FATHERS, FEELINGS AND FEARS

A father is neither an anchor to hold us back, nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way.



The first Father's Day was observed on June 19, 1910 in Spokane Washington. Finally in 1966, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day.

Great. But life isn't universally about Father Knows Best or mom's applie pie. Stuff happens.

About half of all marriages fall apart, which means there are a lot of kids out there who are part of broken families. That's a staggeringly sad statement. On the other hand, the uncanny ability of kids to survive and even thrive is remarkable.

As the father of an 18-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son, both of whom live with their mother but who I see at least every second weekend, Father's Day can be uplifting but also ultimately sad and lonely.


A recurring theme and question in my life is how, when I'm not with my kids every day, I can be the positive influence, disciplinarian, loving support or whatever else a dad needs to be if he cares.

That can sometimes be a difficult proposition if you're not there to see them cry, laugh, struggle, flourish.

I wasn't there to see the huge smile on my daughter's face when she brought home her first steady boyfriend; I missed out on being there for my son when he got the boot from his first female flame or flunked that French test.

No single, non-custodial Dad can change the sad reality of a broken marriage or, for that matter, make up for all those lost magic moments that he would have otherwise experienced with his kids.

But he can continue to tickle his daughter when he sees her and tell her how beautiful she is and how proud he is of her being an honors student, yet again.

And he can still give his son a stern look or lecture when warranted, take him out to play catch, drive him to the mall so he can hang out with his friends and feed him every hour.

There are Deadbeat Dads. But if you're not, there are huge voids in your life that can never be fully filled. All you can do is offer the unconditional love that you are ready to give them and be there when they need you or want you to be.

A WHALE OF A STORY

Now HERE'S a great idea.

Earth's largest animals are barely holding their own now in the planet's warming oceans, still subject to illegal hunting (primarily by Japan) and the hapless, helpless victims of other environmental issues.

But have a read of this gem:

For National Geographic News
June 16, 2006
Pro-whaling nations may take control of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) this weekend for the first time since commercial whale hunting was banned 20 years ago.

Delegates from the 70-nation commission are gathering on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts for the IWC's annual meeting, which runs today through June 20.

Ever since the commission banned commercial whaling in 1986, Japan has worked tirelessly to restore the whale hunt. The Japanese government argues that whaling is central to Japanese culture.

This year antiwhaling activists fear Japan may finally get its way. The island nation, many believe, has recruited enough countries into the pro-whaling camp to begin chipping away at whale protections.

This morning, however, Japan lost a vote on a proposal to remove from the meeting agenda discussion of small whales, dolphins, and porpoises—which conservationists consider some of the most endangered species in the whale family.

But Japan may well have its majority before the meeting is out.

"The first vote was in keeping with the status quo," said Susan Lieberman, director of the Global Species Program for the conservation organization WWF, speaking from the St. Kitts meeting.

While the first vote is encouraging for the antiwhaling community, Lieberman says, several nations had yet to arrive at the meeting or pay their dues. At least two of those nations, she adds, are pro-whaling.

A majority of pro-whaling votes on the whaling commission will not overturn the ban. That requires a 75 percent majority. But the anti-whaling community fears a shifting tide.



So you've got the whaling weenies apparently gaining more power and I'm sure that can't be good news for Canada's beautiful Belugas or any other species. And God love Newfies, but our Canucklehead government continues to permit the annual clubbing of baby seals off the Newfoundland coast despite the international protests.



You would have thought they might have learned something about the death of the cod fishery off Newfoundland's Grand Banks, but apparently not.

Timberwolves, grizzly bears, African and Indian elephants...you name it, it's vanishing or becoming more threatened every day. And don't even get me STARTED on our treatment of domesticated animals.

Just another rant from just another voice in the wilderness...

FROM MARS, WITH LOVE

HELLO, EARTH CREATURES!

Marvin the Martian here on the barren landscape of the red planet, just peaking in to see how you're doing...and observing that from out here, you seem to be a little confused.

What is it about humans that while millions are starving in Africa and dying of disease and at the hands of machete-wielding countrymen, all of your focus is on a silly sport where your males kick a ball around for 90 minutes?

We noticed that the leader of your superpower collection of individuals, we believe you call him Dubya, flew in one of your primitive air-travel vehicles yesterday to that place you invaded for no apparently good reason at all.

He shook hands with some of your armed warriors for the cameras and then returned to the place with the big white building in the landmass you call North America. And today, the 2,500th American soldier was killed in the tiny locale you call Iraq.

Huh? We are baffled about many things that you do. We've been thinking about dropping by for a visit, but we keep hearing you say that your males are from our planet and your females are from Venus.

The only Earth creature we've ever seen is a long-eared species named Bugs Bunny. Oh...wait a minute now...I'm getting word of a breaking development in the land you call the British Isles...

NEWS FLASH!!!!!!

This story, just in...

A PENSIONER has been charged with sending packages containing sugar and weedkiller to Prime Minister Tony Blair and his family, police have said.



A suspect package similar to this was sent to the Blairs. Shirley Rita Freed allegedly posted parcels marked for the attention of Mr Blair, his wife Cherie and son Euan to 10 Downing Street.

The 72-year-old, from West Sussex, is also accused of sending letters containing white powder to Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, and Ann Clwyd MP.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said Freed was charged with five offences under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (HA HA HA!!!!) when she answered bail this afternoon. All the packages and letters were sent last year.

The charges state that the packages were sent intending "to induce in a person anywhere in the world a belief that it is likely to be or contain a noxious substance or other noxious thing and thereby endanger human life or create a serious risk to human health".

The letter to Euan Blair was allegedly posted on or before May 16 last year, and had enclosed a card, a handwritten note and sodium chlorate - a common weedkiller.

The following month a letter containing newspaper cuttings, sugar and weedkiller was sent to Mrs Blair at Downing Street, according to the charges.

Freed is accused of sending packages to Mr Blair and Ms Hewitt in September, both with newspaper cuttings enclosed.

Mr Blair received sugar and weedkiller, while a laxative was sent to the Health Secretary at the Commons. Ms Clwyd - a vocal supporter of the Iraq war - received aluminium sulphate, used in water purification, at the Commons in December.

Freed is due to appear before magistrates in Brighton on June 29.

We up here on Mars salute your western leaders -- that is, Dubya and the Blairs -- for hitting at the true heart of terrorism on your planet, namedly 72-year-old Earthling females.

I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM

THE DISTURBING but likely familiar image (if it in fact reproduced above)is called Scream, by an artist named Edward Munch.

And while it could very well apply to a lot of the goings-on in today's world these past few days, it aptly describes my feeling of horror upon visiting my friendly neighborhood video store today.

I was looking for a new release called Final Fantasy VII, for my 14-year-old son. The Blockbuster Video outlet is usually crawling with customers but on a Saturday afternoon, I found the only two people in the store were the woman behind the counter and me.

I couldn't find Final Fantasy but I did pick up a few previously viewed flicks. I went and asked her if they had stocked Final Fantasy or expected to get it in soon. She told me that they had one copy left, and went to get it.

She returned and told me that no, it had been ripped off by a couple of lunkheads who this past week came in and stole a whole bunch of movies.

I shook my head as I paid for the other movies I was buying. I stepped through the little security device at the exit that beeps if someone purposely or inadvertently tries to walk out with a movie or game they haven't paid for.

"Lot of good this is, I guess," I said with a smile, motioning at the security device.

"That doesn't make a difference," she said. "If the beep went off right now, could I stop you from walking out if I'm here all alone? They just pick up the movies they want and walk right past me.

"I can't do a thing about it. It happens five or six times a week."

Maybe I'm naive, but I've been walking around since then in a state of wonder. How could we have gotten to this point of wanton disregard, this I-don't-care brashness or stupidity?

What is happening to who we are? And why don't the 97 per cent of us who aren't like that come up with a way to do something about it? Clearly the politicians and armies and religious leaders can't seem to.