Sexual Assault Victims: What I Remember
In the summer of 1972 or 1973 when I was 11 or 12 years old, I was sexually assaulted by a gang of boys, which included my five brothers, cousins, and a boy unrelated to me. I was with my family (my parents, five brothers, aunt, uncle, and cousins) in Maine, staying at a rustic vacation retreat owned by friends of my parents. Actually, the owners weren’t exactly friends of my parents. My father worked with a man named Art Kearney at Paine Webber whose wife’s family owned the vacation property in Maine. The Kearney’s had several children including a son named Dave who were roughly the same age as us so vacationing together seemed like a good idea. Read more 
Imagine the Donald Trump Presidential Library
Presidential libraries are relatively new to the United States with the first one established in 1941 for Franklin Roosevelt when he proposed to leave his presidential papers to the public (instead of keeping them as private property).
The people of the United States generally bought into the idea that the sitting President’s documents, artifacts, and gifts of state were public property so presidential libraries have been built for every president since Herbert Hoover (his being opened in 1962 when he was 88 years old). Read more
Executive Compensation at University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) is a private research university in Philadelphia that is also a member of the Ivy League. With more than $12 billion in the school’s endowment, Penn also includes a hospital, five outpatient facilities, an in-patient rehabilitation center, and 10 research facilities.
The IRS Form 990 (2015) covering the year beginning July 1, 2015 and ending June 30, 2016 reports the following key information about Penn: Read more
Remembering the Children on 9-11
Today marks 17 years since 9-11 and yet the wounds continue to feel raw, especially for the people who lost family and friends that day. Nearly 3,000 people were killed that day, the majority of whom were adults but there were also eight very young children (ages 2 – 11) who perished when the planes they were on crashed. Had those children lived, they would be 19-28 years old today, in the prime of their lives.
American Airlines Flight 77 departed Washington, DC for Los Angeles but was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon. On board, were five children: Read more
Executive Compensation at the NRA
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a non-profit 501 (c) (4) organization that fights tirelessly for our second amendment rights. Whether or not you believe the second amendment refers to “militia” or “the people” has always been controversial but is even more so in the wake of the near weekly occurrence of mass shootings in this country. People are speaking out for gun control because quite frankly, there are too many guns and assault weapons in the hands of the wrong people, and too many people are dying. Read more
Student Loans, University Expenses, and Personal Responsibility
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently published an article entitled “Student-Loan Debtors Get Help From Judges” which reported that judges are now using “tools at their disposal” to reduce or cancel student loan debt after years of holding debtors responsible for the money they borrowed and promised to pay back.
One of these tools is asking lawyers who represent borrowers to provide their services for free. Yes, free. Students (legal adults) can borrow money to attend college, promise to pay it back, default on the loans, and the judiciary thinks its ok to ask a third-party (lawyers) to work for free. Is there anything more absurd? Read more
Executive Compensation at the American Association for Cancer Research
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and it’s affiliate organization, the American Association for Cancer Research Foundation (AACRF) are both 501 (c) (3)’s that operate out of the same office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. AACRF primarily raises funds for AACR while AACR engages in three (3) activities: awarding grants, conducting seminars, conferences, and workshops, and publishing research journals. Read more
Denise Meyer: 1950 – 2018
The most I can do for my friend is simply be her friend.
My friend, Denise passed away a few days ago from cancer. I was going to write “after a long battle with cancer” but that wouldn’t tell the full story – words rarely do.
34 years ago, after struggling with fertility issues Denise was pregnant with her daughter, Candice when she found out she had cancer. Against the advice of doctors, Denise decided to wait a few weeks for the baby’s lungs to develop before having a c-section followed by a complete hysterectomy. Years later when I was in the last weeks of pregnancy, Denise told me how lucky I was to carry my daughter to term; she felt she missed out on the whole 40 week pregnancy experience but also came to realize she was very fortunate in other ways. In the early years, Denise didn’t know if she would see her children grow up and then proceeded to tell me how incredibly lucky she was to have raised her kids. In that moment, Denise showed me that life is lived with both losses and wins, fear and joy, grief and gratitude. Read more
Executive Compensation at the American Humane Association
The American Humane Association (AHA) is “committed to ensuring the safety, welfare, and well-being of animals through many programs including:
- Certifying the safety of animals on film sites through their No Animals Were Harmed certification program;
- Certifying the humane treatment of animals in North America food production through the American Humane Certified Farm Animal Welfare Program (Note: how slaughter and humane can be used together is disturbing);
- Certifying zoos, aquariums, and conservation centers;
- Humane intervention providing emergency field response and community outreach;
- Reuniting dogs with their military handlers (2 in 2016);
- Helping veterans to obtain service dogs (34 in 2016); and
- Providing free healthcare to dogs that have served the country (12 in 2016).
Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup
….think of it as maple syrup with a little something-something to brighten your day.
Trader Joe’s is one of my favorite places to shop because they have the best avocados and organic extra firm tofu that is never mushy even before the water is squeezed out. But, they also carry the most delicious, robust Grade A dark Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup.
Made with one ingredient – maple syrup – the Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup is made by taking white oak barrels that have been used once to distill bourbon and reusing the barrels to age Great Lakes (Michigan) maple syrup, giving the barrels a second life and a twist on one of America’s favorite all natural syrups. Read more
Paddock Post 