My Take: Paranoia doesn't Make it Better

"Out of an abundance of caution" and "Err on the side of caution."

Ahmed Mohammed

How about the words, "zero tolerance?"

What do those words really mean?

They mean someone's Civil Rights are about to be violated because someone else made an uninformed accusation that people in charge feel they must do something about even though there is no evidence to support a criminal act or misdeed.

We are living in an era of rampant paranoia stoked by the threat of unrealistically punitive lawsuits for making a bad decision. 

Ahmed Mohammed with clock and sister

I offer the case of a 14 year old boy who brought a homemade clock to school in Irving, Texas, as an example. Ahmed Mohamed was led from school in handcuffs the other day for bringing a creatively designed homemade clock to school. 

Why was he really arrested? No one will likely ever know, but I suspect there was a bit of racial bias involved.

As I read his story, I was struck by some of the statements, especially by one police office who said that the clock looked like a bomb. If it was a bomb, where was the explosive? A police officer should know better. 

But what else concerns me about this situation? Ahmed was questioned by police without either his parents or a legal representative being present. That is not supposed to happen to a juvenile, especially when the results are likely to be that they will be handcuffed and walked out of school in front of the entire student body.

Here's hoping that the city and school district of Irving, Texas pay dearly for their uninformed paranoia which resulted in a significant breach of Ahmed's civil rights!

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you." -Joseph Heller (Catch-22)

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Get them done before winter

Freshly Painted Column

We are in the end-of-summer push to get as many outdoors projects completed as possible before the onset of frigid temperatures.

Last evening, we finished painting the porch.

Yes, it doesn't seem like monumental accomplishment, however, we have been trying to get the porch painted for four years. It was one of those noxious projects that neither Chris nor I desired to tackle. 

Well, A Small Project Left to complete

And now it is done, mostly. There are a few things left to clean up to make it perfect, like repainting the doorbell plate.

I wrote about lists in a blog titled "To do" or "Not to Do?" They don't work well for me.

I am glad this project was finally removed from our To-Do list. 

Next up? 

Pool closing, beginning Thursday evening. 

Isn't autumn great? And it is still really summer, it just feels like autumn with 50 degree morning temperatures.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Tales of Horror: New Appliance Installation

The phrase, "No good deed goes unpunished" has been playing over in my head a lot during the past few days.

It seems as if for every positive action there is an equal and negative reaction. 

Yesterday, for instance, our new dishwasher was being delivered and installed. The installation was planned for a day when Chris would be off from work due to a holiday and everything looked good. . . 

Until 2:15 PM, when I received a panicked call at work that the new dishwasher was too big and we were going to have to take the floor up to get it into the space. Ugh!

I raced home and the installer had started the task of removing the flooring, except that he was using a saw!!!!! Nooooooooo. The floor needed to be taken up one board at a time so that it could be reinstalled. 

The situation was a bit tense and I forgot to take a picture of the magnitude of the mess with the ripped up flooring and the new and improved dishwasher barely sliding into place. But it did.

Fully Installed Dishwasher
 with Restored Flooring

Once the dishwasher we installed and the mess cleaned, my task was to reinstall the flooring. Important safety tip--keep extra pieces of flooring around from the installation! I knew I had some extra pieces from the installation many years ago and so I was not too concerned that some of the existing pieces had been trashed. 

After about two hours of work, the final product looks good as new! Thank goodness a good friend taught me how to install wood floors a few years ago and so I knew some of the tricks to get it tight.

Good deed? New dishwasher for Chris
Punishment? Salvaging the flooring
End result? All good!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD 

Monday Musings - September 14, 2015

1. September is almost half over and I was thinking that it was just getting started.

Ocean City, MD, Beach
September 7, 2015

2. The pool will be closed for the season by this time next week. That is an incredibly sad prospect. But temperatures are falling and so are the leaves.

3. Last week I was walking on the beach in Ocean City enjoying the Labor Day holiday. It is a great memory.

4. With two games remaining today, the first week of the NFL season will draw to a close. I can't believe I watched almost nine hours of football yesterday. There is only time for a quick breath, however, because the whole thing begins again on Thursday.

5. With the worldwide concern about the immigration crisis in the Middle East, especially Syria, wouldn't it be amazing if the the UN could find a way to bring peace to the region so that the displaced persons could resume their lives rather than having to move to a strange land?

6. Ran across Golden Crisp cereal in a store in Ocean City. Although I never ate it, it brought back memories of the kids eating it--and they loved it.

7. The Orioles actually won a series over the weekend, taking 2 of 3 games from the division leading Kansas City Royals. There are 20 games left in the Orioles' season. They need to win 14 to finish with a non-losing record. Mathematically, they are still in the hunt for a Wild Card post-season spot. 

8. This is the day, in 1901, that President McKinley died of complications following the gunshot wound he received on September 6th. You may recall that the mountain named for him in Alaska was recently restored to its rightful native name of Mount Denali. McKinley's death brought Teddy Roosevelt into the White House as President.

9. Recipe for chaos: ten adults, three boys under the age of eleven, five dogs, and a football party.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Saturday Football in the Rain

It hadn't rained significantly in our area since August 28th--until yesterday when Jackson's GORC Wildcats Football Team was scheduled to play its third game of the young season. Jax is on the 80lb Central Team.

Halftime Sideline for the GORC Wildcats

And then the rains came down, as they did for most of the day.

The image is from halftime, but the score on the scoreboard was the same at the end of the game with the Wildcats prevailing against both the other team and the weather 12-0. The team is now 2-1 on the young season and both wins were by shutout.

At least the temperatures were in the high 60's and low 70's during the game. But it was still cool and damp and even I took refuge under an umbrella for some of the game. 

Jax in the Rain

Youth sports is where learning about team work and contributing to the overall effort begins. Jax had a couple of great blocks and on the second, and final touchdown of the day, it was his block against two would-be tacklers that allowed the running back to score. 

Standing in the rain watching football on a September Saturday, I guess that is what it is all about.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Patriots and Patriot Day: Reflection

Yesterday was a solemn day of remembrance. Officially, it was National Day of Service and Remembrance of those who lost their lives during the September 11, 2001 attacks. 

It, as a day, does not come with the distinction of a national holiday along with time off to reflect, but rather, it is a day to pause and remember in our homes and places of work as we are going through our lives. That is how the day happened, right in the middle of life.

I find it hard to believe that 14 years have passed already since that day. Many of us pause to remember where we were those short few years ago, but there is already a generation of Americans who were not even born yet, or were far too young to recall the terror of that day and the time. 

And we must remember. We must not forget. 

Every year as we pause on September 11th at 8:46 EDT, we should rededicate ourselves to the Patriot Spirit and put service before self, even if only for one day. I hope you did, yesterday.

And maybe again today.

And tomorrow.

Think of how our country and our world would be changed!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Slow Down in the Fast Lane of Life

Racing out of the gym after some uninspiring racquetball early yesterday morning I realized that I had forgotten something that I needed to take to work and that would force me to detour back home to get it before pointing my car towards the place where I spend 8 hours or every week day.

Not the Clouds I Saw Yesterday

I was frustrated that I had been so forgetful.

The total added time to my daily trek was going to be all of 15 minutes! But it seemed that it was an important 15 minutes. I tried not to be too upset about the detour, but I hate forgetting things.

As it turned out, I was rewarded for my forgetfulness by a spectacular display of the rising sun and the clouds which greeted me as I made my way to work. It was a stunning sight, big puffy clouds with pink highlights. 

I wanted to take a picture, but it is really tough to take a picture while driving on a jam packed, morning rush highway. Being a safe and rational driver overcame my desire to give it a shot. But I enjoyed the morning for the better part of my trip because I drive east and the clouds were right in front of me.

I was rewarded for slowing down and taking a moment to look skyward.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

My Take: Another shutdown, Really?

The end of September means the end of the US Government's fiscal year (FY). We will be putting FY15 to bed on September 30th and welcoming FY16 on October 1st.

And it could be another unenjoyable new fiscal year for the country.

There is already talk of another, yes another, government shutdown!

Loss of services, loss of prestige, and more importantly loss of jobs that will contribute to an economic slowdown.

According to the referenced Washington Post article, the probability of another government shutdown ranges from well over 50 percent to as high as 70 percent! No one is estimating the probability to be less than 50 percent!!

From my perspective, a government shutdown is a another example of how Congress fails to discharge its Constitutional requirements in a timely manner.

We are one-third of the way through September, time will tell during the next 20 days whether the Congress can get one of their most important jobs done and fund the government so that services can continue to be provided to the people.

Let's hope the government does not shutter its doors.

We will all be embarrassed, again!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

My Take: Personal Beliefs vs. Public Duties

I have been watching with great interest the case of Kim Davis, the country clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

Many are casting the situation to appear as if she was jailed for her religious beliefs. Some hailed her as a hero. I do not feel that way, however. She failed to perform her duties as a public servant and she was jailed because she defied a lawful order from a judge. Regardless of her motivation, a public servant she does not have the right to impose her individual beliefs above the law.

If she has a problem issuing the licenses, then she should have resigned. In America, there is separation of church and state; therefore, her personal religious beliefs should not have factored into the discharge of her public duties. It is not a religious matter. The state determines who qualifies to be married and the licensing process is a civil, not a religious, matter. In a larger sense it is a Constitutional matter.

She was engaging in civil disobedience similar to the war protesters; however, unlike them she took an oath to uphold the law and the Constitution. We cannot, nor should we, be allowed to determine which laws we want to follow else the fabric of society will tear. 

It does not matter about personal religious beliefs, if someone is a public servant they are sworn to uphold the law whether they agree or disagree. Corruption reigns in countries where local officials believe they can choose to uphold the laws or not. That is something that we do not have to worry about in the United States. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings on Tuesday, September 8, 2015

1. It is the first day of my workweek, so that is when Monday Musings happens.

Ethan and Jackson on the Sand Cliffs at Ocean City

2. A weekend at the beach and some frustrating golf, what could be better? Golf that isn't frustrating. As my son said of my score, "I expected more of you." He really meant a lower score.

3. The Orioles lost again yesterday. Late-August and September are being brutal on them. At least any hope of the post-season has been erased.

Seagull Taking Flight

4. Even though the driveway should be fine to drive on, I don't want to mess up the repair which looks great!

5. Thanks to Patrick and Tina who always seem to be staying behind on dog duty. We really appreciate the way you take care of Makayla.

6. Many people are getting excited for the NFL season which officially begins on Thursday evening. I am disturbed by the outcome of the Tom Brady affair and the message it sends to young athletes about integrity--or the lack of integrity in professional sports.

7. The Presidential race is on, but did you know that our Congress is facing a desperate budget situation that could see the government shuttered again? 

8. Labor Day is over and the summer is winding down. I hope the weather stays warm for a few more days. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD