Make Way for the Elephant Robert Emmett, Irish patriot, was hanged, drawn and quartered in Dublin, Ireland, convicted of leading a failed rebellion for Irish freedom in 1803.  He was 25 years old. Emmett was a protestant from a wealthy family, hardly the type to commit “high treason.”  But he identified strongly with Catholics in […]

Going for the Uber Experience Some readers will know that I have previously reflected on the always bizarre and often cruel manner displayed by many United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) staff towards visitors. Examples include forcing fifth graders to needlessly stand outside in a howling wind and frigid weather to barking insults(calling them cry […]

  Email Belongs to IAFF Manager Roland, a nom de guerre for an email account operated by an IAFF manager, commented on my post regarding being dismissed from the IAFF Blog Roll.  They made some interesting statements: 1-      “Eric, are you off your meds again? You know what that does to your perspective.” 2-      “I've […]

  Was It Something I said? I couldn't help noticing that I was dropped from the IAFF Blog Roll yesterday. Our union theoretically promotes vigorous free workplace speech as a crucial way to protect union members but when confronted with the opportunity to welcome a dissenting opinion on our beloved IAFF and to put theory into […]

  “Let Them Eat Cake.” The International Association of Firefighters was born in the beer halls of great North American cities like Pittsburgh, Toronto, Chicago, Milwaukee, New York and Boston.  There, workers could talk about long hours, low wages and no rights—the very concerns that led to our union’s birth 96 years ago. How ironic then, that 2014 […]

  I Was. Burgled, I mean; they came in through a rear window the other day.  So much for the very merry Christmas. At first the word sounded odd but on reflection it is preferable to "burglarized" which sounds so processed. And, burgle is textable.  It's the CU2morrow of I've been broken into. What's with "ized" anyway?  Who came […]

  Place of Honor I was at Arlington National Cemetery Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers yesterday, attending the hourly changing of the guard when I apparently witnessed a most rare event:  the oncoming sentry failed inspection.  I had never seen it happen though I knew it was part of Arlington lore and a possibility as […]

  A “Butch” Too Far Just when you thought it was safe to bite into that coconut macaroon, out pops radio evangelist Kevin Swanson. Swanson blames it on the Girl Scouts and “it” is big:  ”lesbianism”,  abortion and perhaps worst of all, financial skills. We would be hard-pressed to say which is worse. And, Swanson […]

Notes From The White House Since the federal shut down I have spent some time most days in front of the White House in what might be called a “crazy old man supportive vigil.” I carry a home-made sign saying, “US Shutdown = Tea Party” and a smaller sign saying, “Christ is for Healthcare.”  I […]

  The South Will Rise Again? Last week white folks gathered in Chester, Virginia, near the state’s Capitol in Richmond, to raise and otherwise glorify the flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, better known as the Confederate flag. There were rifle-firing porcine confederates (much, much larger than the real thing) and speeches about southern […]