Godspeed Ben Dillon

Ben is the man in the middle. Early next week he leaves for the Great Lakes to begin Naval basic training. Right after boot camp, Ben will go straight to Navy SEAL training or BUD/S.

Are you motivated to succeed? Are you determined to persevere? Are you ready to accelerate your life? Consider a career in Naval Special Warfare (NSW). We seek smart, fit, hardworking young men from all backgrounds to join our team of SEAL operators. It is a career that offers unmatched challenges, adventure and job satisfaction to motivated candidates. To start your adventure, select your status.
NAVYSEALS.COM

Ben has wanted to be a Navy SEAL for a long time. He has studied and trained to prepare himself both mentally and physically. Soon his adventure will begin.

I am very proud of Ben. It is because young men like him who answer "the call," that our country is free. I am proud to say that I get choked up during the playing of the Star spangled Banner. I have difficulty reciting the pledge to the flag without my voice cracking, and when I think about the honor, dedication, and determination our young men exhibit when they join the armed forces, I stand in reverent awe.

A great country is made up of great individuals. They honor themselves and us with the sacrifice of their service. They provide a safe haven for us so we can worry about being late to flute practice or if a baseball game is going to be rained out. They stand in a long line of honorable men who believed their life was not too much to give for their countrymen.

To say "Thank you" seems inadequate for such devotion and sacrifice, but what words could convey our thoughts fully?

I have known Ben for a long time. He is one of the good friends my son John has. They have been good influences on each other. Ben is quiet and humble, but tough as nails. He will need to be to make it through the fire the SEAL instructors will put him through. Ben says 1 in 5 who tryout for SEALS, go on to became one. My money is on Ben. I tend to think if he does not make it, it will only be because he died in the process. I do not see him quitting.

We are a fortunate people. I know for a fact that one person who will be standing watch on our behalf is honorable and dedicated. He goes off to the Navy in a few days, no doubt full of questions and concerns about what lies before him. He also goes with the love and prayers of those who know him.

Godspeed Ben Dillon.

Until the next time
John Strain

Greed, selfishness, disrespect, squandered opportunities, and Tom Benson

The New Orleans Saints are 38 years old. They have won one playoff game. Their first winning season did not occur until their 21st year. More often than not, Saint's fans are disappointed, yet they still fill the Superdome enthusiastically, selling it out the last 36 straight times. The team is a source of civic pride and it is one of the things that make New Orleans a special city.

We love our Saints and we sometimes hate our Saints, but we support our Saints. The team's owner, Tom Benson, must be campaigning to replace Scrooge as the most coldhearted, clueless, businessman, ever to grace a city.

In addition to undying fan support, the State of Louisiana has built the Saints a 6.2 million dollar state-of-the-art training center, another $187 million dollars from the state, and Superdome renovations. Louisiana has experienced the familiar big league blackmail sports teams are perpetrating these days. "We will move team X if you don't open the coffers and pour a mountain of money our way." I suppose one way of looking at it is that football is a business and where an owner wants to locate a team is his business. That is certainly the way Tom Benson looks at it.

Two days ago, he fired his top administrator Arnie Fielkow. Mr. Fielkow was an outspoken advocate to keep the team in Louisiana. He brokered the deal to have the Saints play some home games at nearby Tiger Stadium on the LSU campus instead of Mr. Benson's desire to play them all in far away San Antonio. Clearly there were philosophical differences. Fielkow saw an opportunity for the team to take a leadership role in repairing New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He understood the rallying power a team has and he wanted to use it.

Mr. Benson, on the other hand, driven by God knows what, most likely greed, selfishness, and a lack of gratitude, fired one of his only voices of reason. Tom Benson apparently needs "yes men" not good advisors.

Now the Texas politicians and Tom Benson are swapping spit and basking in the afterglow of deal making. In the New Orleans area we are experiencing anger and sadness all at the same time. Part of us wants to tell Benson to take his team and put them "you know where," but the other part of us wants to keep our NFL team.

The mayor of New Orleans invited Tom Benson to take a hike, then called on the NFL to let us keep our logo and put it on an expansion team, but in true Ray Nagin form, his public statements will only distance New Orleans from any possible cooperation with the NFL. He should be talking to them in private and toning down the public rhetoric.

In the end, it's just football, but what gets me is the glimpse we get into Tom Benson's character. Think of the opportunity this man has to make a lot of people happy, but is content to throw it away. He is a rich man. A lot of his money was earned selling cars in New Orleans. At a time when so much of New Orleans is gone and may never return, Benson proposes to take something else away. Maybe he wants to be known as the ultimate, "kick'em while they're down" guy.

There is such a thing as killing the "goose that lays the golden eggs." Major league sports will someday destroy themselves. Players and owners do things that cause shock and anger among fans almost routinely now. There are strikes, assaults, arrests, steroids, rogue owners, and higher and higher ticket prices. Someday, the anger of the fans will turn to indifference. At some point, the fans won't care anymore and the little empires of greed will crumble. I sure hope I live to see it.

As for Mr. Benson, his latest greedy antics remind me of some scripture:

Luke 12:16-21 (New King James Version)
New King James Version (NKJV)
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Saints news article from Bayou Buzz

Until the next time
John Strain

Why do dogs do that?

When I walk Bear, he frequently scratches the ground with all fours. Dirt flies and he kicks up quite a dust cloud. This is amusing to me and I figured it had something to do with being a "tough guy," but I never really knew. So I did some Googling and came up with the following explanation:

Many dogs--nearly all males, neutered or not, and even some females--will
scratch the dirt with their hind legs after they urinate. some will even use their
front legs at the same time, backing up in order to leave a longer track.
This makes perfect sense to the dog but to us it seems odd.

The dog's pads sweat, leaving a strong scent for the next dog who comes
along to take note of. By scraping the earth, a dog says to whomever comes by nest.
"I am a big, tough dog, someone to be noticed and reckoned with. Here is my scent
urine) and here, next to that is the size of my footprints." By making vigorous
scratches in the earth, your dog shows his vitality and, presumably his size.

Barbara says when I am out running in the morning, Bear whines and howls until I come back. I guess he has some codependency issues he is dealing with. Anyway, I looked up the howling behavior on the net and it is a way of calling the pack together. Bear is calling out to me and expressing loneliness. I have seen him howling on the webcam. Poor dog.

Right now, he is lying by the couch asleep, but if I make a move toward the door, he will be dancing around with sparkling eyes.

This weekend, I will be in Huntsville, Texas running the Rocky Raccoon 50K. Bear will spend the weekend at the vet. He isn't going to like that.

It's a dog's life.

Fun link of the day, compliments of my brother - neat stuff: Birthday Calculator

Until the next time
John Strain

Holy Toledo

Once again the world was treated to live pictures of rioting, violence, and arson. Toledo, Ohio was the venue.

I sat down in front of the TV to watch the LSU game on Saturday. Everything was in its place; a cold beer and a bowl of chips. I flipped over to FOX before the game and watched IT all unfold. I saw morons running wild. They were running in and out of a building. The doors had been kicked in and the windows had been broken out. Moments later, the building was set ablaze.

Why?

That depends on who is talking.

Some would say because some Neo-Nazis planned a march in a black neighborhood. Others say it is because outside agitators came in to gin up the anger and racial tension to incite the violence. I heard the police were responsible because they did not move in soon enough to stop the mob.

I say those three explanations are bullsh*t. The people responsible for throwing rocks at an ambulance, running wild, and destroying a building are the people who did it.

If you do not like someone's free speech, you are not authorized to commit a crime. I think in grade school my teacher called that two wrongs don't make a right. Only in this case, it was not even two wrongs.

Personal responsibility is a forgotten concept. It is almost automatic to look elsewhere for a cause of some problem other than the person(s) that did it.

One place this philosophy of blame shifting is most evident is the courts. Defense attorneys and “slip and fall” lawyers have been using the law to shift blame for years. We have all heard of the outrageous cases:

• The bartender is responsible when a drunk driver kills someone in a car wreck.

• McDonalds is responsible when an idiot places hot coffee between their legs and burns their crotch.

• A homeowner is responsible when a burglar falls through his ceiling and hurts his back.

• Cigarette companies are to blame for people smoking.

• Fast food chains need to pay for making people fat.

• Schools are to blame when students do not learn.

Folks have been conditioned to expect a million dollars or more anytime they are inconvenienced or experience something bad. Even in Hurricane Katrina, I can see how people are trying to get their payoff.

If you are personally responsible you understand insurance, make good decisions about evacuating and so forth. If you are not personally responsible, you read your policy after the fact and expect your insurance company to make an exception for your stupidity. You blame someone for not feeding you when you ignore evacuation orders. (I am referring to people who could have left the city, but chose to stay, not those who had no way out.)

The blame game and responsibility shifting is evident in ridiculous warning labels. People have become so lazy and irresponsible, they buy a complicated piece of equipment, not read the instructions, and expect everything to somehow work fine.

People go to court and proclaim their ignorance to get a check.

"Your honor, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to stick the curling iron up my nose, there wasn't a warning label. I want a million dollars now because I look like Rudolph and it's not my fault."

"Your honor, how was I supposed to know to shut off the lawnmower before reaching underneath it. Now I have to learn to tie my shoes with one hand."

"The dog ate my homework," was a humorous way of saying it's not my fault when you really know it is. Today, I suppose we would put the dog to sleep and give Johnny tutors and another month to get his work done.

There is no hope for us as a people if we continue to blame something or someone for everything that goes wrong. Folks pass on the blame, then they feel justified in not changing their behavior, which caused the problem in the first place. In Toledo, it is easy to justify burning down a building if you think a Nazi march is to blame. Even ministers defend and explain away the illegal behavior that took place in Toledo. They need a refresher course at seminary.

An anger builds in people who blame others. If they really believe someone else is to blame, they turn into a victim. The good thing about accepting responsibility for your lot in life is you remain in control. "If I caused the mess OR if I am responsible for cleaning up the mess, I can do something about it." Taking responsibility is empowering.

Society and government have been bad parents. I had friends whose parents never held them responsible for their behavior. They always blamed the other kids if there was a dispute, and the teacher if they got a bad grade. This parental philosophy made them spoiled brats.

Those who are not personally responsible are all over the news with their bad behavior and their accomplices are the politicians, lawyers, and high profile idiots who condone it just because it helps make their political point.

It is simple really, we need to get back to basics. When a football team is losing, they go back to blocking and tackling. When a society gets out of whack, its citizens need to look no further than their own behavior.

Could you imagine the things we could do if we not only took personal responsibility, but we embraced other radical concepts like helping others, and giving to society; not just taking? It could happen; one decision at a time.

Until the next time
John Strain

Patrick got a job

Patrick has been a patient of ours a couple of times. He is a gentle man and lived with his sister. I was his social worker and he always expressed a desire to get a job and work. Helping people get jobs is beyond what I can normally get done. Most of what I do for discharge, is make sure the patients have a place to live, a future appointment with a psychiatrist, and medication to get them to the appointment.

I was lucky enough to get Patrick in a group home called Carroll Street which is connected to the Lake House program I wrote about a week or so ago. Lake House was put out of business temporarily by hurricane Katrina and I made an appeal for money and goods to help get them back on their feet.

Carroll Street was a good fit for Patrick. He is easy going and gets along well with other people. Lake House is where he went during the daytime to socialize and receive other help. Lake House has been closed since Katrina, but Cheryl, the director, is still working with the Carroll Street Group Home residents.

You may remember me asking for help right after hurricane Katrina to get medication for those having problems contacting their doctors. I wrote about it here. It was Patrick we helped then and it kept him out of the hospital.

The Lake House director Cheryl Cosse called me Thursday afternoon to tell me some good news. First of all, she was pleased to have received some donations that were referred through this blog. Then she told me that Patrick got a job. They took him around to different places and he finally got hired at a local restaurant. He was as happy as an executive moving to the corner office.

This is what Lake House and Carroll Street do. They help people. Sometimes they help someone realize a dream, sometimes they help people get through the day, and sometimes they just provide a familiar friendly place to be.

For those of you who have contributed to Lake House, my most sincere thanks. If you would like to help them out, you may send your donation to:

Lake House
1912 Jefferson Street
Mandeville, LA 70448

Until the next time
John Strain