Saturday, June 13, 2009

Obama makes a 10 year-old girl's day... or year...

Obama writes girl a note for missing school

The Associated Press



GREEN BAY, Wis. - Ten-year-old Kennedy Corpus has a rock-solid excuse for missing the last day of school: a personal note to her teacher from President Barack Obama.

Her father, John Corpus of Green Bay, stood to ask Obama about health care during the president's town hall-style meeting at Southwest High School on Thursday. He told Obama that his daughter was missing school to attend the event and that he hoped she didn't get in trouble.

"Do you need me to write a note?" Obama asked. The crowd laughed, but the president was serious.

On a piece of paper, he wrote: "To Kennedy's teacher: Please excuse Kennedy's absence. She's with me. Barack Obama." He stepped off the stage to hand-deliver the note — to Kennedy's surprise.

"I thought he was joking until he started walking down," Kennedy said after the event, showing off the note in front of a bank of television cameras. "It was like the best thing ever."

The fourth-grader at Aldo Leopold elementary in Green Bay already knew what she was going to do with the note: frame it along with her ticket to the event. She said she'd make a copy for her teacher.

Kennedy said she had never seen Obama before. "He's really nice," she said.

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posted by Stash @ 4:22 PM

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Friday, January 16, 2009

Pilot: A real hero.

We've seen recent discussons regarding who is or how one becomes a "hero". The recent successful ditching of Flight 1549 by pilot Chesley B. (Sulley) Sullenberger III helps illustrate the answer.


New York Mayor Bloomberg comments on Sulley's actions.

His neighbors think highly of him and were not surprised by his heroic actions:

From an LA Times article

Frank Salzmann, one of Sullenberger's neighbors in Danville, a suburb east of San Francisco, said he was not at all surprised to hear Sullenberger was the pilot who landed the US Airways jet safely, calling him a "very calm, in-control and in-charge type."

"When you think of a captain of an airline, you pretty much think of Sully," said Salzmann, 45, a software engineer.

"It was just the right guy at the right time and at the right moment," added neighbor Jim Walberg. "Everybody is so proud and grateful and relieved."

He noted that Sullenberger, a humble man, would probably chafe at being called a hero.

"It's a name he will not take very easily," Walberg said.

We read that Captain Sullenberger was the last one off the plane and walked the aisle twice to ensure all were off safely before leaving himself. 155 out of 155 are alive and well due to his skillful and heroic actions... not a bad day's work.

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posted by Stash @ 7:18 AM

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