Category: News & Gossip

All the News and Gossip that’s (Mis)Fit to Print!

Just a reminder…

Posted on by Eric Brooks
  • Banned Books Week – See what’s been banned/is planned on being banned… right here in America??!!?? Show your support against ignorance!
  • The FBI has uncovered evidence that September 22nd may be another potential day of terrorist attacks. They got this from many of the suspects nailed recently. Off the record, I hear from insiders that some of them are “singing like canaries” against Osama bin Laden, Iraq, other terrorists, Al-Qaeda…and giving a lot of crucial information about future attacks, hideouts, and strategic layouts…While I’m extremely grateful, there will be no “Black-eyed virgins waiting for these guys in Heaven” now. Uh…you dudes *DO* realize that, right?

    Please be careful tomorrow, y’all…..

  • I think it’s time to put the wraps on America Under Attack. It’s definitely the calm before the storm, and unless any further events unfold… We’ll all be bracing ourselves for Operation: Infinite Justice.
  • I’ll also be taking this time to finish writing my account of the recent events in Ground Zero: The Untold Stories. Ever wonder how a newspaper operates when a story bigger than Pearl Harbor and Titanic combined unfolds right in front of you? STAY TUNED.It’ll also feature first-hand accounts by many of my friends who were right there in the thick of it (of course submissions are always welcome…).

    It’ll be here at SoApBoX, and then eventually be moved to its new home at Remember 9-11.

    It may or may not feature a chilling, non-fictional chapter called “My name is Maria“, about a woman who graphically describes buried alive.

    I’m still mulling over this, as I feel there were plenty of powerful true stories out there. Last week, it *definitely* would have been in bad taste…. however, there’s plenty of legend and folklore circulating around this tragedy already (Satan’s Face, Nostradamus, the cop surfing down, the firemen in the SUV)… and I feel there will be more as the years roll by. If I include it… there will be a stern ***READ AT YOUR OWN RISK*** warning on it, I promise.

    One of the people who told me their tale also has up-close and gruesome photos of the carnage at Ground Zero. I’m not sure how many I would be comfortable posting… but I do want America to remember what happened to us, and I want us to stay angry and supportive of military action.

    • Crucial Reads for America:

  • Truth or Consequences – By William Saletan – Currently we’re all feeling a form of “survivor’s guilt”, or are our heads being played with by our enemies…? It’s a A REAL EYE-OPENER!If we withdraw from the world and/or change our foreign policy… then we have given the terrorists exactly what they set out to do.
  • Stand Proud America! – In 1973, Canadian radio host Gordon Sinclair broadcast “The Americans”… showing support during an unpopular war amid great anti-American sentiment. Fifteen years after his death, his words come alive again in a widely-circulated E-Mail called “America: The Good Neighbours”… giving us all a boost when we need it most. While our enemies spread propaganda and slam us… someone remembers all the good the United States has done.
  • Did you remember to use MetaFocker in a sentence today?

Banned Books Week begins Sept. 22nd

Posted on by Eric Brooks

James and the Giant Peach…BANNED???!!???

I was reminded recently by Deb (“Yoo-hoo… I’m up here”) Smouse that September 22nd begins “Banned Book Week”.

…excuse me for a second… while I check a newspaper, and make sure Jerry Falwell didn’t get elected President while I took a nap this afternoon.

Banning books… isn’t that the first thing Hitler did when he became Chancellor of Germany?

It kinda touches on today’sthis week’s overall topic:

“If the effort against terrorism is to succeed, we must court, not ignore, world opinion. And we must learn to listen, even when we dislike what we hear. Especially when we dislike it.”
– Jeffrey Zeldman, responding to irate readers for his link to yesterday’s editorial in South African Daily Mail & Guardian –

I love being an American. I can’t think of a better place to be. But let’s face it… we’re also the most naive, nosy, closed-minded, arrogant fucks walking on this planet.

Please tell me I’m not the only person in the Western Hemisphere that knew Third World countries have hated our guts for decades????

It got to the point where I couldn’t take the “Anti-American” sentiment on MetaFilter this past week… You bring up Hiroshima, and I’ll normally remind someone that we went back after the war, paid billions in reparations, and helped the Japanese rebuild. When Kuwait was invaded by Saddam… they came to *US* for help. When these little piss-on countries need billions in foriegn aid, with no possible way to repay it… who do they go to? The United States, that’s who.

I could have blasted these people. But instead, I listened. America should listen right now.

There’s no excusing what happened though. Those 5,000+ people didn’t deserve to die (Including three firemen that Carole & I knew). It’s still my belief that these terrorists will do what they do, simply for a taste of notariety, and well, they’re assholes. It’s still my belief that Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda needs to be wiped out of existence, and if the Taliban wants to get in the way… so be it.

But Napalming the people of Afghanistan; Poor people, already ravaged by war, opressed by the Taliban, fleeing their country in terror… they don’t deserve to die either.

Saddam Hussein (of all people), recently stated “Maybe the U.S. needs to rethink their foriegn policy”.

America needs to listen. America needs their eyes and minds wide open right now.

God gave you two ears and one mouth… He was hoping you’d listen twice as much as you spoke.

Make 9/11 – “Hero Day”?

Posted on by Eric Brooks

This was just submitted to me at work, it seems like it also went to the Daily News as well:

"Hero Day" 

We have enough walls and memorials in just about every city of this great nation, you will see signs in an emergency dial 911. I offer that our elected public officials set in motion a bill that 9/11 (September 11th) henceforth be known as Hero Day. A day set aside to honor all the police, fire, emergency service technicians, and all those who put their lives on the line each day for the benefit of their fellow man. I further submit that a law be invoked, appropriately named the "Blue Law." This law would require that all stores and businesses to remain closed. No Business, no sales, no holiday. A day set aside for family, friends, and communities to gather together. Due to greed we have lost the meaning of Memorial, Labor, and Veterans Days let this day remain 9/11 forever. We should never forget.

Dedicated to The Twin Towers

NYFD - NYPD

God bless the victims and the families
God Bless American forever

Proud to be an American,
[Name omitted by Moi for privacy]
Retired NYPD

What do you guys think? I think it’s a hell of a great idea…

Help is on the way – A large convoy of trucks is lining up right here in Stroudsburg with medical supplies, and a whole bunch of other goodies from states going as far back as Indiana… on it’s way to NYC. Just waiting for clearance from the George Washington Bridge.

 

Pocono People: Kitty Jones

Posted on by Eric Brooks

I had the honor of featuring my dear friend, Kitty Jones in Pocono
Life today. Every week, the Pocono Record picks someone, and features them in a section called “Pocono People”. (Last week featured one of the many constables that have tried to arrest Carole over the last few months, but let’s not open that can of worms, ok?)

When the Tribe called Brooks was stranded in Stroudsburg (as usual, thanks to the vehicle we lovingly refer to as “THE DEATHMOBILE”), Kitty was there for us, with her tour van, to get us home safe & sound.

Visit the Kit's Kaboodle Website for booking information, or to catch a show in your area.She puts on a phenomenal one-woman show called “Kit’s Kaboodle“, bringing in audience members to play various parts, and she does this all across the PA, N.J and N.Y area. (Click Here for her Show Dates)… it’s really incredible, you’ve gotta catch one of her shows.

The article is here, and her biography (bet you didn’t know she was in “As The World Turns“) is here.

I met Kitty when she hired us to redesign www.kitskaboodle.com at the Pocono Record, btw….

Newz & Gossip

Posted on by Eric Brooks
  • Reports are in that BOBTHECORGI’s mom and her open-heart surgery went well, and she’s doing fine
  • The Other Cheek – Here is another gem via BOBTHECORGI.Fellow Pennsylvanian Tina is hilarious! She offers guidelines for those visiting an Intensive Care Unit that I’m sure several medical professionals would wholeheartedly agree with.
  • I was just informed, in my absence, that a dear friend lost her son in a motorcycle accident. Madeline Jacobs offers a thank you and a tribute to her 21 year old son, Jason, cut down in the prime of his life….This is the second time tragedy has struck, as she lost another son, Jordan, in an accident on her ranch recently. My thoughts and deepest sympathies are with her and her family right now. I can’t even imagine that type of pain.
  • BrooksKidz Update: – Yeah, things are slowly coming back to normal. (I posted a “readers digest version” of the whole thing on Kare’s Discussion Board, as so many people felt there was more to the story.)On Wednesday, the house got a last-minute inspection by a very attractive, very shapely, social worker named Stacy. Of course, I kept forgetting her name (I kept calling her “the one with the body”)….So all night, when her name eluded me, the girls would remind me by going “Staaaaaaaaacyyyyyy” (doing the “girl shape” thing with their hands). I come up here to check my mail to find a few love notes (in kids handwriting) that Staaaaaacyyyy left behind for me on my desk.Yeah… we’re gonna be back to normal in no time. :0)

Newz & Gossip

Posted on by Eric Brooks
  • A big congratz is in order to BOBTHECORGI for hitting the 1,000 visitor mark… in what, a matter of weeks? Holy cow… it took me eight months to do that with my very first site… and that was with me checking on it 20 times a day! (Of course it’s one of those boring stodgy “Let US design your website with our cracksmoking staff”, a la my Schizophenic Website stage… )unlike BOBTHECORGI, which happens to be one of the most entertaining and well-written blogs/journals out there…CONGRATZ BABE!
  • In case you missed it last year: Kare has reprinted her now-classic “Mr. Wonderful” rant… (I’m sure you have an ex or two that this post will strike home with…)
  • Friendly sex advice from Uncle Bob… Green M&M’s don’t work on virgins. Scientists offer no explanations on this as of yet.
  • I’m taking the rest of the summer off… The Tribe called Brooks has a lot of restructuring to do in our lives. Writing to moi@ericbrooks.com is probably a guarantee that you won’t get a response for a couple of months… you can write me at my top-secret work email (if you know it) for a better shot. I’ll probably post sporadically here, but no promises.

-e-

ONE MILLION VISITORS TO ERICBROOKS.COM!

Posted on by Eric Brooks

Don’t know when it happened, but sometime early this morning visitor #1,000,000 came strolling in!!!!

WHOOOO-HOOO!!!!!!
Don’t believe me? Scroll down to the bottom of the page and see for yourself. 

Well, whoever you are (you probably don’t know because the counter is invisible through most of the site)… I have a prize for you: One can of TURTLE WAX!!!… yeah bay-bee!!!!!

Special thanks to: Tucows Interactive, Cathie Walker, Mark Connell, George Carlin, Matt Haughey, and the gazillions of friends with portals and personal pages that have linked to me.

A “Thanks for nothing” to the so-called and self-proclaimed “Independent Design Community”… ass-kissing was never my style anyway, and it turns out I didn’t need your clique after all. Losers. :0)

And an EXTRA-SPECIAL thanks to each and every one of you reading this for all your love and support in the past two years. I love each and every one of you, and just want to share a simple little tip for *your* success:

  • Know your audience…
  • Give ’em what they want, with no strings attached…
  • Always support your friends… that’s where the hits and reciprocal links come from.

Thanks guys,
-e-

PS: Kendra redesigned Structured Ramblings… and it’s ASS-KICKING

Father’s Day Tributes

Posted on by Eric Brooks
  • Bobthecorgi – Kicks it off with the tale of her husband mere moments before becoming a father.
    (Yes, Bob is a woman… unless you know a lot of guys with flammable purses!)
    High speed car chases, police escorts, and how to get through the Holland Tunnel without paying a toll! A must read…
  • Aspirations to Sweetness – Jann’s tribute to her dad is guaranteed not to leave a dry eye in the house. She felt she let him down by not following his footsteps as an artist… but the pride in this man’s eyes, as he beams over his little girl in every picture tells me otherwise. :0)
  • Caustic Sense – Daddy Ray recalls the final moments of his (and BWG’s) dad.
  • Dear “Dad” – In case you missed this oldie, this is my contribution from last year. I wrote it on what would have been my mom’s 75th birthday. For those of you who grew up without a dad (or wished they had), this one’s for you.

But please… let’s not forget what’s important, and lose the true focus of this site… which is ME!

The Adorable Brooks Kidz spoiled me rotten cards they made from School. Erika’s was a huge card in the shape of a shirt with several ties… each tie was a “redeemable coupon” (“Good for one hug & Kiss”, “Good for One Story to be Read”, etc). Ashley made a “Daddy Card”, which was a paper doll with a shirt that flipped up like a card. Ashley & Erika then helped Sammi & Johnny make “Daddy Cards”.

One of the great amenities in our community is not only a swimming pool, but we also have stables*. We took the kids down for a while because they love the horses. Carole & Christina took horses out on the trail, I watched Johnny & Sammi take turns riding the pony**, while Ashley and Erika took the bigger horses around the ring. While getting off, Ashley whispered something to the trainer… Suddenly the trainer hands me a helmet:

“Alright, Daddy… your kids want you to show them what you got!”.

Me. Born and raised in Brooklyn… on a horse. Picture that.
It’s not like you see these things walking up and down Myrtle Avenue, y’know.

So I rode my very first horse today.

For those of you who know the joys, blessings and responsibility of fatherhood… I wish you all a happy father’s day!

*No animals were harmed in the making of this father’s day, nor were they allowed in the pool.

**Yes, I really did ask for the little pony rather than a big-ass horse!

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