A-mhaith a bheith Gaeilge.

Today is one of my favorites, no doubt. Where I grew up it is a day of joyous and somtimes excessive celebration.
As a child of Boston it was shepards pie, corned beef, and green cupcakes all day long. It was being uber careful to make sure my wearing o' the green was plainly visible as to avoid that dreaded pinch.
It was Sister Patricia gently telling my first grade class the true story of St. Patrick. Her version was a tale of hardship, amazing adventure, and indelible faith. It left a mark on my very soul and later in life, when times seemed harsh, it gave me strength.
Even as I grew older and began the more steriotypical practices we Irish have been assigned, I took time to quietly reflect on the man that changed an entire nation and in doing so saved its soul. No weapons, no economic sanctions, just simple and strong faith. Perhaps some of todays leaders could learn from that.
Sitting here now, with the Dubliners playing, I think on some great memories from past St. Patty's.
My first kiss from a girl who used that day to reveal her crush and caused my first blush.
The times in Southie that were crazy nights and occasional drunken fights.
Teaching my children the Unicorn Song and how to be Irish strong.
That night in Portland enjoying the music and on my arm; my beautiful wife.
Ybor City and the crushing crowds, Eric and I so drunk and so loud.
The day in Ayre where the Scot's showed honor for one not theirs.
Cooking and sippin' all day with me son-in-law and learning much along the way.
There are far more memories and some yet to be made. So get out there, learn the music, celebrate a culture that endures. A people that beat the Roman Empire and has since populated the world.
First though, take a moment to reflect on the person who this day honors. Maybe even read up on him, for it is truly an amazing story.
Bí bródúil agus a bheith láidir.
Bí an chreidimh soladach.
Dia libh go léir.

Super

That is the word I usually quietly exhale after reading about yet another congressional stalemate that results in another extension of something we really need to make a decision on.
I see a group of democrats who want their ideology to move us forward with experimental social engineering and economic naivete'. This is countered by republicans desire to move in the exact opposite direction. Not the status quo, but a return to simpler times and less government costs, not realizing that you can never go back.
Put simpler, it is a living demonstration of the immovable object and the irresistable force.
Truth is both groups are partially correct and equally wrong. Add a commander in chief who cannot sway either group into compromise on any issue of significance. This results in us becoming stuck in the quagmire of rhetoric, finger pointing, and the eternal fillibustering we now suffer with.
Remember the super committee? Why did anyone expect a group of politicians made up from a cross section of the extreme views from both parties to produce anything of value? Am I the only one who viewed these compromise incapable party loyalists as a readers digest version of the group causing the problem?
Then when they show up at the table with heads hanging, mumbling, "sorry boss but we just couldn't get 'er done", we act shocked? Why not fire them then? Oh yeah that's right , they are elected officials and not subject to the same consequences for lack of production as the rest of us.
So now we are shopping for the next superman, cause it turns out the current one is far to prone to stumbling into kryptonite laden bombs.
That leads to my next question. If we can be so willing to fire the president, why can't we fire these life long politicians in the houses?
Folks, we do not need superman. No super hero superpowers are going to save us.
We need Batman.
In fact, we need millions of Batmen & women
Here is the rub. We already have a legion of them waiting in the wings. It is made up of folks like you and I. We all have a tool kit laden with the freedom to choose, armored with a free press, the right to assemble, and the freedom of speech. All that and more, buckled together with a ballot.
How often have you heard someone express their frustration with a statement like, " if they worked for me I'd fire the lot of 'em!" News flash folks, they do work for you. You can fire them. Your voice can be heard and your will be done. You just gotta tighten up that tool belt and use it!
So from that perspective I can say this.
I'm Batman
Are you?
Peace y'all.
Ask hard questions & demand real answers.

Back in the saddle....

Wow has it really been two months already?
Hmm, been on the road a bunch. (In fact I'm sitting in Logan International right now.) In between hopping from one plane to another, the sun came out on our little island and I just sorta got lost.
I had to jump back in folks, before I lost my way altogether. Nothing big to say, but I did observe/experience a rather odd thing back here in Bean town.
Apparently the former governor of our great state is the talk of the town.
Imagine my surprise at that. I was questioned more often about the Palinator than I was about our great brown bruins.
Fortunately I had several great pics of the famous brownies rather than the quitter.
Yup, that's what I told my former neighbors back east, I told them about the quitter and opportunist known as Sarah Palin. I told them a short descriptive tale of media pandering and a unique talent for not quite finishing anything she started.
Imagine their surprise. This a place in our great nation where folks still work simply because "you gotta work". Every task started must be finished, every child must share the load in the house until they too can work. Most New Englanders cannot sit idle for long. Sleeping means six in the morning seven days a week. I know this, I was raised there.
So there I was sitting and listening to some of our elders chat about how truthful she is, how maybe she oughtta run for the big office after all.and that she comes from a state that still holds to the old values, etc, etc.
So I told them the truth; at least my perspective. That raised some eyebrows. I told them of a two time quitter, I reminded them of what the ORIGINAL tea party set out to do, I reminded them about the second tea party of the seventies. I explained that to me she was the "Jesse Ventura" of Alaska. In closing my soliloquy I taught them a new phrase; Sarah Barracuda.
That brought a chuckle.
Normally I avoid all things Palin. She has embarrassed me as an Alaskan and she ticked me off me personally. I simply could not listen to my elders and friends back east tout this media personality as the next possible coming.
So I finally spoke me piece, I finally broke my silence; and I did it where this great nation began. How could I not?
Ask hard questions folks, demand real answers.
Peace Ya'll

I Did Not Know.......

Some have noticed that my rants are leaning toward the reflective side. I am grateful for those still reading even though this is true. I also thank the small but growing group, that after exploring my outpourings, are discovering that not all bloggers are politico bashing wannabe's or religious zealots. Some of us actually have something to say that is not at the expense of those easy targets the mainstream media and so many blogs seem to feed on.
There are many, so many, that really put it out there. Who share so much, without tearing down others. The Saltonstall's enrich my day often, PJ makes me think, Womom does all that and she makes me laugh. There are many more, so please check out the links on the side over there.
So back to being reflective.

This for a friend who has beaten me to heaven.
I did not know.
When I listened to you playing your guitar at church,
It was the last time the missed chord, the little smirk,
would grace us with presence.
I did not know.
When I talked to you Friday at the store,
it was last time I would hear that laugh,
feel your energy.
I hope there was no harsh word said,
your last day among us.
That too, I do not know.
Yet I do know
I hope to be loved as you.
When I go.
Live every day as your last folks. Treat every person as if every word you speak to them is the last. Every action the one you will remember most.
My definition of ultimate hope:
My mother never says goodbye. Never. She always says "so long" or see you later".
That's optimism folks, it truly is.
Treat every day as your last chance to do the right thing and every conversation as your last one. Take nothing for granted, especially those you love most.
Maybe, just maybe, if we all do that, the world would be that much better when we walk into our last sunset.
Good night Steve Kreber. I am better for having known you.
Peace ya'll
you know the rest................

THANK YOU

Happy Easter everyone. It is a time for people all over the world to rejoice. It is the time when spring births add to many a shepherds flocks and family. It is also a time of spiritual rebirth for many.
For me it is all that and more. It is a time for gratitude. I try very hard to be grateful every day, but today is a day I try to remember all I have to be grateful for.
That is a long list, so this post I will keep it simple.
Millennium ago one men gave his life to save us all. His resurrection started a movement that changed the world and continues to do so even today. Jesus died so that we may live, he has risen so that we may live forever. This I truly believe, it guides me when I am troubled, it strengthens me when I am weak. It gives me purpose.
It keeps me humble, for no matter what sacrifice I feel I have made, none can top the one made that day in Jerusalem.
Thank you Jesus.
I am grateful for my family, they also give me purpose. They also teach me much.
I thank them for that.
Thank you to the mentors I have been blessed with knowing. There were many, but I would name a few here.
Thank you Sister Patricia, my first grade teacher, showed me love and that learning was an adventure.
Thank you Earl Jones, you taught me responsibility, wood craft, patience, and how to have fun.
Thank you Sister Dianne, for even though I had strayed for so long, you welcomed me back. You nurtured me and my family and never judged.
Thank you Sister Angela Goedkin.
I met you at a time in my life when I needed you most. I was transitioning from a life of service and purpose to a life unknown. When I started coaching your boys I had no idea the education I was about to receive. Your gentle guidance helped me out time after time. When my relationship with my son was strained and challenging, you showed me that love and patience would prevail. You guided me through my "rebirth" and I am better for it.
Sister Angela rests with the Lord she loves now, and I know that I will see her again. Perhaps she will come across the son I have in heaven. Perhaps she will tell him about me. Perhaps she will do the same for my fathers. I can only hope.
That's what it's all about folks. Hope and faith are what keep us going. By having hope we demonstrate our faith. Saints, sinners, believers or not, hope is the product of faith. It proves we believe in something. So many will argue that faith is not necessary for life. However; few will argue that a life without hope is worth living.
So admit it, hope and faith go hand in hand. Then be grateful. Be grateful for every good thing that happens today and every day after this one. Recognize the gifts you have been given. Use them to help all those around you. what better way to demonstrate your gratitude than to share your gifts?
On Grateful Living: Reflections by Catholic Sisters
“Gratitude is my constant consciousness of God's presence
in persons, nature, and circumstances,” says Sr. Angela
Goedken, OSF, a teacher in Kodiak, Alaska. “Sometimes
gratitude comes easily, and, often, in more challenging or negative times, it is hard. I am
growing in giving thanks in difficult circumstances. When my mother died so
unexpectedly, it took me years to be able to thank God for her gift of life to the family.”

This post is dedicated to Sister Angela Goedken. God keep you and hold you.
Peace and thanks ya'll.

JUST DON'T DO IT !

Another Thanksgiving is pretty much done. I hope ya'll had a heart warming day, I hope ya'll took a moment to be grateful.
Me; I am grateful everyday, and every night I take a moment to remember why. Sometimes it's cause I got home safe, sometimes it's cause one of my family did. Sometimes it's because I had a good day. Regardless of what happens I take a moment and thank God for the good that happened that day.
Now I sit here, happy for the time I got to spend at the table with friends and family. Yet, as I watch my wife, who worked so hard to make this day memorable, stumble off to bed I am reminded of my loathing for tomorrow.
Yup, it'd Black Friday folks and I have commented on this twisted international event since I started my little blog.
It rankles me. One year after my first comment, tragedy befell a retail worker in Long Island. There was an outcry, people were amazed, yet nothing changed.
Thanks to ISH I discovered that I was not alone. Ther are thousands of people who share my sentiment.
Buy Nothing Day is an international movement bent on taking back what is ours.
So what is ours? How about the right to relax? How about the right to be deprogrammed from the corporate wish that drives so many, to such extremes, in the hope of savings?
Send a message folks! Unemployment is up, personal debt is rising, yet the corporations that are being bailed out have increased their profits.
Stay home tomorrow, spend your much deserved time off with family and friends. Does that not seem more appealing than standing in line for some "today only" sales specials?
Don't worry, if the sales are down, there will be more. Capitalism will move on.
Oh sure, the economists will fret and worry. Dire market trends and doomsday predictions will prevail.
Maybe, just maybe, the government will get the message. The same government that talked so many into buying a new car, under the guise of economic recovery, will listen.
Yuh, the new car. Dealers sold the vehicles at maximum price and you got a rebate. What else did you get? Another day older and deeper in debt, that's what. You also get to pay tax on that rebate later on.
The big three posted record sales & profit, China got millions of pounds in recyclable steel at bargain prices, and our carbon footprint did not shrink one bit.
So please, stay home tomorrow, go for a walk, read a book, or a blog. Just don't do it! Don't buy anythimg.
It is time to make the government and corporate America know we are no longer duped by their hype.
It is time we started to drive this economy, instead of the other way around.
That's my spin.
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, thanks for tuning in.
Do the right thing tomorrow folks, just do it for someone else.
Peace

Better than drugs.

My buddy, Daytona Karl, sent me this video.
In my past life I have raced dirt track, motocross, and off-road. I have jumped motorcycles and the occasional 4X4 over and across many things, (not always successfully).
This video blew me away.
Enjoy

Summers over ?

Happy Labor Day folks. It looks like the Big Guy is granting us one beautiful weekend to get out and enjoy the Fair & Rodeo. The silvers run is pickin' up, and the Dolly Varden are fatter than the wallet of a career politician. The big bucks are still sitting up high on the hill, but if you're willing to bust your butt and beat your way through some some seriously thick alders you might just find one. Granted the big ones are scarcer than an honest congressman, but they are out there. So good hunting,(for either), if you choose.
For many this weekend means that summer is over. Pick up the croquet sets, put away the badminton gear, and hang up the summer whites. One last barbecue, one last weekend at the beach, and for some that one last long drive out to the country.
Now a lot of this doesn't really apply to those of us in the great State of Alaska, especially here at the homestead. I mean come on! This is my favorite time of year. Goat, deer, and moose season has started, not to mention Ptarmigan. The silvers are fast and furious, Dollies are fat and sassy, late season halibut is kickin' in, and oh yeah duck season is right around the corner. The added bonus is that most of the touristas have migrated back to the lesser 48. YEEEHAAA!!
However; tonight as I sit by the bonfire with a glass of Ben's finest brew, I will remember how we got here and the sacrifices that were made for so many. Many of us forget that a whole lot of Americans were injured, jailed, and even killed in the quest for laborers rights. This holiday does not just recognize the American laborer, it also honors those whose sacrifice made it all possible.
Check this out:

The irony here folks is this.
Today the government is taking over large pieces of business. The American wage is at the lowest percentage of the GOP since the forties, while American corporate profit is booming. Jobs are being out sourced and mechanized to the point where working is fast becoming a privilege rather than a right. Now, the current administrations answer is more government jobs! Is our future to be a population that works for the government, pays their taxes, only to fuel the perpetuation of a service based society? A society of cared for, content, and dependent citizens? Gosh I hope not.
More irony.
What did the Kodiak City Council do just this week? They voted to hire an outside firm to explain to the residents the pros & cons of collective bargaining. That means Union folks and the government are fixing to roll up their sleeves and start the propaganda battle. Granted, they are promising it will be an unbiased campaign. GIMME A FREAKIN' BREAK ALREADY! The city is not in favor of unionization, do they think we are so naive that we would believe that? I am fairly confident the pro-union propaganda will be biased towards their desires, so why not the city's? The honesty issues aside, why are we paying for it? 40K of our tax money is going to help the city explain why unions are bad. Now granted I am not a city resident, but I do contribute to the city's coffers on a regular basis. Shoot my contributions at the local brewery probably filled in at least a couple of potholes last year. To throw salt in the wound for us dwelling outside the city, when the mud has settled we won't even get to vote on it! That's right; an issue that will impact every resident of this island will only be voted on by a portion of the citizens. That smacks of taxation without representation doesn't it? I seem to recall night the City Mayor said ( about the Near Island Police Station), to just build the thing, because the residents don't know what they want. How did that work out madam mayor?
Lastly, the Borough Assembly decided to place a State project at the top of the capitol projects list! More jobs, good faith and a lot of horse pucky came out to justify that one folks. Never mind the schools, never mind the shelters, nope let's suck up to a state that won't even fund their own jail. Why? In the hope that a couple of new jobs will be produced? News flash folks, the construction will most likely be contracted to an off-island crew. The state will probably hire no more than a handful of new folks, or they will transfer in some off-islanders. Either way I do not foresee to many Kodiakians getting permanent employment out of this one.
Think about it.
I want to thank every single person who fought and/or died in the effort to protect the American Laborer. Have a great weekend folks, but when it's over; ask hard questions and demand real answers.
One last question.
My two typing fingers hurt like the dickens.
Yet I must ask
How long does the fox guard the hen house,
before we ask,
where the heck are the chickens?
Peace ya'll

I get it!!

Yup,
I think I figured it out. I have been reading volumes of blogs, and commentaries that condemn, ridicule, and some just plain mean, about our soon to be departed governor.
Why are there folks beating this lame duck to death?
What's the darn point? Call it what you want, political suicide, opportunism, quirkiness, or just plain crazy, but the Palinator is no more.
What amazes me is how many non-Alaskans are spewing this anti-Palinistic rhetoric. Why do they care?
The Girl in Homer has become famous. Mainly due to her relentless crusade against Palin. However; she is an Alaskan and has been avid non-fan of Sarah from the beginning. In all fairness to Shannyn I will admit I enjoy the blog. She writes well and is well informed. However; the comments she gets are usually self righteous, party touting blanderings. They are also from mostly lesser 48 residents. Other blogs and commentaries share the same supporters.
Again, why??
Here's the rub.
They fear her. They fear the very idea of her. Like it or not the Palinator has garnered a lot of fans and support down south. Whether she tosses her name back in the Republican ring, or lands on one of the networks, her impact on American politics could be significant.
But it won't be, as a two time quitter she has sealed her fate.
Then why is there more Sarah in the news than Arnold? Californians are in a severe crisis situation, yet not many are raking him over the coals. Probably because he is not a natural born citizen; therefore not a political threat on a national level.
So this group of Democrazies has formed a political bucket brigade and they continue to dump more water on a fire already gone out. Flooding the ashes of Sarah's political career in fear of a Phoenix arising from the ruins.
Relax folks, it ain't gonna happen. Let it go and move on. Like the dog from Aesop, she dropped her bone in hopes of a better one and got neither.
She's done, gone, kaput.
Just a thought.
Peace ya'll

What are you doing this weekend?

DEVOTION AND HONOR.
Amidst the parades and barbecues, speeches and commemorations these folks will continue on.
"The orders remain unchanged" are the only words they will speak.
Please checkout this video tribute.
The Sentry stands guard 356 days a year, 24 hours a day. There is no bad weather, no holidays, no excuse to leave the tombs vacant. There is only devotion and honor.
So tomorrow at 300pm, stop what you're doing, and honor the fallen. Pray for the ones they left behind, and be grateful for what their loss has provided us all.
Regardless of what the media,some oratorically challenged politicians, and wannabe celebrities say;be proud to be American, and if not, then at least be proud those who did not return were.
God bless them all, God bless you, and God Bless America.
Peace

GRADUATION DAY !

It's graduation day here on the rock. For so many students of KHS it is the end of years of struggling to achieve goals, and the beginning of a new life. My congratulations to all of you. My heart goes out especially to Chris T., Tim S., Jake K., & Robert L. I have watched you all grow and I hope you all achieve your goals.
I would ask all of the graduates to remember your community. This afternoon as you walked out of that auditorium with your fistful of diploma, scholarships, or maybe just that feeling of accomplishment you all have earned; remember this community.
Revel tonight, revel tomorrow, revel all the way through CrabFest, then prepare for the next step.
I have no idea where the roads ahead of you will lead you. I do know, if you hold in your heart, the spirit of this community, then you will be far ahead of the pack.
Never forget the island you grew up on. The potlatch fundraisers, the community cleanup every spring, and the seemingly endless other fund raising events you partook in. Never lose that desire to help your neighbor. It is what makes this island, your home, so magnificent.
No matter where you go, people will always be amazed when they find out where you are from. I ask you; do not regale them with tales of bears, and whales. Sure throw that in, if only to try and describe the beauty of this isle. Rather tell of the times your family and friends went out in the middle of the storm to help a neighbor, of the times the community rallied to help finance the costs of a neighbor in dire straits. Show them the beauty of a true neighborhood, where volunteers are the norm and not the exception.
In your travels, teach all those around you the beauty of Kodiak. The giving, the caring, and the partisanship that makes us what we are; Kodiakans.
Show the world that people can really make the difference.
Good luck to you all, God bless you all.
Prosecutus vires quod diligo
Do the right thing, and not just for yourself.
Peace ya'll