Started my day on about 30 minutes of sleep at 5am after a late night of tying up loose ends for my departure to Basic Combat Training at Ft. Sill. Due to a miscommunication with my recruiter my ride failed to appear at the appointed time so I had to rouse the Mrs. a few hours early and race up to the Baltimore MEPS to make my 6am reporting time.
Four hours later after being weighed, taped, measured, and thoroughly eyed over I was cleared to ship. The Mrs. made it up a little after 11am and we had some time together between informational briefings about how airports work before I boarded the bus to BWI.
We’d made a point to take advantage of the prior week, so our parting wasn’t as heart-wrenching as it could have been. However, my main concern about the next eight weeks is how I’m going to fair without her. We started dating five years ago, celebrated our second anniversary in September, and in that time I doubt we’ve spent more than a week apart.
Was booked on Southwest from BWI to Dallas with a stopover in Little Rock before my final connecting flight to Oklahoma. Everything went off smoothly, I was even able to get my frequent flyer account credit for the travel! Unfortunately, I now find myself in a holding pattern at the Will Rodgers World Airport due to the fact that they ran out of seats on the bus to Ft. Sill. So I’ve been separated from the other recruits that I’d thus far traveled with from the Baltimore MEPS.
If all goes according to schedule I should hop the 10:30pm bus for the 90 minute ride to Ft. Sill and reception battalion where my processing for Basic Combat Training will commence.
In the meantime I’m taking a breather at the YMCA Military Reception Center staffed by a great group of volunteers who are making me feel at home.
It’s doubtful that I’ll have any substantial access to email or the internet over the next eight weeks – so I’ve arranged to have the Mrs. periodically post my letters to Newly Marylanders so that I can share my Maryland Army National Guard training experience.
Looking forward to being back with my family for Christmas – I’ll have the Mrs. post my mailing address for Ft. Sill when I get in case anyone wants to write.
If nothing else we can be sure that 2012 isn’t going to be remembered for its subtlety. That said I like Perry’s message and I guess I simply need to accept the fact that campaign ads these days closely resemble movie trailers.
Depending on the results, regular blogging will remain on hiatus until after either the August 10th Connecticut primary or the November 2nd general election.
While far from an expert on securities liability laws, I’ve recently been made aware of a push by Senator Specter to essentially reverse a Supreme Court decision on the issue. Since we’re expecting a nominee for retiring Justice Stevens’ spot on the court to be announced this week it seems like an issue that might start getting more scrutiny.
The decision in question is Stoneridge v. Scientific-Atlanta from 2007 where the court ruled that shareholders suing companies guilty of fraud could not target additional third parties that merely had business relationships with those responsible for the fraud. Apparently, such lawsuits were the result of a legal theory called “scheme liability” and in the Stoneridge case shareholders where trying to sue Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola who were two vendors that had done business with Charter Communications which was accused of issuing a misleading financial statement.
Specter introduced legislation last summer to provide a legislative fix to the Supreme Court decision, but it hasn’t gotten out of committee yet. Now he’s trying to attach the bill as an amendment to the financial reform bill pending in the Senate.
While some have alleged that Specter’s actions are intended to garner support from trial lawyers for his tough reelection fight, ultimately his motives matter less than the impact this legislation may have. Widening the scope of securities fraud lawsuits will simply add more uncertainty and risk to the economy at a time when we’re struggling to recover from a damaging recession.
Additionally, it’s important to note that the SEC currently has the authority to seek criminal penalties for those who have aided and abetted fraud. The legislative change sought by Senator Specter would simply open the floodgates to civil lawsuits.
Deacon Thomas Dietsch and his wife, Dorne (Photo by Mary Chalupsky, Catholic Transcript)
Had intended to mention this weeks ago.
Out of all the tragedy in Haiti there was one story of survival that struck a personal note for me. Deacon Chuck Dietsch from my family’s parish Sacred Heart Church in Southbury, Conn. narrowly escaped after he and another volunteer became trapped in a mission house they were working at outside Port-au-Prince. The house collapsed around them. Thankfully, after ten hours of digging, local volunteers from the mission managed to free them.
What I find most inspiring is Chuck’s determination to return to Haiti to continue the mission work. As he puts it, “I’m definitely going back.”
The Danbury News Times has all the details and the Federal Hockey League has the press release. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for DanburyWhalers.com to go live so I can get my $300 season tickets ordered before the Jan 31, 2010 deadline for the $50 discount. If the team’s real world openness is any indication (the CEO publicized his cell number for fans) they’ll have an innovative and engaging online presence as well.
Great news for Hartford Whalers fans! According to Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo Sports, the recent expiration of the ‘Hartford Whalers’ trademark has paved the way for the NHL to allow the creation of new Whalers apparel as part of their ‘Vintage Hockey Program.’
