This One's for the Birds

So the family and I went to see the movie "Invincible" starring Mark Wahlberg this weekend, and I highly recommend it. Based upon the story of real-life bartender-turned-Eagle Vince Papale, this feel-good Disney flick does just that - it makes you feel good. A added bonus for us South Jerseyans is the film's focus on the Eagles team and their fans, which any local football fan can relate to.
I was 10 years old when Jim Plunkett's Oakland Raiders dashed our Super Bowl dreams in 1981. I was 34 when the Eagles blew it again. I may be 60 by the time they actually win the thing - if I'm lucky.
If the Eagles team can't win it all, at least Invincible shows us what it's like for one man, the unlikeliest of Eagles heroes, to triumph over adversity and live his childhood dream.

Kiddie Kollege Konundrum

For those of you following the Kiddie Kollege fiasco, you are no doubt perplexed at the seemingly endless array of unanswered questions, beginning with How could this be allowed to happen?, traversing to Who is ultimately responsible for this?, and perhaps concluding with So how do we ensure that this never, ever happens again? On an almost daily basis, especially in the quieter hours of the evening, my thoughts turn to my own 4 year old son Alex, and I ask myself, How can I ensure this never happens to my son? And if it did, just what, exactly, would I do about it?
As has been widely reported in the media and acknowledged by just about everybody involved in this tragedy, the ball was dropped by multiple people and multiple governmental organizations. There is no shortage of blame to go around.
Still, there is one very disturbing question that I keep coming back to. It sits in my mind, fermenting, knocking on my conscience. It's the proverbial elephant in the back of the room, except in this case everybody knows its there, and is talking about it, but no one seems to be doing anything about it.
The question is this: Where is Jim Sullivan, the owner of the contaminated property on which the day care center sits? Any why isn't he talking? Why isn't he explaining what happened?
Maybe I just expected that each morning there would be an aggressive news crew sitting outside his front lawn, you know, just far enough away to avoid being labeled trespassers but close enough to shout "So what do you have to say to the children?". Close enough to see the panicked look on his face, close enough to perhaps hear him utter "No comment" as he hurriedly dives into his car for a getaway. Something, anything, to break the screaming silence coming from the Sullivan sect.
Now, I did hear that Mr. Sullivan actually gave a sit-down interview with a camera crew from a Philadelphia news station. Which is interesting, because I missed it completely. However, based upon the fact that I've heard no follow-up from that interview, nor have we heard any other word from the man since then, I'm guessing that he pretty much said, well, nothing.
This is not good.
For starters, the parents deserve answers. And they aren't getting any.
The Attorney General's office also deserves answers, answers to the probing questions they are asking with regard to the criminal investigation they have launched.
WHOA. Did someone say criminal? Methinks of the Fifth Amendment. You know the one, it's the Constitutional Commandment that says Thou Shalt Not Dig Thy Own Grave.
Ok, Ok....so I see where this could be going. Sullivan isn't speaking, and that's his constitutional right. Yeah, and so is his right to Free Speech. I don't see him exercising that right.
Lu-cy, you got some 'splaining to do...
And you can start with, why is the contaminated site still not roped off to warn people to stay away?
I'm not going to hold my breath for answers to these questions. Unless, that is, I'm at Kiddie Kollege.