Stewed News and Skewed Views

Bank of America-the nickel & diming of the middle class

2010-02-08T12:03:00.004-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! Bill Maher coined the phrase "Skank of America" right after the big bailout and I was bemused because up until Friday February 5th and Sunday February 7th 2010 I had not received that ever so personal touch (that resonated like a cheap shot kick to the crotch) that only Skank of America can deliver so adeptly.
I have been a loyal Skank of America customer since 1998. I have always paid my monthly bills on time and always paid more than the required monthly payment. Frankly, like many of you I dislike dealing with credit cards and the banks that issue them but in the realities and complexities of 21st century American life they have become a necessary evil- with the operative syllables being E-VIL… but I digress. One can NOT rent a car, or hotel room or purchase neither a plane ticket nor shop on the Internet without one of these "modern conveniences." So when you are made an offer you may not refuse, one must submit one's self to these "non choices."
My story begins with my charging the annual maintenance fee on my time-share in St. Martin to my Skank of America Visa card. When this month's bill showed up I was chagrined to find that I was charged a $16.38 "Foreign Transaction Fee" even though I had sent the bill back to Miami, Florida, USA as I had done for ten previous years, without having seen this charge before. Being a Virgo I always check each item on my bills meticulously. Mind you this was not a great sum of money but inquiring minds want to know. I also noticed that the bill adjusted my (what I thought was a) fixed APR to 3.5 points higher with the following disclaimer, "Includes Periodic rate Finance Charges and Transaction Fee Charges that results in an APR which exceeds the Corresponding APR above." WTF?
So I called the 1/800 number and after spending ten minutes or so dealing with the inherent joys of navigating through many computer menus I finally reached a real person named Ryan (they never give last names even though they ask you what your mother's maiden name is and every other bit of personal information about you) and inquired about these two anomalies. Ryan of course said that VISA, not Skank of America was responsible for that Foreign Transaction Fee and basically Pontius Piloted the whole thing. Ryan then informed me that the FTF of $16.38 was what changed my APR just for this month and my other charges for this month were assigned my usual APR but that it was no longer a fixed rate but a variable rate. I informed Ryan that I had not been informed of this and Ryan informed me that Skank of America had informed me on 7/12/09, which coincidentally was when I was in St. Martin last summer. I don't recall seeing neither any phone message on my answering machine nor any mail in my mailbox informing me of such change upon my return. Ryan said that perhaps I would like to speak to someone in finance who could address these issues more clearly. Foolishly I agreed to speak to someone in finance forgetting the stories I had heard about people who had called Skank of America to complain and what had happened to them.
After holding for five minutes or so and listening to 1984 type mindspeak ads telling me how wonderful Skank of America is I was finally connected to Chris (also no last name) who asked me all sorts of personal questions again to verify who I was for my protection. Chris went on to explain how lucky I was that the prime rate had stayed the same so that my variable rate had still stayed at a seemingly fixed level but that was just the way Skank of America does business now; they no longer offer fixed rates, so in essence take it or leave it.
Chris went on to ask me more personal specific questions about my income and then said to me, "I can't help you on the Foreign Transaction Fee and I can't help you on the variable rate but what I can do for you is to lower your credit line by 20,000 dollars." WTF?!?!? I thought. Am I hearing this right? How is this helping me? At this point I had only about 1,500 dollars of credit available to me instead of $20,000 ?!?!? Now I am not a deadbeat and have religiously paid all of my bills without ever being delinquent and now I'm being treated like scum? There was no further rational discussion possible with Chris at this time. He had made his unilateral and arbitrary decision and it was final. He then said, “Thanks for calling us have a nice day.” I was miffed and I thought of the Groucho Marx quote, "I don't want to be member of any club that would have me as a member." So I would just not use my Skank of America card unless I had no other choice. So be it- but the plot thickens.
On February 7th my wife, Debi, wanted to go shopping before the BIG Super Bowl to buy some furniture to fill in the empty space left by the piano which we had shipped down to our daughter, Jamie, who lives in Maryland. We never seemed to have had enough seating in the den so we thought it was a good idea. So on the way back from CostCo we stopped at a nice furniture store on RTE 27's service road and looked around. Finally Debi decided on two chairs and we proceeded to the check out only to discover that the nice store no longer used American Express. The price was under $1500 so we decided to use the dreaded Skank of America card and pay it off on full as if it were American Express when the bill came, as we wanted to have a buffer for emergencies in case American Express is not accepted. Well, when the card came back declined Debi got a little embarrassed and I got a little annoyed. The nice people at the store called the 1/800 number and after navigating through computer menus again I spoke to John (who gave me his last name but he was just reading from a script so I don't want to blame him) who said my credit limit was $500 but he could help me and approve this charge if I agreed to pay a $39.00 "going over limit fee." By now the smoke must have been coming out of my ears but I stayed calm and asked if he were kidding me? Now mind you - it's not the money here- it is the principle. Two days ago I had $20,000 available and now I have only $500, not even the $1500 Chris from finance had told me?? WTF?? So I asked John if this was the same Skank of America that we taxpayers bailed out last year and is this the way they show their appreciation to the middle class taxpayers who had helped them out? I also told John that he could please tell his superiors to take this card and to shove it where the sun does not shine as I will be paying off the entire sum I owe on this card by the summer and then canceling it. John told me that he was sorry that I felt that way.
The nickel and diming of America- is this what we have to look forward to? The story has a happy ending as the nice furniture store agreed to try to use my American Express Gold card and it worked just fine. Today as I read Newsday I found the following Editorial interesting. This was printed on the editorial page A29 of Newsday 2/8/10
"Bank of America Probe- Did executives bilk us out of millions?
Taxpayers deserve to know if Bank of America executives misled Washington to get billions of taxpayer dollars for their crisis driven merger with Merrill Lynch."

Please pick up a copy of Newsday or go to Newsday.com to see the rest of this editorial to understand that Bank of America is not only screwing me, but also screwing you whether you know it or not. My interaction is but the microcosm of this company's macrocosm that affects all of us Americans! My experience is but the tip of the iceberg of miasma that this company spews.
We cannot stop Skank of America from initiating its evil policies but we can choose not to be a part of them. I urge all of you who are reading this to not only liquidate and cancel your accounts with Skank of America as soon as it is feasible, but also to share this information with everyone you know so we can tell this bank that is "too big to fail" that we no longer support them. The only language these corporations understand is money, so if we withdraw our money and no longer use their services, perhaps then Skank of America will change their heinous policies and stop nickel and diming us and start serving us instead of themselves. We don't need them- they need us. If they decide not to change-then on an individual level we will no longer be affected by them. It will be up to the government and the judicial department to stop Skank of America from continuing to cheat us on a global level. That's the news and my skewed views. What are your views?

Rubber Duckie

2010-01-07T08:21:00.004-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! Here is a video of Brooke taken over Christmas vacation at Adam's Rib restaurant on Kent Island. She is very excited about her being a big sister in March when the new baby comes.

Debi rides with Zimmer Knees

2009-06-25T09:41:00.004-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! Here is Debi competing at a horse show. She has two artificial knees made by Zimmer

Dolans Do it Again

2009-06-01T06:58:00.006-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! After screwing up Cablevison (monopoly for over 30 years) and The Knicks (why care about having a winning team when you sell out the house every night anyway?) as well as Madison Square Garden & The Beacon Theatre (allowing Ticketmaster and others to "scalp" tickets), now the Dolans (who recently bought Newsday) are putting their unique reverse Midas touch on Newsday.
Did anyone else notice that the "new and improved" Newsday is almost two inches smaller? It's bad enough that the Dolans decided to do away with the editorial page, comments and other Op/Ed articles (like political cartoons) on Mondays, but now they give us a physically smaller paper as well.
Well, when you are the only game in town (see Knicks above) you can do what you want with impunity because there are no alternatives. Many former Cablevison users (myself included) switched to satellite TV, like DirecTV, because we had a choice. Hiding behind the PC collective jargon of "going green" and "saving the planet," the Dolans have left us no choice in regard to Newsday. It is the only Long Island paper. Sure there are The NY Times, The Daily News and The Ruppert Murdoch controlled NY Post and Wall Street Journal, but those papers are more about the city and less about Long Island.
The Dolans prevaricate that "less" is "more." Today's new Newsday wasn't any thicker, did not have any more pages, but was almost two inches smaller. It feels more like a magazine weekly paper like the Enquirer than a real newspaper. Perhaps it was only my edition but many of my pages had very light print that made it difficult to read. Are the Dolans scrimping on ink as well?
The Dolans say "green" but perhaps it is a typo and they really mean "Greed," because the Dolans have always been all about the "Benjamins." Again Long Islanders are held captive by a monopoly that only cares about making money.
I am thinking about canceling my subscription to Newsday and just getting my information from the internet?! However, perhaps this is exactly what the Dolans want. You read many things about the death of the print medium, perhaps this is just step one of the Dolans' (and others like Ruppert Murdoch’s) insidious plan to end this medium that has served us well since Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 15th century. Who needs big newspapers anymore anyway when you can learn all you need to know on the 2 x 3 inch screen on your wireless phone? O Brave New World you are upon us! "We have met the enemy and it is us!"
That's the news and my skewed views. What are your views?

R U Sh***ing Me?

2008-11-21T11:21:00.006-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! Joe Lieberman not only supported John McCain but ol' turncoat Joe actively campaigned for McCain and joined Sarah Palin in spreading lies, non-truths, distortions and out and out mendacities against Barack Obama. As Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee he virtually let Bush and the other republicans run rough shod over our constitution. He was so ineffective he not only did NOT investigate the mishandling of Hurricane Katrina, but also stood by silently when former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales fired federal attorneys for NOT being partisan in their decisions. In other words, here is a man who is not only as inept as George Bush but also who betrayed his party by actively supporting John McCain, and what was his punishment? He is able to keep his powerful chairmanship and go on as business as usual as if nothing happened!?!?! What the f**?!?!?!

I know that the democrats are hoping to get the 60 seat filibuster proof senate, but that is simply not going to happen in the real world. Maybe in the Field of Dreams of wishful thinking this is a valid supposition, but in the harsh sepia tones of a reality based decision making process it just will not pan out. Sure seven times convicted felon Ted Stevens was narrowly defeated in Alaska bringing the magic number to 56 with two independents, one of whom is Lieberman the snake. However, at this point it looks like Al Franken will not get the Minnesota senate seat. Do you really think that Georgia will let an incumbent republican be defeated by a democrat? It's time to put away those pipe dreams and make decisions based on reality.

The reality is even if all of the pieces should fall together and the democrats have 58 senators with two independents (counting Joe, the weasel, Lieberman) you can only count on Joe Lieberman doing what he thinks is best for himself at any given time. As the mangled quote by Bush really goes, "Fool me once shame on you, but fool me twice shame on me!" Joe Lieberman has again and again proven himself to be totally unreliable. If he were effective as a chairman, that would be another story, but he has the spine of a jellyfish. He has sat by and watched all of the Bush/Cheney atrocities go by without even a whimper of protest.

I know Barack Obama wants to be seen as the president of fairness and change and he wants to unite the country and heal its Bush wounds, but he must get rid of the dead weight. Lieberman is not only dead weight, but also a traitor to his party and a traitor to his state of Connecticut. It is time to say "goodbye!" to Lyin' Joe and move on. Joe, we know you for the scumbucket you are. You're not gonna change. Good riddance to bad baggage. Let's strip this backstabbing sleazebag of his committee chairmanship and send his sorry butt packing to his real party, the republicans. He is a wolf in sheep's clothing at best and a lying ineffective scoundrel at worst.

That's the news and my skewed views. What are your views?

My New Heroes-Barack Obama and Rachel Maddow

2008-11-17T09:20:00.007-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! I have two new heroes: Barack Obama and Rachel Maddow. Each has shown me something very special and both have restored my faith in this country.

Let's start with President elect Barack Obama. He ran a great campaign and rose over the mud slings and arrows that were slung at him by John McCain, Sarah Palin, Bill O'Reilly and (fair and balanced) Fox news--NOT!!--and the GOP, Karl Rove et al. Barack restored HOPE to me and many other Americans as we were on the brink of despair after almost eight years of the Bush debacle. Thank God Bush only has sixty three days left as of today and I hope and pray that he does not screw up any more things. Bush has trashed the economy, squandered the good will of other nations after 9/11, raised global warming and has just about made the USA a third world nation by his gross incompetence, malfeasance and general ineptitude. History will recall him as "THE WORST PRESIDENT EVER!!!

You may have noticed that I have not been writing any political commentaries since April as I have been too distraught to put words together without a stream of expletives defining how I felt about the state of our once great Nation. Thanks to Barack's huge victory I am able to feel comfortable again. I know that this country has a deep hole to climb out of, but at least in sixty four days we will no longer be tunneling in a downward spiral. Things were so bad that if Barack had not been elected, Debi and I were seriously considering moving to France as ex-patriots. Nevertheless, HOPE springs eternal and we are assuaged to think that "America's best days are ahead."

Thank you Barack!!

My other new hero (or is heroine PC?) is Rachel Maddow. By no means am I a news junkie. During the Gulf War I watched CNN back in the day when it was fair and balanced. Lately CNN has become Fox lite for me. My friend and mentor Special Ed, turned me on to MSNBC. I'm still not a Chris Matthews fan (too loud) and I like Keith Oberman's Countdown, but Rachel Maddow is the real deal. She's smart (Rhodes Scholar like Clinton) and snarky. She expresses what I am thinking. I now actually enjoy watching the news because MSNBC reports the news as I see it. I used to get most of my news from Comedy Central's The Daily Show with John Stewart (Stephen Colbert also yells too much for me on his sardonic Colbert Report) and The Bill Maher show and that says something about the state of affairs of our networks broadcasts. The networks seem to focus more on "Enter-Fame-ment" than real news. I am tired of the lead news story being about Lindsey Lohan or Britney Spears. That's not news to me. It is also sad that I have had to rely on Rolling Stone magazine to tell me the real news that the Rupert Murdoch newspapers do not seem fit to print. Some examples are RFK Jr.'s reporting of election and voting abuse and Matt Taibbi's sharp Op/Ed pieces. The only other news I found to be useful are Maureen Dowd's NY Times Sunday Op/Ed column.

The Rachel Maddow show is a breath of fresh air. It is on MSNBC daily Mon-Fri from 9-10 PM EST (or EDT in the other season). You should check her out. She tells it like I want to hear it. I have only discovered her since election day (what a great day this year) but she has had her own show since August. Perhaps if I had tuned into her sooner, I would have been able to overcome my Bush expletive complex and possibly had been able to free my soul to write before now.

Thank you, Rachel!

"Free at last, free at last!" Thanks to my two new heroes I feel that I am free at last!

Well, that's the news and my skewed views. What are your views?

Only in Bush's "Amerika"

2008-04-01T09:53:00.010-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! Whatever happened to Freedom of Speech? Did the First Amendment to the Constitution in the Bill of Rights get exported to Iraq with all of the billions of dollars weekly out of OUR taxpayer money?

Eighty year old former soldier and Catholic Newspaper editor Ron Zirkel, was arrested at the Smithhaven Mall in Lake Grove, Long Island, New York on Saturday, March 29, 2008 for wearing a Tee-Shirt. (see picture left). I could see that if this had happened today, on April Fool's Day, that it may have been considered a joke, but you know what, it's not funny! It's scary! Are you freakin' kidding me? After being asked by security guards at the Mall to turn the shirt inside out while eating at the food court or leave, Mr. Zirkel refused and was handcuffed and taken away by wheelchair to be booked and processed for criminal trespassing and resisting arrest, Resisting arrest! Look at the picture! How much of a resistance could this frail man put up? Mr. Zirkel was taken away in a wheel chair. How is that resisting?

Certainly one should NOT be allowed to wear obscenity on Tee-shirts in public places. I've yet to see anyone wearing one of those prolific double-entendre "Johnson" Tee-shirts asked to turn them inside out at the Mall. The only thing OBSCENE is the war itself. The four thousandth US Soldier was killed in Iraq on Easter Sunday--somewhat ironic, yes? That's double the amount murdered at the World Trade Center on NINE ONE ONE. It seems that the cure is more deadly than the disease. There are over a million Iraqis dead. . THIS IS WHAT IS OBSCENE!!! Just about the only people who think that the Iraq war is a good thing are Lil Bush, (check out the cartoon on Comedy Central Network) Darth Cheney and Mr. McCain and about 30% of the population. Clearly a two third majority of the American Public think the Iraq War if not OBSCENE, is at least wrong. Click on the link to see and hear Darth Cheney's response when asked about how he feels about the American Vox Populi's opinions about the war being a bad thing.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/19/cheney-poll-iraq/

It's bad enough that our Fourth American Rights of illegal Search and Seizure have been stripped from us by the Orwellian misnomered "Patriot Act." Do we now have to give up our First Amendment rights as well? It seems that the only Amendment this administration guarantees is the Second Amendment and you can bet that the NRA's more than generous contributions to various political war chests had something to do with that.

Lil' Bush constantly rattles on that the main reason for our invading Iraq (now that the WMD connection and links of Saddam Hussein and Al-Queda have been proven to be so false and full of lies and holes in the story that not even Lil' Bush believes it--Darth Cheney still believes)is to bring them democracy. Lil Bush has said that the Iraqies love freedom and Al-Queda hates freedom. How can he be so hypocritical? How can he on one hand, claim to be establishing Democracy in Iraq, while on the other hand, be curtailing Democracy in the US of A by stripping hitherto before FREE Americans of their First and Fourth Amendment Rights?

I was watching the HBO special on John Adams (part 4) Sunday night and I was very moved by David Morse's portrayal of George Washington as he took the oath of office to be installed as our first president. Washington said that he would protect the constitution to his best ability and I then I had an epiphany of sorts about Lil' Bush. Perhaps the words. "to the best of my ability" show us why the economy is in the crapper,(the Canadian Loonie is worth more than two US dollars) and BS slogans like "Mission Accomplished" ring hollow. The comic Chris Rock when asked "Is the country ready for a Black president?" responded, "Why not? It was ready for a retard one!"

I never thought that Lil' Bush was the sharpest tool in the shed. Tool, yes! But sharp? I don't think so. After all, how do you lose money running an oil corporation? Lil' Bush found a way to do it. Lil' Bush seems to have the opposite of the King Midas touch. Everything he touches turns to crap, not gold. Maybe, after all, he is just doing things "to the best of his ability."

One can only hope and pray that cooler and more intelligent heads will prevail and the bogus and obscene charges against Mr.Zirkel will be dropped, the Lil' Bush tax cuts for the very rich will expire, the Alternate Minimum Tax will be abolished, the Patriot Act will be abolished, and a democrat will win the oval office in November and get us the hell out of Iraq as quickly as it is feasibly possible. So remember, kidz, when it comes down to Election Day in November (hundreds of minutes of Swift boat lies in political ads away from now) the choice is very simple despite all of the BS clutter thrown in to confuse you; vote Republican (McCain) to continue the war in Iraq and continue bleeding money from America for the next 100 years or so, or vote Democratic and end the War and get our democratic rights back and to start putting OUR money back into this country again!

That's the news and my skewed views. What are you views?

Spitzer Swallow-Is it Hubris or Stupidity?

2008-03-19T15:35:00.005-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits!Are you freakin' kidding me? Just when you thought that the republicans had cornered the market on hypocrisy, the self-proclaimed "f**ckin steamroller" governor proves the naysayers wrong. Why is it that all of those republicans like, Larry Craig et al, who condemned homosexuality are now proven to be gay? How come Eliot Spitzer, who came out with guns blasting against prostitution, spent over $80,000 dollars on call girls over the past seven years?

The tough guv even warned those who laundered illicit funds, that all deposits and withdrawals over $10,000 would be tracked, and didn't he do just that? He boldly told anyone who would listen, never put anything into an e-mail or a text message, but yet that was just how client #9 of the high falutin' Emperors Club VIP was caught!

As the songwriter Jonathan Edwards sang, "Is it peace, or is it Prozac?" What was he thinking? Did he think that he was above the law (HUBRIS)? Or did he think that he was just smarter than everyone else and since he had been doing it for so long that he would never get caught (STUPIDITY)? What about his lovely wife? She's a beauty and Eliot sort of looks like a taxicab with its doors open if you look at his ears. Why would a man look somewhere else when he has a beautiful intelligent wife? I guess that's the age-old question answered by the world's oldest profession.

So the guv swallowed his pride and spit out his guts and apologized and resigned because allegedly what he did, was not only immoral, but also illegal. He was a "john" in cop parlance and he may also be guilty of the Mann act in transporting a prostitute across state lines (New York to Washington D.C.) So here we have a man who railed against prostitution found guilty of the same crime he spoke out against. Hypocrisy rules.

So on St. Patrick's Day, Lt Governor David Paterson was sworn in as NY's first African American and legally blind governor. Just when you think things have quieted down and we're back to a NY State of normality… BOOM!!-- in a NY Minute-- Paterson drops the bombshell of his and his wife's infidelities during a rough patch in their marriage from 1999-2001, but all is better now. They forgave each other and went to counseling and they both promised never to do it again. You can't make this s**t up!

The NY spin-meisters say that the Patersons will be forgiven because what they did was personal and not illegal (like Spitzer whom they all condemned.) It's too bad that the same personal "get out of jail free card" was not granted President Clinton and we had to waste millions of dollars in taxpayer money on impeachment hearings. Why is it that the republicans who are allegedly so against BIG GOVERNMENT wasted millions on impeachment and now billions and trillions on Iraq? But that's another blog for another time.

I hope that you now feel as safe and secure in NY as I do, knowing that our state leaders are so forthright and honest.

That's the news and my skewed views. Have a Happy Easter (if you celebrate it or Happy Passover next month if you don't) and what are your views?

Destiny Dissects Dynasty: NY Giants End NE Patriots Streak!

2008-02-04T12:42:00.000-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! Giants are Super ! What can I say? If you saw the game, you saw Eli Manning's magical scramble and David Tyree's circus catch at 1:15 to go in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LXII. Freakin' AWESOME!

I predicted that it would be close. I predicted that the Giants would win. Right on both counts and oh so sweet! This was better than Super Bowl III because it was not only so close, but also it stopped the perfect season of a team that most of America felt should win. It's only fitting that NY The city --(actually New Jersey if you count the Meadowlands) comes full circle in the dissection of a dynasty: from Spy-gate in week one of the season (Belacheat et al caught cheating on the NY Jets),to the Super Bowl victory of the NY Giants. The 1972 Miami Dolphins can rest easy for another year. I loved that Reeboks commercial on the NFL network that shows the delivery of the Super Bowl LXII game ball to the retired 1972 Dolphins with a note from Eli and the Giants.

The Giants have closure. I had predicted retribution over the Cowboys (done), the Packers (done), and now the Patriots (well done!)What a super end to a super season!

Da Boyz and I, though few in number were satisfied in spirit. We never gave up and except for Deadhead Mike, never had any doubts. Ken's and Jen's awesome New England Clam Chowder and Boston Butt pork sliders prevailed. At the start of the second half I turned on my lucky Giants night light (gift from fellow Giants fan and son-in-law, Maryland Kevin)while newbee to Da Boyz Frank sat in his touchdown seat and Deadhead Mike wanted to know if I had 911 on my speed dial as he thought it was too intense to watch, while our Giants came through. After Bella-cheat left the field, Peter broke out the very special Tequila and we partied like it was 1991. Though we missed Special Ed, Whitey, Shifty Al, Chris and Joe, we drank enough for all of them.

So to all you naysayers and non-believers out there like that IME doctor in Commack whose name sounds like a frankfurter I say loudly arrogantly and yes even a little belligerently, "Hah! I told you so!" and "Na, na, na, na, na!"

To all you doubting Thomases like MilesofDavis and Yonkers Steve in Maryland I say,"You Gotta believe!"--the old Mets mantra and because both of you are Mets fans you know what I mean. Go Santana, and I don't mean Carlos.

To all you Jets fans (Bonzo Bro and Shorty) and fellow Patriot/Boston haters I say, "Welcome aboard and thanks for helping to root the Giants to victory."

To DrDes from Boston who called me up after the Patriots scored their first touchdown to ask me how the game was going I say, "Thanks for being gracious enough to call me up at the end of the game and congratulate me and the NY Giants. I would not have called you to gloat and here's to our ongoing rivalry." There's only a few weeks till catchers and pitchers show up for Spring training and The Red Sox and Yankees begin vying for first place. May the best team win.

And last but not least, I would like to thank my lovely wife, SpEdTester, for putting up with me and Da Boyz all season and being a really great sport in helping set up and clean up. To quote Ralph Kramden, "Baby yer da greatest!"

So, now that football is over this blog will turn back to politics and then of course, America's past time, and then back to the BIG 2008 election.

That's the news and my skewed views. Thanks for playing along, what are your views?

NY Giants Super Fan Contest

2008-01-28T10:51:00.000-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! Well, it looks like that at this time I am not gonna be a winner with the Newsday.com Giants Super Fan Contest. Thanks to all of you who voted for me and those of who who tried to vote for over the week end when Newsday's server was down (how convenient!) Of course I had delusions of grandeur, but those were soon trampled on when I noticed that Newsday was publishing photos in their Giant super fan section of Newsday, the newspaper, of people whose photos were NOT even in the Newsday web site section where you could vote for people!?! It sounds like the 2000 presidential election all over again.

Nevertheless, it was fun and I exchanged some nice comments with some awesome real Giants fans. I guess I am still in the running for the two tickets to the super bowl online contest, if that isn't rigged as well. I wanted to enter in the coupon that was supposed to be delivered in my Sunday Newsday home delivery, but after tearing apart every section of my Sunday Newsday yesterday, I found that the promised coupon was not there. Did my home delivery carrier scarf it up? Hmmm. I contemplated going to the store to buy another Newsday, but cooler heads prevailed and when you know the deck is stacked against you, the smart move is to know when to fold your cards.

As bummed as I am about not winning anything: no super bowl tickets (FFC! right?) or even a little local recognition, I am gratified with the knowledge that perhaps my little losses may ultimately contribute to a big Giant win this Sunday in Super Bowl LXII. Da Boyz who WILL be showing up are : Moi, Deadhead Mike, Peter and Frank. Special Ed is busy packing for a ski trip to the Rockies leaving on 2/4/08 @ 6:00, so he sez he can't come. As Deadhead Mike said, "Dude, why not pack earlier in the day?" However it seems that Special Ed will not be diverted to party with Da Boyz. As stated in the last blog, Whitey will be partying with his son in NJ and Joe will be in Philly.

I'll be stopping by Piping Plover Cafe on Thursday (as per usual-no need to break my superstitious routine) and order the NE Clam Chowder and see what else Ken and his lovely fiancee, Jen, have cooked up for us to devour the Patsies. So far the results have been spectacular thanks to the titillating and scrumptious food.

This morning I watched the stuff I had TiVo-ed this week end from the NFL network on highlights from Super Bowls III, XXI, and XXV. On a side note I had Boyz weekend with my brother and nephew in Dobbs Ferry. They are both HUGE Cowboys fans, but they'll be rootin' for the good guyz, that is THE NY GIANTS, for Super Bowl LXII. We watched a lot of action and adventure DVDs and ate a lot of junk food while our girls were at some kind of a murder mystery deal out on Montauk this past weekend.

These NFL Films shows were three half hour programs overloaded with commercials so that there was probably 15-20 minutes of actual football talk. They were over produced with a Lord of The Rings meets Rocky Balboa type dramatic musical score and voice overs by a Don Pardo sounding commentator.Those were my negative comments.

The Positive stuff is that it was great to see a young Joe Willie (Whiteshoes) Namath fulfill his guarantee of a Jet victory in Super Bowl III. BTW my boy Joe Willie predicts a Giants victory this week end, but is not guaranteeing it because he's not playing. On January 12th, 1969 I was sitting in a college dorm room back at my ol' alma mater, SUNY Stony Brook, surrounded by about 15 Colts fans watching the game on a tiny black and white TV. I tried to emulate Joe Willie by boastfully telling these Colts fans that the Jets were gonna win. They all asked me if I wanted to bet and they gave me five to one odds on twenty dollars (which was a lot of money for me back then).Needless to say that come half time, when I asked them if they wanted to double their bets, I shamed them into doing so and at the end of the game after I got paid (they all had to chip in) I had to run back to my room and lock the door because they were all gonna kick my butt because I continued to laugh at them and taunt them. As you can see, I've always had a BIG mouth. George Chero (a BIG guy I played football with at Stony Brook who tried to take my head off when he lost and because I just wouldn't shut up), if you are out there reading this somewhere all I can say is, "I was right then, and I'm gonna be right this Sunday night!"

Super Bowl XXI in January 1987 brought me back from the funk I was in after my first wife, Sabrina, and I had split up. Peter, Deadhead Mike and Joe and maybe even Chris were there to watch Phil Simms set some completion records. The Tuna was an awesome coach who had trained both Tom Coughlin and Bill Belacheat. The Giants were supposed to defeat the Broncos and they did. Back then I really needed this victory and the Giants came through for us again.

Super Bowl XXV, January 1991 occurred right after my Mom had succumbed to a long slow battle with lung cancer in December 1990. As it turned out my Dad would follow the same excruciatingly slow path to death in May of 1991. …STOP!!! I need to proselytize here for just a moment. Back in the day when my folks became addicted to cigarettes it did not say on the package, "Smoking this WILL KILL YOU!" So if you are still smoking today, stop today before you do die of lung cancer. Back to the blog…Again the Giants and Tuna came through for us. To this day DA BOYZ (Special Ed, Peter, Deadhead Mike, Joe, Chris, Swifty AL, and Moi remember the words, "Scott Norwood, wide right!"

Now before I digress yet again, let me get back to the whole point of this blog. For Super Bowls III, XXI, and XXV (don't ask me how but…)I knew the Jets, and Giants, respectively, would win. I did not have that same feeling when the Giants lost to the Ravens. Things were good for me that year and I didn't really need a lift. This year, things have been a little stressful for me and DA BOYZ and without going into a lot of details about our health problems, let it be sufficed to say that we really NEED the Giants victory this year.

So, let my little disappointments with Newsday and all of DA BOYZ respective problems be laid down on the altar of sacrifice to help propel our Giants to victory this Sunday night in Arizona for Super Bowl XLII. I feel like Bill Murray at the end of the film "Scrooged" when he can just taste and feel the spirit of Christmas. I can feel and taste the victory of the New York Giants. It is destiny! GO BIG BLUE! MAKE IT SO!

That's the news and my skewed views. What are your views?

We're Going to the Super Bowl

2008-01-22T09:14:00.001-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! One picture is worth a thousand words. What a roller coaster of a Giant's game, eh? How 'bout the "winning" touchdown called back and the interception fumble? Shee-it!! After his missing the last two field goals the boyz (Deadhead Mike, Whitey, and Frank--Special Ed was in Key West watching the game from Duval Street, but Peter {from Pete's car as he left to go home because it was just too darn exciting to watch} actually said Tynes was gonna make it ) and I had zero confidence in Tynes' 47 yarder. We expected another chip shot. It was so nice to be surprised. We celebrated with several rounds of Tequila shots.

We're going to the Super bowl! (Figuratively, that is). This is for all of you nattering nabobs of negativity naysayers out there, including that "wonderful" Orthopedic doctor who examined me for an IME for my court case, who made me wait two hours to be examined after Debi's and my 55 mile, one and a half hour ride one way to Commack yesterday (--but I digress -that's another ordeal of a story.) Not only are we (meaning our NY Giants) going to the Super Bowl, but we (again the NY Giants) are gonna win the big game. Why? Because it is destiny of the designers in the year of the underdog.

The bratwursts, kielbasa, and knockwurst and assorted Wisconsin cheeses (I gotta admit Ken, I didn't know that Brie was a Wisconsin cheese before)from Ken's and Jen's Piping Plover Cafe sure helped out, just like last week's Texas chili helped beat the Cowboys. I know you have some New England Clam Chowder and Boston Baked Beans lined up for February 3rd along with an awesome surprise entree. I'm savoring the moments on all levels right now.

Since the big awesome last game of the season where we (the Giants, that is) almost beat the supposedly unbeatable Patriots (but for one errant pick off of our boy Eli)the crew here has rotated a few times. On Super Sunday, Whitey will be in New Jersey with his bud, The Snake, and his son playing cards, listening to the Stones and getting liquored up watching our Giants win. Special Ed will be back from Florida so he'll be here. Frank, a big Yankee fan, has caught the Giants bug and will be here rooting for the Giants. Deadhead Mike (or is it Free Range Mike this time---Mr.Pessimistic as we lovingly call him) will be here with his Fred Sanford imitation, "Here comes the big one, I can't take this excitement." Peter will still be here from Oregon and parts West. Peter came in late Friday night before the big Packers game and his presence gave Tynes' OT kick that little special something he needed to split the uprights. Joe who had promised to come by for the playoffs will be rooting the Giants in, from of all places, Philadelphia. Even Brother Bill and my nephew Eric, rabid Cowboy fans, will be cheering for the Giants to break the streak. MilesofDavis and his son Jonathan (who bleeds Giants blue like I do) and also Yonkers Steve from Maryland and his two sons, and my son-in-law Kevin (New Jersey born but in Maryland now)along with my seven month old granddaughter Brooke and her mom, Jamie, will be watching as the Giants win Super Bowl forty two.

I have had the good fortune to have watched ALL forty one prior games. My special preparations will of course be to check in with the Ken-meister to make sure we have the correct menu to devour the Patriots. I'll also need to check with my awesome wife, Debi, to let her know when Tom Petty comes on ( WE LOVE TOM PETTY & The Heartbreakers) for half time--Debi is of course rooting for the Giants because if I'm happy she's happy, but there is just too much testosterone and sometimes, shall I say, "salty language" for her to watch the game with us. She's our half time food provider. I'm assuming the Giants will be wearing white, so in that case I'll be wearing my white #80 Shockey jersey. If for some reason Big Blue is in blue, I cannot wear my #72 blue Osi jersey as it has not been too lucky for me this home season. Instead I will wear my #10 red Manning jersey which so far is 2 for 3 this year (the misstep in our home cowboy loss) and 2-0 in the playoffs.

I'll also be wearing my lucky Giants sweatpants which were last washed after their last loss (NE at Giants week 17 for game 16--How exactly does that work where the numbers don't match up? Oh yeah an extra week to sell more advertising, duh!") I have the lucky multi colored socks from that awesome Super Bowl where the words "Scott Norwood-wide right" rang in our ears as Special Ed started randomly calling people up in Buffalo asking if they were watching the game), lucky earring (blue and red from New Mexico) lucky red shoes (they look like slippers but they're really not, Deadhead Mike!)Lucky purple silk boxers (yeah I know TMI, but luck is luck.)

A wise old man once said that "Luck was the residue of design." I believe that this rings especially true with our Giants this year. Almost everyone (not Terry Bradshaw in Sunday's pre game prognostications)keeps writing them off. All I can say is Patriots, be afraid, be very afraid, your worst nightmare is getting ready to come true.

That's the news and my skewed views. What are your views?

CAVEAT EMPTOR!!

2008-01-18T13:08:00.000-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! Many of you who know me or have read my blogs know that I am a die hard NY Giants fan who bleeds Giants Blue. What an incredible ride so far this year. Last Sunday when the NY Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys I was in heaven. My brother, Bill, as you may well know, is as huge a Cowboys fan as I am a Giants fan so the game meant a little more to me than usual.

So last Sunday there I was sitting next to my buddy, Deadhead Mike, with one minute or so left in the first half and said, "The Giants are gonna get a touchdown and tie it up." Deadhead Mike (make that Free Range Mike now) always the pessimist said,"It's gonna be 21-7 Dallas going into halftime."

Nevertheless, with one minute or so left in the 4th quarter I said, "The Giants are gonna get a pick in the end zone and win." Free Range Mike's response was "Romo is gonna throw a touchdown." My friends, Whitey, Peter, Ed and I wonder if Dead Head Mike is really a Giants fan.

This week I went to Piping Plover deli and ordered bratwurst and sauerkraut and Wisconsin cheese to eat up The Packers. It seemed that last week's order of Texas chili from Ken's Plover helped. My dream is for Payback time. First the Cowboys (done, one down) then to send the Packers packing (this Sunday) and finally to make Patsies out of Bill Bell-a-cheat and the Patriots in the Superhype Bowl and wreck their otherwise perfect season. Shoulda happened in week 16 but for one errant Eli interception.

But I digress. I always try to wear some lucky gear when I watch a game. I ain't superstitious but a black cat crossed my path. Earlier in the season I went to my local Modell's (gotta go to Mo's) and purchased a NY Giants sideline 1st half season one size fits all cap. I had the same cap the players were wearing on the bench.You know the one with the red, white and blue stripes.

As it got cold I saw the players wearing the red with the white stripe wool winter hat. So I went to Mo's, but no go. Finally I ordered it online from NFL.com on 12/14/07. I checked the box that said overnight delivery from Fed Ex/ UPS. On 12/15/07 I received an e-mail saying it was out of stock. On 12/21/07 I received another e-mail saying it was in stock and would be shipped by USPS overnight. Days go by and I kept plugging the source number into the alleged USPS tracking site only to see the response "Item to be delivered received on 12/22/07. This does not constitute a confirmation of delivery" notice.

Christmas and New Year's came and went to the point I was so distracted by family and friends (in a good way)that I forgot to think about my order. Then on January 8th, 2008 a smashed up package appeared on my doorstep with the following message stamped on it: "Item delivered to this Post Office damaged and opened." The box looked like it had been run over by a USPS truck. I squeezed the box to make it look like a box rather than a squashed pumpkin and noticed the tape on the side had split. My first thought was that some nefarious no-goodnik saw the NFL logo on the box, smashed it open, and stole my hat. But fortunately, the hat was inside along with the bill and because it was a flat wool hat was virtually undamaged.

So where is all of this going to you may ask? It is said that lightning never strikes in the same place twice, but this is not true. George Santayana once said, "Those who refuse to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it." In other words, "Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on me!" So, on January 14th, 2008, the day after the exciting Giants' victory described above, I wanted one of those second season sidelines red with white stripes NY Giants caps (pictured above)that Eli and crew were wearing at the Dallas game. Just for luck.

So I go to Mo's, and again no go. Okay, I know the game, so I go to NFL.com--no go. I go to NY Giants.com--no go. I go to Modells.com--no go. I go to SportsAuthority.com--no go. Finally I think why not just go to google.com? So I plugged in NY Giants second season sideline cap and the first twenty-five hits of 5,292 in 3.6 seconds showed me a bunch of NY Giants hats, but not the one pictured above that I really wanted. So I go page by page twenty-five or so at a time. I'm persistent because I really want this hat, but I start to get a little worried when I start seeing not only NY Giants baseball caps, but also SF Giants baseball caps at about hit 250 on page ten or so.

Finally, I see the hat (displayed at the top of this already too long blog)at about hit 450 or so. I click on it and find out that not only is it available, but also it's ON SALE! So I go to checkout and punch in my google pasword and I have a choice of shipping. Well, my momma didn't raise no fools so I make absolutely sure I click the second box which said "Overnight delivery by Fed Ex/UPS for $4.99." Once bitten twice sly, right? So one would expect to receive the hat the next day, right? Wrong!

The next day I received an e-mail from the vendor TailgateSports,LLC, 11901 Santa Monica Blvd. #375, Los Angeles, CA 90025 saying that my order was ready for delivery and it gave me a USPS delivery number. "Huh?" was my response. Didn't I check "Fed Ex/UPS?" I checked my e-receipt and sure enough right there in the subtotal on their freakin' receipt it read "Shipping and handling Fed Ex/ UPS overnight Express, $4.99."

I e-mailed TailgateSports,LLC on 1/15/08 but did not receive a reply. I clicked the blue hypertext USPS "alleged" tracking number and saw the response:

"Status: Electronic Shipping Info Received

The U.S. Postal Service was electronically notified by the shipper on January 15, 2008 to expect your package for mailing. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date. Delivery status information will be provided if / when available. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later."

A definition of insanity is that one continues to repeat the exact same actions expecting a different outcome. By this definition I surely must be INSANE because every time I had checked the USPS "tracking" website, I received the same useless info. I even went so far as to sign up at the USPS "tracking" website for updates to be e-mailed to me. Needless to say I had received no e-mails.

On 1/16/08 I contacted the Google checkout team support (since I had received no response from TailgateSports,LLC) and explained my displeasure with TailgateSports,LLC schlepping my shipping off to the, inadequate at best, USPS and inquired as to when I would be receiving my already one day late overnight delivery. Emily and Turner on the Google support team were awesome. We exchanged three e-mails and they said they contacted the weasels at TailgateSports,LLC and asked them to contact me. I am still awaiting a reply from TailgateSports,LLC.

This morning I actually received a viable message from the USPS tracking website when I went to their website for nth time which said that my package was received at Bethpage, NY on 1/17/08. After clicking on more detailed information button (why do you have to click on this? Why can't the USPS give you all of the pertinent info at one shot like Fed Ex and UPS do?)I found that it had arrived at 10:29 PM. It did not say when it would be delivered. I assumed it would have been delivered today, but you know what happens when you assume things. You make an "ass" out of "u" and "me."

So this afternoon my local Post Office truck pulls into my driveway with my package. Two hours later I receive an e-mail from the USPS site informing me that my package had arrived at my local post office at 9:49 AM.

Okay, here are my beefs. If you pay more for an overnight delivery shouldn't it be overnight? Why bother to give a choice for shipping if you do not honor it? Most importantly, how rude is it, not to mention bad for business, NOT to respond to customer complaints? I urge all of you out there in cyber-land, wherever you may be, in joining me to boycott this rude company-TailgateSports,LLC- with its egregious practices.LET THE BUYER BEWARE!!

That's the news and my skewed views. What are your views?

Lame Duck Resolutions-Bushwhacked by Blunders

2008-01-02T12:40:00.000-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits!

I am afraid to think of how many things Mr. Bush can screw up in the last twelve months he has left. Please do not let the NCLB blunder stay as as it is. The No Child Left Behind Act is underfunded. It does not do what it said it was supposed to do. All it does is stifle creativity and make teachers teach how to pass a test. What ever happened to the dictum "Knowledge for knowledge's sake?" As a former educator I know how horrible this law is.

If you haven't seen Michael Moore's film "Sicko" do so before your Empire Medical GHI becomes a "for Profit" institution. Contact your legislators before this becomes finalized by the end of this month. As shown in "Sicko," "for profit" translates into massive denials of approvals for medical care. The more cases that are denied, the more profits the insurance companies make.

We need to fix permanently the heinous AMT (Alternate Minimum Tax)so that it affects the very wealthy as it was originally intended for in its inception in the 70's. In the 80's then President Ronald Ray-guns tweaked the tax code. Since the AMT is not adjusted for inflation, now many middle class citizens are being denied interest on mortgage deductions and denied deductions for their high state income tax--virtually the only deductions many middle class New Yorkers and Californians (just to name a few) have. This one year fix for 2007 is only a start. We have to make sure that Mr. Bush's tax cuts for the very rich do NOT become permanent. Let the rich, and especially the super rich, pay their fair share.

Besides World Peace, (Fat F***ing Chance-with Iraq just one big money drain on our economy-no wonder Canadian money is now worth more than ours--not to mention how immoral and unethical this war based on lies is)these are my main wishes for 2008. What are yours?

Gonzales or Colonel Klink-"I know Nothing"

2007-04-25T16:34:00.000-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! How can anyone have confidence in a lawyer who
can't remember anything important? Forget about resignation, he should be impeached. Mr. Gonzales had a month to prepare for testimony and yet he answered some form of "I don't remember…I can't recall"--ad nauseum for seventy one questions!?!?!?!? Either he is a lying crook or an incompetent imbecile. It seems the White House thought that ignorance being bliss would play better than "I lied, oops!"

The fictional character, Colonel Klink, and the cartoon character, Speedy Gonzales, have more credibility than the real life Alberto Gonzales. Harriet Meiers, as ill-prepared for the job of Attorney General as she was, is looking awfully good now compared to this blathering know nothing, by his own admission. "My appointment book said I was there, but I don't remember being there," alone is grounds for impeachment.

Aren't lawyers supposed to remember things, you know cite cases and stuff? If this is supposed to be the top attorney in the country, boy are we in trouble with this nincompoop by his own admission. I remember RFK as Attorney General, standing up for civil rights and fighting organized crime. What has this Attorney General who self servingly said, "I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States," done that has shred of decency? Isn't he supposed to serve the American people? You know, us--the vox populi? He has politicized a job which is supposed to be non-partisan and non political. This is the guy who brought us his ideas that the Geneva Convention was optional and opened up the doors to mass tortures around the world. Is this the legacy WE the People want to be remembered for?

How can any sane person think that Gonzales satisfied the US Congress with his non answers. Obviously, Bush is insane if he thinks Gonzales did a great job. Bush's glowing accolades ring with his "Attaboy Brownie!" in the Katrina debacle.

It's time for The American people to stand up and repeat the words from "Network. "We're mad as Hell and we're not gonna take it anymore!"

Dump this self proclaimed moron who knows nothing. If he won't resign and Bush won't fire him, than Congress has to impeach and then convict this idiot.

That's the news and my views. What are your views?

Ignor--IMUS

2007-04-13T07:51:00.000-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! First, let me start off by saying that I am not a FAN of Talk Radio, whether it be WFAN or anything else. I have always found what these "Hosts" say to be annoying at the least and offensive at the usual, and egregious at the most. Imus's latest faux pas falls into the last category.

Whether it be Howard Stern dissing Howard K. Stern and Anna Nicole, or Opie and Anthony pranking sex in St. Pat's as funny, I just don't get it. Therefore in this country of free speech I choose not to listen to that drivel. We all have that choice. Since Howard Stern has been deemed "NOT so ready for prime time" and escaped to Satellite Radio, those who want to pay to listen to his "offbeat" comments actually pay money to do so. That's one of the things that makes free speech in America such a precious commodity, despite what Bush and his henchman, Gonzales profess.

However, those who engage in free speech over the public airwaves have a responsibility for the things they utter and there needs to be a cause and effect relationship between their freedom of speech, and the consequences it has on innocent people. Unfortunately, in this country and The UK, public figures do not have the right to privacy that we private citizens enjoy. If you are a celebrity, these shock jocks can take continual pot shots at you unless they really go over the line, like that shock jock who threatened to kidnap a fellow shock jock's child. Even the most bigoted listener agreed that this was too much.

Many have said that Imus is just the latest scapegoat in a country that condones offensive and misogynistic language in music sub cultures labeled "hip-hop" and "rap." It is true that this offensive and misogynistic language is prevalent here as well as in many violent video games. Imus is just the tip of the iceberg. All of these offensive offenses need not only to be addressed in a public forum, but also resolved nationally by all American citizens. No one should be given a literal "get out of jail free card" because the offensive language that they are using denigrates the race, sex or nationality of which they are a member. Bad is bad, period.

Some have said that if one were to check the music in the iPods that the Rutgers Women's basketball team possesses, one would find a plethora of these very words which have cost Imus his reputation and his job. (Don't worry you Imus fans out there! Imus will soon be on Satellite Radio where he can continue to say whatever ignorant thing that pops into his mind. As long as we as a nation are willing to pay for this egregious behavior, you can bet your bottom dollar that some greedy enterpriser will market it.) Sure it is a tad hypocritical for them to be offended on a personal(microcosmic) level, but on a public (macrocosmic) level they were indeed violated.

Until recently (thanks to Gonzales's rabid uber-enforcement of Bush's Orwellian labeled Patriot Act) we Americans had a sense of personal privacy. What these women listened to in the privacy of their own personal ear buds, offensive as it may be to our culture, is permissible because the only harm that was done, was to themselves and their own self-images. What Imus said over a public air wave was in a sense, an emotional rape of their gender and race. Those emotionally charged trigger words, which I won't mention here because the media has already Anna-Nicole-Smithed them ad nauseum, cut through the airwaves like an emotionally and racially charged knife of female circumcision.

Certainly, these innocent ladies deserved better than Imus's weak and self serving apology. Should he have been fired? My philosophy has always been "one is responsible for what one puts out into the world." In essence--Karma.

The sad thing is that Imus will find another venue for his vitriol and those of his ilk will pay extra money to suck the milk of his bigoted teats and grovel at his feet asking for more. His firing will not change the moral fiber of our once great nation one iota.

Many pundits have jumped on the race band wagon and have made sundry spurious correlations to the alleged Duke rape case. How convenient that these two travesties of justice should be the breaking news at the same time. Does the exoneration bring back the 395 days of agony that these families went through? We live in a country where many say one thing and practice the opposite. I guess you can say we model ourselves after our leaders. If you laugh at a racist or sexist or nationality degrading joke, you are part of the problem. It is as Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac once asked, "It's not that funny, is it?"

Only when we as a nation cover the embers of differences with the phoenix of acceptance, will we be free of the shackles of prejudice and bigotry. Crosby. Stills, Nash, and Young had it right when they said, "Teach your Children well." Bigotry is not nature; it's nurture. I would hope that I am able to see a truly United States of America in my lifetime, but occurrences like these and poor leadership from our government, makes me a bit doubtful. However, there's still a shot for our children and our children's children. If each of us can truly stop being racist and sexist in our daily practice, then we have a chance. If practicing what we preach is not possible today, then at least we can start thinking right thoughts, and then and only then, might we be able to stop encouraging, promoting, and financially supporting those who make their livings by denigrating others. It's time to ignore the ignoramuses (and Imuses) everywhere.

That's the news and my skewed views. What are your views?

Anti Social (in) Security Redux

2007-03-01T09:30:00.000-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! You would have thought that after my January Debacle with the SSA that my troubles would have been over--but you would be totally wrong. Please refer back to my January 19, 2007 blog if you don't remember that I spent five hours at the local SSA Office only to find out that all I had needed to do was to mail it in. So I paid the local office by check for a $35.00 processing fee and watched them put form SSA-7050 into an envelope along with a receipt saying that I paid the $35.OO fee. (Call her) Ginger, told me that if I did not hear anything by St. Patrick's day (six to eight weeks) that I should come back and she would reprocess my request for free provided that I still had my copy of the receipt for $35.00.

Well, you can imagine my surprise when I received an envelope from SSA last week. I thought that they actually processed it earlier than six to eight weeks--and again I was totally freakin' wrong. In the letter from SSA I received both the completed form SSA-7050 and the receipt that was mailed to them in January, along with a form letter SSA-L7038 (4-85) which asked me to complete the same SSA-7050 form and to pay the $35.00 which I had already paid the local SSA Office and of which the national SSA office had received its receipt.

I called up the national SSA number and after prancing through assorted menus for thirty minutes I actually got to speak to a real person (call her Pam) who told me that she could not help me as she was only trained to answer general questions but I should write a letter to the national office and explain my request again. I was flummoxed, but I remembered an old adage, "when they have you by the balls, your heart and mind soon follow." So I wrote the freakin' letter and tried to use simple language as Denzel Washington said in "Philadelphia" "Explain it to me like I'm two years old."

I am p***ed off, but nevertheless, “red tape” being what it is, I completed AGAIN, the new SSA-7050 form and I have copies front and back of the cancelled check paid to my local SSA office on January 18th, 2007. I had also enclosed my original request, which had been mailed back to me. So I stuffed it all ---my original completed form SSA-7050, the receipt for $35.00 (all of this they had received and mailed back to me) the new exactly the same form SSA-7050 filled out with the same information exactly as the other form, my canceled check (front and back copies) and the form letter SSA-L7038 (is L-7 something of "Woolly Bully" dig that I'm a square?) that they sent me saying that they could not process my request until I paid them a processing fee of $35.00 ---into a BIG envelope and mailed it Certified mail, return receipt requested. I told them that if I needed to “jump through any more hoops” to receive this information, that they could contact me at my address, e-mail or home phone # which I included.

It is my utmost hope that the national SSA office expedites my request for specific earnings (show that NY State paid me) for the years 1970, 1971, 1972, as I need this information to process my retirement benefits as a teacher for thirty four years in NY State, with NYSTRS. I asked them to please send me this information as soon as it is governmentally possible, as I need this information to process my retirement benefits.

What else can I do? When I was in Maryland last week I thought of going to the National Office in Baltimore, but Debi thought that might not be such a great idea as I might have gotten myself arrested if my temper flared up as it sometimes does when I lose my patience when I am treated like a mushroom (kept in the dark and fed bulls**t).

I will keep you apprised of results. The very helpful (call her) Pam said it ordinarily takes about six months to process form SSA-7050, so maybe I'll hear something by my birthday.

How inept is our government? If they cannot process a simple request, one can only imagine what a FUBAR Iraq is in?
That's the news and my skewed views, what are your views?

Anti-Social Security

2007-01-19T08:06:00.000-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! Oh ye shades of Katrina and the ambivalence in New Orleans!?!? What's wrong with this country? Though I have to admit that I'd been a tad remiss in getting NYSTRS credit for the three years I worked as a college student for the State University of New York at Stony Brook as both a Union Page and Security at concerts, but there is really no excuse for the way I and my fellow Americans were treated at a regional Social Security Office (which shall remain nameless)yesterday.

I called at nine AM and after a plethora of telephone prompts, not only could I not talk to a real person, but barely was I able to get directions to the center. It was next to the IRS center, and I figured that this being a Thursday in the middle of the month, that it would not be too crowded. Wrong, the place was teeming with citizens and their offspring. Most were either elderly (like me, I guess) or African Americans or Hispanic. Not to be an elitist prig, but I figured with my doctorate's degree that I was most probably the most highly educated person in the room and therefore expected a modicum degree of civility. Wrong again. Perhaps those less educationally fortunate as I are used to and can tolerate this cattle call system of oligarchy, but fortuitously I had brought a book and settled in for "the wait."

Upon entering I was informed by the uniformed guard (call him Pedro) with tan uniform with gold stripes running down the sides of his pants legs with a taser (no gun or nightstick)at his belt, that I should go over to the computer on the other side of the room, and take a number (like a bakery I guess). The computer screen gave me three choices: (1) appointment, (2)get a social security card or (6) other. I chose option six out of the three choices-- "other," and sat down on one of those plastic chairs attached to those industrialized banks of chairs that I had come to know and hate from my experiences in Workman's Compensation waiting rooms.

As I looked around the room I noticed that there were nine "serving" windows, but only five were being serviced. Now these were not your ordinary windows, but rather more like prison windows with what looked like bulletproof glass. On the outside was a phone with which you could speak to the server if you wanted a modicum of privacy. I had put my winter coat on the back of my plastic chair and was happy that to my left and right there was no one sitting on these tiny chairs. Realizing that I may have left my car unlocked in this not so affluent (maybe seedy is too strong a word, here--how about unsavory?) neighborhood, I started to go outside to check, when Pedro informed me that if they called my number and I was not there then I would lose my turn and have to start all over again. Seeing that they were serving number A21 and I had number A29 and having just gotten there, I figured I was safe, so I left and took my chances as Pedro shook his head resignedly.

Three minutes later when I returned, my number had not been called, but the place had filled up to maximum capacity and my coat was surrounded by two women. After squeezing myself back into my former roomy seat I started reading while trying to ignore the noise, chatter and the incessant drone of the TV (which was tuned to channel eight in Connecticut and even though the shows were usually in color, this TV had them in black and white with fuzzy reception that cut in and out and had a slight buzz or hum --which to me was a blessing of white noise.)

The woman to my right (call her Maggie) was about my age and engaged in knitting, but she was careful in these very close quarters, not to stick me. After a few minutes, Maggie whispered to me, "Why don't you start reading that book out loud," as she motioned to the woman two seats to my left who was screaming into her cell phone. I asked "Why?" Maggie then told me that once while she was on the LIRR, some one started reading aloud and the rude person on the cell phone had asked that person to be quiet as the reader was disturbing the phone call. The reader then told the cell phone person that everyone on the train was being disturbed by the cell phone person, who eventually "got it" and hung up. I told Maggie that I could not do that. It just wasn't my style. In a few minutes the person to the right of Maggie also began to engage in cell phone rudeness and Maggie sighed and exclaimed that now she was getting it in stereo, to which the woman to my left (call her Angie) agreed.

Time trickled by slowly and the three of us began to realize that the numbers were not being called in order. Maggie asked Pedro what the deal was and Pedro informed everyone in the room that depending upon which choice you entered into the computer on entering, would determine which server would see you, as different servers did different things. Well, I decided to try the Jedi mind trick and waved my right hand and said "You want to call number A29." Both Maggie and Angie laughed. I kind of get a kick out of striking up conversations with total strangers. My wife thinks I am way too friendly to the point of almost embarrassing her, but since I was on my own, and stuck here for God knows how long, I felt that a little social intercourse would help pass the time.

No one was more amazed than I when we heard "A29 to window three." Now they expect you to pop right up and get to the window here, mach schnell! Earlier they had called A25 and a man with crutches had trouble getting to the window quickly enough and he would have lost his turn had not Pedro come to his rescue. I got to the window thinking my waiting was over. Wrong again. It turns out that window three is the central processing agent, sort of like the info desk at DMV (which by the way does not require a half an hour wait). The central processor (call him Henri)listened as I told him my problem. I had worked as a college student at SUNY Stony Brook from 1970 to 1972 and received paychecks from the state. NYSTRS (New York State Teachers' Retirement System) allows back credit towards your retirement pay if you can prove that you worked for the state. I had told Henri that Stony Brook was unable to verify any records from thirty years ago as they outsourced many of these jobs, and at the time they did not keep any official records, so basically I thought I was screwed. But not so fast--my brother-in-law, Joe, said he went through the same BS in Yonkers, but he went to his local Social Security Office and they were able to provide him with documentation that satisfied NYSTRS, and he was able to get the credits he deserved, and I asked Henri to do the same for me. Well, you would have thought that I had asked Henri for his first born child the way he rolled his eyes and looked at me with utter disdain as he said, "This is very complicated. You're going to have to wait--this could take a few hours." I told Henri that I had the official document Form 99-48USA-BA that I had already filled out, and a check for thirty-five dollars for a certified verification. Henri just pushed the form back under the bullet proof glass and told me that I no longer had a number, and that someone would call me by name when they were done with processing my request.

I sat back down between Maggie and Angie resigned to wait and glad that the cell phoners seemed to have left though the place was still pretty crowded. Maggie soon was called and was able to leave so I struck up a conversation with Angie. Angie was in her late twenties and as it turned out had just been married on this past Tuesday and was here just to change her name on her social security card. I asked her why she just didn't mail it in, like my wife did when we were married. Angie explained to me that she was also going to DMV and she was told that if she mailed it in it would take six to eight weeks and as she was changing hospitals (she's an RN by the way) in a few weeks that she wanted to have everything in order. So we waited together, she for her number and I for my name, to be called, just general chit chat stuff, small talk, nothing serious. Someone called out "A35 to window six." No one moved. The number was called out again and no one moved. Finally, Pedro called the number and no one moved. Then a man got up and went to window six. I turned to Angie and whispered, "Watch this! Pedro is gonna bust this guy." Sure enough Pedro bolted from behind his desk and started yelling at this guy who complained that he had been there an hour and Pedro told him that he had to wait his turn as everyone else was waiting too. Then Pedro pointed at me and said, "See, this nice man has been here two hours and he's waiting quietly. You need to do the same thing or else I am going to have to ask you to leave." The man sat down and muttered something under his breath.

Time crawled on. Pedro helped the "server" of window six translate for some Spanish people who seemed not to have a good command of English and slowly the open windows began to pull down shutters so that only three of the nine windows were opened as opposed to the previous five. At noon Pedro announced to all of us that the Social Security computers were down nation wide and he did not know when they would be back up, so he suggested that people who could not wait should leave. Well, that cleared the place out. There was just about ten of us left, including Angie and me. At this point, Henri, the central controller, comes out from behind the windows through the computer coded security door and starts doing some type of social security triage. Henri then suggested that the best thing to do would be to make an appointment so that you would not have to wait. He then stated that they were all booked up for the next two weeks and the first open appointments were on February fourteenth. A rather portly African-American woman (call her Martha) said, "Sign me up for February fifteenth. I ain't waitin' no more today!" Henri responded, "I can't sign you up. Only window four can do that." "But it ain't open!" responded Martha. "It should be open in about forty-five minutes," responded Henri. "Forty-five minutes!" exclaimed Martha exasperated, "I gotta be at work in a half hour! I ain't waitin' forty-five minutes to sign up for an appointment in two weeks." "This is bulls**t!" Martha exclaimed as she left the building trying to slam the door." Typical government ineptitude! I thought to myself as I asked Henri if I should stay and then Angie also asks him if I should stay, then Pedro curtly asks Angie if she's with me and if she's not, to please be quiet so as not to confuse Henri who could only handle one person at a time. Henri said it was up to me as I needed the computers to be up to get into my files. Long story -short, Angie and I decide to wait with five others and Henri goes back inside and then all of the windows are closed at 12:30 PM. Pedro informed us that the servicers had gone to lunch.

We wait and a few more people begin to drift in and Pedro gives them the same spiel "Computers down, yadda, yadda." At one PM I think that the windows should be opening because my friend Curt works for the post office (another federal institution) and he gets just a half hour for lunch. At one fifteen, window five opens and Pedro says that the computers are still down but that they will be able to process social security cards manually at window five and people should wait for their numbers to be called. At one thirty Angie's number is called and five minutes later she lets me use her cell phone to call my wife to let her know that I might not be home until after four. Angie and I wish each other luck and she leaves. At one forty Pedro informs everyone that the computers are back up, but we still need to wait to be called.

Two o'clock comes and there is still only one window open and the place is filling up and people are muttering and griping and even Pedro has gone behind the security door. Since I've been there the longest, people start asking me what's going on and after I explain about the lunch break people start complaining about what's taking so long? At two oh five Pedro returns and foolishly assuming the mantle of the people's champion that had been thrust upon me, I asked him how long is this lunch break that started at twelve thirty. Well, Pedro (forgetting that I had been the nice man/poster boy in his example a few hours ago) bristles and gets very defensive saying stuff like "just because the windows are not open does not mean that the servers are not working. In fact they are finishing up this morning's paper work and getting ready for their two o'clock appointments." I try to politely ask "What could be more important than helping people who have been waiting for three hours?" but my wife tells me that I have a naturally sounding sarcastic voice, to which I say that I have no control over it. It's just the way my voice is. Nevertheless, Pedro's face turns a livid red and he says to me in a threatening voice, "You know, you can be asked to leave here without being serviced!" I answer, "What's wrong with asking a few polite questions?" Pedro gives me a steely look that probably would have shut up almost anyone else, but I persist, "This is still America, the land of the free isn't it?" Struggling to control himself as now everyone in the room is watching us as time seemed to really slow down at this juncture for me, he said "You can ask questions. You just don't have to be so condescending about it!" and he stomped away and went back behind the locked computer coded security door that protected the "servers" from us peons. Now I had wanted to retort, "Oh condescending, that's an awfully big word for someone like you to use," but discretion being the better part of valor, I kept my big mouth shut and just buried my head in my book.

As soon as Pedro had left some of my new found buddies came over to me and started high-fiving and fist bumping me. I felt like Arlo Guthrie in the song "Alice's Restaurant" sitting with his antisocial buddies on the delinquent bench in the enlistment center. We all got giddy together with some of my buds giving Pedro the old one finger salute in absentia. At two fifteen Pedro returns and then surprisingly three more windows open. No one cheers but the mood of the room certainly went up a few degrees.

At two-thirty I hear my name called to report to window four where I meet the server (call her Ginger) at the other side of the bullet proof glass. I chose not to use the security phone (in this season of cold and flus as Kelly Ripa said, "Who knows where that's been?") and my business is not that private anyway. I repeat the whole story I had told Henri. Ginger smiles and is very nice. We make a little small talk about Tier I and her brother's being a teacher in Tier III, then she calls Henri over and they confer discreetly in plain view of me. Ginger returns and asks for my official form and my driver's license. She asked for a check for thirty five dollars and at this point I think I'm home free. Wrong!?! She then puts all the stuff into an envelope and tells me that she has to mail everything to Baltimore since the computers here don't have total access. I shake my head in disbelief. Why didn't Henri tell me that four hours ago? I could have done all this stuff myself and saved myself five hours. Well, but then I would not have had the pleasure of meeting Maggie and Angie and my nameless other new buddies/citizens. I would not have had the experience of meeting the unforgettable Pedro. The lord works in mysterious ways. Ginger told me if that I don't hear from the government by St. Patrick's Day (six to eight weeks--sound familiar) that I should come back and I could start the whole process again without paying so long as I have the receipt she had given me. I have to say that some sick part of me deep inside is kinda hoping that I do get to go back. That's the News and my skewed views. What are your views?

Bush-Whacked Again

2007-01-11T09:43:00.000-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! This guy just doesn't get it!?!? After getting "thumped" in November he promised to come up with a new plan. Well, it's just another of a string of broken promises made by the Bush man, who thinks he should be king. He totally ignores the recommendations of the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group, yet he mendaciously said last night that he took their opinions (not facts mind you) under consideration in his so called new plan."It's just the same old w(h)ine, in a brand new bottle." It's like in a football game. Faced with bad play calling, he drops back and punts. Sending more troops into Iraq complicates any withdrawal for two years or so, leaving the next administration to clean up the mess he has made.

In his speech he wrapped the words of "liberty" and "freedom" around his cause to make it sound noble, but three thousand and growing American deaths is the opposite of noble. He conjured up the ghost of 9/11 a few times to season his resolve. Newsflash Mr. Bush--it has been historically proven that Iraq and Saddam Hussein had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the horror of 9/11. Stop using 9/11 as an excuse for your ignoring the desires of the American Vox Populi. In your speech you stated that Americans do not have unlimited patience and if Iraq does not hold up its end of the bargain it would lose the support of the American people. Newsflash #2 Mr. Bush---the American people have already given up on Iraq as evidenced by the past November elections. You and your cronies (Halliburton, et al) and flunkies (Rice, et al) are the only ones who do not get it.

Let me try an analogy that even a smirking Alfred E. Newman type simpleton like you should be able to understand. Iraq is like a used car that you bought for a measly 100 billion dollars, give or take. It had an automatic transmission when you got it, but you wanted to put a manual transmission in for say another 200 billion dollars. It still didn't work to your liking, so you threw another 100 billion dollars into it. There has to be a point of diminishing returns here?!?!?! When do you finally realize that the car is a lemon and no matter how much money or troops to be killed you throw into it, IT'S NOT GONNA WORK!!!!??? It is time to cut your losses and sell the car for what you can. "You don't throw good money into bad!" is the old adage that applies here.

As "the Decider" you decided to start this war (conflict, Operation Iraqi Freedom-whatever semanticized words you want to use) and you lied to the American public from the get go (does the acronym WMD ring any bells?) By calling this escalation the semantized "surge" does not mean that any less American men and women are going to die. This should be grounds for your impeachment. You do not listen to the Americans who barely elected you in 2004 by a slim 51% to 49% margin with the Ohio returns in question. You were appointed by the Supreme Court in 2000, not elected. You rule in your own megalomaniacal mindset. You say that you "talk to God." Have you heard Brighteye's song "When the President Talks to God?" that he played on Leno last Spring? You are out of touch. Newsflash #3 Mr. Bush-more Americans have died in your policy on Iraq than at 9/11. What a sad price to pay for your bad judgement!?!?!

Newsflash #4 Mr. Bush--you don't know what you are doing, you have never known (as evidenced by the CIA memo you chose to ignore while spending yet another vacation on your ranch in Crawford in August 2001, that stated that Al Queda operatives were preparing to fly planes into American buildings) and you don't have the support or trust of the American people. It's bad enough that Iraq has turned into another Vietnam. Please do not turn it into another Mogadishu!!

In your Orwellian world of Double Speak and semantics where you cloak your prevarications in the opposite "nice " words (e.g. Clean Air Act-allows more pollution etc.) let me remind you of another adage. "You can fool some of the people most of the time and most of the people some of the time, but" you can't fool the American People anymore! That's the news and my skewed views. What are your views?

No Legerdemain Here-Same old Giants

2007-01-08T13:00:00.000-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! To paraphrase Confucious, "One picture speaks a thousand words!" It didn't seem like many Giants showed up to play yesterday. Shockey gave 100 percent as did Tiki. But they always do. How about Plaxico Burris? Did you see him fight for extra yards for the first down? I take back all the negative vibes and words I had sent his way earlier. What's the deal with Diehl? How many times did he move on crucial plays to send the momentum backwards? And what about the non-call by the Refs on that offsetting personal foul BS? Eagles Jon Ronyon clearly decks two Giants (Barry Cofield and Sam Madison) after the whistle CLEARLY!!. Cofield retaliates and it's all equal!?!?! Ronyon should have been ejected at the most, OR had two penalties called against him at the least, with the Giants getting only one penalty for their only one infraction. Net fair result-Giants have a first down with fifteen yards added to it. But football is not fair, is it? Ask the Tuna after last night's Dallas debacle. A number of questionable calls (that phantom momentum killing holding call on Coughlin son-in-law, Chris Snee) and non-calls turned the tide to help the Eagles kick a measly field goal to win. The gang hanging out at my house devouring Philly Cheese steaks, courtesy of Mr. Deadhead Mike, (if you can't beat 'em--eat 'em) was trying to conjure up the ghost of Scott Norwood by chanting, "Wide to the right!".

Still, you can't put this one on the refs--blame Coughlin, Kevin Gilbrade and the hapless and hopeless Eli. The offensive play calling was well, OFFENSIVE--still too predictable and rigid. It's third and eight-- throw a six yard pass. It's third and fifteen--throw a ten yard pass. Eli still looks like a deer in headlights, no matter what team he is playing against. Football is a game of emotion and Eli and Coughlin just don't have it. New Year's resolutions for the Giants- FIRE AND FIRE UP!!!! Dump Coughlin and get a coach who can inspire his team. Get Peyton to give his blood to Eli in a full transfusion ala Keith Richards.

Tiki will be sorely missed next year. My buddy, Ed the Brickster, sez the Giants best chance next year is to have Tiki come back as a player/head coach. That sounds like a great idea. He is the heart and soul of the Giants. What ever happened to "Thunder" and Lightning" ? Where was next year's hope, Brandon Jacobs? Coughlin bristled when asked this question, as he hates to be second guessed, but he makes it so easy. My fourteen year old nephew, Eric, asked me this same question. Coughlin looks confused on the sidelines. He comes in with a rigid game plan and he doesn't make any adjustments. He stands on the sidelines and looks upset that the same play continues not to work again and again. Here's a hint, CHANGE SOMETHING THAT IS NOT WORKING, duh? At the very least make some positive half time adjustments.

Like many Giants fans, at the now bitter end I was hoping for some prestidigitation to help us out at the final play there, like when Romo muffed the kick placement for Dallas the night before. God, was that a great game for Giants fans, but no. No magic for the Giants--just same old, same old, different first round playoff game, same result--a loss. It was an improvement over last year's embarrassing shutout, but this year's loss hurt more. Lately the Giants do just enough to give you a little hope, like backing into the playoffs and tieing the game with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. They give you hope and then they pull the rug right out from under you, sending you crashing into despair. My wife thinks the games are fixed and I am starting to see how perhaps they might be scripted, judging by the ups and downs of the Giants.

Football and sports pretty much are over for me this year, mostly. I'll watch the college championship game tonight --Go Gators. I'll watch the Stupor Bowl and root for my numbers at the end of each quarter in the various football pools I'm in, but as to who wins? Who cares? I'll root against New England just because they're from Boston. I'll root for Indy just because Peyton Manning is an awesome competitor (unlike Eli). I'll root for N'Orlenz because those fans need a break after Katrina still. Seattle /Chicago??? I'm luke warm about both teams. I like them equally as well as I like vanilla ice cream.

So Big Blue has made me Blue. It's raining here now which reflects my mood. I need a good snowfall to cleanse my psyche of this depressing year of Mice and Men, could have beens. Since the Knicks are awful and I haven't been able to get back into hockey since the lock out, that leaves me sportsless until the Spring. Will getting rid of the snarling Unit who did not live up to expectations give the Yankees a boost to make it into the World Series, or will they fade in the first round of playoffs like the Jets and Giants? I went to bed on Saturday night with dreams of a Giant/ Jet Super Bowl, but on Sunday, reality got in the way. Jeter needs to support the hyper sensitive playoff choking A-Rod and get some team unity going. Oh, and by the way, here's a piece of advice to Big George from my nephew, Eric--"Yankees need pitching!" Is it that obvious? That's the news and my skewed views. What are your views?

Good enough for Government Work

2007-01-02T08:35:00.000-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits!--Well, the Giants have backed themselves into the playoffs with a shocking (not Shockey) 8-8 record. I thought the Packers needed to lose to get the Giants in but somehow, the Giants played "the strength of schedule card" to get out of jail free. But who cares? (this is a rhetorical question by the way)--it's a new season and lately the "wild card teams" have been going "all the way!" Hopefully the Giants can get past the Eagles on Sunday. We're going one game at a time here. It looks like Strahan is gone for the season, but will Shocky be back?

In other news--Saddam Hussein is gone but we are still stuck with Mr Bush. What a country!?!?! Go to: www.politrixs.blogspot.com for more comments

The Six and Six Fix

2006-12-09T14:59:00.000-05:00

All the News That Gives You Fits! Tomorrow is the battle of the sixes and I'm glad it is four sixes and not three--6-6 vs. 6-6. The Giants MUST WIN if they have any chance of a wild card berth this year. The Giants at 6-6 MUST defeat the other 6-6 team, Carolina, at Carolina. Last year Carolina embarrassed the Giants in the first round of the playoffs causing Tiki to remark that "we were out coached!" All the finger pointing in the world will not amount to anything if the Giants should lose tomorrow. It does not look like Strahan will be back. So it will be up to the usual suspects.

Coughlin needs to a better job in preparation, but Eli needs to step up and Tiki and Plaxico need to execute. Shockey always plays at full tilt boogie smash mouth mode. We need Eli to be a smash mouth QB and make the right decisions. I bought an Eli NFL jersey this week at MOs for good luck. The season hinges on this game. We need to win the next four games to get into the playoffs.

I shall be unable to watch next week's against Philly (which on paper the Giants should win with Cunningham out, but so far there have been no "Gimmies" this year) because I will be attending my brother-in-law's, Joe's, surprise (I hope yer not reading this Joe) 60th birthday party in my birth county up in Westchester.

Things are winding up for the usual Holi-daze craziness blitz. Between partying and shopping and decorating and partying I have very little time for writing. I went to a Christmas party yesterday. I'll be going to another one tonight and another one next Friday night. It's Awesome, but it's draining and I have less time to put words into cyberspace. So those of you out there in cyber space who actually read me, all I can say is, "Please be patient." As soon as I get a "Round Tuit" I'll be back.

Oh, Oh, I almost forgot. Is Andy Petite really coming back to the Yankees? Will he be better than the Unit?
More to come. That's the news and my skewed views. Gotta go to a Christmas party (actually I'm kinda lookin' forward to it) What are your views?

New Blog

2006-12-01T08:18:00.000-05:00

All the news that gives you fits.

Well, now I have three blogs to fill up. You can still reach me at www.StrangeDaysHaveFoundUs.blogspot.com but this new Beta version is supposed to be Bigger and better-we'll see.

Today is the first day day of December, let's hope that it's not a December to remember, weatherwise here on the Island of Long. I'm still working away on my novel, "…and Then it Happened!" It's supposed to be a rainy stormy day here so that makes it easier for me to be creative. Hopefully, the snow will stay North of the Island of Long. Not much else to say, just checking things out.

Hey, how can a civil war not be civil war? Because MR. Bush says it isn't? Most Americans have no faith in this Alfred E. Neuman "What me Worry" caricature of our nation's highest office. It's all a matter of Semantics. Just like the Vietnam War wasn't really a war, it was a conflict!?!?!? After six years of lying and a big "thumping" at the last November's elections it is time for this moron to realize the old adage, "You can fool some of the people most of the time, and most of the people some of the time." At this time MR. Bush, you can't fool anyone anymore. This nation is on to you. The days of your Karl Rove, Orwellian double-speak are over. Just because you say so, doesn't make it so, so you might as well wipe that stupid smirk off of your face beacuse you are not fooling anyone but yourself anymore. This nation has finally realized after six mendacious years, that indeed "The Emperor has no new clothes" and needs to start embracing the naked truth!

That's the News and my skewed views. What are your views?