Monday, April 18, 2011
A file from Life lessons from my son
The continuing saga of Nets basketball and my family. Earlier this basketball season my wife and I tried to take Yosh to a Nets game. Unfortunately my wife got hurt before the game. The point of this though... rarely does my son get upset. He is one of the most joyful people the world has EVER known. When my wife got hurt, I was not there and he was going up an escalator with a stranger holding him so he wouldn't fall. He was beside himself. He was so upset and scared he couldn't get any air into his lungs with which to scream. As soon as he saw me at the top of the escalator he started to calm down. Within two minutes he was fine and was enjoying himself. Here comes the point... don't worry about anything but getting lost (whether physically or spiritually) everything else will be ok. Getting lost is scary though.
From the Cynic Within Me Part 1
Who knows who is to be believed. There is a trolley park in Easton Pa, or should I say there used to be. According to bushkillpark.com, the supposed official homepage "The owners of Bushkill Park are working hard to repair the damage that has been done by the floods and other means." According to bushkillpark.org "..." well you just have to read it for yourself. http://www.bushkillpark.org/
Every where I look there are references to trying to clean it up and repair it to re-open the park after several floods starting in 2006 forced it to close. Walt Reiss seems like the more forthcoming of the two main protagonists. Neal fehnel however does not seem to respond to anything. Maybe its just that Walt is more angry, maybe its Neal who has stuff to hide. Who knows, all I know is there is a hundred plus year old park that is not open because of probable stupidity and maliciousness.
You gotta love human greed.
Friday, April 8, 2011
A file from Life lessons from my son
My son Yosh, Yehoshua Binyamin, has Down Syndrome, he also has a very special soul. Now I know I'm the abba, Hebrew for father, and I am supposed to say that, however if you read the stuff I am going to write about him you will begin to understand...
On Monday April 5th, 2011 I took Yosh to a Nets game. At half time I asked him if he wanted home or more game. He signed wait (basically he wiggle his fingers- close enough to the real sign for most people to understand). After a minute or two he signed and said home; car. So, we went home. The lesson here is think before you make a decision. Even though he clearly wanted to stay, he weighed the pros and cons. It was already past his bed time and he knew (or so I assume) that he would get tired soon and when he gets tired he gets cranky. Crankiness of course would have ruined the evening.
Another lesson I learned occurred earlier in the game. There was a child behind us with those hit sticks, basically plastic filled with air that when struck together make a loud noise. He was of course banging them together constantly. At one point Yosh looked back at the kid, saw he was not doing it just to annoy us, turned back around and enjoyed the rest of the game. Lesson: live and let live even if the other person is an annoyance.
On Monday April 5th, 2011 I took Yosh to a Nets game. At half time I asked him if he wanted home or more game. He signed wait (basically he wiggle his fingers- close enough to the real sign for most people to understand). After a minute or two he signed and said home; car. So, we went home. The lesson here is think before you make a decision. Even though he clearly wanted to stay, he weighed the pros and cons. It was already past his bed time and he knew (or so I assume) that he would get tired soon and when he gets tired he gets cranky. Crankiness of course would have ruined the evening.
Another lesson I learned occurred earlier in the game. There was a child behind us with those hit sticks, basically plastic filled with air that when struck together make a loud noise. He was of course banging them together constantly. At one point Yosh looked back at the kid, saw he was not doing it just to annoy us, turned back around and enjoyed the rest of the game. Lesson: live and let live even if the other person is an annoyance.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
This is going to tick a lot of people off: RantsAndRaves Pt 3
A big thank you to all smokers for smoking where the rest of us have to breathe.
Smokers have to be the most self-centered people in the world. Yes I know I have a blog pretty self-centered myself expecting people to read this. However, thank you for leaving cigarette butts on my balcony; thank you for leaving burning cigarette butts on the sidewalk; thank you for throwing them out your car window; just thank you.
Would it kill you (pun intended) to kill yourself without killing everyone around you including your supposed loved ones?
The casino industry in AC yelled and screamed bloody murder as did the restaurant industry in New York when laws were passed about smoking in casinos and restaurants. They said they would lose revenue. Well the casinos won they can allow smoking. The restaurants however 'lost' and smoking is not permitted. Let me ask the restaurant owners: how's business? Doing better than ever you say. That might be because now non-smokers can enjoy a non-filthy dinner while the smokers have to live without a cigarette for an hour. So who won and who lost?
Live long and question
Smokers have to be the most self-centered people in the world. Yes I know I have a blog pretty self-centered myself expecting people to read this. However, thank you for leaving cigarette butts on my balcony; thank you for leaving burning cigarette butts on the sidewalk; thank you for throwing them out your car window; just thank you.
Would it kill you (pun intended) to kill yourself without killing everyone around you including your supposed loved ones?
The casino industry in AC yelled and screamed bloody murder as did the restaurant industry in New York when laws were passed about smoking in casinos and restaurants. They said they would lose revenue. Well the casinos won they can allow smoking. The restaurants however 'lost' and smoking is not permitted. Let me ask the restaurant owners: how's business? Doing better than ever you say. That might be because now non-smokers can enjoy a non-filthy dinner while the smokers have to live without a cigarette for an hour. So who won and who lost?
Live long and question
RantsAndRaves Pt 2 Greed sucks
My apologies to Gekko... Greed sucks. As a Libertarian I am all for profits. When those profits become excessive however, it is time to sit up and say hhhmmm. How did GE, which earned $10.3 billion (yes billion with a b) not pay income tax and actually get $1.1 billion (once again yes a b as in a billion) in tax benefits? My favorite though is Exxon which pays no taxes because it goes into research and development. This from the company who has sworn they will never research alternative fuels.
Put this into contrast lower and middle class pay 10-28 % of their taxable income. When was the last time you got a $1.1 billion tax benefit? $400/household lets get real. Instead of bailing out the banks they could have given $10,000 (yes thats ten thousand) to every man woman and child in the country. A family of four could have received $40,000. How much economic stimulation could you have caused with $40,000? Even if all you did was pay off your credit card debt, that would have helped. Heck it would have ended up going to the banks, but this way the middle class instead of the CxO would have received the benefit.
Who is running the government that is supposed to be by, of and for the people?
Put this into contrast lower and middle class pay 10-28 % of their taxable income. When was the last time you got a $1.1 billion tax benefit? $400/household lets get real. Instead of bailing out the banks they could have given $10,000 (yes thats ten thousand) to every man woman and child in the country. A family of four could have received $40,000. How much economic stimulation could you have caused with $40,000? Even if all you did was pay off your credit card debt, that would have helped. Heck it would have ended up going to the banks, but this way the middle class instead of the CxO would have received the benefit.
Who is running the government that is supposed to be by, of and for the people?
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Yosh makes an informed decision
Yesterday I took Yosh to a Nets game- just him and I. The game started at 7:05, Yosh's bedtime is 8:00. At half time- around 8:15- I asked Yosh if he wanted to go home or if he wanted more game, to stay. He actually told me wait- using his sign for it. A few minutes later he said, and signed, home; car. The entire walk back to the car, the drive home and even after we got home he was excitedly talking, as Yosh talks, about the game. We got home around 8:35 and he spent about 5-10 minutes talking to mommy about it. Mommy then said its night-night time, she changed him and I put him in bed at pretty much 9:00 on the dot. When i came back in the room, literally two minutes later he was out cold. The next morning he was still excited about it.
Did he make the right decision? Did I make the right decision in taking him to the game? In giving him the choice to stay or go (I was going to abide by his decision either way)?
Did he make the right decision? Did I make the right decision in taking him to the game? In giving him the choice to stay or go (I was going to abide by his decision either way)?
So who am I? (pt 1)
I am the very proud abba (Hebrew for father) of a soon to be 9yo son with Down Syndrome. That should tell you a picture's worth. I will tell you about the joys of being the abba of my son (along with some of the trials and tribulations).
I am a Libertarian. About the only things I don't agree with the major libertarian party is gun control and abortion. I believe there should be major gun control, but not outright banning of most weapons. I also believe in the right of the unborn child. Most of my Rants and Raves are going to be about the incredible amount of legislation we have in this country. That is NOT to say I am anti government, I am not an anarchist, but rather a minimalist.
I am a crank. Meaning I get easily upset over stupidity.
I am a Libertarian. About the only things I don't agree with the major libertarian party is gun control and abortion. I believe there should be major gun control, but not outright banning of most weapons. I also believe in the right of the unborn child. Most of my Rants and Raves are going to be about the incredible amount of legislation we have in this country. That is NOT to say I am anti government, I am not an anarchist, but rather a minimalist.
I am a crank. Meaning I get easily upset over stupidity.
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