Kids

I like children. I have four daughters and one son. Jennifer isn't really my daughter but I love her like my own. She was Connie's daughter, who was living with her grandmother when I brought her to live with Connie and me. She was about 8 years old when she started living with me. Kate is my "real" daughter. She is very similar to me in the way she is social and has a temper. She almost knocked me out once with a punch. Kate never really lived with me full time. Her mother and I separated when she was a baby.

Kate and Jennifer spent several summers growing up in St Louis. Kate would come to visit for the summer and Jennifer would play big sister for 90 days. One summer is bought them a computer and sent them to computer camp. Jennifer was old enough to drive and they skipped camp and drove around. I tried every summer to take their picture and it almost always ended in a fight. They never understood how much I wanted to save those summers. Kate and Jennifer are great mothers.

Meredith and Colleen are also my daughters. They grew up living with me and Julie. I remember all the times we played tickle fish in the pool. I have hundreds of photos of them growing up. I taught them to swim, ride a bike, and swing on a rope swing. They are great kids and will soon be adults.

Two years ago, Pam and I had Jack. His real name is William Jack May and he is very much like me as a boy. Jack is sweet and hateful. He is very vocal and doesn't miss much. His verbal skills at two are as good as most adults. His personality is like Kate's, Colleen's, and my own. Jack is all boy. He loves to wrestle and fight. Almost every night he and I roll around on the bed while he try's to climb on me. Then as he gets tired, he snuggles next to me before he falls asleep.

I love these children. I miss Jennifer and Kate. They never call or come to visit and it hurts me. Meredith is in San Francisco going to school. Colleen is really busy with work and school. I think about them every day and wish they still lived with me. Jack does, and that is very special.

Chicken Liver

Imagine not liking something and then having it forced upon you. Like Chicken Liver. You don't like it and it is everywhere. Regardless of where you turn, somebody is trying to get you to eat it or accept it, or "just try it".

I don't discuss chicken livers very much. I don't like Chicken Livers. Even the smell of cooked chicken livers can make me feel like I am going to spit up. If I am at a party and they serve chicken livers, I don't say anything, I just pass them up. In general, we keep our distance and this seems to work well for me and the chicken liver. Still, somebody always wants me to try them.

Just because I don't like Chicken Livers doesn't mean I carry on about them. I rarely mention chicken liver and this is the only time I have ever written about them. For me, Chicken Liver is like God.

I know you think I am crazy, but think this through with me. I think God is a myth. It's a carry over from primitive human development. The old Sun God thing reworked into the invisible man in the sky idea. Clearly, if there were a real god he would not hide out. You would be able to prove his existence just like you can prove a chicken has a liver.

Like Chicken Liver, somebody always seems to be pushing to get me to try god. Over the last 50 years it has been exhausting. Recently, as a result of these increased incidents, I have become outspoken. Not that I was ever very shy, but I used to handle god like chicken liver. I would just pass or make an excuse. Anything to be polite and avoid the stigma of being an ATHEIST.

Eight years ago, my boss took me to lunch and asked about my relationship with Jesus. This is 100% true. He came by my office and said, "do you wanna get some lunch?" I said OK and off we went. We were talking and he stopped in the middle of a bite. He told me he wanted to speak with me about something important. Then he said, "Tell me about your relationship with our lord jesus christ." I almost gagged. I looked him in the eye and said, " I'm Irish and was raised catholic. We believe in drinking to solve our problems." He did not say another word. 60 days later I quit.

Last October we moved into our new condo. In December our new neighbors stopped by to introduce themselves. They didn't have curtains on their windows when they moved in and we could see their life size christ on the cross hanging in their dining room. I was polite. We did see Ray looking at my copy of American Atheist magazine like he had just seen the devil. Since then we see them about once a week, going in or out. Ray always tell us, "We are going to church." Or, he will say, "We just got back from church." It seems like they go to church really far to much.

Is it necessary to express our beliefs publicly? Do I need to say, "I don't like chicken livers?" Why do people who believe god myths insist upon pushing their views on to others? Ray seems to be warming up to a discussion with me regarding his faith. I can hardly wait. I will keep you posted on the outcome.

Natural Born Killer

Yesterday was Memorial Day, May 26, 2008. All the TV coverage reminded me of my Dad. He was the closest contact I have had to a real veteran who served in combat. He was very tough guy.

Growing up with my Dad in the military, we spent a lot of time watching "war movies". My Dad always thought they were silly. I would ask him about the War, he served in the Army as a Tank Sergeant on a Flame Throwing Tank. He landed on the beach at Okinawa. Dad told me about the Japanese fighting to the death, hiding in caves and refusing to surrender. He told me his tank shot napalm flames into to these caves and it either burned the Japanese or burned all the oxygen for them to breath. He was pretty matter of fact about killing Japanese soldiers. In his view, they deserved it.

My Dad's tank was hit by a hand grenade or mortor and it damaged the track. The tank was struck and could not move. My Dad and the other crew decided to abandon the tank. It was sitting still and full of napalm, an easy target. As they ran back to the US lines my Dad was attacked by a Japanese soldier with a sword. My Dad shot the soldier and the sword is in my home. Again, Dad never bragged about what he did, he just talked about it very matter of fact.

Years later when I told him I was going to buy a Japanese car he told me not to bring it to his house. His one big disappointment was not killing more Japanese. I asked him once if he was ever scared in the war. He said, "Yes, I was very scared. We sailed on a ship from San Francisco to Okinawa. The Japanese tried to sink our ship. And, I never learned to swim." He never said he was scared of fighting or of being killed. From what I read one US soldier out of three was killed who landed on Okinawa.

My Dad never had a sleepless night. Never looked back on what he did. He never bragged. He never carried on about how the War had "changed" him or gave him bad dreams. He never joined the VFW or participated in Parades. Dad, said there were two kinds of soldiers. Some were killers and others marched in Parades. Dad was a killer who did not look back. He is buried at the Jefferson Barrack's National Cemetery with thousands of other heroes.

Happy Memorial Day, Dad. I still have the sword.

I heard the news today

I heard the news today....oh boy. The Beatle song...a day in the life, makes me think that Hilary is just about done. Down for the count. Kaput.

But wait, do you really think America is going to elect a left wing black man President? I don't, and I'm not alone. Thomas Sowell agrees and he's black and smarter then me. In his recent [May 7, 2208] article called Random Events Sowell says:

"Like everyone else, I have also been hearing a lot lately about Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of the church that Barack Obama has belonged to for 20 years. Both men, in their different ways, have for decades been promoting the far left vision of victimization and grievances-- Wright from his pulpit and Obama in roles ranging from community organizer to the United States Senate, where he has had the farthest left voting record. Later, when the ultimate political prize-- the White House-- loomed on the horizon, Obama did a complete makeover, now portraying himself as a healer of divisions.

The difference between Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright is that they are addressing different audiences, using different styles adapted to those audiences. It is a difference between upscale demagoguery and ghetto demagoguery, playing the audience for suckers in both cases."

So the question for voters is, are you smart enough to see through the Obama [Wright, Jesse Jackson, etc] left wing agenda. In a country where everyone is a victim, who will pay the taxes to provide all the free stuff?

You can read more about Thomas Sowell at: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/archive.shtml

Thomas Sowell was born in North Carolina and grew up in Harlem. As with many others in his neighborhood, he left home early and did not finish high school. The next few years were difficult ones, but eventually he joined the Marine Corps and became a photographer in the Korean War. After leaving the service, Sowell entered Harvard University. After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University (1958), he went on to receive his master's in economics from Columbia University (1959) and a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago (1968).