President's Day Part I "The Wise"

Today we salute all 44 of our Presidents, good or bad.

Here's some food for thought from a few of the best and not so best:

Herbert Hoover (1929-1933): "Prosperity cannot be restored by raids upon the public treasury."

James Madison (1809-1817): "Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christianity, in exclusion of all other Sects?"

James Monroe (1817-1825): "The earth was given to mankind to support the greatest number of which it is capable, and no tribe or people have a right to withhold from the wants of others more than is necessary for their own support and comfort."

Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809): "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal..."

William Henry Harrison (1841): "There is nothing more corrupting, nothing more destructive of the noblest and finest feelings of our nature, than the exercise of unlimited power."

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865): "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877): "I shall have no policy of my own to interfere against the will of the people."

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909): "A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car, but if he has a university education he may steal the whole railroad."

William Howard Taft (1909-1913): "The President cannot make clouds to rain and cannot make corn to grow, he cannot make business good..."

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963): "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House—with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

George Washington (1789-1797): "Happiness depends more upon the internal frame of a person's own mind than on the externals of the world."

The DC Virus

So, if you are keeping score:
Senator Roland Burris of Illinois, the one appointed to the seat vacated by the election of Barak Obama, has now"recalled" that he did indeed have more contact with people from ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich's office. Remember that Rod B was removed from office for soliciting bribes for appointing someone to fill that chair. Burris seemed to have a lapse of memory, a malady that seems to spread like a virus through Washington.

If you are keeping score, that virus has infected Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner who forgot to pay his taxes, Tom Daschel who forgot to pay his taxes, Hilda Solis's husband caught the virus as he also forgot to pay his taxes...

So, be warned...stay out of DC or the virus will get you, too. You'll forget to uh...what was I saying?

Oh, and let's not forget A-Rod. What does he have to do with this. He's got the virus and I can prove it. Last year the Yankees brought in a pitcher named Jonathan Albaladejo. They picked him up from the WASHINGTON NATIONALS. Ta da!!! A-Rod completely forgot about those Texas Ranger years when he was young and foolish and under so much pressure. Sure, $275 million isn't quite enough to pay all those bills, Alex. You want pressure, how about the guy who lost his job at Piper Aircraft in Vero Beach, Florida on Tuesday and can't pay his mortgage? That's pressure. I hear some people say that at least A-Rod admitted his illegal activity. Uh, not until he was caught.

Saint Valentine

Today is St. Valentine's Day. Whoopee (or so says Hallmark).

Do you know the origin of St. Valentine's Day? What's that? You have no idea? Then why are you buying so much candy, so many cards, and flowers, and jewelry? Oh, guilty conscience.

Well, if you don't know the origin, here is the story:



Yep, that's it. Nobody else does either. There is no one St. Valentine to pin this on, and no distinct origin for this "holiday." So there. Next year keep this in mind and your dollars in your pocket!

Paraskavedekatriaphobia

Friday the 13th. Freddy returns.

Why is Friday the 13th considered a bad day? Most researches believe it is a combination of two elements: first, Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Second, though 13 is considered a lucky number in China, it is an unlucky number in the west.

The unlucky day received little notice until early in the 20th century, though it had long been held as an unlucky day. The tradition gained popularity when a book, cleverly titled Friday the Thirteenth was published in 1907. That seemed to solidify the tradition, that and Freddy!

BTW, Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th. Anybody know the name of the spelling bee phobia?

Happy 200th Abe!

Today we honor Abraham Lincoln on his 200th birthday, though I'm not sure if he is aware of the honor. But here are a few words to think about:

Lincoln was not an abolitionist as we think of him in 2009. I say this because of his exact words, "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing and slave I would do it, if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that."

And save the Union he did! Even while wearing that big hat.

My Sweet Anna

Is there anything that touches a father's heart more than a great daughter? I have to brag. My daughter Anna, who is pictured to the left, will be her school's "Principal for a day." She wrote an essay explaining what she would do for her school if she were principal for a day. She won the contest! I am so proud of her. She will spend this Friday the 13th being principal, assisted by Mr. Dugan, the "other" principal. My hat is off to Treasure Coast Elementary School and to the great staff of people at the school. Special thanks to her wonderful homeroom teacher Mrs. Stull, and to Mrs. Loomis, Mrs. Staples, Mrs. Johnston, Mr. Hall, Mrs. Berg and to all those I have missed. Thanks for a wonderful school experience for Anna. As a retired educator with over 30 years of teaching, I don't think Anna could have gotten a better school experience anywhere.

"Say It Ain't So, Alex"

There is a baseball myth that goes something like this: After the trial of the eight players accused of throwing the 1919 World Series, also known as the "Black Sox" scandal, a young boy walked up to Joe Jackson and said, "Say it ain't so, Joe." It probably never happened, and actually the jury found in favor of the players, who, nevertheless, were banned from baseball for life.

Well, here we are 90 years later, and I ask, "Say it ain't so, Alex."

Roll models in the tank. Roger Clemens, A-Rod, and who knows how many more. If Joe Jackson, perhaps the A-Rod of his day, was banned for supposedly "cheating," what is any different for the "cheaters" of the modern era.

Are these players so arrogant, so spoiled, so rich, that they just don't care? The only solution for this problem is banishment.