What do George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Indiana Jones have in common? Nucular.

In the latest Indiana Jones opus, the lead character utters the word nucular during a conversation. That blew the entire movie for me. Why? Because there is no such word. It’s a mispronunciation of the word nuclear. Indy would have had enough education and credentials to know better, especially in the day in which he lived.

I made an online inquiry about nucular and found that it is listed on Wikipedia, being there described as the incorrect pronunciation of nuclear and in increasing colloquial use. The mispronunciation is and has been used by intelligent and educated people; politicians, presidents and a well-known cartoon character. It is recorded as an ad hoc spelling and will ultimately end up in the dictionary and on Wikipedia as a real word. It will then be official. With such widespread misuse, the wrong word will be accepted as the right word. 

Obviously, no one has made the effort to correct those who mispronounce nuclear. Nucular is now acceptable because those who know better have done nothing.

This process of the unacceptable becoming acceptable through increasing use is also how our ethics, morals and behaviors are degraded. Where there is no correction, the unacceptable slowly and surely becomes acceptable, what is right is devalued and we don’t notice or care. When no one stands against misuse or abuse - pointing it out, providing correction and training in what is right - wrong things are perceived as being right. Evil replaces good and good is corrupted and no longer recognized or practiced.

I live across from a community park where I often walk my dogs. Last weekend the softball fields and warm-up areas were activated by girls of various ages batting, throwing and catching; and parents watching, eating and yelling. A regional tournament was in full swing.

While I lingered to watch a few innings, I reminisced back to when my daughter played on these same fields and I managed and coached her teams. I remember the practices, the drills, the trips to the batting cages, the girls’ competitiveness and the parents’ cliques. On top of that there was the important goal of being selected for the all-star team or a travel team, which conferred an elite status on the players who made it. Between rec ball, all-stars and travel ball, a girl could conceivably play softball year round.

I remembered the parents who encouraged and those who complained. One the one hand there was the dad whose daughter didn’t make the all-star team that year and who verbally attacked me for the better part of an hour, accusing me of ruining his girl’s chances to play high school ball which could lead to a college scholarship. On the other hand there was the dad who coached with me for three seasons and overlooked no player. Ours was the most unified team one year and we won the league trophy.

Each spring was given over to all things softball: practices, games, planning, snack shack schedules, weather reports, field maintenance, team sleepovers… It all seemed so vital to the formation of happy, well-rounded kids.

It’s all so entirely unimportant to me now. I do and I don’t miss those days on the ball fields. The point was to have fun, to build skills, friendships, discipline and character in our kids. The actuality also consisted of strife, scheming and gossip. All that time, effort and money we spent… was it worth it?

This is what I know: We parents have good intentions in enrolling our kids into extracurricular activities. And then we sit on the sidelines or in the audience to watch them succeed and fail. We stop participating, leaving it up to coaches like me to form good character and marketable skills in our kids. But character is formed in the home and then brought to the ball field.

My daughter, who never once played on the all-star team, opted for water polo during high school and is now serving as a United State Marine. We play catch when she’s home on leave.

What of the daughter of the ranting father? She was good enough to be picked for the high school JV team as a freshman but stopped playing altogether the following year. I was saddened to subsequently read about her in the police blotter in our local newspaper.

The important thing about training our kids is what happens at home, not at home plate.

I was chatting with a friend who is temporarily residing in another state where she is not yet familiar with the rules of the road and speed limit signs are not clearly posted. As such, she found herself pulled over by a state trooper for speeding (her first moving violation ever.)

She lamented to me about how she missed driving in California, where there is a posted highway speed and then there’s the understood policy about driving as fast as is safe given the flow of traffic. People exceed the freeway speed limits all the time in California and can go for years or for a lifetime without being cited.

I pointed out that, although people drive with the flow of traffic, any speed over the posted limits is breaking the law. If the posted limit is 65 mph and the driver is clocking 66 mph, the driver is breaking the law, technically.

My friend disagreed, saying that few people get pulled over for going 70 mph or more. “No one drives sixty-five on the freeway in California unless they’re ninety-two and a half years old or driving an eighteen-wheeler fully loaded or it’s pouring rain, and even then it’s iffy.”

I agreed with her comment, but then reiterated that the posted limit is the law, and the enforcement agencies give us a lot of grace by looking the other way most of the time. But if we’re driving faster than what’s allowed, we are breaking the law, whether or not we are caught. The citing does not mean we’ve broken the law, it’s simply one of the consequences.

The pretty one in the middle is completing her first tour of duty in Iraq. The photo was taken in Al Anbar province.

Something completely different: A campaign ad devoid of ad hominen attacks. It’s quiet, unassuming and tells a story.
How refreshing.

Because of recent events regarding the recall of former events, I decided to hit the dictionary (the wonderful Oxford American Dictionary that resides on my Mac) to confirm my understanding, since “words have power” and we want to use the right words when describing our experiences. Here are the definitions of the 3 most talked-about words on the news channels in the past couple of days:

Misspeak: a verb meaning to express oneself insufficiently, unclearly or inaccurately;

Misconstrue: a verb meaning to interpret something wrongly;

Lie: a verb meaning to intentionally make a false or deceptive statement.

From these definitions it is clear that a lie is not a mistake.

If a person lies and we overlook, excuse or mitigate it, do we become liars? If our children lie, do we excuse it, rationalize it or redefine it? What if our employees lie?

It seems to me that if a person makes a false claim it is not a mere insufficiency or misconstruction on his part. It’s a lie.

Uh… “Crisises?” 

Christine Pelosi, author, activist, attorney and daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, stated in an interview today on FoxNews that she had not yet decided who she was going to vote for. She was torn between her generation and her gender. Obviously, she will be choosing between Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton.

I found Ms. Pelosi’s comments something to think about. And so I began thinking about why people vote the way they do. Is it the platform, the promise or the person that we vote for. Ms. Pelosi also enjoined the candidates to “chill”, to stop bickering like little kids and deal with the concerns that will affect the future. She has a point about being concerned about her future and wanting candidates to eschew the put-downs and focus on the issues. Yet I question the basis on which she remains undecided in her vote. She talked about issues, but her stated basis for uncertainty would seem to belie her desire for a focus on the issues.

Is it right to vote based on gender? Is it right to vote based on age? Somehow it is expected that, if you’re a woman, you’ll vote for a woman, and that if you’re young, you’ll vote for youth. I understand that Oprah Winfrey is considered by many women’s groups to be a traitor to all women everywhere because she has publicly endorsed Barak Obama.

It is inconsistent that we cry foul when a job candidate is turned down due to age or gender and then turn around and choose a candidate for the job of President on that very basis. This double-mindedness is pure hypocrisy. We who are anti-discriminatory based on sex and age will be certain hypocrites when it comes to the choice of a presidential candidate, if we vote for a person simply because of their sex or their youth.

As for me, I will vote for the person who I believe is the best fit for the office, based on their track record, their values, their vision and their ability to back it up. For me, it’s not a matter of age or gender.

What are we coming to, that our relationships with our cell phones, games and MP3 players have become so much more important than our people relationships that we won’t shut them off, but shut off people instead?

Last night I went with my friend and his daughter to dinner at a favorite local restaurant. Established entity in the community for years, it’s where sports teams have their end-of- season parties, friends meet up for drinks after work, church-goers have brunch and families go for dinner. It’s a place to talk and connect.

Soon after we ordered our drinks, a family was seated at the next table. It was comprised of mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, and preteen and teenage daughters. I noticed something that I’ve been seeing more and more of lately: one or more of the family members will disengage from conversation with the others and engage instead with an electronic device all by themselves. In this case, the younger daughter separated herself from the others, her eyes glued to the blue-white electronic screen of a handheld electronic game that was illuminating her face in the dim restaurant light. She did not once look up except to place her order with the waitress. I did not observe her talking with or even turning toward anyone else at the table. She sat fairly much immobile, staring at the screen even while eating her meal. The others seemed to think nothing of it.

My friend noticed it, too, and reminded me of another evening at a different restaurant where the patrons in the next booth were each engaged with an electronic device throughout their meal, carrying on little conversation and hardly even looking at each other.

What do we value?

I’m not saying we should get rid of our devices. They are useful, convenient and entertaining. But should we use them in such a way as to divide and isolate ourselves from our precious friends, family and lovers? Isn’t face-to-face, human-to-human connection so much more valuable than these things?

Remember Stephen Stills’ lyrics, If you can’t be with the one you love, Love the one you’re with? Well, how about when you are with the one(s) you love, turn off your devices and actually be with them? Shut off your iTouch or whatever you’re packing and let them light up your face instead. Won’t that make for better relationships?

The following post is written by Corporal Sarah Ellis, USMC, age 19, currently deployed in the Al Anbar region of Iraq. 
A Marine in my unit receive a gift box from Nancy Reza, a member of the Writers Guild of America, with a letter inside that read as follows:

“This gift box was sent to you from members of the Writers Guild of America, West. [We] represent writers in the motion picture, broadcast, cable, and new media industries in both entertainment and news. We, the writers, are on strike - because the conglomerate corporations that own the studios and networks won’t give us a fair deal for the use of the television shows and movies that we create and write.

“They’re not very good at sharing. But we are good at sharing, and that’s why we got your name from AnySoldier.com - took a look at your list, and put this gift box together for you - knowing that you will share, too!

“Each box is made with lots of love. We keep you in our prayers - and know that you will be home soon!

“If you get a minute - let us know you’ve received the box! Many thanks to you - and please be safe.”

I picked up the above letter off of a desk. It had been placed there, and probably forgotten about, after the accompanying care package was opened by a fellow Marine. No, the care package was not mine. And yes, I am nosey…very, very nosey. I wouldn’t be good at my job if I wasn’t. It was one of the first things my Staff Sergeant taught me. And no, I wasn’t invading anyone’s privacy. When Marines and soldiers and sailors get a care package or letter, it’s often shared with everyone in the platoon. We have bulletin boards cluttered with letters from people we don’t know. They’re put there for everyone to read.  

When I first read this letter I was taken aback by what I saw, by what they were saying. I didn’t really care at first. But then I took a second look at the letter. Some of the words were italicized, and it struck me then that it wasn’t what they were saying it was how they were saying it. 

So here’s the jist of my whole interpretation of the letter. They were acting like little kids, talking about sharing and how the big corporations weren’t being fair. They were whining and complaining about not getting what they want. Then it hit me, they weren’t sending the package out of he kindness of their hearts. They did it to make a

political statement to us here in Iraq who put our lives in harm’s way so that grown men and women can whine, complain, protest and act like kindergartners because they aren’t getting the pay they think they deserve for their hard work.

Well boohoo. I don’t get paid enough to work 16-hour days and pull all nighters only to work again the next day. I don’t get paid enough to put my life on line for people who protest for things that I don’t believe in or even care about. I don’t get paid enough to spend time away from my family for months at a time in a foreign country, or even days or weeks away from my family even when I’m stateside, so I can train for the mission. And guess what? You, Writer’s Guild, can protest all you want for better pay and higher benefits. You know what happens to me if I protest? I get tried for treason.

Here’s something else: I, as well as other Marines, DON”T CARE. All you are accomplishing by striking is to create an angry bunch of out-of-work people stateside, and a bunch of disgruntled Marines in country because we can’t watch a new episode of Heroes or Lost. We don’t care about your wants out here, or the fact that you aren’t getting what you want from your job. Suck it the f**k up, and deal with it.