, here's how I spent this day last year:

All photos courtesy of Fishing Buddy.

This could almost make an Ex-pat's Pats post. Yeah, what were the f#<k!ng odds?! The Pats were playing in Seattle on my birthday! So, of course, Fishing Buddy and I had to jaunt down for the game (first live game I'd been to since the Grogan years).

Not bad seats, eh?! And, yes, Century Link Field is as loud as they say it is (this from a guy who's seen Floyd three times).

Additional Thoughts On Our Nation's 237th Birthday

Image Courtesy of DullHawk's place.

I sure as hell hope not!

On this day, please take a few moments to reflect on what it's all about (special thanks to The Charters of Freedom):

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Happy 4th of July, America!

I appreciate that this day celebrates the signing of Declaration of Independence; however, I think it is just as crucial to celebrate that which grew from it:

And, let's not forget this one:

And, one more:

Like so many other Gen-Xers, I had a leg up in memorizing the Preamble for my Civics classes thanks to Schoolhouse Rock. They were a bit simple but, still, f#cking awesome!

We don't make 'em like this anymore. And, that dear reader, is to our detriment.

First Fireworks

Well, it's about 12:35 am and the first fireworks for July 4th have just concluded over Gastineau Channel and we all had a front row seat from my deck.

Happy Independence Day, America!

Alaskan Solstice

Midnight, Summer Solstice 1992

Hasselborg Lake, Admiralty Island

Photo Credit: Yours Truly

I sit upon the porch of the gods
To stare through Heaven's door.
Into the sky of what's to be
And the reflections of what has been.
My feet have now tread upon trails now past
And the world lays open in beckoning dreams.

The sun now sets on but one day
To rise eternal for ever more;
Like the hopes of a child young,
Whose eyes awaken for the first time
To gaze upon expectant wonders
Of a world thrown open in beckoning dreams.
-Pádraig E' Muirgheasa

In Memory: The Sullivan 5

I was trying to find more to remember the sacrifices of those who have served and never come home; those husbands, brothers, uncles, friends, and sons. This song has always maintained some of that sense for me:

It continually comes back to me as I've watched the blue stars hanging in various windows through two wars in Kuwait/Iraq and Afghanistan. Luckily, all those I've had the honor to know who have served have come home.

Throughout or republic's history, all to many blue stars have turned to gold.

In Memory

Quite often, the best words that I can ever bring forth to commemorate and honor the belief, toil, and blood that have consecrated this dynamic and infuriating and wonderful republic of ours always come back to Abraham Lincoln.

Lest we forget those whose blood has been shed to uphold and protect all that we hold so dear:

Executive Mansion, Washington, November 21, 1864.

Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Massachusetts:

Dear Madam: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours very sincerely and respectfully,

Abraham Lincoln

Special thanks to Internet History Sourcebooks for their work in presenting these transcripts.

Chéad lá an earraigh sásta!

Happy 1st day of spring!

Yeah, I've been on a bit of a metaphysical kick, lately (it's been a long, dark Southeast Alaskan fall and winter, which seemed to start back around July). Here's little something to celebrate reawakening from the long, fitful slumber of winter.

And, maybe a little something more to crank it up a notch:

Can I put the skiff back in the water and get fishing yet?!

Weekend Earworm: 03/17/2013

Fire of Freedom came out my senior year of college. Although I mightn't have always shared a lot in political common with my college friends and fraternity brothers, there was a strong contingent of us proud of our common Irish heritage. Some were first or second-generation Irish-Americans, while others of us (including yours truly) could trace our family roots in Meiriceá back to the Great Famine. A band with a catchy name like Black 47 seemed very apropos and a lot of late Saturday night beers were downed at the Big Red House to the notes of that Funky Céilí.

I can't let the feast o' me namesake pass without tippin' a glass to Kiwi (who first brought the disk to the House), Dom, Gray, and Coughlin (among so many) and re-celebratin' our message to Bridie!

Tulip and I will probably celebrate with corned beef and cabbage and our traditional viewing of The Quiet Man. Here's a little something for you, should you find yourself holding a bit o' your own Céilí:

Oh, and...

Fiddly-diddly-diedly-dee. I hope you party ree-sponsi-blee!

From me and mine to you and yours:

Sláinte

Lá Sona Naomh Pádraig!

To wish you a Happy Saint Pat's Day, a little something from The Pogues:

Más rud é ba chóir dom titim ó cairde le Dia

Más rud é ba chóir dom titim ó cairde le Dia

nuair is féidir aon dochtúir faoiseamh dom

Má tá mé burried faoin bhfód

ach ní bheidh na haingil a fháil dom

Lig dom dul, buachaillí

Lig dom dul, buachaillí

Lig dom dul síos sa láib

i gcás na n-aibhneacha a reáchtáil go léir tirim

An talamh a bhí i gcónaí linne

an raibh an talamh bródúil as ár n-aithreacha

Baineann sí le linn agus iad a

gan aon cheann de na cinn eile

Lig dóibh buachaillí dul

Lig dóibh buachaillí dul

Lig dóibh dul síos sa láib

i gcás na n-aibhneacha a reáchtáil go léir tirim

Bury dom ar muir

i gcás nach féidir Ghost dúnmharaíodh haunt me

Má tá mé carraig ar bharr na dtonnta

ní féidir aon corpse bheidh orm

Tá sé seo ag teacht suas triúr buachaillí

Gcoimeádann teacht suas triúr buachaillí

Lig dóibh dul síos sa láib

i gcás na n-aibhneacha a reáchtáil go léir tirim

Más rud é ba chóir dom titim ó cairde le Dia

nuair is féidir aon dochtúir faoiseamh dom

Má tá mé burried faoin bhfód

agus fós ní bheidh na haingil a fháil dom

Lig dom dul, buachaillí

Lig dom dul, buachaillí

Lig dom dul síos sa láib

i gcás na n-aibhneacha a reáchtáil go léir tirim

And, should my Irish be as pathetic as I pretty much know it is:

If I should fall from grace with god
Where no doctor can relieve me
If I'm buried 'neath the sod
But the angels won't receive me

Let me go boys
Let me go boys
Let me go down in the mud
Where the rivers all run dry

This land was always ours
Was the proud land of our fathers
It belongs to us and them
Not to any of the others

Let them go boys
Let them go boys
Let them go down in the mud
Where the rivers all run dry

Bury me at sea
Where no murdered ghost can haunt me
If I rock upon the waves
No corpse can lie upon me

It's coming up three boys
Keeps coming up three boys
Let them go down in the mud
Where the rivers all run dry

If I should fall from grace with god
Where no doctor can relieve me
If I'm buried 'neath the sod
And still the angels won't receive me

Let me go boys
Let me go boys
Let me go down in the mud
Where the rivers all run dry

Yeah, I'm Sappy for This Stuff!

This has been making the internet rounds for a couple of weeks, now. I'd originally intended to post it back then; however, I thought it might be a little more appropriate as a celebration of today.

From me and my sweetie to you and yours:

Happy Valentines Day!

An Earworm To Start 2013 With

This popped-up on my iPod while I was doing some serious data entry for the HR Empire. It felt very apropos to some of my thoughts and wishes for 2013.

Happy New Year!

Affirmative may be justified
Take from one give to another
The goal is to be unified
Take my hand be my brother
The payment silenced the masses
Sanctified by oppression
Unity took a backseat
Sliding further into regression

One, oh one,
The only way is one

One, oh one,
The only way is one
I feel angry I feel helpless
Want to change the world
I feel violent I feel alone
Don't try and change my mind

Society blind by color
Why hold down one to raise another
Discrimination now on both sides
Seeds of hate blossom further
The world is heading for mutiny
When all we want is unity
We may rise and fall, but in the end
We meet our fate together

One, oh one,
The only way is one
One, oh one,
The only way is one
I feel angry I feel helpless
Want to change the world
I feel violent I feel alone
Don't try and change my mind

[x3]
I feel angry I feel helpless
Want to change the world yeah
I feel violent I feel alone
Don't try and change my mind

I feel angry I feel helpless
Want to change the world yeah
I feel violent I feel alone
Don't try and change my mind

Thanks to A-Z Lyrics for the transcript.

A Quick Message for the Day

Hhhmmm...

Happy Holidays?

Happy Hana-Rama-Kwansa-Solsti-Mas?

Nah, don't think so. We've visited this before...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh, I got it!

Merry Christmas!

And, on that note, I'll leave you with a couple of my favorite carols:

And...

A Horrible Christmas Season Realization...

Is it me or has baklava been strangely absent from the stores this holiday season?

No wonder I've been in such a foul mood lately!

Happy Solstice (Just In Case the Mayan Apocalypse Didn't Get You)!

One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night. - Kahlil Gibran. Source: Sand and Foam (The Kahlil Gibran Pocket Library), Pages: 8

Like the seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring. - Kahlil Gibran. Source: The Prophet: 26 poetic essays, Pages: 80 (On Death)

Twenty-Twelve!

Well, it's December 21, 2012. Hopefully the end of the Mayan Calendar finds you doing as well as possible. Anyone care to report in on their end-of-the-world experiences, via the Comments?