Don’t Ever Put Down The Pen!

October 6, 2008

Yet, Another Sign of the Apocalypse

Filed under: Uncategorized — Ed Kirkpatrick @ 7:15 am

The great British chocolate maker has offshored to China the production of its great chocolate…..  I quote:

Hong Kong’s food safety agency said samples of two chocolate products made by British candy maker Cadbury at its Beijing factory contained considerably more melamine than the city’s legal limit of 2.5 parts per million.

The two items were among 11 Chinese-made products that have already been recalled by Cadbury in parts of Asia and the Pacific.

Hong Kong’s Center for Food Safety said Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Hazelnut Chocolate Bulk Pack contained 56 parts per million of melamine, while Dairy Milk Cookies Chocolate contained 6.9 parts per million.

Calls to Cadbury offices in London and Asia Pacific went unanswered Sunday

via Tainted Cadbury chocolate found in Hong Kong – Yahoo News.

February 16, 2008

Dear Senators Mikulski and Cardin….

Filed under: Uncategorized — Ed Kirkpatrick @ 8:48 am
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Senators Mikulski and Cardin,

I write to urge you to vote against the bill before the Senate that will grant immunity to the Telecommunications companies for violating our civil rights at the request of the Bush Administration.

As a Gold Star Parent, I am incensed that the President and Vice-President regularly violate the very protections accorded to us in our Constitution that they are sworn to preserve, protect and defend and those rights that my son died to protect. Then they insist that there be no repercussions for the Telecommunications companies who aided and abetted this atrocity. In no way should they be released from the legal penalty for their actions. If it was you or me, we would both be held accountable and they should be as well.

Sincerely,

Edward W. Kirkpatrick

=============================================

I worked for nearly 20 years in the telecommunications industry for C&P Telephone, Bell Atlantic and then AT&T. In those days, the sanctity of the customer record was inviolate without a proper warrant. Today, in a climate of fear and slipping closer to fascism, American Corporations are willing to forego the niceties of our Constitutional protections because it takes too long (24hrs) for a FISA court to issue the warrant. As the extension of this law expires today, the Cheney/Bush administration still has all the powers they need to do this type of surveillance in a timely fashion. If they did not, Bush would have agreed to another extension. The only reason they want this bill is to exonerate their friends from their crimes.

We do have a lot to fear these days, but I think we have met the enemy and it is us.

February 15, 2008

YRF Fundraising Event in honor of Scott Kirkpatrick

Be sure to read the comments for updated information!

Dear Friends and Family,

Forgive me if you’ve received this bulletin more than once, but we’re doing what we can to reach as many people as possible. That being said, please feel free to pass the word.

As most of you know our son, Sgt Scott Kirkpatrick was killed by an HBIED in Iraq on August 11, 2007. He was 26 years old. Recently, our niece, Suzy Quintavalle was having a conversation with Scott’s friend Sean. They got to discussing charity events, and to make a long story short they decided it was time to hold one in Scott’s honor.

Before he left on his last deployment, he let us know that if something happened to him, it was his wish that we find a fund to help benefit our Wounded Warriors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Christy, Kevin, Marti and I chose the Yellow Ribbon Fund.

Our friend Linda got in touch with the owners of Mick O’Shea’s Irish Pub in Baltimore, MD, and they’ve agreed to let us hold an event in memory of Scott, to honor our Wounded Warriors who will benefit from YRF’s aid. Sean spoke with YRF today, and they are on board — their PR person told him that they’ve never been involved in something like this before, and they’re excited to participate.

Here’s the deal:

When: Friday, March 7, 2008, 8:30pm… until Mick’s
closes or you go home, (we are getting a room)….

Where: Mick O’Shea’s Irish Pub
328 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-539-7504

What’s Going On:

There will be a cover charge (to be announced), a portion of which will go to the Yellow Ribbon Fund. Yellow Ribbon staffers will be on hand to provide information about their organization and to accept voluntary cash or check donations.

Traditional & Contemporary Irish music will be provided by Rossnareen – March 7 was scheduled to be their night at the pub, but Mick’s owner, Dave, wanted to squeeze us in before St. Patrick’s Day, and upon discussing our plot with the band, they informed him that “they would be honored” to share the pub with all of us in tribute to Scott and our soldiers.

Mick O’Shea’s is a well-known Irish pub in Baltimore. There will be Guinness, of course, or whatever your drink of choice happens to be. We’re working with the owner to get a portion of drink sales donated to YRF, and possibly some drink specials as well.

We’re gearing up to promote this via any means available, and the good people at Yellow Ribbon Fund are assisting in same, even working on contacting Governor O’Malley — whose band, O’Malley’s March, used to play Mick’s often when he was Baltimore’s Mayor. If you can make it, we’ll be very happy to see you. If you know of anyone else who should be there, please forward this email.

If you can’t make it, we’ll raise a glass for you anyway, and you’ll attend in spirit. Words of encouragement are, well, encouraged –Suzy, Sean and Linda had this idea approximately three days ago and now have only three weeks to bring it to fruition. They willl not rest until it is done right, and that means they will be damn tired by the time the 7th rolls around. However, we’re all super-excited, and can’t wait to see how it all pans out.

UPDATE:

We just heard back from the folks at Mick O’Shea’s, and they told Linda that not only are they donating $1 from the $4 cover charge to the fund, but they’ll also donate $1 from every Guinness sold. :)
WOOHOO! Get Ready to drink some Guinness!

So come out, have a pint or a few, share a story, and support the lads.

We hope to see you on March 7,

Ed, Marti, Kevin, Christy, Suzy, Linda and Sean

February 12, 2008

WD-40, Bounce and Snopes.com

Filed under: Uncategorized — Ed Kirkpatrick @ 10:11 am
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Today I received from a friend another of those emails we all get from our friends on the net, this one was about the merits and miracles of the ubiquitous WD-40. We all know what WD-40 is but this note was passed on through who knows how many folks who thought it to be essential knowledge and so they tell two friends who tell two friends and so on, until I get it! It gives a brief history of the stuff and then lists about 43 reasons we should have it everywhere. I like in particular “# 5, Keeps flies off cows”. #8 is good too, “Loosens stuck zippers” Alcohol has been known to do the same thing.
I will admit I love this stuff too and have a half dozen cans scattered around my farm but whenever I get one of these messages of dubious heritage, I always check the resources at Snopes.com to see what or if there is anything there about the article in doubt. Barbara Mickleson, the gal who researches, writes and maintains Snopes.com is indefatigable when it comes to confirming or debunking the silliness known as Urban Legends that floats around and into our inboxes. She is also very entertaining and has become a defacto source on the net much like Wikipedia.
As for the WD 40 thing, she has a note on it at this link,

The article is interesting as she contacted the manufacturer for details about this email and she has a link confirming the origin story. She recaps the email I received and deletes the uses that the manufacturer does not recommend. I was amazed to see, “prevents silver from tarnishing” as a recommended use of a petroleum product…. Not on my silverware!

BUT of even more interesting note, is a related article on Bounce.
A similar legend circulates about the beneficial effects of Bounce and her testing of the claims and their results I found hilarious.
Snopes is a great resource and if you go there you can find yourself losing an hour or two perusing all the stuff Barbara has collected over the years. In fact and often, the article on Snopes is more interesting than the email in your inbox.
Bookmark the site and be a regular visitor.

February 6, 2008

What should they read? Bill Moyers asks….

Filed under: Uncategorized — Ed Kirkpatrick @ 9:42 am
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If you haven’t yet had a chance to watch Bill Moyers’ Journal on PBS, I suggest that you find some way. It’s not your usual talking heads show, he never screams at people or calls them bad names and it’s certainly not FAUX News. There is a wide variety of topics and guests, always current, and perhaps some of the most thought provoking commentary on the air.

Last week in his commentary, Bill Moyers said,

“On the CBS EVENING NEWS, Katie Couric asked candidates from both parties which book, other than the Bible, they would bring with them to the White House. ” See what they said here

Some of the answers were interesting and some “seemed” spontaneous. After that segment, Bill asked his viewers to suggest to the future president what ONE book he or she should take with them and to post our suggestions on his blog. He said he would discuss our suggestions on this Friday’s show. I suggest that you check out the blog postings and perhaps submit your own idea. As of today, there are over 2200 comments. All are interesting, some spontaneous and some are going on my reading list.

 

Naturally, I got to wondering for myself what I would suggest. Even though I think I read a lot and constantly, this list of books on the blog shows me my universe for selection is by comparison so limited. Making this choice is also hard to for me do as it requires remembering all the books I have read over the years, something I am not good at. In the end, I decided to choose several books that as their base embody a simple truth or value that, as Americans, we need to recognize and remember.

I know Bill wants only one book, but tough… so in no particular order :

  • “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand, the rights and strengths of the individual vs. the mob,
  • “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, a book about personal failure, discovery and salvation,
  • “1776″ by David McCullough, remembering what we were when we as a nation were just discovering for ourselves,
  • “Theodore Rex” by Edmund Morris, a book about Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidency and how TR as a person defines what personal strength and moral courage really are,
  • “Citizen Soldiers” by Stephen Ambrose, to me this book defines our single greatest trait as a nation, our individual citizen’s willingness to help set wrong to right. We did it for the right reasons then and are so lost now, and lastly,
  • “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin, perhaps the best of the bunch as it describes the times of hatred, strife and war that at its core is so similar to our times now.

Ps, this list is subject to change as my memory fades in and out again….

January 20, 2008

An end in sight, a beginning again.

Filed under: Thoughts..., Uncategorized — Ed Kirkpatrick @ 1:00 pm
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In just 365 days, one year from now, on January 20, 2009, at 12:00 Noon, we will be listening to the Inaugural Address of our newest President.

Our Nation’s very worst presidency will have come to an end. No matter who is elected this November, he or she cannot be worse in any way than what we as a nation, a civilization and as a planet have suffered over the last 7 years. I ask you to name one major accomplishment of this administration that will ring in the halls of history as brilliant, inspired, good or even noteworthy. No matter what your political stripe it is hard to justify on any level what our nation has been led through. Only the smallest and most stubborn of minorities still support the men who have misguided our nation, misappropriated our freedoms and led us so far away from the principles that made this nation the once great and respected leader of the Free world.

Ask yourself if you are better off today than you were seven years ago:

• World Peace
• The Environment
• Education and Science
• The Economy
• Our Armed Forces
• Personal Freedoms
• Employment opportunity
• Social Security
• Religious Tolerance
• Just being neighbors
• Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

I care less about who you vote for in November than I do about your helping whoever is elected to set right the wrongs, undo the harm and reinstate our good nation’s time honored and enviable position in the world of Leader and Doer of great deeds for mankind. We have much work to do and now is the time to get started.

Best Buy?….. Bye-bye

Filed under: Thoughts..., Uncategorized — Ed Kirkpatrick @ 11:38 am
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Why is it that that something as simple and basic to good business, customer satisfaction, no longer matters? How is it that awareness of its importance to business success is lost on those who run these large companies? With the Wal-Mart’ing of America and the death of Main street mom and pop shops and the demise of Sears and Penneys as viable appliance stores, the box stores are our last resort. The electronics box store, Best Buy, was my source for electronic doodads ever since Circuit City fired all its senior and experienced sales staff in favor of high-school kids who work cheap. Some of us can remember from way back when Circuit City was a new outfit but populated by a surly staff of non-native english speakers. It was painful and tedious to be harangued about purchasing those “service contracts” for your appliance. We all knew it was a rip-off and detested the hi-pressure tactics that were applied. But then, somebody in the Circuit City corporate management got the message and transitioned to knowledgeable and helpful staff. For a few years Circuit City was a pleasant place to shop. Then the bean counters got control again, they fired all the good sales staff and now we have children, mostly, it seems, still with pimples…. and then Comp-USA abandoned the DC market . So it was to Best Buy, the only competition left that I turned to for toys.Best Buy was “friendly” enough even if they suffer from being constantly out of stock and I will admit I had a very nice experience there two weeks ago buying a Blu-ray disc player. But that is done now, over, forgotten and erased by some corporate stupidity silliness that really fries me. Apparently, Best Buy only likes customers who buy things and not those who need to return or exchange some items.Case in point: I was given a movie in HD-DVD format for Christmas and I have a Blu-ray player. Without any technical jargon the bottom line is that the Blu-ray player will not play the HD-DVD format. The movie was purchased at Best Buy online and shipped to me because my daughter-in-law lives too far away down deep in the South. So I went into Best Buy in Germantown Maryland yesterday to exchange the HD-DVD for a Blu-ray version. Same movie, same price, same company, easy thing to do right?. Nope, no deal. Best Buy will not exchange a like for like item if it is purchased through the on-line store. They prefer to refund the sale to the buyer of record and lose the revenue, piss off two sets of customers and embarrass one. The reason for this stupidity? Corporate Policy. It even says so on the website. Where is the sense in this? Are they trying to mitigate credit card fraud? no, they run the same risk in the store of that as on-line. Does it cost them money to make the exchange? no, the items are the same price and nothing changes in inventory. They even make a little bit more with the on-line sale because they get some piece of the shipping fees and the on-line operation is likely more profitable than the brick and mortar store. Is it because they think I bought or stole it somewhere else? no, they have a record of the sale to my daughter and shipping to me.So where’s the harm? Here’s the harm: they have lost three good customers, they lost $80 in revenue, because I WILL return it and I WILL walk next door to Borders and buy it there and I am telling you this so you might think about this next time you climb in your truck to go buy something electronic.

Choice, it is the only right we seem to have left as consumers and I plan to exercise it and I hope you will too.

POSTSCRIPT – 1-21-2008
After the kind offer from Hollywood Video (see comments) Marti decided to first try her hand at flimflamming the management at Best Buy. Being a former retail manager at Sears (decades ago) she knows a thing or two and so yesterday we ventured up to the Best Buy in Frederick. While she made me wait in the parking lot ( she knew my temper might be a problem) she walked in and gave them a story. To use a football analogy, she found a seam in their defense, (for a cash sale they don’t keep a name record) and she lied. A little white lie but it worked. 15 minutes later she walked out of the store with the right copy and off we went home very much feeling the wrong kind of customer satisfaction. By the way, the movie, Planet Earth is in a word, simply extraordinary. I know,  that’s two words…..

 

January 10, 2008

Annoying Keyboarding

Filed under: Thoughts..., Uncategorized — Ed Kirkpatrick @ 8:04 pm
Tags:

I have not written much lately for a novel reason. I have a new keyboard that I hate and can’t get used to it. It is a Logitech MX3200 in addition to being a pain in the patootie. I spend most of my time backspacing mistypes. I can’t figure out why this is, but I think the keys are just a bit downsized. Maybe I should have bought that $19 one after all….. It also has this little “zoom” button that instantly makes whatever I am looking at microscopic. That’s annoying as hell because it lays right under where I rest my left hand…..!

January 4, 2008

A Soldier’s Story: Sgt. John Fuller

“If it hadn’t been for the Yellow Ribbon Fund I don’t know where John would end up right now.” Susan Williams, mother of Sgt. John Fuller, a young California National Guardsman wounded in Iraq, spoke these words in a story aired by Fox News on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

View John’s inspirational story and how the Yellow Ribbon Fund helped in his recovery:

If you use Internet Explorer browser click here

If you use Mozilla Firefox browser click this link here

As many of you know, Christy, Marti, Kevin and I have chosen The Yellow Ribbon Fund to honor Scott’s wish that we support wounded soldiers and their families. This story is a wonderful example of the work they do and the families they help. On the Yellow Ribbon Fund website, you will find many ways to help other than donations. They need volunteers, mentors, tickets to sports events and just anybody who wants to help a vet and his family enjoy a normal bit of life.

Happy New Year to everyone!

December 22, 2007

Patriots and Families

On Tuesday, Marti, her brother Roy and I traveled to the State House in Annapolis at the invitation of Governor Martin O’Malley. It was a bright and frigid day in December, the first sunny day in many weeks. Our son Scott was to receive the Patriot Medal Award in honor of Maryland’s fallen heroes. In addition to Scott, there were 25 others who were to receive the award. Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, Marines, Firefighters. Police and Paramedics were honored that day. All gave their lives so we can live the way we do.

 

Patriot Award Ceremony

I noticed that among the names in the program was Sgt. Princess Samuels, 22, of Mitchellville, Maryland. She was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. She was killed in hostile action in Taji four days after Scott died. I remember reading in the Metro section about her service at Arlington. It was just a few days after Scott’s service in August and the images and emotions of that day are still fresh in my mind and heart. I know how the family felt. So many people don’t and that’s OK, but I know what her parents were feeling.
When Princess’s name was called we watched to see which of her family would be there. A lone, pretty woman rose and accepted the medal and posed for the photo. After the awards ceremony the Governor invited everyone to enjoy some refreshments and meet the families of the other honorees. I stood and looked around for the woman so I could speak to her and saw Marti already heading in her direction. Separately we were both thinking the same thing, we do that a lot. The emotions of that day at Arlington rushed back to all of us as Marti took her hand, introduced herself and explained that Scott and Princess are beside each other at Arlington. The lady told us that she was Princess’ Aunt, and that she had promised herself that she wouldn’t cry, but none of us quite made it. We promised to “say hello” to Princess whenever we go to sit and visit with Scott. They are now neighbors forever in the garden we never wanted them in.

 

Princess Samuels

 

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