Thanks, But I'll Speak for Myself

Well, our old friend and former DetNews co-blogger Susanna Cornett is at it again.

She posts a nice story about one of the American servicemen who is serving in Iraq. It is a touching tale of an American who is American by choice, and who Susanna points out is serving by choice too. Here is a link to AnySoldier.com where you can search for the soldier's post. If you search for "HernandezGarcia" you'll find the fine man's post. 

(And Susanna typically fails to include permalinks to her own posts, much less comment threads where people can comment on her latest right-wingnut diatribe. She also fails to include any link directly to the soldier's comments, so that his own words can stand on thier own. However, she does cut/paste the soldier's entire post for her own purposes, which (see below) is NOT to promote AnySoldier.com, but is rather to promote her own right-wingnut philosophies.)

She follows up with this line (quoted directly from her weblog):

"The left would have you believe that he is either a thug or an imbecile."

As stated in the Title of this post, I'll speak for myself, thank you very much Susanna.

Well, I'm certainly on the left side of the political spectrum, and I definitely do not think that Seargent Marvin E. Hernandez-Garcia is a thug OR an imbecile.

I think it is pretty clear that nobody in this "story" is a thug, but that there definitely is an imbecile here.

And that imbecile is an intellectual lightweight named Susanna Cornett.

Jersey Shore Time!

Tomorrow John leaves for the Jersey Shore. Carolyn and the boys are already there. 

Since the Fourth of July is just around the corner, and because the Republicans in the House of Representatives just passed a ridiculous Constitutional Amendment to ban flag burning, I'll leave you with a few links:

1. John Scalzi weighs in with a really humorous and entertaining post here.
2. Eric Zorn from the Chicago Tribune cites Scalzi and adds his own commentary here.
3. Lindsay Beyerstein weighs in here.

Funny and entertaining stuff. I can't remember now, or find where I read it, but to paraphrase what I read recently:

I'm so glad that all the other problems in the nation are solved, which provided the Republican-led House of Representative to take up this pressingissue of flag burning, to spend the time debating it, to take the time to vote. Because if there is anything this nation needs, it is to put those ten-of-thousands of flag burners out there in prison. I mean, how long can it go on? People burning flags in the streets, on trains, planes and in automobiles. Burnign flags everywhere! The pollution! The smog and smoke burns the eyes, flag-burning is so rampant!

Nope, all the other problems are solved - the war in Afghanistan, Bush's folly in Iraq, the potential under-funding of Social Security, the great danger in under-funded Medicare and Medicaid, school funding, simplifying the tax code - Congress already solved all those problems, so it was time to tackle the thorny issue of all those tens-of-thousands of flag burners out there.

Good job Congress, we're all terribly proud of you.

A Great Quote....

....from Mark Twain, and topical, as it applies to America today:

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it." -- Mark Twain 

I saw the quote on the front page of The Blue Voice, a new left-leaning collection of bloggers.

In the interest of fairness, I'm also providing a link to The Red Voice who evidently started their own weblog in response to the aforementioned Blue Voice.

Both are worth reading every once in a while - the Blue Voice for intelligent and insightful commentary on the day's news (and more) and the Red Voice for the usual "right" wingnut blathering. (I'm having a lot of fun shooting down the Red Voice bloggers in thier comment threads.)

I'll add both to the blog roll later, but for now just wanted to give both weblogs their "props."

Save Public Broadcasting!

Media Matters has a bunch of links.

I saw it first at Lindsay Beyerstein's site when she linked in this Washington Post article.

"A House subcommittee voted yesterday to sharply reduce the federal government's financial support for public broadcasting, including eliminating taxpayer funds that help underwrite such popular children's educational programs as "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow," "Arthur" and "Postcards From Buster."

The goal of the GOP is to eliminate all federal funding for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in just two years:

"...the subcommittee acted to eliminate within two years all federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting -- which passes federal funds to public broadcasters -- starting with a 25 percent reduction in CPB's budget for next year, from $400 million to $300 million."

Democracy Cell Project has this link to the website of the committee chairman, the ironically named Jerry Lewis.

Call Representative Lewis, why don't you? Or e-mail him. Let him know that there is a vast number of Americans who support PBS and the CPB. (I've already called.)

Here is a list of all the members of the committee. (Geez, does a House committee really need all those members???)

Jesse Jackson Jr., Ray La Hood, and Mark Kirk are all congressmen for Illinois who are also on the committee. Those will be my next three phone calls. They should be yours too.

The Ugly Face of Racism.....

.....or, what is a good way to choose judges?  Choose judges that are opposed by the Congressional Black Caucus. 

Here is why Susanna Cornett loves Janice Rogers Brown:

"I think I'd like to see her on the US Supreme Court.....It's not just because the Congressional Black Caucus dislikes her....although that's a good reason too."

Baseball Trifecta - Volume Three - Chicago White Sox

Today was the third leg of the Chicago-area baseball triple crown. Saturday, we went to Wrigley Field to see the Chicago Cubs. Sunday, it was Elfstrom Field to see the Kane County Cougars.

Today it was U.S. Cellular Field (formerly, and more properly, known as Comiskey Park) to see the Chicago White Sox.

Like in the games before, the home team won. So we got to see three wins in three days by three different Chicago-area home teams. Yes, we're good luck charms.

"The Cell" is a super ballpark, all the complaints by South Siders notwithstanding. The food is certainly much better than Wrigley field, though both local major league ballparks take a back seat to Elfstrom Field when it comes to culinary experiences.

The boys had another good time at the ball park today, though the general sense was that both boyswere decidedly baseball'ed out by the end of today's game.

Still, it was a great weekend. We all hope that your Memorial Day weekend was as eventful and family-filled as ours was.

A couple of observations, things we learned, or in some cases, we had confirmed, this weekend:

1. Parking around Wrigley field may be problematic, but public transportation is easy. We drove to the local Metra station, took the train downtown, a short cab ride across the loop, and the CTA directly to the ballpark. All super easy, though somewhat time consuming. We left for a noon game at about 8:30, and did not get home until after 5:00 p.m. It was a long day for the boys, and for the parents.

2. Parking around Comiskey Park is widely regarded as better than around Wrigley, but that was not our experience today. Parking was awful - we left the house an hour and forty five minutes before a 3:00 p.m. game, and still missed the first inning and a half. It was more traffic than anything, but parking was terrible too.

3. For us, the Kane Country Cougars are ultra-accessible. We can drive to the game in about 20 minutes, and gate-side parking is one dollar and fifty cents.

For these reasons and many more, trips to major league parks are going to be few and far between. We'll stick with our Cougars.

One more observation:

4. Cody Ambrose Needham eats more than either Carolyn or John. Is this mormal for three year olds? As Carolyn mentioned, just wait until he is in high school! I'll need to get a second job. 

We don't have tickets to another baseball game until mid-July. We're fine with that.

Memorial Day - 2005

As we are all enjoying a day off from work, with family, friends, barbecues, or (as in our case) baseball games, please take a moment to reflect upon the reason we have the day off in the first place.

Reflect on the millions of men and women who have served in the American Armed Services, especially those who are, today, service in Iraq and elsewhere.

God Bless America

Baseball Trifecta - Volume Two - Kane County Cougars

Stage two of our first ever baseball trifecta happened today as we went to the Kane County Cougarsgame. Like the Cubs did yesterday, the Cougars won today in their tilt against the Lansing Lugnuts.

We have pretty good seats for the Cougars games - we have a 10-game season package, feet-on-the-wall front row, and today was the third game we've been to this season. The boys enjoy these games, even if they do not always pay attention to the action on the field. (Note the kid we did not know peeking into the camera in that shot. Later, he was exiting the row and kicked over my beer. Ugh.)

Today the boys also had, for the first time, a little treat called Dipping Dots, a faux ice cream-like concoction that has to be about the most detestable tasting dessert ever made. Naturally, they loved it, begged for more (we refused) and then pointed out EVERY single ad for Dipping Dots that came up on the scoreboard.

Cody got this ball - we bought a similar one for Bailey on the way out of the park.

Here is the requisite picture of John and the boys at the game.

Two down (Cubs and Cougars) and one game to go (White Sox tomorrow) on the Needham Family Memorial Day Baseball Trifecta. So more to come tomorrow.

Baseball Trifecta – Volume One – Chicago Cubs

We are in the midst of the Baseball Trifecta, one game each at Wrigley Field to see the Chicago Cubs, at Elfstrom Field to see the Kane County Cougars, and at Comiskey Park to see the Chicago White Sox.

Today was the Cubs game. It was Bailey’s first Cubs game (and it was kid's batting helmet day), andCody’s first ever major league game.

We took Metra to downtown Chicago and then the CTA over to the ball park. The boys had a blast, so did Mommy and Daddy. We’re all exhausted now – the boys are already in bed, Carolyn and I are not long behind.

Additional Pictures:

Daddy and Cody
Daddy and Bailey
Carolyn
Glendon Ruschs' First Pitch of the game
Aramis Rameriz's homer that drove the Colorado Rockies starter from the game.
One of Derrek Lee's TWO homer to pace the Cubs' win. (I *really* captured this shot from the upper deck, using a Canon EOS Rebel Digital Camera with a zoom lens.)

Tomorrow is the Cougars game. More to come……

Missing The Point

Here is a perfect example!

Anyone who's been to Corky's on Poplar in Memphis and walks away calling their popularity "baffling and infuriating" has utterly missed the point.

Gourmet, Corky's definitely ain't.

Good food, excellent ambience, tons o' fun, Corky's definitely is.

The fellow who wrote this article is travelling the nation in search of the best American baebecue. (Click on the links labeled days of the week to follow along.) He called his dinner at Corky's "wooden" but obviously we disagree. We really enjoyed our dinner at Corky's.

The author of the article said "The dry ribs were too dry; so were the wet ones."

Again, we disagree! Carolyn is after me to try to recreate the dry ribs here in Aurora. We loved the food there.

If you ever find yourself in Memphis, you ought to try the ribs and pulled pork at Corky's. You haven't lived until you've enjoyed this food!

I sent an e-mail to the authour, David Plotz at Slate.com, and he we gracious to reply. Here is our exchange:

First, I wrote:

"I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s going to write to you on your experiences with barbecue in Memphis, but I could not possibly disagree more with your article posted today. It is regrettable that you did not enjoy your meals there (save Rendezvous, which I also loved).

But you’re flat out wrong about Corky’s and about the Interstate Barbecue.

Other than the Memphis article, I’m really enjoying your series!"

David Plotz wrote back:

"Thanks for the note. It's nice to recieve such a polite and good spirited letter that disagrees. Everyone else wants to rip me limb from limb!"

Well, I'm not surprised! Ripping Memphis barbecue, like that? That cannot be a healthly career move!

Internet Quiz

Like most people, I've never been one to place much faith, or give much credence, to internet quizzes that purport to "tell you about yourself." They're not terribly enlightening, nor are they typically accurate in any meaningful way.

Still, they can be fun, sometimes, especially when someone you're familiar with takes the quiz. This can give you an opportunity to compare notes, so to speak.

For example, here is my old DetNews co-blogger Steven Couch's score on this quiz. 

Steven picked up the quiz from Libby Spencer, who is still blogging over at DetNews.

My score on the quiz, you ask? No real surprises here:

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. Cultural Creative 75% Existentialist 69% Postmodernist 63% Idealist 50% Romanticist 38% Modernist 38% Materialist 6% Fundamentalist 0% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

See? Not terribly accurate. For example, I (and Carolyn) definitely do not shy away from organized religion - we go to Catholic church often enough to prove that, though not as often as we probably should. I definitely believe that there is something greater than me out there - Carolyn and Bailey and Cody prove that to me every day. Still, I was pleased to see my score in the Fundamentalist category.

Behold: Thomas Joseph Needham

AKA, Deerfoot Needham

No, we did not have another child. Thomas Joseph Needham was born in Steubenville, Ohio on Thursday, April 17, 1879.

He was 24 years old when he broke into the Big Leagues on May 12, 1904 with the Boston Beaneaters.Here are his career stats. His nickname was, evidently, ”Deerfoot” which leads one to conclude he was fleet afoot, which is not a bad thing if one is a backup catcher, especially in the early 1900’s.

His final game, with the Chicago Cubs, was July 18, 1914.

He died in Steubenville OH on December 13, 1926. 

Thomas Needham played for the Cubs from 1909 until 1914, which is one of the reasons I bought his baseball card on EBay. The fact that he was hitting .118 when the Cubs released him is one of the reasons I could even afford the card.

Still, we share a common surname. And for that reason alone, I’m very happy to be in possession of this baseball card. 

(The idea for the vanity search, and, frankly, for the purchase of the Thomas Needham baseball card, was from Scalzi.)

Kane County Cougars

Apropos of this link.....we went to our first Kane County Cougars game of 2005 earlier today. Scalzi’s primary link appears to be broken, but it indicates that minor league baseball is booming in the U.S.

Cool by us! 

We love going to the Cougars games. Cody has never been to a major league park – a condition we intend to rectify on Memorial Day, when we’re all going to Comiskey Park, sometimes called US Cellular Field. The only time Bailey was in a major league park was at Busch Stadium in 2001, though I doubt he remembers it. It was his first ever ballgame.

Today was the first time Bailey met Ozzie the Cougar, who Bailey believes is a “bear cougar.” 

Cody, shown here in his Boston Red Sox cap in the lower right, complained all the way home that “he misses Ozzie.” That's Shiela Scott and Baby Taylor (our neighbors) next to Ozzie, Bailey (in the Cubs hat) in front, and Bailey's and Cody's great friend (and Shiela's son) Ben next to Bailey. 

Cody deserves a clearer picture in this post.

We’ve got nine more games to go to this year, so hopefully Cody will get his fill of Ozzie.

It is worth mentioning at this point that minor league baseball is, by absolutely no stretch of the imagination, "lesser professional baseball." The Cougars own website provides proof. Scroll down to the "Cougars 15th Anniversary All-Time Team" on this link to see. All of these major league players are former Cougars:

Former Cub closer Antonio Alfonseca
Current (rehabbing) Cub closer Joe Borowski
Current Cub pitcher Ryan Dempster
Former World Series MVP Josh Beckett
Former NL Rookie of the Year Dontrell Willis
Current Mets closer Felix Heredia
Former Cardinals second baseman and All Star Edgar Renteria
Current White Sox leadoff hitter (stole four bases and scored four runs today!) Scott Posednick

There are more - click the link above to see. It is pretty clear that excellent baseball is being played here in the Western 'burbs of Chicago. 

What is Wrong with the “Radical Right” in America Today

Here it is, in a nutshell. The link is from a blogger who is, in equal parts, as amusing as she is contemptible, Susanna Cornett. She blogged at the Detroit News website during the same time that I did.

You can get a good long list at what is wrong with the American Radical Right here.

Susanna was one of those typical right-wingnuts who, rather than debating valid points about policy, chose to compare me and other liberals with Hitler-loving, terrorist-succoring, anti-American “libs.” 

(This is in contrast to other conservative bloggers at DetNews, with whom I disagreed in the distant past and in the recent past. Steven Couch comes to mind – he is a conservative law student in Massachusetts, who has a weblog called Blue State Red, expresses opinion that I greatly admire. 

Also coming to mind is Risawn, who is (like our Susanna) featured in the Weblogs of Interest on the left side of this page.

Not to mention John La Plante, the conservative blogger from DetNews who (misguidedly) seems stuck on a one-method “fix” for Social Security. The lone method he endlessly blogs about is absolutely the least desirable “fix” for Social Security, but at least he is civil about it.) 

See? Some people from the right side of the political spectrum are capable of debating policy points (and earning respect) without debasing the debate with Hitler-lover references and "my America, love it or leave it" rhetoric. Unlike Susanna Cornett, who prefers to dredge up college surveys from, say, 1933, and then try to (implausibly) claim that I responded to it. 

What Susanna and other people like her will evidently never comprehend is that it is a simple process to oppose an administration, while still loving the nation that this administration temporarily represents. 

More’s the pity for them. They have my sympathy, and deserve yours too. 

So, Susanna, who evidently stumbled upon our little corner of the world wide web – or, more likely, was led to it, hand held....

Rest assured, you have my sympathy. 

UPDATE Thursdsay evening: I mis-stated the timing of the survey that Susanna quoted. It was a 1939 survey, not 1933 as I stated above. Humble apologies for the mistake. And for the record, though there may be no internet record of it now, we all know that what Susanna actually said was she wondered what liberals NOW feel about Hitler, and not what she claimed later in her little "correction."

As I said, she is a right-wingnut - and they are amusing, not alarming.

Cody Ambrose Needham

Three years ago today, May 1, 2002, Carolyn was at Edward Hospital in Naperville. After a relatively short procedure, a c-section, Cody Ambrose Needham joined our little family. Here is a picture from that day, and here is one from his first birthday party, two years ago.

Cody, shown here from earlier today, has been a source of real joy in our lives. Today, as he celebrated his third birthday, we were reminded of how much he means to us. For this first time, Bailey was really into another child’s birthday. He was very happy for his little brother. That was extremely special too.

We had an awesome party for Cody – he had a lot of fun, surrounded by great friends and family. Carolyn put together a great party. By the time the party ended, our boys, indeed all the kids, were buzzed on sugar and playing, and exhaustedly left for home. Cody and Bailey are asleep now – they also went to bed easily after all the excitement.

Below are some pictures from the party:

Jackson and his parents, John and Kristin.

Emma Rose and her mom (with Kristin).

John Henry. Here is another picture of John Henry, this time with the birthday boy! Cody’s Grandma(with Emma’s dad in background)

Mr. Ben from next door.

Not to be left out, big brother Bailey.

Like most three-year-olds, Cody is a joy to be around, most of the time. Today was one of those days where he was at his best. It was a spectacular birthday for a really terrific boy. Join us, why don’t you, in wishing him all the best!

Casserole Olympics and Saint Baldrick's Event

Casserole Olympics

The fourth annual Casserole Olympics were held yesterday, Saturday, April 23rd. As usual, the Olympians’ casserole entries were spectacular. The competition was fierce. And the winners were richly deserving.

Shown above are this year’s medal winners. Click here to see a full sized picture. From left to right are:

Silver medalist Steve Auerbach, who has his second Casserole Olympics medal, after winning the gold medal in the first annual Olympics.

Gold medal winner Carrie Norteman now has a gold medal to go with previous silver and bronze medals – she is the only three-time medalist at the Casserole Olymics.

Bronze medalist Dana Kapadia, who won this medal in her first ever Casserole Olympics.

The best part was that this year, we were able to deliver 10 pans of casseroles to Hesed House, a local shelter for the homeless here in Aurora.

Saints Baldrick’s Fundraiser Update

We used the Casserole Olympics to close the chapter on John’s Saint Baldricks Day fundraiser.We’d like to warmly thank all those who participated, either by making a donation, or by helping to promote it. (In some cases, both donating and promoting!) Yes, John is, at the moment, utterlyand completely bald. It is worth it. Please accept our heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped.

"Harold Be My Name"

We are somewhat regular church-goers, and lately we've been trying to teach the boys to pray. We've had a fair amount of success with this, as Bailey picked up the words to the Lord's Prayer in just a handful of lessons. Cody is still working on them, and both boys can use some practice with the Sign of the Cross.

Still, we're very pleased with the progress so far! For example, here is Bailey's effort at the Lord's Prayer. And here is Cody's efforts.

We'll keep working with them on this little project, but as things stand now, we felt that these just needed to be seen!

New Blog-Roll Addition

There is a new weblog I've stumbled upon - I found the link at Eriz Zorn's Notebook during the whole Terri Schiavo uproar. The new weblog is written by a woman named Lindsay Beyerstein, who writes of "analytic philosophy and liberal politics" and is, notably, a Johnny Cash fan. A link to the weblog ishere and two recent posts are:

1. A real ripping of PA Senator and widely noted hypocrite Rick Santorum here.

2. "Why pharmacist malpractice matters" here.

The writing is very good here, though caution is in order - some posts contain strong language, especially in the comment threads.

This weblog is now on the Weblogs of Interest page here at needhamfamily.net.

Karol Joseph Wojtyla

John Paul II, Rest In Peace.

Boys Blowing Bubbles

Nice alliteration, eh? Today is Easter, and after mass and breakfast, the boys wanted to play with the "Nemo Bubble Blowers" that the Easter Bunny brought them. So we let them.

A few minutes later, neighbor Ben came over, and his dad brought all of Ben's bubble-making equipment.

The results was....bubble-mayhem. Bubble paddles!Bubble guns! It was a total bubble-fest!

Remember when, as kids, we used to blow bubbles with nothing but that little purple wand, with a circle on each end? Kids these days have it much easier. 

We hope everyone has a happy Easter.