Copenhagen weather forecast for Friday, December 11, 2009

As of 2:30 pm, Wednesday, December 9 -  Eastern US time, this is the weather forecast for Copenhagen.  So, exactly how accurate do you think they are 20 years from now?, 50 years from now? 100 years from now?

I don’t claim to know!  Problem is, they do:

BBC -  Friday Day – ? % Chance of Light rain shower, 37 degree F max

Weather.com:  Friday Day – 50% Chance of Showers, 40 degree F max

Wunderground:  Friday Day – 20% Chance of rain, 41 degree F max

and the winner is from the Danes themselves:  “Friday Cloudy weather. Maximum day temperatures around 3 degrees Celsius, minimum night temperatures around 0 degrees Celsius. Light to moderate winds.”

C’mon guys!  Ya just gotta do better than that!

Related:  Gay Patriot: “So, who’s “anti-science” now?” … Michelle Malkin:  “Hey, EPA chief Lisa Jackson: You lie!” and “Hey, Al Gore: You lie!” … Frugal Cafe Blog Zone:  “Liar, Liar, EPA Chief Lisa Jackson’s Pants Are on Fire… about Her Contrived “Air Is Bad for People” Announcement“

Transplanted Chicago thugs continue to threaten emasculated Congress.

When you don’t have a strong argument to persuade, threaten!  This seems the mantra of the Obama Administration as it pushes its agenda against the swelling tide of a very nervous public choosing to push back against the incompetence coming out of Washington.

Further cranking the tension of the pendulum that will swing back to boot Obama from office in 2012 and back to the Chicago he loves, the EPA is threatening Congress with severe regulations that will harm jobs and the economy unless they act on Cap and Trade.

I can attest to the success of the threat as a response from my congressman some months ago gave me a clue this was coming.  From a coal state, it appeared the leaning was to deal with Cap and Trade legislation to eliminate the possibility that the EPA would toss hard rules at coal producers.  Well, guess what?  There is no honor among thieves, Congressman!

Democrat’s – Even if you don’t support abortion now, you will! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

The charismatic Harry Reid was all aglow when announcing, “Senate buries Nelson/Hatch/Casey pro-life amendment to healthcare bill“

How did the vote shake out?

As Jill Stanek points out:

45 Nay Votes (pro-life vote)

7 Democrats (Bayh of IN, Casey of PA, Conrad of ND, Dorgan of ND, Kaufman of DE, Nelson of NE, and Pryor of AR)

38 Republicans

54 Yea Votes (anti-life vote)

51 Democrats

2 Independents (Lieberman of CT and Sanders of VT)

2 Republicans (Collins and Snowe, both of ME)

Look here to find how your favorite politician voted.  Look here to contact them.

Charity of the Month – November 2009 – The Innocence Project

Little late out of the starting gate this month with the announcement, but not with the donation.  Luckily, The Innocence Project will let you sign up for a recurring donation month, quarterly or yearly in any amount you’re comfortable with.  Great for scatterbrains like yours truly.

Go here to set up your donation, or go to the link list on the right under Charities I Like.

Check out the site for their good work freeing those wrongly imprisoned.  Can’t happen to you?  They freed a fellow jailed after two decades on death row after DNA tests proved he was innocent.  His family lived two miles from my daughter in a small community in Pennsylvania.

Go there, review the cases and witness the good they do – and DONATE, please.

Charity of the month – October 2009 – The Salvation Army

There is none better than the Salvation Army to get assistance to families who can use a helping hand.  With the chilly weather and the holiday’s coming up quickly we need to start now to think of our friends.  This has been a tough year so anything you can afford would be appreciated.

Also, if you have a little left over after your gift to the Salvation Army, how about a special donation to the local group trying to fund warm coats and clothing for the youngsters.  Many communities have such drives and if yours doesn’t – start one.

Link for the Salvation Army is here and also at the link list under “charities I like” on the right.

John Giordano, September 11, 2001 – World Trade Center

John Giordano

World Trade Center

John Giordano, 47, of Newburgh, New York, a fire fighter for Engine 37, Haz. Mat. Battalion 11, 3rd Division, FDNY, New York City, lost his life while saving others on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, following the disaster at the World Trade Center.

Mr. Giordano was among 343 brave and heroic firefighters who raced toward pending disaster with only the welfare of their fellow citizens on their mind.  But, Mr. Giordano stood as more than that to his family, who bravely cope with a loss few of us can ever imagine.  A year ago this article was published in the recordonline.com.

Everything in Jonathan Giordano’s life pivots around Sept. 11, 2001, the day his father, John, died. Jonathan was 14.

John Giordano was a member of the Fire Department of New York’s elite Hazardous Materials Special Operations Battalion, 3rd Division. He was among the first at Ground Zero.

“Everything of who I am is because of that — whether it’s good or bad. I’m not the same person. It’s who I am.”

He’s 21 now, a senior at Mount Saint Mary College. At a time when other young men his age are leaving home, Jonathan Giordano is still a regular presence there. Home in Newburgh is where his family is and, as it’s been since that terrible day, Jonathan’s struggled to be there for his sister, Jessica, his brother, Jordan, and their mother, Roxann.

At the age of 14, tragedy cast him as the man of the house.

“Do I feel I have to live up to him? Absolutely. It’s something I think about every day — how I live my life to what he was.”

It’s a role Jessica and Jordan recognize and obviously love him for.

Jessica was 11 when it happened. She was Daddy’s little girl. If she got in a fight with Jonathan, all she had to do was bat her eyes at her father and she’d win the decision. They used to watch Disney movies together. Get real goofy and make drums out of the kitchen’s pots and pans.

When she recalls what he was able to do at home, despite the demands of his job, her voice fills with amazement.

Jessica, who wants to pursue a career as a teacher, is a freshman at the Mount. She knows she can rely on her brother, at school or at home.

“I know he’ll give me away when I get married.”

Some things even Jonathan can’t manage. Jessica wishes her dad could have met her boyfriend.

Her brother, Jordan, sits next to her on the living room couch. He, says Jessica proudly, has inherited her dad’s “genius gene.”

“He plays guitar — so did my father. He plays soccer, basketball, baseball, karate …”

“And football! I’m going out for football this year,” Jordan added. “I’m a fifth-grader, but I’m smarter than a fifth-grader.”

The fondness Jonathan and Jessica feel for their younger brother is palpable. He was 3 when his dad died. There are still gaps in his understanding of the family history.

He’s shocked to learn that his dad was an Eagles fan.  “I thought he was for the Giants!”

He was, Jessica tells him. But he loved the Eagles’ music.

Jordan’s experience as a champion Lego builder has convinced him he wants to be an architect when he grows up.

But even here, in the midst of a boy’s dreams, the Twin Towers cast their shadows. Only a few days ago, Jordan watched a TV documentary about the towers’ questionable construction.

Jonathan Giordano wants to take a firefighter exam. He wanted to be a firefighter even before 9/11.

But he’s not sure if he can follow that dream.

He leans forward on the edge of the couch, kneads his hands together and takes a moment to speak.

“I’m gonna need to decide. It’s like, I’ll never know. If my family had to go through the same thing, I couldn’t do it.”

We honor the bravery and sacrifice of John Giordano and thank his family for the gift they gave us.  We wish them comfort in knowing their father was an extraordinary man.

Caleb Arron Dack, September 11, 2001 – World Trade Center

Caleb Arron Dack was 39 when he perished at the World Trade Center.  He was born in England and immigrated to Canada with his mother wen he was eight.  In July, just two months before the attacks, he became Senior Vice President and Director of Global Sales and Alliances at Encompys.  According the his friends at Boston University he was the beloved and adored husband of Abigail Carter, the best daddy in the world for Carter and Olivia.  He was the cherished son of Selena Dack-Forsyth.

The New York Times offered this profile of Mr. Dack’s other side…courtesy of Legacy.com:

“Poetry and Software

A deck off a garage.

A handmade fish table.

A long, a loe, a winding, drooping dahlia.

From the moment his parents named him Arron with an RR instead of AA, C. Arron Dack always surprised.

Born in England and raised in Canada, Mr. Dack, 39, studied molecular biology, but went into computers. He wrote loopy poems and complex business software. In July he became senior vice president of a Midtown start-up called Encompys, but there was a trade show at Windows on the World he couldn’t miss.

His wife, Abigail, said that after they settled in Montclair, N.J., Mr. Dack wanted to prove he was not all brain and no brawn. He built what may be Montclair’s only garage deck ‹ impractical, yes, but certainly popular with Carter, 2, and Olivia, 6. To celebrate a promotion, he promised Mrs. Dack a great fish dinner, then spent days building a unique table of cedar and granite for the fish.

And in a spare bedroom on the third floor, there is a headboard painted with words from one of Mr. Dack’s poems. “It goes, `A long, a loe, a winding, drooping dahlia,’ ” recited Mrs. Dack.

We honor his life and his gifts to his family and friends and we wish for all those who love him, peace, on this September 11, 2009.

Thomas J. Fisher, September 11, 2001 – World Trade Center

The New York Times offered this profile of Thomas J. Fisher: “A Planner and a Doer”

Carving the turkey. Slipping out for a round of golf. Taking his wife and three children to a Britney Spears concert. Not to mention working, as a vice president for operations at Fiduciary Trust Company International. How did Thomas J. Fisher, 36, get it all done?

”The Bible says God created our world in seven days,” Mr. Fisher’s brother-in-law, Chris O’Donnell, said in his eulogy. ”I think Tom could have done it in six and still gotten 18 in along the way.”

The Fisher family had the most meticulously mowed lawn in their Union, N.J., neighborhood, and Mr. Fisher insisted on painting the house himself. Twice. ”He was on double ladders, hanging off a slate roof. I was panicking,” said Susan Fisher, his wife. ”But he wouldn’t hire people to do things like that.”

Mr. Fisher was a planner. ”Get it on the calendar!” he would cry when friends proposed a tentative get-together. And on the calendar it got. ”He exhausted me,” said Mrs. Fisher, 38.

Now she is the one raking the lawn and shopping for groceries. ”He left me with a three-month supply of paper towels,” she said. ”And big shoes to fill.”

Jason Jett published this profile in the THE STAR-LEDGER:  “Thomas J. Fisher of Union Township was as meticulous in working at home and at planning for leisure as he was at the office. He had the best-manicured lawn in the neighborhood and was always fixing things or organizing golf outings.

Mr. Fisher’s 4-year-old daughter, Sarah, would say, “Daddy can fix anything.”

Now his daughter is saying, “Daddy’s up in heaven with God fixing a lot of things,” said his wife, Susan Fisher.

Mr. Fisher, 36, vice president of operations at Fiduciary Trust International, died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. His office was on the 97th floor of the South Tower.

“He was good at what he did, and enjoyed doing it,” Susan Fisher said.

“Our jobs are quite similar, we both work in the financial industry,” said the employee of Pershing, a division of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. in Jersey City.

“We commuted together,” she added. “Every day we drove into Jersey City. That Tuesday was just like every other morning. We drove in, parked and he took the train to New York City. But that evening he did not come home.”

She said she saw United Airlines Flight 175 crash into her husband’s office building, and knew he could not have survived.

“I watched it first hand,” she said. “He called when the first plane hit Tower One. He said he was looking straight at it. I asked if he was leaving his office, and he said it (the fire) was too far away and they were not going to evacuate.

“He called back a few minutes later and said they were moving down to the 90th floor,” which the firm also occupied, she added. “Seconds later, the plane hit his building, and I knew that instant he wasn’t coming home.

“He was a big sports fan, a fan of the Knicks and Mets,” she said. “He took the kids to sporting events. He was very involved with all his children’s lives. He was a devoted father, husband and son,” she said. “

We honor Mr. Fisher on this September 11, 2009 and offer our condolences to his wife and family for there loss.

Jose Cardona, September 11, 2001 – World Trade Center

The New York Times spoke of “Pictures of José Cardona show him dancing on a conga line with his wife and friends, clowning around after getting off a horse during a vacation, having dinner with his daughter from a previous marriage — Sasha, 11 — and his wife’s son from hers, Miguel, 14.  “He loved his family, liked the good things in life and wanted his wife, Paulina Cardona, 33, to look sexy.

She said her husband was so touched he cried when she surprised him with a tattoo of a rose on her left breast, his idea. And he cried again, she said, when the couple found out that she was expecting their first child and the baby would be a son.

After the painful loss of September, Jose’s wife Paulina did have the child.  People Magazine, in a segment about the babies born to families who lost loved ones in the attacks.  Paulina described her life with Jose as childhood friends in Equador, separated when Jose moved to the United States and how, after she moved here in 1996 they again found each other.  “Romeo and Juliet” is how they were described.  And much as the play they experienced ultimate love and ultimate tradegy.

We honor Jose Cardona’s life and his many gifts of warmth and laughter to his friends and family and offer to his wife, children and family our deep respect and wish that they find peace on this September 11, 2009.

Samuel Oitice, September 11, 2001 – World Trade Center

Long after the heroics of the firefighters who rushed into the danger, the families carry the burden of lost loved ones.  Today, we honor the memory of Firefighter Samuel Oitice.  The New York Times offered this story that demonstrates that love remains behind when the brave leave us far too soon.

Jean Oitice moved out of the house where she had spent almost all of her married life, to be with her elderly mother and to make it easier for her children, who felt too much of the presence of their father, Samuel Oitice, who had been a firefighter.

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“The kids felt it was time, it was getting spooky,” Mrs. Oitice said. “It was like he was there, so they just said, ‘Ma, Daddy’s bugging us.’ So you just kind of have to say ‘O.K., it’s time to go.’ ”

She experienced another hard milestone recently, having to put down Rocky, the husky the couple had bought together. While trying to get him on a blanket and into the car, she broke her ankle, three days before 70 people were due to arrive at her house for a family reunion. She manages to laugh when telling about it.

Firefighter Oitice had been 45. Today his presence is never far from the family.

“The spooky part was, my daughter came to me last week and she said, ‘I have to tell you about a dream I had. I dreamt that I walked in the house and Daddy was sitting on the sofa with Rocky in his lap, and he said, ‘Honey don’t worry, I’m taking care of him now.’ ”

Mrs. Oitice said she replied, “See, I told you he was going to be with Daddy.”