Israel

Ok, for all those bleeding heart liberals that hold peace rallies for Palestinians.

Israel has the right to protect itself. Remember, the Palestinians elected a party (Hamas) that is a terrorist organization. I could understand the idealistic view of peaceful Palestinians before 9-11 or the election of Hamas brought the reality of the world. The fact is, the Palestinian government does nothing to stop terrorism. The have no control over, and do not care to have control over, the firing of missles into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Due to these circumstances, Israel has no choice but to protect itself.

This is a part of the world where every resident is required to serve 2 years in the military. When the safety of your country is a daily concern, you view things differently. They do not have the luxury that we do.

For those Americans that still protect Israel's reaction, imagine if Canada fired missles into the US. What would be our reaction? We would turn them into Canadian bacon. It's easy to say that they should be diplomatic and come to an agreement. The truth is, you cannot broker a peace deal with a group that celebrates and honors the fringe of it's party that basis it's ideology on the idea that Israel should be pushed into the sea. If Canada embraced its population that wanted to push the US into the ocean, we would not hold peace rallies for the Canadians, we would do more than Israel's response.

Until Hamas can control it's land, significantly stop terrorism and create an environment cohesive to diplomatic relations and a potential cease-fire, the Israel need to protect their population.

Here you go. If your neighbor is throwing grenedes into your yard, what do you do? Do these left wing idealists believe that they should walk over and try being diplomatic. No, you'd light their asses up. It's time to wake up and see the reality of the situation.

Currently,
Palestine=Hamas=Terrorism

That's my rant.

New Years Eve 2008

Good bye 2008!

Hello 2009!

I'll be in Petoskey celebrating the New Year with Jillian.

From the cover of this year's newsletter:

Winter Movies

These are 3 must see movies for me to see this winter. Usually, there is maybe one movie out that I actually want to see but this winter is different.

Austrailia

Milk

Slumdog Millionaire

:)

Newsletter

It's almost time for my annual newsletter. I'm going to try and post it on this blog when it is completed.

Palin still Failin' (Not Phelan)

I could give you a rant today about the VP debate last night but I will spare you. Instead, I'll let the remarks of this independent voter, quoted in the Detroit News, describe the debate. The chart above will help explain what she experienced.

----

"I don't like (Gov. Palin). I tried to, but I don't think she has the experience or substance to be vice president.

"She has a tendency to talk around things. She is way in over her head. She only answered the questions she wanted. The ones she didn't know, she went on to another subject. She said she didn't want to talk about something, she wanted to talk about something else. So she did. She did that a couple of times. She was being evasive on subjects she didn't feel comfortable with.

"I don't think she's vice presidential. She smiled too much when she didn't know what she was talking about...

"I would give her a C. And give (Biden) a B. I still am undecided. You have to vote for somebody. I probably will lean more Democratic because I wouldn't want her to be president ... if something happened to (McCain)."

-- Susan Ferrier, Flushing voter

Source: Detroit News, October 3, 2008

I can only imagine what it takes to get an F if this is the explanation of a C.

Joe Biden did a great job, that is if you were looking for substance and direct answers on the important issues we are facing today.

Bailout Vote

You are likely never to see a roll call vote like this again. It is almost a complete split without a clear party line.

Unfortunately, 9 Reps would rather see our financial system fail then do what is right for the country.

It's not just those financial institutions, you idiots, it's also the many, many small businesses around our state that will suffer if you don't do this bailout. Wake Up!

The Michigan Delegation roll call vote (six yes, nine no).

Ayes

Dave Camp (R-04)
John Dingell (D-15)
Vern Ehlers (R-03)
Dale Kildee (D-05)
Sander Levin (D-12)
Fred Upton (R-06)

Nays

John Conyers (D-14)
Peter Hoekstra (R-02)
Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick (D-13)
Joe Knollenberg (R-09)
Thaddeus McCotter (R-11)
Candace Miller (R-10)
Mike Rogers (R-08)
Bart Stupak (D-01)
Tim Walberg (R-07)

What ever happened to US Reps that did what was right? Like this guy!

Sarah Palin

I've been asked if I'm related because Palin sounds like Phelan. Yes, I am. They were part of our family but we kicked them out. So they moved to Alaska and changed their name to Palin.

Actually, no, that doesn't make any sense. I don't understand those people. Just like I don't understand anyone that would vote for the McCain/Palin ticket. Nothing would change, you would still get right wing cabinet members in charge of all the departments which means no change to education policy, energy policy, health and human services (abstinence only education), it works so well, look at Palin's daughter. McCain has already promised to select similar judges to Bush's selections. That means our rights go right out the window. Goodbye choice, hello patriot act. You are voting for an administration in the upcoming election, you are voting for a direction for our country. Don't get caught up in commercials, speeches, wedge issues or the 24 hour news (I mean entertainment) channels. You can either go left in this election or you can go right. A right turn gets us right back to where we started 8 years ago. A left puts us on a new course.

And Sarah Palin is the biggest polictic gimmick ever. Honestly, she's been Governor of Alaska for 20 months (not 2 years yet). Remember, Alaska's population is 670,000 people, smaller than the average Congressional District. Yes, Michigan has 15 Congressional Districts. She was also Mayor of Wasilla, population 4,500-9,000, depends on which census number you are looking at but that still doesn't matter. That's a class B high school in Michigan. Basically it's Marine City or Marysville or Williamston. It's a joke.

John McCain is 71 and has had cancer 3 times. The odds are against him making it out of one term. That means Sarah Palin would be President! She's given one speech on the national stage that I didn't even think was very good. Anyone can take shots at Obama. I guess it's the old Bush thought process, if you lower the standards far enough as long as they don't hang themselves they succeed. So let's change this around, she should destroy Joe Biden in the debate, I mean, she's Sarah Palin according to McCain the most qualified person to be Vice President, sorry Mitt Romney, sorry Kay Bailey Hutchinson.

I think she is a disgrace. You thought Rev. Wright was bad for Obama, wait until they look into her church in Alaska. They believe their religion is the only real religion. She even thinks the Iraq War is a holy war, or God's choice. She is a wacko. If it were a guy they would be all over him. She has now been the VP choice for 10 days and she hasn't done a media interview? What's up with that.

Well, enough for now, there's plenty more flaws in Sarah Palin that will be mentioned in the future.

One last thing, who the hell doesn't know how many houses they own? That is insane. Who thinks that rich is $5 million a year? That's even more insane. Does John McCain have any idea what is going on in this country? You wouldn't know by watching the Republican Convention because they did their best to not talk about the economy and middle class. They took shots at Obama, they talked about military service and the Iraq war but did anyone hear anything about plans to get our country out of this giant economic hole we are in? I didn't hear anything, please help me out with that.

Later.

Chicago

So, I applied for a job in Chicago with the American Heart Association. As some of you may know, I applied for this same job a year and a half ago. I ended up being one of two finalists for the position and they gave it to the other candidate because she had more in-state experience.

Well, she has left that position and it is now open. Considering the response I received from them following my last interview, I give myself an excellent shot at getting the job. I assume I will at least get an in-person interview so I'll be on my way to Chicago at some point this month. If they offer me the job, I'm not sure if I will take it, I will have to think about it. All of this won't matter if I don't get an offer. So I'm not even going to worry about it for now. I guess this is my chance to move on from Lansing and finally go to Chicago like I always talk about.

We'll see what happens.

Return to the softball diamond

I returned to playing softball 100% this week. I could finally grip the bat completely and it paid off. I went 5 for 5 and hit 3 in-the-park homeruns. It was a great game. Now I will be able to play in my two fall leagues without any problem. My days of head first slides are probably over.

What I do

This is what I do for a living. Advocacy for the American Cancer Society. Check out that sweet scar from my surgery. And the hand splint is the new summer fashion!

Broken Hand

So, I broke my hand 10 days ago making a diving catch in one of my softball games. This Monday I had surgery on my left hand. My doctor put my third metacarpal back together with a titanium plate. I've been home all week recovering. I underestimated the recovery time. I had hoped to be back at work by Wednesday but ended up taking the whole week off. My hand is swollen and still in pain. I expect to using it more frequently next week.

My doctor said I may be able to play softball as early as three weeks from now. Not sure if that will happen but I'm glad I will be able to play again this year. I may have to hit left-handed when I return but I'm going to work at it. I like the challenge. After two weeks of doing nothing because of my hand, I need to get back into shape. I plan to play a lot more tennis.

The underlying racism against Obama

These are the types of emails that the closet racists are sending out to mislead people. I compare these tactics to those that the Nazi's used to play to German resentment and hatred of the Jews that aided in the election of Hitler. I walked through the German history museum last year in Berlin and I can easily see the comparisons.

I find it hard to believe that people think this is alright to pass along. These emails make me embarrassed to be an American and I love my country. I wonder if these people do because this is not advancing our society, it's turning the clock back to a time that we recognize as a dark period in our history.

This is why this election is historic. We cannot give in to this disguised racism and hatred. What is also alarming is the number of emails that this chain has already gone through.




<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>> EMAIL I RECEIVED TODAY

--- On Sat, 6/28/08, wrote:
From: Subject">Subject: Fw: Fwd


Subject: FW: Books

Please read and heed! If you don't read anything else, read the last statement Obama made.

Think you know who this man is? This possible President of the United States !! Read Below and ask yourselves, is this REALLY someone we can see as the President of our great nation!!!!

Below are a few lines from Obama's books; In his words!

From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertisemy mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when Ibegan to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiatingmyself to whites.'

From Dreams of My Father :'I found a solace innursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosityagainst my mother's race.'

From Dreams of My Father:< /U>'There was somethingabout him that made me wary, a little too sure ofhimself, maybe. And white.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side youwere on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and namenames.'

From Dreams of My Father:'I never emulate whitemen and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into myfather's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all theattributes I sought in myself , the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'

And FINALLY the Most Damming one of ALL of them!!!

From Audacity of Hope:'I will stand with the Muslims should the politicalwinds shift in an ugly d irection.'

* If you have never forwarded an e-mail, now is the time to Do so!!!! We CANNOT have someone with this type of mentality running our GREAT nation!! I don't care whether you a Democrat or a Conservative. We CANNOT turn ourselves over to this type of character in a President. PLEASE help spread the word.


--- On Sat, 6/28/08,

Wouldn't you, like to be a big brother to someone like me

To all you teacher types and others,

At my work (American Cancer Society), we have 2 summer kids camps for cancer survivors that are in need of more volunteers especially male volunteers.

Just wondering if any of you would be interested in helping out. I hear it's a lot of fun. I may be doing the Young adult camp in July.Here's some info on the 2 camps we have, let me know if you are interested or if anyone you know is interested.

----Camp Catch-A-Rainbow---- campers are ages 7-15 and are cancer survivors. June 14-20, 2008. Volunteer orientation is on the 14th. Campers arrive on the 15th. Held at YMCA Camp Storer in the Jackson, MI area. We ask that if someone is interested in volunteering that they be able to stay for the whole week.

----Young Adult Retreat---- retreaters are ages 16-20 and are cancer survivors. July 10-13, 2008. Held at St. Mary's College in the South Bend, IN area. We go on different outings such as a day trip to Chicago, water parks, amusement parks etc. More male and medical volunteers are always needed.

Thanks,

Matt

Race for the Cure 5K

On Sunday, I ran the Greater Lansing Komen Race for the Cure 5K. I ran the 5K last year but I had trained and was running every day. Needless to say, I haven't been running every day and my time was a minute and a half off from last year. This year, I crossed the finish line with a time of 26:11 which isn't that bad. It turned out to be a beautiful day. I ran with Rob and Julie's team. Both Rob and I happened to show up at the Komen race with American Cancer Society shirts on! Represent! I did put the Komen shirt on for the race.

I think the wind was blowing in our face the entire race. At least that's what it felt like. I'm glad I ran again and perhaps next year I'll make it 3 years in a row.

I was happy with my time and think I did about as good as I could. I celebrated with a free yogurt, banana and bottled water, the lunch of champions. After that, I went to my first softball game of the year and hit my first in-the-park homerun of the year. It was a shot to rightcenter that just kept sailing and sailing.

Here are some pictures from the Komen event. I don't think I made the newspaper but at least I made it into a couple of pictures. I'm styling with the headband, sunglasses and backwards hat.

There I am! Julie is in brown on the left. Rob is behind me, you can't really see him, and his Mom ran, she is on the right, also behind me.

Here I am in all my glory.

My baseball shoes

Yes, it's true, I've designed my own baseball cleats. I'm a big dork but I don't care, I like them.I designed them on the Nike website. I just received confirmation that they are being built (that's what it said, built). Just think there are 3 or 4 little kids in Thailand putting my shoes together right now.

Check them out, they're metallic silver. Sweet!

This day in history (Your taxes are due)

This day in history - Death and Taxes Edition

Poland remembers Ghetto uprising today

Poland is holding events to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski will host ceremonies at the Ghetto Fighters Monument alongside survivors and Israeli President Shimon Peres. Ceremonies will start with the lighting of candles at the site from where the Nazis sent thousands of Jews to the Treblinka death camp. The uprising was the largest act of Jewish resistance in the Holocaust.

For nearly a month in 1943, several hundred Jews, armed with pistols and home-made bombs, resisted German attempts to eradicate the Ghetto. By that time, the Nazis had sent 300,000 Jewish residents of the Ghetto to the gas chambers at Treblinka.

We are finding more and more Poles who want to work with us in preserving these cemeteries and synagogues and Jewish memoryMichael SchudrichPoland's Chief Rabbi The first clashes occurred at the start of 1943 as Ghetto residents took up arms to prevent more Jews being sent to the camp. The full-scale uprising began in April in response to Nazi plans to wipe out the 60,000 remaining Ghetto residents. Thousands of Jews died in the fighting as Nazi troops resorted to explosives to destroy the Ghetto the German occupiers had created in 1940.
The annual commemoration of the uprising is normally held on 19 April but has been brought forward to avoid clashing with the Jewish Sabbath.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7347856.stm

Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln died on this date after being shot the night before at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC. Dr. Samuel Mudd treated John Wilkes Booth's injured leg on this date before he was shot and killed on April 26, 1865 by a detachment of 25 Union soldiers from the 16th New York Cavalry Regiment. Booth was 26 years old.

Titanic

On this date in 1912, the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg the night before. The White Star Line passenger ship was on it's maiden voyage. The sinking resulted in the deaths of 1,517 people.

Sacco and Vanzetti

In 1920, Sacco and Vanzetti allegedly murder two security guards while robbing a shoe store on this date. These two anarchists were put to death for this crime that many experts believe they did not commit. It's also believed by many that they did not receive a fair trial due to anti-immigrant, anti-anarchist and anti-italian prejudice influenced the jury.

Also on this date,

In 1947, Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers becoming the first African-American major league baseball player.

In 1989, After Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China. They've come so far since then.....not really. Hopefully, less people lose their lives this time around.

In 1994, the World Trade Organization is begun. Let the protests begin.

In 1452, Leonardo di Vinci is born in Vinci, Italy outside of Florence. I was able to visit his birthplace while in Italy. It is an interesting site at the top of a hill with a great view of the landscape.

In 1889, A. Phillip Randolph was born.

Predictions

2008 Predictions

American League

East
Boston Redsox
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays
Baltimore Orioles
Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Central
Detroit Tigers
Cleveland Indians
Chicago Whitesox
Minnesota Twins
Kansas City Royals

West
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers
Oakland Athletics

Playoffs:
Detroit over Seattle
Boston over LA
Detroit over Boston

Cy Young Award: Felix Hernandez, SEA
MVP: Vladimir Guerrero, LA
Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria, TB
Batting Champ: Ichiro Suzuki, SEA
Breakout Hitter: Nick Markakis, BAL
Breakout Pitcher: Scott Baker, MIN

National League

East
New York Mets
Atlanta Braves
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
Florida Marlins

Central
Cincinnati Reds
Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee Brewers
St. Louis Cardinals
Houston Astros
Pittsburgh Pirates

West
San Diego Padres
Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Trolley Dodgers
Colorado Rockies
San Francisco Giants

Playoffs
New York over Arizona
San Diego over Cincinnati
New York over San Diego

Cy Young: Johan Santana, NYM
MVP: Mark Teixeira, ATL
Rookie of the Year: Kosuke Fukudome, CHI
Batting Champ: Chase Utley, PHI
Breakout Hitter: Jeremy Hermida, FLA
Breakout Pitcher: Y. Gallardo, MIL

World Series

Detroit Tigers over New York Mets in 7

MVP: Miguel Cabrera

More sad news

I found out some bad news this week. Jurg (George) Kaufmann passed away. He is pictured above with his wife Margarit. When Gabi and I traveled to Italy, we stayed at George and Margarit's cottage in Moneglia and they were the most generous hosts. I truly enjoyed my time there and sharing a bottle of wine with them and listening to George's stories and knowledge of the area and Napoleon. It was a highlight of my trip to Europe. Below is a picture of Gabi and I that Margarit took right after we took their picture. I am happy that I had the chance to meet George and my thoughts go out to Margarit, Gabi and all of his friends and family.

Help me battle Cancer!

I've put together a page to raise some money for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACSCAN).

http://action.acscan.org/goto/mattphelan

I'm motivated to do this in the memory of Alan Mills.

Alan recently died of pancreatic cancer leaving behind his wife, Angie, and 8 year-old son, Noah. Alan was the man who hired me at the American Cancer Society in 2005. He served as head of our department under the title Director of Government Relations. Alan was a great boss and more importantly a great person. Alan began his career with ACS in 1987 and was one of the "founding fathers" of our National Government Relations Department. When he began there were only 4 staff at NGRD. Please help me raise some money for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

My Goal for this page is $1,000. Many of my friends and family have been touched by cancer so I thought I would do some good and raise a little money. The minimum I'm asking for is a $10 gift. American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) advocates for cancel control programs and funding for prevention. I've had to ask for money in the past for political purposes but today it's nice to be able to ask people to help this non-partisan effort.

Please visit the site and give what you can. I'm asking for a simple contribution of $10 or $25.

Thank you.

http://action.acscan.org/goto/mattphelan

One close race

It started like almost any other day and aspirations were high. Great anticipation awaited our arrival that night. A good sized crowd had braved the weather to come to the event.

The night started out well and I was ready for the competition. I jumped out to an early lead thanks to a few unpredictable successes. I was elated with my early momentum. My odds of winning 2 years in a row looked good.

At the midway point, I found myself with a commanding lead and seemed to have the event wrapped up. Only 3 miscues had some onlookers already presenting me the trophy. I didn’t want to celebrate my success too early like George W. Bush on an aircraft carrier. However, the night had only begun and the trophy presentation would have to wait. Perhaps I had peaked too early.

Even after a set back or two, it looked as if my victory was still secure. Then an unfortunate slide made the race close, too close to call. The feeling was reminiscent or election night 2000.

It started like any other slump with one or two near misses. The slide started gradual then picked up steam heading into the critical sequence of the event. One ferocious competitor emerged from the pack. He was relentless in his pursuit. He chipped away at the lead like Tiger Woods on the back nine at Augusta.

Finally, the slide was halted but the tide had turned and the damage had been done. I now found myself in second place with few chances left to regain the lead. Luckily, I had the great fortune of holding the tie-breaker in this ever so close match-up. This eased my nerves for the moment. Unfortunately, it would not come down to that.

After calculating every possible outcome, it was determined that the winner would not have to wait until the end of the night. The competitor had matched me verbatim for the remainder of the night save one event. I found myself 1 point down and needing a victory to force a tie and push this epic battle to the tie-breaker which I held.

It had come down to this, one category, one possibility for redemption for a night that seemed in hand and had gradually slipped away.

Our fates rested with Best Documentary Feature.

The leader went with the Iraq War theme picking No End in Sight. I selected an unpopular choice, snubbing the Iraq War and Michael Moore. My fate rested with War/Dance. The room quieted and you could hear a pin drop. Slowly the envelope was opened and the winner was…..Taxi to the Dark Side! A roar came from the crowd on television and in the living room. We both lost, but in actuality, I lost.

It was over. The collapse was complete. I folded like the New York Mets in September. I could only look on in amazement as the trophy and winnings were awarded to my fierce competitor. We both won out the remaining categories but it didn’t matter, the event had been decided. I graciously congratulated my opponent for I had been beaten. It was a display of meticulous planning and consistent choices, one of which the world may never see again.

My hopes had been dashed by the Bourne Ultimatum and their victories in the technical awards. Most years, 14 wins would carry the day but this year it was not to be. I will return next year, determined to avenge my historic collapse.

I don't see it

A bunch of people lately have said that I look like my brother Jon. I just don't see it. Then again I don't think my Mom and Aunt look alike and they are twins. I like this picture, so I had to post it. Gotta love the Mickey Mouse stickers. This was during a shore excursion on our transatlantic voyage.

In Review

Europe and pick the top 10-12 that I like the most. I'm going to be looking at them anyway because some coworkers want me to bring them in and show them. I think I have some really good ones that I am going to have printed like the Arc in Paris and the Louvre which are on an earlier post. It's going to be hard to decide because I like so many of my pictures.

I think the best part of my trip was the excursion that Gabi and I took to Italy. We went down the west coast, through Tuscany, visited Florence, stayed in a castle wall and took an amazing hike in the coastal mountains. Here are some pics from that part of my trip. I don't think I ever posted some of these pictures.