Memorial Day Tango

First things first…

I’d like to offer my salute and prayers to all members of our armed forces and their support teams who bravely gave their lives for our freedom and for the freedom of those whose own governments sought to suppress freedom. To the families they left behind, we can never quite feel your pain, but recognize that you, too, have sacrificed for your country. We are grateful and proud to be the beneficiaries of your dedication to the ideals of a free world and to our country, which forges ahead working towards spreading those ideals and the tools of knowledge and love to achieve it. The struggle is hardly over, but the efforts of our military heros, fallen or disabled, family or in-the-field support, has not been in vain. Their spirits live on and inspire us to be worthy of their sacrifice. To the rest of the civilians like myself, please take a moment to remember and another moment to donate, whatever you can, to the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) who provide much needed support for the soldiers who’ve returned with the scars of war and the families left on their own.

Next…

The old saw that “It takes two to Tango”, while clever, is a set-up for faulty logic when applied to any and all contentious disputes in litigation. No reasonable person would assert that the bloody, vicious battles between the Christians and the lions could have been avoided or should have been resolved by the Christians “taking the high road” by conceding the contest to the lions. What was true in ancient Rome remains true today in our modern-day colliseums: the court house. Like the Christians and lions, not every party to a lawsuit is responsible for the necessity of court involvement nor responsible for such litigation being unnecessarily prolonged and not every case where the adversaries share the same biological parents can be attributed to a mutual sibling rivalry. But it often can be difficult to determine who is the aggressor and who is the victim, which is why it is so vital for all of us to suppress our frustrations and preconceived notions and try to listen and observe anew.

As every judge in every court knows well, the danger in making premature judgments based upon faulty logic is the increased likelihood truth will escape, the merits never reached, justice will be compromised, and public policy defeated. The task we ask of our judicial system is tall indeed as our judges are as human as we. And so, on this Memorial Day, when we pause to remember those who’ve fought for our freedom, that we all resolve to aspire to facilitate justice in this life. Likewise, it seems equally fitting to pray for those men and women who struggle each day to keep the faith of our fallen patriots with their hearts, minds and courtrooms every day. Lord knows, it ain’t easy.

Free Clip-Art / Icons of the Day

The following images are either full or reduced size previews. Simply right-click (or control-click) on the preview to save the image(s) of your choice to your desktop. (Unless otherwise noted, downloads are 512px X 512px in .png format). As always, usage of any of the images offered on this blog are free for your personal use while subject to the limitations of my Creative Commons Non-Commercial – Attribution – No Derivatives – Share Alike- 3.0 license. (See sidebar for details)

WHAT’S NEW ON ZAZZLE

Windy 500 – T-Shirt
Hey Race Fans! Just in time, here comes IconDoIt’s bright red balloon car flying into the Winner’s Circle at this year’s Windy 500! Printed with highly saturated colors for a vibrant look on a high-quality black T-Shirt, we recommend washing in cold water to retain richness of colors. For men, women, children, whatever.

Benevolence – Thank You (Note Card)
A benevolent looking sun treated to a rich stained glass look against a modern abstract sky graces the front of this card. Leave the inside blank, or add your custom message…The choice is yours.

Aspire (Graduation Card)
“Aspire” Graduation Card – Tell the grad whom you’re proud of just how high you know they can soar! -original design by IconDoIt

Community Yes! Government Less.

I’ve been pretty busy the last days, volunteering to do all kinds of graphics work for Ron Shegda’s Campaign for PA State Rep, 136th Dist. Yeah, I know. I don’t even live in Pennsylvania, so why would I care? I care because no matter what state you live in, as US Citizens we’re all affected by the elected officials of every state. I care because too many people fail to vote on local elections, but besides the fact that our daily lives are first and foremost affected by our local leaders, our Congressmen, Senators, and President generally rise out of the pool of locally elected officials and for once, I’d like to have the tough choice between “Best” and “Bester” rather than the lesser of two evils. By supporting “the good guys” and voting for them on the local level now, we’ll have a better chance of getting better choices in the future.

As to Ron Shegda in particular: Ron is different from the typical politicians we’ve all come to know and loathe. He has strong inner values while at the same time, has an open mind. I’ve found him to be extremely well-read (better yet, he actually understands what he’s read!) and very curious and interested in hearing other points of view, whether on the issues themselves or on the best way to achieve a certain goal. Ron doesn’t simply parrot a worn party line as his goals are to serve his constituents by protecting their rights to self-determination, freedom from government, and to inspire greater community involvement. As an old Flower Child of the 1960′s, that’s what I had gotten involved in protests for and I haven’t changed a bit in those values, although I’ve learned that we can’t allow ourselves to make presumptions about candidates based solely on the political party they’re affiliated with. We’ve got to go by the individual character and actions of the men and women who’s names are on the ballot. Sure, that takes a bit of homework, but considering the fact that our whole way of life is at stake, it is definitely worth the time.

CD “Community Yes! Government Less.”
All profits go to “Citizen’s for Ron Shegda” & are tax-deductible.

Ron hosts a radio show, “The Two Things We Don’t Talk About” every Tuesday morning from 8:00-9:00 am, on WPGN Sunny 1100, that also streams live so you can see them in the studio) called . Generally, Ron has on a guest of either local or national interest and they chat about current issues. Sometimes the discussions get deeply into a subject and other times it’s more breezy while remaining informative. Yesterday, Ron’s guest was my father, Dr. Roland Sigal. It was the first time I had ever heard my father talk about what it was like around the family dinner table while he was growing up. For some reason, I had never pictured him before sitting down with his Mom, Dad and 2 younger brothers. He has always been a grown-up in my mind (a forever young at heart grown-up, but never a child.) So it was interesting. To see yesterday’s show, click: Episode 46: Campaigning For Victory Full Speed Ahead.

On tonight’s menu, I’m posting a few images on the timely subject of the housing market and foreclosures. Enjoy!

Free Clip-Art / Icons of the Day

The following images are either full or reduced size previews. Simply right-click (or control-click) on the preview to save the image(s) of your choice to your desktop. (Unless otherwise noted, downloads are 512px X 512px in .png format). As always, usage of any of the images offered on this blog are free for your personal use while subject to the limitations of my Creative Commons Non-Commercial – Attribution – No Derivatives – Share Alike- 3.0 license. (See sidebar for details)

What Do LeBron James, Ron Shegda,The Sigal Brothers & IconDoIt Have in Common?

It has been a monumental week, to say the least. I have been so overwhelmed with various events, emotions, and activity that I feel like Dorothy, caught in the Eye of a Tornado. From concern for my Father and Step-Mother with their transition to 24/7 in-home nursing care; to the sadness over the loss of an Uncle I had always hoped to know; to the whirlwind of activity on behalf of a good friend of mine, Leicester Bryce Stovell, Esq. when the media broke the news about his lawsuit against the most prominent professional athlete of all time; to designing a new logo and campaign materials for Ron Shegda, who’s running in Pennsylvania for State Representative from the 136th District, to getting new products out for my Zazzle store; and last, but not least, fighting with my own genetic demon (a.k.a. Hereditary Hemochromatosis) and its predictable unpredictability.

As a result of all that, I have not been able to post for several days and have not had the time or energy to either think or do some research in order to leave you with some interesting, useful, intriguing, informative, and/or controversial copy to go along with this evening’s new artwork. Forgive me. I hope to be back to “normal” (at least to what passes for “normal” for me) soon!

Free Clip-Art / Icons of the Day

The following images are reduced size previews. Simply right-click (or control-click) on the images you’d like to download> Each image is 512px X 512px, 72 ppi, in .png format. As always, usage of any of the images I have created and offer on this blog are free for your personal, subject to the limitations of my Creative Commons Non-Commercial – Attribution – No Derivatives – Share Alike – 3.0 license. For any other usage, please contact me directly via this blog or by my e-mail link in the sidebar. Written Permission and a License Fee will apply for ANY commercial use. (Follow link in sidebar for details) Thank You for Respecting These Conditions.