Is there a dirty little secret at SJSU?

San Jose State University is a great university. It has beautiful grounds and talented faculty, students and staff. The view of Tower Hall seldom fails to inspire. But, there is something dark and dirty here. Sometimes it seems to me to be a bit of a facade when you can step a few feet away from the lovely lawns and see sights like this that just scream neglect. These dark and dirty places at SJSU that just seem to get darker and dirtier. Some messes here just never seem to get cleaned up. I don't understand why our great university tolerates such malaise and mediocrity. Is it that the folks who make decisions are so mesmerized by what they want people to see that they are blind to details that so plain and out in the open? How can our institution tolerate and fail to see the malaise that has so long been in the open and begging to be cleaned up here? That, in my opinion, is a huge mystery.

No shortage of rude motorists

The university has an abundant supply of small spaces and drivers who drive huge cars. Even when other spaces are available, drivers of land yachts will cram into the small spaces to save themselves from having to walk an extra 100 feet a day. I wonder if they are ticketed by University Police? Since they seem to do it day after day, I doubt it.

Cindy Sheehan, a real American hero!

For all the things that have been said negative about Cindy by the forces of evil, she proved them wrong. She left Texas to care for her ailing mother and left her detractors in the Texas dust. She proved the love she has for her family, the same love she has for her son who died in Iraq, by showing that actions speak louder than words. Especially when they're her actions. God bless you Cindy Sheehan. Like your son, you are a real American hero!

Technorati Tags: Cindy Sheehan, Sheehan, CindySheehan

Sheehan split typical of grieving parents

The loss of a child is a major stress on any marriage. According to Judy HuHaven [Link] of Emily's Foundation [Link] (Emily’s Foundation is the only national organization formed for the exclusive purpose of preserving and strengthening the marriages and families of bereaved parents who have lost a child) the divorce rate among grieving parents may be as high as 75 to 90%. About the Sheehan split, Nancy Goebner, of San Jose Vetrans for peace in San Jose California, sent this comment in an E-mail:

Agreed! It's difficult under the best of circumstances for a couple to stay together. For couples to split due to a tragedy concerning a child is textbook usual. It's miraculous if a couple can stay together through such need and sorrow. Both need nurturing and are usually too numb to nurture each other.

BTW, Veterans for Peace 101, under my name, is hosting a MoveOn Vigil for Cindy this Wednesday. Here's the link if you'd like to show up or if you'd be willing to pass on the info:

http://www.moveonpac.org/event/cindyvigils/4124

Technorati Tags: Cindy Sheehan, Sheehan, CindySheehan

Cindy Sheehan is fighting hate and evil

I find the amount of energy being put into trying to defame and ridicule the courage that Cindy Sheehan is showing as being typical of what we are up against. In my opinion what we are fighting is evil. I do not see how the opinions of either Cindy's in-laws or her apparently estranged husband have any relevancy here. Yes, they are entitled to their opinions. But to use this as a smoke screen to hide her true anguish and to mask the veil of lies that we have all been told is just an attempt to cover up what we all are up against here and that, I believe, is hate and evil.

Technorati Tags: Cindy Sheehan, Sheehan, CindySheehan

A friend's son joined the Army

Last night we had dinner with friends here in San Jose. My friend's son has enlisted in the Army. I also have an 18-year-old son. While I respect my friend, and his son's enlistment in the Army, I would strongly discourage my own son Kenneth from joining the military. We are being lied to by the government and, in my opinion, the government is making decisions that are not only contributing to global terrorism but are encouraging the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

If it were my son joining the Army I would be doing all I could to discourage enlistment. I would see it as a matter of ethics to keep him from becoming an instrument of oppression and the lies that I believe Bush is spreading.

Technorati Tags: Cindy Sheehan, Sheehan, CindySheehan

President Bush, Meet with Cindy

I found this thanks to Joe Trippi's blog [Link]. It struck a resonance with me as a father of three sons. On the way home from work I saw these folks on a corner in Willow Glen. Joe Trippi is an amazing guy who wrote an amazing book [Link], and he is leading a charge to evangelize the cause of Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq [Link.] This is the letter they are gathering signatures to. When I checked over 12,000 patriots had signed. It is a real Internet movement:

Dear Mr. Bush,

On August 3 you said the soldiers who were killed in Iraq, "died in a noble cause." Cindy Sheehan's son Casey died in Iraq, but she takes no comfort in your words. She wants to meet with you to ask you directly: Why did my son die? What was the noble cause that he died for? We, the American people, urge you to meet with Cindy Sheehan to answer her questions.

Please consider signing the petition here [Link]