This is a story about a very talented actor. I worked for 2 weeks with Daniel on G.I. Jane in 1994. We were both New York actors. He played tough guys, but he was a generous gentle man who was admired by all who worked with him. And a fun guy to be around when the day's work was done. He was a rock on the set. Always prepared, and always brought his A game. Two of my favorite roles of his were in The Postman, and Brother Where Art Thou? He was really good at it, and he made it look so easy. You never saw him acting. He was always absolutely real. He moved to Los Angeles 5 years before I did. I had hoped to run into him at auditions, but I never did. He is an outstanding actor. So much good work in movies & TV. Check him out on IMDB. Very impressive. I understand, old friend. They took one leg, and they were going to cut the toes off the other. You have no children, and you were living a difficult life. You were tired of it Daniel. I understand. God speed. Know that you are well loved, and that those who love you will never try to judge your pain. We will look for you when you are feeling better. Rest now, Daniel. Your G.I. Jane friend, Ted Sutton

I'm still giddy with disbelief. Can't help it! LOL! Thank you all for your support! Because my ISP (involuntary separation) was already being processed, HR wouldn't let them just give me back my ID card and let me back in the door. They created a job posting that the VP was expected to sign on Monday, only they got ahold of him yesterday and he signed it already. The posting will only be up for one day ... today ... and I'm the only one they gave the number to. I had to apply for the job as tho I'm an outsider to the company, which I guess I am at this point. HR will be contacting me with any additional steps/information I need. It's expected to take another week to process everything. So, I'll get another week off with pay, which won't count against my annual vacation of six weeks. My new manager has already called three times today, and there won't be a break in service, so I won't lose any benefit that I've earned over the years. As to salary ... as long as they give me what I was already making, I'm ok with that. Now, if they offer more, I sure won't say NO! LOL! But I'm not going to expect it. When we did the manager-shuffle a month ago, I was moved to a different organization which did not understand how I support the first organization. So to them, mine was a position that was unnecessary. It truely was a case of lack of communication between the two groups. But I have to admit .... I was bad when I left. First, I chose to leave immediately rather than stick around for two weeks and try to play nice with people who had eliminated my job ... and then, I set up my "out of office" memo that responds to every email received by my ID, telling everyone to contact the new manager. I've heard he's been inundated with emails. heh heh. Thanks for the toasts! LOL!

I think there seems to be over reaction on both sides. He sounds like a big jerk. But this father of the baby "breaking the rules" by taking the baby outside is not the same thing as a newborn being abducted, which is what a Code Pink would be indicating. I don't think that a nurse in this situation should have laid a finger on Kennedy, nor blocked his way. Verbal intervention was as far as it should have gone, imho, then security should have been called. The nurses must have know this was "Mister Kennedy", the baby's father, & where was the ~real~ danger here? Their getting physically involved put the baby in jeopardy, it seems. Not that he had ANY right to act in the way that he did physically toward the nurses. I also think the nurses are VERY wrong in going on the Today Show & discussing this. Not professional, imho. They are blowing it up because of who he is. Again, I don't think Kennedy handled the situation right at all & he sounds like a difficult person to deal with. But he's not the first one ever to have misbehaved on that nursing unit... of that, I'm sure. I would be interested to know how the hospital's policy is written in this regard. I would be surprised if it says for nurses to "physically intervene".

I don't think of commercial advertising or political ads as being truthful. They use whatever means they can to get their point across and get your money or vote. My son is an editor for commercials quite often. He tells the story of doing a diet before and after commercial. For the "after" shots, they stretched the person's figure to make him or her appear thinner. Wonders of computer editing.