Ward Churchill- Technocrats are Like "little Eichmanns"

There has been a storm of controversy surrounding University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill. Churchill has been called to task over comments he made in an essay in which he compared victims of 911 nazis calling workers "little Eichmanns."

To be fair to Churchill I sought out his statement on the matter. Here is what I found to be significant:

"I am not a "defender" of the September 11 attacks, but simply pointing out that if U.S. foreign policy results in massive death and destruction abroad, we cannot feign innocence when some of that destruction is returned. I have never said that people "should" engage in armed attacks on the United States, but that such attacks are a natural and unavoidable consequence of unlawful U.S. policy.

I have never characterized all the September 11 victims as "Nazis." What I said was that the "technocrats of empire" working in the World Trade Center were the equivalent of "little Eichmanns." Adolf Eichmann was not charged with direct killing but with ensuring the smooth running of the infrastructure that enabled the Nazi genocide. Similarly, German industrialists were legitimately targeted by the Allies.

It should be emphasized that I applied the "little Eichmanns" characterization only to those described as "technicians." Thus, it was obviously not directed to the children, janitors, food service workers, firemen and random passers-by killed in the 911 attack."

I do not wish to spend a lot of time providing Churchill with his own forum here, but there are some relevant comments to make. Churchill demonstrates moral ambiguity when he says that he does not advocate violence and then compares innocent business people to nazis, to the people who engaged in organized genocide.

You cannot soften your statement by saying that the "little Eichmanns" comment did not apply to children, janitors, food service workes, firemen and random passers-by" and expect people of common sense and conscience not to see the bankruptcy inherent in your comment. Because what you suggest is that everyone not covered by your group is responsible and culpable for engaging in destructive acts with malicious intent.

The stockbrokers who were murdered, the secretaries, personal assistants and CEOs all are deserving of more respect than blanket accusations. Your generalization does not take into account who these people were, you don't know if they volunteered at the local mission, gave money to charity or engaged in any sort of charitable actions any more than you can claim that they were evil. And that Churchill is what you are doing.

When you compare someone or something to nazis you are saying that they or it are evil and that is morally wrong and intellectually dishonest. Murder is not acceptable and to compare 911 to a military operation is stretching the limit too. If the attacks had been solely against the Pentagon or military facilities it would be one thing, but that did not happen.

There is nothing noble about what these men did and something less than noble in your characterization of the day and the things that happened then.

More on Ward Churchill

I wrote about Ward Churchill and his idiotic remark last month. I am not an advocate of forcing him to resign. He should be allowed to speak his mind and we should be allowed to speak our minds and let him know that he comes across as being a pompous ass.

Today CNN has an update on his position and what he intends to do:

"In a two-hour interview with The Associated Press, Churchill, 57, said he won't back down as the school investigates him to see if he can be fired. But he wearily acknowledged the uproar now dominates his life and makes it difficult to focus on his job as a tenured professor of ethnic studies.

"I'm struggling desperately to be able to deliver to my students what they signed up for," Churchill said, slumped in a chair and chain-smoking Pall Malls. "All of my time is devoted to responding to gratuitous (expletive). Every day there's a new idiocy."

I wonder if he really is all that surprised by this attention because he goes on to say:

"Churchill acknowledged he is confrontational when he tries to make Americans see the attacks of September 11 not as unprovoked assaults on an innocent people, but as the consequences of years of U.S. policies he likens to genocide.

"That's why I'm so in-your-face. You will not ignore this, purport to innocence while applauding genocide. You may not be directly culpable, but you're not innocent," he said."

People like Churchill concern me because in their effort to be good, kind and noble they often fail completely because they are affected by the plight of XYZ people to such an extent that they fail to do the research that is no desperately needed. There are often two sides to these stories, but they live off of the one tale and not the other.

But even if we give them some credence, what bothers me is their use of pejorative terms without regard for the appropriateness of what they are using them for. And in the essay that got him into this mess he demonstrated a complete misuse and misunderstanding of the "little Eichmanns" description.

Again, I do not advocate for his dismissal, but I do support a public reprimand.

A Look Back To Help Look Forward

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create.
-Albert Einstein

This morning my son came to me and told me that he was frustrated because he felt like there wasn't enough time to learn everything. I asked him what he meant and he told me that he mean everything. He wants to learn everything.

I suppose that I must have smiled because he looked at me and told me that it wasn't right for me to laugh. I said that I wasn't laughing and he said that I was and it is only because I already know everything. That really made me laugh. Maybe he read my post about eternal life.

Ain't Got You- Bruce Springsteen That song has a lot of meaning for me. The lyrics speak to me. Sometimes I wish that I could write and sing the way he can. I don't sing well, but I do sing loud. I can belt it out, but the problem is it sounds like hell.

It is a strange position to have those eye staring up at me as if I am some sort of guru, an oracle who can dish out sage advice. Sometimes I have the perfect answer and sometimes I make it up on the fly.

Today I took a look back at some old posts to try and help me look forward. As I sift through four years of blogging I see a bunch of recurring themes and wonder if this is how life is always going to be.

As is my wont I'll share links to some of the posts that caught my eye and intersperse commentary.

Bad Blogging- Also Known As This Stuff Sucks- My blog and my writing continue to evolve. I used to wonder if I had come up with my best ideas way back when, but now I am not so sure.

If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time-a tremendous whack. – Winston Churchill

Churchill was right, or maybe that is the excuse I use to continue to recycle old posts.

Happy Holidays Continued- Interaction with the public offers so many...stories.

My daughter likes to try and tease her older brother about her hair, or should I say that she and I both have very dark hair and he does not.

Actors From The 80s- Look at pictures of these actors now and then and you realize that many years have passed. I don't feel old, don't really look it either. But when I see these guys I realize that I must have aged too.

Someone recently asked me to tell them what it was like to watch Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan play. He is 24 and doesn't really remember.

How I Cook- I don't spend enough time cooking, but I still love to do it.

And now for some more quotes that resonate with me:

The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln

Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.

– Thomas Edison

When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this. You haven't.
– Thomas Edison

It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.
– Albert Einstein

If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.
– Gen. George S. Patton

I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.
– Wayne Gretzky

I used to do a lot of hiking. Back in the day I was famous for blazing my own trail. I didn't do it to be tough or to show off, I did it because something caught my eye and I went to take a closer look. It probably would have been easier to use the trail, but that is not really how I do things. Sometimes I find the harder way, no I usually find the harder way. I need to change that.

I may not always have a perfect plan to follow, but I know more or less what the ultimate goal is. Along the way I may pick up a few scrapes and bruises, but I'll get there, hopefully without getting attacked by the Flying Monkeys. I might even have my own scarecrow and tinman to accompany me.

I Confess- Most of the time I read these and think that I should have come up with better answers.

My Interview- Brian's blog was one of the first that I started reading. I still enjoy it. Maybe it is because I have seen him ask so many of the same questions that I do.

These days I do a lot less of the introspective posts than I used to, although I am trying to get back into the groove.

Parents- List Your Child's Most Irritating Toy/Show - Kind of self explanatory, isn't it.

This next post is one that I may have to feature again on its own as it asks a key question whose answer probably changes over time.

What is happiness worth to you?

I Really Like These Quotes

These were worth running a second time.

I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for their religion -
I have shudder'd at it.
I shudder no more.
I could be martyr'd for my religion
Love is my religion
And I could die for that.
I could die for you.
~ by John Keats ~

I'd like to run away
From you,
But if you didn't come
And find me ...
I would die.
~ by Shirley Bassey ~

You will never know true happiness
until you have truly loved,
and you will never understand
what pain really is
until you have lost it.
~ by Anonymous ~

The most precious possession that ever comes
To a man in this world
Is a woman's heart.
~ by Josiah G. Holland ~

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
~ by Mark Twain ~

If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be too cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.
~ by Ray Bradbury ~

Never, never, never, never give up.
~ by Winston Churchill ~

Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success, it enables you to ignore the minor hurts the opponent's pressure, and the temporary failures.
~ by Vince Lombardi ~

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
Shakespeare- Sonnet 18

If thou remember'st not the slightest folly
That ever love did make thee run into,
Thou hast not loved.
(As You Like It, 2.4.33-5)

It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
(5.5.30), Macbeth

"A friend is one before whom I may think aloud."

"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

"Give all to love; obey thy heart."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
John Stuart Mill

There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.


"No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

Teddy Roosevelt

"Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster."
General William Tecumseh Sherman

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Teddy Roosevelt "Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Honorary Citizenship for Anne Frank

Too little, too late. I just don't see a reason for it. There are other ways to honor her memory and the other victims too.

"He first enlisted a friend, Representative Steve Israel of Long Island, a Democrat, in efforts to have a commemorative stamp issued in her honor by the United States Postal Service. The Postal Service, however, informed them that it issued stamps only in honor of deceased American citizens or “American-related subjects,” a permitted category that has allowed stamps produced in honor of Mickey Mouse, Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk.

Representative Israel proposed honorary citizenship in 2004, but the bill died. Then a few days ago — prompted in part by the release of documents earlier this month showing that Anne Frank’s father tried desperately in 1941 to obtain a United States visa to leave Nazi-occupied Holland — he introduced it again.

“The best way we can honor Anne Frank in death is to give her what her father sought for her in life,” the congressman said.

Seventeen House members from both parties have signed on as co-sponsors. It would make Anne Frank only the seventh person to be granted honorary citizenship in the history of the country.

The others are Winston S. Churchill; the Marquis de Lafayette; Mother Teresa; the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who worked to save Jews in World War II; William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania; and his wife Hannah Callowhill Penn.

Relatives of Anne, who died at age 15 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945, said they were not so certain that this would have been the family’s wish.

“I cannot see the point,” said Bernd Elias, a first cousin and president of the Anne Frank Foundation, a charitable organization based in Basel, Switzerland. “She saw herself as Dutch. That is the country she wanted to be a citizen of.”

Mr. Elias said his cousin would no more have wanted to become an American citizen “than she would have wanted to become a Cuban citizen.”

How To Deal With a Bully

In light of recent events I thought that it was worth reposting this.

My son and I sat down and had a discussion about how to deal with bullies. It is one of the sad facts of life, bullies exist and they thrive at all ages.

You would think or perhaps hope that with age and maturity they would grow up and give up their bullying ways, but that is just not the case. Since he is just short of five we had a very simplistic discussion about what to do about a bully.

It is rather late and I don't have time to recount our discussion in its entirety here so instead I will try and sum it up and give some insight as to what I may say in the future.

The bully uses fear as a tool. It is a weapon that he/she employs to try and coerce you into doing what they want. Often the best way to deal with a bully is to stand up to them and let them know that you will not tolerate their behavior and that no matter what they try you will not back down.

In the schoolyards of my youth bullies were dealt with and dispatched with fists. You didn't want to fight, but if you were forced into it you did what you had to do and you made sure that the bully understood that they had no power over you.

Unfortunately there are some misguided fools who fail to recognize their own failings and foibles. They will continue to fight and growl long after it has been proven that they have no teeth.

So the question becomes one of whether you give them any recognition. Sometimes you can just ignore their meaningless drivel because it is clear they operate from a place of fear and insecurity. They are so frightened and uncomfortable in their own skin that there is nothing that you can do to them that is worse than leaving them to sulk by themselves in a corner.

As I mentioned earlier this is a little sophisticated for a young child so I tried to do what I could to boil it down, but I was only partially successful. So I gave in and read part of one of my favorite Churchill speeches because it says so much. It sends a very meaningful message. Here is a link to the speech and my favorite excerpt.

"we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,"

Speech before Commons
(June 4, 1940)

Never Give Up, Never Surrender

"Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." Winston Churchill

"Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will."
 George Bernard Shaw

This is the kind of post that I normally would write at night. There is something about the midnight hour that lends itself to quiet introspection, but given the circumstances I am writing it now. Writing it now because I can't keep living on three hours of sleep. Writing it now because for far too long I have been driving myself into the ground. Writing it now because even the mightiest warrior requires rest.

Yes, it is another post where I talk about my unwillingness to give up or give in. There are a host of reasons why I am who I am. Blame it on genetics, socialization and choice. Yes, choice is listed there because much of my life is based upon the choices I have made.

This is a frequent conversation with my children, choice that is. We talk about taking responsibility for our actions and how we have a tremendous amount of influence on our lives. It is something that I fervently believe in. Yet it is also fair to say that I have come to acknowledge that there are many things that are outside of our control. Life happens and all you can do is roll with the punches.

People do not make decision based upon logic or rational thought. They say that they do, but more frequently than not they make their choices arbitrarily. How many times have you glanced at someone and made a decision about who they are based upon their clothes or shape. It is not profound nor insightful to say that we give a break to someone we find attractive versus someone we do not.

In my life I know that I have made choices in that manner. I know that having watched Rocky and similar movies has helped to fuel my never give up, never surrender attitude. If he can find a way to will himself to victory, when then so can I. And I have. On more than one occasion success came because I didn't quit.

And I love the silent, brooding characters too. Casablanca speaks to me. There are so many scenes that stick out, but for the purpose of this post I'll grab quotes and clips for two. When Ilsa and Rick see each other again- that look they exchange speaks volumes. Not to mention the end of the movie, talk about powerful. I can't tell you how many times I have watched that or wondered about this exchange.

Was he truly strong enough to just let her go or was it just him trying to be noble. Did they go on to lead happy and fulfilled lives or in the silence of the night did they pine away for that one special person. So many questions and so few answers.

It ties into the whole never give up, never surrender thing to me. It does so because though I firmly believe in the concept, I don't think that we can use it for every situation. It is important to stand and fight for what you believe in, but you also need to recognize what battles aren't worth fighting.

You can take Groucho's comment and laugh,  "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others." Or you can view it from a different perspective and ask if the principles you are defending merit such a vigorous fight. The beauty of life is that it is not always a yes or no answer. So many of these things are subjective.

The one thing I am certain of is that you have to be comfortable with your decisions and your choices. When the lights go out at night you have to be able to sleep. If you can't you better hope it is because someone is snoring or a marching band is practicing outside because there is no escape from your self and your conscience.

A Few Things You Might Not Know

I like to debate and I like to argue. I like to get the last word, but what does it all matter. I sometimes hold a grudge.

I like Pepsi and I like Coke.

When I was a younger man, so much younger than today I never need anyones help in any way. But I still needed ice cream.

A good pizza, a good beer and a clear summer night- this is the recipe for a good time.

I miss being able to eat with reckless abandon. I miss being able to survive for months at a time on 3 hours sleep. I don't miss being a poor college student.

People I would have liked to have met:

King David, Samson, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Shoeless Joe Jackson, David Ben-Gurion, Casey Stengel, Harriet Tubman, Teddy Roosevelt, Ghandi, Winston Churchill, Julius Caesar, Leonardo Davinci, Galileo, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, JRR Tolkien, and Benjamin Franklin. There are others.

If I had a hammer there might be a hole in the wall I am staring at.

Three Blind Mice, see how they run. What are the odds of finding three blind mice? What are the odds of finding all three together?

If I could relive a year of my life it would be 1988, or maybe 1985.

If I could go back in time I'd be rich.

If I could still dunk a basketball I still wouldn't be in the NBA.

If I had to pick one movie to watch I might have to poke out my eyes. I don't know if I can do that.

I once hit a guy in the head with the bible. It was in a hotel courtesy of The Gideons. I don't know who the hell they are but they do get around.

I know where I want to be. I know what I want to do and who I want to do it with. Just not sure how to get there. But I haven't any doubt that one day I will.

I have more than a thousand followers on Twitter. Apparently 47.3% are social media experts. Who knew that there were so many.

Remember that old limerick about the man from Nantucket? Who was he?

I wonder about the origins of many things. Who invented fire hydrants? Why are Fire trucks red in some places and yellow in others. How did people figure out how to make dough, let alone figure out that it was good to eat.

I plan on writing a book and a screenplay. Don't care if I become famous from them. Would be nice to be rich if for no other reason than it would provide freedom to do some more things.

Sometimes people confuse me. They do things and I haven't the foggiest idea why. Maybe I am some sort of social misfit.

I do things a bit differently than most and I don't care.

It would be cool to be able to sing. It would be even cooler to be able to play an instrument. Would be cool to sing and play. Wouldn't be cool to do it during the middle of winter in a cold climate. I hate snow.

Pearl Harbor

Text of speech

"Mr. Vice President, and Mr. Speaker, and Members of the Senate and House of Representatives:  

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.  

The United States was at peace with that Nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American Island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.  

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.  

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.  

Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.  

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our Nation.  

As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. 

But always will our whole Nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.  

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.  
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.  
With confidence in our armed forces- with the unbounding determination of our people- we will gain the inevitable triumph- so help us God.  
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire. "

If you are unfamiliar with the attack on Pearl Harbor you can click on this link. I am thankful to my grandparent's generation for the sacrifices that they made to protect our freedom today. It is wise to remember the past and to recognize the lessons learned from those days.  

If there is one lesson we continue to learn it is that we always need to remain vigilant. Every generation has its challenges to face. Consider that for so many of us Pearl Harbor and the horrors of WWII are just history lessons learned in school and or from friends/family/neighbors. It is easy to forget the importance of these moments and to downgrade them as to being less significant.

Perhaps I'll write more about this later, but for now I'll reiterate my thanks again. And though it is not directly related to Pearl Harbor I'll link again to Churchill and one of my favorite speeches. Here is a post in which I referred to it. But because I like it here is an excerpt and a link to the audio. Or try this one.

"we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,"Speech before Commons(June 4, 1940)

Related links: Pearl Harbor - One Final Gathering
Originally posted here.

Pearl Harbor Day

Text of speech

"Mr. Vice President, and Mr. Speaker, and Members of the Senate and House of Representatives:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that Nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American Island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.
Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.
Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.
Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.
Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our Nation.

As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

But always will our whole Nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces- with the unbounding determination of our people- we will gain the inevitable triumph- so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire. "

If you are unfamiliar with the attack on Pearl Harbor you can click on this link. I am thankful to my grandparent's generation for the sacrifices that they made to protect our freedom today. It is wise to remember the past and to recognize the lessons learned from those days.

If there is one lesson we continue to learn it is that we always need to remain vigilant. Every generation has its challenges to face. Consider that for so many of us Pearl Harbor and the horrors of WWII are just history lessons learned in school and or from friends/family/neighbors. It is easy to forget the importance of these moments and to downgrade them as to being less significant.

Perhaps I'll write more about this later, but for now I'll reiterate my thanks again. And though it is not directly related to Pearl Harbor I'll link again to Churchill and one of my favorite speeches. Here is a post in which I referred to it. But because I like it here is an excerpt and a link to the audio. Or try this one.

"we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,"Speech before Commons(June 4, 1940)

Related links:

Pearl Harbor - One Final Gathering

Things You Should Know About Me/Stuff I think About

I like to debate and I like to argue. I like to get the last word, but what does it all matter. I sometimes hold a grudge.

I like Pepsi and I like coke.

When I was a younger man, so much younger than today I never need anyone's help in any way. But I still needed ice cream.

A good pizza, a good beer and a clear summer night- this is the recipe for a good time.

I miss being able to eat with reckless abandon. I miss being able to survive for months at a time on 3 hours sleep. I don't miss being a poor college student.

Tonight I'll sing my songs again
I'll play the game and pretend
But all my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony
I need someone to comfort me

People I would have liked to have met:

King David, Samson, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Shoeless Joe Jackson, David Ben-Gurion, Casey Stengel, Harriet Tubman, Teddy Roosevelt, Ghandi, Winston Churchill, Julius Caesar, Leonardo Davinci, Galileo, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Benjamin Franklin. There are others.

If I had a hammer there might be a hole in the wall I am staring at.

Three Blind Mice, see how they run. What are the odds of finding three blind mice? What are the odds of finding all three together?

If I could relive a year of my life it would be 1988, or maybe 1985.

If I could go back in time I'd be rich.

If I could still dunk a basketball I still wouldn't be in the NBA.

If I had to pick one movie to watch I might have to poke out my eyes. I don't know if I can do that.

Somewhere in the blog is a comment from The Shmata Queen in which she promised that LeBron would lead the cavs to a championship. Woman, I told you then that he would flee the burning river and he did. Just one of many things I said that came true or will eventually.

I once hit a guy in the head with the bible. It was in a hotel courtesy of The Gideons. I don't know who the hell they are but they do get around.

If life worked out the way that I had planned it would be very different. If like works out the way I want it to- it will be very different.

I hate The Sound of Music.

I hate Elmo- would like to punch that stupid muppet in the mouth.

One day I am going to write a book.

I never will forget those nights
i wonder if it was a dream
remember how you drove me crazy?
remember how i made you scream?

Fathers Planning for The Future

"It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time." ~ Winston Churchill 

I like the headline Fathers Planning for The Future for many of the same reasons that I like A Play In Three Acts. Mostly I appreciate the open ended aspect. Is it one father planning for the future or is it many. Could even be the title of an upcoming seminar I am going to provide on how to be a great father.

You know the kind of seminar I am talking about. I am going to charge you the very low and reasonable price of $19.99 to buy a tape/CD/MP3 excerpt of my talk. You'll be so enthralled by this you'll readily agree to spend $150.00 to come hear me give the full talk at a later date.

During that session you'll fall completely under my spell and agree to fork over a substantially larger sum so that you can participate in a full weekend of workshops, most of which won't be led by me. However as they will have TheJackB's picture and seal of approval you won't care.

Damn, I love being a brand. But that is not what this post is about. This really is about a discussion the boys and I recently had regarding the future and how to plan for it.

"If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up some place else."
Yogi Berra

I have spent more time thinking about what it is that makes me happy and fulfilled. More moments delving into the deeper recesses in my head thinking about what truly brings me joy. To me this seems to be the linchpin in my quest. More on this later.

It is another sunny day and we're sitting outside again enjoying coffee, the elixir of life. The conversation begins with the usual rhythm of sports, movie quotes and a curse or two about the mystery aches and pains that have taken up residence in our bodies. It gradually moves on to serious matters.

"I have been draining funds from my retirement account to pay for the mortgage." Heads nod and we hear tales of an impending custody battle. Eyes roll as we hear about the ex and her attempt to gain more than is fair. More stories are shared and there is more furrowing of our brows.

We're not much different from so many others. A group of college graduates who all have a hefty chunk of experience in the working world. Fathers who have done all that we can do to provide for our families and their well being.

And every single one of us is currently fighting a battle that they never imagined would happen. The wars we wage are all different, but we bear scars from them. They have taken a toll and that is part of why we are gathered together. It is another chance to lean on a friend and to see if somehow the collective wisdom offers a solution that we haven't come up with.

The conversation is interrupted by the sound of a female voice. A woman shouts out hello. Moments later she is standing next to the table. We know her, or at least a few of us do. We went to high school together. Pleasantries are exchanged and she runs off to pick her youngest up from pre-school.

Jim says that she has a great body for having popped out three kids. "If only I wish that we could say the same about you," I reply. We trade insults back and forth. He throws a twenty dollar bill at me and calls it a donation for lap band surgery.

I grab the twenty and stand up and before he can say anything I walk inside. Moments later I come out with more coffee and a few snacks. I drop the change in front of him and say "thank you." He grumbles something about not leaving until he gets his twenty dollars back. I ignore it.

We talk about the future. The fathers are a bit nervous. I tell them that I figured out a while back that it is really hard to say where we are going to be in five years. I am sincere in this. I do my best to plan for the future, but I really can't say where I'll be.

My life is different from what it was five years ago. All of ours are. In this particular group I have the oldest child. He'll be ten later this year. I don't claim to be the best father, but I am not new at this game anymore. I wasn't five years ago either.

It is easy for me to list a lot of changes in the past five years. Grandparents have died, jobs have changed and frankly some of our friends have died. Marriages have started and ended. I go back a little farther and talk about how I purchased a bunch of Worldcom stock.

At the time it was considered a smart purchase. Big company with little risk is what they said and so I believed. Guess who isn't around any more. There are a lot of stories that I can tell that are similar as can the boys.

Most of us graduated college and found jobs doing things that paid the bills. We were taught that it was more important to make a buck and that we could worry about being happy later. There is a lot of truth in that. But what you don't know when you are younger is just how much can change in your own perspective and desire. Life experience teaches you many things some of which just aren't evident and cannot be seen when you are younger.

I don't say that to make a claim that you have to be older to know who you are and what you want. Some of us reach that point earlier. But in many, it takes a while to get there. It requires time in the the salt mines to learn that what you thought you wanted has changed and that what you need is entirely different.

Having a plan is important and very useful. But so is the ability to adapt to change and to work with it so that you wherever you end up is somewhere you want to be.

The uncertainty is frustrating and that is really why a big part of my life is devoted to doing everything that I can to control my destiny. I can't control everything nor do I want to. But with a little luck and some work at least I can try and steer the ship.

Quotes about Love and Life

What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
~ by Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for their religion -
I have shudder'd at it.
I shudder no more.
I could be martyr'd for my religion
Love is my religion
And I could die for that.
I could die for you.
~ by John Keats ~

I'd like to run away
From you,
But if you didn't come
And find me ...
I would die.
~ by Shirley Bassey ~

You will never know true happiness
until you have truly loved,
and you will never understand
what pain really is
until you have lost it.
~ by Anonymous ~

The most precious possession that ever comes
To a man in this world
Is a woman's heart.
~ by Josiah G. Holland ~

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
~ by Mark Twain ~

If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be too cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.
~ by Ray Bradbury ~

Never, never, never, never give up.
~ by Winston Churchill ~

Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success, it enables you to ignore the minor hurts the opponent's pressure, and the temporary failures.
~ by Vince Lombardi ~

Food For Thought

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life
Winston Churchill

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore,
is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle

Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.
Samuel Johnson

Victory belongs to the most persevering.
Napoleon Bonaparte

Success in the affairs of life often serves to hide one's abilities, whereas adversity frequently gives one an opportunity to discover them.
Horace

Distilled Wisdom- Quotes that I Enjoy

I am always searching for quotes that are meaningful to me. Here are a bunch that I really enjoy. My apologies for formatting issues.

I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for their religion -
I have shudder'd at it.
I shudder no more.
I could be martyr'd for my religion
Love is my religion
And I could die for that.
I could die for you.
~ by John Keats ~

I'd like to run away
From you,
But if you didn't come
And find me ...
I would die.
~ by Shirley Bassey ~

You will never know true happiness
until you have truly loved,
and you will never understand
what pain really is
until you have lost it.
~ by Anonymous ~

The most precious possession that ever comes
To a man in this world
Is a woman's heart.
~ by Josiah G. Holland ~

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
~ by Mark Twain ~

If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be too cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.
~ by Ray Bradbury ~

Never, never, never, never give up.
~ by Winston Churchill ~

Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success, it enables you to ignore the minor hurts the opponent's pressure, and the temporary failures.
~ by Vince Lombardi ~

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
Shakespeare- Sonnet 18

If thou remember'st not the slightest folly
That ever love did make thee run into,
Thou hast not loved.
(As You Like It, 2.4.33-5)

It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
(5.5.30), Macbeth

"A friend is one before whom I may think aloud."

"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

"Give all to love; obey thy heart."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
John Stuart Mill

There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.


"No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

Teddy Roosevelt

"Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster."
General William Tecumseh Sherman

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Teddy Roosevelt "Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Life Is Overwhelming Me

Yes it is true, even the mighty Jack has moments of doubt and pain in which he feels that life is completely overwhelming. So much is going on that my head is spinning. I suppose that the good news is that this proves that my brain was not replaced my a melon, but is actually still located inside my skull.

Hooray for small favors or small wonders, I can't remember which.

Ok, Jack, you can't begin a post with that kind of introduction without providing an explanation for what is going on. And you can't really keep speaking about yourself in the third person unless you are Ricky Henderson or riding the subway.

So let's take a moment to try and take stock of what is going on and why my head feels like it is going to explode. You could say that some of this is part of the pseudo-mid life crisis I am in the middle of. It is a good place to start.

I feel trapped and angry about a number of things and no I am not going to list them all here. Thanks to the lack of complete anonymity I am not real comfortable displaying all of these things. When this place was populated by complete strangers it was easy to let it all hang out, but at the moment that is not the case.

There are unwanted visitors who frequent this joint. You know who you are. I don't understand why you are here or what you hope to accomplish. You are emotional vampires who make yourself feel better by feeding off of the pain of others. But I know your game and I know that in the dark corners of your little mind you are scared and insecure.

So if it makes you feel better to feed off of my distress, feel free. The difference is that even though I am torked I know that I will come out the other side. It is not a question of if, but of when. What did Churchill say, "If you're going through hell, keep going."

That is what I am doing. And because I am an ornery cuss and a glutton for punishment if I happen to stumble into the devil I will tweak his nose, poke him in the eyes and kick him in the ass. And if he happens to drop that pitchfork I will snatch it up and insert it into his ass pointy end first right up to the handle.

Yep, I am frustrated. I am angry and I am feeling crazed because there is so much going on that it is hard to catch my breath.

If I were advising my children on how to deal with this I'd tell the to break it up into bite size pieces. But since I rarely follow my own advice it doesn't matter. Ok, that is not true, I am breaking it up into little pieces. But it is taking a toll and I am a bit low on energy.

Part of the problem is that I had to suspend my gym membership. I used to expend all of my stress on the court. Three or four nights of basketball did wonders for my sanity. But given the economy and two kids in private school it made sense to give it up for a while.

I found a couple of new pick up games to play in, but they have challenges of their own. They all take place outdoors, on cement and my forty-year-old body doesn't like that very much. It is not that I can't play, but that I have to be more conscious of the pounding that my back and my knees take.

I want to be able to keep playing for years to come so I can't completely ignore the aches and pains that come from playing on the concrete. And it frustrates me to no end to have to limit my game because of this. I don't feel old. I see these twenty somethings and I can still run with them. Strength wise there are very few who can out do me, I haven't lost it there.

But the speed isn't what it once was and more importantly the elasticity of the joints and the resiliency is lacking. I don't recover like I used to. I keep trying to, but I can only fight time for so long.

It brings me back to where I was. If I can't relieve stress the same way than I have to find a good alternative and I am searching for it.

Writing always used to be a great complement to the basketball, but lately that hasn't worked as well. The words don't just fly off of the keyboard anymore. They feel stilted and awkward and that has stifled me a bit.

But I am working on it.

I suspect that part of it is due to the number of places that I am writing now. I am writing in a few places under my real name. Part of that is great and freeing, but it takes some of the energy I have for here.

The boys and I are leaning upon each other. A couple of them are in the midst of getting divorced. I do a lot of listening. I get a lot earfuls of their stuff. I don't mind as long as they can occasionally listen to my own.

But it all adds up.

Did I mention that the stress of getting the kids into back to school mode is another nightmare. So much freaking work. It shouldn't be this complicated, but there is just so much to do. I graduated from college last century, several presidents ago. Been working for years, but I still hate to see summer end.

Got to break out of this rut. Think that I am going to go grab my kettlebell and exercise for a bit. See you in a bit.

And That Is The Way that it Was- A New Year's Reflection

So as promised I am trying to produce a relatively short state of the blog. It is not easy. There are so very many posts to sift through and I am getting started far too late to do this properly. But I'll give it a try and we'll see how it goes.

Last September was filled with posts about Katrina, a post dedicated to Bob Denver, a rundown of my experience in the ladies room, information about firewalking, birth control, the Marx Brothers, where I am from, teenage sex, 31 years of friendship, Havana Gila, and some of my comments about the Southern Baptists.

In October I wrestled about some New Year's thoughts and the usual animal story. We talked about whether you could have too much sex and interspersed more thoughts about my grandparents.

There was also the post about actors with bad accents and of course I bored folks with more political commentary. There were also musings about the Akedah, Yom Kippur and more ranting about the Southern Baptists.

My post about The ACLU received a lot of attention as did posts about the car accident I was in as did some posts about my children. Halloween was covered as was the value of a college degree. There were assorted conversations about values and more. It was a busy month.

November was a busy month. There were the many experiences with the hate mail from my troll and time with Scooby Doo. Moneyball played a game and who can forget The Germophobe. There were posts about France burning, Haveil Havalim #43 and gems about my kids. See, they are a constant theme.

Things got nasty with a new troll but I found a way to distract myself by discussing peanut butter. I even got a chance to discuss bullies and Winston Churchill. The Flying Spaghetti Monster made an appearance as did Pat Robertson.

Wow, as I look back I can see it was a very busy month. It really got a little nutty when I said that Happy Holidays is An Appropriate Greeting. Religion maintained its place as did science. I wondered if Judaism requires G-d and asked parents to share their children's most irritating toys.

There is so much more, but I don't want this post to be exceptionally long so we'll move on to December.

The month began with a bang with news about the first Western female sucide bomber, picture of the Crab Nebula and a post in which I made fun of curling. As usual I found that the serious topics received fewer comments. My post about actors from the 80s was a hit but it didn't get as much attention as asking if people had Blog Envy.

I found the blurb about the Titanic to be very interesting. I had a post called Why I blog that was followed by the question of How Many Blogs Do you Read? A little later I Beat Up Santa Claus.

There were all sorts of different posts about things that caught my eye, feelings I had about life and a tribute to my son on the occasion of his fifth birthday.

In January I continued with posts about blogging. They consistently receive the most comments. This theme proved to be true as my posts about the JIBs received quite a bit of attention.

It was the also the month in which I learned that I am just Not That Funny. It was also the month in which my son and I talked about MLK and why people hate others.

WHOA!!!!!!!!

I am far too short on time to continue this so I am going to shift gears and share a few thoughts. I find reviewing my old posts to be hard. All too often I cringe when I read them. It seems to me that I have written this before, so I am not going to belabor the point.

A new year is upon us. I choose to view this as an opportunity to be taken. A time of hope and of joy. It is also a time of sadness and reflection.

It is a time to look inwards and ask the hard questions. I ask the questions that we often don't want to. Am I the man I want to be.

If you think about it that is a very deep and profound question. I am not going to get into it here, but I take it seriously.

When I daven (pray) there is a point in time in which I always pull my tallis over my head. I do it to try and help me to focus. I want to block out all distractions. It is important to me to have that moment.

I always remind my children that no matter how loved they are, at the end of the day we are alone with ourselves and it is important that we be able to enter slumber time feeling good about ourselves.

And so I wish you all very sweet and plesant year. May this be a year in which we see a more peaceful world. A year in which the sick are healed and life improved for all.

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