Say it ain't so ,T.O.

Well, I have to admit as much as he is a media hound, I was pretty happy when my Cowboys picked up Terrell Owens for their offense. He is a pain in the ass, but he certainly gets results. I read today he may have attemped suicide, he says no, it was a mix of his Vicodin and natural supplements. I would imagine some doctor out there can say whether or not thats possible.

This whole thing got me thinking. For the most part, I feel I'm a guy with his head on straight, very practical, but I definitely enjoy having a good time. I have one major flaw, I am addicted to celeberity news!!! I watch all those stupid shows like the celeb fit club, the evening entertainment news shows, you name it. WHY ?????? The one thing I always find my self doing is when some wealthy celeb does something stupid is smiling an saying "What a jerk" I think I really enjoy when bad things happen to them. I have a problem.......I will say this though, poor Paris is always getting a bad rap!

Home Sick

I am currently home sick, and this sucks!!! I don't know what it is, I've been getting sick 2 to 3 times a year for the last couple of years. Its always the same thing 1. Head caught in fishbowl feeling. 2. followed by running nose 3. followed by cough, then it either goes away or starts all over again. I did anticipate this, so I was able to take some work home and get something done. The other sucky thing is we have a new nurse that just started for Mary, so I have to train her in Mary's Care. I have to sort of leave her alone so I'm not hounding over her, but keep my ear peeled for when her alarms start going off. Once an alarm goes, I have to assess the situation and see if the nurse is picking up the same clues as me. I have to let her address the situation or I'll never know if she actually can address it. Then I have to use my judgement and if she isn't moving fast enough basically push her out of the way and do it myself. Its pretty stressful, but there are so many cues Mary give to what her issue is, whether its a breathing problem or she's just fussy, problem is it takes a while for someone to be able to read those cues, hence I must hover over the nurse. I have no witty ending to this post

My end of Summer

Ah, today is my official end of summer. The guys come today to close the pool. I waited this long thinking if I had closed it on Labor Day weekend we would get a whole week of 90 degree weather. I was wrong.
Its now time to order some firewood and settle in for the coming winter. I believe we should be able to hibernate. It would give us a chance to recharge our batteries and Spring into Spring!!!
My idea of hibernating though would be hanging out on the couch watching old horror movies or a Twilight Zone Marathon. Maybe its best we don't hibernate!!

Surprise Surprise

Well, as I mentioned in a previous post, the Mid East Muslims have gone ahead and done the predictable. Lets see, I know they set fires at at least 2 churches and murdered a nun. It was only a matter of time, lets see, less than 24 hours I believe for them to show their true colors and only adding creedence to to what has been known for centuries. Friday, The "Day of Rage" we can only see what happens then. I know, I know, Rage means that they are all supposed to feel mad and it is not a call to action. I really won't be surprised though when someone "mis-interprets" the meaning.

It's weird, making posts like these kinda makes me feel like Daniel Carver the KKK guy from the Howard Stern show. Remember that guy, he had the answering machine that said "Wake Up white people this is Daniel Carver." I just have to change the message to state "Wake Up America..."

This country needs to start making a call out to its Muslim Americans. Please, Speak Up, Tell me that your different, tell me that you don't believe what the majority of America thinks you believe. I understand that the freedoms of this country should mean you shouldn't have to, but your brethen on the other side of the world have dealt you a bad hand. Its not up to me to assume that because you live in America you don't believe in the words being spoken in the Mid-East, It up to you to tell me you don't. In my opinion, up to this point, your silence is deafining.

I hate feeling this way, because I do love this country and every freedom it stands for. At some point though we as country need to stand up and say will too much freedom ultimately be the demise of our freedom.

This country is big enough for all of us, and whether you pray to God, Allah, Buddha, Ra, or a Weeping Willow Tree, that prayer better be for the health, prosperity and well being of America and its citizens. If it isn't, then I guess I'll pray you choke on your next meal. Peace !!!

On a Lighter Note

By the time this weekend is over, my NY Mets should be the Eastern Divsion champs, and also should be the odds on favorite to get to the World Series. For those I didn't tell this story to, here goes. My Dad had passed away this past March. At his wake, one of the last times I knelt before his casket, I leaned over to speak to him. I kept it low so no one would hear my selfish comment, but basically I said, "Dad, I'm not sure what kind of pull newcomers get up there, but a World Championship for the Mets would be nice this year." So right now, I'm thinking he must have done something right by the Lord while he was down here.

So, thanks Dad, I hope your enjoying the season as much as me.

HOLY CRAP ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!

Well, what a surpirse, I have read the news again and I am totally stupified as to how the stories are being printed. Once again, if you haven't read the news all the Muslim Clerics are up in arms about comments made by Pope Benedict XVI in regards to Mohammed and the Muslim religion in general. If they read the news or paid attention to what he said, they would have heard that more than once during the speech, he qouted that this comment came from a written text of a debate between Emperor Manuel II Paleologos of the Byzantine Empire and an educated Persian . The qoute itself was "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." The Pope himself then added that violence was "incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul".

I am by no means a theologian, and all the Catholic haters out there will be more than happy to jump on all the shit the church has done over the years, like the Inquistion, and the Crusades. Lets keep in mind, those were descions made by man, not orders from the words of Jesus Christ. Pope John Paul II basically spent tons of time apolgizing for all the mistakes the Church has made in the past, and had always spoken out against any nation, even the U.S., when he felt their actions were wrong. Now I'm looking at those two qoutes in the above paragraph, and I'm asking, is there something there that is wrong? Or, do all the clerics hate the fact that the truth is being pointed out to the world in some simple sentences? With the first qoute about evil and inhumane, if the clerics are so up in arms about it, how come not a single one of them have spoken out against Iran or more importantly, Osama Bin Laden? I'll tell you why, because that is what they believe, they believe that if they need to kill to spread their word, then they are more than justified in doing so.

I hear all the time that that is not what Islam preaches, there are tons of Muslims, mostly Americans that come on the news all the time to tell us so. You know what, I believe them, I believe that they themselves do not condone the violence, the problem is all the main clerics NEVER show up to condemn the Jihadists. In my book, that's pretty much the same as saying I agree with their actions.

The sad part of all this the Muslims leaders are demanding an apology, when they don't get one some people will be killed or taken hostage, or something will blow up. Then instead of seeing those actions for what they are, the United Nations will still sit around with its tail between its legs because they'll be scared of offending the Mid Eastern Muslim Countries. The crap keeps getting deeper, but I feel like most Americans won't smell it until its actually up to their nose.

We are a Confused Society

Let me start by saying, I'm sorry if I ramble a bit on this one, as I start typing I'm not totally sure where I want to go with it.

If you have turned on the news or listened to the radio in the last few days I am sure you have heard about Debra Lafave. If not, here is a link to one of the articles, http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=1752245&page=1 She is the teacher in Florida who admitted to having sex with the 14 yr old boy and this afternoon all charges were dropped. She admitted it!!!! Now here is where I will either gather agreements or people will think I'm some psycho. But do we need to start looking at these cases closer to really make determinations if the child is "traumatized" or not? And then from there really deciding whether or not the older person "manipulated" the teen into sex.

Lets be honest here, I have not seen photos of this 14yr old, but I do know that I heard it mentioned that he was around 6ft tall. I don't think I'm going out on a limb here to say he very well may have been a fully physically mature male. If he was, then he was definitely aware of all the fun things his "happy stick" was capable of doing. Here is qoute from the article "The boy at the center of this case, now 15, has reportedly been overwhelmed by the media frenzy. His mother decided it would be too traumatic for him to testify against his former teacher." I may be going out on a limb again, but the only trauma this kid is gonna suffer is to his arm from high fiving all of his buddies, his teacher was hot. And that becomes part of my point. Regardless of the age, does consensus mean something? (I ask that question with regards to 13 or 14 being a benchmark bottom line) I know when I was 14 yrs old if an older female came onto me I probably would have gotten so nervous, I would have pee'd my pants, then I probably would have run away. I was a late bloomer, but when I was 14, there were kids walking around my age and they had full beards, no joke. I can think of a couple of guys off the top of my head that were full grown by that point, I know because by the time I was 6 ft tall in 12th grade, these guys were shorter than me and never got any bigger. We as a society say its wrong for an adult (someone over 18) to have sexual relations with someone under 18. We get mad (upon hearing or reading about an incident) when when its a 16yr old but really appauled when its a 14yr old. Yet, as a society, we seem to have no problem selling midriff shirts to young teen girls, tight pants, thongs, skimpy bikinis or any other items that "sexualize" them, then we're shocked when an adult who is around them all time becomes attracted to them.

We tell our young teens about sex, why, because we see changes in them that indicate they are becoming old enough to procreate, and we want them to be aware of what can and will happen to them. By that conversation with them aren't we already admitting to ourselves and them they are old enough to have sex? Is the fear really that we as a society perceive that females are incapable of sex without emotional attachment but men, regardless of there age are? Is that why this broad is let off the hook and the guy in the same article is in jail? For my taste, there are way too many questions that really need to be asked and answered on this subject, because by law, a child sex offender has just been let free, and do you think her name will show up on any of the neighborhood watch lists? I don't, but it sure as hell should.

Beating the System

Since I started this blog, I have been trying to find other people's blogs that I might enjoy reading, that way, make a comment or two on their sites, maybe they'll check yours out, in turn creating more traffic to you. Kind of the idea of they tell two friends, and so on and so on ....... you get it.
Well, I started in my profile page where you can look up people that have the same interests as you. Low and behold, everyone I call up hasn't posted shit in about two years.
So, last night I discovered the "view next blog" link on the top right of my page. I click it and it begins taking me to different blogs, I'm thinking, pretty random, kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack but Mary was asleep, Tara was out of town and the Mets were in a rain delay. I have time. I found a couple that held a little interest but I was just pretty much going next, next, next. I click on the next one and I see a photo, the text is in Espanol, but the photo was of a pretty lady, (you could see her face) so I start pressing the down arrow to check out the whole photo. Wouldn't you know it, she had a see through blouse on, NICE. So since since its in Spanish I have no idea what it says so I move on. About 5 minutes later, I hit another page, no mistaken this one, another photo with a woman as naked as you can get. I scroll down the page, since I was so appauled, to find a whole bunch of photos of woman in various poses and stages of dress. I thought to myself, I have finally figured it out. I now possess the knowledge only most men dream about. I now know how to surf porn without actually surfing porn. I will be heading to patent office right after this post!!!!

My Hangover has finally cleared up

Well, just about one of greatest weekends of the year has passed. Yes I am talking about the first football weekend of the season (Pro) The only thing that beats it is beautiful weather for opening day in baseball season. I watched so much this weekend it was like I was drunk. Lets see, on Saturday I met some friends out for lunch & beers were we watched Rutgers vs North Carolina, Michigan vs. Central Michigan and the beginning of Notre Dame vs. Penn State.
I then went home to find both my daughter and wife napping so I watched more of Norte Dame. Later that night I watched Georgia vs. South Carolina, since i had some moola on that one and bits of Ohio State vs Texas. Just a warm up for Sunday. I have the Sunday ticket on Directv so at 1PM I flipped between Bengals/Chiefs, Rams/Broncos and Eagles/Texans at 4 PM I watched my Cowboys get their ass kicked and then at 8 I watched the Giants/Colts. Slept, and then Monday night watched the 1st game Skins/Vikes and the start of the Chargers/Raiders. Raise your hands if you think at some point this fat slob spilled salsa on his shirt................... Ha, your wrong, we didn't have any in the house. Anyway, after I type it out it really seems like overkill huh.

Just think, baseball playoffs are just around the corner and my Mets will be there this year. When I slightly mentioned this the other day Tara screamed "AHHHHHHHH I hate October!"
Did I mention, Hockey season starts in October too.

Clarity

I thougt I would try to expand on my last post just a little. A good friend of mine feels we are on different planets when it comes to politics. I have a feeling we are closer than she thinks. Let me start by saying I was and still am opposed to our invasion of Iraq. As different news of that country has come to light over the past few years, some ideas of mine may have changed but my overall opinion is the same. I always thought that Saddam was pretty much only interested in his own wealth and well being and living in his mansions. My opinion is that if we as a country are going to put are soldiers in harms way, it better be for a good reason. Afganistan... a different story, we needed to create a response to the World Trade Center to show that we will not sit back and take it.
The problem with Iraq and Afganistan, is there never was a real exit plan. Create a democracy, crap, its been a couple hundred years here, and we're still working on it. People are worried about Civil War in Iraq, UMM didn't we have one of those?
My last post had a lot more to do with the complacency of the American people than it did on my political stand, but I do believe what I said, obviously with a little tongue in cheek.
Here would be my real question, Can we ever create a canidate for President that is really about the people? Someone who doesn't stand just for a Democrat or Republican agenda? Someone who doesn't owe everybody favors once he gets there? Not sure, but I do know that until the day we do, there will always be a large percentage of people that think whoever is president is an ass, while the other will think he/she's great, and arguing over Halloween costumes, doesn't help in proving me wrong.

The Bigger Picture

I just don't get it. Could the majority of America stop worrying about their petty little issues and start looking at the big picture. What I am talking about here is the good ol U.S.A. Wherever I go and engage in conversation, NEVER do I actually hear anyone start a conversation about the issues the U.S. is facing as a country in the future. WAKE UP!!!! If you don't start paying attention and voicing real opinions, you won't be able to have a school board meeting where you argue for hours over whether or not the kids should be able to wear Halloween costumes to school. You'll look out your front window one day and say, "Honey why are all those Chinese soldiers marching down our street?" Or if the Middle East has its way you may be saying, "Honey should I wear the Blue or White Burka today?" And now they are saying it looks as if Tony Blair will be stepping down in the Spring. Great, the only fuckin ally the U.S. has in the whole world (with any kind of strength both financially and militarily) and his country is pissed at him because he is. I leave Isreal out of this since they are fighting for their own survival daily.
The intial thought upon reading this may be, Listen to that right wing redneck SOB. My suggestion though would be to start paying attention to the news, its right in front of your face!!
The current Iranian President has only said on more than one occasion that their purpose is to annihilate Isreal and then take down the West. Do you think he's kidding? I sure as hell don't!!! And China, shit, they are getting bigger everyday and are in desperate need of oil to keep their machine running, hence the dealings with Iran and the Sudan. Russia, they will be more than happy to ride whoever's coattails will keep them afloat.
It doesn't scare me that at some point in next 25 years we will no longer be a superpower, what bothers me is that about 75% of Americans will never see it coming. And then they will want to blame some politicians for it, and not themselves.

A Quick History

As you may have seen in my profile, I have been married now for 11 years to a beautiful woman named Tara. Tara is quite a unique individual. She has shown strength that I would argue many would never be able to find in themselves. In 1997 our daughter Mary was born. Mary was born with a very rare syndrome called Cerebro-Costo Mandibular Syndrome. This is so rare, that prior to her birth there had only been 75 cases ever reported world-wide. During Mary’s first few years when all the other Mom’s were running to Mommy and Me classes and whining about how tough it is having a child, Tara was spending just about every day on the phone with insurance companies, nursing agencies and durable medical equipment companies fighting to get Mary the care she not only deserved but had a right to. Mary’s condition was so fragile in her first few years that our worry wasn’t, "Do we have the right stroller?", it was will Mary be alive 3 months from now. That may sound like I am exaggerating, but I am most certainly not. Put yourself in that position; think about something with your child that you worry about. Now think about if that worry was will my child be alive in 3 months. It may make your worries seem a little less. I’m not saying this to minimize any issues anyone would have, just to try to make you realize what Tara was dealing with on a daily basis.

Nine years later, we have taken our life and tried to make a difference in ours and others. We opened a Pediatric Therapy facility in 2004 which provides Speech and Occupational therapy for children. A short time after that I started a non-profit organization to help families who can’t afford therapy for their children. Both websites are links on my page. (Look to the right) Tara runs the facilities day to day operations and basically works her ass off. We have done a bit of role reversal and for the last two years I have been taking care of Mary more while Tara is putting in hours to bring home the bacon. So you can have an idea of how hard she does work, she was just voted one of the top ten business women in Southern Jersey by South Jersey magazine. It just came out in September's issue, not sure if it will be on the website or not, heres the link in case anyone's interested http://www.southjersey.com/

Mary will be turning 9 soon and we basically can’t believe it’s been 9 years already. She has been an inspiration to us and just about everyone who meets her. She is currently, non-ambulatory, ventilator dependent. Her movement is very limited to moving her left thumb, and partial leg movements, nothing really functional. She cannot speak, but she can blink her eyes for Yes and roll her eyes for NO. We have been working for awhile now on teaching her to use a computer to communicate, but that is a long process and we are only at the beginning stages. Hang out with her for a day and her personality will become very apparent. She has been through more in her nine years than most people will go through in a life time. We lost count, but she has had around 24 surgeries since birth. She has been rushed to the hospital more than once with breathing issues that were critical. Through it all, she is still a very happy child. I know that this attitude is seen in many children that are very ill. I would suggest that all whiny adults take a lesson from these children. Life ain’t so bad.

You always remember your first

Well, here it is, my first blog post. Hopefully as you puruse these postings, you'll will realize that I'm one smart son of a gun!! Or one dumb son of a bitch. You decide. Either way, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll ponder, you'll wonder why am I wasting my time reading this. What I really hope you'll think is, this guy is actually keeping me interested enough to check back later. So, Check Back Later