Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. *We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: "For Whites Only."* We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."


I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.



And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!


Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968)


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Why I Fired My Secretary

Last week was my birthday and I didn't feel very well when I awoke that morning. I went downstairs for breakfast, hoping my wife would be pleasant and say, 'Happy Birthday!', and possibly have a small present for me.

As it turned out, she barely said good morning, let alone 'Happy Birthday.' I thought..."Well, that's marriage for you": but the kids.... they will remember.

My kids came bounding down stairs to breakfast and didn't say a word. So when I left for the office, I was pretty despondent.

As I walked into my office, my secretary Jane said, "Good Morning Boss, and by the way Happy Birthday!" It felt a little better that at least someone had remembered.

I worked until one o'clock, when Jane knocked on my door and said, "You know, it's such a beautiful day outside, and it is your birthday; what do you say we go out to lunch, just you and me?"

I said, "Thanks, Jane, that's the greatest thing I've heard all day. Let's go!"

We went to lunch, But we didn't go where we normally would go. She chose instead a quiet bistro with a private table. We had two martinis each and I enjoyed the meal tremendously. On the way back to the office, Jane said, "You know, It's such a beautiful day... we don't need to go straight back to the office, do we ?"

I responded, "I guess not. What do you have in mind?"

She said, "Let's drop by my apartment; it's just around the corner."

After arriving at her apartment, Jane turned to me and said, "Boss, if you don't mind, I'm going to step into the bedroom for just a moment. I'll be right back."

"Ok," I nervously replied.

She went into the bedroom and, after a couple of minutes, she came out carrying a huge birthday cake................followed by my wife, my kids, and dozens of my friends and co-workers, all singing "Happy Birthday".

And I just sat there...

On the couch..

Naked.

Your life may be the only Bible some people read

Merriam-Webster defines integrity as a firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values. I've always told the people that have worked for me that integrity is simply doing what is right when no one is looking. It seems like such a simple thing, but I am constantly reminded of how so few people actually think about the consequences of their actions. Now, I'm not referring to your own personal consequences, because that is ALL most people care about. I'm talking about thinking through what it is your decsion is going to mean for the others that it affects, like taking something from someone else. People steal; it's a fact. Some people steal out of need, which of course isn't right, but what about people who steal just to do it? Those people clearly have no integrity; they did not stop to think that, sure, I'm getting a $20 piece of useful equipment, but maybe I'm taking more than that from someone else. What this person failed to realize is that they have stolen valuable time from life that I will never be able to get back. Seems minor to you, but it clearly has a greater impact on me. Was it worth it? Do you even care?

“It's not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong; not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; and not what we profess but what we practice that gives us integrity.”
-Francis Bacon

It takes 8,460 bolts to assemble an automobile, and one nut to scatter it all over the road.

I'm really starting to hate old people. That's not true; I just hate old drivers. I'm getting awfully tired of having to look out for the poof of white just showing above the steering wheel of a Lincoln Aircraft Carrier.

Last night I was leaving my neighborhood and a car stalled out in the right-hand lane of N. Lynnhaven Road just before Virginia Beach Blvd. No big deal. I was two cars back, and we just manuevered over to the left lane (I suppose I could've gotten out and helped, but she had phone, and I had somewhere to be) and waited at the light. Well, behind me was an older lady in a Jetta. She was at least 65, probably a litle older. Well, it apparently doesn't occur to her that everyone in the right lane had moved around this car (a green Escort or something). It also clearly didn't occur to her that the stationary vehicle with the flashing hazard lights wasn't going to be moving, because she just continued to creep up on this girl until she plowed right into the back of her. I guess she figured, "Well, this car isn't moving, but this is the way I need to go, so fuck it. She'll move if I get close enough, right?" Which leads me to my next point:

It's only natural that when most of us get older we lose our hearing and our vision (especially peripheral) diminishes. I don't think those are the sole reasons for so many older people to be such awful drivers. No, I think a lot of people get to a certain age and just say "fuck it, I'll do what I want," like

"Well, I'm stopped here in the right lane, but I need to turn left. I don't really feel like driving up there to make a u-turn, so fuck it, I'm just going to go. Everyone else will just have to watch out."

or

"I really need to get out of this parking lot, but there are four lanes of traffic coming right now. Fuck it. They'll stop."

or

"I really need to change lanes. It's too much trouble to check my mirrors, and I can't see anything anyway, so fuck it. Everyone else should be watching."

"I was always taught to respect my elders and I've now reached the age when I don't have anybody to respect."
-George Burns (1896-1996)


It just seems stupid to me that we can tell a 16-year old kid that they're fit to drive, hand them a little plastic card with their picture on it, and send them out to drive forever and ever. As long as you don't get caught breaking any traffic laws you can drive for the rest of your life. Not getting tickets doesn't make you a fit driver. I'm sick of dodging kids on cell phones, drunk drivers (that's another post, though), and old people who have almost zero awareness of there surroundings. Is it that we feel we are "disrespecting our elders" if their driving privileges are taken away? What's wrong with requiring regular vision and hearing screens and a road test after the age of 55? Have you earned the right to endanger my life because you've managed to stay alive for more than a half-century? I don't think so.

I think what so many people forget is that driving is an earned privilege, not a right-of-birth. I can't tell you the trouble I've been in throughout the 13 years I've been driving just because I drive a little fast, especially on deserted roads, when people who repeatedly put other drivers in danger are allowed to just keep doing it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm not a bad driver just because I've had a few tickets. I don't break any more traffic laws than the rest of you, I just get caught more. I am however, a more alert driver than most, and I am constantly aware of my surroundings when I drive (unless I'm really tired.....). You all have just been luckier. Am I being disrespectful to the generations before me? No. Sure, when you're 80 years old, maybe you've earned the right to bitch and complain and have the rest of us turn a blind eye, but I think I've earned the right to make an attempt to live to be your age without you running me off the road and into a fucking lamppost.

So Long To A Legend

Joe Gibbs stepped down yesterday as head coach of the Washington Redskins, ending his comeback from retirement and induction into the NFL Hall of Fame after 4 up-and-down years. It's a sad day. Sure, the rigors of being a head coach in the NFL maybe too much for the 67-year old Gibbs, and perhaps a younger coach is in order. None of this diminishes what Joe Gibbs has meant to the Redskins organization, the Redskins players, and Redskins fans. There's not even any need to delve into the astounding statistics, because Gibbs is already enshrined in Canton. For anyone too young to remember Gibbs' first go-round in the NFL, you need look no further for a shining example of what it means to be a leader of men.

You will be missed Coach Gibbs. I wish the best to you and your family, especially Taylor. Thanks for everything.

It's never too early for fantasy baseball..

I'm starting up a new fantasy baseball league. All of the information can be found on the website I created for the league:

The Sandlot

This will be a very competitive and fun league. If anyone comes across this post and is interested, check out the site and the accompanying message board. If it looks like something that you can handle, let me know. I'm looking for active, competitive owners who really know their shit. If you're new to the game, you're likely to get stomped, and I don't want to have to replace anyone once we get started.

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

"What's your favorite subject?
Poetry
Really? Maybe you can help me straighten out my Longfellow."

Today was the first day of the spring semester for me. Of course, knowing that it was the first day and my first class started at 8:00 a.m., what do you think I did last night? That's right, after work I went to Kelly's for what was supposed to be "a beer" and what actually turned into 5 beers, 2 shots of Jameson, and not getting home until 2:30. Bah, it was the first day. It's nice to unwind once in awhile, and at least I didn't get drunk. Hey, they had $1.99 Amber Bocks. How could I say no? :)

"Bring us a pitcher of beer every seven minutes until someone passes out. Then bring one every ten minutes."

I do have homework after the first day. Who does that? I want the deal my kids have: no homework on the weekends. I'm sure I'd get by just fime with that set-up........

"Back to school. Back to school, to prove to Dad that I'm not a fool. I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight. Ohhhh, back to school. Back to school. Back to school. Well, here goes nothing."


By the way, my new favorite thing ever:



I hate Taco Bell. I never eat there, but these are a revelation. Combined with a caramel apple empanada they make for quite a tasty treat. In fact, I'm eating some now!

Football season is over....

So far as I'm concerned. What a disappointing loss after such a great last month of the season. I don't even want to think about it anymore. At least the Steelers lost. Time to get ready for baseball season!

Bleh...

What a crappy day. I didn't do anything. I didn't even go to work. I did run; the same 1.35 miles. It took 10:21 this time. I'm pretty sore, which is really lame. I have a list of things I need to do around the house, and I haven't done anything. I won't get much done tomorrow, since the Redskins are playing at Seattle in the first round of the playoffs.

Barack Obama won the Democratic caucus, and John Edwards finished second. Both of those are good. I hope everyone plans on voting, but that'll be another lecture for another post.

Not so fast

"Learning from experience is a faculty almost never practiced."
-Barbara Tuchman

On that note, I'm setting my first goal for the new year. My challenge is to never get another traffic ticket. Ever. I've definitely had more than my fair share. Now, I don't feel as though I break more traffic laws than the average person; I just get caught more. Virtually all of my tickets have been for speeding on the interstate late at night, or rolling through a stop sign when making a right turn. I'm not a reckless driver at all. I make sure I always follow a safe distance (I hate tailgaters) and I'm not a crazy lane changer. I just tend to drive a little fast when traffic is light. So, from now on, I'm just going to leave a little earlier and drive a little slower. Speeding tickets are expensive.

Speaking of speeding, I drive through a school zone while children are either arriving at or leaving school everyday. They're all 35-45 mph zones that lower to 25 when school is starting or getting out, complete with flashing lights. Everyday I slow down when the lights are flashing, and everyday some asshole speeds by me at a minimum of 40 mph. This pisses me off. Yes, it's unsafe to drive around the schools at high rates of speed, and that makes me mad, but what really angers me is that if I were the one driving through the school zone at 45 mph, that's the day a cop would be there. Why don't any of these other jerks ever get stopped!

On a side note: For those of you who don't live in Virginia, we might just have the stupidest weather in the United States. Yesterday it was 34 degrees with snow flurries. Today, it was even colder with a high of 33. Next week it's going to be in the 70s for daytime highs. That's stupid.

I was running...

So I went for a little jog this morning. I'm not sure when the last time I ran was, but's it's been awhile. More than a year. Anyway, I ran 1.35 miles, according to MapMyRun, which is really cool (thanks Eric). I did it in 10:30, which I must say I'm quite pleased with, considering how long it's been and how little I've run since high school. That's about a 7:46/mile pace. Not too bad. This is how it went:

(9:54 a.m.) My knee is going to kill me. Why is it hurting already? I need to go to the doctor about this.

(9:56 a.m.) I really need to tie my shoes tighter, but if I stop I might not get back up.

(9:58 a.m.) My knee is feeling better now, but it's probably not smart to run into the wind on the way back, especially when it's 35 degrees.

(10:01 a.m.) My sinuses are going to kill me. I've run one mile and I can't breathe out my nose. Not that it would matter anyway with all of this congestion in my chest.

(10:03 a.m.) Done. That wasn't so bad, except I can't feel toes.

(10:07 a.m.) I'm back at the house now, doing a little stretching, and I realize I can no longer reach my toes from the sitting position. What's most disturbing about this is that it has less to do with my flexibility than with my stomach being in the way. I guess I'll have to incorporate some sit-ups into the plan quickly.....

Resolutions

I've never made New Year's Resolutions before, but I want 2008 to be different, so why not start with something new? Okay, here I go:

In 2008, I resolve:

To better organize my life and maximize my time. I've had a day planner for years but never made the best use of it, but it's time to change that.

To turn my daydreams, fantasies, and wishes into planned-out, attainable goals. There's no reason I can't have what I want if I put the time and effort into getting it.

To lead by example everyday, in everything I do.

To better understand myself and who I want to be.

To make a plan and stick to it.

To not quit when it gets hard.

To look at this list as often as I need to remind me of where I want to be.

To do something I enjoy everyday.



Everyone says the same things when the New Year rolls around about wanting to change things, whether it be losing weight, quitting smoking, spending more time with family & friends, or learning something new. These are great goals, but they are quickly lost when the going gets a little tough. I want my resolutions to be more like guidelines for me to live my life by, sort of a map for everything I do. I feel like my life is heading in a better direction, and this year seems like a great time to start making more positive changes so that I feel more fulfilled in my own life, and maybe I can turn myself into the kind of man my sons look at and want to be just like.

Happy F-ing New Year!

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true. ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson


All glory comes from daring to begin ~ Eugene F. Ware

Hope everyone has a great 2008!