Who moved my cheese?

I have been thinking a lot about the short book "Who moved my cheese?" by Dr. Spencer Johnson. Specifically, I am continuing to evaluate my life and the world around me and I am having difficulty coming to grips with which character represents me the best. At work, I am a very adaptive person - able to adjust to the changes of the business and customer climate (yes, they are different). At home, with my family, I have readily adjusted to the changes that occur when your children reach the teen years. On both accounts, I consider adaptation not only a reality of growth but I have been able to adjust and move prior to many around me. I am the hunter - looking for the next stash of cheese and doing the necessary things to provide for myself and my loved ones.

However, when it comes to the rest of the world we live in - apparently I am the mouse who is left watching, waiting and confused - "Who moved my cheese?". There are but a few cornerstones that I rely on that helps me stay grounded as I move through life. Unfortunately, it seems more than one of those foundations is becoming unmoored . Specifically, the second level of my foundation is crumbling which begins to change the structure above it. This country that I have been blessed to be born in to, and continue to believe is the best country man has been so graciously gifted with, is losing its way.

In the United States, there was a time - not so long ago, that the morals of the masses was the way of the land. The country was comprised of an overwhelming majority that believed we were free to fail or prosper on our own and that the government was there for very specific purposes. Specifically, as the United States Constitution's preamble reads "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America". Now, we live in a time that growing minorities pit 'rich' against 'poor', religions against religions, races against races, and constituents against representatives. I am not so naive to believe this is a new construct - differences have existed long before this great republic. What is disheartening to see is the acceleration and evergrowing conflict between the citizenry.

Many have lost sight of the facts that (this is but a very short list but have been a source of conflict for me in just the past few days) :

• 'Tax cuts' for a given class is nothing more than permission to keep more of what has been earned.
• Freedom of expression is for all to participate in, not just specific classes.
  
• Your rights stop when you impact the rights of your neighbor.
• To whom much is given, much is expected.
• Without a foundation of rights for all, not a single individuals rights are worth the paper they are written on.

Where does this leave us moving forward? Has the cheese been moved? If so, where do you go looking for more? After all, if this country fails - it is my genuine belief that this will be the last experiment of true government by the people. We are slipping away at an ever increasing pace.

I don't have time at this moment to finish my thoughts - but wanted to start the dialog.

Just because you can ... doesn't mean you should.

If you have a radio, or television than you have recently heard of Pastor Terry Jones and his plans for a 'Burn a Koran Day'. There is an argument to be said for his freedom of speech and his ability to make a political statement regarding his views of Islam.

At the same time we are all well aware of the plans to build the Ground Zero Mosque, and the controversy surrounding Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. Comments by our own President clearly state that everyone has a right to worship in their own way, to include the right not to worship at all. Specifically, President Obama stated:

"But let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are. The writ of our Founders must endure."

Indeed freedom of worship and freedom of speech are two cornerstones to the founding of this great nation. In fact, they are both part of the same amendment to the Constitution. So where does this leave us, as Americans? For starters - let us parse the semantics of what is actually in the Constitution. The First Amendment, which to many is considered the most important portion of the Constitution guarantees certain liberties but has also been misused and abused over time by those on both side of the two issues previously mentioned. The amendment very simply reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

So, the amendment is written in a way to preclude the government from 1) 'dictating' a religion, 2) blocking an individual's right to speak freely, 3) blocking the press from publishing and 4) blocking the people of the nation to assemble peaceably. At this point, I could craft an argument to show where the president's comments are not supportable by the First Amendment but the Pastor in Florida is well within his right to perform his intended act. That is not my intention - No, as the first line in this post said ' Just because you can, doesn't mean you should'.

Instead, I am asking everyone who reads this to ask yourself 'Do I agree that Pastor Terry Jones has the right to do what he is planning?', and 'Do I agree that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's group has the right to build the mosque they are planning to build?' . I would bet that most people will agree with one half of the question. You either support the burning of the Koran or you support the building of the mosque. Yes, I can make the argument for either half of the controversy because I truly believe that the rights of all Americans must be protected. However, there is something much larger to consider - Just because you can, does it mean you should? .
I believe that both issues are grounded in that very question. Both issues create strong sentiment for and against. Both issues are steeped in 'rights' of individuals and organizations. Both issues, on their own, are capable of further dividing families and this nation as a whole. And, both are absolutely and incredibly insensitive to large portions of this democracy.

Unfortunately, at this time we lack, as a country, the leadership to stand up and do the right thing. Our government officials are ill-equipped to deal with the real problems in this country and set the example for all to see. There was a time when we had great men (and women) who would set the example for all to follow. The time of great leadership has apparently passed us by. There is not solid example of how to act or even govern in this country.

It is up to each and every one of us to just Do the right thing.

Farewell Dad

A short post to say farewell to one of my best friends - my Dad.

Francis Richard Maher had many roles in his life. He cherished each and every one of them. A few years ago, at my bride's recommendation, I did something that I am eternally grateful to have had the opportunity to perform. An eulogy is typically a testament to a friend or family member that has passed. Instead - I took a living eulogy to my father on his 65th birthday. I had no idea at that point that the good Lord would call him home in under 3 years.

I had the opportunity to tell him exactly what I felt about him, the example that he set for his family and friends and the way he had changed so many lives. This was not intended for any purpose other than to let him know how I will remember him - it simply was not to be shared, and so it will remain. When I finished my Dad looked me in the eye, wiped a single tear, and said ' I had no idea.'. We talked about this several times over the past 3 years and he gained an understanding of just how wonderful a man he was and how many lives he had influenced.

Since he passed nearly two weeks ago, I have received a number of notes/calls/posts from friends old and new that shared their thoughts on my Dad. They shared of lessons learned and experiences shared with my friend and father and much to my surprise many of them had already been shared with Dad that day at Piney Run Park.

If you love someone - tell them.
If you miss someone - call them.
If you have something to say - do it now.

We know not the day, nor the hour when we may breath our last. You may not have the opportunity to share what you want/need - do it today.

Watch over me my guardian. Remind me of lessons learned and shared. Help me to be what I am to be.

Destroying the Consititution - my states attempt

I have been asleep at the wheel and completely missed my states attempt at the destruction of the electoral college. Taking a look at http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/pages/states.php?s=MD, I see that my state was the first to sign in to law that we have given away our electoral votes to whatever the rest of the country decides, based on popular vote in, in all presidential elections. There seems to be a good bit of support, by the un-informed, for this approach that the popular vote should trump electoral vote.

As Mark Levin articulated, this one man: one vote mentality is easy to sell but is completely misleading in its implementation. Because the populace does not understand the electoral college it is easy to disparage it. To understand why it is so critical requires the individual to actually do some research which is something that many seem either unwilling or incapable of doing. As Mark stated on his show on July 27, 2010, doing away with the Electoral college can only really be done with a constitutional amendment, but that is apparently too hard. However, states are permitted to give away their rights at any time.

If 'one man: one vote' is indeed the sole purpose for the support of this approach, then other changes should also be 'in the public interest'. To start, as Mark illustrated, we should abolish the United States Senate. After all, why should each state have the same number of representatives to a governing body if the states are of different sizes?

Perhaps we should really take the individual right and responsibility a number of steps further and consider all 310 million citizens as individual tax payers. With a $3.8 trillion budget, each citizen should be responsible for their 'fair share' of the budget. So, my family of 5 should be expected to pay $61,290. While I don't have the money at the moment - this will definitely cause me to become more active in the legislation that my government decides to pass. Is this practical - absolutely not. Am I honestly encouraging this - NO! However, it does put things in perspective .... doesn't it.

So, my apologies to my fellow Marylanders for not watching more closely. For the more populated states and regions around this once great country - PLEASE GET IT RIGHT. We need the popular vote more than ever to actually elect the right candidate and then my state will offer its votes when everything is said and done. Of course, I wouldn't put it past them to make changes to the law to match their political desires.

Boys of Summer

Apparently, I forgot to actually post the below entry.

I was fortunate to spend this past week with some of my favorite people - My bride and our three children. We were joined part way through the week by my parents - something that just seemed to make the magical week that much more special.

My youngest son joined a new baseball team this past year and had a relatively good season. Yes, he improved. Yes, the competition was another notch up. And most important - he enjoyed the team, the coaches and himself. The team finished the season in a truly remarkable fashion.

The coaches met with the parents, pre-season, to talk about the plans for the season. Most of the time was spent talking about expectations of the players and families. The kicker on the budget side of the discussion was the planned trip to Myrtle Beach for an end-of year tournament. That tournament is the real subject of this post.

I will not bore you with all the other family details but did want to share the magic 'the Boys of Summer' provided to close out the week. The baseline for the tournament is that each team would play 5 games to 'seed' the championship and consolation rounds for the end of the week. The Cardinals started strong winning their first two games. Then, they hit the buzz-saw and dropped 3 in a row - and a couple were really tough to swallow.

The competition at the Ripken tournament was impressive. Teams from around the country and a few of them were very disciplined, talented and a joy to watch. There is a difference in play when you realize that the team in the other dugout has not only played together for a few years, but that they play year round. It shows!

The finals started on Thursday and were set up as a single elimination tournament. The Cardinals found themselves the #6 seed in the 6 team Championship bracket. This meant they had to start by playing the #3 seed, a team that only had one loss and we had grown accustomed to hearing their name throughout the week with one outstanding game after the other. The boys from Eldersburg jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. On to the second round.

The second round found the young Cardinals up against the #2 seed, a team that had just beaten them a few days ago by .... several runs. The game was one of those games for the books. The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead and were looking like they were well on their way to the Championship. However, in the 4th inning things started to change and the opposition battled back. Late in the game we surrendered the tying run and needed to hold them for a push to extra innings. The Gods of Baseball shined on our Cardinals that day and they did indeed hold for extra innings. In the top of the 7th, our boys put two on the board and shut them down 1-2-3! Cardinals win and we are headed to the finals.

A day later, the Cardinals took the field against the undefeated squad from Houston, Texas. The opposition had given up a total of 11 runs in the previous 7 games. This was going to be tough. The Cardinals started off strong, but were unable to capitalize on several different occasions when they had runners at the corners. The opposing coach was pacing and obviously getting a little nervous as his group had not seen anyone hold them this tight. In the fourth inning, the first run was scored but it wasn't for us. We managed to hold the game close but in the end - lost the final game. Hats off to all the teams, but this last group was something special.

I was/am very proud of our 11 year olds. The battled the best and held them in check. Thank you boys for bringing me back to my youth this season. Thank you coaches (Curt, Mike, Bob & Dave) for making this truly a Season to Remember.